Advertising.

Thanks to nasty Hardees and their porn used to sell burgers (remember all of that? The PR chick’s response still floors me), our family has had a “mute the commercials and avert your eyes” rule for advertising, particularly during Cardinal baseball broadcasts.

However, of course, occasionally we forget and commercials slip through. I do love it when one of the boys realizes this, generally when a Cialis commercial airs, and someone yells “earmuffs!” and dives for the remote to mute it:).

Not all advertising is raunchy though, and thanks to a few commercials breaks that have made it into the Diehl living room, Bennett now has a new vacation destination in mind based on the town’s appealing-to-children advertising.

At least twice now he’s mentioned that he really wants to go to Branson.

Yep. Branson.

{He is not appeased by my telling him he’s already been to Branson, back in 2006, and I can prove it with pictures.}

So congrats, Branson Department of Tourism…your ads are working.

A Sad First

I’ve been getting up early a couple of mornings a week to do The Shred (seriously, be amazed. 6 weeks in, and this is still happening.). Last night, however, I fell asleep reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and forgot to set my alarm. Alas, I wasn’t awake early enough to work out before needing to get everyone ready for their day.

I mentioned to Jack Henry that what I might do is get ready to do my workout, take him to school, and then come home and do it.

Immediately, he said, “You mean you’ll like have your headband on and stuff when you take me to school?”

Me: “Well, yes, and my workout clothes.”

JH: “Sooo, everyone at my school will see you like that?”

Me: “Yeah, would that be embarrassing or something?”

JH: “Uh, yeah.”

So that’s it. Really? I’m embarrassing?

i look somewhat like the 4-years-older version of this (this pic is from when i did that 5k training in ’09)

This might sound strange, given that his brothers are 10 and {holy cow, almost} 8, but they’ve NEVER acted embarrassed by me. Ever. Like literally, last week when I was sick with the stomach virus they gave me, and I had to run up to school to pick them up, I wore faded black yoga pants and socks with my moccasins INTO SCHOOL to get them (mind you, I felt like I was dying, so I cared not what I looked like). Neither of them said a word, or looked at me funny, or anything.

I could cry.

But I won’t. I’ll laugh. Because I remember my mom being embarrassing sometimes, too (oh, how I wish I could call her and tell her this happened!). It’s part of life, and I was given a reprieve by his brothers for a good number of years.

Well, I’m off to put on my embarrassing headband.

PS…my awesome reader Jackie, whose memory is much better than mine, remembered that Jack Henry had previously not liked me in a headband…here’s the proof! Thanks, Jackie…you rock, and this made me laugh!!

Fan.

Last night, as Matt and I were falling asleep, with a bit of glee in my voice I reminded him that we didn’t have to get up for anything this morning. The boys had been told to stay in bed until 7, and even when they woke I’d planned to tell them to read or build Legos or something.

Fast-forward to 5:25. Bennett is at my bedside, complaining of a stomach ache. I set him up in a makeshift bed on the floor, and within 30 minutes, he’s throwing up in my bathroom.

It’s now 6:35, and my poor guy’s been sick twice since then, but he’s feeling a little better. He doesn’t feel like sleeping, which I understand, but he needs to stay in my room, isolated from the rest of the house. I offered to turn on the tv for something to do.

Which brings me to why I’m blogging this, and why he’s making me smile this morning despite the awful start: of the shows on the DVR, he immediately chose to watch the still-saved Illini victory over Indiana basketball game from last week. Even though he saw it live when it aired.

I love that kid.

(And I’m praying he’s the only one to get this sickness.)

Out of the Mouths of Babes, Part 27

I know my time with these segments is dwindling to a close, as the boys are getting older* and things they say are less cute/have the potential to be embarrassing, so I’m clinging to this while I’ve still got a few…

1. Jack Henry was eating some snap pretzels for a snack, and came across two that were a weird shape. I commented that something was likely going wrong at the plant that day to make the pretzels look that way, and he got this bewildered look on his face and said, “Wait. What? Pretzels grow on plants?”

2. We’re vacationing in South Carolina this summer, with a stopover in the Great Smoky Mountain Range. When I mentioned to the boys that we might be staying on an island, Bennett immediately responded with, “An island? Ugh. You can die on a island!” With a little explanation that an island can be big or small, and most definitely did NOT look like the sandbars we see in the Mississippi when it’s low, I think he’s cool with it. (and, as it turns out, I finally found a place to stay that will rent to us for less than a full week, and it’s not on an island or oceanfront, but I think it’s going to be amazing anyway!)

3. The other night, Jack Henry and I were in the van together, and had on JoyFM, a local Christian music station. A song we both know and like came on (I wish now that I remembered which song it was!) and he asked, “Is that Jesus’ voice singing that?” It took me a second to realize he wasn’t kidding, so I was able to gather an appropriate response before giggling quietly to myself.

*Just today Jack Henry aged out of Parents as Teachers, a wonderful program we’ve been a part of for 10 years, since Luke was 6 weeks old. Sniffle.

Jack Henry on Tiny Towns

Just an old little story snippet that I never published, and don’t want to forget…

On our way from Effingham to Springfield one day last fall, on a route that our boys have only driven a handful of times, Jack Henry was playing a car bingo game.

He was watching carefully out his window for the items on his list when he blurted out, “Why are we driving in circles?” as we passed through yet another small, fairly-rundown town (if you’ve driven the route, you understand).

We assured him that we weren’t, but he wasn’t convinced.

I think this boy needs to get out of the suburbs/city more often.

A Recap

Event causing the most stress: Luke’s science fair project. And what’s crazy is, he’s doing most of it at school, and it’s a really simple concept, so it shouldn’t be stressful! However, I think just me not having a good grasp of how it’s going combined with his general lack of being organized (but working hard at this) is resulting in him being a bit more snippy and emotional when I ask questions about it. Can’t wait until this is done.

Most potential to be life-changing: I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app. I know several people who have used it with a lot of success, so I’m excited to be getting started with it! In a lot of ways it doesn’t feel like a diet…just tracking what I do so I know where to make changes, if that makes sense. It’s really easy to use, and eye-opening in regards to how few calories I need to be taking in to lose weight.

Thing that goes with My Fitness Pal: 4/5 of our small group is doing the Color Run on April 27th. This will be so fun! (Well, as fun as running will ever be for me. Remember when I did that 5K a few years ago? Yeah. I’m not a runner.)

Sweetest kid comment: I was at a store with Jack Henry, looking at necklaces. I said, “Do you see anything pretty?” and without missing a beat, he said, “Yes” and smiled sheepishly. I asked what it was, and he pointed to me, grinning. Seriously. This kid is smooth.

Number of kid pedometers I pulled out of the hamper, accidentally deposited in there with dirty clothes: 3. Yes, each child did that once this week.

Most fun grown-up evening: Trivia Night to benefit our boys’ baseball league. Oh my goodness, I LOVED IT. I’ve said for so many years that my head is full of useless knowledge, and I’m not saying I was a superstar by any stretch of the imagination, but it was fun when I knew something someone else at the table didn’t know! And, the parents on B’s team, who we sat with, are fun people.

Best change made to the house: the long-awaited light fixture change happened yesterday! I’ll save the new fixture in the playroom for a different post, but here are the other three before and afters:

before

after. my very favorite change!

before. (these are for sale if you’re interested, btw)

after. LOVE! only problem is that we bought bulbs that are burn-your-retinas bright, so we have to get new ones tomorrow to fix that issue.

only an after for here…just changed out a boring builder’s-grade-ish light fixture for something more interesting. this was matt’s choice, and it’s actually an outdoor fixture!

Out of the Mouths of Babes, Part 26

On Tuesdays, Jack Henry attends Lunch Bunch after preschool. He loves it, I love it, everyone’s happy.

Today around 5pm, JH came up to me and out of nowhere said, “I don’t think I want to go to Lunch Bunch anymore. I mean, when I get home, and I have stuff to do, I just really don’t have time to do it all.”

Me, stifling laughter, because please, tell me about your crazy hectic schedule, child: “Well, since you’ve been home you’ve watched a movie, eaten a snack, watched your brother play the wii, helped me start the fire, done some drawing and played with blocks.”

JH: “Yeah, but I also had to get my show and tell ready, and that took up some time.”

We ended with me assuring him that he WILL be returning to Lunch Bunch every week, and a promise from me that I can help him better manage his time when he gets home late.

I love 5-year-olds .

Confused.

As background: people are always saying “Bennett is a Pals” (my maiden name is Pals for those of you who don’t know) because he is practically my clone at age 7.

Today, Jack Henry and I are finishing up shopping for what we need over the next couple of days. As we headed out, I said, “oh, I’ll need cheddar cheese to make Mac and cheese for our Pals Christmas meal.”

Very matter-of-factly, JH said, “So, just you and Bennett will be going to that?”

Me: “Why?”

JH: “Well, you and Bennett are the only Palses in our family.”

Me: stifling laughter, explaining what “Bennett is a Pals” means…

So I Don’t Forget: The Bennett Edition

B this summer at Disney

3 things about Bennett:

1. He still, at 7 1/2, says reNember instead of reMember. And I love it, and though there was a time when I tried to correct it (probably around age 5), I don’t anymore, because my guess is he’ll figure this one out this year. And then I’ll be sad. No one better tell him the right way to say it, or they’ll have to answer to me.

2. He is the craziest Illini superfan of the bunch. Most of the time games start too late on a school night for him stay up for them, so we DVR the part he can’t watch.  In the morning before school, if he’s up early enough, he’ll watch part of it, and then finish it after school, all without finding out who won.

Luke, on the other hand, wants to know who won, but will still watch some parts of the game later.

3. He’s been really funny lately…sometimes, it’s inappropriate or something I don’t want repeated but I can’t help but laugh at in the moment, and then quickly correct. For instance, Matt was studying with him for a quiz about National Landmarks the other day, and of course, our beloved Arch was on the list.

Matt was asking him some questions about it, and then deviated from the study guide to ask, “Does the Arch span the Mississippi? By that I mean, is one leg of the Arch on the Missouri side, and one leg on the Illinois side?”

Bennett gave one of his classic “are you serious?” looks, busted out in a laugh, and said, “No!!”

Matt told him that there are lots of people in the US that have never seen the Arch that believe that.

Bennett’s immediate response through laughter: “Well those people are dumb!”

Which caused me to laugh, and then remind him that we don’t call people dumb.

 

He’s Still Little

I hope you’re not sick of hearing about Jack Henry…he is just providing the most blog fodder, and if you can’t tell, I’ve been in a bit of slump.

But I’m going to turn that around!

So often, I forget that he’s just barely five. I’m sure it’s some combination of the following:
-he’s the youngest, so he acts older at five than the others did at this age
-none of my kids are babies anymore, so gone are all of the diapers and bottles, etc., which also means…
-…all of the boys are pretty self-sufficient. I help with shoe-tying and stuck zippers and the like, but daily they dress themselves, etc.
-Jack Henry is reading and writing like the other boys did at kindergarten or older

Case in point for the last reason in the list: at his school, they aren’t allowed to bring in a food treat for school to celebrate their birthdays (too many allergies). Instead, they all bring in a little trinket to give their friends, like a sheet of stickers, fun pencils, etc. I thought it would totally annoying to get trinkety junk all of the time, but parents have been extremely creative in their little gifts!

This week, JH brought home a little ziploc with a stack of plain yellow post-it notes, one of those push-up pencils, and a big yellow eraser. This gift has provided so much fun for him…he’s never used post-it notes, and it’s clear that he loves them!

See? When he writes out stuff like that, asking me for help spelling the hard words, I forget that he’s a preschooler.

Last night, though, I got a reminder.

Sitting on my lap getting ready to say nighttime prayers, he discovered that his fairly-new little Webkinz stuffed dog had a big hole in its belly. If you’ve seen us anywhere the past few weeks, you’ve seen this dog…Jack Henry absolutely loves him. His eyes filled with tears immediately, even as I was already assuring him I could fix it. *SIDENOTE: over the years, my boys have had lots of Webkinz stuffed animals, and they’re seriously the worst-made piece of junk stuffed animal ever. I’ll bet I’ve fixed every one of them we own.*

Bennett immediately got out of bed and headed for a basket of stuffed animals to show Jack Henry how I’d fixed one of his, and how it turned out just fine, which was so sweet, since Bennett, of late, is not exactly warm and fuzzy towards this brother.

I jokingly said, “Hey, I can be just like Doc McStuffins [new Disney Junior show he loves] and fix him right up for you!” which made his silent tears turn into actual crying. Ugh…this was not going well.

I asked what was wrong, and he hugged Waffle (yes, that’s the tiny stuffed pug’s name, a joke to go along with a Webkinz pug Luke named Pancake years ago) and said, “But I love him. What if you can’t fix him?”

So sweet. That’s a preschooler’s response to a ripped stuffed animal!

He was asleep last night before I could get it fixed, but I went in and tucked Waffle under his arm while he snoozed. He’ll wake soon, and I can’t wait to hear how happy he is to have him back.