Grocery Shopping

After preschool today it was our plan to head to Wegmans to do some grocery shopping and then go to the train station to have a picnic in the back of the van. In the parking lot the boys know that it's a rule that they have to hold my hand. Jameson tried holding Stellan's hand but there was some sort of sleeve issue. (I really don't know what the issue was.) Anyway, I told Jameson that he needed to hold my hand so we could go into the store. "No!". Oh, so he wanted to fight eh? "You have two choices. You either hold my hand now and we go into the store or else you don't hold my hand and we go home." "No!" Okee dokee. I turned them around and marched to the van. "No Mommy! I'll hold your hand." "Well, you should have made that choice a bit earlier."
I oh so gently placed him in his car seat as he was kicking, screaming and flailing. Poor Stellan was upset at this point as well due to the fact that he got the short end of the stick and had to go home too. We got buckled in and headed for home.
Jameson dramatically exclaimed, "I'm going to die".
"Yes sweetie, one day you will die but most likely not today."
"I will die, right now, today!"
"Well, mommy will be very sad and I'll miss you very much. I really hope you don't die."

So much for theatrics, I don't think that was the response he was hoping for.

Before we even got home (after a quick heart lesson) Jameson was truly repentant and said sorry followed by, "Will you forgive me?". I don't expect this type of incident to happen again in the near future.

It was a great lesson to teach but I still need my groceries. Grrr.

Conversations from the Backseat

JAMESON: "Mommy, when the baby is born can I hold it?"

MOMMY: "Of course you can sweetie."

JAMESON: "I'm so lucky!"

Doesn't that just melt your heart?

Field Trip

We headed to Rutger's University, Cook Campus, for Jameson's first field trip today. The whole theme was based on "The Little Red Hen". We started by looking at wheat and how it is harvested. Unfortunatley the leader was a soft spoken and rather unenthusiastic man. He did show the kids how to use a scythe and other ancient tools of the harvest. One thing he failed to mention was the fact that no one uses those things anymore. Not once did he mention a combine. I reminded Jameson of the combines we saw in the fields when we were last in Harrow. I explained that farmers use combines these days instead of scythes.

The kids then proceeded to blow away the chaff and grind the wheat into flour. We went on a tour of the muesum and saw a bunch of ancient tractors, buggies, sleighs and other random things. Then the demonstration continued while they made fresh butter (we all got to shake the jar of cream) and pancakes (a demo of how to use flour). They made enough pancakes for each child but us parent chaperones just got to smell them. I was starving! What cruel punishment!! Not only did we need to spend two hours listening to a boring old man while watching our four year olds, we had to stand the entire time. I was quite famished.

We ended the looooong day (well, 2 hours) with a puppet show of The Little Red Hen and the kids putting kernels of wheat in a test tube with some cotton so they can watch them grow. On the way home Jameson couldn't resist and opened his test tube. Sure enough, he lost the wheat. I'm assuming it fell somewhere under the car seat never to be found again. At least this gives me a reason not to water the silly thing.

Semantics

I was getting dressed when Jameson came upstairs and asked, "Do you hear that?". I had to strain my ears but I did hear Stellan screaming in the distance.
"Did you lock your brother in the basement?"
"No."
I ran downstairs only to have Jameson complete his sentence.
"...there is no lock on the door."
He just turned off the lights and closed the door, leaving his brother in the dark basement. But in his mind it was OK since he didn't actually "lock" the door.

Salad

For dinner tonight we had a rather delicious (if I must say so myself) roast beef with potatoes, carrots, green beans and salad. I cut up some tomatoes and cucumbers for the boys to dip into the salad dressing. Jameson declared that he wanted a salad too. I had my doubts but James dutifully threw together a quick salad for him too. I was so doubtful that I told Jameson if he ate his entire salad I would take him out for ice cream after dinner. I laughed as I said it because I truly believed that he would never be able to finish it. In the past he would try a leaf of lettuce and practically gag on it before spitting it out on his plate.
I have never seen that kid attack anything, let alone a vegetable, with such gusto. He polished off that salad so quickly it was amazing. All the while he was trying to determine what flavour of ice cream he wanted to eat. Not only did he finish his salad, every last leaf of it, he also polished off his meat and potatoes. I was impressed. He deserved the ice cream.
He ended up choosing vanilla. Kind of boring but he loves it. I chose pumpkin. I sure love fall!

Baby Talk

Lunch time conversations with Jameson....

JAMESON: Mommy, is the baby crying in your baby?

MOMMY: No sweetie.

JAMESON: Will the baby cry when he is born? (Wishful thinking that it's a boy, we don't know.)

MOMMY: Yes, more than you can imagine.

JAMESON: If the baby cries I'll give him a drink; he is probably just thirsty.

MOMMY: Uh, well, that might be one of the reasons. Mommy will take care of feeding the baby though.

JAMESON: Do you think he will want water or milk?

I love the fact that he is so concerned about his little sibling. I also love to get glimpses of how his brain works. Now I just have to remember to keep my eye on Jameson when he is with the baby to make sure no forein food end up in his/her mouth.

Lucky Charms

This morning the boys decided that they wanted daddy to give them breakfast. Okee dokee, no complaints here. :)
Well, I got downstairs expecting to see two bowls of oatmeal, one in front of each boy. I did find oatmeal in front of Jameson but not Stellan. Instead I found a bowl of cereal. Apparently my darling husband thought that Lucky Charms would be an acceptable breakfast. (Let me explain why they are in the house in the first place; I like them for an occasional late night snack. They are not meant for the children. I do not want to introduce them to sugary cerals yet less they lead to a lifelong desire for them as an occasional late night snack.)
Lo and behold my darling Stellan didn't exactly like the marshmallows. (Is he crazy!?!?!) In fact he ended up making a nice colourful pile of marshmallows on the table. Someone must have pushed them around a bit because there was a rainbow streak smothered all over the counter in a colourful trail. A lovely gooey mess. Oh well, at least I don't see a sugar ceral addiction in his future.