Puss In Boots

At the end of the Summer, I took Aaron to the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History to see the Star Wars exhibit. That stuff was cool, but true to form, his favorite display was the gift shop. Being the ultimate dealmaker, he agreed that if I bought him a Jengo Fett costume he would wear it for Halloween. Of course, that was months ago, priorities change, promises are forgotten. Around October 5th, he announced he really really wanted to be Puss in Boots for Halloween.

Pressly and I stuck to our guns on this one. The boy must learn to honor his word, and not re-trade the deal after he's gotten what he wants.

Then I got a note from his school that the kiddos would be allowed to dress as story book characters for school on Halloween. Then Monday, he opened his bank and brought me all his change and his $2 bills, offering to pay for the Fett costume if he could just PLEASE be Puss in Boots for Halloween. So we gave in.

I'm not sure Katy agrees with our decision, though (or that look could be trepidation at the thought of us bringing home another cat)


But this all doesn't come without consequence. Oh, no. We still have to teach responsibility, right? So, the kitty litter box needs to be scooped every day, and at the rate of $.50 per day, he should have his debt paid by the end of the year. Aaron doesn't seem too upset about the deal (for now, anyway).

Happy Halloween!

I suppose it's because Halloween is the first "holiday" of the season, Aaron gets really wound up about it every year. I mean, honestly - he starts asking to put up the Halloween decorations around September 7th. And he gets so excited about all the cool stuff in the stores. This year, I gave in and let him buy a pumpkin decorating book with stencils and tools. It made cutting those suckers SO MUCH EASIER!

Aaron had picked out a pretty elaborate ghost to carve on the larger pumpkin, but Pressly and I were experiencing a great amount of anxiety over whether we could get all those teensy cuts to look right. We convinced Aaron to look for something a little less complicated, so he and Pressly started leafing through the book. As soon as Pressly spotted the alien pattern, he had his mind made up... we just had to convince Aaron! He agreed once we told him he could do whatever he wanted with the other pumpkin. So Pressly got his alien jack-o-lantern and Aaron freehanded a Dracula on the other. It was a lot of fun, and I think they turned out pretty neat!

Here are some photos of the process for your entertainment.

What a shame..

After dropping the kiddo off at school this morning, I stopped at a nearby convenience store for my morning caffeine. The dude in line ahead of me was also purchasing his morning pick-me-up, but his left the store in a brown paper bag. ;) A liquor store cashier once informed me that that particular size and shape of bag is called a 'wino bag.' How apropos.

How is it fair that HE could buy a 40oz Natural Light for $1.07 and my 20oz diet Coke was $1.40. I also have to say it doesn't give me warm fuzzies that you can buy beer just a hundred yards from my son's primary school. At 7:45 a.m.

Bring in the Clowns -and- A Hall of Fame

Aaron: "Mom, I finally decided what I'm gonna be when I grow up."
Me: "Great! What?"
Aaron: "A clown."
Aaron: "Sebastian is going to be a clown too. We're gonna work for each other. And throw pies in each others' face."
Me: "Wow, that sounds like fun!"
Aaron: "Mom, I had to pull my clip in class today."
Me: "What did you do?"
Aaron: "I just couldn't get that clown song out of my head. And I had to sing it."

So, forget the army man, the bridge builder and the architect. He's gonna be a clown. Which I think suits him quite nicely. ;)


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Aaron rode his second dirt bike race on October 6th. He really seems to enjoy it, which is nice because he sometimes shies away from things that are risky. But I think the competition and the thrill of the win got him!

He placed 5th in the race and brought home a nice trophy:

Then he told me we needed to hire a building person to come build a hall of fame for all his trophies. It needs to be very long and curvy.

For the record, he probably has half a dozen trophies right now, including several from his soccer and T-Ball exploits, this race trophy and the trophy he got in his first race where all the PeeWee riders trophied.

So naturally I told him we would build him that long, curvy hall of fame if I win $1,000,000 in the McDonald's Monopoly game.

(By the way, if anyone knows where I can get a Boardwalk gamepiece, I'd be forever grateful.)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

We're well on our way to a having a bonafide menagerie with two doggies, two hamsters and now...

TIGER!

A few weeks ago, Pressly said it would be okay for us to get a cat with the understanding that it would strictly be an outside cat. He figures it would be good for keeping the mice and snakes at bay around the house.

After thinking it over, I decided I really didn't want to adopt a cat from a rescue or shelter with the sole purpose of sticking it outside. Many of those cats are tempered for the indoors and are de-clawed. So I thought I'd just keep my eyes open for an ad for free kittens or something.

I was almost home this morning after dropping Aaron off at school when something ran across the road in front of me. It didn't move like a squirrel, but I was too far away to see what it was. Once I got to about where I had seen it, I slowed down and saw this tiny orange baby disappear behind a tree. I could hear it mewing loudly so I got out of the car and started calling to it. Knowing how temperamental cats can be, I figured it was futile, but I'm a total sucker for animals.

In just a second, it came out out from behind its tree and looked at me. I walked over, reached down and scooped it up, thinking at any minute this skin-and-bones furball was going to start clawing at me with all its fury. But he didn't! He started purring right away. Sweet baby just wanted to nestle into my hair. He rode fine in the car, and when we got home I gave him a little milk and introduced him to the dogs.

I took him to the vet, who says he's probably 8-10 weeks old but is so malnourished it's hard to tell. He has ear mites, and weighs only about 1 pound 3 oz, but other than that, he seems healthy. We're treating the mites, and as soon as he gets some weight on his bones we'll start vaccinations. Aaron named him Tiger for now, but says he wants to get to know him a little better before deciding on the final name.

He is such a lover, which is pretty unbelievable for a stray cat. Here's to hoping he's still around in the morning.

Giggles

Aaron's classmates have bestowed the nickname "Giggles" on him. His kindergarten teacher once told me that when he started laughing, she couldn't say anything to him or he would totally collapse in laughter gasping for breath, then the domino effect would cause the entire class of 5 year olds to erupt into laughter. I figured he would outgrow it, but apparently if that's going to happen, it'll be sometime in his early 30's. I asked him why he thinks his classmates decided to call him Giggles, but instead of answering me, he looked at me with a sparkle in his eye and informed me that a girl in his class is nicknamed....

Monkeybutt.

Aghast, I just looked at him for a minute, sucking in my cheeks and biting down on them to suppress an outburst. When I felt I could speak without choking or laughing, I asked him why she was nicknamed that. He just shrugged and said he didn't know but he thinks she said her uncle gave her the nickname. Of course, I told him he is absolutely not allowed to say that nickname to her. Ever.


Hmmm.... Giggles, Monkeybutt... wonder what he's not telling me?

"B" is for....

Bubbles!

....bubbles....bubbles...bubbles!

What's the point of having a jetted tub if you can't have a little fun every once in a while? We may have a problem, though. Aaron announced he's doin' it again tomorrow!

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So, where were mom and dad when this was going on?...

Bleeding the clutch hydraulics on the Miata...

Then Chelsae Butter offered to go on a test drive w/ daddy...


And when I went back in the house, I discovered that Katy got in on the Bubble action, too...
although, I'm not sure she was a willing participant.

"Does it make coffee?"

My sisters have been on my mind a lot lately. They are all so accomplished but still so very grounded. One has faced enormous tribulation, but always emerges stronger in her faith. She and her husband are extremely successful and musically talented. They work very hard and glorify God in all they do. Another is such a free spirit, introspective and wise beyond her years. She reminds me a lot of our mom. She's just about to finish college and start a new exciting journey. She's made some tough decisions lately but seems so much happier now. The third is so smart, loving and talented. She's a junior in high school but it looks like she's already paved her way to a college scholarship through her amazing twirling talent. She's so smart, kind and driven. I can't wait to see what she does in years to come!

The cooler evenings have me looking forward to the holidays - I just wish the days were cooler too! Thinking of Christmas reminds me of the many fun surprises and escapades of youth. When Jessica and I were very young (she was about 4 and I was around 6 years old), daddy took us to Winn's buy Christmas gifts for one another. He made each of us sit in the car while he took the other in to make our choice. He purchased our selections and then hid them in the trunk of the car. He instructed us that these gifts were secrets and we were not to tell the other what we bought.

We went home and gleefully wrapped the gifts separately and put them under the Christmas tree. I think we managed to make it about an hour and a half before we decided we just could not stand the suspense any longer. In our infinite wisdom, we figured out as long as we didn't tell daddy that we told each other and as long as we promised to act really surprised on Christmas morning, we could safely exchange secrets.

So we did.

Then the game commenced.
4 year old Jessica: "Daddy, if I guess what Jasmine bought me will you tell me I got it right?"
Daddy: "Ok"
4 year old Jessica, coyly: "Does..... it..... hmmm....... MAKE COFFEE?"
Daddy: dead silence. But his whole head turned purple.

Jessica, of course didn't quite grasp the levity of what she had just done, but *I* knew, and she soon learned.

Oh crap.

See, she loved sweet, milk-laden coffee. So I bought her a kid's real working coffee maker that you had to pour water in, add grounds then pump, pump, pump with your hand to get it to drip. It was rectangular monstrosity with a big orange button and a transparent brown reservoir window and it brewed cold coffee.

And Daddy, with all the wisdom of a daddy, obviously knew that no four year old on the planet would spontaneously guess that. Much less on the first try. He threatened to take our gifts away, but they were still there on Christmas morning. Funny thing is, I don't have a clue what it was that Jessica bought me that year. I'm pretty sure it was either something miniature or a Strawberry Shortcake figurine.

Those shopping trips continued until we left home, but we never shared our secrets again.