nathan-isms, vol. 9.

A few funnies that I've been storing up: 

Testing out the acoustics at top volume in the Starbucks bathroom, whilst washing his hands: 

N: Tops and bottoms, tops and bottoms, in between, IN BETWEEN, wash 'em all together, wash 'em all together, now they're clean, NOW....THEY'RE....CLEAN!!

While playing outside, I noticed that Nate had stopped to talk to one of the neighbors down the street: 

Me: [yelling down the cul-de-sac] Nate, what are you doing? 

N: NOTHING, JUST TALKING TO THIS OLD MAN. 

Simply put -- my Mother's Day gift: 

During errands after school: 

N: Are we going home soon? I can feel my blood pressure going up! 

Driving by a couple getting arrested on the side of the road: 

N: [putting down his window] Thanks for catching the bad guys, Mr. Policeman! 

And when I didn't think my Mother's Day gift could be topped, along came Chris's Father's Day gift: 

 

That time that Nate tried to pull a Dora: 

N: I've got my snacks, my sword, my backpack, and a map. I'm leaving on my adventure now!

When doing some "real life" science: 

N: Dad, I'm a scientist and [looking at Chris's head with a magnifying glass] I can see that your brain has worms in it. 

Chris: How can I get rid of it? 

N: Hard work and being nice, like mowing the grass and cleaning the bathroom. 

While listening to the radio: 

N: Mom, what ARE apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur??

Getting the post-field trip debrief: 

Me: How was your field trip today? 

N: Great! I held a chicken, fed it out of my hand, and it TOOTED on me! It was awesome! 

Explaining that ever-evolving gray area called 'parenting': 

N: So why do I have to have a consequence? 

Me: Because you didn't listen to the rules. 

N: But WHY?!

Me: It's to help you learn, Next time you'll think a little more and hopefully listen to what I said. Plus, I'm your mom and helping you learn this kind of stuff is my job. 

N: So .... can I talk to your boss instead? 

cow appreciation day.

We participated in Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a this year and had a great time! Nathan and I were determined to get some free food, so we dressed in head to toe as cows to get free meals. I even painted little man's face!

The costumes were pretty easy to make. I pinned some black spots onto white shirts, made little hats that look like calf ears, and done! How cute is this? Let's just overlook that the make-up looks like half zombie and half cow:

Between the free food, the moon bounce, the refreshingly air conditioned playground, and a free cow stuffed animal, we had a blast!

like mother, like son.

I spent ten minutes swiping through my phone the other day trying to figure out which app disappeared from the home screen. I'm ridiculous, right? I finally had the bring idea to take a screenshot so that I wouldn't have that issue again.

Not ten minutes later, I went into N's room and found him with his camera taking pictures of his toys. His rationale? "This way I know where all of my guys go next time I play." Truly my child!

fourth of july.

The fourth gave us a blissful three day weekend this year! Just piling up the freedom over here. Before the weekend got started, N's summer camp had their annual fourth of July parade. The babies are wheeled through the parking lot in their cribs, the toddlers in strollers, and the older kids (normally holding something especially crafty and patriotic). Apparently N's class started in high spirits with a round of 'yankee doodle went to town' but when they saw the parents lined up outside, the kids definitely started hamming it up. Especially mine..and with his very own royalty wave.

On the fourth, I decided that photos of little man were a necessity. My neighbors probably think I'm crazy, but I got the shot I wanted. Imagine a grown woman practically laying on the sidewalk, coaxing her kid with a two second attention span into cute poses. The end result though? Pretty darn adorable.

I can't remember the last time that I didn't go to a city fireworks display. I lied. I can remember, but I was nearly nine months pregnant and no mortal could drag me away from air conditioning. This year we got invite to a friend's house, so we tried something new. It was a lot of fun and no awful traffic afterward.

The tale of my child with a sparkler:
Me: Do NOT touch this. Once it starts sparkling do not get near other people and when the light goes out, put it in this bucket. Do. not. touch.
Nate: Whoa this is pretty! [runs around near lots of other people, under a tent, and once the sparkler went out, grabbed the extinguished remains]
Me: Noooooooo!

Thankfully, he was more startled than hurt. Then came the big fireworks! For a do-it-yourself display, this far passed my expectations! These shot up over the rooftops! 

 

Hope that everyone had a happy and safe fourth!