We have entered a a kind of funny, albeit slightly annoying, stage that all kids go through--that of of the bad joke, or worse, the bad knock-knock joke. As in:
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange Who?
Orange. I'm drowning in the bathtub!
This is, of course, a combination of two knock-knock jokes I shared with my kids at their request. Surely you are all familiar with the oft-repeated (and very annoying, even when told correctly) banana-banana-banana-orange knock-knock joke. The second joke is the only other one I remember from my childhood. I thought it was hilarious at the time, so it stuck with me.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Dwayne.
Dwayne Who?
Dwayne the tub. I'm dwowning!
Ryan thought this joke was really funny, but obviously he missed the pun. However, now all of his knock-knock jokes have to include this punch line, whether they fit the joke or not.
The boys totally did not get one of my favorites:
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Sam and Janet.
Sam and Janet Who?
Sam and Janet evening.... [Which you have to sing (with feeling) to the tune of "Some Enchanted Evening"--I think that's the part that scared them.]
Here's another that I like and feel is appropriate to end on. (Naturally, the boys aren't able to reproduce this one on their own, either.)
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Sarah.
Sarah Who?
Sarah reason you're not laughing??
Thursday, January 22, 2009
If You Fill It, They Will Come
After two long months, I have finally refilled my birdfeeders. The poor birds suffered neglect during the most giving season of the year. I guess I didn't have much left to give them. But, really, not only will they will survive--it doesn't even look like they hold a grudge.
The fruits of a filled birdfeeder are almost immediate. This morning around 7:30am my backyard was quite active. It will filled with mourning doves, northern cardinals (male and female), blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers (whose "red" belly is hard to see, but who does have a red head, though it's not really a red-headed woodpecker--can it be more confusing?), house finches, carolina wrens, carolina chickadees, and northern mockingbirds. And don't forget the squirrels who were trying (with minimal success) to defend their personal feeder. I have two hanging feeders and one platform feeder attached to a tree trunk. Typically, if I keep the platform feeder filled the squirrels are content to stay there and won't bother the hanging feeders. It's easier than trying to squirrel-proof everything, which is impossible.
To the birdies I say: Welcome Back!
The fruits of a filled birdfeeder are almost immediate. This morning around 7:30am my backyard was quite active. It will filled with mourning doves, northern cardinals (male and female), blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers (whose "red" belly is hard to see, but who does have a red head, though it's not really a red-headed woodpecker--can it be more confusing?), house finches, carolina wrens, carolina chickadees, and northern mockingbirds. And don't forget the squirrels who were trying (with minimal success) to defend their personal feeder. I have two hanging feeders and one platform feeder attached to a tree trunk. Typically, if I keep the platform feeder filled the squirrels are content to stay there and won't bother the hanging feeders. It's easier than trying to squirrel-proof everything, which is impossible.
To the birdies I say: Welcome Back!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
It's Not Fair!
I have discovered a button. The "It's not fair," button--said with a whine, extra whine on the fair. This phrase creeped into our home via Todd a few months ago. Ryan has now picked it up. Boy, does it rattle me! I'm not sure what's worse: the whining that accompanies it, the poor argument it holds, or the disrespect it carries when I have asked the boys to do something.
Well, guess what? I wanted to sleep in until 7:30am this morning, but I woke up at 6:00am and couldn't get back to sleep, and now my eyes are all puffy. It's not faaaaair!
Well, guess what? I wanted to sleep in until 7:30am this morning, but I woke up at 6:00am and couldn't get back to sleep, and now my eyes are all puffy. It's not faaaaair!
Friday, January 9, 2009
A Tale of Two (or Three) Trees
I'm sure it just about killed Brett. Not only did we still have Christmas decorations still up a week (or more) after Christmas, we even had two Christmas trees shining in our front windows.
It gets better. At one point, I owned three Christmas trees.
I finally decided that it was time to replace the Charlie Brown tree that I have been setting up since before we had kids. I set out on the day after Christmas to buy a tree, and I wasn't coming home without one.
My sister-in-law and I first tried Kmart. The nice trees they had left all had multi-colored lights. There was one floor model that I especially liked. Of course, they were sold out. We asked about buying the floor model. They sold it to us as is (without a box). They had to remove the decorations before I could take it, so we said that we would come back later. We made our way to Target and found another tree that seemed nice. It had some fancy lighting features, such as giving you the option of lighting the multi-colored strands, the white strands, or both. Unfortunately, there was no floor model. I bought it, took it home, and set up. The tree had a remote control that worked the lights, but you had to use the remote control to get it to turn on. I couldn't get it working. I checked everything. Finally I decided that 1) this was a recipe for disaster if the remote got lost or broken, and 2) the tree that I paid for (but had not yet picked up) was prettier. So, I went back and got the Kmart tree (and later returned the Target tree).
Because the Kmart tree had no box, we loaded it up into the bed of the pickup truck. I set it up right in the dining room until I could figure out how to store it and get it into the attic. The boys loved having the new tree set up. They loved the multi-colored lights, and plugged it in every morning. Todd had a great time transferring ornaments from our old tree over to the new one. You can see where his reach ends. (The lone red-ribboned ornament was a beaded wreath that Todd tossed a little higher.)
I'm excited about having a pretty tree. (It will look even better when the branches are straightened out) It's funny though. I didn't realize how much I loved the white lights on my old tree. I have had white lights forever, it seems. And, like I mentioned before--even though it was scrawny and a little pathetic in the daytime, when compared with our new tree in the evening with the lights out, my old tree with its white lights still held a little more magic for me than our new one.
I do hope that will change next year when I put up our new tree and fill it up with all the ornaments. (I do have a few extra strands of white lights that I can put on if it comes to that.)
It gets better. At one point, I owned three Christmas trees.
I finally decided that it was time to replace the Charlie Brown tree that I have been setting up since before we had kids. I set out on the day after Christmas to buy a tree, and I wasn't coming home without one.
My sister-in-law and I first tried Kmart. The nice trees they had left all had multi-colored lights. There was one floor model that I especially liked. Of course, they were sold out. We asked about buying the floor model. They sold it to us as is (without a box). They had to remove the decorations before I could take it, so we said that we would come back later. We made our way to Target and found another tree that seemed nice. It had some fancy lighting features, such as giving you the option of lighting the multi-colored strands, the white strands, or both. Unfortunately, there was no floor model. I bought it, took it home, and set up. The tree had a remote control that worked the lights, but you had to use the remote control to get it to turn on. I couldn't get it working. I checked everything. Finally I decided that 1) this was a recipe for disaster if the remote got lost or broken, and 2) the tree that I paid for (but had not yet picked up) was prettier. So, I went back and got the Kmart tree (and later returned the Target tree).
Because the Kmart tree had no box, we loaded it up into the bed of the pickup truck. I set it up right in the dining room until I could figure out how to store it and get it into the attic. The boys loved having the new tree set up. They loved the multi-colored lights, and plugged it in every morning. Todd had a great time transferring ornaments from our old tree over to the new one. You can see where his reach ends. (The lone red-ribboned ornament was a beaded wreath that Todd tossed a little higher.)
I'm excited about having a pretty tree. (It will look even better when the branches are straightened out) It's funny though. I didn't realize how much I loved the white lights on my old tree. I have had white lights forever, it seems. And, like I mentioned before--even though it was scrawny and a little pathetic in the daytime, when compared with our new tree in the evening with the lights out, my old tree with its white lights still held a little more magic for me than our new one.
I do hope that will change next year when I put up our new tree and fill it up with all the ornaments. (I do have a few extra strands of white lights that I can put on if it comes to that.)
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Soggy Rats
It's been a little while since I shared some Ryan sayings. I love the way little minds see things. I love how Ryan uses the word "soggy" to described anything from blurry photos to dirty sunglasses.
"Oh, that's not a good picture. It's too soggy."
and "I washed the glasses on my storm trooper helmet with water because it was getting soggy."
I also think it's funny how once kids start learning what allergies are they try to use that to their advantage. Since Uncle Mark has been back home during the Christmas break we have talked about allergies a little more frequently. One day at dinner Ryan announced that he was allergic to water. That will be tough, Ryan! The interpretation of that statement is, "I would rather have milk or juice to drink at dinner than plain, old water." His self-proclaimed allergy to water didn't get him anywhere, so he gave it up after a few days.
However, he soon developed a new allergy: that of rats. As in, "Yeah. I'm allergic to rats. If I eat a rat, I'll DIE." [It makes me so sad that I can't convey the tone of voice when I am sharing Ryan stories. He will matter-of-factly say the first part of the sentence. Then on the word "die" his inflection and facial expression changes in such a humorous way. This is what I am afraid of forgetting as he gets older.]
Ryan developed his allergy of rats about a month ago, but I had not heard how he was faring for two weeks or so. I was talking about both real and pretend allergies with another mom at Wyatt's birthday party. I couldn't remember the very funny allergy Ryan had. So, I called Ryan over and simply asked him, "Ryan, what are you allergic to?" Without hesitation he answered "Rats!" This was obviously not just some passing fancy. Hopefully, we will be able to move on through childhood without any complications or hospitalizations as a result of this allergy.
"Oh, that's not a good picture. It's too soggy."
and "I washed the glasses on my storm trooper helmet with water because it was getting soggy."
I also think it's funny how once kids start learning what allergies are they try to use that to their advantage. Since Uncle Mark has been back home during the Christmas break we have talked about allergies a little more frequently. One day at dinner Ryan announced that he was allergic to water. That will be tough, Ryan! The interpretation of that statement is, "I would rather have milk or juice to drink at dinner than plain, old water." His self-proclaimed allergy to water didn't get him anywhere, so he gave it up after a few days.
However, he soon developed a new allergy: that of rats. As in, "Yeah. I'm allergic to rats. If I eat a rat, I'll DIE." [It makes me so sad that I can't convey the tone of voice when I am sharing Ryan stories. He will matter-of-factly say the first part of the sentence. Then on the word "die" his inflection and facial expression changes in such a humorous way. This is what I am afraid of forgetting as he gets older.]
Ryan developed his allergy of rats about a month ago, but I had not heard how he was faring for two weeks or so. I was talking about both real and pretend allergies with another mom at Wyatt's birthday party. I couldn't remember the very funny allergy Ryan had. So, I called Ryan over and simply asked him, "Ryan, what are you allergic to?" Without hesitation he answered "Rats!" This was obviously not just some passing fancy. Hopefully, we will be able to move on through childhood without any complications or hospitalizations as a result of this allergy.
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