Heaven

One of the best aspects of the Harris Teeter grocery store is the balloon corral, where kids are welcomed to take a balloon on the way out of the store. Brody and Logan know the balloon corral well. At the grocery on Friday, Logan chose a red balloon and picked a yellow balloon for Brody. We were visiting with the Weavers following Uncle Rick's death and hanging out in Rick's log cabin. Within a few minutes, Brody's balloon caught a rough spot on the wood and popped, startling everyone. Logan's balloon was more resilient and made it until nighttime when we were loading up the car to go back to the hotel. Logan let it slip from his hand and up it went, through the tree branches and into the darkness of the sky. I told the boys that it was going up to heaven to see Uncle Rick. Logan pondered that while Brody said "and it's going to see the guy who's birthday is on Christmas!" Yes, the balloon is going up to see Jesus *and* Uncle Rick.

I was taking the boys back to the hotel myself that night so Jacob could visit with his cousins a little longer. Brody noticed that with Dada gone, he was the oldest boy and took the role of Mama's protector very seriously. As we were going into the hotel and walking up the stairs to the 3rd floor, Brody said "I'm going to go first to make sure it's safe." And he ran up ahead to check around each corner. When we made it back to the room, he used the key to open the door and held it open for Logan and me. He's going to make some little girl very happy one day.

The Bodyguard

Brody places an angry bird in his doorway every night to scare away anything bad that might come and try to get him. We have a house full of boy stuff, supported by a comic-reading Dad. We have spiderman, batman, ironman, wolverine, superman... you name the superhero and we have it in abundance in our home. But Brody puts all of his trust in those angry birds. I have to admit, there is something creepy about seeing the bird in his doorway when I come to bed. Maybe he isn't so crazy in his selection after all.

You're wasting my time!

On our way to preschool one morning, we were late as usual so I gave Brody a cheese stick to eat in the car. A quality breakfast from Mama. Brody has become painfully slow in the mornings, not listening and dawdling quite a bit. By the time we'd dropped Logan off at Miss Shahnaz's house, he still hadn't even opened his cheesestick. Due to allergies in the class, he isn't allowed to bring food into the school so I warned him that I was going to take away whatever was left when he got to the classroom. Then I asked him if he needed help opening it, suggested he took his mittens off, and asked him another question or two. Brody became increasingly agitated with each question, finally spitting out: "You're wasting my time!" It was such an adult statement from such a little boy. I kept my mouth shut for the rest of the ride and let him eat his cheesestick. As I relayed this story to Jacob later in the day, I learned that Brody has also shouted this at his Dada. We're going to have to squelch that attitude before it gets out of control.

What we do on snow days...

After a big french toast breakfast (Logan had THREE pieces!), we have to do something to burn off the sugar from the syrup. So, we dance. We dance to "cool kid music" that Katie gives me annually for Christmas. The boys are especially fond of Katy Perry, Beyonce, and Brittany. You can tell Logan is starting to wind down. Brody could dance for hours.

Loganisms

With Jacob at the cabin, the boys' choices for dinner were McDonalds, Thai food, or pizza. Since they had pizza last night and I wasn't feeling McDonalds, I was pushing for thai. Logan said he wanted pasta, so I thought we were on the right track. I told him he could have asian pasta (pad thai), like they eat in Thailand. He said "NO! I don't want to go to pie-land!" If that's what he heard me say, I have to wonder...who wouldn't want to go to pie-land?

Later tonight as I was putting him to bed, I told him a secret that I'd been holding onto. I told him, in a whisper, that when he woke up there might be snow. He responded very excited, also in a whisper: "Or there might be DOUGHNUTS!"

MLK Day - Take 3

Another MLK Day, another day that I'm at home with the boys while Jacob works. I had grand plans for today. We were going to go shopping in the morning, get the ingredients for a bake-fest and make yummy treats until Jacob came home. Plans don't always work out. It took Brody an hour to put his clothes on and then both boys fought me when I tried to get their jackets on. Suddenly, it was noon and I gave up. So instead we made a video and made a huge mess with their toys. I went to the grocery on Jacob's lunch break and made cookies during the boys' nap, so at least we have yummy treats to look forward to tonight. As is tradition, here is the annual Weaver boys' MLK Day video to their Dada.

Interrogation failure

It was a cold, windy day when we went to choose and cut our Christmas tree this year. I was being picky and made the family walk through row after row of trees, over muddy ground and through prickly bushes until we finally found the perfect tree. The "perfect" tree ended up being sparse and full of holes, but after 20 minutes braving the freezing wind and carrying Logan because he refused to walk in the mud, any tree that fit inside our house was fine.

We got the tree home, vowing that beginning next year the Weaver family is going with an artificial tree, and started to relax. The boys ate their lunch, Logan took a nap and Brody had quiet time. A few hours later, Jacob noticed that his cellphone was missing. He replayed the day in his mind and realized he hadn't used it since we were at the Christmas tree farm. Panic ensued. Jacob searched the house and car and couldn't find his phone. He worried that he had dropped it somewhere during our search for the tree, which would mean it was surely lost. As a final attempt, he called his phone from our house phone. While standing in the kitchen, he heard the glorious sound of a distant phone, vibrating to signal an incoming call. Following the sound, he tracked the location of the phone... in the kitchen trash can.

All eyes immediately turn to Brody, who had come downstairs from quiet time while Logan continued to nap. Jacob asks Brody "Did you put my phone in the trash?" Brody says no. Jacob says, "It's ok, you're not in trouble, I just want to know if you put my phone in the trash." Brody says no, he didn't do it. I turn to Jacob and shrug, saying "I believe him."

Apparently Jacob keeps pressing Brody, asking him over and over again if he put the phone in the trash. After answering no several times, Brody finally responds "Yes, I did it." Jacob, surprised, asks, "Did you really put my phone in the trash?" And Brody says "NO! I just want you to stop asking me!!" So at that point, Jacob decides to leave it alone.

A little while later, Logan wakes up from his nap in a great mood and comes downstairs for a snack of goldfish crackers. As he's sitting on the stool at the kitchen island and munching on his crackers, Jacob comes into the kitchen and asks Logan "Did you put my phone in the trash?" Logan smiles wide and responds "Yep." Jacob asks "Why did you put my phone in the trash?" Logan replies in a sing-song voice "...cause I did." Jacob, shocked at the way this turned out and at Logan's quick admission of guilt, asks a final question, "When did you put it in the trash?". Logan responds, in almost a mocking voice, "I did it by myself..." effectively freeing Brody from any association with the act.