The blessings of colds

Jack woke up with a cold on Monday morning.  He was happy all monring and didn't seem in distress.  He was congested and sounded like it, but overall his cold didn't seem bad enough to keep him from school.  On the way to school, however, Jack started sneezing.  Let's just say I didn't want to scare his teachers and everyone within spraying distance that they might end up with the swine flu.  I kept him out of school and I worked from home...spending a lovely day with Jack, Merile and Gavin.

Tuesday, same story.  Jack acting fine, but still a snot factory.  On the way out the door Merile tells me that she'd be worried if he was in her class...given the amount of sniffing and snot.  So, instead of taking him to school, I took him to work with me.  What a cool day it turned out to be!

I take Jack to work with me from time to time.  He loves it. It's kinda cool being the kid of a prosecutor.  You get a few perks...like getting to climb around in a police car, sitting in the judge's chair...getting to see parts of the jail...including the handcuffs!!!  Jack always manages to score plastic sheriff's badges, treats, stickers, stuffed animals...it's a treasure trove for kids!  Many of my colleagues, however, don't ever bring their kids to work and frankly, question my sanity....always asking me how I get anything done with Jack around.  Truth is that he is a good boy, generally very good and totally happy to be entertained by a movie, art supplies or some monster trucks.

So, Tuesday, I was plugging a long , working away when Jack asked for paper to write a book.  Here's what he came up with:

As you will note...it is "The Good Car Book"  authored and illustrated by Jack.  (Kinda hard to read that part)

page two:

page three:

page four:

(that's woo, woo, woo...like a siren!)

page five:

I love how the "y" and the "s" are fancy, too!

page six:

(Jack told me it's important to never have a broken car!)

page seven:

(In Jack's world...there are bird cars that fly!)

page eight:

(mommy wishes she had one of these!)

page nine:

Yep...that's Mommy's car...complete with the fire coming out the end. 

Anyway, Jack was very proud of his Good Car Book.  He's a monkey.  For me, it was fun working with him working across the desk.  We shared some good laughs, he shared his lunch with me (we had packed it for school) and he authored and illustrated a very cool book. At the end of the day, Jack told me how much fun he had and that I was the coolest ever.  Right then, I realized what a blessing a cold could be!!





Introducing...Gavin Asher Montgomery

I've missed blogging, but I've been pretty occupied by our family events. 

So, little Gavin arrived 10 days late on December 18 at 10:05 pm.  Merile was a champ.  Gavin weighed in at 8.5 and was 19 1/2 in long. 

The little porker gained 28 oz in one week.  He has no issues nursing!!!

Here's what we've learned about Gavin thus far:

*Little monkey hates hates hates his hands swaddled.  He is his happiest with his hands on his face.

*He loves to snuggle and sqawks when he's in his car seat or in his little bouncy chair.  Luckily, there are plenty of willing arms to hold him!

*Gavin in a smiley guy when he's sleeping.  In fact, he recently started laughing in his sleep.  It's pretty cute!

*Gavin is sure he's starving about every hour on the hour. 
*Little ape goes through about 3 diapers at a time.  Just when mommy changes a wet diaper...he leaves me a surprise...one after another.  I'm getting good at guessing when he's FINALLY done!!!

We are sure loving this special blessing in our lives.  Gavin is a good little fella.  He is well loved!!!

'Tis the season

Merile and I never miss the Tacoma Holiday Food and Gift festival.  It is my personal official start to the holiday season.  We took Jack this year.  We started wandering around, looking at the various toys and booths. At first, Jack was into it - - but his enthasuiam quickly changed into boredom then downright crankiness.  Truth be told, he drove me a bit nuts.  Mr. Chatterbox, touching everything (especially every breakable ornament), complaining about wanting to leave. Unlike years past rushed through the festival...we were in and out of there before the carolers sang Silver Bells.  We had already been to the pumpkin patch that morning, so by the time we hit the Teriyaki place on the way home, Jack was D-O-N-E.

One thing I've always admired about Jack....his ability to adpat.

Needless to say, Merile and I had a lesiurely, lovely dinner! 

Jack and the giant melon

Jack has a very big head.  It's not like he looks freaky, but it is unusally large.  Jack has wanted a BYU visor for some time now...(apparently the visor won't mess up his faux hawk)...so bless Mindy and Cisco's hearts...they bought him one when the went to Utah to drop Josh at the MTC. Um, they had to get him the adult size.  No kidding!

So, we went to watch Damon at football practice the other day. Jack has been dying to try on his helmet.   Damon is 12.  Yep, Jack grabbed it and put it on...but here's what happened when he went to take it off:

I tell Jack it's okay to have a giant melon. It means you have giant brains!!!

Handywoman!!!

I love being handy. I think I get this from my mom. Mom can pretty much do anything.  I grew up completely confident in the fact that Mom could do everything from decorate a wedding cake to helping me draw a cover for my book report. 

I love her for instilling the "can do" attitude in me.  I hate hate hate having to ask for help for household fix-it type problems...so I generally try it myself.  I also generally foul the project up a few times...but it eventually works out ok.

So, we needed a new toilet. The old one wasn't broken....but it was terrible. 

I once read a book by Jack Weyland called Charley. One of my favorite parts in the book was when the newlyweds got a new appliance- - I think it was a washer and dryer. The author described how much they totally loved their new addition and how they gazed at it lovingly.  I feel that way, too.  I love new washers, dryers, frying pans, water heaters...these lovely little contraptions that make our lives so much easier.

So, here is my fantastic new toilet.  Hmmmm...I tightened down the water source, stood up and flushed it, and found myself gazing lovingly at my beautiful new throne.  It didn't even leak!  The lid didn't blow off nor did water shoot ten feet in the air. So, to all you out there who may think twice about taking on a project like this....give it a try.  I say if you can read directions you can install a toilet!

p.s.  The kids thought I was the bomb when I got it installed. They fought about who got to use it first!  haha.

Stop Thief!!!

I am not really a green thumb, but I am good for all kinds of labor! This is the second year we've had a garden and it was pretty good this year. I put no effort into the planting, watering or harvesting...Merile did all of that.  My job? Weeding and getting it ready to plant.

We grew the standard fare this year.  I was particularly excited for our corn on the cob...last year: pitiful. This year: bountiful!

So, I was walking up our driveway and saw a bunch debris all over the front yard. There was a distinct path from the side of our property where our garden is located. As I focused in on what the samhill the craziness was all over the yard...I saw the culprit:

Little monster!  He stole our corn. Not just one corn on the cob. The furry rodents cleaned us out! 

Oh well, I guess he needed it worse then we did!

Here's to some fat and happy squirrels this winter!

Tagger

Well, being a mom is always an experience.  Here's a little story for you:

Merile's car ignition seized up.  The only way to get the ignition cylinder out was to take a drill to it and drill the tar out of it. So, I took a sharpie and marked a big "X" where I wanted the hole in the ignition and armed with my trusty drill and some safety glasses, I went to town.

Jack was sitting in the back seat of the car watching me drill.  However, it was about 100 degrees in the car, so he wilted and hopped out. He was on the lawn, running around the deck, playing with his trucks. I could see him out of the corner of my eye. He wasn't playing in the street or bugging the neighbors, so he was good.

I took a break from drilling to rest my hands. Jack said, "Mom, how do you spell Damon?" I said "D-A-M-O-N and went back to drilling.

Crazy thing drilling an ignition. It was kinda awesome. I felt kinda like criminal! hehe.

I got out of the car and gathered up my tools...headed into the house and went about my day.  A bit later, I went back outside to get the mail.  Here's what I saw:

Hmm. This picutre looks kinda familiar. In fact, I've seen this type of monster truck before. Yep, this is Jack's "tag." My kid took the sharpie I used to mark the ignition and he tagged my mailbox!!! 

Might I tell you that tagging aka "grafitti" is illegal in Washington?!  I've prosecuted certain juvenile deliquents for less!

I looked at Jack. He had a very proud smile on his face.  "Look, Mom...do you like my monster truck?"
Mom: "Jack, did you tag anything else?"  Jack: "Mom, what is tag?"  Mom:  "Tagging is drawing on other people's stuff, son."  Jack:  "Yeah, Mom, but our mailbox was UGLY."  Mom:  "Point taken."

It only took a brief look around the yard to behold additional tags.... 

Apparently, I am an accomplice to this crime. I told him how to spell "Damon." 

What can I say???  He loves his mom.

And, well, most criminals leave some type of incriminating evidence. Most, however, don't leave their REAL name behind!!!

So, truth be told...I was a little ticked off at first.  But now that I've had time to reflect....everytime I get the mail I smile.  It warms my heart.

What a monkey!