Bee in My Bonnet

Back in November I was reading a magazine and there was an article about a designer mom who converted a room in her house in to a giant library for her kids with display bookshelves and a low table for playing games and reading. And much to Papa Bear's despair, I got a bee in my bonnet. We love reading in this house and how perfect would it be to have a room in the house dedicated just to reading where the boys could see all of their books instead of having to dig through book bins to find what they want. And since we didn't have a spare, empty room just waiting to be made into our new library - and since I am NOT a designer it was going to be a little tricky.

First I convinced Papa Bear that we didn't need a formal dining room. It didn't really take much convincing when we have actually only used it as a formal dining room 3 times in 3 years but it took a little convincing to get him to wrap and pack our expensive dining room table and find a place in our over packed storage space. But once that was accomplished I set out on Craigslist to find cheap yet comfortable furniture to fill the room. The bookshelves were the most difficult because I had a specific display that I wanted so that kids could see the books and not just have a spine out bookshelf. So Papa Bear got a carpenter friend of his to custom build them for us. Papa Bear proudly designed them on AUTO CAD with a section plan that I couldn't make heads or tails out of. Craigslist furniture purchased, custom bookshelves built, painted and secured to the walls and books displayed for the boys - the bee was no longer in my bonnet (although I still want to paint the room once we can agree on paint colors). We spent under $300 for everything now we have a whole extra room in our house that we use much more than we did the dining room. Oh and we eat in our large eat-in kitchen/sunroom so have no fear!

And here it is, our new reading room!

Reminded of Another Joke....

It seems that our house is reminiscent of many jokes these days. Have you ever seen the Burt and Ernie skit about the banana in Ernie's ear? If you have kids, you probably have. If you don't have kids, it goes like this:

Bert: "Hey, you've got a banana in your ear!"

Ernie: "What?"

Bert: "I said, YOU'VE GOT A BANANA IN YOUR EAR!"

Ernie: "What? I can't hear you; I've got a banana in my ear!"

Well at lunch today, Little Man started yelling "I have a noodle in my ear! Get it out, Mama. Get it out!" I turn around from shoveling avocado in Peanut's mouth to see a spiral noodle sticking out of Little Man's ear. He was trying to get it out, but was actually just pushing it further into his ear. So I said "Little Man, stop trying to get it out. Let me do it." He immediately shouted, "Mama, I can't hear you! I have a noodle in my ear!" I moved his hand away and started to extract the pieces of noodle that were jammed in his ear and was laughing the whole time. When I asked him why he put a noodle in his ear (not that there is really a good reason). He told me that he wanted to see if it tickled. I asked him if it tickled and he said "yeah, it did a little."

So Peanut on his back and Little Man with a noodle in his ear...never a boring day in his house!

Like a Joke I am Fond Of...

When I was younger, my brother and I were very fond of this joke about a legless turtle. It goes like this:

Question:"Where do you find a legless turtle?"

Answer: "Right where you left it!".

This joke reminds me so much of Peanut these days. He is crawling, pulling up and even using things around the house to push around while crawling on his knees...but put him on his back and he is just stuck. He lays there like a lump, not even trying to move or roll. He cries and wails until his brother or Papa or I take pity on him and nudge him to get him going, but he doesn't even try to roll on his own. I know I said in an earlier post that he thinks he is a rock star and too good for rolling, but I think my life would be a lot easier if he would roll on his own. Twice a day I knock him (gently) onto his back and give him a sippy cup. He finishes it, throws the cup to the side and then lays there. Not moving. Not struggling. Just lays. Until. He. Screams. And then someone helps him move his chubby little legs and he swings over and is so so happy to be back on his tummy or hands and knees.

So today if you ask me "Where can you find a Peanut on his back?" the answer still is "Right where you left him!" Sigh......

Anyone know any tricks to help him figure out how to get his cubby momentum rollin?

Seriously Adorable

Papa Bear has returned to work (and has actually gone out of town for a funeral too) so my time to blog has greatly diminished for the moment.

So all you get is this picture of Peanut. I know I am biased, but I think he gets cuter by the minute. He is just seriously adorable!

(And Mommom, if you are reading this - Happy Birthday! We love you!!!)

Babysitting - Papa Bear Style

We all know that Papa Bear doesn't always keep to Mama Bear approved activities when watching the boys. (Remember this post?) But since it isn't often that I get out on my own, when I do get out - I try not to complain too loudly at the Papa Bear Babysitting techniques. Or at least, I try not to ask too detailed of questions about what occurred while I was gone. You know, I cover the basics, did they eat, did they sleep, do they still have all of their teeth and appendages? If all of those questions are answered to my satisfaction, I just leave the rest alone. BUT it seems that Papa Bear likes to record his techniques with the camera so when I download the pictures for the day (yes, we do take enough pictures that I download daily) I find the incriminating evidence. This time I thought his techniques, while unorthodox and not the Mama Bear way, they should be shared. So for all other Papa Bears out there in the world who are babysitting the young while the Mama Bears are out of the house trying to find their sanity in retail therapy - if the kids get out of hand and you want to make it easier to keep your eye on them - just put them in a box. A large box that they can't get out of and make sure to take a video of it for evidence or posterity :)

Super Little Man to the Rescue!

Need I say more?

Badoinger

If you thought that my first post in 2010 would be prosaic, sentimental or even full of resolutions...you would be wrong. Badoinger Wrong!

What is a badoinger you ask? Everyone has seen one, you all have one in your house somewhere and in my house, well, they are a form of entertainment for my boys. Peanut has only recently discovered the badoinger but has already spent lots of time making it badoing! Ok, really I will stop now and let you in on what I am spewing about. (Mommom, these are videos, so make sure you hit play to watch them)

Little Man Badoinging in 2007

Peanut Badoinging in 2009