Check Your Manuals!!!

I don't consider myself to be a super paranoid, overprotective mother, but when it comes to car seats, Cole and I have always been very diligent in our efforts to keep our boys safe in the car. We bought Cole a new car back in September, and before that he only had the truck. Whenever someone was in charge of the boys, that person drove the Monte Carlo. Recently we've had a few occasions an extra set of seats would be handy. So, about a week ago I bought a set of boosters for the boys: a high-back for Eli and simple seat for Ian.

For a few days we let Ian use the booster while we cleaned and re-installed the regular five point harness seat. Neither Cole nor I was at ease with the situation, but we went with it. The booster just worried the bejeezus out of me. The seats were purchased with the understanding that they would be utilized on the very, very rare occasion that Cole was called into action unexpectedly and not as our everyday restraints.

Well, last night I finally had both of our regular seats all spiffed up and ready to go back into the car. As I was reassembling the brown car seat, I happened (thankfully) to glance down and see that Ian had, in fact, reached the weight limit for the five point harness. I panicked! I don't know why, but I had it in my head that you could use that seat, with the harness, until 80 pounds. Not at all. The harness is only usable until 40 pounds, but then you take it all apart, and two hours and many, many naughty words later, you have a booster to use until your child reaches 80 pounds. I couldn't believe that I had misremembered this safety guideline.

Then I really started to freak out because after four or five days of using the booster, I had decided there was just NO way I wanted to continue using it on a regular basis yet. Ian meets ALL of the criteria for using a booster...

*4 years old
*40 pounds (He's 40 pounds on the dot)
*43 inches tall

...but I still just feel like he is too exposed to danger in the booster. Yes, the five point harness is a hassle, but it doesn't bother me that much. I just can not bring myself to let him graduate to the booster seat. I feel like I'm not keeping him safe enough. (Maybe I am a super paranoid, overprotective mother. Hmmmm....)

I dashed out to the garage and pulled out the owner's manual of the gray seat, and I was relieved to see that the weight limit for using the five point harness in the gray seat is 50 pounds. That means we'll probably get another two years of use out of the gray seat. Yes, I will still drive Ian around in a harness when he is six, and I will do the same for Eli.

The whole point is...it is SO easy to forget the details of what you bought four years ago. If you haven't done so recently, check your manuals! It takes three seconds. You might be surprised by what you see.

Oh, I Wish I Were an Oscar Mayer Weiner...

Oh. My. Gosh. Life has been exciting in Anytown!! And, trust me, the Andersons have been in the thick of it. Not too long ago, I was searching online to see if the minutes from the latest city council meeting (don't even get me started about that) had been published anywhere. While digging for the desired information, I happened to stumble across news. BIG news. Big, BIG, news. The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile was going to be at County Market on Kirby and Duncan in Champaign the very next day!!!! I was insanely excited. Not to brag, but I've toured the Weinermobile before. I was in fourth or fifth grade, got to walk through it, and got a weinie whistle which is still available to play with at my parents' house. I couldn't wait to take the boys to see it, too. I showed them pictures online and got them super pumped up. Well, it just so happened that the next day I had to be in Champaign at 9:00 to take Prissy to the groomer. This was going to be awesome.

I immediately called Cole. He answered and words just started pouring out of my mouth in this ridiculous squealy voice that I get when I'm excited and can't stop smiling like the Cheshire Cat. Cole did not care. I repeat, Cole did not care. What was his problem? I finally snapped, "Why aren't you excited about this?!" To which he responded, "The better question is, why the hell are you so excited?" Well, really, what kind of question is that? I'm excited because I'm going to see a gigantic, driveable hot dog. Duh! Now, for someone who claims to love "my youthful spirit" he sure was being a punk. I hung up the phone with Mr. Fuddy-Duddy and went right back to searching online for unique food cars. I already knew about the Hershey Kiss truck, but I also stumbled across the Pepperidge Farm Goldfish truck, and the Mr. Peanut Peanut truck. This might become my life's obsession....seeking out food trucks. I haven't decided yet.

The more and more I thought about the Weinermobile, the more excited I got. My excitement level was about an 8. That's saying something for me, because my 5 is probably like a normal person's 8. I hit 10 once. It happened a little over six years ago, and I was lucky my head didn't just explode.

In May 2006 Cole surprised me with a trip to Chicago to be in the audience for a taping of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. It was amazing! It was truly 40 degrees outside, and we stood in the rain (we got free ponchos from some radio station), under the 'L' for four hours before we were let into the auditorium. They went through the normal audience warm up, and then gave about five minutes so people could scream out their favorite Chicago baseball team and suburb. Not kidding. Apparently, earlier in the week people were wasting serious air-time by screaming out "SCHAAAAUUUUMBURG" or "BUFFALO GROVE" whenever they felt like it. I don't get it either, but I'm just a country bumpkin so whatever.

Finally, the time came for Conan to take the stage. I could barely contain myself. I wasn't quite a screaming Beatles girl, but I was damn close. I was jumping up and down and clapping my hands over my head and......crying. Yes, I started to cry I was so excited. I would say that it was possibly just my eyes finally thawing after a miserable morning in the elements, but everyone knows that at 40 degrees Fahrenheit that would be impossible at standard atmospheric pressure. So anyway, there I was, crying and jaw quivering while I watched Conan do the String Dance and La Bamba dress up like the Empire Carpet guy, and then it came time for Conan to drive the desk! Of course I knew what was going to happen....Andy was in the audience...somewhere. But that didn't stop me from standing and flailing and screaming in an attempt to get Conan to pick me! I'm pretty sure the only control I still had over my body at this point was not wetting my pants. Conan ran out in the audience and up the aisle. He kept getting closer and closer and closer and closer. I was freaking out. All of the sudden, he stopped. He was right at the end of the row right in front of us. Only then did I realize that Andy was sitting in the row directly in front of ours, and while Cole and I were in seats three and four, Andy was in seat two. He was right there and so was Conan! It was unbelievable. I was absolutely reeling. The rest of the show wasn't as much fun, but it was still so incredibly awesome. Senator Barack Obama, (remember him?) was the guest and Wilco was the musical act. I adored every bit of that day...except for the part when I walked into a revolving door frame and busted my eyebrow wide open. I was bleeding like crazy and the jerks at Chipotle wouldn't let me use the restroom to clean myself up because I wasn't a paying customer. A-holes. We ended up walking a couple of miles back to the hotel while I whimpered with blood all over the right side of my forehead and in my hair because the wind was out of control. People kept giving Cole the nastiest looks. I had a shiner in the morning.

So, Thursday morning we dropped Priss off at the groomer, and Jake the Snake and I went to see the Weinermobile. Oh my gosh, I was excited! I think Eli was excited, too, but I'm not sure. I told him to quit talking so he wouldn't ruin the moment for me <---I AM TOTALLY KIDDING!!!!! Eli was excited, too, and was free to say whatever he wanted. We dashed over to the Weinermobile to get a picture. Eli thought it was just the funniest thing he'd ever seen.  He giggled and giggled. The "Hot Doggers" (that's what they call the people on the promotional team) thought he was adorable, naturally, and he got his whistle and a sticker. We walked around the Weinermobile, and I held him up to look in the windows. You couldn't go inside, which I thought was totally bogus, but I'm kind of over it now. Kind of.

I called Cole again after we were done. I was still trying to add some excitement to his life. I told him they were giving out free hot dogs, excuse me, weiners from 11:00-1:00. He still didn't want to see the Weinermobile and then had the nerve to tell me that receiving four phone calls about the Weinermobile was somewhat excessive and more or less (definitely more than less) "don't call me about this again." At this point I just had to accept the fact that some people do not understand how to enjoy the little things, and if Cole was as wack-a-doodle-doo as me our family would be in big trouble or, at the very least, on reality TV. Yikes.

Blowing the whistle. It's just as ear piercing as you would imagine.

I don't really understand the hot dog inside a hot dog, but I might be over analyzing here.

Ketchup and Mustard upholstery

Ian had school until 12:30 that day, so even though we had already been to Champaign and back, we went again so he could see the Weinermobile. I'm not going to deny my child the privilege of seeing an amazing piece of American manufacturing just because I'd already made the 35 minute round trip once. Ian was excited about this! He had even dressed himself in his hot dog shirt that morning in anticipation of going to see the Weinermobile. That's my boy!

He was giggly when we pulled into the parking lot, too. We rushed the giant weiner again, and this time we had to stand in line. While we were waiting, one of the Hot Doggers saw Ian's shirt and she LOVED it! She couldn't get over how cute he looked and how cute it was that he chose this for himself. I could tell right away that this girl had her head on straight. She sent another Hot Dogger to get extra goodies out of the "trunk" since Ian was obviously a weiner enthusiast. (The Hot Doggers were very sweet girls.) We finally got up for a picture, and it was awesome! We hung out in the parking lot for a while and just admired the Weinermobile. We had to soak it all in while we could. I like to think that I just fulfilled a crucial childhood experience for the boys. They loved it! Now, I just have to find out where that blasted Goldfish is going to be next!

Probably going to be the Christmas card picture. I may or may not use Paint to add Cole...it will depend on whether or not he regrets his attitude towards the Weinermobile.

The Park at Moonrise

The boys and I hung out at the park a couple of weeks ago, and we stayed until dark. The evening was cool, but not cold, and the sky was clear. It was a beautiful evening to be outside.

Then, a group of jr. high school aged divas came along. In all fairness, I don't know what they will grow up to be, and I'm sure they were using the opportunity to be away from their parents as a chance to be a little more unfiltered, but I'm thinking they are a group of little b!%@#es in the making. Girl with seasonally and age inappropriate short-shorts decided to drop the bomb on girl on the swing that Dylan was now her boyfriend, even though girl on the swing liked him and girl with seasonally and age inappropriate short-shorts new that girl on the swing liked him. Then there was a great deal of screaming at each other, and the term "butthole" was thrown about quite liberally in reference to Dylan, even though short-shorts was to blame as well, if not more. (It took all of two-seconds to realize that short-shorts was a shit stirrer and LOVED her, undoubtedly self-appointed, roll of Group Drama Maker.) Then short-shorts stormed off in the direction of Dylan's house, while girl on the swing stormed off to the other side of the playground and screamed her head off for Maggie to follow. It was pretty clear that Maggie didn't want to side with girl on the swing because she was afraid of short-shorts's wrath. Ultimately she chose girl on the swing, which secretly thrilled me. I could tell that short-shorts is trouble, and the faster that friendship deteriorates the better off swing girl and Maggie will be. 

While short-shorts, her seemingly mute sidekick, and Dylan lingered on the railroad tracks (choices, people, choices) I noticed the moon was rising and it was huge and beautiful and I was totally engrossed in watching its progress in the sky. Cole stopped by the playground around this time, I quickly filled him in on the drama of the girls and how it initiated a wonderful little chat about what types of girls the boys are allowed to bring home to mama and which are to never cross our property line, and then we were talking moonrise. Cole wasn't impressed. As he put it, "The moon is in the sky every night." Well, I think that's a boring way to live, so I took the time to really soak it in and captured the progress in pictures. While these were just with our point-and-shoot (that's as fancy as it gets around this house, folks) and by no means "art," I still really liked the series of pictures, especially the last picture...it spoke to me.

How can you not be impressed by something that has been around for billions of years, something that lit the Earth at night for the dinosaurs!? It's amazing to me every single night. The universe is so amazing.

Ho Hey

We are a family that loves music. We listen to music for hours every single day. Recently, our favorite to listen to is kind of modern-folksy. I don't really know how to describe it, but The Lumineers is our favorite Pandora station right now. Eli's favorite song is "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers. We watched the video on youtube, and in true Eli fashion he had to become part of the video. So he got his guitar, his hat, his boots, and became an unofficial honorary member of The Lumineers. He stomps around the living room in synch with the band members and belts out the lyrics from the depths of his soul. It's adorable.

While I absolutely love his desire to live his imagination, this particular instance had me cracking up. Every time I looked at him, all I could think was, "He looks like he should be in...

...Run DMC." I mean obviously the resemblance is somewhat open to interpretation, but the hat, the giant "necklace," clunky shoes, the attitude....it's all I could see. No matter what you interpret his style to be, there's no denying that he's cute as a button and totally loves modern-folk music.

He must be in full costume every single time we listen to "Ho Hey."

Sweet little Ian waiting patiently to listen to OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" so he can slide himself under the desk chair like it's a treadmill. HILARIOUS!!!! But, impossible to capture in still shots. I'll get video of that!

Baby Snail

Eli, LOVES to pretend. He is "Eli" about an hour a day, and a variety of other identities for the other eleven waking hours. The other day he was dragging himself around on his belly while he had his legs shoved in the lawn chair. He was, of course, a baby snail. Don't worry, I had to be told what in the world he was doing, too.

Noodle Necklace

Ian made a noodle necklace at school, and let me tell ya, he was proud. It is for the entire family to share. Fair enough. A couple of days after this came home, he brought one home that his classmate made and gave to him. The conversation went like this.

Me: Ian, did you make another noodle necklace at school today?
Ian: No, Amara made it for me.
Me: She did? That was so nice.
Ian: Yeah, it was. What a gal.

Eli: Fashionisto or Fashion Victim

I have no words. All I know is Eli is completely fearless when it comes to dressing himself.

Is that a runway pose, or what?

Railroad Days 2012

Railroad Days have come and gone again. This year was DEFINITELY warmer than last year, and there was no rain this year. Hurray! We also had an additional little passenger this year. Our niece, Sidney, came and rode the train with us, along with Cole's mom and step-dad. The boys loved having their cousin for the day, and Cole and I adore any day that we get to spend with Sidney. And it was great to see Marc and K-leen too.

Sidney is Cole's sister's daughter. Isn't she the cutest?! She owns Uncle Cole's heart.

They rode in the little look-out thingy of the caboose.

Ian loooooooooved the model train

Someone was EXHAUSTED. Eli has never been one to sleep anywhere but in a bed.

Downtown station, waiting for the last train ride of the day

Look at these cutie pies!

It's really hard to get a good picture of three children all born within 16 months.

Someone had had enough fun for one day

Summer 2012

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Ian's Lucky Day

I met up with 2/3 of my sisters, my mom, and my niece for a little shopping yesterday. I was on the hunt for jammies for Ian as he has outgrown all of his 4Ts. How is this possible? 4Ts should not be clam diggers!!! Anyway, yesterday I hit the motherload. I found SIX pairs of "space jamas." I was in heaven!

I got home and told Ian about them. He responded, "Mama, I'm so proud of you to buy my space jamas. I'm so proud of you!" He loved them all, and today he even let Eli borrow a pair so he could have some too.

On Eli: Old Navy

On Ian: Baby Gap

Cooking with Ian and Pierre

All I have to say is "Who wants to help me make....." and Ian is making a mad dash for the kitchen, dragging a chair to stand on. Tonight we are having chicken pot pie for supper, and since it is SO easy to make, I thought it would be a great meal to invite Ian and Eli to help me prepare. We all donned aprons. Eli got last pick, hence the flowers on his and a frosty mug of beer on Ian's.

After three seconds The Prince of Leisure decided he didn't feel like helping. That didn't bother me in the least; I was just glad he actually said he didn't feel like helping instead of his usual excuse: 'I'm too shy,' which, in his mind, applies to ANY situation. But, Ian, my Busy Baker, LOVED helping (as always) and just stirred and stirred and stirred those ingredients together, while Eli Pierre made "frowning noises" the entire time.

Look at that focus. The mess on the counter top resulted from laying down his rubber spatula. He kept ALL of the ingredients in the bowl while stirring.

This cracks me up because the blur makes it look like he's moving at the speed of a Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. While efficient and focused, I assure you, he's no match for small appliances.

We (Ian and I) got the pie assembled, and while I turned to the sink to rinse the filling bowl, both boys decided to gouge their fingers all over the crust leaving it to bear a striking resemblance to the surface of the moon. My frustration quickly dissipated because, for me, nothing can ruin the taste of a scrumptious pie crust. :)

The Kitchen Cart

Ian's school teaches children to be independent, and in order to maximize what he takes away from the next few years at school, I am trying to reinforce everything that happens at school at home. So....I bought, and then stocked, our new "kitchen cart." At first I stocked plastic plates and cups, but to properly reinforce what is going on at school I switched to glass. (We don't drink out of mugs, so I don't really mind if they break....I've broken a couple myself.) Now, the boys have everything they need right at their fingertips, and they LOVE getting it for themselves. The shelf is only 33 inches tall and fits right under our bar (supported by a glass block wall which was in style 30 years ago.) They also now have their own water jug in the fridge for preparing their own drinks.

Shelf 1: Plates and glasses

Shelf 2: Utensils and straws

Shelf 3: Cloth napkins and napkin rings

Shelf 4: Pre-portioned food and water for the dog (It's a chore now!!!)

Separate trays for the different utensils. I bought them some new little spoons and spreaders yesterday that are currently awaiting dishwasher sanitation.

I had NO idea how much the boys would adore being able to access all of these things for themselves. Yesterday Cole tried to give Ian a napkin off of the cart, and Ian flipped because he "was going to GET IT!" It definitely takes some time to supervise the use of the cart's contents, but they have proven themselves very quickly and are doing a smashing job! Figuratively speaking, of course. ;)

Stargazing

Ian's obsession with space keeps growing. I, of course, adore this, and I love that he loves space because it's a passion he can keep for his entire life. Just think about how much our knowledge of the universe changes and grows year after year. Yesterday the boys took tremendous naps so we let them stay up a little later and went outside to find some new constellations. Last night our main focus was to find Draco. Eli was not feeling it for whatever reason. Ian totally loved it and can't wait to go back out tonight. That probably won't happen since he will need to be in bed earlier tonight, but don't worry, he'll survive.

We don't own a telescope (yet) so binoculars have to do.

He's spotted something

Little Astronomers