The Non-Competitive Gaming World

**also posted to Facebook-you can ignore this if you already read it there.

Madeline made up some games: I See A Thing, Moving Circles and Guess What Shape I Pointed To. She started me off with GWSIPT today. Here's the best part. She draws 7 shapes on a paper and points to one behind my back, so I say "how many guesses do I get?" Maddie gleefully shouts "TEN!" And that's how we played it folks-winners all around.

Miscommunication

I took Maddie and Andrew with me to get some Lo Mein at the local Chinese take out. My kids call Lo Mein "Chinese spaghetti." Anyway, we were getting Lo Mein so I wouldn't have to cook and could take the kids to Bingo night at Maddie's school later that evening. We won a Borders gift certificate, 2 Carmel Teacher's Association pens and a picture book. Hurray for us!

So, back to our story. The whole time we have lived here, the take out owner's children tend to be in the restaurant every time we stop by. We don't go there that often, so we don't really know them, but Maddie began to get curious about them. She tried to have a conversation with me about it in the car and it was like the Abbot and Costello "Who's on first" routine, Olsen-style:

Maddie: How old do you think the son is?
Me: Millions of years old.
Maddie: Millions? Mo-om!! He's not like thousands of years old.
Me: I didn't say thousands. The sun is millions of years old, back to the time of dinosaurs.
Maddie: Mo-om!! He can't be that old-then he would have gray hair and a beard.
Me: The sun doesn't have hair-it's a big ball of fire and gas.
Maddie: You're crazy, Mom. The son is a person-what are you talking about?
Me: What are you talking about? The sun in the sky?
Maddie: NOOOO!! The son from the Chinese restaurant-why would I be talking about the sun from the sky?
Me: Oh.

More Mohawk

I Wish I Could Be Young and a Camper Again

Maddie's head counselor sent me a bunch more pictures from camp. Maddie looks like she's having a blast in all of them.

Trash Museum of Hartford

Can you find the kids hidden amongst the trash?
Coolest museum ever!!

Overheard at our house...............

Andrew's favorite new phrase---"Sorry, George"
He says it all the time. I mean, ALL THE TIME!!

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Maddie to Josh and I: Are you supposed to put sunscreen on your private parts?
My response: Do you plan to go outside naked?
Maddie: MO-OM!!
Me: Well, then I guess you don't need it there.

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The set-up: Maddie is having a hard time getting to sleep. She keeps calling out to Josh and I to our perch on the couch in the living room and looking for excuses to get up and join us. Finally, out of desperation and hoping for a teammate in her trouble-making, she starts in on Andrew---

"Is Andrew still awake? Andrew, are you still up?"

To which, Andrew responds with..."Shut up"

Who knew he even knew that phrase? Shame on you, Andrew, but at the same time--Go, Andrew!!

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I was bathing Maddie last night when I spotted a tick on her arm. I pulled her out of the tub to tend to it, which led to an all-out war between the two of us. When she finally let me remove it, turns out it was a dark piece of sock fuzz that had ended up in the tub (I think from Andrew's bath). It really did look like a bug. Maybe I need an eye exam.

Boys and Moms and Worms

This is a post from my facebook page that seemed worth the repeat. Skip if you already read on FB--I didn't change anything.

We're in the parking lot of Andrew's recreation program, when the boy of the hour bends down to pick up a brown ponytail holder someone had lost. Ok, no big deal. Then, he bends down to pick up a dry, shriveled-up brown worm. Ok, bigger deal. So, I start to say, "Andrew, drop the worm...........Andrew, drop the worm......" increasing in tempo and volume with each refrain. I begin to wonder if Andrew can't tell the difference between the elastic and the worm when he brings his arm back and sends the worm flying right onto my head. Have I mentioned before how good his aim is? It. Was. Gross.