Buddy & Buddy
A dinnertime jingle for Buddy Buddy doesn’t like cats, bats or rats. He doesn’t like delivery men with hats. He likes meats, treats and sweets And smelly things, like summertime feet. He can be a gross dog but we love him so We will really miss him when it’s his time to go. Big Monkey started that jingle and then I finished it. I share it here because we were looking for a birthday gift for a friend when we came across this string doll that looks a lot like Buddy—and its name is Buddy! I have to figure out where it’ll go—because I’m not one for a big wad…
We are out of X
You may not think this is funny, but it is one of those “seriously?” kind of ways or the more you hear it the funnier it becomes in a “Wayne’s World” sort of way. When we were coming home from the airport we decided to go through the McDonald’s drive-thru to get something quick because it was well past lunch time and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The first thing we hear from the speaker is that they are out of soda—they can only sell iced tea and water. It reminded me of the time many years ago when Boston Market first came to the valley and we weren’t really…
Vacations Past
YesterdayI picked up an old girlfriend, her daughter and her daughter’s friends at the airport. They are loving the Phoenix heat as they just came from chilly Seattle. We were talking vacations past and about rides we won’t do as parents and my friend said that she did the Tower of Terror (at Disneyland) and won’t be doing it again. I said I’d never do it and I don’t like to say “never” a whole lot because I don’t like eating crow. With that said, I can pretty safely say that’s one ride I just won’t do. I don’t like drops or roller coasters any more. Somewhere I crossed some…
The Boys’ “Venting” Machine
Back in 2011 during one summer swim camp, the vending machine became a popular topic with the boys. Apparently, some of the camp counselors were using the vending machine to get extra snacks for themselves and the boys became fascinated by it. Their discussions and wonderment of this were reminiscent of the Seinfeld routine where he’s talking about drive thru food and how it’s fascinating for dogs because you drive up and then food gets handed out of small window. Like Seinfeld’s imaginary dogs, the boys were all about the vending machines. But little man kept calling them “venting” machines which leads me to another story altogether… There’s a Japanese saying that you should…
Vacation
I honestly thought that I’d be able to post while on vacation. This is despite the fact that my mom’s, where we stayed, has no internet. My mom does text, if pressed, but doesn’t do computers. She barely uses her cell. My brother in-law and sister in-law are tech-savvy but they don’t text—don’t even try to text them because they don’t have it. It’s kind of a funny juxtaposition—I love to tease them all about it. My brother lives on a small sailboat with his girlfriend, but that’s too long of a story for here. (I didn’t want anyone to feel left out so I added him—he really doesn’t have…
We love dogs
Our family loves dogs. We tell stories about dogs. We sing and talk to our dogs. We love seeing other people’s dogs—you get the idea. We are getting ready to go visit the grandparents, both sides, and were talking about how long it would take if we drove. The conversation moved on to how we could reduce the driving time if everyone took a turn—including the 5 & 7 year old and eventually the dog. Yes, the boys decided that grandma would think it was very funny if Buddy drove to her house—then were cracking themselves up holding imaginary steering wheels and making the backing up beeping sound that…
Magical music box
The fairy shopkeeper, aka magical shopkeeper, gave little man a music box that plays row, row, row your boat. It’s a little red-bottomed box with a clear top that has a tiny crank to play the music. She has a pile of these she gives to the “littles.” She’s so good with children. Fairy shopkeeper and little man seem to be on the same wave length–it’s very cute to watch them interact. Fairy shopkeeper told little man that she likes to have hers by her bed and when she plays her music box it makes her smile. Little man dutifully went home and put his new music box by his…
The Magic Shopkeeper
(Image courtesy of the Graphics Fairy http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/) Once upon a time there was a magic shopkeeper. She was the shy, quiet lady behind the counter who greeted every customer with warmth and friendliness but kept to herself until she felt her help was wanted or needed. When she came out from behind the counter the real magic happened. She knew exactly what would fit and work on the different bodies and personalities, even picking items that seemed so contrary and antithetical to her subject. “No, no,” her subject would protest, “that would never work!” With enthusiasm and kindness she would insist that the items would work and gently suggested that…
Treasure Hunt
We’ve had 2 treasure hunts this week and they were a lot of fun. Out of the blue little man decided that he was going to create a treasure hunt and that big monkey and I were going to be the seekers. The first day we were outside searching for his notes. He had written little notes and tacked them onto the trees to lead us to the next clue and so on until we reached the treasure. We decided that was fun but since we were getting irrigation the next day and it was too hot to do in the afternoon (we had morning plans) we would do another…
If you can’t be a good example…
“If you can’t be a good example, then you’ll have to be a horrible warning.” -Catherine Aird How true is that? This seems especially true in terms of parenting. As a parent (and a person who wants to be “good”) you want to do the right thing and try hard to make good choices because little eyes are watching you, soaking up what you do and not what you say…but there are times when you hit the boiling point and can’t take it any more (precisely because no one is “listening”), exploding and blowing to pieces your game plan, your good choices, your peace of mind and worse—your ego. Now,…
