Important Secret Spy Mission

Moose was so darn serious. Before leaving school yesterday, his friend asked to talk to him "privately". It was secret time. Whispering the master plan. They said their good-byes and then a couple of minutes later, as I am still buckling everyone in the car, Moose says he needs to talk to his friend again. I overhear him tell his friend that he is going to tell Commander and myself- but NOT his brothers.

But somehow he forgot that as he was announcing the Master Plan in the car. It is an "Important Spy Mission". Then he starts in with the details.

Ryan and I are meeting at that spot at 11:11pm tonight
I need spy gear
I need to wear black
Oh and I need a flash light

Sadly, I had to inform him that he was staying the night at Nana and Papa's house. He said that Commander and I still needed to come wake him up and get him there.

He is talking non-stop about the plan. As soon as we get home, he asked to call Commander and tell him the plan. Then he needed to draw the things he needed for the mission so that I could get them for him.

I finally had to ask, what were they going to SPY on? He states so plainly, "a friend of ours is up to something. And we need to find out what it is."

Commander found it amusing, that since he was telling everyone the plan, that it was not longer a SECRET Spy Mission. I wonder if he remembered in the morning that we never woke him up for his secret spy mission.

This is the drawing of the supplies he thinks he needs:



Some of the supplies do not make sense me to. Like why does he need a house? or better yet a clone blaster????

Commader's Birthday

I hope that he had a good birthday. I made his favorite dessert twice this month- Tiramisu. We celebrated Gram's and his birthday together about a week ago. And than again Sunday on his actual birthday. It took me few years to get the right recipe. Well actually he found the recipe on a Cooking for Engineer's Blog. So needless to say it was hard for me to follow at first. But I think that I am finally making a pretty darn good Tiramisu.

This year was one of the first years that I did not get his present for him. We briefly talked about it a few weeks ago, but I never really got an answer as to what he wanted. So I took the easy road and let him buy his own present. Than I wrapped a gift that he bought himself at an after Christmas sale. So I felt really lame the night he opened up his gifts.

Hopefully my yummy Tiramisu made up for some of it.

Canon's Coffee Cup

I saw this and just had to share. Wonder how it would stand up to my passion for coffeemate.



I think that some photoshop Jedi's created this awesome picture.

I just sat in awhh of the creation and laughed a lot.



Enjoy your Day........

Busy

Oh I've got a busy weekend. Yogalates in the morning and then grocery shopping. Cleaning up the house and folding some sheets before we host our poker night. I am hoping to sneak in some time to sew and work on this crayon project for the boy's birthday party coming up. Then on Sunday Commander's Birthday.

Enjoy your weekend..........................

In the Car

In the old Mini Van I keep an extra booster seat. It has come in handy in many situations. We meet a friend for lunch, and than if we want, he can come over for a play date. Also, if I happen to watch someone's kiddo for a day, I can still leave the house.



I have a BIG problem staying home for an entire day. After about lunch time the walls start to cave in on me. Sometimes, it is not even enough to leave to get the kids from their half day of school. Shag and I normally do not come back home until lunch with the older boys.

There is always a lot of talking on the ride home from school. I must say, I really like it when my kids talk to me. It seems like in the car, they are engaged and not distracted. They talk about a lot of things and I find out so much about them and their thoughts. Don't get me wrong, I do still like the quiet rides, but then I find myself calling a friend on the phone.


This sweet girl offered to take a photo of the boys and I while at the mall. None of the photos I took erally turned out. But I liked this one.

At the Park

Shag and I had a chance to sneak to the park by ourselves. Gosh it was fun to enjoy him by himself. I wish there was more time to enjoy each child individually. It was a chilly day, but kids of course could care less.

This hat has been my favorite for years. Moose wore it first, than Bear, and now Shag. I begged Gram to reproduce some larger ones of the older boys. They look so great in them. I don't save many things, but I might have to find a permanent place for these.

Obsession

I have talked about this before. But oh how the computer sucks them in? It must have this hidden trance. The spell has definitely been cast over my boys. Even the baby wants in on the action. I can find Shag sneaking in the office, sitting on the chair, banging away on the keyboard.
Santa brought the Lego Indian Jones PC game. I'll tell you what, they beg, bargain, and sneak to play it.
Our house rule is that there is no gaming until after lunch. Then it is timed play. Over the Christmas break, we had let the timed play slip a little. That is probably contributing to the obsession.
Does anyone else have this issue? We definitely need some guidance. I even find Commander playing Indian Jones after dark. Another deeply embedded gene I can not fight?

= Love

I walked by this a hundred times. Not once looking at the words, just happy the blocks were off the floor.



So when Commander pointed this out to me. I just smiled. How sweet this was of him. Why had I been so blind to not once look at the words. It is definitely nice to find gestures of love in unexpected places. For our last anniversary, he put post-it notes all around the house that said "I Love You". Even one in my Day Planner that I found at work. I kept that one, so when I opened it, I would reminded of his love for me.

Thanks Commander............

Addicted

As we were leaving my girlfriends house for the hour drive home. She gave all my kids a snack. She has done this for years. It's like when we say our good-byes, my kids at looking to her for their treat bag. She always has the latest and greatest snacks. I swear that she finds about 75% of the new foods that we eat. I am not sure how she finds the best snacks, but she does.

So naturally, I take a bite to see what all the goodness is about. Yumm-O. And the very best thing: 70-120 calories a piece. I mean really, when looking for a snack, it's nice to keep it around 100 calories. Sorry for the numbers, but after 30 and kids, things can go south really quickly.

Clif Bar is "low fat, made with whole oats, and contains 12 essential vitamins and minerals kids need every day. What you won't find is all the junk!” They are low in sugars and low in fat. I have never been a health nut, my family does not do many organic things. We try and eat healthy, but we are a meat and potatoes kind of family, oh and we LOVE our bread.

This Clif Bar is marketed towards kids. There is the Z Bar and the Twisted Fruit. We all have our favorites from both products. I must admit I was hesitant to give my 4 and 6 year old an energy bar, but when I really looked at the ingredients between the Clif Z Bar and the Quaker Granola Bar, it seems like a better choice.

I am addicted to the Twisted Fruit. I eat at least one every day. Does not matter the flavor, it's just plain good. Wow, who knew I could talk about kids food for so long. If you get chance you should seriously try these.

No plans

We spent the days after Christmas just building Legos.

As fun as it may have been, I am not as obessed as my boys are. I am the sorter. Commander is the builder. The older boys drift between helping, wandering around and crying about not building fast enough. Shag is the destroyer.



Moose is the most constant. He does like to build, but I think they have not figured out that once you build them, that they have to be careful with them. But oh no, they fly these Star Wars ships around like they are regular toy ships. Eventually they crash and break, but the crying is minimal, they know that Commander likes to build them too.


We were lucky that Nana and Papa took the boys early one night and we went to dinner. What could more romantic then a after dinner trip to Target. We wandered around and somehow found ourselves in the TOY section. What are we doing there with no children in sight, habit I suppose.

Anyways Commander spots this PRIZE. He looks so giddy. Recalling the top dollar amount that he saw it for on-line. Explaining that it is such a good deal and we need to buy it. I admit it was almost 50% off. But the way he was admiring it, I knew right then the passion the boys have for legos is deeply embedded in their genes.


Maybe this weekend something more productive can happen other than the Lego building. We need to get this laundry done and out of sight.


Have a Happy Weekend taking down all your decorations and cleaning up from the Holidays.

Morning

This sunrise is so beautiful to me.
It warms my heart and helps to see the beauty in the day.
I hope that I can find this beauty in most days.