I'll Always Make Time for You

There are always laughs to be had when children are not sure what is to be taken literally. Now that Blake is getting the hang of the concept, he loves to tell Paige "Ugh, it is just a figure of speech!" (with ubiquitous eye-roll and head shake...which he gets from me...just ask Henry).

My favorite "not literally" moment with Blake was when he was about 3 years old. We were outside doing yard work on the front lawn when he decided he had to go to the bathroom, NOW. I looked around and some of the neighbors were outside so I told him "go pee on the side of the house". After a few seconds, I walked to the side of the house to check on him. He was doing exactly what I told him to do...peeing ON the side of the house. Of course, I just have to laugh because I can't possibly get mad at him for doing exactly what I told him to do.

I had a pretty humorous "not literally" moment with Paige the other day. I made her toast for breakfast and told her to hurry up and eat it because we needed to leave as soon as Daddy got home. Paige does not hurry up and do ANYTHING. She walked away from the table to gather up some of her beloved stuffed animals, leaving her food unattended. This is a huge no-no at our house...a few seconds later I hear Paige shriek (she shrieks a lot) "Bad Ringo". She comes running into the laundry room crying, very upset that Ringo is eating her toast. I told her I could make more. This made her even more upset. "There isn't enough time. You said we had to hurry because we have to leave. I won't have time to eat." So I reassured her by saying, "It is okay. We can make time." Wrong answer. Insert strange facial gesture of anger and confusion mixed with crocodile tears. "YOU CAN'T MAKE TIME. NOBODY CAN MAKE TIME. HOW DO YOU MAKE TIME? YOU CAN'T!" Whoa. My mind was caught between laughing at how much this upset her, being upset at her for yelling at me, and being proud of her understanding of the concept of time. "You are absolutely right sweetheart. No one can make time. It was a figure of speech. What I meant was that we will wait for you to finish eating your breakfast." Thankfully, this appeased her.

I love to try to imagine what is going on in their little brains and how they see things with their level of understanding (strange carry-over from the background in psychology). What I pictured made me giggle...

Mmmmmm...Fresh Batch of Time Comin' Right Up

Be the Puck

The SCSU Hockey Spring League is almost done for the year.  It is such a fun time.  The teams only have games (no practice) and they get to play on the SCSU main rink.  It is pretty exciting for the kids to get to skate the same ice that the Huskies do.  It really great to see their skills improve so much and in such a short amount of time.  They play full ice and there are only 7(?) players on Blake's team as opposed to 35 during the regular season so they get a lot of meaningful ice time.  It is a lot more fun for me to watch the Spring League games too.  They actually turn the heat on in the arena (hear that River Lakes?).  And other than the jersey, they can wear whatever they want for their uniform.  Henry bought Blake a pair of red socks so he is easier to spot.  Now I can actually watch him instead of spending half of the time just trying to find him.  

Blake has had some pretty impressive games the last couple weeks. Grandma and Grandpa Blattner came to watch on Monday so Blake had some incentive to play extra hard.  He scored 5 goals and was pretty pumped.  Henry said he had a great attitude during the entire game which is what makes us, me and Henry, happy...well, seeing him score some goals is nice too.  Keep up the good work Blake!  What an awesome kid.  I wish I could skate half as well as he can.  Maybe next winter he can give me some pointers!

Face-off

Blake with the puck.

Blake (on the ice) as he scored a goal.

Hey, there is that cute coach again!

Life in the 'hood

There are many impromptu gatherings that happen in our neighborhood once the weather warms up. The kids tend to go through phases as to which house they prefer to hang out at. Yesterday, we were the lucky winners. There were 9 kids here playing outside on the trampoline, on the swing set, and in the sand box. Later, they moved the action indoors with some shinny hockey for the boys and playing house for the girls. I love these days. There was no crying, no fighting, and other than a couple jackets left outside, nothing that wasn't put back in it's place when they were done. The crowd dispersed family by family as supper time arrived. 

Boys Turn to Jump

Girls Turn to Jump

Running out of Milestones

We have been trying to get rid of the training wheels since last summer, but Paige was not having it. We tried bribery. We tried threats (mostly empty). We bought her a new pink bike to replace Blake's hand-me-down bike. She wore a helmet and gloves and tennis shoes and knee pads. I got a sore back from holding on to her as she went back and forth in the cul-de-sac. We "threw away" (empty threats, remember) the training wheels. She still didn't care. Did I mention the new bike has a basket AND the dangly pom-pom things on the handle bars. Paige was steadfast in her beliefs, who needs to bike when you can walk or rollerblade! It was so incredibly frustrating because we could tell that she COULD do it, but she just WOULDN'T do it. As soon as Henry or I would let go of the bike she would immediately fall over...and get hurt...and cry. We had all but given up.

The day Paige learned how to ride her bike.

Then came Saturday. It was a beautiful day so we decided to go for a family bike ride. Too bad for Paige, right? We told her she had one chance to try to ride her bike by herself or she wouldn't get to go on the family bike rides with us. (Side note: we make a LOT of bike trips to Dairy Queen in the summer so missing out on the bike rides is a pretty big thing.) She agreed to try. Paige sat on the bike and I gave her a good push. Guess what, that was it! Not only could she ride by herself, but she could stop by herself (without wiping out) and she could get going all by herself. In true to our family fashion, we took it to the next level. After she demonstrated her abilities for a total of about 3 minutes, we went on a 2 mile bike ride. No problems. The next day Henry took the kids on a 3 mile ride. All good. The following day, I had the kids bike along with me on my run. I haven't checked the mileage on it, but we are thinking it was around 3.5 miles. Paige and I did the same route again today. I think that is about her max distance since it just takes too much pedal power to get those little wheels to go long distances. And that is fine because I am a slow runner so it is just a nice casual bike ride for her and an easy short run for me. I love having another activity that we can do together. Paige is so stinkin' hilarious and this provides plenty of conversation time for the two of us without the distractions. My kids never cease to amaze me with their abilities, their drive, and their personalities. They are so fantastic (except for when they aren't so fantastic but fortunately that isn't very often) and they are growing up so fast.

Mr. Cool

Ms. Cool

It is definitely bittersweet. Learning to ride a bike is one of the big milestones. The sad part is that I am reminded that there aren't many "kid" milestones left. To top it off, in true break Mommy's heart fashion, Paige tied her own shoes today before our bike ride. Oh man. I may have to ban her from chewing gum for a few years so I can at least hold on to the 'learning how to blow bubbles' milestone. And, don't even get me started on kindergarten next year...I think I am going to go cry now...

Hoppy Easter!