Alden's Imagination

I can't remember if I've blogged about Alden's imagination yet or not. If so, sorry. If not, this kid's imagination is amazing. Often when we go places Alden will yell "Wait!" as I shut the door of the car after getting him out. "Wait! We have to get the mouse." When this first started I thought, "What? I didn't know Alden had a mouse toy." But I'd open the door of the car again and Alden would pluck a scoop of air (aka his "mouse") from his carseat. He'd carry the mouse around the entire time we were shopping, telling me to watch it do things and then he'd want it to sit with him on the way home. His other imaginary friends in the car have included fish and doggies.

Tonight, Alden pulled out his pink doll stroller. (Yes, Jaron is man enough to let his son play with a pink doll stroller. :-D) Not only did he push his doll around in it as a stroller but that thing also became a dump truck, a train and a helicopter. Do you remember what it was like to be a kid and have an imagination?!?

Funny Little Eli

This video may get a little long for those of you not as enamored with Eli as we are. We thought this was pretty stinkin' funny, though!

Our New Fishing Game

This fishing game is oh-so-easy to make and Alden has a ball with it. First, start saving all those metal lids from juice concentrate cans. (Don't think we're juiceaholics - I've been saving mine for months!) Then, use permanent marker to doodle whatever you want on one or both sides. We put letters on one side to help Alden with letter recognition (find the "F" Alden!) and on the other we put shapes, numbers, and little primitive animals. Fashion your own "fishing pole" using a big stick, string, two magnets (the big round kind) and super glue. Voila! Enless fun for pennies!!

I told Alden we'd take a picture of his new game and post it online. This was his face when I told him to "smile:"

And this was his face when I told him to "look happy:"

Man this kid cracks me up!!

My Backseat Driver

Once upong a time, MONTHS ago, I got lost while driving. Shocker, I know! Alden and Eli were in the car with me (as always) and as I was turning the car around, Alden asked, "Why we go dat way?" I told him mommy went the wrong way and got lost so mommy was turning around. His response was, "Nice driving, mom." Silly kid! I'm sure it was a sincere comment (?) but it sounded like such ridiculously funniness coming from a 2-year-old.

Anyway, since around the time of that incident, I've had a little backseat driver growing behind me. Sorry I don't have a picture of him - hopefully that will come soon when I finally, amidst the early-morning mad shuffle to get out the door in time, remember to take my camera. Anyway, while I'm driving, Alden constantly sounds devastated as he makes comments like, "I don't want to go dat way, Mom!" "No, we go DAT way!" "No turn, Mom!" "You went da wrong way!" Usually, it's funny. Occassionally, on a rough day, it's frustrating that little Alden and I are already having control issues over driving the car.

Recently, Alden has developed a new complaint with my driving. Now he is always saying to me, "I don't want to tick-tock, Mom!" What?!? I just ignored it for awhile, giving an absent-minded response of "Okay, Alden." Well, it finally occurred to me that Alden would complain of the "tick-tock" every time we turned. Then one morning on the way to work it dawned on me! Apparently, he hates the sound of the blinker when I signal to turn. Every time we turn, he complains of the "tick-tock" sound. Funny kid!!

My first Blog Award!

My great new friend, Emily, here in Castle Rock gave me a blog award!! Woohoo! Thanks Emily!!
The only catch was that it said I have to list 10 HONEST things about myself. So here goes!

1. I have terrible road rage. I am trying to learn not to voice it so that Alden doesn't learn it. But there are just so many bad drivers out there!
2. I love the feeling I get after exercise but I still don't do it near often enough.
3. I am a non-recovering chocoholic.
4. My husband generally cooks better than I do.
5. I am a garage sale junkie. I love the deals, the thrill of the hunt, the unexpected fabulous finds, etc.
6. I crave having a yard to toss my kids out into someday.
7. I can probably count on one hand the number of clothing items I have that I didn't buy off the clearance rack.
8. Besides Jaron, my sister, Genny, is my closest friend.
9. One of my goals in life is to get off this continent.
10. I really enjoy living in all kinds of different places but I do wish we were closer to family.

So that's me! Hope you learned!! I would like to pass this award, with it's commitment of 10 honest facts, on to Kristin, Andrea and Melissa.

Why Friday Nights Once Again ROCK!!

When I turned about 14ish, my weekend nights suddenly became VERY important to me. At that point I was new to finding my way in the world of "socialness" so hanging out with my awesome group of way cool friends at someone's house every weekend was a MUST. We (probably almost) always had a blast. Well, as time went on Friday nights became...not very different from Tuesday nights. Or Wednesday nights. Or...well, you get the picture. But let me tell you why my Friday nights once again ROCK!!

A typical Friday finds me at Kids' Club in the morning. We all (well, except sometimes-a-stinker-Eli) love going to work at Kids' Club. Kids' Club rocks because I get to SOCIALIZE with other moms and Alden gets to socialize and RUN. After Kids' Club, we typically come home for lunch and pleasantly find that Jaron has taken off work and is home to hang with us FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. We all take a nap (well, not dad who doesn't believe in daytime naps for adults :-D), and then, if the weather is nice, we often find ourselves chillin' TOGETHER as a family at the park. Then, we generally have a leftovers supper which rocks because I DON'T HAVE TO COOK IT!

Now here comes the best part. Next, I take off to clean THIS:



A lovely model home (and a few others). And why is that the best part of my Friday night, you ask? Because while I'm gone here, dusting imaginary dust and vacuuming my footprints out of the room, my husband is at home cleaning THIS: Okay, that's not actually our house - it's a picture I pulled off the internet. But for all intents and purposes, except fo the little girl lying there, it might as well be our house! While I'm gone, Jaron is putting boys to bed, picking up toys, washing dishes, picking up mounds of clutter (that comes from no where, I swear!), washing real dirt of counters, vacuuming and scrubbing real guck from carpets, etc., etc. I leave in a house littered with clutter and little boy grimeys and come home to CLEANLINESS!!

So in a very Sarah Palin move, I'm going to say "I want to give a shout out to my awesome husband! Here's to you, Jaron!!" THANKS FOR MAKING MY FRIDAY NIGHTS ROCK AGAIN!

Our Nice Saturday at the Park