Rohan the Alien

My Rohan currently has an obsession with aliens.  He talks about them constantly.  He draws them incessantly. 

He has told me several times that he wishes he were an alien.  Today he asked me, "Mom, if I turned into an alien, would you be scared of me?"

I replied, "If I knew it was you, I wouldn't be."

He considered that for a bit and then said, "I could make a badge that I wear that says that I'm Rohan, and then you would know it was me." 

I told him that sounded like a pretty good plan.  He asked me again, "But would you be scared of me?"

"Well, do you think you would be a pretty scary alien?"  I responded.

"Probably.  And I don't know if you would know it was me." he said, with some concern.

I asked him if he thought he would turn into an alien when I was watching or if it would be sometime when I was not looking.  If I was watching, then I would know that he had turned and I wouldn't be scared of him because I would know that he was my son.  But I might be a little scared if I didn't happen to observe this transformation to alien.  But if there was some way he could let me know that it was him, I'd probably be ok knowing my son was an alien. 

He looked very thoughtful and not a little worried. 

He explained to me then that it probably wouldn't be right to have a mom that was scared of her son and that he wanted me to be sure that he's my son. 

"And so, I don't think I'll become an alien, Mom."

I told him that was ok with me too.

Three Cheers for Randomness and Rambling

Hurrah.


So, January, huh?  That's just weird.

December held me captive via chocolate, caramel and Santa Clause.  It was an exhausting month.  Not to mention Baby B.  I don't recall my other babies being this much work.  But neither to I recall being 31 when I had my other babies.  Right.  I was in my twenties.  I remember now.  I am now convinced that factor makes an impactful difference.

The return to school, post Christmas break, is a brutal thing.  I'll be honest... I'm  not a fan.  But after a few days, I think we're back in the swing of things.

Did you ever think about that term, "back in the swing of things"?  When I think of that term, it brings to mind some feeling of routine and easiness or something.  But when I think about it a little more literally, I think of a swing at a park that goes up and down, fast and slow.  You have to pump to get going high and fast, and you can cruise a little bit and enjoy the ride, but you slow down and eventually stop.  It's fun.  Or it was when I was young.  Now that I'm 32, I get that barfy feeling, which obliterates some of that fun feeling.  I'm not sure what that means, but it's got to be significant somehow...

It's really too bad how YouTube has started showing advertisements.  Remember the good ole days when it was just weird videos? 

Micheal Buble's mouth moves weird to me.  I think I should just listen to his music and not watch him sing on YouTube where I can't help but wonder if he genetically can't relax his upper lip or if he just does that when he sings. 

Hurrah.

Speaking of YouTube, I just watched this video of my little LITTLE Rohan and I may or may not have cried a little bit while I saw that sweet little face and heard that precious little voice.  What happens to these babies?  Where do they go?  Why do they have to get swallowed up by these older, yet no less wonderful, big kids?  How does this happen?  Can't these adorable little tiny faces somehow coexist with the new, more grown-up versions?  Growing up is so tragic and so wonderful.  Such a dichotomy. 




Did you cry?  Probably not, but I bet you smiled.  "This is me.  I am Rohan.  Amen."  Precious.

You know what I miss about blogging?  Expressing myself.  I find myself all comtemplative and introspective lately, with no outlet.  I'm not really talking to anyone in depth, except my husband, but daily life does not always lend itself to deep introspective talks.  I have to make those happen.  And Dustin, being a man, places deep talking and diving into emotional wells down about #100 on his to-do list.  And that's just fine.  He is willing to take a plunge now and then, but he doesn't have a need to do so, like I do, being a woman.  I got to do that as often I wanted to when I was blogging a lot and I miss that.  Miss it, I tell you.
For Christmas, I got a new computer.  And a very expensive piece of software that I can build custom websites with.  I'm doing one right now for my brother-in-law.  Next I will do my own (which was why I actually bought the program) for my pretzels and such.  It's all very exciting. 

Speaking of exciting... our other big Christmas present was a finished basement.  Carpet came on December 27th.  It's been about 4 years in the making, our basement.  But it's really, actually finished now.  I can't tell you the satisfaction this has brought to Dustin and I.  And I can't tell you how grateful I am for my dad and his endless knowledge about all things construction.  He's good, I tell you.  Very good. 

Hurrah!

And, because you have asked (on Facebook) and will ask on here, here are some pictures, before and after.

Just kidding.  I wrote this post on January 6th and it's only just being published because I've been trying to get up the gumption to post those blasted pictures. Why are pics so hard for me? I have no idea.  Maybe some day I'll show before and afters... but not today.

Hurrah?

Rohanism

Rohan is playing Legos.  I'm trying to fix my blasted printer that suddenly decides it's not going to "communicate" with my computer.  (Yessss, I love technology.  But not as much as you, you see.  But sssstill I love technology.  Alwaysss and forever.  Alwaysss and forever.) 

Anyway, Rohan is quietly playing with our cubic yard of Legos and he says to me, "Mom?  Does Jesus live on a dead planet?"

I'm thinkin' to myself, 'What the...???'

I reply, "Ummm, no?"

Rohan says, "Well all the people that live there are dead."

"Ohhhh..." I say.  I'm sorta following his train of thought now. 

Rohan... "Does it take a long time to float up there?  To Jesus?  When you're a ghost?"

Fortunately for me, he's not looking at my face at this point because how can you not smile when  you're having a conversation like this? 

My reply: "I don't know, honey.  I've never died."

His mind chews on that for a minute.  "But when you die, Mom, maybe you'll tell me?"



I love that child.  So much.

Concrete...

Our basement is largely unfinished.  Remember back about a year ago when we finished the two bedrooms in my basement?  That was a great day.  Now, the time is upon us where we should be able to finish the family room and the bathroom and the hallway too (or, in other words... all the other rooms in our basement)!!!  Isn't that exciting?  I think so.

As I'm writing this post, my Ella is wearing my Rollerblades (she wears mine because she doesn't have any of her own because her feet grow like mad.  MAD, I tell you!  The child is seven years old and she wears a size 4 or 5.  I wore a size 5 when I was in 5th grade... she's in 2nd!).  She is wearing my blades and zooming from her [finished] room, through the [unfinished] family room, down the [unfinished] hall and into Mac's [finished] bedroom.  My children have done this every day for the past month or two... strapped on their blades and zoomed around on our concrete, unfinished floors.  What a blessing this has been through the dreary months of winter when outside play on concrete sidewalks is just a memory, and the dream of Spring dances in front of our closed eyes as we cuddle in front of gas-forced-air heat.   


If that wasn't enough, Rohan spent a good hour yesterday doing drawings with sidewalk chalk on our concrete basement floors while Mac and I were doing school.  We've had a few ants in our basement as the weather is starting to change and Roh drew "traps" for them in addition to a large, Rohan-sized arrow that pointed toward the invaders with the word "DEAD" written after the arrow.  He had to let the pesky ants know that their fate was sealed...

And so, when the time comes (soon!) to enjoy carpeted floors and real walls rather than our own in-home skating rink/chalk-drawing board, it will be a bittersweet thing.

But mostly sweet.

Rohan

I was reading a blog of my friend Corrinne today about what she does all day as a mother.  I was engrossed and not paying attention to what Rohan, who was sitting on my lap, was saying to me.  (He talks a LOT and sometimes I tune him out)  Involved in my reading as I was, I finally tuned back in when he touched my cheek to turn my face toward his, raised the decibel of his voice and said, very sternly, "IS. THAT. CLEAR. ??"

(I, apparently, say that enough to my kids that he's parroting it back to me.  Awesome.)

This got my attention CLEARLY, and I asked him to repeat what he said.

"Mommy.  Will. You. Get. New. Batt. Er. Ies. In. My. Mote. Con. Trol. Car."

(Translation: Mommy, will you get new batteries in my remote control car?)

And then, once again, "IS. THAT. CLEAR?"

I laughed.  "Yes, that's clear, son.  Now ask me nicely."

He did and followed his now-nice request by yelling suddenly, "I need to get dressed!"

"Yes, you do," I replied.

He went to his clothes basket and found his clothes.  As he was putting on his shirt he said, "This shirt smells like stinky food."  I stifled a laugh (as I do so often around this child) and told him to put on another shirt.

"But I like this one, Mom!"  he responded.

"Well, then," I said, "Wear the shirt that smells like stinky food!"

He just giggled.

And so did I.

And... he's still wearing the shirt.

Let Your Fingers Do the Walking?

Not this time.


Just now Rohan came downstairs and asked in a very loud voice, "Mom, do you know Santa's phone number? Cuz I've been waiting a WEALLY LONG TIME!"

We only put our tree up last night.

It's going to be a long month for that four year-old boy....

First Week

This is completely a "for my own records" post, just so I can have it recorded. Therefore, it is, potentially, rather boring. Sorry.


I mentioned that we are keeping Mac at home this year for school. The Idaho Virtual Academy "powered by K12" is our method of choice. In my ideal world, I would be choosing all his curriculum and planning it all myself. But, alas, I know my own limits and that is way more than I feel capable of at this point in my life. And that's o.k. K-12 it is!

We got all our "materials" a week ago today. (At the end of the day, so we didn't use them, we just got them out and looked at them.) We officially "started" on Monday. Monday didn't go so well. If you don't recall, look at my post that day and it will give you an idea of my Monday. That post wasn't entirely about my son or homeschooling, but those two things were the catalyst for a lot of dormant emotions and, to put it nicely, I lost it.

Tuesday wasn't easy, but I was in a better place.

Wednesday was quite good with a few, minor rough spots.

Thursday was good too... I think. I'm starting to blur a little on the details...

Today was long, but should have been short. We didn't have that much to do, but Mac likes to drag his feet and dilly-dally. It makes me crazy-insane, but somehow I've managed (aside from Monday) to keep my head and stay cool. (Go me!) This day had a lot of potential for being totally awful... maybe like Monday... but I chose to be chill and not react (...much. Does slamming my fist on the table and raising my voice count as a reaction? Probably, but I apologized right after and we carried on.)

Thus far he hates Math the most (not so shocking) and he likes Art the best. (not so shocking)

So far, I am pleased with the program. I am pleased that I can just go online and see what we're doing for the day and I don't have to plan. If you recall, planning is not one of my greatest strengths. I think it's good for Mac to be home. Truly. I am happy to see him interact with his little brother.

At this point, I'm happy that Ella has chosen to go to school as well. She loves school (although she loves it a little less since she's the only one who has to get up in the mornings at 7:00 a.m.) and I love watching her do her cute homework. I think I would be totally overwhelmed if they were both home this year. Mac and Ella are often the best of friends, but more often it seems, they antagonize each other and therefore harry their mother endlessly. This transition, I believe, has been infinitely smoother because Mac and Ella are not battling each other or vying for my attention all day. Rohan, in his easy-going manner, is happy to play Legos or sit on my lap while I do things with Mac. Bless that child. And bless Ella for choosing to go to school this year. And bless Mac for his strong will and his consistent, if begrudged efforts. And, if I may be so bold... bless me, too. For something.

So, there's the log for my first week in our new adventure. Pretzel dipping continues as does apartment management (or not... PLEASE let us get a new renter!!!). Also continues the mantaining of a household (to some degree anyway), and continues what would seem the easiest part of my life right now despite the limits it's putting on my wardrobe: baby-growing.

Friday's Fabulous Five

It's been a while since I've done a FFF post. Life is so fabulous, I better do ten.

1- My dad is pink-skinned and breathing on a daily basis. I pray I never take that for granted again.

2- My mom is a total rock. I've known it all along, but she kept things so calm the night that my dad was in peril. I've since realized how freaked out she really was that night, but she kept it together so well for her children. She's amazing. She wrote a note to many friends and family explaining what happened to my dad. Here's the tail end of that note and I want to preserve it in my someday-blog-book:

We are both extremely grateful for the gift of his health & "new lease on life". There's nothing quite like an extreme wake up call to sharpen the senses & bring perspective to things.

To those of you who knew about this already; thank you for your love, support, kind words & prayers. To all; including those who are just finding out in this message, it's been a wild ride, one that I don't wish on anyone. My children have noticed that they want to be sure to speak the words of love that they may not utter often enough. I feel the same way. It's so easy in our workaday lives to lose the focus of the importance of speaking words of love, support & caring. To add a touch, a pat on the back, a caress or a hug and to look someone in the eye & commune soul to soul and convey all the feeling in our heart, soul & mind that is the love we feel. It needs to happen every day. Whether big or small, everyday. (If we focus on the love & sharing it it's easier to avoid the other stuff too) That's what's been going on in my mind a lot the last 1 1/2 days.

Love to you all AND go hug your loved ones & tell them how you feel. Right Now!!

Like I said... my mom is a rock.

3- We haven't gotten much school done at home because we still don't have Mac's books, computer, etc, but having my two little sons home with me has been more of a joy than I would've ever imagined. Mac has been nicer, more helpful, more cooperative and just generally more light and easy than he has in... well, years. This alone is making this endeavor worthwhile. I hope it continues until he's in, at least, his twenties. ;-)

4- My brother, who lives in Salt Lake, came up the day following my dad's heart attack. (He and his wife Nicky) Nicky stayed until Wednesday and then went back to Salt Lake. Zandy stayed to be my dad's muscles for a few days. You see... my dad's heart is fantastic. He looks and feels great, but he can't lift anything over five pounds for about a week while his femoral artery incision heals from his surgery. My dad does construction for a living. Bless my brother for lifting 200 lb doors and swinging sledge hammers for a few days so my dad can still earn a living and keep his commitments to the job he's on. I love my family.

5- I love a freshly vaccumed floor.

6- You know the miracle of the loaves and the fishes? I've had a miracle of the caramel.

7- Marci's Napolean Dynamite dance on her blog. Awesome. (sorry, ya'll... she's got herself a private blog so I have to enjoy that one alone... or with a few people whom I know who read her blog.)

8- I don't feel sick from being pregnant anymore. Not that I ever felt super sick, but even feeling a little sick sucks, don't you think? But now it's all gone.

9- For these few days, I get to watch my brother enjoy my children. Rohan especially. Rohan has a way of worming himself into people's hearts. Zandy is loving it and I am loving it too.

10- Dustin.


Happy Friday!

A Week Plus

So, it's been a week and two days since my last posting. It was a weird week (and two days). Good, but weird. Here follows a long and semi-boring update of what I've been up to:

Monday night, as I mentioned, we drove to Bear Lake area for the funeral of our friend, Phillip. Monday night was the viewing. So tragic. So much loss. After the viewing, Dustin took me out to the lake were he grew up and we watched the sunset on the beach. It helped both of us feel better.

Tuesday was the funeral. It was an amazing service. Our friend Phillip was a police officer and was honored with a full color guard from many departments from all over Idaho. Very impressive. Any of you prayer-saying folks, please continue to think of his family, his wife, Michelle, in particular. She needs prayers very much right now. Please and thank you.

Wednesday morning I woke up with no children at home. My mom and dad had kept our kids Monday night while we traveled and we got home so late on Tuesday that she just let them sleep over again. I was doing some stuff on the computer and heard a very weird noise, like a pressure washer or something. Then suddenly I smelled sewer gas. VERY strong sewer gas. Turns out they were doing some spray-out-the-sewer-lines thing and we don't have a trap in our floor drain or something (which will be remedied when we finish the family room in our basement because we moved the floor drain and will plug the trapless one). So, we get all the lovely smells from the sewer pressure wash. Let me tell you, it's awesome. But not really. Dustin happened to call me during this lovely experience. I told him of the pleasant aroma permeating our house and he told me to "get out of the house and get out now!" Apparently sewer gas is bad to breathe and it burns your lungs without you even knowing it's doing it. (He has the pleasure of working around sewer gas here and there for his engineering firm, so he's knowledgeable about such things. Lucky guy.) So, I threw on some clothes and went to my mom's house to get my kids. I stayed there for a while.

Then my friend called with an emergency shopping request. She had her 20 year high school reunion to go to that weekend and wanted me to help her find something to wear. I was supposed to be painting at my duplex, but I opted for shopping instead. I haven't been shopping in... I don't know how long, but a long time. It was super fun and I was told I was "the ultimate shopping friend". What a compliment! But we didn't find any swanky shoes for her to wear so, we planned to go shopping the next day too.

On our Thursday shopping trip we found the swanky shoes within the first hour and decided it was too early to just go home. We ate lunch and then, I had been wanting some new shirts so we looked for those for a while. I don't know why but it was really hard for me to shop for myself with other people. I didn't like being the center of attention. And what's with all the puffy sleeves out there? I have VERY square shoulders and the puff doesn't work very well for me. Go away puffy sleeves. Come back another decade. (or don't)

Thursday night we had a cute couple over for dinner, Jenn and Richard. Jenn is pregnant and due very soon and she wanted me to teach her the breathing techniques I used during unmedicated labor. It was interesting. I felt a little dumb, but I can only hope that it helps them during the birth of their daughter.

Friday I went to my mom's and picked zillions of green beans. My mom has a HUGE garden. Huge. We picked the beans and then we canned the beans. Dustin came home from work and took the kids camping overnight. I canned more beans and left my mom's house just after midnight.

Saturday I slept in until 10:00!!! I was shocked. I did some chores and then the fam came home from camping. They all reeked of campfire (one of my least favorite smells on the earth) and I threw them all in the shower. Later that evening we attended a lovely barbecue at a friend's house.

Sunday I went to church and came home and read a book all afternoon. Then went to my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday. We had the best dinner.... my mouth is watering just remembering. YUM.

Oh, I forgot to mention, on Wednesday Rohan asked me if I would buy him a four-wheeler. I told him maybe when he's grown up and maybe if we don't live in the city because they're illegal to drive in the city. He got mad and said, "Well MacdenElla drive them on our street!" (Rohan always says "MacdenElla" like one word, meaning Mac and Ella.) I finally figured out that he meant a two-wheeler... a bicycle. I then informed him that he has a bicycle, it just has training wheels on it. If we took them off then it would be a two-wheeler. He then asked if we could take off his training wheels. I told him that his dad would do that and to ask him when he came home from work.

To make a long story short, Dustin took off the training wheels before he went to work on Friday morning. Rohan asked me several times to help him ride his bike and I wasn't dressed yet and, honestly, didn't feel like chasing behind a bike, bent over to prevent falling, so I put him off a few times. I was doing something on the computer later and Mac came up and informed me that he had helped Rohan get his bike out and Rohan just took off and rode it with no training wheels at all! Turns out I didn't even need to help him. What a kid!

This little clip is his 2nd try at riding sans training wheels. (his first time, I missed because I was being a lazy mom...)




And here is the third try. Look at him get it going all by himself. He's so cute! And yes, he just turned four in May... way to young to be so big! (Don't mind my neighbor's yucky lawn... I mind it enough for all of us!)




So there's my week in a nutshell. The most exciting thing was, by far, Rohan's bicycle feats. It made my day on Friday.

The end.

Except I forgot one thing... after a whole two days of being a training-wheel-free rider, Rohan rode all the way to my parents' house on Sunday afternoon with Dustin, Mac and Ella. My parents house is almost 4 miles away from my house! Dustin brought the stroller just in case Roh got tired but he never did. Dustin did force him ride in it for the last quarter mile because the road is very busy with no sidewalk. Rohan was angry at Dustin for making him ride in the "baby stroller!"

I say again, what a kid!

Rohan...

This morning I woke up to Rohan climbing up beside me in bed. A conversation began...

Rohan- "Mommy, where's Daddy?"

Mom- "He's at karate."

R- "Oh."

...pause...

R- "Mommy, can you get me some cereal?"

M- "Do you need to go pee?"

R- "OH YEAH!!!" and as he walks off to go potty I say,

M- "You go pee and then I'll get you cereal."

R- "Yes, Commander."

M- "Did you say, 'Yes Commander?"

R- "Yes, Commander Mommy."

Stifling laughs, I think to myself, 'Commander Mommy'... I like it!! Then, as he's walking further he says, more to himself than me,

R- "Yes, Commander Karate Kid."

(Commander Karate Kid would be Dustin)




After the potty trip was finished he comes back and lays by me.

R- "Mommy... I really want to see inside Karate Kid."

Umm... what? I think to myself.

R Repeats- "Mommy... I really want to see inside Karate Kid."

I rack my brain a little bit. Karate Kid is what Rohan calls Dustin's karate. For example, if Dustin is wearing his Gi (the white karate outfit), Rohan will say, "Dad, you goin' to Karate Kid?" So, after I come up with that train of thought I apply it to "seeing inside Karate Kid"...

M- "You want to see the place where Daddy does karate?"

R- "Yes! I want to see inside Daddy's Karate Kid!"

M- "Honey, Daddy just does karate at Grandpa's church and you've already been there."

He now looks rather confused...

R- "At Grandpa's church?"

M- "Yep, at Grandpa's church building."

R- "Oh."

And he walks off very satisfied because he, indeed, has already seen inside "Karate Kid".


I love Rohan.

Friday's Fabulous Five

1- I've moved back into the part-time-single-mom life with surprising ease. It was really hard the first two days, but then I settled right back into my groove. I don't know if that's a good thing, but I'm grateful that the transition wasn't as hard as it was the last time.

2- Laughter. It truly is my favorite thing. Laughing hysterically at Arctic Circle is even better.

3- Sunshine. It's supposed to be nice weather this week, a welcome change from the gloomy rain. But, the rain did provide for perfect snuggle days!

4- One time Ella was watching me type something. I was typing really fast... I think I was transcribing. She watched me for a while and finally asked, "Mom, do you have eyes on your chin?"

I didn't understand the question at all and said as much.

She explained her query with another. "How do you know which buttons to push for typing?"

Giggles ensued.


5- I know I've been writing about him a lot, but I must add how I love Rohan and his precious little isms. Just now I was getting some laundry folded and a stream of sunlight from the window poured in just next to where I was standing. I would flip the clothes when I pulled them from the basket and as I did, dust particles would move through the stream of sunlight very quickly and then slow down as the air stilled. Rohan watched this with interest and asked me, as he has on numerous occasions, "Mom, what's dose?"

I replied, "Those are dust particles."

"Dust pawticles? Den, why dey wuv us?"

I couldn't suppress my mirth, but he didn't seem to notice, and on the heels of his previous question asked, "And, why dey wun awound?"

My giggles erupted into a full-blown belly laugh and I couldn't answer those two questions or any of the deluge of questions that followed, distracted by my son's precocious mind.

Manic Monday: Taste

Here's a taste of my Monday morning:


Rohan sitting on my lap with a book about dinosaurs. As he turns each page he asks, "Mommy, whas dis ones named?"

I reply in turn with each dinosaurs name. After he pauses for a moment to look at the picture and absorb the given name, he then asks what it's doing. I tell him a little something for each one... this one is reaching high to eat the leaves... that one runs really fast... these two can fly up high (interjection from Rohan on just how high that one can fly, complete with spread-arm illustrations).

Then we turn one more page. "Mommy, whas dis ones named?"

"That one is a Stegosaurus."

Without any pause or hesitation, Rohan says, in his very CUTEST Rohan voice, "Ya! Dey are huge! Dey can wiggle da earth."


Monday mornings are a beautiful thing when I focus on the precious deductions of a three year old mind.

Friday's Fabulous Five and Rohan

1- It's Friday. Need I say more? I love Friday. Friday feels like a party, whether or not one actually happens. It just feels fun!

2- I think I'm figuring out iTunes. Call me retarded, but I've found it uber annoying and not very user friendly. But, I think I'm getting it now.

3- Today is the last day of school for my kids for until a week from Monday! YAY! I hope the weather is nice. If so, we'll go play Frisbee every day.

4- My son is REALLY good at Frisbee for an 8 year old. He's gotten good enough that's it's not just me doing my mom-job to play Frisbee with him. It's actually fun and challenging. Dang, he's gonna be good when he's 18!

5- My cell phone charger broke. This is no normal charger you can just pick up at the store either. It's a long story about that, but the end result was that I went for about a week and a half with no cell phone. Then my mom kindly charged my batteries with her phone and then they died again. I was waiting for a charger to ship from either Amazon.com or somewhere in Hong Kong. (more long stories) Anyway, to make a long story short, Hong Kong pulled through and I can finally charge my cell phone again! I'm so glad. I heart my cell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rohan came over to me with a DVD case in his hand. He said he wanted to watch this show. I said ok. He's been very interested in the fact that there is a "bonus material" disc and he asked me, "Why is dat bonus material there?" I told him it was just some extra stuff. He was satisfied. I wanted to pick him up (because he's so cute) and in doing so I made him drop the DVD case. He got really worried and I assured him (as I held his cuteness in my arms) that the DVD was fine. He responded, "Yeah, dat's cuz it's made out of 'extras'!"

Unintentional Joker

My friend, Maria, was Rohan's substitute primary teacher in church last Sunday. She just put this on her blog. I, of course, being his mommy, had to put in on my blog...

...Rohan was hilarious on Sunday. After a conversation about the world God created and the uses of all the plants and animals, the question was asked: What about the ocean? Can we eat the ocean? Rohan's response, "Noooo! Because we would get sea sick!"

Thanks for recording my sweet little Joker, Maria, so I could record it too....

More Rohan

*Rohan and Mom were eating breakfast. Mom was reading while she ate. Rohan blessedly interrupts Mom's read...*

R- Hey Mom! Did you know that animals have black spit?

M- Oh yeah?

R- Yeah....*pause*..... Some do....*pause again*.... Two of dem do.


*Very long pause*


M- So, which two animals have black spit?

R- Hmmmm.....I don't know.

*more pausing*

R- Mmmmm, bears have black spit. No. Bears have brown spit. That's cause they are brown. SHEEP have black spit! But they don't spit.

M- Really?


*Rohan continues eating his breakfast. Mom quickly writes down the conversation because some things little boys say are too funny/precious/adorable to trust to memory.*

Friday's Fabulous Five and Stuff

Rohan has been saying some funny things lately. Had to get them down. Indulge me this moment of Mommy Blogging:

A little preface... I have an extreme aversion to most scents on my hands. I can't stand to have my hands smell like food in any form... except maybe lemons, limes and cilantro. That's about it. There are certain soaps that I can not use because I can't stand the way they smell on my hands. Wendy's restaurant has one such soap. I digress. The point is, I think that I passed this quirk on to my son.

Rohan had gone with his best pal, Keller, to McDonald's to play and have a happy meal. They had a grand time involving non-stop running. Upon his return home, he came to me extremely upset because his hands "smehwd yucky". I think it was whatever disinfectant they use on the McDonald's playland that he was smelling. It was a rather weird aroma. We proceeded to wash his hands really well. He ran off happily.

In a few minutes, he came back crying that they still "smehwd yucky". I wasn't sure what to do. I could tell that this was the kind of scent that would just have to come off with time. But, to help him feel better, I said, "How 'bout we put on some lotion to help the smell?" He agreed, excitedly and we then rubbed his hands down with lotion, and he sniffed them, smiled at me and turned to run back to his movie-watching with Keller. As I was putting away the lotion I heard the exurberant voice of my darling child (who is SO easy to love) say, "Kewwa, smehw my hands! Day smehw wike oshen!" (cute because it sounded just like "ocean")

One more... a conversation between Rohan and I the other day:

R- Hey Mom? Have you eatda whoppa?

M- Yes.

R- Did it burn yo hand?

M- *laughs* No....

R- Was it evil?

M- *laughs again, harder* No...... do you mean a whopper, like the little chocolate balls?

R- Yeah....

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1- I love my children and the funny things they say.

2- I painted yesterday from about noon until about 9:30pm over at our duplex. It feels good to get that little job closer to completion, (no, it's not done yet!) and to get the walls whipped into shaped.

3- I'm going to go see Twilight again tonight. I'm hoping I'll like it better the second time I see it. I've heard that from some people, that it's better the second time. Either way, I get to hang out with some awesome ladies, so that will be super fun!

4- Rohan and I went to the fire station today and had a tour. I thought it was fasinating! I think we need to go for a tour for a date. I loved asking lots of questions. Did you know that the industry standard fire truck holds 1000 gallons of water? And they pull the water from the hydrant and into the truck which pumps it into the hose and sprays it? I didn't that before, but now I do. Thanks for arranging the tour, Maria! I wanna slide down the pole now.

5- Dustin was home all week again. (working, but coming home each night!) It's a beautiful thing! Life is FABULOUS!!!!

Rohan...

Dustin and Rohan were sitting at the table sharing a hearty bowl of macaroni and cheese. (hearty... RIGHT!) Dustin had just gotten off work and had dirt or concrete on his shirt. Rohan noticed it and fingering it he said, "Dad, you got work on you shirt!" Cute boy.

A Little Gushing from the Mother

I just have to take this moment to say how adorable my Rohan is. He's no master of it yet, but today he rode his bike with no training wheels! I was behind him the whole time with my arms ready to catch him, and he did fall several times, but he rode a LOT without me touching him! How cute is that! The kid just turned three in May! Mac was still three when he learned to ride his bike without training wheels, but he was only two months from turning four, not two months past three! He can't identify his alphabet, but he can ride a bike! He's working on the large motor skills.... :)

Sorry. Just had to take the liberty because I can. It's my blog! :)

Happy Birthday to My Baby!

Today was my little baby boy's birthday. It was on this day three years ago that Rohan Xavier came into my life. I was in love with this child the instant I saw him, as I was with all of my kids... yet, somehow I remember the feeling of the instant bond more clearly with Rohan, perhaps because it's my most recent memory of seeing my newborn for the first time. Regardless, Rohan has been a joy to have in our family since the moment he was born. (double click the pics if you want to see them bigger!)


Me in labor with Rohan... I'm having SO much fun!!


Rohan Xavier just minutes old.



Loved by Dad, brother and sister...



A couple days old.


Sweet sleeping boy.


Rohan and cousin Emma who is 15 hours older than he.


Smiley little munchkin!


His hair would not lay down flat... even with gel. He had wild hair ALL THE TIME! And, btw, that's my sister, Sarah, holding him! She's cute, huh?


Such a doll baby!


Notice the hair standing up?


Loved by his brother and sister... and the hair still won't lay down.


Rohan was always very skinny! This is his friend who is only a couple weeks older than he, but as you can see.. much bigger!


Our buddy eating prunes. He kept rubbing his face!


First birthday... so sweet.


Tastin' the cake... mmmmm... not bad!


He's a camera ham, for sure.


Blondie boy.


He didn't like to wear costumes until recently. Remember the frog? Anyway, this was Halloween and he wore this costume long enough to take this picture and that was it!


Rohan will jump off of almost anything. He is a daredevil! This is him in action at a mere 18 months old.


Always in action...


We used to ask Rohan to do his 'cheezers' and he'd do some version of this "smile" every time.


What a sweet boy!


Pre-recent-haircut on the ice cream day with Mom...


His best buddy, Keller!


Post-recent-haircut! He looks so grown up!


And this is my favorite picture of my sweet little Roh Roh! Happy Birthday, Buddy! We love you!

The Best Things

Sometimes being a little brother is hard. Sometimes your big brother and big sister get to go play at their friends' house and you have to stay with your mom. But then sometimes you feel a little sad and your mom feels a little bad and you get to drive through the Dairy Queen to get a chocolate dipped ice cream cone. Then you get to sit on the front porch steps in the sunshine on a lovely spring day and make a mess of your face, hands, shirt, and pants while your mom tells you how much she loves you and how cute you are!

Sometimes the hard things come and magically transform into the best things with a little help from ice cream cones and love.