Nevermind me...

It was still dark when I woke up yesterday morning.  But I knew one thing...Quinn was sleeping on my back.  And I quickly learned a second thing...my pillow was on the nightstand...along with my head.  I had been sleeping half on the nightstand. 

I ever so carefully began the process of shifting Quinn to the middle of the bed.  I didn't want to wake him up.  I also didn't want to wake up Chris.  Or Ike.  Mainly because if Ike woke up he would inevitably wake up Chris or Quinn.

I gingerly lifted my son and slid him over.  I moved my pillow back onto the bed.

And then Quinn rolled over and snuggled into a spooning position with Chris.  And then I heard his tiny, tired, whispered voice from the other side of the bed...

"Dad?"

"Yes, Quinn?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

I laid there, waiting for my son to roll over to acknowledge me.  To tell me that he loves me.  You know, me, the one that he slept on all night.  The one that he forced onto the nightstand.

But no. 

No I love you's for me.  Just a few kidney kicks to round out my slumber.

Such is the life of a mother.

Never Ending...

Y'all this week seems completely never ending.  Seriously.

Chris had two late nights on Monday and Tuesday.  We ate eggs and toast on Monday and frozen pizza on Tuesday.  Ugh. 

Quinn had a crazy, crazy melt down when I picked him up from school on Tuesday.  He wanted to play outside and was mad that I was there to get them.  Nevermind that it was raining.  He laid down in the lobby of the school (in front of 5 other families) and blocked the door.  The girls and I had to wave good bye and get in the car before he would join us.  He screamed in the car for a good 10 minutes before I pulled into a parking lot.  Big sigh.  The spanking was close.  And then I said this...

Your behavior right now makes me very sad.  I was really happy to see you this afternoon and couldn't wait to get home to spend the evening together.  I was going to make a pizza and we were going to laugh and have fun and read stories.  I'm sorry that you're not happy about this too.

And then, I kid you not, the child said this...

Oh.  Is it cheese pizza?  Do you have a napkin in here so that I can dry this up?

And then he was fine for the whole rest of the night.  What the what.  My kid is bipolar for sure.  There is no other explanation.

Wednesday and Thursday are both dance nights and then we sail into the weekend.

Amen.

My Baby...

...just doesn't look like a baby anymore.  We picked up his glasses on Friday.

I was glad that I was holding his hand on the way out, because he almost fell four times.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said, "Mom.  Everything is just so big!" Poor boy.  It was just normal size - everything before was just that much smaller.  Ugh.

We let him pick where he wanted to eat his first meal as a boy in glasses.  He chose Waffle House.  Big surprise on that one.

{he was giving me a thumbs up...only he can't...he does it with his pinkie.every.single.time.}

Saturday morning he wanted a haircut.  So that he would look even more handsome in his glasses. 

 

Such a big difference, right?  :)  He really is so very cute in his glasses.  If he thought I took too many pictures of him before...well, let's just say my pictures of him many have doubled.  

Quinn sings!

Last week may not have been Quinn's best week at school, but he found a way to make his teacher "happy forever."

After continuing to find his way onto his friends' mats during nap time, he was sent to time out in another teacher's classroom.

When he came back, he told his teacher that he would like to sing a song to her...a song that would make her "happy forever."

And so, my four year serenaded his teacher with You Are My Sunshine.

{she's the best and had him sing it a second time so that she could film it}


At home, the night that this happened, Chris asked Quinn if he has now learned to sing to his teacher to get out of trouble.  He replied, "No.  Only when she is very, very mad."

Awesome.

Q.

Trying to take a good picture of Quinn could be a full time job.  Seriously.

In other news, Quinn and I had a morning at the optometrist yesterday.  You see, in the fall, in had his vision screening for PreK and didn't quite pass it.  But his grandmother was giving the test and we (Chris and I) thought that maybe he was fooling around or that because it was his grandmother, maybe she was being over cautious.  But, apparently, he didn't and she wasn't.  He really has some vision problems (including astigmatism and problems with depth perception).  Gah!  His glasses will be here on Wednesday or Thursday and I must say, he is quite the lady killer in them.  Think, the little boy from Jerry Maguire.

Fire Station

Over the weekend Quinn was invited to a birthday party...at the fire station.  Do the fire stations by you do this???  This is the only station that I've ever heard of that does Birthday parties and it apparently is tradition...Chris remembers going to a party there as a child.

Quinn was really excited about it  - the party, his friends AND the fire station.

The party started in the kitchen area of the firehouse and the kids got chief hats and extinguishers to play with.  There were also balloons on the floor and, well, I think we all know how much my boy loves (loves, loves) balloons!

The firemen came back and took everyone on a tour of the station.  At the beginning of the tour, the fireman told the group of children that if the alarm went off they would have to hurry to the wall because the men and the trucks would have to leave right away.  The group of children all stood, staring and silent...except for my son, who replied, "Um, excuse me, if we can't hurry fast enough, we could just go on the trucks with you."

So there's that.

And then they gave the kids a turn inside the truck...

This is where Quinn tried talking them into letting him go up front...

This is when the fireman asked Quinn if he was going to be a fireman when he grew up.  To that he replied, "Oh I am!  I am going to be everyfink when I grow up!"

Following that we walked around the station and checked out the trucks.

There was a little posing for pictures.  Funny how he smiles and looks all cute when other mothers are taking the pictures...

The fireman then put on all of his uniform, including the mask and helmet.  The other children all gathered around him while mine danced on the back of the truck.  You know, all in the name of party time.

We then got to see the rest of the station (the kids were in awe of the sleeping room - so many beds!) and headed back to the kitchen for cake.  Only Quinn decided that he would rather be in the TV room sitting in recliners alongside the firemen watching the football game.  We missed singing to the birthday boy because I was coaxing my 4 year old out of the Lazy Boy.

All in all, though, not a bad way to spend the afternoon.  If you live in the Athens area, we were at Station One on College Ave and the guys were really great - something a little different for a party and the kids definitely enjoyed it.

Quinn:::A series of pictures.

{we took a lot of group pictures last weekend at my mother-in-law's birthday outing, I zoomed in on Quinn so that you could see this awesomeness...}

The Story of a Four Year Old Negotiator

Quinn is a natural negotiator.  Period.  I have no idea where he learned these strategies from, but if you need someone to negotiate a new car deal for you, he's your guy.

Take this evening for example...

We've been using what we call "Mickey Money" as a reward program with Quinn for a couple of weeks now (super successful! similar to Daddy Dollars that we used with the girls a few years ago).  He earns money throughout the day - getting dressed in the morning, being picked from school without a fuss, good dinner behavior, good bath time behavior, etc.  and then can spend his money on things like playdoh time, a pick from the treasure box, a new workbook (I stocked up at the hot spot at Target), special dessert, movie and snack, etc.  

We talked about adding a trip to his school's playground as a bigger ticket item.  So when Chris picked him from school this afternoon and he was crabby about not being able to play on the big playground, Chris offered up the new prize....

Chris:  Mom and I were thinking about adding a playground trip as something you could buy with your mickey money.

Quinn:  How much?  5 mickey monies?

Chris:  Um, we were thinking more like 25 or 30.

Quinn:  Oh, so not 5?

Chris:  No, more than that.

Quinn:  How about 10?

Chris:  I could maybe do 20.

Quinn:  Done.

I think Chris was scammed.  Just sayin.

Humdingers

Quinn has been on a roll lately.  Sometimes I just can't keep up with the things that come out of that boy's mouth...

Me:  Quinn, what did you learn in school today?
Quinn:  Evwefink.  (everything)
Me:  Really?  Everything?
Quinn:  Yes.  I learn evwefink, evweday.

*********

Quinn:  My shiny tooth doesn't like boogers.

*********

Me:  I'm so glad you're holding my hand.  It makes me feel special when you hold my hand.
Quinn:  I don't really want you to feel special.
Chandler:  Hey!  You should be nice to Mama; she gave you the gift of life.
Quinn:  No.  That was Jesus.  Jesus gave me the gift of life.  And God.  Jesus and God.

*********

(Quinn sings.  A lot.  All.the.time.  He makes everything into a song and it is almost like he just can't help it.  Sometimes it can be annoying.)

Casey:  Quinn!  Why, why do you have to sing songs all the time????
Quinn:  Because that's what they're there for.  Songs are for singing.

********

(and speaking for songs, he sings this one frequently)

This is the day, this is the day that the Lorax made, that the Lorax made.

(instead of This is the day, this is the day that the Lord had made, that the Lord has made.)

*********

(while petting the dog)

Quinn:  Hiya, Pops!  Hiya, Pops!
Me:  Um, Quinn?  Who are you talking to?
Quinn:  Bikey.  But I'm just calling him Pops.

***********

(and speaking of Pops...)

Pops:  I'm gonna call you MMP.  Motor Mouth Pendley.
Quinn:  No.  You should call me SSSP.  Super Special Sniffy Pendley.  Because I sniff evwefink.

***********

I should really write these down more often.  He makes me laugh everyday.  Or should I say, evweday.

First Day of School

I left before everyone was ready for school this morning, so Chris had to take the pictures....

There was this cute one...

{first day of 5th grade, first day of pre-k}

When they got to school, Chris realized that he hadn't taken any pictures of them with the backpacks on (something I always do) so he did that on their way in the building...

Um, yeah.

And apparently, he had the attitude to match (or at least he did by the time I got there to pick them up).

I asked the three of them to wait while I filled out some after school program paperwork.  He said no.

The principal told him to sit.

He said no and then sat on the floor the middle of the lobby kicking his feet.

Then he bolted out the front door and I had to chase him to bring him back in.

Then once it was time to leave, he took off again...and tried to run from the principal when he squatted down to talk to him.

He moaned almost the whole way home and would not talk about his day.  At all.

He told us two things...

1.  There was a boy a girl that weren't very nice on the playground.

2.  He ate carrots.

Big sigh.

{Mrs. Spry, we miss you!}

Summer Days + Underwear

Quinn has a hard time keeping his underwear on.  I think he feels that since he is potty trained that he should be able to strut around in the nude.  (I hope this isn't a glimpse into his college years.)  We are continuously telling him, "Put your unders on!  Cover your penis!"  But he really doesn't care.  And while he doesn't care, the girls are mortified on a daily basis.

Last week, he came down from playing in his room dressed like this...

He proudly announced, "Look, Mama!  Two can walk in one!" He had both legs through one opening of his boxer briefs - which was then twisted around his waist so it was full frontal nude.  The other leg?  Yep, that's the flap over his hiney.

He was pretty impressed with himself.  He had his underwear on and his penis was not covered!

And then there was this...

That is his actual pair of underwear.  He's comando under his shorts.  I guess he he just thought the underwear worked better on his head that day.

Big sigh.  I hope this is a short lived phase.

Quinn and Jesus

A Date at Menchie's

Following the art exhibit, Molly and I took the kids to Menchie's for a frozen yogurt treat.  They love it there.

And then Quinn about lost it when the Menchie's mascot came out.  Seriously.  If I could bottle his joy and excitement in that moment...

He couldn't stop grinning.  And laughing.  And yelling at Menchie, "I love you!  I love you!"  At one point he said, "I could eat you!" and that was kind of creepy...but other than that...he really couldn't take his eyes off him.  And he kept going back for hug after hug after hug...I thought he was going to knock Menchie over. 

Quinn's Big Boy Party

I don't know where the weekend went.  Is it like that for you too after the holidays?  After having two weeks off, having two days just doesn't seem like nearly enough.  At 7pm on Sunday night I finally felt like I was hitting my groove.  3 hours before bed and the start of a new week.  Ugh.

So here's what we did...
1.  Chris and I watched The Change Up Friday night (we rent movies from Amazon and stream them on the tv.  Do you do this?  I love it.  Seriously.).  I must say I liked it better than some other movies we have seen lately (for example, The Hangover 2).  I now feel the need to tell Chris that I am going to cut him.  Because that makes me laugh. 
2.  Saturday morning Loralai came over for Quinn's Big Boy Party.  More on that in a minute.
3.  Laundry
4.  Dinner at Drew and CB's.  I really love hanging out with them.  So easy and enjoyable.
5.  Chris took the kids to church and Sam's Club.  I worked on jewelry.  So long overdue.  I hadn't made anything NEW in almost a month.  What?  What?  I blame the holidays. 
6.  Grocery shopping.
7.  Yummy quiche and salad dinner. 

By far, the big hit of the weekend was Q's Big Boy Party.  You see, Chris and I have not been overly concerned about his pacifier.  Or, as Quinn called it, his Baby. 

Quinn is potty trained, super smart, a fairly good eater, kind, and polite.  He is NOT a good sleeper.  At all.  And the only time he had his Baby was at home to sleep.  (Or those times when he would smuggle it out of the cabinet and walk around in his unders with a Baby in his mouth.)  So, we weren't pushing him to get rid of the Baby.  Think what you may of me as a parent, it just wasn't a battle I was going to fight.  The girls were done with their pacies when they were 2, Quinn just wasn't ready.

So last weekend Q and I had a conversation about being a big boy and that the Baby was keeping him down.  So he gave it up.  Chris magically disappeared them.  And then we bribed him with Loralai and a cupcake party...if he could go all week without one, he and Loralai could have cupcakes with candles and a play date.  Sold. 

He screamed the first 3 nights but we persevered.

And on Saturday, Loralai came over to make cupcakes, eat lunch and play.  Then we lit candles in their cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday (by request) over and over again.

  

The big girls were my mini babysitters (so good at this job!) and Casey was my cupcake photographer.

This is really only half a post.

I have more to say on everything in this post, hence this being half a post. 

Quinn had his Christmas party at school today.  Chris went and made a billion little videos for me.  Q was beside himself that Santa was in the room and had a billion questions for him.  First and foremost he wanted to know where the reindeer were. 

Chris and I were most impressed with the gingerbread house that he made.  And slightly creeped out.  All the teachers swear that they did not help with the candy/color choices and that he grouped and counted everything out himself.  I believe this is a flag for an OCD future.  Just sayin.

That's crazy, right?  And here he is inspecting his work.  I actually told him to put his face by it so that I could take his picture with his house....this is it...

The Grandpa and Gram box came today.  The tradition continues...they sent Q an electric keytar.  I swear, they really do hate me.  Every box seems to have something noisy in it.  Big sigh. 

Quinn's favorite in the box?

This.  Right here.

Because what little boy doesn't want to be a super hero?????

Why the Woods are Dangerous...According to Quinn

He talked about this the WHOLE way home from the sitter's today, so when we pulled into the driveway I interviewed him.  I knew that he would be instantly distracted in the house and it was just TOO good.  And now I know, I should turn on the light in the car for such an interview.  Sorry it's so dark.  :(

One Day Down.

One day down.  One day to go. 

Hooray!

We are so in need of this break.  Desperate need.  A time to regroup, to recharge, {to restock the shop}.  Big sigh.

Last night I made chili for dinner.  Quinn apparently doesn't like chili and asked for some bread on the side.  So I gave it to him.  And then he asked for cheese.  Again, no problem.  Then he requested blueberries.  Little did I know that my son was making a blueberry and cheese sandwich on honey wheat.

And yes, he is eating dinner topless.  I find this to be a vast improvement from the days when he ate without bottoms.

Speaking of bottoms, if he told my mother once this weekend he told her a dozen times...

"Meme, I don't say BUTT, I say bottom."

and...

"Meme, I don't say what the heck, I say oh my goodness."

And then every time she would slip and say butt or what the heck, he made sure to correct her.

Hey!  Do you read Meg's Whatever blog?  I love it.  And I loved being a sponsor of her last craft weekend!  This was posted today on the Craft Weekend blog...just thought I would share.  :)

Happy Monday!

What I Wore Outtakes

Every post that I write for WIWW has a few of these in the mix...

A Song About Mr. Turkey and His Feathers

A Story About the Moon.

 

 {as we pulled into our driveway this evening}

On our way home this evening Quinn was in love with the moon.  He was convinced that the moon was going to follow us home.  But the moon wouldn't fit into our house.  Because the moon was too big to fit into our house.  So it had to stay in the sky.

I (thinking I was oh so clever) suggested that he might be able to lasso the moon and bring it down to our backyard.  (He is very interested in lassoing things these days.) 

And he replied, very seriously, 

"No.  I can't lasso the moon.  I not have any rope in my room."

So, lucky for us, the moon is going to stay in the sky tonight.