"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of!"
Surrounded by my sweet boys (hubby Eric, sons Connor and Ramsey, and our dog, Jango), I thought this a rather befitting name for my crew's blog. To our cherished friends and family, happy viewing! We love you!
To say that Spring was late this year is a complete understatement! Up until a week ago, there was still snow on the ground! So, when the weather had warmed up enough and everyone had a serious case of Cabin Fever, we went outside to play and fish.
Dad had brought home some minnows. Ramsey loves to play with the wiggly little buggers and Riggs is always very curious.
And Ramsey seems to get a little defensive if Riggs gets too close to the fish! Apparently he thinks Riggs is going to eat them.
We didn't have the dock out just yet, so the boys plopped down by the rip rap and threw out their lines.
And apparently had some nice little conversation, while jigging.
Precious moments indeed!
Eric gave Ramsey some good fishing advice.
The next day, they decided to pull out some chairs. And, the day was a little warmer and less breezy.
Ramsey found a tiny little coniferous tree, growing in the rip rap. He loved the little tree and fondly named it "Adorable". Eric and I decided we would have to remove the tree from the rocks, pot it, let it grow a bit, and replant it later. It can be "Ramsey's Tree".
There isn't much that beats just hanging out on a lovely day with Dad, fishing and playing. Good times.
We've got a lot going on right now (getting ready to move Nana Karen into a nice new apartment, general craziness at the lake, busy at work, etc). But, in the midst of everything, we still try to take time to have some fun. Part of that fun is going to the park.
Ramsey and I have been and will be staying in Hecla at Nana Karen's house about three days per week (she has a LOT of stuff and we only have a few months to get everything in order and downsize her things). Career job by day, sorting Nana's stuff by night. And, somewhere in the middle, we take a little time out and go to the park.
Hecla's city park hasn't changed much since I was a child. It doesn't have any of the newer fancy equipment, but it has the basics and Ramsey doesn't complain at all!
He loves the tornado slide.
(Riggsy loves the park too... finding all kinds of "treasures" to carry around.)
And the diggers...
And these little ridey things...
And the merry-go-round! (I have some crazy memories of flying around on this thing as a kid. Whoah!)
And the old-fashioned slides are still lots of fun, though Ramsey claims that one of the two is much faster!
So, getting to the part of about multiple parks in just a few days... Monday was park time by Nana's house. The next day, we visited a little city park about 20 minutes away when we were taking Nana to the doctor (we got to go there a few times, cuz Nana was admitted to the hospital - we went and got her on Saturday, incidentally).
I only got one picture here cuz this child was running around like mad and found some buddies to play with. No time for pictures!
And, then on Thursday, we had to go back home because we needed to buy a utility trailer and I had spotted a sale. While waiting for Daddy, we stopped at one of the beautiful parks where they have lots of phenomenal equipment (and lots of fun kids for Ramsey to befriend).
Again, Ramsey loved the tornado slide. This trip, he also was a super brave kiddo and ventured up the climbing wall, making all the way up by himself (with cautious Momma behind, spotting him).
So that's it. I think that was a new record for us for number of parks visited in a short amount of time. Oye!
I had to grab a couple shots of my two favorite four-year-olds, right before we all headed outside on a teeny-bit chilly day. It was a much-needed venture to play in the yard and on the play set.
Little humans are certainly humorous. We continuously have moments when we bust out loud at the things Ramsey comes up with. Because my hand-written "Ramsey's quote page" on the fridge is full, here are more notable quotes by our littlest dude. The next dose will be posted when the pages are full again!
1/2/18 - Ramsey got out of bed after he had went to bed (after already being up once!) and said he had to go pottie (again). I gave him the sideways I-don't-believe-you look. He exclaims, "I don't want to be miserable. I want to go poop. MOM, just leave me alone for a minute!!"
Yeesh, sorry!
Video: Ramsey's obsession (since he was a toddler), sniffing our perfume and cologne. He also likes to sniff spices!
1/7/18 - It was a Sunday afternoon and Ramsey asked if he could play with his Duplos. I told him to just wait a minute and I would get them. He said, "I want them this weekend!.... THIS WEEKEND, I SAID!!!"
1/7/18 - Ramsey's first pun: Eric was going to take Ramsey outside to play in the snow. Ramsey said, "We're going to have SNOW MUCH FUN!!" Oh, he was so pleased with himself and proud of his play on words. :-)
1/10/18 - I asked Ramsey to pick up his toys. He looked at me and said, "Mom, YOU SUCK!" and then he laughed. (He got this from a Weird Al song about school pride.) I informed him that it wasn't nice to tell people they "suck". Eric explained to Ramsey that the song was a parody and a joke and that it was actually mean to say that. Ramsey said, "Awwww, Mom, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I said 'you suck!'"
1/12/18 - It was evening and I was getting Ramsey ready for his shower. Ramsey said, "Mom, I don't want to smell like pee. I want to smell like a human!"
1/13/18 - Ramsey: "Knock knock." Eric: "Who's there?" Ramsey: "Captain Panaca." Eric: "Captain Panaca who?" Ramsey: "I'm a black man!!!"
(Uh, Captain Panaca is an African American Star Wars character.)
1/19/18 - At bedtime, Ramsey and I were talking about feelings. Ramsey said that his favorite feeling was "happy". I sad that mine was love... and happiness too, but that they were a bit alike. Ramsey then said, "You have a happy heart. And, I have a happy heart. My happy heart loves your mole!" He paused and then looked at me and said, "You have a very interesting mole!"
(He has an obsession with the mole on my neck... has since he was an infant.)
2/4/18 - Ramsey was sitting on Eric's lap and he felt his face. He said, "Dad, you need to shave, you're like a spicy pickle!"
A few weeks prior to that, he and I had been talking about "prickly" as an adjective, uh, referring to my prickly legs. (Shameful! ha!)
2/8/18 - I was gone to the annual meeting for the company I work for and was out of town. Eric let Ramsey fall asleep in our bed, then took him to his own room after he fell asleep. In the morning, Eric heard him over the monitor, exclaiming, "Hey, where the HECK AM I?!?!?"
2/9/18 - Eric was doing some chores. Ramsey asked him what he was doing and Eric told him that he was doing laundry. Ramsey replied to him, "Dad, you are such a good man!" I agree!!!!
2/12/18 - Ramsey asked if he and I were married. I told him, "No, Daddy and I are married." He yelled, "NO!" Then, he planted a kiss on my lips and said "Now WE are married!!"
2/27/18 - I was preparing some [frozen] peas for myself for supper. While adding seasoning to my veggies, Ramsey said, "Hey, eat! Show me what a big woman you are!"
3/14/18 - Out of the blue, Ramsey asks me, "Hey, can I have some money please.... to buy anything?"
Uh... no.
3/15/18 - Ramsey was pretending to choke and Eric and I were getting angry. Ramsey said, "I didn't die. I'm still alive! But I wish I had my donut!!!"
4/6/18 - A sweet moment: Ramsey wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big bear hug. He said, "A hug IS love." Then, he gave me a big kiss. "A kiss is love too. I love you Mommy!" Then, he gave Eric hugs and kisses and loves too. Aww!!
4/14/18 - Ramsey and I were laying in his little race car bed saying our nightly prayers. When we were thanking God for all of the wonderful things he gives us, Ramsey said "Thank you for tow truck builders. Tow truck builders are the best! And, police offers are the best! I wish I had a job!!"
Video: Ramsey saying some of his bedtime prayers.
4/16/18 - Me: "Ramsey, you have a zit on your butt." Ramsey: "I have a pimple on my butt. My butt pimple turns pink when I love you!"
4/18/18 - Ramsey is a strange child and doesn't like sprinkles! We were talking about sprinkles and I asked him why he didn't like them. He replied, "because I am on a 'kid diet', Mom!!" Well duh, Kara.
Video: Ramsey head-banging and light saber fighting to "Eye of the Tiger".
Not our best shot of his dance. Watch (or fast-forward) to the end. His one-liner is kind of funny for a 4-year-old.
Another 9" of snow on Sunday... ugh! Most of the day, it snowed so much, we couldn't see the trees across the lake. This picture was just taken today, after a big melt.
And, supposedly we are to expect another 5-6" this weekend, thereby pushing back our fun plans to leave town. Argh!
Momma Nature, please stop. It's April 9th, but feels like January 75th.
Our Easter plans had changed this year, from going up North to see family to pretty much just staying home and chilling out. The weather had been bad and had left behind snow-packed and icy roads.
Sidenote: we had to wait a few days to see Connor (at his Mom's house for the holiday.... and the Easter Monday holiday, plus Tuesday snow day).
Oddly, Easter and April Fool's Day landed on the same day this year. Neither Eric nor I had ever remembered this happening. We had notions of pulling Easter egg pranks, but it just seemed a little sacrilegious, so we just stuck with Easter. :-)
On Sunday, Ramsey woke up at his usual time (aka EARLY) and, before we even got his hair combed, started finding hidden eggs that the Easter Bunny had left for him.
He looked high and low for quite some time. And he finally came up with 36 eggs.
How apropos that Riggs was following closely behind him, with his Easter Bunny. Dad made a funny (yet oh-so-cruel) joke. You can imagine. *wink*
Then Ramsey got his Easter Basket surprise.
We had a quick errand to run in the afternoon, so we took a jaunt to town, but smiled for the Easter Cam before we left.
Ramsey wouldn't be Ramsey without getting a goofball picture in too. "Hey, these are my new glasses," he said.
Because Easter is more than about a bunny hopping around, delivering baskets and leaving behind candy-filled eggs, we had discussed the true meaning of Easter to Ramsey. We read him Easter books and taught him that Christ died on Good Friday and then rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, washing away sin. Easter is about life's renewal. God bless our family and friends!
If you live in our crazy household, it's no surprise that Ramsey... hates... haircuts. "Hate" would even be a mild term, truthfully. He didn't do half bad when he was younger. The clippers... it must be [the noise of] the clippers. ??? Plus, he has a fear of being cut by scissors (who doesn't?).
There was a time where I had to do all of the haircuts myself (with Connor's help, of course to hold him and try to distract him). We couldn't take him to Auntie Shana's salon because he'd scream and cry so hard - a clear disruption to the other clients. (It seems the older he got, the worse his phobia became.)
Last week, we bit the bullet and just did it. And, he surprised us all by being an amazingly brave little boy. Admittedly, pep talks for a week and an endless supply of suckers really helped. And, we nixed the clippers for now.
We took his Kindle along (as a safety blanket), even though he didn't play it (just held it tight).
There were a few times where Ramsey said, "I'm done!", but we pushed on. After the third "I'm done", Shana decided to hang it up so this haircut could remain a pleasant experience.
Was it the perfect haircut? No, but it was a MASSIVE improvement to his previous shagginess. And, we celebrated the progress and are hopeful that the next one (which will be sooner than later) will be even more successful.
Shana had promised her Godson a surprise treat if he was a big boy during the haircut. She had saved him a special sprinkled Easter donut from the best bakery in the area. Yum!
And, Mommy and Nana each bought him a new light saber (Kanan's and Luke Skywalker's). Cuz... he needed two more light sabers ya know (to go with the other half dozen he already has). :-)
