move back four

Sorry. This is one of Twin B’s favorite games. Yesterday while Llama Papa took the toddler and Twin A to the park, Twin B opted to hang out at home and we settled in for some quality game time. Twin B will be quick to tell you that Sorry is mostly a game of luck, not skill, but still—nobody likes to lose. And about halfway through the game, Twin B. was losing badly.

Just when he would start to pull ahead, get some guys out of start, he would fall behind again. I would get a Sorry card, or trade places with one of his guys, putting him back where he started. And then came the true bad luck—the move back four card. This is a great card to get when you’ve just let your guy out of start, but a real bummer when you’re halfway around the board.

And Twin B. got six in a row.

When he drew the last one, he exclaimed, “Oh, man! Are you kidding me?” And then he flashed his toothless, first grader smile, threw his head back and laughed.

I laughed with him, and we both shook our heads at his rotten luck.

It’s just a game, but I’m glad he can laugh when things aren’t going his way. Sometimes life keeps giving you one Move Back Four card after another, and what else can you do?

Have a good laugh and keep moving.

shopping and toddlers

It’s like pickles and peanut butter—they’re both great, but they just don’t go together very well. Now, usually the toddler is a good sport, and we have a nice time shopping.

Today was not one of those days.

He didn’t take his nap, which happens now and then. (Especially since he needs to nap early, so he’s up in time to walk the noisy boys home from school.) The plan was to have a snack, do homework, and head to the shoe store. (Buy one, get one half off!)

This is usually a fairly simple process. Measure feet. Pick out shoes. Try shoes on. Buy shoes.

Not today.

Today it was, “pull shoes out of the box and try them on without even checking the size because Mom is totally busy chasing our wild maniac toddler brother around the store to keep him from destroying things.”

Yeah. One of those.

I declared defeat after about twenty minutes, and we headed to the van. “We’ll have to come back later, guys. Without your little brother.”

About halfway home it sunk in, and Twin A. said, “You mean all of that was for nothing?”

“Yup,” I confirmed.

“Oh, come on!” He moaned.

I couldn’t agree more. Now on to the dinner hour. Always an adventure!

big mac attack

I saw my first Bulls game on Saturday night. I’m not a huge sports fan (and by huge I mean not at all unless it’s MY kid playing), but it was fun.

We went with friends from Intervaristy. They received a donation of fifty tickets to the game by a generous donor who wanted them to be able to connect with supporters in a unique way, and we enjoyed hanging out and doing something we wouldn’t normally do. ($46 for EACH TICKET? REALLY?)

The crowd was jazzed. (And by jazzed I mean they could have been a little bit quieter so I could talk to the woman sitting beside me without shouting.)

The whole night was fun, until the end. The Bulls won the game 97-79 against the Hornets. Which is great, right? Except we all had these cards in our hands that said if the Bulls won by 100 points, we could exchange our card for a free Big Mac. So as the clock ran out, people started chanting, “Big Macs! Big Macs!” And then this poor guy (who probably makes quite a lot of money) took a shot and MISSED, and as the clock ran out, the crowd booed. Loudly.

And I thought, didn’t their mothers teach them anything?

Is this what America has become? Our team wins and we boo because we don’t get a free Big Mac?

Cantaloupe

The toddler and I went grocery shopping on Monday. He loves cantaloupe, so I was thrilled that they were on sale for only $1.79 each. As soon as I put it in the cart, he started asking, “CANLOPE NOW?

Cantaloupe isn’t really a good “shopping snack,” so I explained that we’d have to eat it at home—after it ripened.

After we got home and unloaded the groceries, he went into full meltdown mode. “CANLOPE NOW! CANLOPE READY NOW!”

But it wasn’t ready. It needed to ripen. I tried to explain that the cantaloupe would be yucky if we ate it now, but he kept insisting, “NO! FINE!”

Toddlers and waiting patiently don’t go together very well.

I can relate. I hate waiting. We’re in a season of waiting right now, and it’s driving me up a wall. And yet God knows what’s best for us. He knows what we need, and He knows when we need it.

(Incidentally, the next morning Llama Papa fed the kids breakfast and sliced into the cantaloupe, much to the toddlers delight. When I walked into the kitchen he smiled and said, “CANLOPE NOW! DADDY SAID YES!” He ate almost the whole thing.)

balance

Anyone know where to find it?

Between three kids, a husband engaged in a job search, writing a novel, and trying to be a halfway decent friend to the people who hang with me in real life, (Hi Dianne! Hi Dana!) I can't seem to keep up with my blog.

I'm still writing, though. I'm working my way through the young adult novel I wrote in November, and joined a critique group to help with the editing process. I officially hate my novel now, but everyone else seems to think it has potential, so I'm sticking with it.

Like everyone else in the Midwest, I'm tired of winter and ready for spring. We're expecting another big snow this weekend, so a few more trips down the sled hill are definitely on the agenda.

And hot chocolate. That's on the agenda too.

elbow envy

This story is just too good not to blog about, but in an effort to thwart any attention from naughty google searches, let’s just rename that special part that only boys have—yes, that one—and call it, oh, an elbow. Hang with me here.

A couple of weeks ago, the toddler was sitting on the potty, and Twin B. was cheering him on. “Look at you! You’re such a big boy, going pee-pee on the potty!”

“Elbow!” The toddler said, pointing at his, um, elbow.

“Yeah, that’s your elbow,” Twin B. said.

“MY elbow.”

“Yes, that’s YOUR elbow. I have an elbow too. And Twin A. has an elbow, and Daddy has an elbow…” his voice trailed off and he whispered, “Mommy doesn’t have an elbow, but we don’t talk about that. It might hurt her feelings.”

Nice try...

"Hey!" I said to the noisy boys this morning, on the way to their basketball game. "I'm going to stop by the library today and see if we can borrow the CARS movie for family fun tonight."

"Awesome!" Twin A. said.

The noisy boys saw the movie in the theater when it came out and loved it, but haven't watched it since, and our toddler has never seen it, but loves the character "Mater." He will go nuts over the actual movie.

"B. will love it, don't you think?" I asked the noisy boys.

"Totally," Twin B. said, "And if they don't have Cars, why don't you pick up Batman instead?"

Right. Because that's a totally even exchange. Cars. (Rated G) Batman. (Rated PG-13)

Nice try, boys!

(Lucky for us, they had Cars. I love our library!!!)