Better than a Band-Aid

Laurel has taken a bubble bath by herself several times lately, something easy to do since Michael usually wakes up a good hour later than her.  Yesterday I was reading the morning news with my coffee when she called me over to the tub. 

"Look Mama, the bath makes my owwie all better."

Laurel lifted her leg out of the bubbles and solemnly showed me a tiny scabbed scratch on her knee - about an inch long.  She then grabbed the washcloth that was floating next to her, balled it in her hand, and as we both hunkered over to watch, gingerly rubbed it back and forth across her knee.  When she removed the washcloth the scab was gone.

She smiled in triumph.  "See Mama!  It works!"

Triple digits

After months of primal grumbling by most everyone I know, summer FINALLY decided to arrive this year.  And since we're now in the new house, we had to scramble and figure out Important Things....like the best area to place the sprinkler.

One upside to large, above-ground tree roots is they make terrific puddles for the kids to splash in:

Some smiles from Michael (I won't post the 100+ pictures I took of him with his tongue sticking out):

And lastly, Laurel's latest trick.  Mind you, she has to stand on her tippy toes to even reach the loops but once she has them in her grasp she just daintily raises her feet above the bar.  Apparently the child is one long stomach muscle. 

Preparedness

We are headed out to go camping tomorrow morning.  Actually, we were supposed to leave tonight but since it is in the 30's/40's and raining on the mountain and I'm a Big Fat Weenie, we're heading out tomorrow.

The kids are, of course, ecstatic to get out there.  This evening Laurel announced she was headed upstairs to pack "all her clothes" for the trip.  I pulled her aside and explained that it was going to be especially cold and wet while we were camping, so she was going to have to (gasp!) wear pants.  She hasn't worn pants since last summer when her Princess Phase got rolling, and even began eschewing tights about a month ago (yes...in 50 degree weather).  So this was kinda a big deal.

Laurel:  "But I don't want to wear pants!"

Me:  "Honey, it is going to be cold and wet up on the mountain.  You need clothes on your legs."

Laurel:  "How about tights?  Those will keep me warm."

Me:  "No Honey, tights are not enough.  You will have to wear pants."

Laurel sighed and went upstairs to pack.  About twenty minutes later, she pranced downstairs to show me her "camping outfit." 

"Look, Mom, I have these pants on under my skirt and socks on my feet.  That will keep me warm!"

"Honey, those pants are awfully short.  Plus, aren't your arms going to get cold if you're wearing your swimsuit?"

"Well, you said we were going to get wet so I put on my swimsuit."

It's hard to argue with her logic.

Why we carry homeowner's insurance

Sometime last year (maybe in the summer?) Michael announced he wanted a "real" vacuum and a "real" leaf blower for Christmas.  No more toy versions for him, no sirree, he wanted one with an electrical motor and, most importantly, a POWER CORD.  He talked about it for months to anyone who would listen.  They were the only two things he listed when he talked to Santa.

Since there was no way we were going to buy him either of those things, I was a bit worried about Christmas morning.  I had visions of him bawling his eyes out in heartbroken disappointment and losing all faith in Santa at the tender age of five.  But it ended up going well...something to do with the shiny brand new bicycles parked in front of the tree.  Michael didn't say one word about the absent vacuum or leaf blower that day.  Disaster averted!

Unfortunately he started talking about them a few days later.  Something along the lines of, "Santa didn't bring me a real vacuum and a real leaf blower, but next Christmas I'm going to get one!"  Followed by lots of excited jumping in anticipation.  I immediately felt awful that he had noticed the slight after all (but then was rather impressed at his optimism - the kid can shrug off disappointment better than anyone I know).

Anyway, this was floating through my mind when we bought the new house last month.  It is a two story, and I wasn't looking forward to cleaning the carpeted stairs with my large, upright vacuum.  A cheapish hand-vacuum seemed like the perfect solution, with the added benefit we could spin it as MICHAEL'S VACUUM.  Feeling rather brilliant, I figured I could even convince him to vacuum the stairs FOR ME.

So one day a box arrived at the door and I told Michael it was a surprise for him:

"What is it Mama, what is it?"

"Ugh!  It's so heavy!"

"It's mine?"

"I got a vacuum!  I got a vacuum!!!"

 Getting right to work...

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the boy played with his vacuum a good five hours that first day...basically until he went to bed.  And it slept in his room with him.  And he wanted to turn it on at 7am the next day. 

And I learned a few things rather quickly:

1.  Vacuums are LOUD.  After fifteen minutes I declared he could only run the vacuum downstairs if I was upstairs (or vice versa).
2. He is not strong enough to push it on the carpet, so my fantasy of having him take over vacuuming the stairs ended before it began.
3. He's not very thorough, meaning he could "vacuum" his bedroom for 45 minutes and you'd never know it.
4. I don't particularly care for electrical cords crisscrossing my house.

But in the end, none of these things matter too much.  I think we've had the vacuum about a month now and he still plays with it every day and sleeps with it every night.  "I have a new vacuum!" is the first thing he tells people when we see them (as opposed to "I have a new house!" or "I have a new school!").  So, he is happy.

But not, apparently, fulfilled.  About a week or two after he got his vacuum he announced to me that for Christmas this year he now wants a carpet shampooer and a steamer mop.  And he was seriously eyeballing the shop vacs at the hardware store the other day.  Because the only thing better than an electrical appliance for a five year old is an electrical appliance that uses WATER.

Spring

The kids and I went out back yesterday to enjoy the sunshine.  They rode their bikes around the 1/8 mile loop over and over and over, and then cavorted on the play structure.  The whole time we were out there all I could think was, "WHY ARE WE MOVING AWAY FROM THIS?????"

Laurel collecting some electricity on the slide: 

A nice smile:

There is nothing cuter than a three-year-old wearing a bicycle helmet:

Or a five-year-old:

Laurel on the "big girl" swing:

And lastly, Michael on the slide: