Save the crocodile!

Today, on our first official day of summer break... we ran out of things to do.  It was just so hot outside and the big boys insisted that since they have "been so busy" all year, they wanted to do nothing today.  

So while Ben and Mitchell "did nothing" together - which consisted of building a massive castle out of Legos, pushing Ugly Dolls around on the vacuum, and making potions in the sink - Jack kept getting in their way so they banished him.  He was forced to play with me.  

No matter to Jack.  He tromped into the kitchen, pulled out a few utensils, and proceeded to make up a good game of "Save the Crocodile!"  How, you ask, does one play this game?  Well, one person has to be the crocodile (my hand) and Jack has to be both Kevin, who is trying to hurt the crocodile, and at the same time, God, who is trying to save the crocodile.  

At one point, Kevin got in his van and ran over the crocodile.  This necessitated a savior - "Don't worry, crocodile!  God will save you!  He's gonna save you!"

I like this game.  I get to sit (or lay...) on the couch while Jack kills and revives my hand/crocodile over and over again.  The only downside is that he sometimes gets a bit rough in his multiple attempts at killing my hand... I mean, crocodile.

What A Character

Mitchell's character tonight is "The Man Who Helps Out" and this is what he looks like:

He had a broom as well, which he used all over the house, truly living up to his new self-given nickname.

Well, That Settles That!

I normally try to avoid places like Target.  I always end up buying something there that I did not intend to.  I find there are not many things I get at Target that I can't pick up somewhere else, so I simply avoid going and have saved myself quite a bit of money actually.  

But today, Mitchell, Jack, and I needed something to do and I had something to return that had been sitting on my counter for weeks, so we packed up and headed off to the land of overspending.  

Mitchell is a good sport about shopping and running errands.  He puts up with just about anything, even if he isn't particularly enjoying himself.  Today though, he discovered a whole new section of Target that he had previously overlooked - kitchen tools and appliances!  My strange, kitchen tool fixated middle child was just in heaven!  He was carrying around a little stool he found nearby so that he could reach up on the shelves and "try out" just about everything!  He was messing with waffle makers and deep fryers; microwaves and espresso machines; coffee grinders and juicers.  

After the "machines," we wandered over to the "tools" section and found just about everything he could possibly want!  He had his arms full of measuring cups, hand mixers, can openers, chip clips, egg slicers, timers... He was just so excited by it all.  I think this was even more exciting for him than Christmas time in the craft store!

As we had baby Jack with us and also needed to get home to pick up Ben from school, I regretfully had to tear him away from his paradise.  He was sad to put everything back in its place, but was a good sport.  As we were checking out, (and yes, I did more than return something.  I ended up with a new vacuum!  See why I don't go?!) Mitchell turned to me with a huge grin and said, "Hey mom!  I know what I want for my birthday now!  I want all those tools and the popcorn maker!"

Well, that settles that then!  I actually do need a popcorn maker...

Mitchell's Backpack

Mitchell loves his school backpack.  I don't think he cares too much about what it looks like or that he can wear it on his back, but he LOVES having something to put his treasures in and bring them with him wherever he goes.  

Sometimes, he has specific things he is supposed to bring home from school like an announcement from the teacher or a picture he drew.  Sometimes he needs to bring something to school, like two objects that begin with the letter "F," for example. Most days, though, he doesn't really even need a bag, and any other boy might just either leave it home on those days, or at least carry it empty.  Not my boy.  Some days, when he gets home from school and I ask him if he has anything in his bag to show me (expecting a picture or an announcement), his face brightens and he says "Yes!  I have all kinds of stuff in here!"  He then sits down at the table and theatrically pulls one thing after another out, in a seeming never-ending stream of objects!  We are talking Mary Poppins style here!  

He hasn't pulled a lamp out yet like Mary Poppins, but sometimes the stuff coming out of it is quite funny and surprising: toys of all kinds (of course), assorted kitchen utensils, my checkbook, books, empty water bottle, flashlight, vacuum attachments, mittens, scissors, jack's hat, a fossil... you name it!  If it will fit in there, he will sneak it in!

I'll Give You One Guess

Today I opened my kitchen drawer to get my cherry pitter, and it was missing.  Later, I couldn't find my pizza cutter.  My suspicion aroused, I dug around in the drawer to see what else was missing.  In addition to the cherry pitter and pizza cutter, the other missing utensils were a can opener, bbq lighter, scissors, and a bottle opener.  Hmm... I was busy in the kitchen when I made this discovery and didn't really have time to investigate, and I quickly forgot about it.  

I'll give you one guess who was behind the disappearance of my kitchen utensils - I'll bet you don't even need to guess!  

Later in the evening, when I laid down on Mitchell's bed while Matt was tossing the boys around (yes, he was actually throwing them into their bean bag), the bed felt a tad...lumpy.  Mystery solved - I found the missing tools.  Mitchell had brought them all up to his room and buried them in his bed.  Why?  Who knows....  Good to have you back to normal again, my funny little boy!