All the World's Needs

I'm not sure what else the world needs besides a doctor, a pirate, and an Aggie football player.
My world is complete.
The end.

Note

Note to Dryer:

I promise to never ever make you dry six days' worth of laundry in one day again. Please forgive me for the overwhelming work.

Note to Husband:

I promise to never ever make you go to work without an undershirt again. Please forgive me for the lack of clean clothing.

Note to Self:

I promise to never ever let the laundry consume a full day again.

Signed,
The Very Tired Laundry Lady

The Perfect Ages

When we decided to put Liam into public school, I promised myself that I would be a frequent presence at his school. I have enjoyed volunteering for his teacher on a weekly basis. This allows me to work with each of his classmates, which is an excellent way for me to get to know the kids he's hanging out with.

What I've also wanted to do is to eat lunch with Liam, and I was finally able to do that yesterday. Jack, Garrett, and I took Subway with us, and those two four year olds were all eyes as they watched the different classes walk in/out of the cafeteria.

"Mommy, there's a lot of kids in here," exclaimed Garrett. "No kidding," I said.

"Mommy, why is that boy in the camo shirt sitting by himself," asked Jackson. "Well, I'm guessing he got into trouble," I explained. "How do you know," he asked. "I was a teacher once, and I know what goes on in schools, " I said.

Let that be a lesson for you, little man.

Finally, our big first grader came to eat with us, and he beamed from ear to ear to show his buddies that he was eating at the guest table with his mom and brothers.

Can I just freeze him at this age? This age where he is not embarrassed by my presence. This age where he hugs and kisses me in front of a couple hundred kids. This age where he is learning to be a leader and his classmates love him. This age...I love it.

I should have taken my camera with me to the school, but I wasn't quite sure I could juggle it along with lunch, drinks, and two wide-eyed preschoolers. But when Liam got home from school this afternoon, I asked him what he thought of us visiting him for lunch, and he gave me a huge smile. Kind of like this.
I'm so proud of that boy. He's a lover, a giver, a leader, and a friend to so many.

After lunch, the littles and I ran a few errands before returning home. All of my boys are good at coming home and quickly finding something to do with themselves. This is great for me so that I can work on some things around the house, such as the never ending laundry and dishes.

Once I got some laundry going, I grabbed my camera, since I've neglected that appendage for too long. I walked up on Jack to find him reading The Chronicles of Narnia.
Shortly after I snapped this photo, he slammed the book shut and said, "Mommy, I finished the whole book!" Wow, 767 pages is quite impressive, Jackson.

I climbed the stairs to find Garrett gathering toys. When I asked what he was doing, he said, "I'm finding toys for when me and Liam grow up and we travel. We're going to visit each state starting with Colorado."

"That sounds like a great plan. What do you need for your trip," I asked.
He proceeded to explain that they will need two walkie talkies to talk to each other, binoculars to see where they're going, a whistle in case they need help, an Etch-a-Sketch for fun, and a bag with a dollar and a few coins to share with others.

No mention of clothing, toothbrushes, or food. For some reason, I am not surprised.

Do you know where the youngest explorer is right now? He's on the couch pouting. Pouting because he's extremely disappointed that it will take so long to be old enough to take this trip.

For me personally, I'm glad that none of my boys are old enough to travel without me. I think that all 3 of them are at the perfect age, and I really am going to find a way to freeze them at their current stages.

Smart Aggie

Howdy! How y'all been? We're doing well around here. I'll skip right over the excuses for my absence, since my sporadic posts are obviously becoming habitual.

I'm sure I've mentioned before that Rick gets season tickets to Texas A&M's football season. He's been good to take one boy with him to every game this year, which is quite nice for me to be left behind with only two little men.

I was finally invited to a game two weeks ago.

This is where Rick would love to jump in here to comment that I'm "invited to every game". Yea right.

Moving right along.

Anyway, we took Garrett with us to that game in order to lighten the load for my wonderful mom who volunteered her babysitting services. Garrett is the easiest boy to take to the games, because he is absolutely eaten up with the Aggies. He might have been born in Sooner Country, but he was born with Aggie blood running through his veins.
What a face! I might be biased, but I believe he is the cutest Aggie.

He's also a smart Aggie. After watching our Ags go to the slaughter house versus Kansas State this past week, Garrett has decided that he will not skip Thanksgiving dinner to attend the Texas vs. A&M game. Yesterday, he told his Daddy, "I want to go to Didi's house for Thanksgiving, because I'm afraid the Longhorns will beat the Aggies."

Kids are painfully honest.

T-shirt Expert

Have you ever watched this video on how to fold a t-shirt?

I've watched it a time or twenty, and try if I might, I still couldn't catch on. It's as if I needed a the dummies version.

Rick, my hero, found just exactly that the other night.

We watched the dummies version together and then pulled out two shirts to practice with. I completed the task like an expert on my first attempt.

I just might have been too proud about it, because I wasn't able to repeat with such precision for the rest of the night. I'll just blame it on the swine flu. I wasn't quite myself with all the coughing and aching.

Rick, however, caught on after his second attempt. In fact, he was so successful that he proceeded to pull out all of his t-shirts and expertly fold every last one.

He was so pleased with himself that he wanted me to get out the camera and document for the blog. I declined, because the chair on which I was sitting my achy body was more inviting than photography.

Ladies, can I let you in on a little secret?

Lean closer.

Are you listening?

If you can get your husband to watch the video, he might find such pleasure in folding t-shirts that he'll proclaim, "Honey, I'll fold all t-shirts from now on."

And you'll gladly hand him the laundry basket tomorrow.

The Ailment of 2009 *UPDATED*

We've all had the swine flu, and I'm happy to report that you, too, can live through it and not even sprout a pig's nose.

Rick and Liam were hit the hardest. In fact, Liam is still quite miserable, but I do believe I see the light at the end of this tunnel with only one of us ailing.

I'm also hoping and praying that we have gotten our bout with the flu over with early in the season and that we won't catch any other strain of it.

Please don't tell me, "When pigs fly!"

*UPDATE* Apparently, this flu ebbs and flows. Rick and Garrett are not feeling well again today after feeling fine for 2 days. Liam is improving, thankfully. Jack and I seem to be holding steady.

Friday Funny

Just before Jack began his bedtime prayers last night, I said, "Remember to say your thanksgivings, too."

"Dear God, please make it fanksgiving soon and help me to obey. Amen."

Amen.