Webelos

S had his Cub Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet. That's the big celebration where the boys get all their badges and pins. They have a meal and some entertainment. This year, it was the FrogMan. He's a hoot, we've seen him a few times. At the end, the boys and any other kids/adults there were allowed to hold the snakes he brought. S jumped right up and grabbed one. I, however, watched and took pictures from a safe distance. Me + snakes = not a good match. S had no such compunctions though:

Course, he also threatened to come over and drape the snake on me. I politely refused. At least, that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

S also received 3 pins that night, physical fitness, citizenship and art.  But, most importantly, he is now a full-fledged Webelo Scout (that's the final stage of cub scouts before becoming a boy scout).  Webelo stands for "We'll be Loyal Scouts."

It was really hard to get a good photo as things were moving along quickly, but here is S checking out his new pins and ribbons.
We're proud of our little Webelo!!

Snack Attack

C came in from playing outside, hung up her coat and bopped into the den. She asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink. "Real food or play food?" I asked.
"Play" she said.
 "OK, I'll have chocolate cake and ice cream."
"Oh, I'm so sorry, we're all out of chocolate cake."
"Really?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes, but we have strawberry cake, would you like a piece of that?" C asked, standing as if she was taking my order at a restaurant.
"Sure" I answered.

"And, what flavor ice cream would you like? We have vanilla or strawberry" C said.
"Oh, vanilla please" I answered.

She hopped out of the room and returned a few seconds later with pink plastic cake, a plastic scoop of vanilla ice cream and a pink cup of pretend ice water.

After I 'finished' my cake, she came back to clear off the dishes.
"Did you enjoy your cake and the ice cream? I hope so because it was the last piece we had" she said.
I told her I enjoyed it very much. She skipped away and went off to play.

Truly, it was the best snack I've had all week.

My Royal Family

We went for a nighttime walk tonight. The weather was beautiful, the moon was out, the snow was a-melting. As we were coming home, C started this conversation:
C: Look! Maggie is walking and leading us, just like a Princess!
S: Yep, she's a princess all right.
C: Princess Maggie and I'm a princess too.
S: Oh boy, here we go.
C: I'm Princess of Nice and Maggie, she's the Princess.... Princess of.... um.....
S:Pooches?
C: Yeah, Princess of Pooches. And Mama is the Queen. She's always the Queen. She's the Queen of Mamas.
[At this point, I was thinking that I've taught my youngest well!]
C: And Daddy is the king, of course. King of all the boys.
S: Well, what am I then, if you're the princess, Mama the Queen and Daddy is the King?
C: Oh, that's easy. You're the Joker.

Valentine Hair

"Mama, I want to have fancy hair tomorrow. For Valentine's Day.'
"Fancy hair? Do you mean your hair pulled up and styled?"
"No, FANCY hair. You know, Valentine's hair, with curls and stuff."
"Oh, curly hair! OK, Valentine's hair it is for you."
So off we went to put in the curlers.

 Here she is, in all her Valentine hair glory:

And of course, her Valentine fashion accessories.



Hot Date with Bucky

It's Valentine's Day.
A time for hearts, romance, snuggles with my favorite people (Hubster & the kids, in case you were wondering).
And, maybe, at a special time, after the kiddos are asleep,  I'll , well, with the Hubster, ahem, you know............ (are you blushing, cause I am!)
Alas, not to be this year. Hubster is on a two week trip.
But, oh, I'll be seeing some action all right.
I have a hot date with my guy, Bucky.
What's that, you say?  A hot date? Who is NOT the Hubster?
Are you shocked, interested, disgusted?
Wanna see my hot Valentine's date?

Here he is, in all his glory.

Handsome looking dude, isn't he?
Meet Bucky the Mammogram, my hot Valentine date. (No, really, the lab tech had heated up the squishin' plates so they were nice and toasty. You can see the plaid heating pad on the machine. Thank you ma'am!)
His name was listed on the machine, Bucky. (Hmm, wonder if in MN they have ones named Gopher).
As a reality of the fab 40s, I must finally go in and get my baseline mammosquish done.
So, I'll go get the gals lifted, squashed and prodded, but I won't get any dinner out of it.
Or flowers.
Or romantic gestures.
Oh well. Happy Valentine's Day to me.
Hope yours is a little more fun!

Hot Chocolate Volcano

I was upstairs, folding and putting away laundry, picking up, etc. S came bounding up the stairs.
"Mama, can we have hot chocolate? I can make it in the microwave, you won't even need to come down."
I thought for a moment. I had shown him numerous times how to use the microwave, he's made the last couple batches pretty much on his own, I think he's ready. Besides, then I can keep on cleaning and not stop.
"OK, go ahead but don't make the hot cocoa too hot."
"I won't, I promise Mama" he replied.
So, I finished what I was doing and started vacuuming. Next thing I know, S comes flying into the room.
"Come quick! We had an accident"
"Is C hurt?" I quickly ask, all the while thinking "I knew I should have said no, I should have made it myself or just made them wait until I was done."
"No, but we had, well, rather a hot chocolate explosion, It looks like a hot chocolate volcano went off!!" S said, "Come quick!!"
There are few things that could have made me move faster. I flew downstairs and this is what awaited me....

Pure misery.
Apparently, C had picked up her hot chocolate and spilled a little on the floor. She put the cup down, she & S wiped it up but didn't dry the floor. When C picked the cup back up, both feet went out from under and the hot chocolate? Well, that went pretty much everywhere.  I took one look at her miserable little face and like any sane mom, said "Oh honey, stay there. I have to get the camera."
Luckily, the hot chocolate was barely luke warm. Her glasses were totally covered (but I didn't get the camera out in time for that pic!). Even her underwear were soaked. There was about 1 tbsp of liquid left in her cup. The rest was on her, the floor, the cupboards, the dog bowls, the counter, the refrigerator and the door.  And probably a few other places that I haven't found it.
Poor thing!

C got cleaned up and yes, she got another cup of hot cocoa. I made this one and carried it to the table for her.
She said hot chocolate tasted much better in the cup.

Are You Serious?!

Yesterday afternoon, my doorbell rang. I went to answer and saw 2 cute girls outside. They were about 13 or so. One was holding a box of candy bars and said "Would you like to buy a candy bar? I'm selling them to help pay for my Washington DC trip in the Spring."  The girls were just too cute.
"Just a minute, I'll be right back" I said.
I went into the house and grabbed a dollar. Went back to the door and asked the girl "Which candy bar is your favorite?"
She looked and debated and then said "Snickers. Snickers are definitely my favorite."
I handed her the dollar and said "Now, here's the deal. Here's my dollar but you can have the Snickers bar."
Her mouth dropped open and she said "Really?? Are you serious??"
"Yep" I replied (apparently seeing her delight made me especially verbose, not!)
"Lucky!" her friend said.
The first girl was beaming. "Thanks! Thanks! Just thanks!!"
"Enjoy your candy and good luck with your sales" I told her.
The girls literally skipped down the sidewalk.
Now, as much fun as it was to surprise this girl, I really did this for myself. You see, S was just selling candy bars for Boy Scouts. He sold about half a box and the rest just sat here. Calling my name, smelling delicious. Saying "Annnnnneeee, come eat me. You know you want to. You can do it. Besides, you'll be supporting the Boy Scouts, it's a good cause. You deserve it. You had a good day (or bad day depending). I am sooo luscious, full of chocolatey goodness." It was really tough to resist.
So when the Boy Scout leader asked if anyone had any candy left because people at her office were begging for some, I gladly (well, mostly gladly) handed the half box over to her.
So, when the girls came to the door, I knew I could not have another temptation sitting in this house. I knew I would be buying a bar but really did not want it in the house.
A small victory, but I'll take it.
Best decision I've made this week.