A Little Grantinese to Brighten Your Day

These boys of mine have had me rolling lately!  The things that come out of their mouths sometimes are so funny, and usually it's not even on purpose.  For instance...

Grant was recently introduced to the breed of dogs known as "weiner dogs."  You can imagine how that went over.  He covered his little mouth and laughed so hard over that name!  Well, a few days later, we were watching America's Funniest Videoes together, and one of that breed of dog was on there.  Grant was laughing at the video, and he said, "I can't believe that dog is afraid of the air vent!  You know...  that private dog?"  I was like, "That what kind of dog?"  (I thought at first that he said pirate).  "That private dog... You know...  private part dog...  IT'S A PEE PEE DOG!"  At which point he started rolling off the couch, he was laughing so hard!
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Both boys like to be the one to bless the food when we sit down to eat.  They like it so much that we often stop just short of fisticuffs in deciding who will have the priveledge each night!  When Grayson was really young and used to say the blessing, he would say a prayer that could sometimes last upwards of five minutes.  He would thank God for evvverrythiiing and evvverrryone, and would usually forget to even mention the food.  We would begin about two minutes into the prayer interjecting, "In Jesus' name..."  Not so subtly dropping the hint that we were ready for the "Amen."  One particular night, when we were just too hungry to wait for all that, we taught him the traditional children's blessing, "God is Great."  He has used it pretty much ever since, and Grant picked it up through the years.  The things is, Grant isn't exactly a careful listener!  Combine that with his myriad of speech impediments, and you get a prayer that goes a little something like this: 
"God's great, God's good.
Sank 'em, Sank 'em, For da food.
Jesus, God, Sank you Lord.
Aaaaaamen."
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This morning after I turned off my Shark sweeper/vacuum thing, Grant informed me that I had broken his "earplums."
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Also this morning, Grayson was dressed as a viking, and he and Grant were playing pretend together.  I overheard Grant say, "Hey viking!  My mom said you can have a sleep over if you promise not to do any pillowaging!"  

Goblin Hunters Extraordinaire!

Goblins beware!  Grayson and Grant, hunters of the fae, have seen you through their enchanted glass and are hot on your trail!

Armed against the poison tooth of your sword by their gauntlet of a thousand lights (or "gawntwet of a sousand wights" depending on who is using it) and bearing the sword of fairy flame, these hunters fear no evil!

Except for the occasional interruption by the discovery of a Leprechaun Sanctuary (or large patch of clover) and a few side missions from Zeus, Apollo, and Odin, you will be relentlessly pursued!  You will rue the day you set out to kidnap our helpless baby dragon, oh foolish goblins!

Really now, with adventures of this magnitude happening all around, who could think of interrupting them for Math and Grammar lessons?  It just seems wrong somehow!

What I Do In Hermit Mode

I don't know if it's a trait that's peculiar to me, whether it's true of all artistic types, or if it has more to do with being a major introvert.  Whatever the reason, at least one week out of every month I go into "hermit mode."  If it was possible during this time for me to take a vow of silence and force it on my family as well, I would.  It's terrible for keeping healthy friendships, I know.  I think that because I am naturally shy, it takes a lot of effort to make small talk, meet up with friends, or especially to talk on the phone.  Once my quota of social hours are used up for the month, I just need some silent time to recoup.  Anyway!  This is not actually a post about my personality quirks, it is about what I am doing when I am not being a good friend!

This little bird came out of my recent solitude.  I most likely commited a copyright crime, since I copied him out of a Birds and Blooms magazine.  Do you realize how hard it actually is to get a decent picture of birds on your backyard feeders?  Quite hard, let me tell you!

The other thing I did was knit... a lot!  I knitted while we did our homeschool lessons, while watching the boys at karate, while Jeff watched UFC fights, while he was at karate, and I was watching silly television shows.  Would you like to see what I have to show for all that knitting?  Not as much as you'd think (I knit at snail speed)!

Hat #1 (which is actually Grant's, and fits him better, but he wouldn't pose for a picture):

Hat #2 & Bitty Baby Legwarmers (for our friend's new baby girl, who my boys ADORE!):

Sorry, but a subject that cute deserves a closer look!

And finally, Hat #3:

{On a side note, I have my mom to thank for all these great vintage buttons!  She watches the paper for estate sales, and if there are any sewing notions or fabric pieces for sale, she buys them and brings them to me.  Thanks, Mom!}

Spring Has Sprung?

The calendar says that spring has been sprung for almost a week now...  I am not so sure about that!  I think spring this year is more like a slinky than an actual spring. It's sort of slowly stretching it's way across the northern hemisphere, teasing us all with toasty bits of sunshine.  Yesterday, for example, was glorious!  The boys and I flew through our schoolwork at lightning speed and spent the majority of the day soaking in that soul-nourishing sun.

The boys got to play with redneck waterguns, since none of our real ones made it through the summer last year.  We are sadly unprepared for warm weather...  No bubbles, no waterguns, no flip-flops...  Oh well, that's what the Easter Bunny is for, right?  I was just amazed that it was warm enough for them to even want to get wet.  You know, what with the SNOW we had two days ago and all!

Anyway, they had a blast.  Grant with his new spring fashion ensemble of two-sizes-too-small-shorts and hand-me-down cowboy boots (told ya we were unprepared) can be seen giving his brother a nice Alabama backyard baptism in the picture below.  I know, he's sprinkling rather than dunking, but we are Presbyterians now after all!

Old Mr. Sun may be fickle this time of year, but we don't care.  Whenever he shows his face, we will greet him with open arms and revel in every second he stays!  Happy Spring, my friends!

Adios, Dooley Dog

A little over a year ago, we decided it would be awesome to have a puppy.  Jeff had always wanted an English Bulldog, and they seemed like a great fit for our family.  So, we searched online constantly until we found a breeder nearby with good looking dogs for sale. 

Dooley was just about the cutest and sweetest little puppy you can imagine.  Unfortunately, we have found out that we are just not dog people.  I have been tormented over what to do for/with/about the dog for months, and finally a solution was practically dropped in my lap!  We were introduced to a very sweet lady whose bulldog passed away a year ago, and who wanted an English very badly.  She is perfect for our dog.  She is one of those people whose dogs are her main concern, and Dooley is the kind of dog who will revel in that! 

You may be wondering how the boys took the news.  We sat them down after dinner the other night, and I began by telling them the lady's story.  Then I told them that I thought it would be good for Dooley to go live with her and be her puppy.  They immediately started crying.  Grayson was quietly trying not to cry, and Grant just climbed in my lap and sobbed, "But when can we ever get another dog?"  Notice, he didn't say he was going to miss Dooley.  I thought that was a telling little difference.  They cried for almost a full minute while we comforted them.  Then I mouthed the word "hamster" to Jeff over their heads.  He said, "Guys, you know, if we don't have Dooley to take care of, we'll be able to get you a real hamster."  Y'all.  It was comical.  Grayson stopped mid-wail.  Grant went from wallowing all over my shirt, to immediately sitting up, sniffing twice, and saying, " Oh!  Can we get it one of those balls where it runs around the house?" 

They were still a little sad until I called Dooley's new mama, and she invited us to visit them as often as we like.  They are now perfectly happy, in part because of the hamster, but also because they know the situation will be better for everyone.  So as of 10:30 today, we will be dog owners no more!

Arivaderchi, Dooley, you're a DGD.  (For those out there not married to Georgia fans DGD is the highest compliment... D**n Good Dog.)

Welcome to Hogwarts!

The homeschool mom is nothing if not resourceful, right?  Sometimes it takes all the creativity I can muster just to keep my guys interested in school long enough to finish our day's lessons.  This week has had a couple of those days.  Monday we added interest by doing school on the sofa, rather than the school table.  Tuesday we had far too much written work to do that.  Just before school, as I was setting up all my supplies where they would be handy, I could hear the boys playing Harry Potter in their room.  Grant was speaking in his best British accent (which is adorable, by the way), and brandishing a wand at his brother.  Grayson was being an older student who was showing him the ropes at Hogwarts. 

This gave me an idea!  I got a couple of big feathers from our random piles of junk, and duct taped them to pencils to make quills.  Then I set up the pinch pots we made a couple of weeks ago as pretend ink wells.  Then I called to them in my best British accent (which is hardly as adorable as Grant's) that, "Attention all students of Hogwart's School!  Wizarding school is now in session!"  Goofy, I know, but man did it work!  Every subject was renamed:  "Magic Math,"  "Harry Potter Handwriting," "History of Magical Islands." 

If you look closely, you can see the great picture of Hogwarts castle that Grant is drawing in his notebook

(Oh, and just in case you're wondering, yes my boys live in those Mario pajamas, and yes we do school in pajamas nearly everyday.  Well, except for the days they just wear underwear.)

Have a Monstrous Valentine's Day!!

For those who didn't follow my old blog, let me introduce you to our Valentine's Day monsters.  They're called Sugar Monsters, and they first came on the scene two years ago.  They bring sweet treats hidden in their back pockets, and usually a love note, too.  Now they even have a story that goes along with them, which we read the night before Valentine's Day. 

Anyhoo, because of these little fellas we tend to get a little monster-happy at this time of year.  We were brainstorming together about cards to make for our friends, and Grayson's were sounding more like Halloween cards than Valentines.  I kept trying to redirect him, throwing out things like Star Wars, pirates, outer space, robots.  It was no good.  When he is determined, you may as well try to change the color of the sky; you'd have more luck.  So I turned my brain toward monsters, took stock of supplies (lots of googly eyes and pom poms), and inspiration struck!  Remember those little puffy monsters with the sticky feet that businesses gave out back in the 80's as little promo gifts?  I LOVED those things and had them stuck on the mirror in my room back in the day.  Well, I made a sample for Grayson, and he loved the idea!  Here are our results: 

Aren't they sweet?  Our sticky feet are foam heart stickers that we already had also.  To keep the theme going, they made monsters out of their Valentine box as well.  I think at this point, they were tired of making things (seriously, it's all we've done all week long), so they put in a little less effort, but they're cute just the same. 

Cute, huh?  They open at the mouth for their friends to drop the cards in. 

I just love my creative little monsters!  Now I gotta run to get ready to celebrate with their friends!