Weeknight Date

Jack and I had a Friday night date this week. Randy met some work buddies at a bar for a friend's going away party after work on Friday so Jack and I were on our own for dinner. I decided to turn it into a fun night instead of focusing on Randy not being home. While Jack was at school I picked up a painting project, some cupcakes and a copy of Free Willy to watch.

Jack and I started the afternoon with the painting project, we are working on a gift for someone's birthday that just so happens to be coming up next week. Jack planned out the whole thing (I'll post pictures later as I don't want to spoil any surprises) from the colors to what we should use to decorate it with. Then we sat down to breafast for dinner. Which just so happens to be one of our faves that Randy can't stand, so we took the opportunity and made Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes and coffee for dinner or brinner if you will. I made Jack a cup of coffee too, just like my dear sweet grammy used to make for me when I was little-- with lots of milk and sugar and just enough coffee to turn the milk color a little bit. Jack, was not a fan but he enjoyed the story and thought it was pretty funny that grammy would give me coffee when I was just a kid.





After eating we started Free Willy, it has been years since I have watched it. It was funny seeing all the Portland scenery and I found it fascinating that someone could ride their bike through downtown Portland and end up at the coast. Jack jumped when I did the first time when Willy came up out of the water at Jesse the first time they met. It was a pretty fun night and a good start to the weekend.

Hyenas and Cantinas

Today Jack's class learned a new rhyme:

"Silly Sally went to town backwards and upside down.
On the way she met a _____, a silly _____ and, they ___________."

The lesson was to pick an animal and a place that rhymed, on Jack's turn he picked hyena and cantina and came up with:

"Silly Sally went to town backwards and upside down.
On the way she met a hyena, a silly hyena, and they ate at a cantina."

His teacher and I are still wondering how he knows the word cantina. She asked him if he knew what it was and he told her, "Yeah you go there to eat food and drink stuff." I guess it is better then the little girl who rhymed caterpillar and killer... yeah serious, it happened.

Leprechauns

This week Jack had a little creative writing assignment in class. I thought I would share it because I started laughing out loud when I read it. I happened to be in the classroom helping out when I read it and his teacher looked at me and said, "Yeah I know, it was pretty funny right."

"How to Catch a Leprechaun"
By: Jack C Tidd (he uses his middle initial when he is the "author")
I will climb a tree then I will jump on the leprechaun! Then I will run very fast and hide in a bush. Then I will take his coat off. Then I will eat 100 bowls of Luck Charms cereal. I will eat 10 blue moons to make me invisible. Then I will say, "Gotcha".

This makes me wonder- does he think Leprechauns live in trees and how does he know about Lucky Charms cereal and the magic of the blue moon shaped marshmallows inside?

Suprise!!

Jack and I had the best surprise arrive at our door last Wednesday. My sister flew in from Chicago for an early birthday celebration. For those of you who don't know, my sister and I have shared the same birthday, even though we are 2 years apart. I've always thought it was the most wonderful thing, well maybe after the age of 12 I decided it was pretty cool to have that special day together.

We did so much while she was here and it was so much fun, Jack even had a snow day last Thursday so we got to stay home, play in the snow and hang out with Sarah all day to ourselves. Last weekend we went exploring in Seattle, Monday Sarah and I attacked Ikea and then attacked my apartment, I would not have done it without her pushing me to make better use of the space. Tuesday we bummed around in the Fremont and Ballard areas and decided Fremont is way better in our opinions as far as little shops to explore and bum around in.

Sarah and I had the best time, I really just enjoyed having her here-- I feel like the house is so quiet without her now.

How lucky am I to have a sister who I am so close to? Sometimes I feel like we should have been twins because that would describe our bond better, I feel like she is my other half and I wish there were words that were bigger then love and sister and friend to describe my Sarah... I love you and can't wait for tomorrow. Thank you so much for coming to see me and I can't wait to see you again.

Valentine-ing

We started out the week by making these lovely Valentine cards for the special ladies in Jack's life-- the idea came via the ladies at Sugar City Journal. It was a fun project that only took Sunday morning and part of the afternoon. Basically Jack drew a Valentine inspired picture and I made copies of it onto card stock and I exacto'd out some of the picture and we mounted them on glittery scrapbook paper. It was pretty fun. Then Jack wrote out little greetings on the backs and we sent them off on their merry way.





Wednesday we made some cutout cookies and decorated them. Made ourselves sick with frosting and candy toppings, but it was worth it. They turned out pretty good-- Jack made a special one for his Kindergarten teacher and took it in on Friday with her little gift.





Friday night Jack and Randy planned to do my Valentine shopping-- apparently Jack devised a plan to get me something really good. Here is a little snippet of the conversation according to Randy (picture this in a jewelry store)
Jack: Dad-- I want to get mom earrings
Randy: Jack, I think we should surprise her and get her a new camera
Jack: Dad, I think she wants more jewelry
Randy: Jack, she has lots of jewelry and she has been wanting a new camera, I think we should try to surprise her with one.
Jack: Dad, giving presents isn't about you, it is about the person you are giving it to.
Randy: Which one's did she say she wanted?

I guess Jack could not find the earrings I had been eyeing in the case and looked at every single pair and settled a pair of aquamarine studs. They aren't typically something I would pick out for myself-- but I love them because Jack picked them out and I have worn them everyday.

Saturday morning I woke up to a quiet house, the boys woke up early and snuck off. They returned with daffodils and stuff for breakfast.



Saturday afternoon Jack had Sheldon's birthday party to go to and had a great time. I had already confirmed with his mother that we could just drop him off and have a few hours to ourselves. Randy took me to this little hamburger place he has been wanting to go back to, I know, but holy cow that was a really good burger. Afterward we decided to wonder over to Circuit City and see what was on sale- we ended up stumbling upon a 22" flat panel monitor we have been watching and got it for a really good price. After all that excitement we picked up Jack from the party and headed home.

We had a great weekend and now I have this to look at all week.

Salvaged Saturday

Jack had some major plans today-- his friend Sheldon's 6th birthday party. Jack has been extremely excited ever since he received the invite in the mail last weekend. Everyday he has been counting off the days, he had planned out the perfect gift for Sheldon. This morning Jack played a little Lego Star Wars with his Dad on the Wii and after a last minute personal hygiene situation, Jack was showered and ready to go. I picked up my cell phone to check the time and the unthinkable happened, there was a missed call and a voicemail-- from Sheldon's mom. OH NO! I checked my voicemail and learned she awoke to one very sick little boy and was having to cancel & reschedule the party. As soon as I hung up the phone I looked at Jack and could instantly tell we were entering the pre-stages of a very broody afternoon (Jack has the tendency to mope around like a mini tortured poet when things go awry--I seriously wonder if I have a 16 year old trapped in a 6 year old body).

Randy must have been on the same wave length as me as I see him walk towards the office and get on the computer. Through a little quick parent mini conference we conclude in 5 seconds to take Jack to Coraline and McD's for lunch. I know it is bad, but sometimes you have to play that card-- besides we never eat there anymore, so once in awhile it is OK, especially with the aforementioned broodiness.

We decide it will be more fun to surprise Jack with all of this and just tell him he is coming along with us for our errands and lunch we were going to during the party. I don't know if this is normal or not, but Jack tends not to get excited about anything-at all, so we try to surprise him to elicit some type of excited emotional response to something, it very rarely works. Needless to Jack is not excited at the thought of going to sushi and a tax appointment.

Stop #1- McD's, we get out of the car and he looks at McD's and says, "They don't have Sushi here" in a completely dead pan tone. So we take the trickery a little further and tell him we are just parking here and walking to the other side to the sushi restaurant. Once inside McD's he asks if he can get something there and we can just get sushi (Jack is also a great problem solver-- always figuring out a way to settle both sides of an issue) we then decided it would be good to let him know we were really going to have lunch at McD's and there was a little knowing glimmer of a smile. He told me he would just have his, "usual"-- which he says as his "uj".

Stop #2- Joann's, I really did need to pick up some scrap booking items for tomorrow afternoon's project, we are making Valentines for all the special ladies in Jack's life. It should be fun and I will post some pics. We also had about 30 minutes to kill before heading over to the movie theater and going to Joann's put us in the same complex as the theater.

Stop #3-- Coraline We popped the Joann's purchases in the trunk of the car and walked over to the theater and got the tickets. Once we were inside I turned to him and asked if he knew where we were going and he shrugged and said, "Um, Coraline?" The movie was AWESOME-- seriously good and very cute and wonderful, one of the best kids movies I have seen in awhile. Very, very, very good.

So I think I managed to salvage Saturday afternoon and now he has something to look forward to next Saturday, but I just really really really wish that maybe one time, he would get excited about something... just one time. He sure can play it cool though.

Pet Talk

Last night Jack and Randy had a funny little talk about the possibility of getting a pet. I overheard this from the other room and I about chewed my lip off so he would hear me giggle.

Jack: Dad, I think I would like to have a pet.
Randy: What kind of pet do you think you would like to have.
Jack: Not a puppy or a cat, cause Dad you are allergic. What are the things called that we saw at the pet store that run on the wheel?
Randy: A hamster?
Jack: Yeah dad a hamster, can I get one? What do you do with a hamster?
Randy: Well you hug it and squeeze it and call it George (hee hee)
Jack: Gross dad, I'm not holding it ever, I am keeping it in it's cage all the time. I would get lots of stuff to make it a cool maze that it could run around in and a wheel. So can I get one?
Randy: Before you get a pet you have show me you are responsible enough to care for a pet and then maybe when you are 7 you can get a pet.
Jack: How do I do that?
Randy: Well you can start by keeping your room clean, taking your dishes from the table into the kitchen and asking your mom what you can do to help her; without being asked to do so.
Jack: Oh, OK, and then I can get a hamster?
Randy: If you do all those things for another year, then you can come ask me again. Can you guess what I will say?
Jack: (Sigh) You will say No.
Randy: Right, and what should you say to me?
Jack: (voice lilting up with hope) That I deserve one?
Randy: No, come to me and say, but daddy I did all this stuff for a whole year and you said we could talk about it after I was 7.
Jack: (really excited voice) And then you will say yes?
Randy: No, I will probably say they are too expensive. What do you think you should say then.
Jack: (super convincing I really want this or I will not survive voice) Pppppplllllleeeeeeaaaaaaasssssee Daddy, they aren't that expensive.
Randy: No, you say, but daddy I have the money.
Jack: Why would I say that, then I would'nt have any money.
Randy: To show me how much you want the hamster.
Jack: Hmm, that's a lot of money dad.