Kids Say the Darndest Things

Those who have kids know that sometimes what comes out of their mouths can really be hysterical. I won't bore you with all of the things that Danny says (Liam isn't quite at the stage yet) but I will share a few.

* Danny has an obsession with the saying "what that crazy (insert object here) doing". He says it for quite a few things but my favorite is about the moon. 'What that crazy moon doing, moms?' My favorite is when he told my husband that it was going to supper and sitting at it's own table. (Supper, for those who don't know, used to be Friday Fupper and it happens every Friday without fail with my parents. Mostly at the same restaurant, but not always. The children have really come to enjoy it and I'm excited when I'm not scheduled on a Friday and can join them.)

* This one may be a bit embarrassing but it's from the brain of a three year old who doesn't quite understand embarrassment or shame. (Nor should he.) Recently I finally found a way to potty train Danny, and he's doing pretty well other than nighttime and we're having issues battling number 2. He asked me one day "Danny fart underwear?" I told him of course, everybody farts in their underwear. Well, he proceeded to tell me who farts in their underwear and it was people he saw: me, my husband, our neighbor. Let me tell you, I can't look at my next door neighbor without giggling a little bit. He has since stopped asking, especially since every time he said something I made him say 'excuse me' for farting. But I've been a little bit nervous when I've been around friends without kids for him to ask the question.

* The last one I'll talk about isn't quite as humorous, but just interesting to see the world through the eyes of a then 2 year old. My dad, on the days I work, comes to pick up my children. One day, Danny points at his tires, which have the Toyota emblem on them, and told me 'Rocket Ship, Mommy.' I wasn't really paying attention and just said 'yeah, yeah, whatever.' But he kept saying it. I finally looked at what he was showing me and realized that the upside down Toyota emblem really does look like a rocket ship.

Sibling Rivalry

It's that time of year again - the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are starting! Anything can happen in the second season, which made me wonder, why do people pay so much attention to what the puck pundits predict? What are their picks really worth? I decided to find out by having my kids pick the first round games and match them up against some professional playoff prognosticators.

The boys both chose the winner of each series independently, without coercion from me or other outside influence. For Danny, I merely asked him who he thought would win in each series. Liam took a more visual approach; I showed him a puck with the logo of each team and he selected the one he thought would win. Sounds questionable, at best, right? I'll bet he comes pretty close to these coin flippers from ESPN. I just wish I had enough space in this blog to show all of the analysts' picks. Clearly, Melrose put a lot of thought into it and then just went with all of the favorites. Barnaby chose 3 upsets, which seems more in line with the entropy of anyone-can-beat-anyone playoff hockey.

Here is a quick rundown on the experts:
Danny - Has begun but not mastered potty training; Loves playing hockey on our backyard rink; Boos when the Sabres are scored upon. Favorite Teams: Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks.
Liam - Climbs the stairs on his own; Still lives with his parents; Thinks 'Liam' is his brother's name. Chose the Bruins over Montreal because he likes the letter 'B' in the Bruins' logo better than the 'C' in the Canadiens' logo.
Matt Barnaby - Former NHL player; ESPN analyst; possibly best well-known for brawling with Garth Snow during the 1995-96 season.
Barry Melrose - Former NHL player and coach; ESPN analyst; most recognizable mullet in hockey. Melrose is the only coach to bring Wayne Gretzky to the Stanley Cup Finals and lose.

My guys are definitely easier to look at, let's see if their systems for picking winners are superior as well. (Leave your own picks in the comments!)

This Old House

We're starting to do some remodeling in the kitchen. I wish I had taken some "before" pictures to compare with the end result, but alas, I did not. First, we're painting one of the walls red. (The color is called "barn," but if you're like me and can only name six or eight colors, you would be spot on if you called it red.) I'm hoping to have the painting finished today or tomorrow. After that, I'm going to hang a shelf for our cookbooks. Then we're going to replace the lighting with something a little more modern/safer/brighter and have a little more electrical work done. I'm also going to tile the floor and finally, we're adding a peninsula (it's like an island, but one side is against the wall). When all is said and done, we look forward to having a (mostly) new kitchen. I think Lucy and I would both like to replace the counters, but that's not in the budget this time around. Stay tuned to find out how bad this ends up!

The Icemen Go-eth

Well, it's supposed to be Spring, but it's still not. Every time I think I'm overdue on taking down the backyard rink, it freezes again. We sure had some good times on the rink this Winter. Danny loved playing hockey in the yard, and we even got Lucy out a couple times. There's something comforting and Zen-like about walking out of your back door and onto the rink. Yes, it's on the small side, but we also don't have to share it with three guys racing around, and handful of people who insist on holding hands and skating 4
abreast, and two people making out in the corner. It's ours. The "boards" are only a few inches higher than the ice - enough to keep the puck in play - but we're not out there trying to compete in the hardest shot contest so that suits us just fine. Even so, there are still some impressive displays of skill - Danny can hit the net from the far end of the rink and Lucy has perfected the falling down kick save. Liam has yet to make it out to the rink, due solely to my discretion, but he's just as athletically inclined as his brother and I'm confident that next Winter (or possibly next month the way the weather has been) he'll be holding his own on Laughlin Pond. I can already see quite a few broken windows in my future.