Okay, it wasn’t the carnivale, like in Rio.
It was more like the local Catholic church hosting their yearly carnival.
But, if you are 9, 6 or 4, it is just as exciting!
There were lines…
There was food…
There were really expensive tickets…
There were big slides…
There were many rides…
There were great views from the top of the Ferris wheel….
There was wind-tossed hair…
…and great times were had by all.
Yes, I did it.
I took the plunge.
I bought myself a Nook.
I had been putting aside some money for either a Kindle or a Nook, and then when I received a Barnes and Noble gift card for Mother’s Day, that settled the question of which one I would buy and when I would buy it.
So, I bought the Nook.
AND I LOVE IT!!!
I am completely a crazy book reader to begin with, and really didn’t think I could read more than I already do.
My friend, Kim, told me that when she got her Kindle, one of the benefits was that she read more.
Pishaw, I thought.
Guess what?
She was right.
Having a book so…available…is just so…FREAKING AWESOME!
I still love the feel of a book.
I still love the smell of a book.
I still love to hold a book in my hand.
However…
When I was nervous about having a second baby, because how could I ever love another child as much as I loved Monkey Girl, people told me that your heart doesn’t divide, but it multiplies.
They were right.
And strangely, it applies to books and e-readers as well.
Ah, sweet love.
No, it’s not his birthday.
I just was clicking through the pictures on my laptop and came across this one, which I’ve probably posted before, but I was struck by it tonight.
Was my 4 year old who has a full mouth of teeth, wears underwear, goes in the potty, and says words like “actually” really ever this small?
Be. Still. My. Heart.
Tonight was Baby Monkey’s celebration at nursery school.
You may remember that the winter celebration was an exercise in futility.
He didn’t sing.
He didn’t make the movements.
He made lots of funny faces, but none of them were related to anything that was supposed to be happening on that stage.
He was 3.
Now, he’s 4.
This time, he did much better.
He sang and did the motions for two of the five songs.
He’s improving.
The rest of the time, he played with the zipper on his sweater.
Made funny faces.
Giggled with his best buddy, Jack.
He was 4.
I’m so in love with this kid, sometimes I can barely breathe.
Enjoy some of our images of tonight’s celebration.
Maybe next winter we’ll get three out of five songs, and maybe by his last celebration, next spring, we may get him to sing all five!
But, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
…and then there was this homemade card from Baby Monkey.
See if you can figure out what it is.
It’s quite touching, really.
Did you figure it out?
Okay, I’ll help.
For Mother’s Day, Baby Monkey drew me a picture of the explosion that ruined our local public library last week.
He said, “I know how much you love the library, so I drew you a picture of the library explosion!”
Nothing says love like an explosion picture.
I have to say, this was a banner Mother’s Day.
I spent the day with my parents, my monkey babies, and Real Man.
We laughed and played and just enjoyed ourselves all day long.
Here’s hoping that all of the other mothers, mothers-to-be, mother-in-laws, grandmothers, and every other kind of mother there is out there had a wonderful day, as well!
Happy Mother’s Day!
…and sometimes you’re the bug.
This past week, I was the bug.
Smushed, flat, guts-a-oozing.
Granted, it could have been worse, and taken alone, any one of the things that happened would have been completely managable.
Put them all together over the course of a few days?
Stick a fork in me…I’m done.
So, I won’t regale you with everything that happened.
Let me just share the few of which I have photo evidence.
By Thursday morning, I was already suffering ticks from the week I had experienced, so I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts to treat myself to a strawberry coolatta and a reduced fat blueberry muffin. (Yes, I know…both bad news for diabetics…let’s just be glad I wasn’t buying myself a king sized Hershey bar and a jar or peanut butter.)
I got to work and, well, worked, and after awhile, I had a few minutes to eat my muffin.
I opened it up and found…
…smushed.
I found it to be a perfect visual representation of my week.
When I got home on Thursday, I found this…
Yeah, the garbage men picked up the garbage of EVERYONE ELSE in the neighborhood, except for ours.
The bright spot in the week was taking Monkey Girl to a Girl Scout event called Mad science. She loved it, and I loved watching her.
She is such a good girl.
On the way home, I missed my exit off of route 80, and we got stuck in bumper-to-bumper, standing still traffic. We didn’t get home until 9:30.
My wonderful Real Man had a big bowl of popcorn ready for me, so we could snuggle in and watch tv together.
I climbed into bed, reached for the bowl, and…
Amy wept.
When Monkey Girl and Monkey in the Middle watch television, they fall into a coma.
They become engrossed in the show and could easily be mistaken for zombies.
Baby Monkey has a different method of television watching.
Whatever the show, he finds a toy that matches the show and plays away.
Watching Bob the Builder…he pulls out the tools.
Watching Fireman Sam…he puts on his firefighter gear.
Watching Thomas…he takes out trains.
I think you get the gist.
However, just in case you aren’t sure, let me show you.
Watching the Wiggles…
Definitely not a passive tv guy.
Come to think of it, he’s not passive about anything in life.
Hopefully he’ll never lose that quality.
In our house, we cover the spread on just about anything.
My kids all like to do things completely differently.
They are unique and independent, and even though they all love each other a ridiculous amount, (probably more than is normal for brothers and sisters), they still retain their own preferences.
Dessert tonight was a good example of this.
Monkey Girl…traditional:
Baby Monkey…not so much with the traditional:
In fact, Baby Monkey believes that everything tastes better when dipped in milk.
Ice pops (which he calls “Whomp-a-Dongs”), green beans, roast beef, gum, etc.
Yup…we’ve got it all.
The way their feet don’t touch the floor when they are sitting on just about any chair.
The way they will hold a toy all day long, no matter what they happening to be doing.
Eating, bathing, playing with another toy…doesn’t matter.
They will keep that death grip on the toy that is the favorite of the day, even as they fall asleep.
…and the way that they can completely become entranced in a task that to an adult may seem fruitless and a time waster, but that fills them with such satisfaction, that when they are done, their smiles can light up the world.
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