Learning the hard way

So today I was in the shower at 7:15am. All of a sudden Double A bursts in with candy in her hand and asks me through the shower door if Bumblebee can have that candy. I said I guess, mostly because I did not feel like fighting about it and he had eaten his breakfast...why not chase it with some spun sugar?? However, Double A then proceeds to inform me that she told Bumblebee he could have the candy (before she burst in to ask me) if he put her papers in the trash for her. I just stared at her and then asked why she thought she had the authority to require work of him to get his own candy. She just shrugged and then said "It helps him learn." It was too early in the morning to explain the problems with that scenario to her so I just sent her back downstairs to give him the candy. I still don't know if he "did the work" or got the candy but they seemed to work it out somehow so I figure...life lesson learned...somehow or another!

Things that make me giggle

Okay, so I have been lazy with uploading pictures so these go back over a couple of weeks. I figure everyone could use a little giggle once in awhile so hopefully these seem as cute to you as they do to me.

This picture cracks me up simply because this SHIRT cracks me up. We are STILL painting the bathroom and guest room and Husband #1 went up to change into paint clothes to help out one weekend. He came down in this insane shirt. I immediatey burst out laughing and now everytime he wears it I can't stop laughing at him. I think he secretly likes it a whole bunch - maybe it reminds him of his rural roots. He cut the sleeves and neck out on his own...as if you couldn't tell.

In honor of Halloween, Double A drew this vampire all on her own. She even wrote "vampire" on her own at the top. Her teacher tells them to spell it based on what they hear if they are unsure. I think she did pretty good, not like vampire is in many children's early reader books!

Bumblebee is in the "Red Room" at preschool. Double A has been in the Yellow Room and Blue Room. Every year they have Color Day and a parade. Basically this is school spirit day and they make a t-shirt and flag and such then parade around the church lawn. He is such a cutie!

One night Double A was helping me cook dinner. I was chopping onions and she said her eyes were burning. I momentarily left the room to do something and when I returned she had solved the problem of onion fumes hurting her eyes!

dyson update

Well, for those of you following my Dyson vacuum repair issues here is where it stands. I finally called Dyson and had the serial number. They are sending me a new hose for me to attach on my own. It cost $46 with shipping. I am shocked to realize it is 4 years old so no wonder it is not covered under warranty. I should have it in 5 business days. In the meantime I have followed the sage advice of my favorite father in law...duct tape it. So rest easy, Dyson lovers. My little guy will be all better soon.

In other news...my son pooped in his hand.

Follow up on the other random thoughts

So, still looking at cars. Will be for some time since trying to narrow down my list has backfired and the salespeople are unintentionally giving me more options for potential vehicles. Looked at the volvo options today. Lovely car...just not sure I want to pay $10,000-$15,000 more for the same or less options than other cars. I mean, I get the safety and all but really, is that such a huge deal these days with the other cars having the side curtain airbags and what not? BTW...if you have not seen a pic of side curtain airbags you should go to some car website and check that out...CRAZY! In the next ten years we will be strapped into our cars with those over the head harness things like roller coasters or the space shuttle. One good thing about the volvo was that it had a "pistol pocket." Never heard of that but sure would come in handy when the kids misbehaved in the back!

Debate issues. I tivo'd the VP debate and who am I kidding? I am probably not going to watch it. i feel like I should care about politics but really, I just don't. However, I was stuck in the motorcade at 4pm before the debate. I assume someone was going to dinner? Anyway...how many STL cops does it take to escort two suburbans and one towncar? SEVENTEEN!!!! Between the suburbans and 17 cop cars and motorcycles I had to wonder who I was watching drive by cuz that can't be good for the environment!

Now, my dog. Belle is her name and being weird is her game. She is now 9 years old and still full of energy and vigor...despite the fact she has suddenly developed weird food issues. I took her to the vet for her checkup and mentioned how she will bark in my face and jump on me when she wants to eat...except she does this even when she already ate! It was like she forgot or something and then that made me wonder if I had fed her or what...nothing like your DOG making you feel like a crazy person. Anyway, the vet suggested feeding her earlier in the day as we are hungrier morning or midday. Also to add in some green beans or carrots for more bulk in her belly without more calories. ALSO...seems I am an idiot. Different types of dog food require different amounts per serving. This has never occurred to me, that there could be varying caloric counts for different foods. Why? I don't know, likely cuz I dump the food and off I go and don't think about it again until she is mauling me at the computer. That got me thinking... the last time I actually checked how much to feed her could very well have been 8 years ago. I gave it a look in the pet store and by golly I was underfeeding her by 1-1.5 cups! No wonder she is hungry. Oddly though, I have been doing this for years and she has just started complaining in the last few months. Also, she has been gaining weight so must not be going too hungry. So I increased her amount of food and laid off the green beans to see how she did with just more food. Well, what do you think happened? If you guessed...SHE QUIT EATING you win!! She has had the same bowl of dog food down there for almost two days now...some will be gone but not much...new behavior for her. SOOOO, I figure she will eat when she is hungry. I then noticed she would follow me up from the basement after a few bites. I experimented today and brought her bowl to the kitchen instead of the basement...she ate EVERY BITE!! So what, now she needs COMPANY to eat!!!??? AARRGGGHHH!!

Okay, kids in bed and hubby not home so off to watch some TIVO shows that no one but me likes :)

Random Thoughts I had to get out of my head

Okay, so there is this girl in Double A's kindergarten class who is 5 years old. She can read and write. I know, so what?? you say. Well, she has read the first two HARRY POTTER books!!! What??!! I am unsure why this is bugging me so much but that just does not seem quite right. I am not referring to content. I have not actually read them and her mother tells me the third one the content gets a little much for her age. Gee, maybe when she is 6 she can read Where the Red Fern Grows and when she is 8 she can move up to War and Peace or something. It just seems wrong someone that young can read that well. I wonder if she is really comprehending it?

Meanwhile my 6 year old is making huge progress with her reading in the one month she has been in school. She can read an early reader book with some help sounding out words and only needing me to tell her a couple of words. She likes to practice and gets better everyday. We talk about reading so much that Bumblebee told me yesterday on our way to speech therapy that his "teacher" (therapist) was going to teach him to read. With basically no help from me he has started identifying the letters in his name in other contexts and can even write an A and B on his own.

So the vice presidential debate is this evening and for those of you who may not know...it is being held here in St. Louis. I mention this because you would think it was Christmas! Almost everything has shut down. The university where Bumblebee has speech has closed (it is near the debate site), roads have closed, sidewalks have been closed for days. I overheard some parents at Double A's school get excited and envious when one of them stated they would be attending the debate. Interesting times here in STL between debates and beer being bought out...things are topsy turvy.

So we are thinking of buying another car...for me this time. Yes, you are correct when thinking back...it has only been one month since we purchased the truck for Husband #1. We do not want to purchase another car. We were hoping we could get another couple of years out of the Expedition. It has 115,000 miles and has had some major repairs over the last few years. We thought this would mean that it was kind of "rebuilt" so to speak. Well, my electric locks stopped working. No big deal except there is no key hole on the passenger side...at all. So I have to unlock the driver door and crawl across to unlock the passenger side so Double A can get in. It is a big car so it is kind of hard to do and will be even less fun when the snow gets upon us. We took it in and they said it will be $700+ to repair the locks. Well, I guess I will suffer with it. Problem is when we had it in there they found FIVE other issues and now it will be $1700 to repair them. That is 3-4 car payments so now we are wondering what to do. The fear is these things will keep piling up and we will keep spending the money which we could have just used for a new car. The other problem about buying a new car besides the ridiculous expense is I have NO IDEA what I want. Very overwhelming.

I have been painting the guest room, bathroom and upstairs hallway this past weekend and Monday. Husband #1 helped on Sunday and we got a good chunk done. I have an amazing picture of Husband #1 from the painting that makes me laugh out loud so I will post that later when I find the camera and upload the pics. I am still working on the trim which is quite extensive in these rooms...not typical trim rooms. I'll spare the details of the trim work but it is driving me CRAZY!!! Guess I will get back at it next week while the kids are in school. I have taken the rest of this week off painting so I can clean the house very thoroughly so we can decorate for Halloween (and because it is disgusting). I think it is a bit early but I always think that and by the time I end up getting around to it it is a week away and hardly seems worth the effort.

On the house cleaning note (can you tell I am procrastinating??) my mom got me a Shark and I used it on the floors. I think I really like it. No bucket and dirty mop to lug around and the floors are a lot less wet but still clean. Plus, the kids are not slipping and getting muddy footprints on the still drying floor. Since our entire house is hardwood floors it makes it easier than mopping.

Okay, enough rambling and back to the cleaning. Makes it harder when you have a 3 year old "helper" who creates more messes during the act of cleaning that you then reclean everything.

OH!!! one last thing! EGADS!! My Dyson vaccum has sprung a mortal wound. The hose for the attachments has a gaping hole in it...obviously hard to suck stuff up when it all goes out the hole on the hose. For those of you who know me well, know my love of the Dyson. I am bascially a walking commercial for the darn thing and this really hurts. I am now off to google some Dyson repair places so I can staunch the bleeding and get my purple lovely back on it wheels.