Coin folders

Here are some shots of Will and Grandpa looking at one of our new Warman's coin folders, a great holiday gift idea from Krause Publications!

(I can hear you: "Boooo, you're using your blog to promote your company's products! Boooo! You're exploiting your son and your dad! Boooo!" Well, get over it. We need to sell these things to put food on Will's plate.)

Seriously, Will has enjoyed doing things with coins, and as someone whose livelihood depends on the hobby, scenes like this (not staged, of course), make us smile.

Giggles

Not much description needed here, it's just fun to watch Charlie giggle.

Goes down easy

Look at how fast Charlie gets down the stairs. This isn't as fast as he can go.

Burp

Just had a nice moment with Charlie. After reading him several books (a pleasant new development) and feeding him a bottle, I put him on my shoulder and gave him three pats on his back to speed along the burp process.

Then Charlie patted me on the back three times. It was nice.

Practice makes perfect

Yesterday we had a flag football game, and we showed up 15 minutes early. Will and I munched on apples while we watched a handful of kids practice running simple pass routes, it was cool. As I watched Will, he seemed to be very interested in what was going on. Then he saw his friend Devin.

"Hey Devin!" he yelled. "Let's practice!"

If only it had ended there. What Will actually yelled was:

"Hey Devin! Let's practice jumping and bumping chests!"

Yes, this is definitely what Will needs to be practicing. As it turns out, they weren't very good at it, so the practice will help. Then their friend Jayden, who appears to be about a foot shorter than Will, joined in, at which point they began practicing jumping, bumping chests, and falling down.

And we had a game. Rough start for young William, who recorded a run 20 yards the wrong way, then bumped heads with Logan, leaving them both in tears. But he rebounded to have a really nice flag-grab and an equally nice touchdown run in which he allowed the defender to overrun the play to the outside before he cut back inside.

Too perfect

Will is going through a phase right now where he is, shall we say, more exacting than usual. Things need to be just right for this kid, or there's gonna be hell to pay. It's fun to be around. Really.

Take this morning, for instance. After coaxing Will into the shower, he fidgeted with the temperature, trying to get it to his desired warmth. His repeated moans, grunts and sighs indicated he was having trouble finding the range.

After a minute or so, he really voiced his displeasure.

"The water is too perfect!" he complained.

I laughed. Apparently he wasn't joking. "It's not funny!" he admonished.

When I told Jana, she laughed, too. Because it sure beats the alternative.

Jana & Scott plus 3

Will's having his friend Mason sleep over tonight. Scott and I bought pizza, stuff for making cookies and we've got so many activities planned, we're fully expecting to fall asleep at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.

Despite the noise and chaos, I find my spirit gets buoyed exponentially with each additional child that enters are home ... especially when they're not ours.

Maybe it's because they're more likely to entertain themselves. Maybe it's because the noise reminds me of my house growing up. Maybe I just don't like quiet as much as I think I do.

Regardless, we're looking forward to tonight, even if Mason isn't completely sure that he's ready. He informed his mom the other night that she'll have to sleep on our couch.

Hanging with Mr. Cooper

This morning, I brought Charlie into daycare while Will stayed in the van. My friends Sharon and Tom were just bringing in Cooper as I was heading out.



After a quick hello to Cooper and a peek at his stylin' pumpkin sweatshirt, I got back in the van. Will excitedly told me that he'd seen Cooper and that Sharon had even waved to him.

He was so pumped up about it that I told Will he might get to see Cooper and Sharon again on Saturday, when we head to her house for a Thirty-One http://www.thirtyonegifts.com/ party.

"Wow. That's great!" Will said, "I think I'm going to invite Cooper to my party."

"What party?" I asked.



"What do you mean?" he said.

"You said you were going to invite Cooper to your party, are you planning a party?"



"I don't know what you're talking about Mommy. I hope that someday we can baby-sit Cooper."

"Me too. That would be pretty fun. You know, when you were about Cooper's age, Sharon and Tom baby-sat you."

"WHAT? They must have been just KIDS! We're they even old enough to be crossing guards?"

Well, now I know the criteria for baby-sitter approval. Sharon graciously said I could put these pictures of Cooper up with this post...as you can see, he's cute enough to star in his own blog :)

A couple of quick Will quips

Will and I were walking into Target on Sunday when he was explaining to me that he's so "incredibly" thirsty because his body is mostly made of water.

He holds one hand up to his rib cage and points the other at his toes and says, "This much of my body is water ... can you believe it? You wouldn't think that, would you? That's what makes it so fascinating and intriguing."

Then, that night while I was putting up a new shower curtain liner, Will was testing out his new toothbrush ... a Spiderman one that features a blinking timer. When the timer stops, you're done brushing.

Will started out well, bobbing his head and smiling, then he started giving me a look like his arm might fall off while he waited for that brush to stop blinking.

Finally, he gave a decisive spit into that sink and informs me, "We must be in Overtime. I'm done."