Surprise!

Daniel came to get me just now and said he had a surprise to show me in the bathroom.

I was immediately concerned, but he assured me it was not in the toilet.

He had me close my eyes and led me to the bathroom.

"Open them!" he says. I open my eyes and see........nothing.

I say, "What's the surprise?"

He says, "It's behind here" as he opens the door a bit.

I still see nothing out of the ordinary, so I look at him, bewildered.

He says, "Well, I sure do know how to put a new roll of toilet paper on all by myself."

He was so proud! My future daughter-in-law owes me big time!

Venture Out

I guess you could say we don't get out much. We definitely avoid taking the kids to restaurants, but the other night David had a work dinner at Abuelo's, and our whole family was invited.

As we were getting ready to go, I told Katie to put on her shoes so we could go out to eat. She said, "Go mass?" I told her, "No, we're not going to mass. We're going to a restaurant to eat." She didn't understand and kept asking, "Go mass?" over and over since that's apparently the only place we ever take her.

Then when we got to the restaurant, someone said something about a menu, and Daniel asked, "What's a menu?" My kid (whose vocabulary includes words like asteroid and tsunami) had never heard the word "menu!"

We need to get out more!

Daniel the Socialite

I came home from work a few weeks ago and found Daniel planning a party. This isn't the first time he's had a party when I was at work. It's actually fairly common for me to find the "happy birthday" banner hanging up, adorned with balloons when I come home.

But this time, he had set out appetizers and everything! There were Cokes (I was told they were for the adults) lined up as well as his plastic cups filled with water (for the kids). There was a bowl of wheat thins, a bowl of Chex (chex mix perhaps?), and even triscuits topped with sliced apples and a sprinkling of cinnamon (a resemblance of a frequent party appetizer of mine).

He wouldn't let me take any of it down because he insisted the neighbors would be arriving soon. That's when I found out he had actually convinced the sitter to let him deliver homemade invitations to three of his friends' mailboxes! 

He was disappointed when nobody showed up, but I convinced him that it was probably just too short notice. I probably set myself up for early invitations next time!

The Trinity

Tonight I was clearing the table after dinner.  Catherine was finished eating and was yelling repeatedly, "Help me, Mama! Help me, Mama!" because she wanted down from her highchair.

I said, "Just a minute, Catherine. I'm only one person!"

Daniel piped in and told her, "Catherine, you should ask for God's help."

He then added, "He's three people!"

Time-Out!

The other day Daniel was throwing a fit.  He was throwing a fit because his sister wanted to play with her stuffed kangaroo, but he wanted to play with it too.  I told him that he could either choose to give her the kangaroo back or he could give her one of his stuffed animals.  Reasonable enough, right?  :) 

Apparently not for a five year old.

He was kicking, screaming and, in general, throwing a good-sized tantrum after I gave him his two choices.

That's when Katie got up, pulled out the time-out chair, started pointing at it and saying, "Mama, Mama!  This!  This!"

Even she knew it was time for a time-out.  :) 

My Little Helper

Don't get me wrong. 

I appreciate the fact that Catherine helps me unload the dishwasher.

But this is what the silverware drawer looks like when she's done:

Retro Kate

This was an outfit that I wore as a little girl.  I wish I had a side-by-side comparison, but I don't have a pic of me in the outfit!