Random Conversations with My Kids

Noodle Beard

It’s so hard sometimes to capture all the little snippets of every day conversations that you’d like to remember so that you can tell your kids one day, “You were sooooo cute when you were (insert age)!!” I have these moments all the time, and I’m sure many parents do, too. Whether you’re in the car, doing chores, fixing them a meal, sharing a meal – there are just those fun moments.

——

One night I sent the kids to brush their teeth and I said I’d be right behind them. Ollie is only 2, so he needs helps, usually. Not even 2 minutes later, Ollie comes waltzing into my bedroom.

“Did you brush your teeth, Ollie?”

“YAH!”

“Are you sure?”

“Ahhh-beee say I good, so… I done!”

“Really, Abby said you’re good, so you’re done?”

The answer was a definite YES, and when I checked with Abby, she had a good chuckle. Now she says, “I good, so I done,” anytime she can.

———

Ollie’s ABC’s needed a little work and this is how it went in the car. Please sing along.

Ay – Bee – Tsee – Dee – Eff – Gee – Aych – I – Jay – Kay – Emm – Oooo – Pee – Kew – Ahr – Ess – Tee – You – Vvvv (long pause) Seven – Eight – Nine – Ten

Now he says, “Tee – You – Vee – Duhbuh You – Eck – Why and Szhee”

———

“Ollie, how are you today?”

“Pine.”

“You’re Fffff-ine?”

“Yah. That’s what I say, Pine.”

“Try saying “ffffff-ine”, Ollie.”

“Ffffffff-Pine.”

“What about Fat Cat?”

“Fffff-Pat Cat.”

“Okay, we’ll work on that somemore.”

———

On the way to school one morning I had such the Mom-moment. Mom-nesia, if you will.

“Abby, I should record that new tv show with the show choir-high school show.”

“Yeah, it was cool. What’s it called, Mom?”

“I can’t remember.. uh, you know, we watched it the other night, Geek? Yeah, I think it’s called Geek!”

“Geek? Oh, MOM, don’t you mean GLEE? Bwahahahaha. Mom, you’re funny.”

“Ollie says, Punny mommy.”

———

Ollie: I wuv Unc-kuh Gweg. (our new brother-in-law)

Mom: That’s really nice, Ollie.

Ollie: I big wike Unc-kuh Gweg. I big boy.

Abby: Uh, Ollie, you’re not.

Ollie: Yah, I AM!

Abby: NO, you’re still LITTLE!

Ollie: NOOO, I big boy. Maaaaahm, Ah-bee say I wit-tuh, but I big!”

“Ollie, if you think you’re a big boy, then start using the potty.”

Yeah, that ended that conversation really fast.

—————–

My kids

In the Backyard

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been busy in the backyard. Yes, while also preparing for family houseguests and the wedding. Needless to say, our home has been very active over the last month.

We wanted to do something in the southwest corner of our backyard – the shadiest part, too. We called up our friend who also designed our home to help us pull together some ideas. These are the “before” shots.

Southwest corner

Looking west

Not so full garden bed - south elevation before

Here’s where we are now:

Southwest corner

Our poor friends… the clay soil was really tough to work through. They also ran into some leftover construction debris (stones, concrete scraps). I’m so glad they were able to help. Patrick is laying out the patio where most of the flagstone came from “Freecycle”.

Working on the arbor

Pretty arbor – the doorway to the shade garden.

Fenced kitchen garden in progress

Fencing to keep the critters out – have to add the chicken wire.

Fenced kitchen garden

The raised beds are bordered by our leftover brick from original house construction. We have a few more details to complete and then we’ll be done for the season which is a good thing… it was a balmy 30 degrees (or less) overnight. Hopefully the plants will survive since they’ve been in for almost a month now.

Shade Garden Plantings: Henry’s Garnet Sweetspire, Viburnum “Winterthur”, Jack Frost Brunnera, ferns and other steppable plants interspersed within the stone patio.

Crazy Doodling (Scribble Art)

I’ve always loved doodling. I used to cover my textbooks with brown paper bags (way before the cool pre-printed book covers) and by the end of the school year, they’d be covered in swirls and all sorts of patterns. So here’s my re-entry into the doodling world… I’m armed with my Sharpies and sketch book that I’ve had since college. It’s the perfect technique for me too. I can draw for a few minutes and leave it, come back to it after a little bit, or the next day or whenever. Maybe I can turn some of this into a coloring book for the kids. Abby and I made one together and she thought it was cool.

Please, feel free to look at the whole drawing by clicking on it. The full page doodle had a funny blob in the middle of the paper, so I tried to just color it in. Not so sure I like it, but it’s okay. More doodling later.

Hanging Frames Somewhere

Pressed Leaves in Frames

This may be one of my more visibly Martha Stewart-esque home decor crafts. I collected a few leaves around our neighborhood and pressed them in between the pages of a heavy phone book (Yeah, that’s what they’ve been reduced to. Never mind actually looking up phone numbers in them.) You’ve got to love autumn leaves. The colors are outstanding. Ginkgo leaves might be my favorite next to maple leaves. I forgot about my ginkgo leaves drying- for a year! But I re-found them, and added them to the maple leaves and red oak leaves from the backyard. The question is, where do I hang these up?

I was originally going to hang them in our guest bathroom in the basement. But they’re so pretty, they could go in our dining room or maybe our bedroom? You see the struggle I have with hanging pictures and frames? I probably would have more things up on the wall if it wasn’t for my complete lack of faith that I’m placing them in “just the right spot”. This is also just one reason why I’m not an interior designer or decorator.

Visiting Long Grove

Visiting Long Grove

Every year, we like to visit Long Grove at least once. The biggest reason is for the brown bag apple pie from Apple Haus. It’s everything we want in an apple pie: flaky, buttery crust with a slight crunch, fresh apple chunks, not too sweet.

Raspberry Wine Chocolate Cup

But before Apple Haus, we stopped by the Glunz Family Winery tasting room and I had this shot of raspberry wine in a chocolate cup. What a great idea for a party opener…

Apple Haus!

So many things to look at in Apple Haus. Just around the corner are the display cases with…

Baby Apple Pie

…pies! This cutey says it serves 1 or 2, but the lady behind the counter said it was good for one.

Weird Mr. Egg dish scraper

This is not a great picture of me at all. I was trying to make a “Mr. Egg” face. Talk about cute dish scraper. I ended up buying it and the kids played with it for a few days afterwards.

Muddling

We do like going to the different stores around Long Grove, especially The Tuscan Table. Eastman is definitely scaring me with the muddler here.

Tired after Long Grove

They were so tired after walking around and having an apple donut and apple cider snack. It’s really amazing how much they look like each other. They’re so sweet.

Back at home with the pie

At last, at home with our brown bag apple pie. There’s actually a good chance we’ll be attending the apple festival later this week. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Related Posts with Thumbnails