That's Bisgusting!

All of the sudden Griffin is changing the way he pronounces some words. Lately it seems that his Ds and even his Ms are becoming Bs. So we now have "bisgusting", "bessert", and "bosquito". He used to say them correctly but he is going for a new sound I guess. Another funny Griffinism is "banilla wipers" for Vanilla Wafers, and he loves "naple syrup" on his pancakes.





This morning in the car Griffin was talking about his Papa. Very sweet, I know. He is excited to see him for Christmas. But then he started talking about playing with Papa and his jeep. I am assuming this is Griffin's toy jeep since Papa does not have a jeep. Anyway he said that Papa "likes to spit on my jeep" to get the wheels clean. Apparently it makes him very happy when Papa gets the jeep clean. So Papa...are you really spitting on his jeep?





The boys got a fabulous electric Christmas train as an early gift from their Grandma and Grandpa. Both boys love watching it and would probably do so for hours. The train is very cool- it has real smoke that puffs out of the smokestack and the little eleves "work" to get the train to go. It is entertaining but very loud. Here is some video of this marvelous present that we are sure to enjoy for years to come.

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Thanksgiving! The celebration was a little different this year because we didn't travel and decided to just have Thanksgiving at home with the four of us. It was kind of quiet at times, but it was great to have the time together as a family. And it was definitely nice to have Brent home for a change without wondering when he was going to have to go back into work.

We had a few firsts for us- our first time to use our china (after 7 years we figured it was time) and our first time to cook Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice to just cook for a few people to get some practice before we would host for a bigger group someday. I decided to brine the turkey overnight since I had heard so much about that. It was relatively easy- you just soak the turkey in a solution of water, salt, brown sugar, sliced lemons and oranges, onions, and garlic. Then in the morning, you just roast the turkey as usual. We also made stuffing, squash casserole, Rachel Ray's green beans (very good), and pumpkin pie. There is still a ton of food leftover, but that is just how it goes. Griffin was very excited about eating turkey. He kept saying, "I never saw anything like this before. I love turkey".

While I was cooking, Brent and Griffin went outside and did some yardwork. We had a ton of leaves on our deck and in the backyard. Griffin had a great time jumping in the leaf piles (and Brent did too).

We had a little fun with Gray too. We are always in awe of his chunky thighs, so we put him in the roasting pan. It gives new meaning to "turkey drumsticks".

Here is some video of Gray trying (and somewhat succeeding) at crawling. He is reallly trying but he hasn't quite figured it all out yet. With a little determination, he can still make it across the room. I knew this would happen right around the time we had our Christmas tree and decorations up.

Happy Fall Ya'll

We have had a few days of beautiful weather. Not really Fall-like since we have had temps in the mid-70s. But it has given us another chance to play outside and just enjoy the beautiful weather. Gray is having a great time playing in the leaves. There is also a pic of both boys in their matching knit caps for this winter. It is hard to tell but they both have a plaid train on them.

Today Griffin had his preschool Thanksgiving program. He has been practicing some of the songs at home every morning. One of them is about an acorn and he is pretty good at this one. I am sending a video of him singing it. Check out his Indian Chief hat.

The Man with the Yellow Hat

I just need to get this off my chest... every night I read at least two stories from the Curious George Treasury. I know I am probably a bad sport and should be cherishing the time I have spent reading with my son, but I get tired along the way. Whenever I reading the Curious George stories, I just can't help but think how much FASTER I could read the story if the "the man with the yellow hat" just had a simple name liked "Bob". I mean think about it. The stories would always start out... "This is George. He is a good little monkey but always very curious. He lives with his friend, Bob". I guess it doesn't have have same ring to it, but boy, would it save me some time.

Playing Around This Morning

This morning Griffin was playing a cross between doctor and a fire fighter with his archaeic tool box (complete with wooden hammer and screwdriver-YIKES). Brent probably more correctly labeled him as a paramedic. Anyway he has been all over the house fixing Gray's "hip infection" (not sure where he got that one) to putting soup on my knee (it is a chilly morning outside).

It always seems WAY to early in the morning for "getting" my son's sense of humor. Lately it is a cross between Beavis and Butthead ("Mommy, you said BOTTOM- that's funny") and Erkel (see photo of my skinny child with his pj pants pulled up high). I guess it is just having a boy, but I just can't force myself to laugh every time we rehash this.

Sweet little Gray is hitting more of his separation anxiety phase where he does not like me to leave his sight. This morning I finally had to pull him into the kitchen so I could unload the dishwasher. He is into everything. Here he is playing peek-a-boo with the curtain to our kitchen island.

Poor Little Turkey

Griffin has been really into turkeys ever since his preschool started talking about Thanksgiving. Today I went grocery shopping and bought our turkey. As I was unpacking the groceries, he was very interested in the turkey and when we were going to eat it. Later today while we were driving to the gym, this is what transpired...

G: Hey, mommy, can I see our turkey?
M: Well, it is in the freezer at home.
G: Does it have a beak?
M: Not anymore.
G: Oh. Did you buy it at Law-mart (his version of Wal-mart) or at the grocery store?
M: I got it at the grocery store.
G: Was the turkey sad and lonely at the grocery store?
M: No, there were lots of others turkeys at the grocery store. (how true!)
G: But the turkey was waiting for us to come pick him up at the store.
M: Yes, he was waiting.
G: Now he won't be sad and lonely anymore because he is at our house.

I have a feeling that the poor little turkey would have been happier if he wasn't in the freezer in our basement. I felt a little guilty.

Supersonic

I am posting one video of Gray laughing at Griffin blowing his whistle. They are really starting to have fun with each other. Lately Gray has been doing this "supersonic screeching" thing all the time. It is pretty obnoxious, and I may be losing my hearing any day now. So I am posting this one for the grandparents' viewing pleasure since they miss a lot of these "adorable" moments.

We had Griffin's last soccer game this morning, and it was FREEZING outside. Each team had 3 kids (and 2 out of the 3 on each team were pretty cranky), so the coaches decided we would shorten the game and leave early. Brent and Adam were fill-in coaches today. Griffin started out pretty well and scored a goal during the practice. He was very proud of himself. But then he bumped his injured finger and things went downhill from there. Gray was pretty good and just relaxed on the blanket.

The Wocket Stole His Pockets

Man, did we have a long afternoon. When Griffin came home from school today, he was acting off. At first he said that he "couldn't talk quietly because there was something in his ear" so he had to talk loud. I thought he would finally take a good nap and wake up happy. But he just started crying and became hysterical about his ear hurting. So I took him into the doctor this afternoon, and he has fluid in both his ears. While we were there, I had the doctor look at his finger that he cut today on the playground at school. When they pulled the bandage off, it looked pretty bad. It was still bleeding 5 hours after he cut it, so they sent us to Patient First for stitches. Of course once we got to Patient First, they cleaned it up and looked at it again. And it suddenly just looked like a big scratch, and we ended up not getting stitches. Needless to say it has been a long afternoon and evening. Brent was able to meet us at Patient First and get us Chik Fil A for dinner so that was very helpful:)

Tonight when I was putting Griffin to bed, we read, "There's a Wocket in my Pocket", by Dr Suess. It was always one of my favorite books when I was little. We have read this book before at bedtime, but I guess it had been awhile. This time Griffin was asking all about what a wocket was. Then he started telling me that the wocket came into his room when he was sleeping with his door open. Apparently the wocket also opened up his drawers and took all the pockets off his jeans so now he doesn't have any jeans anymore. Who knew?

Singing in the car

I am attaching a video of Griffin singing in the car, although I am having trouble getting it turned the right way so you may have to look at sideways. He is very into the song, Everything, by Michael Buble. He says it is "Mommy, Griffin, and Gray's song". It is kind of cute, because he can get most of the words right when he wants to.

He also told me the other day that he doesn't play with girls because he's three. He had a whole long story about how someday he will marry a girl (after she "earns a diamond ring") but he can't play with girls right now because "I'm just three". I wonder who told him that being three had something to do with hanging out with girls. Pretty funny.

Movie Recommendation

Last night I went to see the movie, Dan In Real Life, with some friends. It was really good. If you liked Little Miss Sunshine, I think you will probably like this one. It has some goofy parts to it that are a little unrealistic, but it had everyone laughing a lot. There were even some viewers that clapped at the end of the movie. So go see it if you get the chance.

I had a new babysitter come to watch the boys last night. Her name was Hannah, and Griffin loved her. When I came home, she told me that he gave her a scare. Apparently she put him to bed around 7:30 and went in an hour later to check on him. But she could not find him anywhere. She checked all the bedrooms and bathroom. Finally she found him fast asleep UNDER his bed holding onto one of his toy trains. This kid is crazy and this is the kind of thing we deal with all the time.