Oliver and Company

Last night's conversation over dinner . . .

Carson: Mom, do you know some kids in my class have crushes?

Me: What does that mean when you have a crush?

Carson: It means you love them so bad.

Spencer: I have that kind of soda.

Carson: (rolling his eyes) We're not talking about that Spencer.

Spencer: (With a little mischievousness and complete honesty) I crush Jamison!

We then proceed with a whole conversation about how old you have to be to have a girl friend and I find myself campaigning for group dating, just being friends and a whole lot of "after your mission".

Carson: Do you have a crush on anyone mom?

Me: Yes

Carson: (wide eyed and very giggly) WHO?

Me: Can't you guess?

Carson: (SO giggly now) No, tell me!

Me: Dad

Both boys are dying of laughter and threaten to tell Nick when he gets home from work. Of course I play along and beg them not to tell because I'll be so embarrassed! Just then Nick comes home.

Carson: Guess what Dad? Mom has a crush on you!

Nick: Oh yeah well, I have a crush on mom.

And now they've both lost it and are in a fit of laughter.

Want to know what Jamison (and as a result me) do all day?

Put dishes away and take them back out again, and then put them away again only to find them rearranged once again. The same could said of DVD's, books, laundry. Not toys though, this kid is disinterested in actually playing with anything that looks like it ought to be played with.

 Play nicely with one brother and torture the other (I'm not really sure what game this is but I think Jamison won). Unfortunately the two that don't get along are the ones who are home together all day.

Splashing in the potty is my least favorite activity and it seems TP is always on the shoppping list these days. The words "SHUT THE DOOR!" is currently the top phrase of 2010.

And a trail of destruction is what he leaves behind. Independence, stubborness, early mobility and pure cuteness make for a very full day!

Jamison was determined to get one more milestone in before 2010. He's only 9 months old but he's got two big brothers to keep up with. Walking is all fine and good but really I would love it if he could master consistently sleeping through the night.  If only you could make New Year's resolutions for your children. . .

He's had stranger anxiety since he was 3 months old. We can only go out on a date after 7 pm when he's already asleep, he even cries when Grandma and Grandpa hold him. But wait what's this? He's all smiles for Hardware Store Santa? Santa is the one guy all little kids cry for at some point in their lives. Carson will even tell you that sitting on Santa's lap gives him the creeps (but he REALLY likes the toys so he toughs it out). Chalk it up to the "wonders" of the Christmas season.

How is it that even a young six year old knows that if you are gonna lick finger and write on the back of your dirty car it needs to mean and offensive to others. I mean really where did he learn this? For once I can say with complete certainty he has NEVER observed this behavior from us. And I'm 99% sure it wasn't from the media or friends, so what does that leave? Instincts?

And if you ask said 6 year old he would tell you it was on "accident". Apparently lying is instinctual as well.

I love to shop and what I love even more is getting a good deal. In my book anything less than 60% off doesn't constitute a deal. However, I try to be level headed about it and not snatch up useless things we don't need or won't really use. But sometimes I just get swept up in the excitement of a sale and the potential savings.  So with it being the Christmas season I've had my eye on several blogs and websites looking for any interesting sales/deals/discount codes that would fit the boys' wish lists this year. So "Cyber Monday" comes rolling around and I see that Amazon will be having 3 Lego deals later in the day and my adrenaline starts pumping. First my boys love Lego's and second they are NEVER more than 20% off. So I set my mental alarm clock to check back at 4pm when the said deal would start.  3:50 pm I fire up the computer and wait for the deal to begin. 3:59 pm I start to get really excited wondering which set it will be and how much I will save. 4:00 pm an Indiana Jones Lego set pops up and I lean in closer to the computer to get a better look. 4:01 the allotted number of sets at the super price are gone. What the? Well I've got two more chances But no the next set is gone as well. The final Lego set (a Star Wars one nonetheless) will begin at 5 pm. So I putz around the kitchen for a while, keep Jamison out of all things dangerous and pretend to be an engaged mom. 4:55 I put Jamison in the "Johnny Jump Up" (snagging this last deal will require two hands and full concentration). 4:58 I decide my game plan will be to hit the "add to cart" button immediately and check later to see what it is that I just can't live without. 5:00 pm hideous looking General Grievous set pops up and I hit "add to cart". But what?  how did it sell out in 5 seconds? Is my reaction time really that slow? I then realize I've just been cyber trampled . . . some woman on the other side of the world has just thrown an elbow, pushed me to the ground and grabbed the last item on the shelf. It happens every Black Friday in Wal-Mart’s around the country but now it can happen from the comfort of your home. Well little boy in Japan I hope you enjoy your 60% off General Grievous Lego set on Christmas morning, your mom has some lightning fast reflexes.

We've got a new family hobby its called geocaching. In a nutshell it is (as described by Wikipedia)  "an outdoor activity in which the participants use a GPS to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook. Larger containers can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value."

For example today after Nick looked online and found some geocache coordinates and clues we went to a local park and had to find a brick with writing on it. After locating the brick we found the coordinates of the cache by doing some basic math of adding and multiplying using the words and characters on the brick. Nick punched the coordinates into the GPS and handed it to Carson who led the way on a short hike through the woods until we were at the spot of the coordinates. We then searched around the trunks of some big mossy maple trees until we found the cache. We opened it up took a small treasure, left two for the next seekers, signed the log book and hiked back to the park.

Here's the beauty of it all, it's a family activity interesting for all ages, allows us to be outdoors and exercising and costs nothing (once you've made the initial GPS purchase). The best part is the boys LOVE it and are so excited to find the cache. I look forward to many more adventures in geocaching as the boys get older.

In 20 years these two will be the "Amazing Race" dream team

These 3 rank pretty high on my gratitude list. . .

And I'm pretty fond of this one as well. . .

What a lucky girl I am!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. 

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Put those chubby little hands where I can see them. . .

Ready or not he's on the move and on the lookout for all things small, dangerous or generally disgusting to put in this mouth. I've had seven months to baby proof and get into the habit of vacuuming daily but alas I have procrastinated. And this little guy is. . . shall we say, a busy one with a mind of his own and a very short fuse. Should make for some fun times over the next few months!