The Great Pumpkin

I cannot believe we are celebrating our 5th Halloween with Andrew. Gone are the days when we actually had a say in his choice of costume. Last year I had to trick him into wearing a pirate costume. He actually cried when he figured out he couldn't be Spiderman for every single Halloween.

So long Charlie Brown. Hello Transformers.

We still have the pumpkins. At least until begging and bribery have lost their persuasion.

That's when the blackmail kicks in...

Finnardsleyton Birthday/Reunion Cupcake Tower

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Denise!!! You did an amazing job helping me get these bad boys out for Jan's, Steve's and Mary's Birthday. We had such a great time at the Reunion and can't wait for the next one. I will be posting more pictures soon of the highlights of our trip...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Easter!

Baby sister

Andrew: "I want you to buy me a baby sister."
Todd: "We can't buy you a baby sister!"
Andrew: "Well then I want you sell a baby sister."

Just to be clear there is no baby sister in the works either naturally or on the black market anywhere. We are still our little Bardsley unit of three. Perhaps another pet will be added to our family but I can't guarantee it will be a girl especially because out of the three dogs and four cats I have ever owned, not one has ever been a girl. I think I was destined to be surrounded by boys.

Cover your ears

Warning:
Contains language not suitable for young children or even some adults.

So a not so sweet and fuzzy conversation occurred between Andrew and myself yesterday afternoon. He was explaining that he was a "bad guy" on the playground today and that he had a "bad guy name":

Me: "What kind of bad guy name did you give yourself today kiddo?"
Andrew: "F%@&er!" (rhymes with Stuck Her)
Me: (Pausing for a looong time to determine the best reaction for this awful word) Andrew, we need to talk about this word. Do you think it good word to use?
Andrew: "No"
Me: "Why did you choose this word? Did you hear mommy and daddy use this word?"
Andrew: "Yes. I thought you were teaching me to use the word because you said it."
Umm... Not good Jennifer, not good at all.
Okay so clearly the conversation went on for awhile after this but ultimately we decided that a really good bad guy name would be "Stinker" and that Mommy & Andrew made terrible choices that will warrant soap in the mouth in the future. I am fully expecting a call from the school at any time now.

Lucky

Andrew was in a very good mood yesterday and sometimes those are hard to come by. On the way home from school he was given a lollipop from our bank. He studied it, licked and smiled and began a conversation with me:
Andrew: "Mom, are you very lucky a lot?"
Me: "Andrew...I am so very lucky everyday because I have you."
Andrew: "So then that makes me very very lucky because I have you Mommy!"
Later he was kind enough to include Daddy and Mommy and to top it all off, before he fell asleep last night, he stared at me lovingly and smiled and then kissed each cheek, each eyelid, my chin and then my nose.
Back to reality this morning when he threw a bag of graham crackers on the truck floor and yelled "You clean it up!" Obviously that didn't go over well with me but will all of his buttering up yesterday it could have gone worse for him today. How is it that he is already old enough to learn this art form that I perfected in my teenage years?

Space Cowboys

I am too lazy to write captions or blog about these pictures. I just thought they were really cute. Andrew said he was Super Awesome Cool when he got all dressed up. We agree.

Bacon Mints

I finally got a care package out to Brad this week and I thought it would be fun to share the contents of his package. We got him the essentials really. Like a ton of Beef Jerky from a little "choppin block" about 30 miles north of us that has the best jerky ever, cookies, deoderant and Bacon Mints. You heard (read) right. Bacon Mints.

A few other treasures include:

Bacon & Cheese flavored crickets in case the chow hall's food is just really bad one day.

Gummy Army guys so he can take a bite out of the competition. Okay that was stupid.

Pop Rocks because I always wanted to know what happens when you eat pop rocks and drink soda. I am just too scared to try it myself. Brad seems adventurous.

Four leaf clover stone for good luck.

Fortune fish for fun or maybe to give him heads up about the bad guys.

A stretchy ball hat in hopes that we will get some goofy pictures out of that deal.

Glasses for him and his friends that make stars appear on lights or fire.

A plush donkey because his heart is lonely since his "donkey friend" seems to have left him.

Finally a compass so he will find his way home. Quickly.

What's up now Martha Stewart?

Four dozen cupcakes for the kiddo's 4th birthday party.

It took me about 4 hours to get the marzipan just right and another 4 hours to bake, ice and decorate.

It took the kids exactly 1 1/2 minutes to inhale them and ask for more.

Thanks to Once Upon a Cupcake in Orange County, CA for the ideas.

I probably would have bought them directly but I don't think they would have made it safely to Texas.

Pay it Forward (I love that movie)

Pay it Forward... kind of
Originally posted by Donna...
The first 5 people to respond to this post will receive something made by me to you. My choice. Made especially for you. Of course there are some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done sometime this year.
4. You have no clue what it will be... it may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake something and mail it to you. who knows? not you, that's for sure.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch is that you must re post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on their blog.The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!! Oh and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!!

For Brad

Just ask him about it his valentine in Iraq. He might deny it but I have all the gossip. :-)

Why you should be nice to your wife who blogs...

No caption necessary

Conversations with Andrew

Jennifer: What are you staring at Andrew?

Andrew: I am staring at you Mommy.

Jennifer: Why?

Andrew: Because you are beautiful!

Jennifer: (Holding back tears of joy) Oh that is very sweet. Thank you.

Andrew: I am just teasing! I am looking to see if you farted.
For the record. I did not. I am guessing Todd was dusting the room before he left for work.



Andrew: What did Martin Luther King do?

Jennifer: Well... He had a dream.

Andrew: What did he dream about?

Jennifer: He dreamed that his children would not be judged by the color of their skin. He dreamed that America and all of the people that live here could play together, work together and live together and forget about what they look like.

Andrew: Was he nice? Did he dream that he was a hero?

Jennifer: He was very nice. He worked very hard to achieve peace for all of us so I guess that makes him a hero.

Andrew: Like Spiderman?

Jennifer: Um yes, kind of like Spiderman. Only he used his words not his hands to fight crime.

Andrew: What do we do on Martin Luther King Day?

Jennifer: Well we remember him and what he stands for. We can also do things to help our community or neighborhood.

Andrew: How long does he have to stand?

Jennifer: He stands for Peace so probably a long time.



Andrew: Obama is our president.

Jennifer: Yes he is.

Andrew: Will he come to my birthday party?

Jennifer: He is probably very busy cleaning up a big mess, but we can send him an invitation.

Andrew: Mommy, I like Obama. He stands for Peace.

Yes he does darling. Yes he does.