Do You Know How to Act Like an Aardvark?

Every Monday night we have a family night.  We all take turns picking a treat, an activity/game, etc.  One of the kids' favorite games is "Pretend to Be Animals."  (Doesn't the naming creativity just blow you away?)  We each take turns acting like an animal and everyone has to guess what animal we're pretending to be.  It's nice because even very little kids can usually bark or moo enough to take a turn.  But as our kids are getting older, and more importantly in order to entertain each other, M and I have started digging pretty deep for our animal choices.

The other night, M was crawling around on all fours, yipping, and, near as I could tell, pretending to eat Kate.

G - "You're a coyote?"
M shakes his head
Scott - "You're a dog?"
Claire - "You're a wolf?"
M shakes his head and yips and yips and barks some more.  The kids laugh hysterically.
G - "Okay... you're a hyena?"
M shakes his head and proceeds to mock nibbling Kate some more.  More laughing at Dad's absurd behavior.
G - "So you... eat? babies?"
M nods emphatically.
G - "Wha????"
M continues frantically pantomiming.
G - "I just don't know.  What ARE you???"
Scott - "You're... you're... YOU'RE A STUPID MAN!"

Well Scott, that may typically be true of a grown man who crawls around on all fours, yips, and pretends to eat his daughter, but I'm not sure that's what he was going for.

Anyone want to hazard a guess about what he was pretending to be?  I was too dense to catch on and after I finally stopped laughing at Scott's comment, M had to tell me the answer.

PS - I've found the best way to get someone to guess "aardvark" is to crawl around on all fours while humming the Sesame Street song.

Maybe They Were Getting Paid By the Letter

I was pulling out of a driveway and a street ahead of us had a sign that said, "NOT A THROUGH STREET."

Claire asked me what that meant.  I explained that if you turned onto that street, you couldn't use it get to any other streets.  It didn't go "through."

Then Claire asked me, "Why didn't they just say 'NO OUTLET'?"

I don't know Claire.  I don't know.

What a Waste of Two Thirds of a Cake!

 

Claire and Scott had their birthdays recently.  We didn't do a party this year, but instead we went camping at their request.  (More on that later.)

I finished this birthday banner just in the nick of time.  The concept was part of a church craft day back in October.  I received most of the supplies and just had to pick out my own fabrics.  Which I promptly did in February.  So, obviously, I'm really on top of my crafting.  (Don't even ask what ELSE is half done in my house!)

On a Saturday between their two birthdays, they had to share a cake for our little family celebration of pizza, cake, and ice cream.  They couldn't agree on the cake.

Claire: I want vanilla.

Scott: I want chocolate.

Claire: No!  I want vanilla!

Scott: NO! Chocolate!!!

Claire: Wait!  Nevermind.  I want PINK!

G:  Fine guys, here:

In fact, in order to keep the peace, we'll just go with Neapolitan ice cream too:

And here it is pre-massacre in my beloved cake dome:

(Seriously.  Not witty enough right now to adequately express the irrational love I have for this cake dome.)

Attack of the Easter Eggs

Fat Old Man Eating a Bowl of Cereal Outdoors?

I got a new camera, so...

requisite baby in the bluebonnets shot:

I'm pretty sure your child cannot claim to be a true native Texan unless they can produce photos of themself as a baby posed amidst the Texas state flower.

When Did This Happen?!?!?

The other day, I woke up and realized that I'm a soccer mom.

Like, literally:
 

I'm not sure how this snuck up on me.  I already had three kids, a minivan, and a house in the suburbs, so I should have seen it coming.  But now I'm bonafide.

On the other hand, if being a card-carrying soccer mom is the price to pay for watching this kid literally bounce around the soccer field with enthusiasm she just can't contain... I'll take it!

Not Sure If I'm Looking Back Longingly or Saying Good Riddance

It's barely April, but the last few days have been warm and muggy enough to be a bit uncomfortable.  How is it possible that this photo was taken on my front lawn a mere 6 weeks ago???

Guess that's Texas weather for you!

Maybe I Should Just Wear Long Sleeves For Awhile

You might think I'm crazy for letting this happen, but you need to know that Scott is probably what you would call an "oral" kid.  He puts everything in his mouth. I'm ashamed to admit that I've gotten kind of used to him putting his mouth on me.  A couple Sundays ago, Scott was sitting on my lap in church.  He was slumped over and cuddled up against the inside edge of my upper arm.  I felt that his mouth was probably open, but I didn't think much of it because, like I said, he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth.  I'm a mom.  Drool just doesn't phase me anymore.  But it just felt to me like he had his mouth open and that was it.  However, eventually getting drooled on did get old, so I tried to make him move.  There was this sucking sound as I broke the suction between his mouth and my arm.  I look down and realize he has not just been drooling on my arm, but very gently sucking on my arm.  I was left with a hickey!  FROM! MY! SON!  Granted it was very small and probably nothing someone would notice, but STILL!!!