Love My Boy!

Before you get rid of that Train Table, Read This.

If you have a little boy, you more than likely have trains.  You may even be fortunate enough to have a train table for him to play on.  Or your little girl may love trains.  Either way, this may be helpful.

My son LOVED anything with wheels.  Cars, Trucks, and Trains always made him light up.  A friend of mine was getting rid of her sons' train table as she felt they had outgrown it.  I bet she's banging her head against the wall right now.  I purchased it as a reasonable price and gave it to our son for his 2nd (or 3rd) Christmas.  He spent hours setting up his new train track and rolling the trains through all the loops.  He eventually moved away from trains and it sat unused in our den.

It later got recycled as a platform (with plywood on top) for a 75 gallon fish tank that Handsome had in his room.  This is what you end up with when the State Fair goldfish dies and you have a husband who doesn't understand what moderation is.

Moving on...

When the Fish tank became boring and too much work, the fish were sold and the tank removed.  Now we had an almost 8 year old with a train table in his room.  I can hear you gasp.  He was quite mortified too.  We had talked about removing it and then I had an even better idea.  It happens every once in a while.

What do little boys (and girls too) transition into after trains, cars and trucks?  You know what I'm talking about.  Those colored blocks that hurt like a son-of-a-gun when stepped on barefoot.  Yep.  Legos.  We have tons and tons of Legos.  How do we contain them all?  What about those super deep drawers that pull out from either side on the train table?

And so it was done.

One of the drawers with random pieces.

This is the scene Handsome is currently working on.  He loves to free-build and set up "attack" scenes.

He will disappear for an hour or more at a time and just add to his creations.  All his Legos are in his room.  He can leave them set up for later or take it down and start over.

Best part?

Can't remember the last time I stepped on a Lego piece.  That'll make you smile if it's ever happened to you.

It Takes a Village... To Make Reindeer Cookies.

Last night I was attempting to come up with some Reindeer cookies for Puddin Pop's class.  I had a plan in my head but the end result was less than expected.  I decided to get some help from my Facebook friends and posted this...

I asked (begged) to be told they looked like Reindeer.  The general consensus was... Bears.  Fozzy Bear to be exact.  I can't say they were totally wrong.  I also got tips and links and all sorts of helpful suggestions...

 I took all that info.  Swished it around in my brain.  Tried cutting the pretzels...FAIL.  I wasn't about to go buy new, larger pretzels either.  I was convinced the supplies I had would do the trick.  I re positioned the face (put more space between eyes and nose) and moved the Antlers to the top so they'd look less like ears and came up with this...

 It's gonna have to do.

Thanks to everyone who helped come up with this.  Had a blast collaborating.  Let's do it again.

Will You Look For Me?

I overheard the kids talking at bedtime.

It melted my heart to hear them.

This is what I heard...

Handsome: On the second day of school, do you ever see kids walking to the white buildings while you're on the playground?

Puddin Pop: Yes.

Handsome: Do you ever see a kid that looks like me?

PP: Yes.

H: Well it is me.  That's where we go for "gifted".

PP: Oh.


H: So will you look for me on the second day of the week?

PP: I'll look for you everyday, 'cuz I don't know what day that is.

The Tooth Fairy Dilemma

Handsome lost another tooth.  He's 8 so we've been through this a bunch.  As we were putting his tooth in a box to put under his pillow he says, "Mom, promise me you won't do the Tooth Fairy's job."  Not wanting to make a promise I couldn't keep I responded with "What makes you think I would do the Tooth Fairy's job?"  He says, "I'm not sure but if you don't do it and I don't get anything then I will know that the Tooth Fairy isn't real."

CRAP.

The issue here is Puddin Pop (or so I thought).  At 5, she has her first wiggly tooth and I would hate for her ideals to be crushed by her brother finding out the truth.  I debated on what to do.

My choices were...

A) Do the Tooth Fairy's job.  I never promised not to, although I'm not sure the conversation would be perceived that way.

B) Don't do the hob but give Handsome the $1 in the morning and promise to keep the money coming for each tooth as long as he didn't spoil it for his sister.

At bed time he realized that the tooth was downstairs.  He ran to get it and tucked it under his pillow.  He was holding the box in his hand under the pillow because "He wanted to make sure he didn't push it to the floor so the TF could find it." (this happens ALL. THE TIME.)  Out of nowhere Puddin Pop says...

"You know it's just Mom that takes the teeth and gives you money."


What?


He says, "Well then where does the Fairy dust come from?"  I sprinkle glitter dust on the pillow and leave a trail across the bed.

She says, "Duh.  Mom has a secret stash of glitter."

Handsome: "I'm not so sure."
PP: "You mean to tell me you believe in fairies?"
Handsome: "Yeah.  So what?"
PP: "Well I don't.  I think it's Mom."
Me: "It's time to stop talking and go to sleep."

The tooth Fairy came, minus the Fairy dust, and no one mentioned another word about it.

How is it the 8 year old wants to believe and the 5 year old refuses to?

She's more and more like me every day.