Mom, I'm going to be the tooth fairy when I grow up...

Lately we've been hearing lots of what Drew's going to be when he grows up - some funny, some appropriate and some, well let's say disappointing! Yesterday when I picked Drew up from school he said, "mom, I'm going to be the tooth fairy when I grow up!" I said, "oh, really, I don't know if you can be the tooth fairy." "OK" he said, "then I want to be Santa Claus." "I said, well I don't know if you can be that either. Remember the movie - I think when the Santa gets tired of being Santa, then he gets to pick his replacement." "Oh!" he says, "Like maybe he could pick one of my friends, like Dennis, or Miles, or me..." I told him he could be anything he puts his mind to, like a doctor, or carpenter, or teacher, or - and he says, "or a hospital guy." "Right, like that." The other day he told me he wanted to be a carpenter. A few days before that is was a chef. A few days before that is was a police officer. But what we hear most (yes here's the disappointing part) - I want to be nothing when I grow up. YIKES! I really don't like to hear that! And what's worse (or maybe not) is lately he's become addicted to playing 3 card poker with me. It started over the holiday break and now he asks me to play everyday. I guess he could be a professional card player - NOT!

When is Barack Obama coming to our house!?

The other day we saw Barack on TV and Drew asked again, "mom, when is Barack Obama coming to our house?" I told him he was really busy and wasn't really going to anyone's house. Then he asked why he was saying things were going to get worse. "What's going to get worse, Mom?" I simplified and told him it was about money. He said, "my money is not going to get worse mom!" Then they flashed to Barack and Nancy Pelosi sitting for a photo op and he yells, "SEE! I told you he was going to people's houses!!" oy!

Happy New Year!

We had a really nice New Year's Eve and are welcoming a day to relax. Ryan came up from his mom's and babysat Drew at JJ's house while we went to Phainam (Noy's family restaurant) for a huge Laotian party. It was quite fun and interesting to see how other cultures celebrate. The Hennessey shots were out in force and I would try to duck away from Noy's sister as she made her approach. When she did get to me, she was nice enough to give me just a sip. We had made the decision to ride with JJ to the party and leave the van home so we got out the yellow pages and started calling cab companies before we left. 8 companies and only one that answered. I guess that should have been an indication of trying to get the cab later. Luckily one of Noy's cousins offered us a ride home and all was good. We were home in bed by 1. That family can party - they'll stay up til 5 without batting an eye. Mike got up around 7 this morning to go meet his boss in Chicago to go to the Winter Classic - Red Wings vs Blackhawks outside at Wrigley. Doesn't that sound awesome? Winter, Outside, Chicago, January - yep, sounds great to me, esp. since I'm in a nice cozy house! JJ & Noy are still in bed and Jada is at her Grandma's house. We are supposed to be going to Chicago for dinner later, but I'm not sure I'll be getting them out of bed. Tomorrow we are heading back home for a few days before getting back in to the bump and grind.

Catching up...

So I'm sitting here listening to The Tonight Show - Jay Leno has Will Smith on and there are so many things wrong with it. First, I hear he's going to be turning 40, which means I'm getting closer to 40 and that's not my reality. It also reminds me of the time I was with my mom and Larry in Dave's Laser Disk shop - if that tells you anything - and I see Will Smith and an unknown Jada Pinket and intentionally run into his arm in the isle. "IT'S WILL SMITH, IT'S WILL SMITH", I say quietly, but crazily as I grab my mom's arms. And my mom pulls out some Will Smith movie and asks me if I've seen it and I pull out some girlie movie and ask her if she's seen it (and he actually turned around to see what I was talking about - and talk about feeling like a heal cuz it was so girlie). And at the time, I'm "like" how'd she get this guy? and I'm with my mom and step-dad - I'm an early 20 something at the time. Granted they seem like they have a great relationship and awesome kids so good luck to them, but dang, it's Will Smith. I digress...
The real reason for my post - Christmas! I want to remember all the things Drew got this year that he's in love with. He got several things "from the list" and a few that were not. His faves - the Nerf Guns with protective glasses and vests, Hulabaloo - which is an awesome game for preschoolers if you're interested, Thomas Bingo - which we need to call Great Grandma Campbell and say thanks to, and Curious George, which he got from both the neighbor and Great Grandma and he loves cuz he can share with friends. He's also thrilled with the digital camera he got from Grandma, but has been to excited in the moment to use. We really haven't been home for any of the other presents, including an awesome Playmobil airplane from Grandma that I really can't wait to play with after putting it's 60+ pieces together! He's also gotten some pretty darn cool pj's from Aunt Janice that are Batman and light up - he wore those over a sweater for most of Christmas and this is the kid who gets HOT most of the time. And Uncle Scott gave him a 6ft air hockey table which I'm still not sure where I'm going to put, but Drew can't wait to put up. It was a pretty darn good Christmas! I'm still waiting for vacation in California, but enjoying the time off in freezing Illinois this week. The low tomorrow (including wind chill) is about negative 10 - not so woohoo!

Next?

Holy moly, it's been a fast few days off. We had Christmas at our house, then went to Aunt Janice's and had an awesome meal and some great fam time, then off to friends for a little party. Friday we went out to Grass Lake to do some snowmobiling with friends - it didn't last long as the temperature kept going up. Saturday was a balmy 62 degrees and all 10+ inches of snow are gone. Today (Monday) we packed up and headed to Illinois. It was a nice sunny day but very windy. I mention this because Drew started getting feverish, but also threw up twice on the way. I'm not sure if he's sick and that's why he threw up, or maybe carsickness, or maybe both. He was pretty lathargic when we got here, but now he seems to be perking up a bit. He's been playing with his 1 yr old cousin Jada and I'm just crossing my fingers that she doesn't get what he's got. We'll be here for several days, and head back on Friday.

Christmas Eve

First thing this morning, Drew wakes up and says "Is Santa's sleigh full?" Yep, it is! And why? Because the list is officially closed and we have already bought all the presents and Santa has made everything he can and has loaded up his sleigh to get ready to roll. This all comes from another request for something to be added to "the list" :) I have to say, I'm so glad I don't have to hear about the list anymore, although I'm sure I still will. This morning Drew and I made 3 pies and 5 loaves of banana bread while Mike went to the store to pick up all the last minute ingredients we didn't have. I love having a shopper husband! He also went out and picked up a tripod for the camcorder. So our goal tonight is to put the presents under the tree, finish up a few presents that haven't been wrapped yet, charge up the batteries for the camera, toys and camcorder and we've decided not to do a nap today so we can get a certain little man to bed early so we aren't up until midnight.
Tomorrow we are heading over to Aunt Janice's for dinner with the family. Hopefully the weather will allow us to leave the house. It's been a crazy winter and we are on day 3! We've gotten lots of snow and last night it started raining.

It's almost here!

Friday was a snow day! Yippee! Perfect day to get all the presents that were hidden in the garage and get them wrapped. I wasn't really sure what all we had gotten, so it was a good time to do some inventory on any last minute items we had to pick up.

Drew did some peeking under the tree and found a package mom had sent for him. I was glad we took all the wrapped presents back out in the garage or he would have been over the top! He must have asked about it 20 times over the weekend. And I told him maybe he could open it on Sunday since it's Hanukkah. He whined, "I don't want to go anywhere, I want to open it here!" Last night I finally let him open it since it was the first day of Hanukkah and came from Grandma & Grandpa. I told him the sun was down and it was officially the beginning on Hanukkah so he could open the blue box. "Oh, awesome, the sun went down!" Not oh, cool it's Hanukkah, of course I'm sure he really doesn't know what that means, so it was just as easy to talk about the sun.