Not everyday is a good day.

Generally speaking the last few weeks have been awesome. Great behavior, great manners, great listening and great communication. Well lets just say that came to a screeching halt on Sunday. Started with not such great listening in the morning, followed by the same at Target, followed by tantrums and fits at home. Yes, we are not used to tantrums and fits and you could tell. Anyway, Sunday afternoon was much better. We packed up the camper, Drew helped dad clean up the back yard. Everything was getting better. At dinner, Drew said cheers and we clinked glasses to a great afternoon. Then it started going back down hill. Around pj time, Drew wanted to watch some tv. We were trying to work the pj angle and he was working the tv angle. Mike and I walked out on a whining little boy insistent on not doing what he needed to do but what he wanted to do. So as we are walking away, Drew says, "Why can't you guys just listen when I'm talking to you!!!!!!" Oh boy! So after a brief conversation about listening and frustration, Drew gives dad a big hug and says, "I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry I didn't do a good job listening today." Now how can you be mad at that!

Dad, We got yogurt!!!!

A couple funny things about my little man...as usual, but this time I go from ice cream to politics so watch out!
Mike was in the mood for sundaes the other day so we all went to the store for "supplies". We grabbed a few other things and Drew helped me pick up some vanilla yogurt for smoothies. As dad is scoping out the ice cream selection, Drew comes running down the isle with the yogurt, yelling, "Dad, we got yogurt!!!!!!" I had to laugh, I mean really, what kid gets more excited about yogurt than ice cream? Probably the same kid who asked for grapes, yogurt and chocolate milk for a snack before bed last night. Yes, that's right! Drew had a play date with a buddy last night. They went to the park and ran for over an hour. So when we got him home, he wanted a snack. I asked him if he wanted a chocolate chip cookie bar that we made the other day. Nope, just yogurt and fruit mom! Ahhh, life is good!
Speaking of the play date, Drew was so excited about going (which he told me at least 5 times), he must have been in a giving mood. He decided to offer me his money from the money bank. As we were walking out the door he says, "Mom, you can have my money from the money bank if you want." I ask him what he's talking about and he says, "well you said you have zero money, so if you need my money that's ok!" Ah jeez! I told him we were fine, and he could keep his money right where it was in the bank. Who knows, maybe he knows something I don't with all this economic craziness. Will the FDIC have his money in a few months or will WaMu suck it dry?
And speaking of economic craziness and all it brings - we were eating dinner last night and Drew heard a commercial about Barack Obama, to which he looked at dad and said, "we want Barack Obama to win, right dad?" Again I repeat - ahh, life is good!

Dad, would you just be quiet!

Last night we had to make up bowling we missed from the previous weekend. We figured it wouldn't be too busy so we brought Drew. It was a long day and about 9p.m. as we were driving home. I couldn't tell you what we were talking about but Mike was razzing Drew and Drew blurts out, "Dad, would you just be quiet!" I still laugh about it now. Mike wasn't quite as amused and asked Drew if that was a nice thing to say, to which he replied, "no" and after a quick pause..."dad, you are really mean!" As if that was the better thing to say! LOL...still cracks me up! I really wish I could remember what spawned the conversation, but it was nothing to warrant such irritation by Drew other than we had a busy weekend, no nap and it was 9pm.

First official soccer practice - check

Well we've officially joined the land of sports. The weather cooperated nicely, although the grass was pretty wet from the morning dew. It was pretty funny watching all these kids listening to a couple of guys from Scotland(?) teach them how to play soccer. We went over just a couple skills.
1. dribble the ball with "little touches"
2. grandmom and granddad speed = SLOW
3. mom and dad speed = fast
4. super soccer ball speed = really fast
5. playing soccer is like driving, so drive your soccer ball all over soccer city - use up all the space within the cones and try not to crash into anyone. i.e. - DON'T BUNCH UP GUYS!

There were a few kids I felt sorry for - well more like the parents really. They were screaming and crying about how they didn't want to be there. I think I would have picked up Drew and taken him to the car if that's what I got. He did come up to us a couple times saying he was done, but we just kept telling him he only had a few more minutes and he lasted until the end. Whenever they would huddle in, he was sure to get a good spot sitting right next to the coach. It was a methodical scan every time...hmmmmm, where is the best spot????

It's amazing what can happen in a weekend!

Last weekend Mike & I went up to Torch Lake to a friends cabin. It was, in the truest sense of the meaning, a Northern Michigan cabin...and we loved it. Small two bedroom with a beautiful, old furnace centrally located and a small attached garage filled with bunk beds for the kids. We left Drew with uncle Scott for the weekend - which of course, turned on the mommy guilt. I wrestled with it all weekend, knowing that he was having a great time but still worrying about bedtime and missing mom and dad. We left Thursday after work and came home on Monday. Four nights away...wow!
The weather didn't really cooperate as we were getting the remnants of Hurricane Ike. It was low 60s and rainy. But we made the best of it and had a really nice time. Coming home was a shocker. In those 4 days - A Hurricane hit Texas, the commuter train wreck in CA, the stock market plunging, Wall Street bankruptcies, a tornado in Plymouth and flooding throughout Michigan. I felt like we had been away for a month.
On a good note, Drew seemed to have a great time with Scott. We found remnants of Chuck e Cheese in the garbage and he has asked to "play wrestling" every day since. I'm guessing they must have wrestled a lot. It amazed us both how much Drew seemed to have changed in such a short time. He's speaking even more clear, being very polite and just seems bigger. I'm sure some of it will where off as the days go on, but it was a nice welcome home. After a long, big hug, Drew says, "Mom, we came home and one of the dogs threw up...it was this huge" with his arms out wide. "Then, we found more throw up (pronounced frow up) and it was this huge" with his arms a bit closer together. "And mom, I frew up on Thursday at night time." Poor uncle Scott had a lot of frow up to deal with. Boy, it's good to be home!

Back to old school legos

Last night we ran to Meijer to get a few things and I decided to buy a special toy for Drew since he is staying home with uncle Scott all weekend. So we picked out a new set of Legos. He was very excited and so was I. The only other set we have is a barn set that we haven't pulled out in a while cuz honestly how many times can you make a barn?! When we got home Drew was very excited to open them up and get started. They are still pretty hard to get apart (even for me) but we had fun making a crane, ship and high-low. Mainly, I made them and Drew played with them and we both really enjoyed it. I was glad we could still play with an "old school" toy and the draw of ps3 legos is dwindling.

Weekend Updates

This weekend had nothing scheduled for a change, which was really nice. Of course, it ended up being a fun filled weekend so all is not lost on a great September weekend in Michigan. On Saturday, we met some friends tailgating. The first stop was with friends who had left their kids with grandma. Drew wasn't too phased by it since he knew we were moving on to another group, Aaron's tailgate which is right behind the Produce Station which butts up to the railroad tracks. We stayed for about an hour then left to help a friend pick up some new couches she bought and needed help getting in to her condo. After, we headed home for a quick nap then back to tailgating after the game. This time, Chloe was there. She's 2 1/2 and had fun building houses with Drew out of some scrap wood. When we got home, Mike got the pruning shears out to cut some overgrown trees and bushes. Drew had a blast. Mike would cut them in small pieces so Drew could put them in the compost bin. One tree was a good 15 ft Cigar tree volunteer which looks like a Jack and the Beanstalk tree. After Mike cut it, Drew dragged it over to show me. It was hilarious - the tree size overwhelmed his little bod but it didn't bother him a bit.

On Sunday we did a little shopping at Target. On the way home we remembered we wanted to go to the raspberry farm since it was the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera. When we got there, the farmer asked us how many buckets we wanted. Mike said 2 and a half with a smile. Drew and I were waiting in the car, and Drew says, NO I'm 3 and a 1/2 dad!! In about 45 minutes we picked almost 7 qts of berries - good pickins'! Drew would pick some, eat some, then come over to one of us and ask to see in our bucket. He'd then grab some from ours to put in his and then "brag" about how many he had picked. It was really cute. Mike would say JACKPOT! when he'd find a good bush. Of course that led to Drew running around saying JACKPOT! too. I'm sure that some of the people around us heard because I noticed people getting closer and closer to where we were.

Sunday evening Mike & Drew watched the Bears game. When Drew came in our room (as usual) in the early a.m. he said, Mom, we got a touchdown during the game and... I said Drew, go back to sleep. Down flopped his head and he was out like a light.

Can I go in my bedroom?

Last night we finally put together Drew's new bed in his new bedroom. It was quite exciting and Drew told me several times the room looked really nice. After the bed was done, Drew started taking stuff from his old room and moving it to his new room. I can't believe how much that kid can carry! After a few trips, I started grabbing stuff too and he decided it was easier to help me carry something than to do it alone. We moved just about everything, although it's not really organized. The best part - it doesn't have to be! The closet is awesome for all his toys. Since he doesn't have the need for any hanging space we put just about everything in the closet which left lots of floorspace to play. We also asked him where he was going to sleep. His response - in your bed! So first thing this morning he says, mom, can I go in my room? (Of course because he slept with us last night). We said, SURE...IT'S YOUR ROOM! I think this is going to be a good change and an awesome space to play. Keep your fingers crossed we can get through a whole night in his new bed too!

TGIF!

First Tigers Game

Uncle Scott took Drew to his first Tigers game on Tuesday. He had a great time and told me yesterday, "I went to my first Tigers game, am I so exciting?" When they got home it was pretty late, but he was sure to tell me that he yelled to Magglio but he wouldn't throw him the ball. They didn't make it through the whole game, which didn't surprise me, but Scott did say he did a really good job and enjoyed himself.