Adventure with Uncle T

Once again, since school was closed on Friday, I asked Uncle T if he would be interested in watching John for me.  Uncle T said "Just John?  During the day?"  I answered yes to both of his questions and he said "Okay, dress him warm.  We have work to do!" 

Uncle T came to pick up John on Friday morning.  Uncle T already had a truckload of split firewood.  They were going to bring it to Mr. Matt's house.  I headed to work and the boys headed over to Mr. Matt's house.  Miss Brittany texted me to let me know that John was hard at work stacking firewood.  When Mr. Matt got to the office, he also told me that John was working hard (for like 20 minutes).  He also said that he asked Johnny "I heard you are going on a trip."  John put up his little finger (as if to tell Mr. Matt to wait a second), then he responded "Nineteen days!"  Mr. Matt then said "How about I take Aunt Missy's ticket and it would be you, me, and Uncle T in Disney?"  John again raised his little finger to Mr. Matt, thought about it for a second and said "Well I'd have to write Mickey a letter and I don't think he knows you!"

The boys ran a few errands and then headed to the dealership so Uncle T could pick up his paycheck.  When I saw John, he came running over to me.  I asked how his morning was going.  He said "Great!"  I asked him if Uncle T fed him breakfast.  John said "I got a sandwich and milk!"  I asked where they were going next.  Uncle T said "Maybe to get some lunch.  And then to get wood.  John how much wood do we need?"  John said "We need eight pieces for a birdhouse!"  And off they went onto their next stop. 

Later I received a picture message from Uncle T. 

 

That's John in a Dizzy Dragon.  It could only mean one thing!  The boys stopped at iPlay America.  Aunt Missy was a little surprised to see John by himself on the ride.  Uncle T said "John wanted to ride solo.  He's a big boy now!"  John went on a few rides and got to play some games too. 

 

After iPlay, they got something to eat and then went to Uncle T's house to build a birdhouse.  Uncle T got two kits to build two birdhouses.  Uncle T used a tack nailer to help move the process along.  They made the first birdhouse and John convinced Uncle T to use a hammer instead.  Uncle T told me "After my thumb got hit a couple of times, I asked him if we could do it my way."  And they finished the second birdhouse with the nail gun. 

 

 

John had a great day with his Uncle!  Thanks Uncle T!  



Adventure with Grandma & Grandpa

I asked Grandma and Grandpa if they could watch John on Thursday (since schools were closed for the teacher's conference).  Grandma told me, "Well Grandpa has to take Aunt Betty to the airport and I have to teach Aunt Betty's class for the rest of the day.  But John can either go with Grandpa to the airport or with me to school."  I talked to John and he said "Airport!" 

On Thursday morning, John came running into our room.  He was all smiles.  He said to me "You know why I am up so early?"  I said no.  He said "I get to go to an airport for the very first time today!"  I dropped him off at Grandma's and Grandpa's.  He was still excited.  He couldn't sit still.  When I was getting ready to leave, he started to put his jacket back on.  But Grandma stopped him.  She explained that it would be awhile before they needed to go to the airport, but they had some small adventures planned for the beginning of the day. 

Their day consisted of going to the beach and checking out the heavy equipment being used for moving sand and rebuilding the dunes.  He got to stop at Leggetts where Grandpa had to look at a couple of video games.  And John also got to play a couple rounds of golf too!  They also stopped at St. Denis.  I don't remember what they were doing there, but they stopped at St. Denis and John got to go inside the school.  They went to the ice cream store and John helped pick out an ice cream cake for Grandpa's birthday.  Then they went to Aunt Betty's school, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and John got to meet her class.  Grandma stayed to teach the class and Grandpa, Aunt Betty and John headed to the airport. 

Grandpa told me that John had one responsibility at the airport.  John had to remember that they parked in section 403.  So from the parking lot into the airport, John said "403, 403....403."  Then in the airport on the way up the escalator, John turned to some guy walking past them "403!"  John is a very big helper.  I asked him to tell me about the airport.  He said "It's really big!  There's a lot of people there!"  He also told me "And the planes were bigger than the car!"

They got back to Grandma's house and John helped Grandma with dinner.  He got to cut the carrots.  He said "You know!  With the carrot cutter!"

I am so thankful that John was able to spend the day with his grandparents.
   

the moon and the sun

Tonight leaving school, Gillian said "It's dark outside.  Is the moon out?"  I asked her if she could find the moon.  As we got in the car, she said "There it is!  I see it!  Mommy, you see it?"  I told her I couldn't look for it while I was driving, and I asked her to describe it to me.  She said "It looks like a feather."  I guess that makes sense.  Tonight it looked like a thin crescent. 

As we were driving to get John, she told me "The moon and the sun are my friends.  They like me.  They know I help fix your washin' 'chine!  They follow me.  Him is my friend!"  A few weeks ago, Daddy picked up Gillian from school and the two of them went to a local appliance store and bought a part for my broken washing machine.  In the car that night, Gillian told Daddy "The sun is following me.  The sun is my friend.  Him knows I gunna fix Mama's washin' 'chine!"  Daddy and Gilly did fix my washing machine that night, and weeks later she remembers that she declared the sun and the moon her friend because it was following her in the car. 

Candy

We have quite a bit of candy in our house from Halloween.  Every night after dinner, the kids raid the candy bucket.  They are each allowed one big candy bar or two small pieces of candy.  Tonight, the kids each picked two small bags of plain M&Ms.  John ate all of his M&Ms but Gillian took her time.  We were still waiting for her to finish when it was time for the kids to take a bath.  John said "Gill hurry up and eat your L-a-Lems!"  Like usual, I made him say it like ten more times.  He doesn't have much patience for me anymore.  And he asked "Well, what are they call?"  Before I could answer, Gillian said "Nem-Nems!"  I taught him how to properly pronounce M&Ms, after I got a video of them saying it incorrectly.

going to the doctor

Gillian woke up around 3:30 this morning coughing.  Daddy calmed her down and got her to go back to sleep.  Daddy had today off and he told me this morning that he thought Gillian should stay home from school today.  He thought that her cough was really bad.  John only had a half a day of school today and we had previously scheduled his annual exam for this afternoon.  When I got to work, I called the pediatrician and asked if we could bring Gillian to John's appointment.  They had no problem with adding Gillian and Daddy took both of them to the doctor's office this afternoon.

Gillian went first.  Dr. Yee directed all of her questions to Gillian.  She asked "What's wrong?"  Gillian said "I coughing.  I coughing a lot!"  Dr. Yee asked "Is the cough worse at night?"  Daddy said "Yes."  Gillian said "Yes.  I cough at night."  Dr. Yee prescribed an antibiotic and a cough syrup. 

Next was John's turn.  John was a big boy during his appointment.  Dr. Yee directed all of her questions to John.  He was very polite and answered all of her questions.  He got weighted and measured.  In one year, he has grown 3 inches and gained 5 pounds.  He also had to get his flu shot (the first time he had a shot in his arm).  He was scared, but Daddy held him tight and Dr. Yee was quick.  He didn't cry.  He was tough.  I'm so proud of him.  While John got dressed, Dr. Yee took Gillian down the hall to pick out lollipops for both of them. 

When I got home, I asked them about their adventure at the doctor's office.  John said "I got a shot.  It hurt really bad, but it doesn't hurt now."  Gillian said "I didn't get any needle-shots.  But Johnny did!  I got a lollipop!"

The Batwing Megazord

John had half a day at school on Friday and he spent majority of the day in Time+.  I picked him up first and in the car he told me that he and two other boys came up with a great idea during Time+.  He told me: "Someone read a book about teeth.  And we decided that we would make the ultimate fighter.  I will be a narwhal and someone else would be a shark and the other guy would be an elephant.  And we would be rich.  Wanna know how we are going to be rich?  Well the elephant would work on cars, because he could lift them up.  I would tie a string to my tooth and catch fish.  And did you know that shark loose their teeth every day?  Well he would just put his teeth under his pillow and the tooth fairy will leave him money."

I thought this was the end of the story with the narwhal, elephant and the shark.  But it didn't end in there.  He talked to me the entire car ride to go and pick up Gillian.  The car ride from school to home.  And when he saw Daddy, he told him all about his idea.  He also decided that the three of them could combine to become a "Megazord."  After dinner, he sat and drew out plans for a "Batwing" and some weapons that each of them would carry. 

Today, he decided when all three of them combine into the Megazord, and use the Batwing they become "The Batwing Megazord."  I'm not really sure I understand all of his logic.  But I am glad that he is using his imagination.        

Halloween 2013

Halloween was a little different for the kids this year. 

Gillian was able to wear her Minnie Mouse costume to school on Halloween.  TLC normally has a parade in the morning and then Gillian's class had a party in the afternoon.  She had a huge bag of treats when I picked her up from school.

John, on the other hand, wasn't allowed to wear his Ninja costume to school.  He had to bring it to school and then the kids all got dressed in their costumes before they had an indoor parade.  Luckily, John's costume wasn't hard to put on and he really didn't need a lot of assistance.  He told me that they also had a party with snacks and each of the kids in his class got to decorate a little pumpkin. 

We picked up the kids from school and headed to my mom's house for trick-or-treating.  We stopped for a quick picture in front of Grandma's house and then we were on our way.  Gillian stayed behind the boys at the first house.  Since Sandy ruined Halloween last year and the year before that she was too small to really understand anything, it was Gillian's first real year for trick-or-treating.  It didn't take her long before she was running ahead of the boys to get to the next house.  She was polite and always said "Thank you!"  We were about five houses from Grandma's when I realized that we should change her shoes.  She was wearing her little Minnie Mouse pumps and they were really slowing her down.  I finally got her to change into her sneakers, about two blocks later.  She is a very determined little lady. 

We got to one house and lady that answered the door offered candy to the adults.  We all politely said "No thank you."  John said "It's okay, they just take it from us when we get home."  Wow, thanks for giving away our secret!

At another house, Gillian met another Minnie Mouse.  I'm not sure which one was more excited, Gillian or the little girl.

At yet another house, John went to the door, rang the bell and said "Trick or Treat."  He was able to pick his candy and came running back to us.  Before that lady closed the door, John shouted to me "Mom!  I got the orange kind.  The ones you like!"   

We stopped at Olga's house (a long-time neighbor of my Mom & Dad).  She let us come inside and she had a big tray of candy.  We told the kids, "Just one piece."  Olga said "No, it's okay they can have a few because I think I am done for the night."  John probably took three or four pieces of candy.  Gillian, on the other hand, kept taking pieces of candy and putting them in her bag.  I was busy talking to Olga, when I looked back at the kids there was a big empty spot on the tray by Gillian.  She probably snagged ten pieces.  Sneaky little girl.

We got back to Grandma's house and had some yummy soup and brownies for dessert.  Overall a pretty awesome Halloween!