that's what he said wednesday :: stainy

*the baby enjoying a few moments with a friend's buzz lightyear action figure.

we have another food-related that's what he said wednesday today. seems the baby is full of them lately!

last night we were having dinner that included beets from our CSA crop share. i warned the boys that they should be careful not to get them on their clothes because they would stain.

after taking forever to eat his dinner and being prompted to eat MANY times, the baby finally broke down and said he couldn't possibly eat his beets because they were "too stainy".

that's what he said wednesday :: headache

lately, the baby hasn't been eating his dinner very good. it's not so much that he's being a picky eater, he's just distracted. he likes to do things like pull sandwiches apart and eat everything in the middle first....really, anything that will take him longer to eat his dinner. often, when being told to stop goofing around and eat his dinner, his favorite response has been: "but i'll get a headache if i eat it."


*enjoying a muffin father's day morning

that's what he said wednesday :: a new pen pal

this week's "that's what he said" is more of a "that's what he's doing." (if you can't live without a "that's what he said wednesday" post, stick with me until the end....i'll add a little something there)

a good paper friend of mine who also has little boys suggested that our oldest boys become pen pals. via our conversations on facebook and e-mail they sure seem like they have a lot in common, so we thought they'd enjoy writing to each other.



the little dude sent out his first letter yesterday. (to protect their identities, parts of the addresses/names have been removed) he sent it off in a big manila envelope full of things that he picked out for his new pal A.



he started off by writing a letter and introducing himself. since he's still so young, i wrote out a majority of the letter for him and just let him add in the major information. he finished it off with a smiley face made from ribbon and yarn. (he currently has a major obsession and you can find smiley faces just about everywhere on his artwork)



then, he picked out some stickers from his collection to send along as well. (unfortunately for little A., they're all halloween stickers.) sorry A.! he also wanted to send A. a paper airplane. i attempted to make one that wasn't up to code, so we had to wait for daddy to get home to make it "better". lastly, he drew a picture of him and A. sitting at tables in their separate homes drawing pictures for each other.

i'm really excited about this and so is the little dude. hopefully this can be the beginning of an ongoing friendship.

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and for those of you who are dying for a typical "that's what he said wednesday post", here's a little something i posted on facebook that got a few good laughs:

the other day, the little dude and the baby were eating lunch together. as they were eating i overheard the little dude explaining the life cycle of a grape to the baby. "see, grapes can do two things. they can either turn into grape jelly, or they can turn into raisins."

that's what he said wednesday :: the planets

we're big fans of they might be giants in this house. their kid's music is so much better than all of the others that make you want to gouge your eyes out with spoons. i love hearing the kids' renditions of their songs. here's the little dude (with his new super-short summer haircut) singing a portion of their how many planets song. (not sure what's up with his pronunciation of uranus....usually he says it right!)

that's what he said wednesday :: where does tuna come from?

last weekend the hubby made a tuna salad for the boys for lunch. since i'm not a fan of tuna and never make it for myself, it was the first time either boy really had tuna.



luckily both boys gobbled it up. after they had eaten it, the hubby asked them where they thought tuna came from.

after a long pause and some gear-turning, the little dude questioned: "from a tunacorn?"

that's what he said wednesday :: dr. protection

as much as i talk about this little man being such a crazy maniac, he can really be the most lovie-dovie little guy. it's not uncommon for him to ask: "mommy, can i be your lover", meaning that he wants to come on the couch with me and cuddle on my lap. if i'm feeling under the weather he'll say: "it's ok mommy, i'm going to feel you better", and he'll come and give me a big hug.

he was never a particularly cuddly baby, but he's going though a phase now to make up for it. (and i'm going to take what i can get!)

the week before i left for the stationery show, the little dude had a really horrible cough that lasted for a good week. at one point the baby turns to me with concern and says:

"mommy, we need to take finley to a dr. to protect his cough."

that's what he said wednesday :: smelly sticks

sometimes kids say stuff that no matter how hard you try you'll never figure out, it will just never happen. yesterday was one of those occasions.

upon bringing the baby downstairs after his nap, we sat and cuddled under a blanket on the couch. he immediately started sniffing the air as if he could smell something he didn't like, and proclaimed: "i smell stinky sticks outside."

that's what he said wednesday :: family portrait

this isn't exactly the most recent drawing from the little dude, but it is one of my favorites. our entire family standing together holding balloons. how perfect! you can see where he was still having a hard time with his "M's" & "W's" in his brother's name. (it should be a W)

that's what he said wednesday :: house pipes

the little dude comes up with drawings sometimes that make my head go "waaah?". this is his drawing of "a house. and these are all the pipes under the ground". how on earth does a 5 year old know, or even understand that there are pipes under our house? (and then care enough to draw it!) just more fuel to add to my pile of evidence which makes me think he'll be some sort of engineer. (just like all 4 of my mom's brothers....guess it runs in the family.)

that's what he said wednesday :: mouse junk

well, here it is. i know many of you have been waiting to see the reveal of the artwork story i shared on twitter and facebook last friday. for those of you who didn't here the story, i'll share it here with you:

every friday the little dude brings home a folder full of worksheets and artwork that he's worked on throughout the week. this past friday was no exception. as i glanced through the packet i came across the usual worksheets and artwork. as i examined one of the worksheets more closely, i noticed something that didn't seem quite right....



i secretly hoped that what i saw was just another piece of food that was lower in the mouse's belly. however, in my heart, i knew what it really was. the fact that it seemed scribbled over made it even more certain for me. i called the little dude in to look at the artwork with me. i started easy by asking what the artwork was about. he showed me all the different food that he had drawn in the mouse's belly....and that was it. i had to step it up and address the obvious. "so, this red piece down here....is that another piece of food?" the little dude looked up at me with a guilty look that confirmed my suspicions and quietly and shyly admitted, "no, that's his junk".

that's what he said wednesday :: mixin'

as told by the hubby:
after the little dude gets dressed this morning, he puts his clenched fists on his hips like a super hero and declares, "i'm wearing a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts! i'm mixin' it up today!"

that's what he said wednesday :: easter

if you've been a reader for awhile, you know that the baby seems to have a little potty mouth. really, it's just one particular phrase he likes to say. once again, he leads us to another that's what he said wednesday.

last week we were at the grocery store picking up ingredients for our easter celebration. somehow i got on the subject of easter with the little dude and how not everyone celebrates it. of course, he asked why. i tried to explain it on a 5 year old level and just said that some people go to different type of churches that celebrate different holidays. somewhere in there i also mentioned that some people don't go to church or celebrate easter at all because they don't believe in god.

at this point the baby quickly pipes up: "like god damn it?"

that's what he said wednesday :: camper

today i'm featuring another piece of the little dude's artwork. he's really into cutting his drawings out of the paper he drew them on. (which kills me, but it's impossible to stop him)



here's a scan of one of his latest. he explained to me that it was a truck pulling a camper. you can see the two seats and the steering wheel in the truck portion as well as the red headlights. when i asked what the pennant-like pattern was on the side of the camper he said that, of course, it was just pretty decoration. i love the details that he always seems to throw into his artwork. he certainly has an eye for details.

i have a bunch of other art that he's done recently that i cannot wait to share! come back next wednesday for more!

that's what he said wednesday :: the beginning of the end

well, it's finally happened. the little dude, the most well behaved child on the planet, brought home a "card" from school yesterday.



"pulling a card" is their discipline system at school. it comes with a huge stigma both at school and in our home. basically, there are several different colored cards, each representing worse behavior. when a child misbehaves he "pulls a card". it's filled out by the teacher and sent home for the parents to sign and return the next day. from the beginning of the school year the little dude would come home and tell us about who had been naughty that day and "pulled a card". we had many discussions about how we didn't want to see any cards brought home.

i was shocked when he got off the bus and immediately told me that he had pulled a card. you could tell that he was nervous about telling me but i was proud that he wasn't trying to hide it. we weren't able to get much out of him about what happened other than what the teacher had written on his card.



it says: "usually finley is an excellent listener, but today he was talking in the hallway after being reminded." in our own admission, not a huge deal. however, being his first card, we wanted to make sure the punishment was something that would deter him from bringing another one home. his punishment was no legos from tusday night until saturday...a pretty big punishment for a 5 year old, but we wanted to make it clear that we weren't happy about the card. at the same time we also wanted him to know that it didn't change how we felt about him and that we loved him very much.

fast forward to today as i was taking the little dude to school. the baby was along in the car and they were having a giggle session over some "poop" talk. this was not something we had a problem with until about 2 or 3 weeks ago. suddenly everything is "poop" this and "poop" that. i had enough and told them in the car that every single time they said the word poop, they were going to move down their winning stick 3 spots. (a pretty big punishment. 3 spots is a LOT.)

we got to school a little early and i was talking to the little dude about yesterday trying to get some more details about what happened. here's our conversation:

me: "so did mrs. w. punish you for pulling a card? like did you have to put your head down on the desk for awhile?"

l.d.: "yes, i had to put my head down and i missed water break, but then she said i could get up"

me: "so did you say you were sorry for not listening and pulling a card?"

l.d.: "no, i just put my head down."

me: "ok, well today when you see mrs. w. i want you to tell her you're sorry for not listening and for pulling a card."

l.d.: "ok."

me: "so were you talking with someone else in the hallway and goofing around?"

l.d.: "yeah, me and "d" were talking."

me: "what were you talking about that was so important?"

l.d.: [whispering] "i don't want to say it out loud because i'll move down my winning stick 3 spots."

that's what he said wednesday :: excited

this piece of artwork is a few months old, but i finally got around to scanning it in. i think it's just the sweetest thing ever. what a super-cute thing to say. just in case you can't tell, the middle features a smily face and a very long and squat heart. 

that's what he said wednesday :: math

this week's that's what he said wednesday kind of blows my mind a little. i've always known that the little dude has a very analytic type brain. he thrives on studying things and figuring out how they work. he pays attention to the littlest of details. this is very evident in his drawings as well. he'll point out things he's added that even i wouldn't have thought to include.

numbers always seemed to come pretty easy to him as well. last night at the dinner table the hubby asked the little dude what 2+2+2 equals. without hesitation he said, "six". we looked at each other in disbelief. how on earth does he know this? he's in 4 year old kindergarten. they're focusing on counting thing, not math. so i thought i'd trick him up and asked, "so, what's 2+2+2+2"? again, without hesitation he answered, "eight". again, the hubby and i looked at him in disbelief. we asked how if he had learned that math in school and he replied, "i don't need to learn math, i just know it."

fast forward a couple hours. the hubby comes down from reading books and says that he talked to the little dude more about his math skills. he asked him what 2+2+2+2+2 was and, of course, he quickly replied "ten". thinking that maybe he was learning to count by 2's in school, the hubby asked the little dude, "are you learning to count by 2's in school? like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10?" the little dude looked at him with a crooked face and said, "i have no idea what you're talking about".

so, we're baffled. how does a newly five year old learn these things without being taught by us, or at school?

that's what he said wednesday :: wheelbarrow

now that the little dude is making some (in my opinion) amazing, funny, and interesting drawings, i'm going to start trying to include them in my "that's what he said" feature.



the little dude drew this for me yesterday. i was completely blown away by his attempt at perspective. the fact that he tried to get the inside and the sides of the wheelbarrow drawn the right way just blows me away. i have a hard time with perspective even after art school!

lately he's been drawing a ton. i have stacks and stacks of drawings to scan in. he's also been really excited about "being an artist just like mommy when i grow up". it makes my insides all mushy and melty with pride.

that's what he said wednesday :: sweetness

even though he's known as the holy-terror in this house, the baby really does have a super-sweet side to him where you just want to eat him up and cuddle him forever.



one of the things he does that's just the sweetest is try to take care of me when i don't feel well. it can be something as simple as being tired, having a headache, or having a bad day. he instantly acknowledges it and says: "mommy, i'll feel you better" and climbs up on my lap to give me a great big hug or he'll bring me his favorite toy. such a little lover.

that's what he said wednesday :: brothers

this week continues to be very busy so i haven't had time to think about a "that's what he said" for this week. instead i'll just leave you with an adorable photo of the two boys during a calm moment when they're not trying to kill each other.

that's what he said wednesday :: sorry

this week's that's what he said wednesday is coming to you in video form!

the baby has taken to using his good looks and charm to win us over when being naughty. this is what we hear whenever he's in trouble:



in case you need a translation, that was: "i'm sorry, you're my best new friend"

unfortunately for us, it's impossible to be mad at him after that.