Spaghetti.

Jess says, “I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed we take a lot of pictures of Lewis at the dinner table. What is it about watching him eat? Or is it how happy he is when we are all sitting together? Hmmm… It might just be the eating. It is SO FUN to watch him grab a huge handful of spaghetti and try to stuff it in his mouth! He’s so focused!

School.

GOTCHA!

When we were kids my sister and I both really wanted the game Hungry Hungry Hippos. Our mom would not get it for us. She denies this fact. The other night Art showed the game to her and told her how to play. She said, “Cool!” and even said, after playing two-handed (!) “I like this game!” She could not understand, or believe, that she wouldn’t let us have it. Probably because she couldnt’ find it at a garage sale, like all our other toys.

Papa’s home.

As soon a I walked into the yard this afternoon i heard, “Papa! Papa!” And then Art started to jump up and down and shake his arms and make loud chirping noises. I did, too. We were both so excited to see eachother.

Art and Jessica.

What I found in the fruit bowl.

Jessica apparently lost track of Lew’s half-eaten bananas…

Art has a new bike

I'm still in Fargo, but I just called and learned that uncle Josh came over today gave art a shiny new bike. Apparently they're in the living room right now all admiring it together. I accidentally broke Art's old bike. Jessica just put Art on the phone and he said, "Papa, Papa, Josh gave me a new bike. Will you not break it?"

How being on assignment in a flood zone is like being a single Stay-at-Home Mom

I'm thinking about some of the similarities between what my day is like while Ben is covering the flooding in Fargo and what Ben's day is like. Well, we are both working 14 hour days. Actually, I'm not sure but I might be working longer days than Ben right now. He's probably working through meals like I am, and though he isn't preparing his meals or cleaning up after them I'm not preparing or cleaning up as often as you would think… We both have to be completely consumed in our work. I'm sure he has to deal with a lot of gross situations in a flood zone. Me too! Try four poops by 8am! I'm sure he's seen a lot of people crying out there. Same here!!! However I just see the same two people crying every time. I bet there are a lot of dirty clothes and homes in Fargo right now. Come take a look at my house! You'll see the same thing. Maybe the similarities stop there. I'm sure Ben doesn't have a little boy playing soccer in his bedroom like I do right now. And I don't think his phone isn't repeatedly taken off the hook by a baby. He probably doesn't hear people calling out, "SNOT!" while he's interviewing in a floodzone and he definitely doesn't have to carry them to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But wouldn't that be funny if he did?

a list of things.

Lately I've been keeping a mental list of Art phrases that run in heavy rotation and without variation. Things he says so often that even he knows it's a little goofy to hear it again.

1. I want Lewis's whole body on my bed.

2. But I don't want to see the moving chair. [A demo at IKEA that has a robot sitting in a chair over and over. Naturally, this phrase only comes up at IKEA, but it comes up many many times while we're there.]

3. Let's go downstairs and have some gummy bears.

4. Mama, I wanna watch a nature show.

5. I wanna go in the basement with you.

Anyone who has been a guest in our home, even for just an hour, has heard #5. Some know that phrase only too well.

Potty talk.

Both kids are all runny-nose, coughing right now, but nothing more serious than that. I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard, "SNOT!" today. Near the end of the day Art was just saying, "I need a tissue!" But I imagine I will wake to the snot call at least once tonight. It was really cute when Art was talking to Ben on the phone tonight one of the first things he said was, "I have a cold, Papa. I had to ask Mama for a tissue and a tissue and a tissue and a tissue! And just now Art called me into his room for some unknown reason, but when I got there he said, "The snot is not coming down! I wonder why I had a snotty nose." I told him, while I took him to the bathroom to pee, that when your body is sick it makes more snot so the bad germs can sail away in the snot. (Something like that, right?) While I was helping him into the dark bathroom he said, "Does pee turn into snot?" "No," I said calmly, as if it was a totally normal question. "Pee is just pee."