Television

Zoey: "Mom, was there t.v. when grandpa was a kid"

Me: "Yep."

Zoey: "Grandpa said they didn't have a t.v. when he was a kid."

Me: "Well, t.v.s were pretty new then and not everybody had them like nowadays. Also, grandpa's family was pretty poor so they got a t.v. much later than lots of people."

Zoey: "Is that why he watches SO MUCH t.v. now?"

It's good to have options

I love that my children have wishlists that are very long. Why not? Why do so many limit to just 10 things or less? Options are good! Mine star their very favorite items. The other fabulous thing about my children is that they are so grateful for whatever they get regardless of what it is, how big it is, how expensive it is, etc.
Below are their most recent wishlists, unedited.

HARRISON
Chocolate
Wii, Playstation 2, computer, or gamecube games
Fiction Books (Adventure)
*Nice Winter coat
Reading light
PJs
Baseball mitt
Baseball
A scooter
Baseball mitt
Hat (cap)
A psp
Xbox
New Shoes
Mad Libs
Big House (toy house)
A Movie
lego set.
Goal! Dvd
Camp Rock DVD
Shaolin Soccer DVD
Elvis #1 hits
Order of the phoenix DVD
*Button up shirts
Mario Party 8
clone trooper voice changer helmet $29.96
Iron man DVD $19.96
*Nerf Vulcan EBR-25 $35.00
*Nerf longshot CS-6 29.97
Nerf Maverick $8.88
Havoc helicopter $25.00
Havos stinger $25.00
*Flyteck Bladstar 34.97

ZOEY
Mad libs
*Dove chocolate
a pet fish
Barbie house
Bing bag chair.
Hanna christmas doll
Barbie the dimand castle movie
Barbie christmas carol movie
puppy club doll
fur real frind Biscut
cup cake maker
Bolt wii game
*D-rex
I-dog dance
*Bike
apples to appls
roodof the red nosed raindeer DVD
the grinch dvd
Dora Holiday doll
light up pjs
step 2 kitchen
*Kota
littlet pet shop vips
miely sires CD
camp rock
wii puppy luv
jewelry
epets
christmas strawberry shortcake DVDs
hat - cool cap
shirt - camp rock, hannah montana, jonas brothers, pretty
pants - black, butterfly designs, cool
books
calendar

Hound Dog

So, while other kids chose Brigham Young, Orville Wright, and other such important, yet boring, people to do their 3 month project on, my son, ever the entertainer chose, Elvis.

Politics

Harrison voted at school the other day. He voted for McCain! How have I failed him as a mother? Seriously, though...when I asked him why he voted for McCain he told me because in their Jr. Scholastic he only had time to read the John McCain article and not the Barack Obama article. He then decided he should vote for the one he'd read about.

I'm getting him some reading material right now...

On another note, I had a hard lesson this week in racism in my community. My daughter came home and shared the comments that some of the older girls at school were making about Obama. Comments that these girls had overheard their parents saying. Comments that saddened me, that in the year 2008 people continue to say harmful things about someone for nothing other than the color of their skin.
It lead to quite a discussion between Zoey and myself.

H-E-L-L

Harrison was telling me that some of his friends refer to hell as the common, "h", "e", "double hockey sticks". However, he just says that "warm, geographical location beneath the earth".

My 8 yr. old stalker

My daughter is in love with a fellow second grader. I'll keep his name private but if you look at anything in her room that can be written on or in you'll see his name. Anyway, so she talks about him all the time. Last year her teacher pointed out that all of her creative writing centered around him in some way. Over the summer she counted down the days until she could see him again. He's not, thankfully, in her class this year. However, I went on a field trip with the second grade to Antelope (stinkin') Island and finally saw this boy. He's cute. I noticed that she would just watch him, stare at him really. She also maneuvers herself to be in his line, to sit behind him, etc.
So, I had a talk with her about it being okay to have a crush and all but could she please stop obsessing over him? Would she please stop stalking him?

This was the conversation at dinner between Harrison & Zoey:
"I wore [this boy]'s jacket today."

To be this famous...

Harrison and I were in the car the other day and a song was playing on the radio sung by Reba McEntire. He asked who was singing and I told him. He then told me how this "red haired lady" had her own tv show too. I responded, "Yep, it's called Reba."
His response was, "Someday I'm going to be so famous I'll only need one name like Reba, Madonna, Beyonce, Elvis, Chewbacca..."

I seriously love this child!

Soccer superstar

So, my son is amazing. For those of you who don't know, my son is a soccer superstar. He's not just your average American kid playing soccer. He means it. A soccer scout was a his school today and invited him to try out for one of their state competition teams. He was at the tryouts for five minutes when they confirmed they wanted him. Woo hoo!
He is so excited because he has been really discouraged with AYSO.

I have been discouraged with AYSO too. However, I did like their price better! :o)

So I get to create a few hundred dollars and a copy of his birth certificate. Totally worth it to see how excited he is. He even told me he would do extra chores to contribute to the cost. How stinkin' cute is he?

Zoey's 8th birthday party

Zoey's birthday isn't until Monday but we had her birthday party(ies) today. She's a bit of a Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus buff so we were invaded by little girls and the colors pink, purple and teal for the day.

Grandpa made sure to give her "The Claw" every chance he got since his deadline (to stop giving it) is her eighth birthday (on Monday). Keep in mind however that the deadline has been pushed back the last 3 years in a row.

She had a bit of a rough day, woke up with a cold sore, got stung by a yellow jacket, and four of her friends didn't show up. She gave us plenty of opportunities to see those dimples though and her crazy giggle was heard often.

I go back and forth from not believing my baby girl is already 8 and thinking that she's 8 going on 13!

Stuffy nose

Harrison has had some sinus congestion this past week. A few days ago he came to me and asked if I knew where the tweezers were. I told him no and asked him what he needed them for. I assumed it was to get one of the damn little cactus-like slivers out of his foot or something. No, no.

"I figured out why my nose is so stuffy. [turns head up and points to nostril] Look at all this hair in my nose!"

At first I thought he was just being his usual comedic self. No. He was serious. I've never thought about it before but I guess it makes sense. 3 months old - find your thumb. 1 year old - find your belly button. 10 years old - find your nose hairs.

I think I've talked him out of plucking them. Though, I'm sure he'll only need to take out one to see my wisdom.

Poker Dealers

The other day Zoey and I were having a conversation about $9 that she owes me and the fact that she hadn't done the job yet that the $9 was for. About that time my dad walks in and I, being the smart ass I am (wonder where Harrison gets it) say....you don't want to be like Grandpa do you. To which she responds in all seriousness, "No! I don't want to be a poker dealer when I grow up."
Though my dad and I totally wanted to bust up we know she gets pissed because she sees it as us making fun of her, so we coughed and spluttered. I love my daughter. I love my dad.

Yale

This is an important part of the story. We know someone named Yale. He is a young man in our circle of friends and Great Life Foundation family.
Harrison has been clear for a few years now that he is going to Harvard, Stamford or MIT. His Grandpa insists on his going to Yale because then he'll be near family there in Connecticut. So a couple of weeks ago he is telling me yet again that he will be going to Harvard, Stamford or MIT (remember folks, he's 10). I respond with, "You know, it's always one of those three. Have you ever considered Yale?"
"Ummm...Mom, yeah...I'm not sure if you're aware of this but I'm kinda into girls."

It took me a couple seconds and then I started cracking up. The whole time he was just looking at me with that wry expression he gets when he knows he's being a smart ass and he's waiting for my reaction.

Santa & Jesus

Harrison asked me once, "Are Santa and Jesus brothers? Because Santa sees everything we do and Jesus knows everything we do and they both watch and know to be sure we're being good. So I think maybe they are brothers."