Cotter's Dream Dinner

Tonight we had a gourmet dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches, tortilla chips and apples. Like any meal around our house, one boy whines about how yucky the meal is while the other boy scarfs it down. Today, unlike most days, it was Aidan's turn to whine. Aidan is generally a very good eater, but he doesn't always like typical kids' foods like mac'n'cheese, chicken nuggets and grilled cheese sandwiches. Cotter, on the other hand, ONLY likes kid fare. So, he was very excited to sit down to a meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and chips.

Well, after we had finished our meal, we retired to the family room, leaving Cotter, with no food left on his plate, still sitting at the table. It isn't uncommon for him to play around at the table in the midst of some great daydream or something. Nobody thought much of it. We hung around the family room watching the rest of a football game and playing on the computer. Life just goes on, and the boys do their own thing. Well, 40 minutes later, we hear a bit of a whine in the background. Again, didn't think much of it until it registered what Cotter was saying. He was groaning, "I'm so tired of eating all of this food!" Huh? That's strange. He had already consumed his 1.5 sandwiches, handful of chips, and apple. And then we turned around. There's Cotter with the bag of tortilla chips (now mostly empty) in front of his plate. He had, apparently, been eating tortilla chips for the past 40 minutes, like it was, for the first time ever, his duty to finish off all of the food left on the table. Hmm...too bad we weren't having broccoli for dinner Oh, well. I think somebody is going to go to bed tonight with a tummy ache! But, thanks, Cotter, for saving me those extra calories.

Vrrrooommm...

I think this Little Tikes car was one of the best garage sale items I've ever invested in, second to the stash of Rescue Heroes that Aidan and Cotter played with daily for about 3 years and still have fun with. Kaitlyn LOVES her car! She would probably take it to bed with her if she could. She pushes it, pulls it, does flips over it, climbs it, uses it as a stool to reach high-up objects, and...oh...actually rides it, too! In this picture, she was all out bawling after she woke up prematurely from her nap. Tears and snot and the whole bit. I put her on her car, and snapped this picture moments later. (After wiping her nose, though I should've left it that way for affect.) Her brothers also have fun pushing her around at top speeds on our tiled floor. Good thing hard heads run in the family. She definitely enjoys the adrenalin rush!

A fish?

How come this is cute now, but when he gets to be 15 I'll start getting a little scared? I was sitting beside someone with a mohawk at church yesterday, and it was a little distracting. I wanted to figure out how he gets it to stand up so pointy. And, I wondered how often he actually shampoos it. I also remembered back to a funny but embarrassing moment when Cotter first met this guy at church a couple years ago and started pointing, laughing and calling him a fish. Well, if you walk around with a mohawk, you gotta know people are staring.

Vocal Bloopers

Cotter has never been much of a singer, especially when compared to his ever-singing brother. But in the past year or so he has started singing songs to himself as he carries out his daily activities. Usually these songs consist of music from his favorite videos, but more recently he has been overheard singing the songs that were repeatedly drilled into our heads during the week of Vacation Bible School. Or songs from some of his Christian music tapes we play in the car.

As a mother, it warms my heart to hear my child singing songs with scripture about obedience, loving God, and being a light to the world. I think, "Well, if he is constantly singing about these concepts, maybe he'll actually carry some of the principles into his life." But, as I began to listen more carefully, I realized that I may not WANT him to take these songs to heart! But, as you'll see below, it doesn't really matter either way, since Cotter doesn't exactly practice what he sings.

Here are some lyrics we've overheard Cotter repeating over and over again:

"You are the night of the world."

"Keep your lips from speaking wise."

"Do everything without complaining. Do everything without arguing. So that you may become playing with the your, children of God." [You have to wonder what he thought this means.]

The funny thing about this last song (above) is that Cotter was going around the house singing at the top of his lungs, "Do everything without complaining. Do everything without arguing..." And, I walked up to him and told him to go potty so that we could leave to run some errands. He stopped singing and started whining. "I don't need to go potty. I don't want to go. etc. etc." It's amazing how quickly they forget.

The Sweetest Girl in the World

Of course, I have to believe my daughter is the sweetest girl in the world. But, she has proved it this week. :-) In the past week, she has started "kissing" me on command (well, most of the time) when I get near her and say, "kiss kiss kiss." I love those big open-mouthed, slobbery kisses. They're the best! And also, Kaitlyn has her official first word. It's even accompanied by motions! It's a high-pitched "Hi!" with a wave of the hand. So cute. I love it!

When Cotter was watching "Go Diego" yesterday, the narrator said, "Say Hi!" Kaitlyn, who was playing with toys on the family room floor, looked up at the t.v., said, "Hi," and started waving! I'm sure now she's definitely on her way to Harvard.

I Always Wanted a Son Named "Bill-Ian-Eyre"

We are in the process of trying to sell some things on Ebay and Craig's List. I was trying to convince the boys to sell some of their seldom used (but still in good condition) toys and use some of the money for a toy they actually wanted. Aidan, who has always had a hard time giving anything away, resisted that idea. However, he did like the idea of purchasing a new toy! Of course, I told him "no." He asked if he could buy one with the money in his piggy bank. I asked him how much money he had. "I don't know" was the reply. So, I told him to go count his money. I figured there was no way he would have enough money for the toy he wanted, but at least he'd get a little math practice.

There was a good bit of clinking in the background as many coins came tubbling out of his piggybank into a heap on the floor. A couple minutes later, Aidan calls, "Mommy, I need your help!" I yelled back, "You can count your money yourself, just put the coins in individual piles of $1 each and count the piles." His reply? "But Mommy, I can only count to 9 billion!"