My Real Life

August 30, 2010

Discomfort

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:29 am
Tags:

You know how people have a “tell” when they are uncomfortable?

Some people tug on their ear.

Others may look off to the right.

Others even shuffle their feet.

Baby Monkey?

He stands like this:

Now, to be clear, he also stands like this when he is telling you something he thinks is either very important or very crazy, but this is the stance of discomfort with Baby Monkey.

For example, at the park the other day, a little boy came up to him and started asking him questions.

However, the little boy spoke very quickly and not very well.

It was difficult to understand him, but Baby Monkey didn’t want to be rude.

So, he just put his hands on his hips and looked off to the side and just nodded his head.

At a store when someone comes up and says “Oh!  Look at the sweet little boy!” the hands go on the hips, the stare goes off to the side and there he is.

It’s actually pretty darn cute and one of my favorite things about him.

He doesn’t run.

He doesn’t hide.

He doesn’t cry.

He puts his hands on his hips, as if to say “I don’t like this, but I’m not backing down either.”

Or, perhaps he’s saying “You talkin’ to me?  You talkin’ to ME?”

Either way,

It’s cute.

August 29, 2010

This Guy

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:32 am
Tags:

Baby Monkey.

I don’t really even know what to say about him.

He melts my heart.

He’s so different from his brother and sister.

They need to play with someone.

Not him.

Last night, the big monkeys were in the basement, playing Wii Fit Plus for over an hour.

I peeked over the edge to see how they were doing and I realized that Baby Monkey wasn’t with them.

So, I snuck up to his room and found this:

Just happily playing with his trucks and cars.

Chatting to himself.

Happy.

And yet, as happy as he is to be playing alone for hours, he’s a huge love monkey.

He’s the first one to shout out a random “I love you, Mama!” from anywhere in the house.

He shares, he hugs, he is always, always kind.

This guy….

…is something special.

August 28, 2010

At the Movies

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 3:17 pm
Tags:

My Mom and I took the kids to see Nanny McPhee yesterday.

My boys have a bit of a “snack routine” at the movies.

Baby Monkey doesn’t like popcorn, so he gets Twizzlers.

He loves Twizzlers.

I don’t mean, like, he enjoys Twizzlers.

I mean, like, he seriously LOVES Twizzlers.

However, he also seriously LOVES his brother.

So, Baby Monkey gets Twizzlers.

Monkey in the Middle gets the kids combo which is some popcorn, a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup and a small drink.

They sit next to each other, put the Twizzlers between them so they can share, and put the drink between them, so they can share that.

Monkey Girl winds up getting all of her food/drink to herself.

Not sure how she worked out that gig, but she did.

Anyway, it is tres cute, and I love the sharing.

Oh, and the movie?

Tearjerker.

August 26, 2010

Shocking!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 3:14 pm
Tags:

August 25, 2010

What Monkeys Do When It’s Been Raining For Days

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:17 am

August 24, 2010

Schemes

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 3:07 pm
Tags: ,

I always know when a scheme is a-brewin’.

Today, it started with Monkey in the Middle coming to me and asking how much a soda costs.

About 5 minutes later, he came back, wondering if milk is sold individually, like a 20 oz bottle of soda.

Then, he wanted to know if water and milk would cost the same as soda.

Finally, I asked.

Turns out, he and his siblings want to open a store at the end of the driveway that sells water, milk and soda.

Very enterprising.

Then, he comes back and asks if you can buy a bouncy castle for your house.

I tell him I guess so.

He wants to know how much they cost.

About $5, was his guess.

I said, probably a few hundred.

He was not defeated.

Next thing I know, I hear change being dumped and now I have to know, so I go into the living room.

After they pooled and counted their money, they started asking what extra chores they could do.

I decided to not ask the hard questions right now.

Like, where exactly they think a bouncy castle will fit in the house.

How they plan on blowing that thing up.

And the rest.

Instead, I’ll let them plan and scheme.

Because tomorrow, it’ll be something else.

August 22, 2010

Story Time Sunday

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:08 am
Tags:

So, my camera appears to be broken, which is devastating, as I have so many pictures on there that I wanted to share with you.

Real Man is working on getting the photos downloaded, even though the darn thing won’t turn on, and so in the mean time, I’ve decided to entertain you with a story from my past.

When I graduated from college, I lived at home for a period of some months before moving into my own place.

The summer right after I graduated, I got a job at a local stationery store and Real Man was working at the local road department.

We also started dating (again) that summer.

So, one day, Real Man called me at my parents house.

I answered the phone, in my room and said, “Hi!”

He replied, “Hi!”

But then, my mother picked up the extension downstairs, because our intense “Hi” conversation hadn’t taken more than a second and she said, “Hello?” thinking she was the first person to answer the phone.

Real Man didn’t say a thing.

See, he expected me to say “Mom, I got it.”

Because, that’s what a normal person would do.

That’s what a polite person would do.

That’s what a person who wasn’t an only child with an overactive imagination who had spent WAY too many hours entertaining herself and coming up with plans and schemes would have done.

Yet, that’s NOT what I did.

Instead, I put on my best Brooklyn accent, lowered my voice a few octaves and said, “Mrs. Lawrence?”

My Mom said, “Yes?”

I said, “This is Joe from VW credit.  I’m calling to set a time to come over and repossess your car.”

“What???”

“Yeah, I need to come over and repossess your car.”

My Mother was stunned.

“But, but…my husband pays that bill every month!  I don’t understand!”

“Well, I guess he ain’t as on top of it as you think he is, huh?”

My Mom was yelling and trying to convince me to not repossess the car and I kept explaining that I didn’t deal with the finance end of things.  Finance gave me her number and I had to come and get the car.

When she finally started saying things like, “But…my car!….my baby!” I decided it was time to let her off the hook.

“Ma?” I said, in my own voice.

“Amy, hang up the phone,” she said, thinking I had picked up the extension.

“No, Mom…it’s me.”

“What?”

“It’s me Mom…I’m Joe from VW credit.”

“What?”

I put the Joe voice back on, said a few words, then said, “See?  Me!”

Silence.

Then, I heard her extension hang up.

Real Man simply said, “You are terrible.”

I said, “I know.”

I didn’t smoke.

I didn’t drink.

I didn’t do drugs.

But, I did have a penchant for the hijinks.

Still do.

I’d like to say that was the last time I ever pranked my parents, particularly with the phone.

I’d like to say that.

Can’t.

If the camera doesn’t get fixed today, perhaps you’ll hear another story.

Cuz, the truth is, this ain’t the worst of it, folks.

Love you, Mom and Dad! 🙂

August 21, 2010

Carnival Games

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:06 am
Tags: ,

“Mama!  Mama!” the boys called to me the other day.

“You have to come see our cool carnival game!”

The boys love playing carnival, boardwalk, block party, etc.

Anything where they can invent rides and games and then play for hours.

So, I finished up the bill I was paying, put it in the envelope, stuck on the stamp, and walked out the front door.

Where I promptly let the bill drop out of my lifeless hand, as I saw the carnival game the boys had made up.

They were tossing little rubber balls into our garbage and recycling cans.

Some of which actually had garbage in them.

Those that were empty still had the remnants of garbage days past.

All of them…gross.

Needless to say, I hauled everyone inside for a bath (you can see Baby Monkey’s hands on his hips, as I took this picture after telling them that this carnival was shut down) and we discussed the possibility of using sand buckets from the beach instead of garbage cans next time.

While I celebrate their creativity…

…I shudder to imagine what these boys will think of next!

(Let me clarify that this picture was taken the same day as the lawn mowing day…the boys have not been wearing these clothes for three days.)

August 20, 2010

Little Bit of Money, Lots and Lots of Fun

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 7:17 am
Tags:

So, I was in the store the other day and they were selling Squirmles.

Squirmles are these little fuzzy things attached to strings.

Not much of a toy, when you think about it.

However, I bought three because I’ve got kids who play with cardboard boxes, so something that is cheap and not much of a toy would probably be a big hit around here.

I was right.

They’ve gotten hours of entertainment out of these things.

They’ve made obstacle courses, wound them around bannisters and cabinet handles.

They stick them in their pockets and treat them like little pets.

$2.99 for a set of a big and a little.

Not to be cliche, but the hours of entertainment?

Priceless.

August 19, 2010

Pot ‘O Gold

Filed under: Uncategorized — Amy @ 8:51 am
Tags:

Monkey in the Middle had football last night.

It didn’t end until 7:30 and we hadn’t eaten beforehand, so we took the Monkeys to Wendy’s for dinner.

As we got out of the car, this is what we saw.

And it felt so appropriate, because according to the picture, at the end of that rainbow was my pot ‘o gold.

Those monkeys.

Next Page »

Theme: Rubric. Get a free blog at WordPress.com