Observant One

Every five years, teachers in Virginia are required to renew their teaching license.  As part of my licensure renewal, I had to take a First Aid and CPR course, which I completed last night.

This morning, as we were all getting ready for work/school, I told my family that I had an announcement to make: I could now save their lives in a medical emergency.

I heard Brad whisper to Hannah, "No, she couldn't."

So I started to defend myself by listing off my new skill-set: rigid splints, soft splints, compression wraps, Epi-pen administration, CPR, stop bleeding, and the use of an AED.

Brad especially didn't believe that I could operate an AED.  So he asked me, "What does AED stand for?"

To which I replied, "I don't know, but I know how to use one to save your life."

He laughed, I laughed, Hannah laughed, and then Brad shared that he knew that I wouldn't know the answer to that question before he even asked.

"Notice how Daddy makes fun of me?" I asked Hannah.

"Yeah...I noticed that a long time ago!" she giggled.

You're So Old!

Tonight we had breakfast for dinner.  Mostly because it's easy and quick, and I know my kids will eat well!

Brad fixed the bacon and the littles were overjoyed and eager to eat as much of it as possible.  We asked them to share it equally, and Jack was kind enough to offer some of his to me.  When Hannah found out I wasn't going to take him up on his offer, she was excited to have a few extra slices.  We had to explain to her that he was still going to eat it, and he celebrated this small victory.

Playfully, Brad joked with Hannah by saying, "You got served!"

Jack had a questioning look on his face, so Brad started to explain that it was from a movie called You Got Served, when Jack interrupted to say, "Oh, like you got burned!"

Brad responded by saying, "No, that's a little extreme..."

To which Jack had to explain that the phrases, "You got served!" and "You got burned!" mean the same thing.

And then, laughing to himself, he joked, "You're so old!"

I laughed so hard, juice almost came out of my nose.  Dinner with my family is never dull!

STEAM Night

Tonight Jack and Hannah's school hosted a STEAM Night.  STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.  To me, it sounded right up Brad's alley, so I sent him with the kids :)

They had a lot of fun, and while Hannah did mention when she got home that she wished I'd been there, I'm glad they got to spend some fun time engineering with their dad.

First, they participated in a 10-foot egg drop.  Brad explained to me that this is a cube structure.  They put the egg in a bag and then surrounded the bag with newspaper.  Then they buffered that newspaper with extra newspaper inside the cube structure to protect the egg.  And their egg didn't break!

Next, they went to a station called Spinning Spheres.  They made a Spongebob structure, and then placed it around a sphero (when I asked Brad how to describe a sphero, he replied, "An autonomous, multidirectional, spherical android," so there you have it).  The sphero could somehow be controlled by a tablet.  I love that last picture so much - my happy scientists, having a blast!

So glad they got to go and burn some creative energy!

Time with Friends

Today was the day for play dates with friends.  This morning, we met up with Kimmee and Channing for some fun at Rebounderz.  The kids all had such a good time getting their extra energy out on the indoor trampolines.  Once they were all bounced out, they played some arcade games in order to win a few cheesy prizes :)  Then we headed over to Burger 21 for lunch - my kids are crazy about Burger 21!  We had such a good time catching up, but I didn't get any pictures!!!

After we came home to rest for awhile, we had another play date with Hannah's best friend, Ryan.  We met up at a local park that has several playgrounds and a creek.  It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time!

These two melt my heart - and I'm secretly hoping they get married.

So peaceful :)

Not quite as peaceful, but so much more fun!  Hannah was hanging out on the sidelines because she got a cut on her hand.

I mean, really.

Once we came home, the kids still wanted to play outside, so Jack and I played a game of HORSE with his new basketball hoop (he beat me).  We played ring toss with Hannah, and before we knew it - Daddy was home!

And just like my dad used to do with me when I was little, Hannah climbed up onto Brad's lap to drive into the garage.  Jack was very generous and let Hannah have a turn by herself :)

It was a great, fun-filled day.  And all that sun made me wish summer was here already!

Missing: Turtle!

Tonight, Brad and I were reading to Hannah when all of a sudden, Brad popped up to examine the turtle tank.

I heard, "Well, that's not good," and assumed that maybe Spike had passed away.  But instead, there was not a turtle in the turtle tank.

That was when Tuesday night got interesting.  With Jack screeching and moving so his feet weren't on the floor (where a turtle could attack!), and Hannah crying because her turtle was gone, Brad and I began a full-blown search:

I was just about to explore the hallway and Jack's bedroom, when I heard Brad call out, "Found him!"  He'd found a snuggly spot behind one of Hannah's toy buckets.

Crisis averted.  Thank goodness!

But first...

While Brad and I both graduated college with a degree, our thoughts on the matter, as far as our children are concerned, differ slightly.  I certainly would prefer that both of our kids go to college, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if they didn't - if they just really felt that it wasn't for them.  Brad, on the other hand, would feel as though he'd failed as a father if they don't go to college.  And they know this because he's pretty much shared his thoughts...in those exact words.

Last night, as I was getting Hannah ready for bed, picking out clothes for the next day, she randomly said something about how Daddy would have failed as a father if they don't go to college.  I have no idea how this little idea popped into her head because it certainly wasn't part of any current conversation we had going, but I've come to roll with the punches when the little people bring up a topic that seems totally off the wall.

I tried to explain that Daddy is an excellent father, no matter what.  And then, that all Daddy means is that he really wants them to go to school so that they can get a good education and a good job when they grow up.

Hannah continued to talk, sharing how Jack doesn't want to go to college, but that she does.

She crawled up into bed, pulled the blankets up to her chin and announced, "I'm going to college...but first, I'm going to sleep."

Definitely made me laugh - the whole, first this, then that attitude.  First things first, Baby Girl.  You can see that I've taught her that sleep is a priority :)

After we read to Hannah and we were snuggling down, her college conversation continued.  She brought it up somehow, and then Brad asked her what she might like to study in school (math, science, etc.).  She explained that she wants to be a police officer.  {Brad did so well.  It's not the safest field for our girl to head into, and her alternative (being a fire fighter) isn't much safer.  Plus, there's the whole idea that you don't technically need a degree to do either.)

I told her maybe she could study laws, and we did explain that while she doesn't have to go to college to be a police officer, it certainly couldn't hurt.  Maybe she could even be a detective one day, or be in charge of all the police officers!

Those answers seemed good enough for Hannah.  She probably dozed off while dreaming about college and fighting crime :)

             

Meanwhile, this mama will probably have nightmares for years to come about her babies going away to school.  Sometimes, I just want to freeze time!

Justified.

So Brad goes through Netflix binges where he becomes completely obsessed with one show at a time.  Sometimes, I get roped in and enjoy our binge-watching, but mostly, I suffer through however many episodes there happen to be of one show until it's finally over, and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

One of these shows was Justified.

It just wasn't for me.

It was absolutely perfect for Brad.  So perfect, in fact, that somewhere between watching however many seasons it was and traveling to Texas for work, Brad decided he needed a cowboy hat so he could walk around the house, tip his hat, and say, "It's justified."

I'm not even kidding.

Up until this past weekend, Brad decided to keep his hat at work...probably because I laughed when he returned home from Texas with a Justified-looking hat.  But on Friday, he brought it home from the office and promptly made sure that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES were the little ones to touch his hat.

And ever since then, they've both been dying to do just that.  

If he hadn't said anything to them, they probably wouldn't even have noticed he had a hat, but since it was forbidden, they were chomping at the bit.  (I'm taking this as a lesson learned, that's for sure!)

So tonight, as Brad was wearing the hat during our typical bedtime routine (well, typical, except for the fact that Brad was wearing a cowboy hat), the kids were attempting to reach the hat and Brad was enjoying their feeble attempts.

As I finished reading to Jack and Brad came in from reading to Hannah, he leaned over and teased Jack, "I let Hannah touch my hat!"

I gave him the "stop teasing" look and as Brad allowed Jack to ever-so-carefully touch the hat, I made my way to Hannah's room. 

Hannah, grinning from ear to ear, eyes glowing, whispered to me, "Daddy let me touch his hat," as I snuggled down next to her and she giggled away.

I know exactly what Brad was thinking.  The look on their faces and the happiness Jack and Hannah got from one little touch, made it all worth it.

I'm sure he'd say, "It's justified".

our newest addition

Don't get too excited.  This is not a post about babies...at least, not of the tiny human variety :)

Our newest addition came in the way of a teeny, tiny turtle.

Halfway through our very snowy, very chilly winter, Hannah decided that she'd like another baby turtle.  Mid-winter is not a very good time to get a new turtle, for a couple of reasons.  One, we already had a turtle in her tank that she'd raised since it was a quarter-sized baby, and bigger turtles and tiny turtles can't go together in one tank.  Two, you can't release a turtle to a new home in the middle of winter.  So we told Hannah Bear she'd have to be patient, and that once it got warm outside, we'd be able to give her turtle a new home, and only then, we could get a new baby turtle.

Hannah remembered this conversation very well, and as soon as she could wear short sleeves to school, she'd ask about getting a new turtle.  We'd explain that we needed to let the ponds warm up a bit, and she'd wait another week or two before she asked again.  Until it got to the point where she started to ask every day, and then Brad gave in and finally ordered a new baby turtle.  Just like that.
One Monday night after dinner, he called a turtle guy, and before we knew it we were expecting a special delivery the following morning.  Hannah was beyond thrilled.

This morning, we got up, had breakfast, and got ready.  As we were getting ready to go for a bike ride, I got a text from Brad:

As you can see, Hannah wasn't the only one excited about the new turtle.

We came inside and opened the package, and there he was:

(Hannah looks scared in this picture, but I can assure you, she wasn't!)

We named our new friend Key Lime, but Hannah mostly refers to him/her as Mr. Turtle, which is just as cute.  She checks on Mr. Turtle every so often, just to be sure he's okay...the way I used to check on Hannah when she was just a tiny baby.  It's adorable.

Mr. Turtle is here to stay...at least until Hannah decides she'd like to release him to a happy pond and start all over again.

He's got this.

When we found out that Hannah Bear was going to be a she, Brad was a little nervous about how he'd navigate the waters of being a daddy to a little girl.  He wasn't quite sure that he was ready.

I'd beg to differ.

I'm pretty sure he's got this handled.  Especially since he's her most-favorite person in the whole wide world.

She's pretty lucky.

And so am I.

Keep On

Jack might be an engineer when he grows up.  He loves to build with Legos, and not only that, but he's really, really good at it.  He builds his own creations frequently and we're often amazed by the symmetry and thoughtfulness that each one displays.  Tonight, he made a spaceship all on his own and then came upstairs to share it with us.

In order to make this spaceship, Jack had to disassemble part of another set.  His conversation with Daddy went like this:

Brad: Would Lord Business approve?

Jack: He's imaginary.

Brad: I feel like I'm channeling Lord Business...

Jack: You're channeling something that's imaginary?  Keep on doin' that.

And then Jack walked away.

*****

I think we've created a smart-alec.  Just a tiny bit.

But I suppose that means we've also created a miniature engineer.

And both of these things are perfect to us.

Non-verbal sarcasm

Tonight the kids rallied to read bedtime stories together.  It was some story about self aware crayons who voiced their grievances to the child who colors with them.  Well, one of the crayons felt overused and complained that he was too short and stubby.  Childhood memories of my own flashed before my eyes of the disappointment of having to use a crayon with a flattened head, and the joy of getting to use a fresh crayon with a perfectly cast writing tip... and then it came to me.  I bolted up, pausing from the story, to explain what I had just invented while reading: crayon heat molded sharpener.

It would look like a pencil sharpener, but instead of a blade to shave off pieces, inside there would be a heated metal mold in the sharpener that would perfectly melt and recast the head of the crayon to it's original, out of the box condition.  You could write with crisp line and you would never waste any of the crayon sharpening it.

Genius, right?  Certainly the best thing I've thought of all day, and the kids were surely to be impressed.  I waited form them to grasp the enormity of my invention, as this would change the quality of coloring-time for children for generations to come.  I was already thinking of how to patent the idea while I waited for them to form an awe-struck response.

That is when Jack, face emotionless, slowly raised his hands in the air and started clapping, but not good clapping.  He clapped so slowly that it was abundantly clear the message was something akin to "fantastic, dad, can we get back to reading the story now".

If you need someone to vet your great idea, look no further than a sarcastic 7-year old to deflate your sail.

Brad

Silent Sunday

Daddy's Girl

Lately, our tiny peanut is all about Daddy.  I'm not jealous (okay, maybe I'm a little jealous), but really I'm just so excited to get a front seat to the special relationship that they have.

This morning, I was coming down the hallway when Hannah emerged from her bedroom, and with her sleepy eyes and crazy baby hair, she looked up at me and announced, "I miss Daddy."

Not, "Good morning, Mama.  Did you sleep well?  I love you."

Not even, "Hi, Mama!"

But instead, "I miss Daddy."  

It was super sweet, to be honest, and I texted him right away to let him know how I was greeted first thing this morning.  I know it made his morning, and apparently Daddy and Hannah had some snuggle time before he'd headed off to work this morning.

While we were on vacation, every time we went out to eat, I'd be holding her hand and we'd get to our table, and she'd let go of my hand, hop into a booth, and announce, "I want to sit next to you, Daddy!"

If I ask, "Hannah, do you want Mommy or Daddy to help you brush your teeth/take you to the bathroom/go down the slide with you?" the answer is almost always Daddy.  I'd say 99% of the time.

It's actually become a bit of a game between Brad and I now.  We don't say anything, we don't really talk about it, but we wait anxiously for her response, knowing full well what she'll say, and then we just look at each other and smile.  It's cute.  

Definitely makes him feel loved.

And I'm just so lucky she has such a great dad.

The relationship between a daddy and his daughter is a special thing.  

I would definitely know, and I'm just so happy that Brad and Hannah get to have that, too.

Silent Sunday

Just Now

Tonight, we all read a story together in Jack's room.  Afterwards, Daddy took Hannah into her room, sang her a song and tucked her in, while I stayed and snuggled with Jack for a few minutes.  Then, I went into Hannah's room, and she was a little sad.

"What's wrong, Baby Girl?"

"I'm sad."

"Why are you so sad, Hannah?"

"Because I didn't get to see Brady or Channing at all!"

I promised to schedule play-dates, sang her another song, and nuzzled her tiny, baby neck.  I tucked her in and slipped away.

A few moments later, Hannah started crying.  I looked at Brad and begged, without words, for him to go.  At the end of the night, I'm near exhaustion and sometimes I just don't have one more ounce to give.  He happily went, and all was well.

Until five minutes later,  when Hannah showed up in our room, crawled into her Daddy's lap, and watched the last few minutes of America's Funniest Home Videos.  When it was over, she wanted me to take her back to her room.

I heaved myself over the edge of the bed, took her back to her room, brushed her hair off her neck, and slipped away once again.

A few minutes later?  

Crying.  I looked at Brad again.  I might have put my finger on my nose, indicating, "Not it!"

He was gone awhile, and I started to feel guilty, so I went to see what happened.  I found Brad, snuggled up tight with Hannah on her toddler bed.  I went into her room, kissed her on her forehead, and whispered, "You have the best daddy in the whole wide world."

"I already know that, Mommy," she whispered back.

So I slipped away once more, leaving her to relish special daddy-time and him to relish the fact that he is oh-so-loved.

Future Engineer

Tonight, Brad and I were tucking Jack into bed, and he was talking about all the fun he'd had building Legos with Grandpa earlier in the day.  Today they put together a race car, and Jack said he'd made a few mistakes while putting it together, but that the kit was made for seven year olds.

He really is very great at building things and following Lego directions step-by-step.  And normally, the mistakes he does make are because his brain is thinking three steps ahead.  He puts things the way he knows they are going to be before he's necessarily ready for them to be that way.  It's hard to explain, but I'm telling you he's a Lego-genius.

Anyhow, we were talking about how great he is at Legos, and I made the comment that maybe one day he'd be an engineer.  To be fair, I don't really know what engineers do.  I think I get them confused with architects.  But Jack questioned the word engineer, and I tried to clarify by saying maybe he'd be an architect and plan buildings.

Daddy suggested that maybe one day he'd create a miniature black hole with super-electro magnets so that everyone in the world could have free energy and no one would be cold at night.  (You can only imagine if I'm thrown by what engineers do, that this threw me for a loop.)

Jack thought about it for a few seconds, and then suggested that maybe he could use blueberries.

"Because that would make it more black."

I love the way that boy thinks.  I really do.

I love snow days.