Fluffy

It all started innocently enough a few weeks ago when we went to PetSmart to buy some wild bird seed. It was getting late in the afternoon and we needed to get home for dinner, so I thought we'd be right in and right out. But....somehow the boys got distracted with the little critters and suddenly Tyler wanted a hamster. He went on and on about how it would be a great pet and how he'd take care of it all by himself, blah, blah, blah and just like that Rick was convinced and AGREED with the ridiculous plan.

 

We didn't leave with a hamster that night though. There were conditions. First Tyler had to behave with no major blowouts for a week and show that he could be responsible by making his bed, clearing his dishes from the table, etc. And all the while Rick could go bananas shopping online (his #1 hobby/addiction) for obnoxious amounts of hamster related product. By the way, can someone please tell him that you CAN buy hamster food in smaller quantities than 25 lb bags. Thank you. It's a hamster, not a dog, for God's sake.

 

There were a few minor hiccups in Tyler's behavior, but soon enough we were back at PetSmart so he could pick out his new and cuddly pet. He chose a Winter White although the thing is almost completely brown. I guess they turn white in the winter, as the name implies.

Back at the house we transferred him to his new digs, where we've been patiently letting him adjust. No holding him yet, just a bunch of peek-a-booing.

Tyler named him Fluffy despite all the superior food names I suggested: Meatball, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Gumbo, Peanut, Snickers. I could go on.

He's a little bit cute. I'll admit that.

Hi Fluffy!

Summer Reading

Tyler signed up for the summer reading program at our local library and already has at least 1/3 of his chart filled in. You get to fill in one square for each day that you read for 20 minutes and as you progress along the chart, you get stickers and other prizes, the ultimate being a free book at the end.

 

I took the boys to the library the other night and Tyler collected 3 of his prizes: a plastic book bag, a bookmark, and a coupon for a free cone at McDonalds.

Technically Kyle is old enough to participate in the reading program as well, since we read to him every day, but he really doesn't understand the program or have a need for the prizes, so I just decided to hold off with him. Tyler, however, is determined to let his brother join in on the fun, so he made his own reading chart for Kyle. He took a plain sheet of printer paper and drew a similar path with 20 squares to fill in. Now they both have their own reading charts, even if Kyle's is unofficial.

And every day after lunch he takes Kyle outside and reads to him for 20 minutes. For the past few days they've been reading Bad Kitty, a chapter book with lots of little illustrations on each page for Kyle to look at. Then they come back inside and mark off a square on his chart. Tyler is doing this all himself and doesn't have any prizes to give Kyle, but he does plan to give him a "free book" at the end, which will really be a hand me down from his own bookshelf.

♥♥♥

 

And one more thing....regarding my last post about the piggy pin, Rick informed me that he has seen Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, but he told me like this: Yeah, by the way I have seen Wayne's World...all 3 of them.

 

Wayne's World?

 

All 3 of them?

 

Besides the pure wishy-washiness of his statement, one thing is for sure....he is not a super fan like me. The end.

The Piggy Pin

Ever since I was a kid, I've been using an imaginary piggy pin at meal times to denote the piggiest eater at the table. Whoever finishes the meal first is awarded the piggy pin. Rick had assumed it was something I'd made up myself, but really it's just a nod to my favorite Bill & Ted movie.

 

Rick of course, is from another planet and has never seen Bill & Ted. Neither has Tyler for that matter, but it doesn't keep him from joining in on the piggy pin fun.

In our house, it's not about quantity eaten or making anyone feel bad, it's just a recognition of having finished first. And to tell the truth: Tyler and I are the only contenders anyway. Kyle is a picky eater and NEVER finishes his food and Rick is the slowest eater known to mankind.

So after all these years, we now have an actual piggy pin. Tyler made one out of melty beads and I hot glued a pin backing onto it.

 

Ta-da!

 

Ziggy Piggy, Ziggy Piggy, Ziggy Piggy.....snort, snort, snort.

 

Happy Father's Day

Rise and shine! I was the first one up this morning so I made a cup of coffee, read the newspaper and put some cinnamon rolls in the oven for the boys. The smell of cinnamon was enough to lure Kyle and Tyler out of bed, but it took more like a few tugs to get Rick up and at 'em.

 

After breakfast we let Rick open his gifts. Sidenote: we cleaned the carpets yesterday in all the downstairs rooms, so all the furniture was still in a heap in the kitchen and other tiled corners of the house. That's why everybody is sitting in a circle on the floor.

We gave him some manly scented candles...the Camping Out one is my favorite.

And a new outfit: Dockers shorts and a t-shirt.

Then I let him pick what he wanted for dinner and he chose bacon and feta stuffed chicken breasts. I cooked those up on the grill along with some browned butter couscous and steamed green beans. For dessert I made watermelon cupcakes. They were vanilla flavored, but I colored part of the batter red and added mini chocolate chips and then colored the rest of the batter green. They were supposed to look like a slice of watermelon, but mine ended up more like a watermelon rainbow. Oh well!

Happy Father's Day!!

Out For Lunch

Tyler's last day of school was Tuesday and it was only a half day at that. He was home before noon so I decided to take him out for lunch. We went to McDonald's, the same place we always go for his graduation lunch.

 

He and Kyle both got Chicken Nugget Happy Meals, while I used a coupon to get a $1 iced vanilla latte for myself. I'd already eaten leftovers at home before we left since I try not to eat out much, so I just sat back and enjoyed my coffee.

When I was ordering the happy meals, I pointed out that one of them was for a small child, hoping that they'd switch out the toy for something appropriate for that age range, but nope, they just put in the regular toy. Kyle got a bird from A Bugs Life 2, that had a tiny man that popped out of it's back. He didn't know what to think at first...he was a little puzzled by the whole thing.

After the boys had finished eating, I sent Tyler back to the counter with the specific instructions to buy one chocolate dipped cone and one regular. Not too complicated, but somewhere between here and there he changed it to one chocolate dipped and two regulars.

I was planning to let Tyler have the chocolate dipped and then I would share the regular one with Kyle, but since we had cones to go around, everyone ended up with their own.

A happy accident for Kyle, but I think we can all agree... it was a little too much!

This Week

This was Tyler's last full week of school. He only has 1-1/2 days left before he's done with 2nd grade and summer vacation can begin. He'll be going to a different school next year, so we wanted to make sure he used up all the lunch money on his account. There was enough extra for three more meals and he's been using it up by going early and having breakfast.

 

That way he was finally able to try some of the food he always wondered about, like the cinnamon roll and the mini maple pancakes. They're good...so I hear.

Then he spent several days this week working on this 3D melty bead flower arrangment. It came out really nice! I think he should give it to his teacher for her desk at school, but then it's so nice, he probably doesn't want to part with it.

Also we started an Aero Garden this week. I decided I didn't want to deal with an outdoor garden this year, so we're skipping it and just doing this indoor herb garden instead. We'll see how it goes.

It's that time again with the baby birds. There's another one or two out back that are almost ready to leave the nest.

Here's what's on my nightstand: The Help and 1-2-3 Magic. I'm slowly making my way through The Help...I'm just too tired at night after reading to the boys to read much for myself. 1-2-3 Magic was recommended to us by the mental health professional we're working with and I haven't even opened it yet.

I tried to take a picture of me and the boys the other night for my Project Life and Tyler later told me that he "forgot to look at the camera". Say what? That's like "forgetting" to look where you're going as you walk down the street.

Return to Boulder Cave

Four years ago Rick and Tyler went to Boulder Cave, which is a hiking trail and cave located about 40 miles NW of Yakima. I stayed home that time and missed out on all the fun, so we finally got a chance to go back this weekend to enjoy the hike as a family.

 

We can never seem to plan things right around Kyle's nap time though. We were hoping that we could finish the hike and then Kyle could sleep during the car ride home, but he ended up falling asleep on the way there instead and was only able to squeeze in maybe 20 minutes before we woke him up. So he was pretty grumpy at the start of the trail, but after awhile he started to warm up and have a good time.

Giving him a stick and letting him walk on his own turned things right around.

There's a waterfall near the entrance to the cave so we found a spot in that area to stop for lunch. I had made sack lunches earlier in the day with sandwiches, chips and applesauce. After eating, we unpacked our flashlight and headed for the cave. I guess the boys forgot to bring a flashlight last time and were never able to go in the cave, so seeing the inside was a first for all of us.

Here we are near the exit of the cave getting ready to head back on the trail.

The trail, round trip, is supposed to be less than 2 miles so it normally wouldn't take that much time to complete, but with Kyle walking the whole way and stopping for lunch, it took us several hours from start to finish. We had a great time and I'm sure we'll be back again soon.