Of All Places...

I've mentioned before that my children think of the house as their personal laundry basket. In particular, and completely gross to me, is the fact that they leave their undies laying where ever they drop them.

And usually with the skiddy marks up. (They are boys, you know!)

So, imagine what I thought when I went into their equally gross boy-bathroom and saw where Owen left his underwear this time. I'm not sure how they ended up on the door knob but honestly, I'm not sure that I want to know.



But, come on Owen. Of all places to leave your underwear? It must have taken some effort to get them up on the door handle. I bet he yelled "three points" when they landed on the door knob.

And has Shane or Ken not seen them? Am I the only one who noticed them?

Did I mention that they've been on there for at least four or five days now? Apparently they are now being used as door decor. The bad part is that I know that both boys have seen them there because they had to shut the door when they took a shower.

All I can say is boys...sheesh.

Wasted Real Estate

When Ken goes out of town, the boys always sleep with me. It's usually a fight between them. They say my bed is more comfy. Truth be told, they just don't want the other one to have something that they don't.

Shane is okay to sleep with now. He's no longer sleeping on top of my head and he's outgrown the need to sleep horizonal across the bed.

Owen is another story all together. He sleeps just like he does everything else. And if you know him, you know what that means! If you don't know him, he never stops moving. Ever.

And we may as well be sleeping in a twin bed because he has to sleep right beside me. If he just slept still and quietly that would be fine. But instead, he turns into Octopus-man and is all over the place. By "beside me" I mean "right on top of me!"

I can't count how many karate chop kicks I took to the back or how many times he rolled over and sucker punched me in the stomach. I'm not even sure how he managed to do that since he was stuck to me like a siamese twin!

Oh I push him back onto his side of the bed. But it just doesn't matter because he comes right back over to my side of the bed.

Did I mention that I have a king size bed? I may as well have slept in his bed with him because that other side of the bed was just wasted real estate.

When he came downstairs this morning, I asked him how he slept and he said "great!"

Well, at least one of us did. ;)

The Sweet Spot

Owen: Mom, where is the sweet spot on Shane's tennis racket?

ME: In the center of the racket strings. It's always in the center of the racket.

OWEN: Okay.

ME: Where's YOUR sweet spot, Owen? (Thinking that he would answer his heart.)

OWEN: All over. Duh. There's not just "one" spot, Mom! I'm sweet all over!

tee-hee

Maybe He's Not Ready...

Every parent has to decide when they're kids are responsible enough to be left home alone. I checked into it and there's no law on the books that states when a child can be left alone.

Shane's 10 and he's pretty responsible. Well, okay. He's usually just glued to the TV when he's left to his own devices so I'm not too worried about him getting into anything. And he knows not to answer the door...even when we're at home.

But, after this morning, I'm thinking that maybe Shane's not ready for the responsibility of being left alone. Even for a few minutes.

Or maybe just just needs to listen to my instructions. Not just listen to them...but follow them!

So....I dropped Owen off at the eye doctor a few minutes before 8 and called Shane to tell him to get his shoes on because I was on my way home to get him on the bus. (The eye doctor is about 5 minutes away from our house.)

He didn't answer. I called 12 times.

I was panicked by the time I got home. And mad that he wouldn't answer the phone.

When I opened the door, he wasn't there. Neither was his backpack. My anger went straight to panic.

I raced over to my neighbor Emily's to see if he was there.

Her hubby Scott answered the door with Emily right behind him. Nope. He wasn't there.

So then I started really freaking out.

I saw my other neighbor in his yard and yelled to him. He said that he wasn't at his house either.

But then he looked down the street and said that he saw him at the bus stop.

Meh.

Seriously.

15 minutes early.

So I proceeded to apologize to Emily and Scott for bringing them into my freak out moment. With a sidebar of...."guess I won't be needing that second cup of coffee afterall."

I then went up the street and got Shane.

He said that he saw me drive by and waved but I didn't see him.

Which was entirely possible because I was intent on getting home to beat his butt for not answering my phone calls. (Well, not really, but he was going to get a good talking to.)

Got him home (and probably scared the pee out of him because I was so scared) and asked him what in the heck was he doing.

First...he didn't listen to me when I told him that I would be right back to put him on the bus so he didn't know what he was doing.

Then he said that he saw the handicap bus drive by and thought he was late for the bus so he went up to the stop.

But...before he did that...he answered the phone to another neighborhood mom (which is a big no-no!)

And then left for the bus (second big no-no).

But...he said that he "left a note" which I obviously never saw.

I finally saw it later this morning.

It was written on my dry eraser board.

"GOON ALREADY,"

I guess he failed the test and won't be staying home alone again until he's 18.

Ugh. And how was your Monday?

Trying Something New

When Owen asked to sign up for flag football, Shane asked if he could as well. So before he could change his mind, I signed him up...and paid for it....so there was no way that he could back out. I was surprised that he was willing to put himself out there.

And he's really been stretching himself to the limit. Most of these kids have been playing for years. But I'm proud of him for hanging in there and trying. He doesn't seem to get too down on himself. He's just having fun, which is what it's all about.

A few select photos from his football game. :)

Center...his favorite position so far.



Shane decides to try something new...which for him is a BIG deal. And for his reward? Check out the size of the kid that he is responsible for guarding.

I'd truly understand if he never wanted to play again. I thought about asking the kid for his drivers license. :p



His facial expression cracks me up. I'd feel that way too if that kid was coming straight at me!



A little more cautious about getting the flags than most kids.



But yet he pressed on.



And caught himself a flag.



If anyone can figure out how to get him to stop messing with his hands, let me know!



He is very attentive to the coach and is trying to learn everything he can about the game. He told me that he noticed that people's feet were pointed in the same direction as the direction that they ran.



What other kid would think about looking at something like that?

God I love that kid.