"Guess What, Mom?"

When my six year old son asks me that question I usually hear the same two responses.

The first one, and of course my favorite, is:
"Guess what, Mom?"
"What?"
"I love you!"

The second one, not quite my favorite, is:
"Guess what, Mom?"
"What?"
"Chicken Butt"

I have Brandon to thank for that one.

But the other day, when I was asked this question, the answer completely surprised me.  I had just returned to the car from getting a "pick-me-up" latte, and yes, I did leave the boys in the car. I was just parked out front and could see them the whole time I was waiting for my drink.  Nothing seemed amiss until I opened my door.

"Guess what, Mom?" my six year old said.

"What?" I asked, figuring I would hear the chicken butt joke.

"I peed in my cup"

WHAT?! I quickly spun around in my seat to see Micah and Finn smiling at me and nodding while Jack stood in the back holding a cup.

"You did what?" I asked, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"I had to pee so I peed in my cup"

"The one that was full of lemonade from Costco?" In my head I was thinking, the one that already looks like it is full of urine?

"Yes, I had to go to the bathroom so I peed in my cup!"

"Next time, please, unbuckle your booster and come into the store if you have to pee." I explained, trying to stay calm.

"Oh, I didn't think of that" he said.

One one hand I am relieved he found a solution to his problem. On the other hand, I am slightly concerned that it made more sense to pee into his cup of lemonade then to go inside and use the bathroom.

Either way, the car had a faint smell of urine for the next few days and I had this picture to share.

A Knock at the Door

In our neighborhood it is fairly common to hear a knock at the door.  It could be the neighbor kids wanting to walk our obese dog, a neighbor bringing back said obese dog, neighbors bringing over pies (seriously!) or the not as nice door-to-door salesman.  Since our front window is so big, it is rather obvious that we are home. I always open the door (a little) to acknowledge how is knocking. This week I had a rather startling guest at the door.

KCPQ 13 news reporter, Dana Rebik.

I have recently started looking out the dining room window to see who is at the door. When I looked I saw a well dressed woman and a not so well dressed man with a large camera.  Uh-oh, I thought, I am pretty sure I know what this is about.

We have had a very pushy salesman in our neighborhood that is causing some concern among people.  I know this because I had a visit from this man, and I also am a faithful reader of our neighborhood blog.  Sure enough, I opened the door and was asked if I had any information about this salesman and/or an experience with him. I replied in the affirmative and then I was asked if they could ask me some questions.

Sure, I said, as I quickly handed the half eaten cracker w/cheese to my son. I looked up and into a very large camera.  Dana simply asked me to retell the experience I had. I did and then when it was finished they asked to take some "realistic" shots of the boys to prove that I was a mom.  As I led them through my very dirty house, I was thinking, man I wish this had been a hair washing day.

After about 30 minutes they left and I thought no big deal. Until that night when I watched the 5:00 news, and this was the lead story:

Really wished I had put on lipstick before I answered the door.
Also, love the expression on my face when the video freezes. Classy.

video courtesy of KCPQ 13

Returning to the Scene of the Crime

Today I decided to once again attempt a trip to Value Village. If you will remember my last visit to this store caused quite a disturbance and sent me to therapy. Okay, not really, but it still causes nightmares.

Why am I returning? Well, in a moment of insanity my husband and I have decided to drive to California this weekend. In one day. That would be 14 hours of just driving.  I'm already regretting this decision (just the driving part) but the plan is set and now I need some distractions for the kids. I love going to Value Village before trips and getting the .99 bags of toys. New, to the kids, toys and books and we are set for at least 15 minutes of our trip.

Today as I headed into

I only had

It seemed that it would be easier, right? Except that I was slightly hindered by

So, the question is, how bad was this trip?

Not too bad. Really. I did swear to Jack that I would not stop in the clothes section. AT ALL. It was tough but I stuck to my promise. I did grab a stack of books for the boys (and earned 3 free ones), 3 books for myself, 5 bags of odd ball toys, 2 calculators, a box of pencils, and a stash of mini-notepads.

I will call this a successful trip. Aside from having to hand back a purple plastic purse that Finn was in love with. It didn't have a price tag and the cashier was unable to sell it to me. I could come back in the morning when it would be back on the floor with a tag attached. Um, let me think about that, no thanks! Pried it out of Finn's hands, and then ran out of the store before the crying could begin.

Pat on the back for me!