Kids Say the Darnest Things

Can anyone explain where this idea came from??

Question from Ryan:
Mommy, when Dad got married were you in a cage?

One More Reason Why Mom Doesn't Have to Fly to Florida This Summer

For the past few summers my mom has flown to Florida to work for me (pro bono) taking care of my children and doing various jobs (big jobs, most of them) around the house for two weeks while I was away acting as a chaperone at Youth Conference and Girls Camp.

Now I have one more reason why my mom won't have to come this summer. First of all, she is unavailable this year since she will be doing projects in her own house in Maine getting ready for our family reunion this July. Secondly, I have arranged for other babysitters in the form of my sister-in-law and nieces who will be moving two doors down from us next month.

Lastly, after seven years of being a homeowner, I have finally pruned my own bushes! Not only is this my first time pruning bushes as a homeowner, it is my first time ever! I won't have to wait for my mom to visit to get it done anymore. I only did the bushes right in front of the house today, but I am feeling surprisingly motivated to do some yard maintenance. I hope to trim all of the bushes around the house and yard over the next week or so.
Yesterday I weeded half of our front island. That might not sound like much, but I worked for quite a while rescuing a poor azalea bush that was being choked by "brambles". I dug up about twenty "tubers" - the roots of the "pokey-bushes" that were climbing all over the azalea. Here is a photo of one of them. Somehow, you just don't get that same feeling of satisfaction looking at the photo as you do digging it up. I was shouting "hurray" after each one that I removed. I also removed quite a few baby oak trees - although they didn't all feel like babies trees when I was pulling them up. I actually broke my weed tool in the process! (Sorry, no photo of that.)

Here is a photo of the noxious brambles I was working on. You might recognize this plant, Mom. I remember you working on these in Florida. This bush has yet to be rescued...another day.

Yesterday, both Todd and Ryan were outside with me finding, capturing, and observing "roly-polies" while I dug and weeded. Today, I gave both the boys a pair of pruners. Ryan lost interest pretty quickly, but Todd was rather helpful. He really made an effort to give the bushes in front of his window a "haircut". It was nice having his company. I was proud of the hard work he was trying to do. Here, Todd demonstrates how he pruned the bushes.

Below, Todd shows his pile of branches. Pretty good work for a little guy.

Bobomops and More

My boys have come up with some vocabulary words of their own making. The funny thing to me about these words is how consistent the boys are in their usage. Todd and Ryan have about five different types of invisible characters that they play with or refer to in conversation.

The most common of these are the "Bobomops". Bobomops most often seem to be Todd's children. Todd might have thirty-two of them in his room at a time (can you imagine having that many children to take care of?!?). He'll let them come into bed with him at night (they must be pretty small!) and might sing to them. In general, I think he takes pretty good care of his bobomops.

Somtimes bobomops are Ryan's children as well. Often they are Ryan's scapegoats. For example, I might ask "Who spilled the water on the floor?" Ryan might answer, "I don't know. I think my bobomops did it." Or "Ryan, where is my pencil that I saw you playing with?" Ryan's answer might be, "I don't know. I think my bobomops hid it."

I tried to get the boys to give me definitions of their words. Ryan had a hard time giving me a straight answer:
Becca: Ryan, what are bobomops?
Ryan: Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy, cheesy.
Becca: I mean, what are they?
Ryan: Bobomops are food.
Becca: I thought they were your children.
Ryan: My children are in jail because they are bad people, 'cause they said, "You forgot to say that word." So I put them in jail. No, my bobomops, they didn't say "You forgot to say that word." They didn't say that.
Becca: Are they boys or girls?
Ryan: They are boys. And I have some bobofets. Now my bobomops are in jail, 'cause they were bad. They're with my children.
Becca: What are etries?
Ryan: Etries are on Buzz Lightyear.
Becca: They are?
Ryan: Yeah.
Becca: What are colorbillies?
Ryan: Maddie said that. I don't know what colorbillies are. They have colors, and they belong in paintball.

Todd was a little more cooperative. He gave me some staight answers. However, I know that the definitions can change a bit from day to day according to what they are playing.
Becca: Todd, what are bobomops?
Todd: They are...um...the kids. My kids. Actually, the bobomops are my kids.
Becca: What are dodomops?
Todd: They are my dinosaurs.
Becca: What are bobofets?
Todd: My bobofets are...um...my helpers.
Becca: What are etries?
Todd: Etries, they are just little animals. The etries are green. The colorbillies are the same, just with more colors. They are black and red. The colorbillies live in my house. They are all kind of colors.
Becca: Are they good or bad?
Todd: Good, but we play games with them. On the games we pretend they are bad, but they're mostly good. On the games they listen to me.
Becca: Ryan said the etries were on Buzz Lightyear.
Todd: But my etries are not on Buzz Lightyear.
Ryan: Mine are at Virginia.
Todd: Will they move with Uncle Mark?
Ryan: They'll move in Grandma Donna's house.

Watch out Mom! If, in fact, the etries are the same as colorbillies, then you're in for some tough work. From what I gather watching Todd and Ryan (and Maddie), it might take some running around the house squealing and waving a sword or light saber (and squealing some more) to put those colorbillies (or the lesser-seen etries) in their place!

Food Obsessions

I just read a blog where the author admitted to a food obsession (grapefruit of all things!?!). As I was preparing breakfast this morning, I reflected on my own current food obsession: cheese grits (of all things?). It began a few months ago when we had a Relief Society Meeting (with the ladies from church) where they served good-ol' Southern food. The cheese grits really tasted good to me. Although I have learned to tolerate grits during the 20 years that I have lived in Florida, that was the first time that I really liked them and went back for more. A while later, I had cheese grits as a side at Danny's Fried Chicken - so yummy!

So, I recently bought a package of grits and made a bowl a plain grits at home - I wasn't that excited about them. But when I made the cheese grits I was hooked. I have fixed cheese grits about every other day over the last 2 or 3 weeks. (I have actually fixed them the last 3 days in a row!) Although Todd and Ryan have both tried them, they are not hooked and would prefer not to eat them. Each time I ask if they would like some cheese grits Ryan says (with a big smile on his face because he likes being silly), "No, thank you. They sound YUCK!"

What I don't understand is why a perfect comfort food is often viewed as gross, white-trash food. But a comfort food like risotto is a delicacy. Oh well, I'm still enjoying my white-trash comfort food.

Brett's current food obsession: jalapenos straight from the jar on a tortilla chip - with or without a piece of American cheese.

House For Rent

I have been pretty terrible about keeping friends and family informed with Wendel news, so this may be the first you have heard/seen about our latest development. Brett and his dad have negotiated a deal and expect to close on a house in our general neighborhood this summer. There are just a few details and paperwork to finish, but it's pretty much a done-deal. The house needs a bit of updating inside, and the owner has already given us a key to get started. We hope to get most everything done in the next few months and have it ready to rent out by the fall. It's an older style home (similar to ours), but I think it will make a very nice house. The street is quiet, has beautiful old oak trees and nice-sized lots.

Brett and his dad have already put in quite a bit of work - they have torn out all of the carpet, painted the ceilings, run some wiring in the bedrooms for ceiling fans, and removed the entire old intercom system. We forgot to take "before" pictures, so now all of the inside photos look like a construction zone-which it is at this point.
The formal living room and dining rooms are to the left of the entry. There is a nice, big bay window in the formal living room.
The family room room and kitchen are in the back of house. There is a built-in boyshelf...er, bookshelf... in the family room which will be taken out.

The kitchen had cabinets that hung above a peninsula, similar to the setup in our kitchen. These cabinets were barely hanging to the ceiling, so Brett has already taken them down. We will put one double and one single cabinet back on the wall, but will leave it open above the peninsula. We also plan to replace the appliances (oven, cooktop, and dishwasher), which all appear to be the originals.

I'm not including any photos of the bedrooms or bathrooms. They're pretty standard, and the photos didn't turn out that well. The master bedroom is in the back of the house. It has a sliding glass door to the back yard. The master bath has a tub and toilet, with the vanity and sink outside the bathroom opposite a walk-in closet. The middle bedroom is rather small (similar to Ryan's room), and the front bedroom is a good-sized room (similar to Todd's room) with two closets. The hall bath is a little smaller than ours.

There is green space adjacent to the back of the property as well as to the left of the house, making the yard seem quite big. The house to the back of the green space has a privacy fence, so that area is pretty much available for us to clear out and clean up as we have the time and inclination.

Nice, big camelia in the back.

One of the things that I like about the property is the big oak trees. Like Brett said, you could turn the back yard into a bird sanctuary. In fact, he said today when he pulled up to the house there was a red-shouldered hawk perched up in one of the trees. (No, the hawk is not pictured here. I just thought this was a cool photo.)

Here is a close-up of one of Brett's favorite things about the front yard - an old turpentine tree. There are two of these long-leaf pine trees in the front. I don't really know much about them; Brett could tell you a lot more. I think both trees still have the metal plates stuck in the trunks, which they used to collect the sap for making turpentine.

We are excited about the house, and hope that it will be a good investment for our family. In the meantime, I know that it will be a lot of work. In fact, I should clarify that anywhere this blog entry couples the pronoun "we" with a verb implying work - I really mean "Brett". Wish us [i.e. him/Brett] luck!

[Just kidding (mostly), Brett! I promise to help out as I am able.]