R-E-D Spells Red

Brooks takes the prize this week for family funnies.  First of all, he stuffed a bead up his nose.  Ben and I, who are highly trained in the use of tweezers, used our redneck tweezer method to remove it from his nose.  As all good country folk, we did first consider the use of duct tape.  Thankfully the bead was so big it did not make it very far up his nose.  Due to the placement of the tread hole, when we tried to get him to blow it out, snot just came out the bead hole.  Lovely.  He of course thought it was really cool.

But the trophy goes to R-E-D spells Red.  Brooks was so proud of the new song her learned at school.  R-E-D spells Red, R-E-D spells Red, I can spell Red, Firetrucks are Red….  After singing the song Ben asked him how do you spell Red?  Brooks:  I don’t know.  So they sang the song again.  Ben enunciated the RED spells Red part.  Ben:  How do you spell Red?  Brooks:  I don’t know.  So it continued for a few more reps before Brooks finally caught on after Ben explained it to him.  I am not sure if he gets it though because in the morning he could sing the song but could not spell red.  Yeap.  He is our very own WonderKid.

Family Funnies of the Week

Olivia and Lauren were standing over the remains of a dead animal at PHS looking rather somber.  When asked if they were saying a prayer for it to go to heaven Olivia states, “no it is ugly”.

Olivia was so excited she was in the church skit this weekend.  She did not have any speaking parts.  She asked, “what is it called when you don’t speak and act”?  I told her she was miming.  Olivia vehemently states, “I was not trying to get out of a box mom”.

Lauren was riding her scooter down a large hill at break neck speeds singing, “I believe I can  fly, I got shot by the FBI, all I wanted was a chicken wing from Burger King, my Mom hit me with a frying pan”.

On Sunday Brooks was talking to Ben about going back to school on Monday.  Ben said, “you don’t have school on Monday”.  Brooks said, “You’re killin’ me daddy.”

 

Goodbye Duct Tape…Hello Camo Band-Aids

Yesterday my kids were playing with the hose outside.  When I peeked out the door to check on them, there was a box of Band-Aids and TONS of Band-Aid wrappers on the ground.  No kids in site.  This is not good I thought to myself.  After further investigation, I see the 3 of them sitting around the hose.  I ask, “Who is hurt?”  Olivia says, “no one.”  I ask, “well what are all the Band-Aids for?”  Olivia very proudly states, “there was a leak in the hose so we fixed it.”  Believe it or not, the camo Band-Aids worked and are still on the hose this morning.  I am so proud of their ingenuity.

There are MILLIONS of cars!

Piper the Pup manned our trusty Garmin on day 2 of our trip.  The two of them proceeded to take us on a 30 mile detour in Ohio through corn fields.  After passing only 1 vehicle on our country tour, we came to rest at an intersection.  Upon seeing approximately 6 other cars my oldest Olivia exclaims, “there are MILLIONS of cars!”  

I must say I too breathed a sigh of relief.  Until that point, I was sure we were soon to find ourselves on a midwestern version of Deliverance.

Just who is Piper the Pup?

Piper the Pup is an adorable puppy that is another way for the American Red Cross to provide comfort and hope to children affected by disasters. 

Check out this YouTube video to learn more about Piper and his recent deployment in Texas.

Garden Gnomes + Family + Friends = Piper the Pup

Garden gnomes.  That is how this adventure started.

What respectable parent would not automatically think of garden gnomes when creating a family vacation tradition right?  Then I took it one step futher…what about a trinket from a cause that is important to us?  I scanned my office at the Red Cross and found a ceramic Red Cross dog given to me by a volunteer…no to fragile.  Definitely not a good idea unless I want to put to use the new Red Cross FA app.

2 hours later my middle daughter, Lauren, is BEGGING to play with another Red Cross dog.  His name is Piper the Pup.   TaaDaa!  That is how our journey begins with Piper the Pup who is our family vacation mascot and torture material for my children when they are teenagers.

Innaugural trip:  Michigan.  Leaving:  June 28th