Taking Turns?

Luke and I were pumpkin bowling today - here is a conversation we had...
Mommy:  OK, Luke, it's my turn now.
Luke:  No.  It's still mine.  We get to have 3 turns in a row.
M:  Well, you already went 3 times.
L:  I know.  But now I am doing your turn.
M:  So am I going to get to bowl?
L:  Well, your turn is next.
(At this point, he takes another turn).
M:  So now it's my turn!
L:  Nope.  I need to do your turn again.  You not able to knock the bottles down.  I do it.

I Think She's Even Potty-Trained!

We asked Ryan to remember to pray for his Aunt Foof - she is in the process of buying a house and the loan/paperwork is a nightmare.
His prayer went like this...   "And please help Auntie Foof find a good home."
All I could think of is that she is like a puppy looking for adoption!!

Hot Hot Hot

Luke has been bugging me weekly at the store to buy Hot Cheetos.  His standard line is, "But Katie eats them!  She likes them!!  I like them!"
Katie is a friend at school and he apparently trusts her judgement in food since he has never actually eaten hot cheetos.
So today at the store I finally had enough of the begging and bought him a bag.
I put a few on his plate for lunch and he ate most of one cheeto before telling me that they were hot and he couldn't eat anymore.  (This was quite funny and I wish I had a video of it - lots of chewing with his mouth wide open, lots of blowing on the cheeto to cool it off and lots of milk drinking!)
So I said, "See?  I didn't think you would like these.  I'm glad you tried them but let's not have them anymore."
He replied, "But I do like them!  I like all cheetos.  They don't taste like cucumbers."

Boo!

We have had a great time in our neighborhood lately - everyone is getting BOO'D.  It's a fun game that we've never done before.  Basically a neighbor Boos a couple of other neighbors by putting treats on their porch after dark, ringing the door bell and running.  Then you are supposed to Boo a couple of other neighbors and so on.
The boys were thrilled with all aspects of this - treats, being out after dark and sneaking to neighbors porches.  The night they headed out, I wasn't feeling well so I stayed home.  When they got back, Don was laughing so hard he could barely tell me what happened.
They drove the golf cart around to the other end of the neighborhood and had the lights off to be extra stealthy.  It was pitch dark out so Ryan and Luke got out and headed up to the porch of the Booee.  Luke took it all very seriously and sneaked so carefully that it took him forever to get to the porch.  Don said he was crouched down and took a step only once every several seconds.  (To all that have seen Animal House - he looked just like John Belushi when he was sneaking up to the Presidents House).  During this, it never occurred to him that his shoes light up and the kids at the house had already spotted him sneaking up!  Don said the lights were flashing all around and Luke just kept plodding along.
Even though they were busted, Luke came back telling me how fun it was and I'm sure we'll be doing this again next year!

Howdy!

Enrollment has started for next year and it's time to sign Luke up for Pre-K.  I have already teared up at this idea - please start carrying Kleenexes for me!!

Andrew heard me talking to Luke about it and told him that the first week of school, they have Howdy Day and the kids go on stage to say howdy and tell the school their name.

I thought Luke might say no way to this but instead he is already planning it.  He told Andrew, "I gonna say this.  I gonna say, 'HOWDY KIDS!  HOW YOU DOIN?  OY!'"

And yes, it was yelled at the top of his lungs.  Check back in August to see if he follows through!

**Just like Ryan picked up some old-fashioned words from Henry Huggins, Luke picked up some British terms from Harry Potter.  OY!

He Knows How to Win a War

Luke asked Don to play "army mans" today.  Don told him sure, but he asked Luke to set it all up for him.  When Luke was ready, he got Don and told him to play and pointed to Don's army.  

See pic below - Luke's is on the left and Don's is on the right!

Doesn't seem like a fair fight...

Crayolaepidermis

Andrew Told me yesterday that if you want to color a large area, the easiest thing to do is to "peel the skin" off of the crayon and then lay it flat to color.

That's a Real Knee Slapper, Old Timer!

We were talking about girls the other day and I told Ryan that I wasn't much of a girlie-girl growing up - I was more like a tom-boy.  I asked about the girls in his class and he said most of them were tom-boys but some of them were "keen on" things like makeup and jewelry.
I laughed so hard when he said "keen on" that I choked on my dinner.  I don't know what struck me so funny (and apparently it's not that funny judging from the crickets I heard when I re-told the story to Don), but it killed me so I wanted to write it down for my own sake!
I don't know where he got it - we are listening to the Henry Huggins books that were written in the 50s and 60s so maybe from there?
As Gaddy would have said, "That's rich!"  (And I can actually hear Gaddy saying "keen on" also so maybe he was channeling him a bit!)

I'll Be Sleeping With One Eye Open

Last night I was getting Luke's pajamas on him and he commented that I wasn't doing it the way Daddy does it.
I told him that it didn't matter how Daddy did it - I'm in charge around here!
He looked very sneaky and whispered, "Only while you awake!"

Quick to Judge

Driving to karate tonight, we passed a police car that had pulled over a guy on a motorcycle.  The guy was just sitting on the back of the bike looking pathetic as we drove by.
Luke spotted this and said, "Mommy, you thinking what I'm thinking?"  Um - maybe?
He went on, "Well, I think that's a good guy or a bad guy.  I think bad guy and he's under duress!"

Two things I love about this - he's always asking if I'm thinking what he's thinking.  And to date, I can't think of a time where I was.
And he thinks "under arrest" is "under duress!"

Spot of Bubbly

I mumbled something about having a headache as I walked past Ryan in the kitchen.  I was heading for the bottle of vanilla flavoring to add to my cherry coke.  He looked up, saw the bottle and said, "So what are you getting?  Champagne?"
I think he may be a bit backwards on the champagne/headache correlation!

Name Game Part Deux

Today Luke asked me, "What is your middle name"?  I told him. 
So he said, "Then what is your last name?"
I told him it was Stout just like him.  He smiled and said, "So you are a Stoutgirl!"
This is particularly funny if you've read the previous post on names - see here!

Hay!

Heading to Sonic today, Andrew said, "I don't know why Daddy wants us to get him tea.  Tea tastes like the smell of hay.  I guess it tastes like hay too, but I haven't eaten hay, so I'm not really sure."

Talk About Benefits Outweighing the Cost!

I dressed up as Rapunzel for Luke's fourth birthday party.  When I came into the room and Luke saw me dressed up, he grinned and yelled, "I love you Mommy!"

Oh man, and you guys wonder why I like to dress up!  

He Is Getting Older

Luke turned 4 today!!  So his request last night shouldn't surprise me.  "I want a beer!"
Well, actually he was trying to ask for a beard after seeing his buddy with a face-painted-mustache.  But all the same, I guess he's not a baby anymore!!

Musical Interests

I was just doing some work on the computer and had iTunes going.  A Lady Gaga song came on, and Luke ran in and said, "Hey!  Let me listen this!  I like the Goo Goo Ga Ga song!"

A Few of Their Favorite Things

We had wildfires a bit too close to our house yesterday so we packed up a few things that we knew we wouldn't want to lose.  

This morning, I asked the boys what would be the one thing they would take if they had to grab something and go.  Luckily, they all said things like "each other" and "the animals."

But I wondered what else and this is what they said:

Ryan - "My football pads".  When I reminded him those were brand new and easily replaceable, he changed to his bike.  Finally decided on his baseball cards.

Andrew - "My DSiXL.  It's just so cool."  

Luke - "Flynn Rider.  And Rapunzel.  And the tower.  And Pascal.  And could you just go ahead and get the rest of that stuff for me?"

Costume By Proxy

Sadly, we have had many days lately where Luke decides he wants to wear "reg-ee-ur" (regular) clothes - no costume.  The pic below was one of those days.  But I knew he had regrets when it was time to leave the house and he yelled, "Wait!!  I need bring Snoopy (pronounced Nufee).  And know what?  Him need costume!!" 

Name Game

Luke and I went to "Meet the Teacher" today at his preschool.  She was showing him the room and told him to go find his name on the floor so he could see where to sit on his first day.  He went over, and since he's so very smart, he immediately found it and yelled, "There it is!  L U K E!"  Sad to say, there are 2 Lukes in the class and he had found Luke T. instead of Luke S.
So the teacher explained how there were 2 of them and asked him if he knew his last name.  Luke nodded and said, "Stoutboy."

Ugh! I've Been Kissed by a Dog!!

Today, Andrew was hugging all over Sammy (our dog).  I told him that she really likes kisses on the cheek.  He grimaced and said, "So do I have to lick her or can I just give her a person kiss?"