Conferences, Turtle Obsession

We had conferences today with the boys teachers. Kristin got us off to a good start by being about 10-15 minutes late. She is irresponsible and mixed up the times. Luckily, I am very responsible, a much better parent and showed up right on time. Anyway, we are proud to report that we heard only good things about the boys. Believe it or not.

We also heard that Henry's teacher is well aware of his turtle obsession. He is seriously obsessed with turtles. So much so it is necessary to dedicate an entire post to it. He wants a pet turtle so bad. He talks about it constantly. He begs for a pet turtle daily. If the boys are playing pretend whatever, Henry always says he is a baby or grownup turtle. The boys spent a good chunk of a day playing "turtle." No idea what that is. At school, he even told Zoey that he was getting a
pet turtle.


Henry also told me his career was going to be as a Turtle Saver. Apparently, he will make a profession out of traveling the world and saving turtles. Cole declared he will be a Fish Saver. I guess I could think of worse professions.

I probably shouldn't have but we Googled turtles. Henry picked out a Southern Painted Turtle (pictured above). He didn't even back off when I told him they bite.

I would just get him one, but we failed so badly with Cole's goldfish I am doubtful we can handle a turtle. That has to be harder. Although Bella is still alive. I don't know, seems like a bad idea (and sounds like I'm probably going to buy a stupid turtle). Damn it.That also means we'll probably have to get Cole one or let him try another fish.

Valentine's Day 2015!

Certainly not my favorite day, but we did have some family fun over Valentine's Day weekend. Normally, I would not do anything for Kristin (for a variety of reasons), but I had both my mother and the mother-in-law telling me about prices of flowers at the grocery store, so after Cole's swimming lesson I took the boys to Pick 'N Save. Cole picked out some red roses. I know Kristin doesn't like these, but he was pretty excited about them so I let it slide. Then I let the boys each pick one thing for Kristin. Henry picked out some Ginger Snaps. He was positive Krisitn would love them, he even claimed they were her favorite. Then Henry grabbed some jello. Then Cole wanted to get Kristin jello, so I talked them down from two rainbow jello molds to just one jello mold and the Ginger Snaps. We also got some of Kristin's favorite cheeses and crackers (I like these too). And then, to spoil Kristin and to get the grandmas off my back (and because I really wanted popcorn) we stopped at the gourmet popcorn shop and got some sour cream and chive and sea salt and vinegar popcorn. Pretty good. The boys picked out some fruity flavored popcorn. Not great.

On Saturday we also went to a Charlie Brown play. I thought this was being put on by a High School, but turned out it was a Middle School play. One of the weirder activities I've ever participated in. The boys seemed to enjoy it though. Although, throughout the entire show they constantly asked for food. We were pretty excited when it ended because our entire bag of snacks was gone. Henry even busted out an orange during the play. I'm just happy they were not too loud during it.

Below are the weekend pics. We recently bought a camera because our phone pictures suck and, of course, every pic I took over the weekend was with my phone.

Yum! Kristin didn't even have a bite. The kids did enjoy it though.

I think everyone got spoiled. Looks like Christmas up in here. 

God damn that's romantic!!!

Homemade S'mores courtesy of Cole's teacher, Mrs. Peterson. They weren't quite sure how to handle all that gooey marshmallow goodness. 

Family Fun Night

Cole and Henry's school had Family Fun Night on Wednesday. The kids put on a show, there were treats, a disco room, and plenty of activities (play-doh, stickers, painting). Kristin and I always hate these things because we are not very sociable. Kristin's probably better than I am. Cole was definitely excited. On the way into school he was already saying, "This is the best night ever!" This cruel world we live in is going to destroy this poor kid. He is way too nice and sweet.

Anyway, this Family Fun Night was especially bad for me, Kristin was in Cole's room and I was with Henry. While Henry's class was showing all the parents some artwork stuff, I tried to sneak off into Cole's room to see what kind of show his class was putting on. As I walked by, Amy knocked a little cup-thing on the ground. I am usually not too nice to Amy and wasn't going to pick it up for her, but she was holding a baby so I thought I should be nice to her, just this once. Sadly, my ass hit an easel when I bent over and it went down with a crash. Paint, glitter, confetti-looking stuff went everywhere and it was super loud. Pretty embarrassing, but luckily I've done worse. Certainly the last time I help a lady with a baby.

They boys had a lot of fun though. Not sure it was the best night ever, but kids just love to run around and chase each other. Pretty funny. I'm not sure how their teachers manage, but that's their career choice problem. I couldn't deal with all those kids for more than a week.

Henry is definitely one of the wild ones, but one kid seems to be even a notch crazier than Henry. The parents tried to dress him up real nice, but it's not fooling anyone. That kid is crazy.

This is Henry getting up from a dive on the ground. He was the only one to hit the floor. I don't think it was part of the routine.

Looks like Hen's shirt might be too small

He says, "Mom and Dad are special because they make the best dinner, lunch and breakfast." This is not true.

Apparently Cole and Henry missed each other because Henry missed school that day, so they decided to hold hands on the way home. Brotherly love! I'm calling Jer!

Kristin took some phone pics of Cole's class performance, but they all suck. We decided to just post one, especially since they also all look the same.

We don't talk about her much, but Bella is still with us. She is still having anxiety problems and the thunder shirt didn't really help, but she can still get some air.

Not bad for a 9 year old pup. 

Nice little Saturday, Horrible Sunday

Last weekend I spent a good amount of time with the boys while Kristin was sick. On Saturday we had to run a butt load of errands, but then we hit up George Webb's for lunch (the boys ordered breakfast...that's funny to a 3 and 5 year old) and visited Great Grandma Dorothy (whom they actually just call Dorothy). A pretty fun day, except for after our first errand to Home Depot they got on my nerves. Henry wasn't listening, so I went to grab him and accidentally poked him hard in the face. A picture showing the damage is below. I felt bad, but didn't apologize cause he was being a dick. The rest of the errands went well. They even earned a toy at Target and they were awesome at Dorothy's. No more violence.

It was a pretty good poke.

This past weekend was a different story. Kristin and I went out in Chicago on Saturday and drank a little too much. I am so glad I really don't experience hangovers nowadays. Sunday was a terrible day.

Uncle B bought the kids some new jammie pants. They're a tad big. 

Uncle Ben was in town for a very short amount of time but then his flight back to Philly got cancelled so we got an extra night with him, which was cool. But not sure he feels the same way because Henry has pink eye again and Uncle B is a hugger/kisser/snuggler...

Double Double

Be careful entering our home. It is full of germs. Cole woke up one night complaining about his ear, so we figured ear infection. Kristin took him to the doctor and yep, double ear infection for the poor guy. Then Hen came home from school complaining about his ear and eye, so Kristin had to make another trip to the doctor, in the same day, and yep, Hen's got a double ear infection and an eye infection. I am told pink eye, but not the poop related pink eye, which is a relief. Nothing like pink eye to make you a paranoid germophobe. Poor Henry was not feeling well that night and just wanted snuggles before bed. His eye was literally dripping green slime and he was begging for hugs and kisses. Kristin kissed him on the top of his head and he asked her to "put one on my lips please." Pretty heartbreaking to have to deny that sweet request. Thankfully the antibiotics did their job quickly and no one else got the pink eye. The only side effect was Cole's hot pink poop from the Amoxicillin (or from eating too many blueberries?).

Sweet moves, Hen.

Henry is on his second basket of fries here. To be fair he was sharing, but got super mad at me when I used his ketchup and he thought it was running low. Tears and everything. 

If you look closely you can see the very difficult and rarely seen bumper bowling gutter ball. Actually it happened a few times.

If his form does not improve, we will start the steroids soon.

In other news, I love receiving emails or texts from Kristin like the one below. The boys can be pretty funny at times (when they are not being naughty or a pain in the ass).

• Hen just told me he was going to pee. He then called me in and showed me a massive shit he took.  He laughed and said, "I didn't tell you, it was a big surprise for you!"