better shopping

Today we went to Lowe's with Gran again, this time to look at stuff for our own house rather than the lake. We were standing at the Project Desk, trying to figure out what we needed for the roofing project, and Dennis got a little bored. He didn't do that awful whining he's been doing lately, though. Instead he piped up with "Mommy, you are a very bad person, and you need to be in jail". He handed me an orange file storage crate and told me to put it over my head and arms. I complied just to hear his giggle. He and I took off to look at other things and ended up getting a slide for his play set. It barely fit in the van and he had such fun rolling his fire trucks on it while we were on the road. Dennis also helped me select a few slate tiles for our fireplace installation project. He held and expected each tile and decided which ones we needed. He is very excited about both purchases!

He was actually so much better today than he's been in a whole month of shopping trips, and we were happy to stop in at Chick-Fil-A and let him play on their air-conditioned indoor playground as long as he wanted. I didn't have to climb into a hamster tube to fetch him--I motioned to him to come out, and he motioned back that he was going down the slide one more time. Then he put his shoes on and came out under his own steam. I'm so proud! No crying!

3 year checkup

We visited the pediatrician today for his checkup, and he's well ahead of his milestones. He's of average height, and above average weight, but we aren't too concerned. He was wearing size 2T shorts today and they fit fine. He's normal sized and well proportioned, but we are going to cut back on his juice intake. He loves the stuff, even though we've always diluted it with water. His teeth will appreciate the new regimen, I'm sure. I was pleased that he enjoyed chatting with the doc about his favorite Dr. Seuss books ("I like to read Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" he said and then they talked about several of the other ones). When she asked me if he could pedal a tricycle, he told her "I have a big boy bike". She asked if he wore a helmet every time he rode and he said "yes, helmets protect our heads". He didn't so much enjoy getting his shots, though, so he asked for a sticker. The doc herself got him one and then applied a truly awesome giraffe temporary tattoo to his arm. He is very proud of it.

We spent the rest of our day at the lake with Gran, Ellen, and Chloe. The kids had great fun playing together, and they set up their own restaurant out on the porch where they served Ellen a deluxe pretend meal. Then they made a zoo, moving the chairs around to be animal cages and created what they called a "lockup". It's so much fun to watch creativity running wild!

yuck-ness

We spent today home sick. We all have that wretched cough again. It never completely disappeared before, but we were not coughing as hard or as frequent there for a while. Today we were all hacking grossly and productively, so we quarantined ourselves and had a 'horizontal festival' at home. Dennis read books and watched Mighty Machines DVDs for long portions of the day when he wasn't pretending to be a cowboy wearing David's socks as chaps. He was ravenously hungry all day as well. David and I occupied the couch and bed respectively, and none of us were at all motivated to be active, especially not with outdoor temps so near 100.

Dennis shot at us Bad Guys a few times today with an empty water gun, and he told us we were bad and he was taking us to jail. He decided we were too sick to go, though, so I guess we've been pardoned!

super everything

Every move Dennis made today was under the guise of Superhero Dennis. He came into the den, assumed his pose, and announced that he was available if we needed any rescuing. He said "I will save the day--tell me if you are in trouble". Then he left. He checked with us periodically to see if we needed any saving, so David wrapped me up in a belt and I yelled for help. He yelled "Superhero Dennis is on the way" and then we waited and waited. I yelled for help again and we heard "I am having some trouble with my Super Bike" but he soon came riding down the hallway to my rescue.

Later, we saw him doing the kind of wriggling dance that had us insisting he go to the bathroom. He ran out of the room and then got on his scooter, pointed his finger toward the sky and said "Superhero Dennis to the potty" as he scooted down the hall to the bathroom. It's sure handy to have a hero in the house!

In flight entertainment

I was sitting on the couch this morning having breakfast when Dennis ran into the room and said "I've got to go Mommy! I am flying to Washington to see Caedmon and Mirella". I replied that he should have fun and he said "tell me to have a nice trip" so I did. He stuck his arms straight our from his sides and ran down the hallway while making airplane noises. He ran back in and said "now I am here in Washington, Mommy, you be Caedmon and I will play with you". We played with a puzzle for a minute or two and then he said he had to get on the airplane and fly home. I greeted him when he returned and he told me "I sure did have a fun time in Washington!". The next time he sees his cousins, they'll be Texans. I hope he's as excited about visiting there!

oh yeah, the chores!

I am possibly the world's worst housekeeper when it comes to my own home. Since I seem to have snapped out of my recent bout of depression, I began cleaning today. Dennis was again very well behaved. Our interactions have been kind of limited, though, since he doesn't want to have any part of cleaning and he knows I'm going to be making him help me with his room later. He has on numerous occasions brought in his wooden shotgun and aimed it at me and said "Mommy, be a bad guy and I'm going to pow you". I complied for the first, oh, two dozen times (adopting various bad guy personas), and then I happened to wonder what we are teaching him by this. David (Evil Winn Dixie Man) refused to bow to the shotgun when I mentioned my concern and told Dennis that he only way he could be defeated was with hugs! Dennis hugged him and then David told him that he was reformed, that the hug turned him into a good guy. Brilliant!

I often dance around while I clean the house because usually I don't have an audience. Sometimes Dennis catches me at it and laughs and says "Mommy, stop that dancing right now" because he clearly recognizes that I lack any sort of dance ability. I just know I'm going to be an embarrassment to him one day. That's what parents are for, isn't it?

home time improvement

Yesterday I was flat out depressed and basically couldn't function, but today I am happy to report that things are looking up. I thought I was past those dark days of my younger years, but sometimes things still pile up on me and I don't know how to handle it. It sure is hard to be a parent at those times, but Dennis knew I was sad and was pretty easy on me. He took a very long nap and then said he wanted to play in his room. Just what I needed! He periodically yesterday and today came out of his room to come and say "I'm just here to snuggle with you for two minutes, and then I have to go back and play". I don't know where the two minutes came from, but I appreciate his cuddling and hugs.

So we stayed home today. I had wanted to go to church this morning, but I still wasn't back to myself. And I discovered something. Dennis was SO good today. I think he needed time at home by himself! With our trip to Florida and then days spent shopping for hours with Gran, he didn't get his playtime in. He has been so pleasant and happy and there have been much fewer tantrums! We might just stay home tomorrow too, if that's what he wants. I have noticed that all three of us have begun coughing more and more, so we must be relapsing with whatever that bronchial stuff that we were all dealing with before. Yuck. Dennis spent a good bit of today in his bed, watching Mighty Machines or having me read to him. I guess a return to a slower pace for a few days was just what we needed, and maybe it'll help us get well again!

Dinner with Daddy

Dennis and I had another long day of shopping with Gran, more stuff for the lake house mini remodel. He slept through the textile store while in his stroller, and that made it a more pleasant experience for me! When I got home tonight, David thought I looked kind of fried, so he told me to go take some time in our room with the door closed, so I did. Dennis was kind of a wild man at some points of the day, screaming his disapproval of our not purchasing toys for him. I told him we weren't buying anything and he yelled "don't talk back to me Mommy" or "stop fighting with me Mommy". It did get to me after a while! So David fed him supper and snapped this pick of him eating in his hard hat. That is so Dennis!

Dennis-isms

Instead of my usual nighttime t-shirt, I wore a strappy gown to bed last night. When Dennis pounced on me this morning, he immediately asked "Mommy, what are you wearing?". I replied that it was a nightgown and he said "no it's not, it's a swimsuit gown. I don't like it." I told him that I liked it and I was the one who got to wear it.

Tonight he picked up a dry paintbrush and held it up and announced in his best info-mercial voice "This is the Paintbrush 3000." And then he began demonstrating how useful it is. All over the wall. Thank goodness we had no open paint cans lying around!

He didn't much enjoy our shopping trip today. He was bored to pieces at Lowe's, and after a lengthy light fixture discernment process, we were finally ready to go. At the register, I knelt down to talk to him in his stroller, and I asked if he was so miserable because it wasn't a very fun store for kids. He said "Lowe's is a sad store. And it's loud."

slow day back home

You know how it is after a vacation. There's stuff to unpack, and if you're like me, you're exhausted from doing too many activities while on vacation! We crammed a lot into our two days away even though it seemed relaxing at the time. Dennis didn't get up until after nine this morning, and all three of us were moving slow today. David had to go to work at noon, and Dennis and I pretty much lazed around until he came home for lunch at four! Then we scrambled to get ourselves ready to go to church. Tonight was the last night of this particular Wednesday night session, and we had a low attendance in Dennis' class tonight. Gran was my helper and we had a fairly easy time of it. Tonight was all about The Good Samaritan, and the kids took turns playing 'Samaritan' as they pulled another kid across the room in a wagon, and then they got to do another 'Samaritan' duty as they bandaged up stuffed animal patients with colorful band-aids. This particular activity was a huge hit!

Dennis has decided he no longer likes to eat at home. Every time he gets hungry, he says "can we go to a restaurant now?" and gets upset when we don't. This started at the beach as we were passing a crab restaurant with Christmas lights up, open patio seating, and live music playing. He wanted to eat there. Heck, I wanted to eat there! He said "I want to go to that crab restaurant" and we deduced that he read the word crab because there wasn't a picture of one on the sign. I'm so proud. This also is not one of his words on the learning program.

fun day in Pensacola

We noticed on the board at the hotel that the Blue Angels were having practice this morning, so we woke Dennis up in time to make it to the Naval Air Station to see them fly. David and I first got together on a trip to see the Blue Angels perform at the same spot where we saw them this morning, almost 18 years ago, and we talked about how we never imagined that we'd be bringing a child to enjoy it years in the future. Dennis liked the jets but the noise bothered him. We'll know to get headphones for him next time. He did REALLY enjoy the National Naval Aviation Museum, which has really gotten huge in the years since we last visited.

After the museum, we went back to the hotel to pack up, and then we headed to Gulf Islands National Seashore. Dennis took his National Park Passport book in to the park ranger and asked for a stamp (he got 3 today from the places we visited in the park), and she was delighted to see it and give him a stamp. We decided to go and visit Fort Pickens since Dennis has never before seen a Civil War era military fort. He absolutely loved all the tunnels and secret passages, proclaiming himself alternately a park ranger or a soldier as he led us through the fort. He showed no fear of dark tunnels and headed into them without a second thought. He informed me "I am not afraid of scary dark tunnels, Mommy, and I'm not scared of monsters any more either." Thrilling news--let's hope it lasts beyond today.

He worried so much over the oil spill as we looked at the beach. We did see a number of cleanup crews hard at work on the sand, and Dennis was upset that the beach might be ruined by the oil. We didn't ever see oil on either the sand or the water, so I presume the crews are doing a great job. The vans we saw transported teams from as far away as North Carolina and Texas, and I wish we'd had time to get involved and clean up something ourselves. Perhaps in the very near future we can return and help. I think it would make Dennis feel good to help (and I know it would be rewarding for us). As it was, he wanted to stop and give the volunteers his Capri-Sun because it was hot outside and he thought they needed a drink.

Dennis made some funny beach observations on this trip. Last night he said, as we were leaving the beach and sand was getting everywhere, "somebody sure made a mess of that beautiful white beach when they put all that sand there". David loved this statement, and he laughed again this morning when Dennis told us as he walked through the sand at the fort "sand sure is hot and messy". I bet he'll play in it just as hard next time, though.

from Pensacola

We drove to the Gulf Coast today. Dennis made it the entire way without any electronic entertainment--we are so pleased! For a while, it looked as if we were going to be doing the Gas Station Bathroom Tour of South Alabama, but he fell aleep for the last hour of the trip and we were able to get some good mileage in! The first thing we did? SWIMMING! Our room is very convenient to the pool, and Dennis spotted it right away and asked if we could swim. We had such fun playing in the pool!

We got all dry and decided to explore the area a bit. We drove to Pensacola Beach and walked along the boardwalk shops and along the docks at Quietwater Beach, taking a brief stroll in the sand along the water's edge. We shopped and then enjoyed some ice cream before driving over to the other side of the island to the real beach! Dennis played happily in the sand, covering himself and everything in his vicinity. We put our feet in the ocean and did our best to keep him from running straight into the sea. David found his first intact sand dollar (something I've never done), and Dennis built a sand volcano. And I discovered that baby powder really does take sand right off skin!

We had a late supper back in our hotel room and Dennis is settled in and watching one of his reading videos. A minute ago, he came to snuggle with me, and he asked "Daddy, could you please go and turn the TV just a little bit? So I can see it from here... Please--just go turn it!". David didn't go for it. We're going to try to turn in early so we might can make it to the Blue Angels practice session tomorrow morning. Very exciting.

there's an app for that

I talk about my iPhone too much. I am amazed that something so small can do so much, and I LOVE all the apps I've acquired that teach useful things to Dennis. That's not what this post is about, though. I saw a YouTube video about dueling Talking Carls, and I had to see what it was about. The program features a cute red creature that repeats everything you say but in a higher-pitched voice, so this video on YouTube showed what happens when you put two iPhones running Talking Carl side-by-side and get them talking to each other. Each time, the pitch gets higher, so they are basically just screaming at each other over and over. I thought it was hilarious, and I downloaded Talking Carl. Dennis LOVES him. He got all the way through the grocery store carrying on a conversation with the thing, and he got louder and funnier as we progressed through the store. He and 'Carl' were singing the alphabet song and Twinkle Twinkle, and you could have just smiled yourself to pieces from all the cuteness.

Another favorite iPhone feature? The iPod that contains a playlist of all of Dennis' classical music that he listened to as a baby. When he's fighting a nap, I play it (the iPhone has a speaker whereas my old iPod did not) and he zonks right out. Magic. Every parent should have one. Or two, if they ever want to use it themselves.

the goodness is gone

As delighted as I was with his behavior up to the arrival of his reward Diesel 10, I was dismayed to see him return to Tantrum Man today. He threw at least six of what I call mini-tantrums, the kind of episode where he scream-whines "NOOOOOO!" when you ask him to do something and then goes completely boneless and lies in the floor. This makes it difficult to scoop him up, but that's what I do. I've been reading that parenting book from the church library that advocates attempting to understand the reason behind the behavior, and each mini-tantrum had me asking him if he felt sad or angry or whatever. By the sixth one, though, he actually earned a swat on the behind. I understand the hysterics at Wal-Mart, though, because he really wanted a toy (despite the fact he'd just gotten Gran to buy him a toy VW bus at the drugstore before we even got to Wal-Mart). I got angry about the three screaming fits when I was trying to get him to leave Uncle Denny's house, though, even though I knew it was because he didn't want to nap and he knew that's where he was headed. He wouldn't even walk across the parking area and kept going limp so that I was practically dragging him instead of holding his hand as he walked. So frustrating.

Today was really an exercise in holding my temper, and I succeeded for the most part. I spanked/swatted him the one time, but I had threatened to do just that and had to follow through to keep my credibility. He's especially been testing me lately to see if I am going to do what I say I'm going to do. So here's the thing that got to me the most: this morning, as he was leaving the bathroom, he locked the door before he closed it. When I had to go, I couldn't get in. It wasn't a tragedy--I just popped a bent wire hanger through the hole and got right in. We had a discussion about NOT locking doors, and he said "yes ma'am" when I asked if he understood. I thought we were done. He did the same thing at the lake just two hours later, and the lake bathroom door has a keyed lock on it (something none of us had ever noticed before). I didn't know he'd done it until he announced the impending arrival of Number Two and we couldn't get into the bathroom. Gran used her insurance card to break in. And we had ANOTHER discussion about locking the door. This time he appeared more contrite.

He kept us in stitches on the drive home, pretending to call Grandma on his chocolate milk bottle. He put his mouth in the opening to talk, and his voice was mostly trapped inside, so he said "help, get me out!" and really got us laughing. Since he loves to make us laugh, he kept on and on, as well as carrying on imaginary phone conversations. He tried to hand the 'phone' to me, and I asked him to just put me on speaker-cup. We had such fun laughing together that it makes up for the times when I get frustrated. The rewards of parenting more than make up for the difficulty!

shopping with Gran and Pop

Today didn't go like I had initially planned. I was going to work at Curves in the morning and then go and finish my painting job at the lake. A few thunderstorms later, we decided to go and help Gran and Pop pick out a new computer tower to replace the one that bit the dust at their house. Dennis doesn't love shopping at Best Buy, but I figured he could endure it for one day. As a matter of fact, he endured Best Buy, Publix, and dinner at Logan's (because Best Buy sets up your computer for you, so you can't pick it up for a few hours). He was completely exhausted, having skipped his nap, and I am amazed he even made it through dinner. We waited a long time for our food to come (hey, Friday night is Date Night, and they were so crowded), but Logan's provides a bucket of peanuts for patrons to shell and eat, one per table. Dennis spent a very happy 20 minutes shelling and eating peanuts and tossing the hulls onto the floor. Naturally he fell asleep in the car as soon as we got out of there.

Today marked the culmination of his week of anticipating the arrival of Diesel 10. Last week, he discovered a folded-up Thomas the Train catalog and asked for each individual thing on the list for Christmas. He particularly wanted a Diesel 10. Diesel 10 is a mean engine, scary actually, from the Thomas and the Magic Railroad movie (think Thomas meets Willy Wonka--it's a bizarre one), so I can't imagine why Dennis wanted to add him to the collection. He asked daily, and I searched ebay and found one that would cost me less than $4 total. Diesel 10 arrived today, and Dennis was THRILLED. He's been good all week, hoping Santa might send an early present. Diesel 10 arrived from Honolulu actually, but now he's traveled all over central Alabama. He still plays with fire trucks every day, but he seems to have rediscovered his love of trains. He's such a boy!

defining moments

I had a very busy day today, cleaning, painting, child-rearing... I did leave Dennis in Gran's care for a period of time this afternoon (and again tonight), and during this time, a thunderstorm came upon the lake (naturally just after I finished my painting for the day). Gran reports to me that Dennis didn't like the thunder and told her it was too loud. She said it was quiet except for the storm, and he told her "that's what I'm talking about, Gran, the storm is too loud!". So he walked to the door and looked out and told her "I want to say a prayer". She tells me that he prayed to Jesus to help him not to be scared, to stop the storm, and to help him grow up to be a good boy. When she told me this tonight, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love for the Lord. I remembered a time a couple of months back when we were home together and he was scared of a storm, and we prayed together. I have told him a few times that he could pray when he was scared or happy or sad, that Jesus was always listening, and I am so thrilled that he can be comforted by prayer even at his young age. He is so special!

Man Day 2010

Dennis knew it was Man Day, so he didn't have all that much to do with me this morning. He kept saying "Mommy is not coming with us because it is Man Day, right Daddy?". David took him to the Southern Museum of Flight today and they had the kids' room completely to themselves for nearly an hour while they constructed Lego airports and runways and planes and helicopters. They lunched together and then shopped at the Galleria mall, where there is a Lego store. There are also two toy stores on site, and he was one happy little escalator-riding guy. He apparently preferred the escalator over the carousel (so David saved a couple of bucks), and when it was time to leave and head home, Dennis loudly announced that he did NOT want to go and see his Mommy. He wanted to shop more. As a matter of fact, he fell asleep on the way home, and much later, when he discovered me in the car with them, he was so mad that he cried. He told me that he wanted to go back to the toy store and not to church. Fortunately, he got over it and was actually fairly well behaved at church. Only one more week of teaching those little guys and then summer session is over. I might actually miss them! The picture shows Dennis and Grace modeling their 'robes' that we made after reading about how the Prodigal Son's father presented him with a beautiful robe and ring and shoes upon his return.

one-sided bonk

I was pounced upon in bed this morning! Dennis came into my room loudly asking "Are you not up yet, Mommy?" and reporting "the sun is up and it's daytime now". Since it was close to 9, I didn't really have a need to complain. He was right. He climbed up on top of me and said "let's play bonk" as he bonked my head with his (and I still think ever so fondly of my brother whenever I'm surprised with a game of 'bonk'). I leaned up to bonk back, but he stopped me and said "No, don't bonk me, Mommy, my head is special". So I put my own un-special head back on the pillow and took 5 more minutes for myself.

back to quiet time at home

Today I had plans to do all kinds of things, but I was excited when it turned out that I stayed home all day. David had a floor repair to do at a house nearby, and I was thrilled when he wanted to stay in after he got home. Dennis was very low key today, happy to be reunited with HIS space that he didn't have to share with anyone. He spent a good portion of the day playing with his trains in his room, but he'd come and chat with me every once in a while. We read tons of books today, and he wrote with his brand new pencils in his brand new notebook for a while, telling me about the mountains he was drawing and the beach he wanted me to help him draw. It's nice that he's into vacation and travel art! And it was so nice to spend a day at home for once.

Speaking of vacation and travel, he's been talking incessantly about Disney World, and we're just two months away from that particular trip. We have our Give-A-Day, Get-A-Day ticket vouchers (community service we performed for free tickets!), and we're headed to the Magic Kingdom. David and I thought it would be fun to fuel the fire a little, so we showed him the promotional Disney DVD that came in the mail, showing the parks and how to plan your vacation. We would ask him if a ride looked fun, and he'd just nod his head and stare wide-eyed at the screen. Sometimes he'd say "Can I ride that one, too?". He can't wait. Neither can David! I am excited as well, not just to do Disney, but also because I've discovered that our resort has a bike trail and a lake with rental boats, a miniature golf course, and they have on-site babysitting with activities! We may not even use the babysitting service, but me might go to one of the family night kind of activites and let Dennis do an art project or something. Not to mention how excited I am about the three big pools and two kids' pools! It's really a trip to anticipate.

could be on a t-shirt

As Dennis and I arrived home from our morning at church and then lunch with Grandma, he plopped down on the floor and said the cutest thing. "We're home! You know what, Mommy? Home is where you take your shoes off!" and he proceeded to do exactly that!

We dropped the girls off with their mother after church, and though I enjoyed them both so much, you can't know how relieved I am to only have ONE child in my care again! He has spent his day relaxing, telling me how glad he is that the girls aren't coming here to mess with his toys. Laine reported that Dennis poked some kid in the eye this morning in Sunday School, and I am just mortified. I am already halfway through the 'Positive Discipline for Preschoolers' book I picked up from the church library today!

Mermaid tea party

When we offered to keep Emily and Laine today, I tried my best to think of what to do with girls. We decided on a tea party, which horrified Dennis. He said "I don't want to go to a mermaid tea party (this was my theme), those are for girls! I want to come and have a mermaid man party with Uncle Denny".

It wasn't so bad for him, though. We picked up the girls this morning, played at the playground, and stopped for refreshments before heading to the lake. Being a mother of a boy, I wasn't prepared to have to care for an assortment of stuffed animals and a baby doll along with my human charges. You haven't lived until you've fulfilled a six-year-old's request to make her stuffed dog do the monkey bars. I pushed 4 swings at the park today: Laine's, Emily's, Dennis', and "Brownie's".

The kids happily accessorized with the beads, wigs, and hats I provided, and we all enjoyed kool-aid, sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and dessert before jumping into the lake. I had recruited help for today, so there were five adults and six children, not too bad a ratio! Chloe and her parents joined us, along with Gran, and Laura and Mary Beth came over with their Mom. We jumped in and swam, tossed children in at their request, piggy-back jumped with kids on our backs, all for the sake of entertainment. It was great fun. I wish Dennis hadn't been so territorial (or whatever it was), pushing a girl off the dock, dunking another one, smacking a cousin in the mouth, fighting over toys... Thank goodness we all had on our life jackets! I wouldn't have allowed otherwise, not with so many kids in the water!

By the end of the evening, we were watching eight children play on the Halls' newly refurbished swingset, as they had some friends over. The boat ride that both households went out on was exciting, if a bit rainy! I think Laine and Emily had fun, and I know Dennis did. We were one exhausted group of folks tonight!

imaginary bathroom attendant

All evening, whenever Dennis has moved from one room to another, he has been telling us "I need a grown-up to come with me.". We finally insisted he go to the bathroom by himself, and in a few minutes, he reported back to us. He looked incredulous and said "There's a little man in the bathroom and he told me not to go through the big gate". Now, we knew there wasn't a person in our bathroom, but we looked at each other and simultaneously got up and walked back there. We checked the 'gate' that closes off the water heater as well. Dennis laughed at us, of course. It might take me a while to get to sleep tonight!

quote of the day

I heard him say this on at least three separate occasions today, mostly to me but once to David as well. "Mommy (or Daddy) STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!!!" he said. Though I explained to him that it was our job to tell him what to do, and that the things we were telling him (e.g. 'Don't run out into the parking lot' or 'stop touching everything in the public bathroom') were to keep him safe and healthy. I think he needs to feel that he can make some decisions for himself. He chooses his own breakfasts and lunches, and he decides what games to play, toys to use, or shows to watch, but that isn't enough apparently. Perhaps it's time to start letting him decide bigger things, though I can't imagine what those things should be...

materialism!

Dennis discovered a Thomas the Train brochure in a drawer today. It lists all the trains and play sets that are available for purchase. He studied it for a long time, carrying it around with him, and he finally brought it to me and pointed out each train and said "I would like to get this train for Christmas" and "Can I have this one for Christmas, too?" and "I sure would like to get this set for Christmas, Mommy". He would ask me "what does this say?" and I would reply with, say, 'Trevor' if that was the name of the train he was pointing to, and he would say "I sure I hope I get Trevor for Christmas." I tried to use this to my advantage and tell him that he needed to start being good if he wanted all that stuff for Christmas. It didn't work so much. This week we're having fits of flagrant disobedience, something we're not used to from Dennis. He screams "NO" and pushes us when we tell him it's bedtime. He whines and cries when we tell him to do something. He yells "NO!" when we tell him to go to Time Out. We are shocked and trying to come up with alternate parenting strategies where we aren't angry and yelling back at him all the time. Surely it's a phase, and let's hope it's a short one!

summertime sick day

We had every intention of returning to the lake today to spend the night and wake up there to do some work. We are all three still coughing from the illness that we basically ignored all weekend. Now we're paying the price. Dennis said he was tired, and he spent the majority of his day snuggled under his covers and playing games and watching movies. I did the same. I tried to pack, but for every two minutes of packing, I had to spend ten resting. When David got home after nine, he was coughing too hard to speak, so we nixed our lake plans.

Dennis did come into the room after I finished reading a book to him, assumed his 'coach' pose (legs apart, one hand on hip, other arm extending a pointing finger in my direction) and said "stop that singing, Mommy" and walked away for a second to get another book. He immediately stepped back in and said "and you be careful with my book--it's breakable."

farewell 4th friends

Dennis and I arrived at the lake in time to see Julia, Steve, and Monte off to Tennessee, and then we lunched and swam for hours! Just when I had decided to heed Dennis' begging to go back inside (my idea was for him to nap whereas his idea involved playing), Laura and Mary Beth came over to join us swimming, and Dennis happily played in the lake for another hour! They jumped in and did tricks and got a big water cannon battle started where the kids were shooting at the adults. We had great fun for quite a while before we made them get out (bribing with homemade ice cream helped a little).

Dennis took a long nap, I sat alone with my computer, and the others took the boat out on a cruise. David joined us for supper and we enjoyed our last bit of visiting with Gigi before she heads home tomorrow. We sure did have perfect weather and perfect fun!

This morning, Dennis told me "don't open the door and smash my feet, Mommy. My feet are special from Jesus!". I agree.

happy 4th 2010

Today was a little more low-key. We met up with the family and went shopping in Prattville today for a little while before returning to the lake to swim and play again. Tonight we enjoyed a very delicious homemade fried chicken dinner all together, and we enjoyed some serious campfire time once the sun set. We explained to Dennis that it was our country's birthday and that's why we were celebrating. We had planned to go into town to see the fireworks there, but Dennis decided he didn't want to do that. I left him at the lake with everyone while I went to fetch David from work, and we returned to another marsmallow roast and some random firework displays around the lake. We enjoyed the last big family evening together before everyone leaves for their homes. It was an absolutely perfect summer holiday weekend!

ultimate summer experience

Oh the fun we had today! Swimming, floating, and splashing and jumping off the dock doing tricks--all things most of us enjoyed today. After a day in the water, we made ice cream (peach ice cream and chocolate ice cream), enjoyed some excellent grilled ribs and chicken, roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and took a boat ride to see the fireworks on the lake. We danced around in glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces and headbands. We enjoyed every minute of today, actually celebrating our Independence Day a day early!

Dennis loved swimming and jumping in and squirting everyone with his water cannon. He was getting exhausted by the time the fireworks started, though, and begged us to let him go to bed at home. We put him down in the bed at the lake and when we got him back up to go home, he cried just pitifully. He cried a good bit on the way home, in a tone we hadn't heard before. We knew he didn't feel good, and when we were almost home, he threw up a few times. He cried over that, too, and cried through his bath, and after that, he propped up in bed on pillows and watched a movie. He seemed fine after that. He didn't have any fever at all, and we think it was just all the excitement and activity and rich food, maybe some lake water, maybe the combination of all of the above with his antibiotic... Who knows? It was definitely a party-til-you-puke day!

actual reading

We were on our way to the lake house today when we passed a political sign for Dave Hayden (running for school superintendent). Dennis said from the backseat all of a sudden "What does Hayden mean? Is there hay? Where's the hay? Is there hay for the horses?". Since we've not ever mentioned this particular name, we can only presume he read it for himself. I was shocked and super impressed at his brilliance!

We had a fun evening at the lake with Ju-Ju and Steve, Monte, Gigi, Allison, Gran and Pop, and Grandma and Bob. We had excellent barbecue for supper and several of us enjoyed some swimming time. We're gearing up for a big party day tomorrow!

first stage performance

Oh how adorable! I got to see Dennis sing and dance with his class tonight at the vacation bible school closing ceremony. I have a video of his entire performance. The first few seconds show him staring out at everyone and doing nothing, but then you see him start to do some of the movements along with the other children (and a step behind most of the time). And after that he started singing as well and really got into it--he marched and danced in place as he sang. It was just wonderful! He didn't pick his nose or do anything equally embarrassing while onstage. I was so proud! And then he enjoyed hanging out with Gigi and me at the church ice cream social. I know he'll miss VBS, but we fortunately have a big weekend of partying scheduled at the lake.