Candy

As Brody put his Spree-flavored candy cane in a plastic bag tonight to save the rest for tomorrow, he walked past me to go upstairs to bed and said "Well, try not to eat it."  After 8 years of having his mom eat his candy, that's the lesson he's learned.  He doesn't cry or get mad.  He just speaks directly: "try not to eat it."  I'm going to try really hard this time.

Sweet Frog

Logan LOVES Sweet Frog. Given the option of any special treat in the world, he will choose sour patch kids.  But if he really thinks about it, he'll say Sweet Frog because there he can get frozen yogurt AND sour patch kids. Tonight, he lucked out because Dada was feeling generous at Sweet Frog. After receiving a hefty pour of tart vanilla, Logan decided he wanted strawberry too. Jacob agreed to pour it on top of the tart, doubling his normal amount of ice cream. When they made it to the scale Logan realized his good fortune, saying "Whoa! 51?? That's even bigger than me!" 

President

The boys were chatting with each other as we drove home tonight and Logan randomly asked if the President worked hard. Jacob and I started to respond, but Brody had it covered. He talked about government, laws, and voting. I was impressed. Earlier this week, Brody's class voted for their student council representatives and the class was asked to choose the most responsible boy and girl in a ballot vote. Brody's class chose him. He has no idea what it means to be on the SCA but he's proud that his class chose him. So is his Mama. 

Mum Mum

After checking out a delicious new Thai restaurant for dinner, we all leave stuffed and happy. Well, almost happy. As we get into the car, Brody says "I wish Mum Mum had sushi." Logan replies, "I wish Mum Mum had PIZZA."

Dream big

After reading a book on Amelia Earheart, Logan and I had a conversation about how she worked hard to achieve her dreams.

Me: "If you want something and it seems really hard, you just have to keep practicing and keep trying until you figure out. You can do anything you want."

Logan: "I want 100 diamonds."

Ninja warrior

"Do you have anything I can use as a salmon ladder?"

-Brody, age 8

Dr. Logan

"If you feel like you need to puke, try to look at your brain."

Speedy

Logan: "Do you know how fast I am? I beat Itsie in a race! Know how I beat him? <whispered> I cheated."

Texas

While sitting in the car waiting to park at Six Flags, Hurricane Harbor in Arlington, TX, Brody reads all of the license plates around us and says:

Why are all of these people from Texas? It's like we're the only ones from America!

Brothers or Friends?

The boys were goofing off while we waited in line to pay for their swim team suits. They found a big mirror and made funny faces into it, cracking each other up. Then they counted down 3-2-1! and made scary faces to see who could come up with the best one. They were giggling  like crazy and leaning close to whisper to each other. The cashier saw them and smiled. He turned to me and asked "Are they brothers or friends?" "Both", I replied. 

Looking in the mirror

This came home with Brody today. Should we add modesty to his list of good traits?

Big

Logan's class is learning about plants and flowers.  They planted seeds, learned the parts of a flower, and discussed the plant lifecycle.  His teacher, Mrs. Amend is awesome and tries to give them tangible comparisons while teaching.  For sunflowers, she asked the kids to think of the biggest adult they knew, because sunflowers can grow even bigger than that person.  Logan's classmates selected "Mrs. Weaver".

After 16.5 years together, Jacob was quick to clarify for Logan.  Mama is tall, not big.  Thanks, Jacob.  :)

Swimming babies

Logan called me over and said "I learned something today."  But instead of a statement, it was more of a question, as in, "I learned something today...?"  He continued:

"If you're a mommy and you have a baby in your belly...? And you go in a swimming pool...?  The baby will swim.  Because the water gets inside the mommy and so then the baby has to swim...?

I learned that today from Mrs. Rose at Winwood.  She's so smart."


Um... we're paying for this portion of his education.

Running

Brody: "Mama, why do you run so much? Oh, I know, it's because you eat so much candy."

Sigh, yep that's pretty much it.

Logan's piggy bank

As I mentioned in a previous post, Brody has two piggy banks. For every dollar he receives, 50 cents goes to savings he can use at his own discretion and the other 50 cents goes towards his future car. His car jar, which is literally a washed-out tomato sauce jar covered in magazine cutouts of cars, is packed with cash. The boy is rich. 

Tonight at bedtime, Logan begged me to let him get out of bed to go say goodnight to Brody and Ellie. I wasn't saying no, but he expected me to and quickly said "I'll give you $2." I told him to move quickly and he shot out of bed and into Brody's room. When he came back, he grabbed his piggy bank to pay me, which I politely declined and put it back on the shelf, realizing just how heavy it was. This told me two things:

1. He's stealing money from somewhere. I bet he has raided Jacob's change drawer. 

2. It's time for him to split his bank and start a car jar of his own. 

"Whoa!", I said to Logan. "You have a lot of money! It's time you start saving for a car."

He quickly responded "Or I can buy a lot of ice cream."

Johnny Cash

Jacob is trying to influence the boys' taste in music, which to date is centered around top hits and pop thanks to the annual CD created by Aunt Katie. There isn't a Katy Perry song they don't know. :) Tonight as we came home from swimming they sang along to Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, Boy Named Sue, and Hey Porter. At the end of Boy Named Sue, Logan laughed and said "he would want to be named anything other than Sue, like poop or toot?"

Hieroglyphics

Brody's deep thought for the evening: What if someone wrote the word 'hieroglyphics' in hieroglyphics?

I love his mind.

Speak human

Logan's morning kindergarten class learned to count in Spanish and as he was telling me the numbers, he couldn't remember cinco. I tried to help him with a prompt in Spanish but he didn't want it. He quickly said "not like that! Talk like a human!"

Miss you... kinda

As I returned from a work trip this week, Logan told me he decided on my second day away that he'd miss me on my third day out of town. I asked, did you? He responded "kinda, but not on day four." On day four, they had Chinese food. How can I expect to compete with Chinese food?

Hard Knock Life

Logan is in his room singing It's a Hard Knock Life as he cleans his room.  That's right buddy.  Go ahead and compare your life to that of an orphan during the depression.  It would be funny if we weren't already over an hour into the 'clean your room' battle.

Caffeine

While trying to teach the boys about soda-drinking moderation, we tell them that too much soda will make you fat and too much caffeine will "hurt you". I know, so scientific. Brody asks "Will it hurt you as much as a zombie attack?"

I don't know how to answer that. Brody wins. 

Hamburgers

Logan to Brody: If you like eating hamburgers, do you know what you like to eat?

Brody: What?

Logan: Cows.

I would call him my future vegetarian, but he doesn't seem bothered by the thought of eating cows at all. 

Best friends

As I was working tonight, Brody quietly asked me if I was ever annoyed by my best friend. He'd been chattering non-stop about all sorts of things since I'd picked him up from school, but his voice changed when he asked me this. I turned around from the computer to face him and said "yes, Dada is my best friend but sometimes he and I need to take a break from each other. It's hard to be around someone all the time, even your best friend." As I was speaking, I was trying to guess who Brody was thinking about. Logan? Cade? Drew? I had settled on Drew when Brody decided my answer was comforting enough to tell me what was going on. Turns out Pratheek can be annoying. I should have guessed that. The boys are in the same class, CASA, Lego club, and Odyssey of the Mind team. He's a fun kid but man.. he's high energy. Yes Brody, you're right. He can be annoying. 

Boardgames

Asks Logan: "Why do they call them board games? Like I'm bored playing this game. That's a really bad name."

Sixty!

While giving the kids math problems to solve at dinner, Jacob asked what's 53.7 + 6.3? Brody had answered the past few and sat this one out. Logan shouted "SIXTY!" The three of us stared at him in disbelief as Brody said "you guessed." Logan emphatically replied, "No! I didn't!" and did a victory dance at the table. As Jacob and I continued looking at our mathematical genius, jaws dropped, Logan continued "I just picked a random number!"

Great Hill

Brody has a test on Ancient China and Ancient Egypt tomorrow, so as we drove to swim lessons Jacob was quizzing him on dynasties, pharaohs, and the Great Wall of China. He already knew that it's possible to see the Great Wall from outer space and that it would take weeks to drive from one end to the other. Logan was listening but didn't say much while we drove along. 

As we passed Ticonderoga Farm, the boys noticed the Christmas lights lining the top of the big hill on their property. Logan pointed them out first saying "That looks like the Great Hill of China! Because it's a great hill!" Mr. Know it All Brody couldn't let that go and quickly corrected Logan. "great wall", he said. Personally, I think a great hill made perfect sense within the context of our conversation. 

Smelly Mama

The invitation for Noah's birthday party said that if we were going to leave our kids there we needed to remember to provide a cell number. This was Logan's first invitation that included any language about a drop-off party and I was due for a long run, so I arrived at the party cautiously optimistic in my running gear. This is the first class birthday party for Logan's age group and I don't know many of the parents yet, so if the other moms stayed, I'd have to stay and be social too, but I'd look like a fool in my running tights. Happily, I encountered a bunch of dads, dropping off the kids and getting back into their cars. I got Logan settled, thanked the mom and made my way back outside. One of the dads gleefully called over to me from his parked car, where he was putting on gloves and earbuds. "I'm going for a run!" "Me too!" I shouted back and we gave each other a wave and set off in different directions. 

I misjudged the time and was still 2 miles away when I realized I had less than 20 minutes until the party ended. I raced back and arrived, panting and sweaty to find that the dads were nowhere in sight. All of the moms were picking up and none of them looked like the mess I was. I put my head down, made a beeline for Logan, thanked the host, wished Noah a happy birthday, and rushed out. I'll be social next time, when I've showered. 

Once back in the car, I was still feeling self-conscious and asked Logan if I smelled bad. He replied quickly and simply "Yep." Oh no! In addition to looking like a mess, I also stunk. Sigh. Not a good first impression on the other moms. Then Logan chose the clarify. "Well, you don't stink. I think it's your car. And I think it's from the peanut butter cracker that's smushed into the floor back here."

Oh, well thank goodness for that. I guess. 

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Brody was in and out of the shower quickly tonight, ready to read the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book. Logan was clearly impressed by his speed and asked how he showered so fast. Brody responded "I'm awesome."

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Logan, while getting into the shower tonight, told me "Max used to be in AM kindergarten but now he's in PM kindergarten and I'm being legit." I asked him if he knew what it meant to be legit. He said "Yes, it means you're serious." Touché.