The Fair is Coming, The Fair is Coming!

It's that time of year again.  August in Austin means FAIR TIME!  The sight of the ferris wheels lights spinning in the sky, the smell of corn dogs, that taster of cotton candy, ah, I love the fair.  And so do my boys.  We drive past the fair grounds multiple times a day most every day and they often recount stories from fairs past.

In the days leading up to the fair, the sight of tractors and trailers had them very excited.  Heard from the backseat:

"The fair is so close I can almost taste the puke in my mouth!!!!" exclaimed a very excited 9 year old Ray.

That may not be my favorite sensory experience of the fair, but to each their own!

A Hippo in the Bathroom

As the mom of 4 boys, the opportunity to shower in complete peace and quiet is rare.  Very rare.  Like finding a unicorn rare.  Maybe even finding a winged unicorn rare.  This frequently results is some interesting, to say the least, bathroom discussions.

"Toilet paper is for helping your butt to stop pooping, right Mama?" asked Sam as I was finishing my shower yesterday morning.

"Not exactly. You need to finish pooping first and then toilet paper is for cleaning your bottom."

"I did let my butt finish pooping.  It's one big hippo poop.  See him in there?  He's like a Dada hippo poop. Hello Dada Hippo!"

"That's great Sam."

"Now I'm stopping my butt from pooping more," as he continues wiping.

A minute or 2 later, "It didn't work!  I have to go more poopy!" exclaims Sam as he clenches his legs together and has a pained expression on his face.

"Then you should sit down and finish Sam."

"Ahhh!  It was just a baby hippo.  He wanted to be with his Dada."

Three Wishes

This is an essay Ray wrote for school in 3rd grade.

If I had three wishs I woud wish for... a year of good luck for my mom and dad.  Then I wished for a century of peace.  I wished the world would have no hungry people.  I was feeling good.  My mom and dad spill soda a lot.  The world could start war any second.  Also food wouldn't be a promple.

I didn't know I spilled soda enough for it to rank right up there with world peace and hunger!  ;)

Help For Your Head

In the middle of the night, Sam was up with a fever.  Getting up with him was difficult as I don't remember the last time I slept 6 consecutive hours, let alone 8.  4 might be a more realistic estimation.  Our home has been plagued with fever and cough for the better part of 2013.  However, when someone says his stomach hurts, it has a tendency to jumpstart me.  For as much as I love sleep, I dislike cleaning up puke just as much, maybe more!  So I quickly sprang from my bed and steered Sam straight for the bathroom and threw up the seat lid in case he might throw up too.  As I held him, it was obvious he was on fire.  After  a few minutes of nothing, I decided the tummy trouble must just be nausea from fever so I set out for some supplies to help us get a little more rest.

When I returned with Tylenol and an old kitchen pot, Sam's face lit up. "Is that for me to puke in?" Sam enthusiastically inquired.

"Only if you need to," I said.

"Yippee!" Sam grabbed for the pot and hugged it tight with a cheshire type grin.

The Tylenol was not received as gleefully and took some coaxing and it was once again clear how yuck the lil guy felt.  Mid agony, Sam suddenly looked up at me, placed a hand on my shoulder and lovingly said, "Hey Mom, next time you have a headache, I know what you should do."

"What's that Sam?"

"Get some Scalpicin.  It'll get the itch out.  You'll feel better in no time" he replied with knowing eyes and a sweet smile before dropping his head back to my shoulder.

After making up a bed on my floor, I climbed into bed a smile washed over my face and I couldn't help thinking, "Oh my sweet, silly Sammi.  Thank you God for letting me be his mommy."

American

Earlier this winter, the boys' youth wrestling team was invited to be guests of honor at Austin's High School wrestling team's home meet.  The boys were told to hear Austin apparel if they had any or red to show support for the Austin teams when they were brought out for introductions.

Prior to the meet, I was rounding up the boys' shirts but could not locate the one Robby wanted.  After some searching he told me, "That's okay Mom, I'll just wear my George Washington costume."

"Why would you wear your George Washington costume?" I inquired.

"Because he was American too."

SAMisms

"My penis says it doesn't have to pee anymore," says Sam after going out of your way to help him find a public restroom before an accident might occur.

"That doesn't suck, that doesn't suck at all!" declares Sam when told Becky was taking him to McDonald's for lunch.

"I wasn't saying I love you, I was saying I'm Spiderman.  Sheew, I just webbed you," Sam told me after I told him I loved him too when he held up the sign language hand shape for me to see in my rearview mirror.

"You can't pee, just poop right?  Cause you don't have a penis," loudly informed Sam to me while in a crowded public restroom.

How Thii Came To Be

Theodore John, Teddy, Teddy Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt Bridge, Theo.  The youngest of the Wix Six has a lot of names to choose from.  The one we use the most caused us to ponder spelling.

Theo is what Michael and I found ourselves calling the little guy and eventually the boys took hold of it too.  It wasn't long though, and we found our little clan of 1 syllable name men (Ray, Rob and Sam) shortening Theo to just the 1st syllable as well.  Eventually we all dropped the O in The-o.

However, to simply drop the O verbally is one thing, but in print it isn't so simple.  Theo becomes The which is a sight word that I teach my preschoolers to read.  Add another E we thought.  Nope then it looks old English with Thee and while we do love Thee and had the long E going, the Th sound was too harsh.

That's when we had a generational epiphany.  Seeing as Theo with no O rhymes with Wii, our little guys name should be spelt Thii.