Happy Mothers' Day!

As you can see, James thinks I rock (ha! as if he's the one who bought the shirt...), but I think he's pretty amazing as well. Unfortunately, he spent the day with a fever of 102, so it was a pretty laid back affair, and he's already fast asleep for the night. However, we did have a lovely day complete with cupcakes. Yum!

Many thanks to James's school for teaching him this lovely song which has been melting my heart all week:

Oh, and btw, the photos that were missing from my "bad blogger" post, are repaired.

James the Speller

(This happened back in March.)

We were here at "the new house," and James found the alphabet magnets in some box or bag we were unpacking. He wanted to put his name on the fridge, so I had him tell me the letters he'd need. "J.....A....M....E....S!" He was quite proud.

Then he said, "I want to spell 'funny James'." So I gave him the letters for "funny", one by one.

Then he'd take them down and put them back over and over.

Now he's been able to spell "funny" on command for about a month or so!

Not so much about the kid...

Our first home improvement project took place back in March-- before we moved. The house originally had an electric oven/stove that was actually a double oven which no longer worked. Once it was removed, we were left with quite a bit of bare sheetrock as the formica backsplash didn't carry on behind the double oven.

So, it was off to choose our new backsplash and do some tiling!

We were very happy with how our handywork came out.

Additionally, we had the gas brought up to the kitchen so that we could get a gas oven/stove as a replacement. And I love the one we chose-- it is beautiful and cooks great as well.

We also got new handles for all the cabinets which was an instant improvement!

Bad Blogger

Oops. Another month passed with nary a blog post. My bad. Sorry.

I know it's no excuse, but we moved!

In these first four weeks in the new house, we've had a lot of fun getting settled in with little trouble adjusting. Hoorah!

James has quickly befriended our next-door-neighbor who is a mere six months older than he. The two of them call out to one another as soon as they hear the other come outdoors. It's very funny. This past weekend, each boy was bedecked in his bicycle helmet for most of the daylight hours. Safety first!

It began when neighbor was on his trike (and various other outdoor transport) a few weeks ago. Then Grandpa and Grandma told James to take the trike they've had at their house for him to our new house. So he's been cycling quite a bit.

Then he busted out Daddy's razor scooter (with the handlebars pushed all the way down). I tell you, by Sunday afternoon, he was balancing quite well! We're pretty impressed.

The funny thing is when the boys carry on wearing their helmets even when their feet are firmly on the ground, and they're just pushing around dump trucks and the like.

Of course, it does come in handy when Daddy offers a ride on the wheelbarrow!

Thanks for the deposit, Blitzen.

James LOVES his new back yard. Lately, every time we head to the new house, that's where he wants to go (even today, with a high of 30 degrees).

Last weekend, I spent lots of time out there with him playing funny games like stand-atop-a-boulder-then-run-to-another-one. Well, at some point James says to me, "Look at these things I found, Mommy." I look down, and he's moving some little objects from one spot to another....

"James, put that down! Don't play with that! Yuck! That's poop!" Yep, folks, deer scat. (Understandably, it looked like little marbles to Jamesy.)

James said, "Who pooped in our yard?"

"Some deer."

"Why did the reindeer poop in our yard?"

"I don't know, James. They don't have a potty. Now, let's go inside and wash your hands."

And, every so often this week, James will ask again, "Why did the reindeer poop in our new backyard, Mommy?"

Spring?!

It is snowing right now.

It snowed Monday as well.

However, there are some early bulbs coming up in the yard. Last week, when they were just tiny green sprouts, Dan pointed them out to James.

"Look, James! That's spring!"

A couple of days ago as we were walking up the steps to the deck after school, James noticed one of the bulbs had sprouted much more. "Mommy! Look! Spring is getting taller!" he exclaimed. "I want to go check the others." And back down the stairs he darted to check on the others. "Look, Mommy! This Spring is getting taller, too. And this Spring. All the Springs are getting taller!"

Recent Jamesisms

Dan told me about this exchange this morning:

J: Why isn't Mommy taking me to school?

D: She had to go to work, but it's my pleasure to take you.

J: Why isn't it Mommy's pleasure?

As we were eating sushi for supper:

J: No rolls tonight! No dumplings tonight! Just these!

Some favorite words and phrases of late:

• perhaps
• chuffing
• pump your pistons
• sure
• yes, please
• no, thank you
• lackadaisical (they learned that one at school)
• I'm not feeling very well.
• I'm a baby.

Unfortunately, there's been a lot of whining lately as well. And emphatic declarations of, "I don't want to!"