Flying Barrel Of Monkeys

This morning we were rushing around trying to get ready to leave the house for a birthday party. MonkeyMan was taking care of MonkeyBoyToo, I was putting the finishing touches on the birthday present, and MonkeyBoy was happily coloring away on a poster he’d received way back at Big Brother class this fall. After a few minutes of silence, MonkeyBoy came running up to me and said “Look at what I drew, Mama!” Thinking he was going to show me his poster, I was surprised when instead he was holding up his pant leg.

This was the first time that he’s ever drawn on himself, and also the first time that he’s ever drawn anything remotely representational of himself. Most of his drawings are just hurried lines of scribbles. In fact, I was just talking to his teachers a week or two ago about how one of my concerns with possibly sending him to private Kindergarten next year was that he doesn’t draw at all like his classmates or the kids in the next class up do. I don’t know whether to be proud of his new skill, or upset that he’s chosen markers and skin as his chosen medium.

We’ve had a busy week of special holiday meals. We started the week breaking in our new vehicle by driving 100 miles to get a Shamrock Shake. These are cups of minty green goodness available at the Golden Arches in the month of March. They aren’t usually sold in Texas, so I haven’t had one in a probably a decade or more. When I discovered they were being sold for the first time “nearby”, we hit the road and headed south. Unfortunately, like most things, they didn’t live up to the memories. As you can see in the picture, they didn’t even bother to mix the green in very well, and MonkeyBoy’s drink appears layered. I didn’t like the addition of the whipped cream and cherry either – I’m a Shamrock Shake purist, I guess. I think this one will definitely tide me over for another ten years.

On Monday (3/14) we celebrated Pi Day with round foods. We had steak grilled on the Big Green Egg, a round loaf of German Rye, and then chocolate chip pie with scoops of ice cream for dessert.

Tonight we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with green foods. We had green pancakes (some in the shape of Yoda). We also dyed our milk green, ate some sausage patties, and had green jello for dessert.

The boys wore their St. Patrick’s Day shirts to school today along with green socks. I’m still working on getting them to both sit still and look at the camera at the same time. It’s a lot harder than it seems!

The day ended with a bedtime reading of The Night Before St. Patrick’s Day. After the story, MonkeyBoy handed his dad a dollar coin and said “Here, Daddy. Take my gold and hide it from the leprechaun so he doesn’t come take it!”

It was Dr. Seuss’s birthday this week and the kids have been celebrating all week at school. Today was “dress up like your favorite Seuss character” day in MonkeyBoy’s class, so I made outfits for both boys. I think they were a big hit!

I was also feeling the need to use my kitchen creativity skills this week, so I asked the teachers if it was okay to bring in a Seuss themed snack. After receiving a resounding “yes!”, I made Cat in the Hat cookies – oreos dipped in white chocolate and topped with a marshmallow that had both ends dipped in melted cherry chips. I bet the kids will be hyper after snack time!

He’s growing quickly….

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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I love it when the city shuts down for a sprinkling of snow. It’s nice to have a fun day to spend with the boys.

The time is flying by too quickly. MonkeyBoyToo is two months old today. He was Mr. CrankyPants most of the day today, but I finally managed to get one shot of him where he wasn’t crying.

It helped that MonkeyBoy came in to see what we were doing. MonkeyBoyToo adores his big brother and the feeling is mutual.