Kids Addressing Adults

I spent some fun time this week doing some girl-shopping (more on that in another post).


One stop included a nifty little dress shop with a fun little bonus: the owner's 3 year old son.  His name was Max (he told me so) but after just spending a little time with him, I get the feeling Max could also go by 'Ring-tailed Tooter'.


Not that Max (or RT, for short) was a bad kid, or anything, but what are you going to do with a 3 year old boy in a dress shop with a bunch of women?


I'll just say this, and move on: although I'm sure his mom had a fantastic stash of toys in the back room, RT had found a bungee cord to play with and it was The. Best. Thing.


RT seemed to take a shining to me (I guess I reek of Little Boy) and at one point asked my name.


I was a bit at a loss for how to answer.  Not that this is usually a difficult question, mind you.  At least, not coming from an adult.  But coming from a child... well... what do you say?


We teach our kids to call non-family adults by Mr. or Miss and their first name.  They see Miss Danielle at the library, and Miss Christy at church, and address their friends' Dad as 'Mr. Bill'.  There are some exceptions: some people,  because of age or formality or other reasons do end up getting called by Mr. or Miss and their last name, and most of the men at church are 'Brother' this or that.


In general, last names all the time seems too formal, and first names only seems too informal, so we go for somewhere in between.


How do you teach your kids to address adults?

Today

Today I made muffins for breakfast.  Not only did I over-bake them, I also left out the salt.  Every bite of those tasteless muffins left me pondering "ye are the salt of the earth."  

Today I put two more quarts of purple hull peas into the freezer.  We ate the rest with our veggie lunch.


Today I picked two more zucchini (though not as big as that last one) and an armload of yellow squash from our garden.


Today I watched my big boys playing with toy cars in the kitchen, and taking care to include their baby brother in the fun.


Today my sister took my boys for their (almost) daily trip to the library and then on to the Dairy Queen for their free ice cream cone for finishing the reading program.  I tagged along.


Today I actually took a quick little nap.  Napping is rare for me, even though I do love sleeping, so I've decided to give it a little try for the summer.  Those late-night baseball games (Texas Rangers) and early mornings don't mix too well.  And Alan is an irresistible cuddler. 


Today I stuck my knuckle in Tyler's mouth and discovered ... he has a tooth!


Today I drank iced coffee and played checkers with Dale on the porch.  I won the first game.  The second game grew to be too long for his attention span and my patience, so we called it a tie.


Today I scooped up my baby and kissed his little head after he took a tumble and bonked it.  I expect to be doing a lot of scooping and kissing in the months ahead.


Today I learned that 'cuddler' and 'bonked' aren't recognized by spell-checker.  I guess I speak my own brand of English.  


What did you do today?

Have you EVER?

I have never!

Time flies....

Would somebody

please

tell

this baby

he is 

only

5 1/2 months old?

Thank you!

Everybody say 'Cheese!'

It isn't very often we gather the family around for a posed picture.

And every time we do, I remember why we don't.  

For one thing, Greg isn't a big fan.  He prefers candids.  But I can see why.  

Mean, ol' me, I made him kindly requested he sit down for a picture with his boys on Father's Day right quick after church and before lunch.

We took four, and, believe it or not, this is the best one:

In addition to Alan hamming it up, Dale's hair sticking out, and Tyler's diaper bulging, you may also notice that Dale's shirt is untucked (I gave up fighting that battle a long time ago), and Tyler looks a little skeert.

But hey!  Greg looks great!  

How often do you try to gather the fam around for a posed shot?  Any tips?

Monkeying Around

Sportin' jungle tattoos courtesy of the first milestone at our Library's summer reading program.


During which we are, ironically, checking out way fewer books at each visit than usual.  


But then, we are visiting every day.  So it all comes out even, right?


Are you reading anything good this summer?  Or maybe you got a new tattoo, hmm?

Bumps & warts

I believe my exact words were, "That is the ugliest thing I have ever seen."


To which he replied, "It looks like it could be a monster on Veggie Tales."

It was even uglier and fatter before it sat in the sun and shriveled for two days. 

Thankfully, most of what we are getting from the garden is much more attractive and edible. 

What do you think?  Can you picture it terrorizing Bumblyburg?  Have you eaten any garden-fresh goodness yet this summer?