George aka the Boss

The kids are still off school, my house is a mess but George has inspired me to blog about him. He is 5, our third child, our LOUD child. He has a lot of personality...in a good way but at times difficult... Here are a couple stories about him and how he makes me smile:
I had some friends over and George was desperate to watch television. I gave in because I always do just so they will leave me alone. He wanted to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons (its the only thing he's interested in). So I looked at my watch and told him his show would be on in 4 minutes to just watch these commercials until the show came on. He then whispered in my ear..."Does your watch answer all your questions?" I smiled.
Just now he called for me and begged me to come upstairs. I was making (burning) a grilled cheese sandwich so I couldn't run up at that second. I kept talking to him though and tried to get him to explain why I needed to come. He wanted me to look at something that he thought was a bug. He said it was orange with spots (I imagined lady bug)? He said he killed it and it popped. Ewww Gross. I said then its dead and I will come and look in a minute. After lunch was served I ran up with George. He kicked open his door and pointed to the area in which the thing was located. I cautiously walked over and asked him to come and point closer to where it was. In front of me was an old mandarin orange that was so old it was shriveled and it indeed had spots on it. The skin would crackle and pop if stepped on. I asked him if he thought it was a bug. He said yes. I said its an old orange and threw it in the trash. Now you understand how disgusting my house truly is!

peanuts

Here is a difference I've experienced with raising boys instead of being around my zillion sisters growing up...
George taught the twins that their wee wee (we are potty training) is also called peanuts. I haven't corrected him because they all have lisps and it sounds really cute and I don't want to hear the real word over and over again because these twins and George say the word peanuts easily 500 times a day...well starting today at least. Its their favorite new word of the day!
Ow...you hurt my peanuts...
don't sit on my peanuts...
I've got to go wee wee...oh look here's my peanuts
You get the idea...over and over again. I've chuckled all day. Tomorrow I will ask them to stop and maybe correct George. Maybe tomorrow they will have forgotten!

bike

George learned to ride his bike today. We've tried before but he wasn't interested before. He was interested a few days ago but I wasn't. So today James' took the training wheels off (in seconds) and he ran along side George in the backyard. Then we all headed down to the park where the flat surfaces were longer. He caught on quickly and a half an hour later he was an old pro.
I remember the neighbor boy teaching me to ride a bike in his backyard. Apparently none of my older brother or sisters or parents were interested in teaching me. No bitterness...at least I learned how!

As we were walking inside George told me that he taught himself and none of us helped him in the slightest...so I'm writing about it now as proof that I was there and ran beside him a little but James did most of the work!

Addictions?

I've tried to stay away from most things that would make me addicted to them... I never knew what my genetic predispositions would be so I stayed clear of everything! There is one weakness I have had and which I force on my children...The pacifier. I still remember my own mother taking mine away and putting it in a drawer. You couldn't even count how many times I went to look in that drawer (mother...where did it disappear to)?!? So from that day on I became a thumbsucker. (Not anymore silly). So today is the momentous day that I too will take away my twins binkies and say no more.

They don't even seem to mind...no one has even asked where the hundred dee dees are (what is the matter with them?). I hope that they won't be tramatized...they are pretty old though (3.5 years old). My mother in law tied her son's nuki to a helium balloon and he let it go. My friend let her kid buy a bike in exchange for their dummy. With my oldest we tried cutting the tips off of the binkies (she started sucking her thumb). We're just going to go cold turkey!

Have I mentioned that they don't speak very well (from always having the thing in their mouth and their teeth are misshappen (which I find cute). They can't bite down on food from the front because their teeth don't close (the dentist said it would grow together as soon as they stopped using a binkie). What is the matter with me? Old addictions are hard to give up?!!

Do my children have superpowers?

I'm thinking of getting my children tested for super human power in destruction. Granted I haven't been "watching" my children during the summer because I have been engrossed in the twilight series (which I loved) and other books. A mother of eight once told me that children played better together without any adult interfering so I've taken this idea to the max. Anyway about the kids getting tested....they have been on a rampage lately. The twins have ripped a curtain rod out of the wall, Monica and james broke a door handle (not a knob but an L shaped door handle) in half...and it was metal, and they've been wresting with me to try and rip my books away from me and I really have to fight back hard to keep my books from getting hidden. I will keep my eyes open for more super human examples...how long til school starts again???? Oh a month from today!

More pictures from the island Mainau. We went with Elsbeth and met Colin's counsin's family there. It was a gorgeous day!!! lovely gardens and a little exhausting.

Here are some pictures of my kids and the Aeschbachers at the Verkehrs (transportation) museum in Luzern. They had a blast!






These two pictures are of the kids at a city park about an hour away. We always love coming here!


Here are the kids with their second cousins at the Island Mainau in Germany.