Takin' a boat to China

So, last night Kevin and I wanted to take Finny to Chuck E. Cheese as a nice surprise. I decided that I wanted to make it a complete surprise and not tell him until we actually got there.

But, as we were getting ready, I thought I'd give him some hints and sort of talk it up. So I say, "So, do you want to go out Finny? Maybe get something to eat?"

And he says, "Yeah!"

So I say, "Okay, that sounds good. Where do you want to go?"

And he says, "China!"

I was a little confused. We'd never really tried to teach him the countries yet. Maybe he learned about China in school?

"I think China is a little too far. Anyplace else you'd like to go?"

"I want to go to China!"

So Kevin gets out a map and shows Finny where China is. "We live here," he said. "And China is waaaaay over here, across the ocean."

"We're gunna drive there!" Finny says.

"No," Kevin says. "It's too far away. See, this is the ocean. We can't drive across the ocean. It's water. We'd need a boat."

"We're gunna get a boat and go to China!" Finny says while riding in the car to go to Chuck E. Cheese.

"No, honey, we can't afford a boat, I'm sorry. It's too expensive," I say.

"We need more money?" Finny asks.

"Yeah," I say. "We don't have enough money."

"We gunna go to the store and buy more money?" Finny asks.

Kevin and I are laughing now, of course. "No, honey, you can't buy money at the store. It doesn't work that way. You have to get a job and earn more money. You want to get a job and earn some money?"

"No," Finny says. "I can't get a job. My knees hurt too much."

We were very sad to learn that, at age 2, Finny is already feeling the strains of a hard life and is ready to retire.

So after we're done at Chuck E. Cheese, Finny is skipping through the parking lot (holding my hand, of course) gleeful and exuberant of his time at the pizza place. "So," I ask. "Did you have fun at Chuck E. Cheese?"

"Yeah!" Finny squeals.

"Was it better than China after all?"

Finny is thoughtful for a moment. "No, not better than China," he answers.

Random Short Finny Stories

- Finny loves watching Deigo and Dora. The shows are very educational, I think, because they are very interactive - frequently asking questions about things going on, and so forth. For example, they'll say, "Is this ball blue or green?" And then after waiting a few seconds they say, "Green! Right!"

So, I find it very funny that Finny shouts out the answers and is wrong 98% of the time. Statistically, I think that means he must know the answer, but chooses to answer it wrong. Why? Who can possibly know?

I think it means he's as much a smart ass as he is smart. =)

- Every once in a while, when Finny is watching Diego, something will happen that makes him cry! The other day, Dora's backpack was broken and Finny started whimpering and ran over to me to complain. He doesn't like anything to happen to his "friends."

- Finny and I were pretending to eat each other's body parts (I'd say, "Can I please eat your elbow?" and then he'd offer it to me and vice versa.) No, I'm not encouraging cannibalism, just a fun way to go over names of things.

So he said he wanted to eat my chin, so I said OK, then he grabbed at it and popped the imaginary quantity of chin into his mouth. So then I asked, "What did that taste like?" and he thought about it for a long time, before answering, "Mashmellows!" which I think was a nice compliment.

Now, whenever we play, we have to also name what the body part tastes like. I think it is a great lesson in naming both body parts and things that have a taste (spaghetti, cereal, chocolate, bread, etc.). Finny often thinks very long and hard to try to think of something that has a taste that we haven't mentioned yet, and the pickin's are getting slim.

For example, I was startled to find that one of my arms tastes like cat vomit.

- Speaking of cat vomit, we have two cats. And, well, Finny is experienced with it and the process of cleaning it up. (By the way, he looooves to clean up cat vomit. I'll say, really loud, "Who wants to clean up cat vomit?!" and he'll scream and jump up and down saying, "I do! I do! I want to clean up cat vomit!" with the same enthusiasm as when I ask who wants candy.)

So, the other day, Finny himself threw up on the floor. After cleaning him up, I got paper towels and a carpet cleaner to clean up the floor. He came over to help, and pointed to the mess and said, "Cat vomit!"

I said, "No, this is not cat vomit. It's just vomit."

So he said, "Yeah, cat vomit!"

So I said, "No, just vomit."

And, he kept trying to repeat it, but for some reason he just couldn't say "vomit" without the "cat." I tried to annunciate very clearly, drawing out the syllables, "VAAAUUM-IT" and he would say, "cat VAAAUM-IT." It was just stuck in his mouth that way. It was so funny. I finally got him to say, "Finny vomit" which was good enough for me.

Random pics

First, we had a family trip out to the Bettendorf Family Museum. Great stuff. I took tons of pictures but they were all, somehow, so horrible as to be utterly useless. This is the only one remotely worth posting.


Next, I'm posting a really horrible picture of Finny that I took while documenting a damaged refrigerator door on the play kitchen he got for Christmas. He still has that screwed up "camera smile" and yes, he needs a haircut really badly! Sigh, maybe next weekend.

Shabby Chic or Stupid Junk?

So, I saw this at Target and was so shocked that I had to take a picture.

This is an actual product, costing almost $8, and it is SUPPOSED TO LOOK THIS WAY.

The tag says that it is Shabby Chic - which evidentially means a cheap white paint job that someone has scratched with a pen, or perhaps a set of keys.

Shabby Chic is supposed to be vintage - old fun stuff with quirky style and unassuming charm. You should be able to tell it was well-used and well-loved over years.

And, if the item is new, it can go through a process called being distressed - where an item is intentionally damaged to produce a vintage look. Definition from Wikipedia: "In distressing, the object's finish is intentionally destroyed or manipulated to look less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or paint stripper. For example, the artisan often removes some but not all of the paint, leaving proof of several layers of paint speckled over wood grain underneath. This becomes the "finished" piece."

That is obviously what someone intended to do with this "distressed" but new fixture from Target. But instead of distressed, it looks like a 2-year-old scratched it with some keys. Hello? This is just bad.

Christmas 2007

These were taken with my cell phone, so I apologize for the poor quality.

Shredded paper

The shredded paper came in a gift box from Finny's grandparents. Of course, he loved it probably more than his actual presents. And of course, it made the biggest mess of all time.

But, when I tried to get him to throw it away, he would whine and say, "No! It's my Christmas present!" So, I indulged him a while.

Finny and his cousin, Miles, at the Olive Garden

See you Monday!

Finny likes to say bye-bye to, uh, things, as they are flushed down the toilet. Usually he says, "Bye bye, poo poo!" but recently he's been expanding his repertoire. Now he says things like:

"Have a nice weekend, poo poo!"

"Nite, nite!"

"Goodbye, alligator!"

And, my new favorite:

"See you Monday, poo poo!"

I hope he doesn't!

Iceicle

ABCs

The Cutest Thing Ever

So Kevin gave Finny some Nutty Bars. And, guess what? Finny really liked them!

Now, Finny is constantly talking about Nutty Bars and he is constantly concerned about the acquisition and attainment of Nutty Bars. He has what I call the Nutty Bar Status Update. The Nutty Bar Status Update goes something like this:

"Dad, do you have any Nutty Bars?"

"Nope, sorry Finny I don't."

"Did you just have some Nutty Bars?"

"No, I didn't."

"Are you going to the store to get some Nutty Bars?"

"No, not right now."

"Are you going to go to the store soon to get some Nutty Bars?"

(At this point we're cracking up laughing.) "No, not right now, Finny."

"Oh. Are you going to go to the store tomorrow to get some Nutty Bars?"

"Yes, maybe we'll go to the store tomorrow."

"Okay!"

Status Update Complete.

Halloween & Thanksgiving

Finny dressed as Diego for Halloween.




Halloween picture time at school:


At the school Halloween fair, getting his face painted. He wanted a pumpkin.


"Fishing" for candy at the school Halloween fair.


The kids got to frost and decorate their own cake at the school Halloween fair. That's Bob The Builder to the right.


Our first thanksgiving. I guess we need some serving china. =)

Singing

Fishing Game

The trick to this game is to choose a particular fish and follow it around as it rotates. At least, that's what works for me. Anyway, Finny seems to have figured out that same technique.

New Race Car Bed

New House!

Here is a quick video walk through of the upstairs.

The front of the house, standing at the front door looking out.


Kevin sitting at the front door.

Detail of the front door.


Vines growing up the side of the house. We have to get rid of them because they're ruining the siding.


This is one view of the backyard, with a little archway thing. The previous owners had dogs and the grass in the backyard is pretty much ruined. This area, at the bottom of the picture, is totally devoid of grass. There is actually some vines growing there, but we have to get rid of those. On the right side of the picture you can see the workshed.


This is the workshed in the backyard. It's pretty nice actually. Inside there is a work bench and a lot of cupboards. On top of the shed is some storage, behind that little closed window.


This is the double deck in the backyard. Really big and nice. Though I guess it is made of cedar, and someone painted it. So we will have to keep repainting it.


The backyard also has a little area with a built-in grill. To the left you can see a crack in the cement that we will probably have to fix.


This is the upstairs. I'm standing in the dining room, taking a picture of the upstairs living room. It's very similar to our previous house.


The kitchen sink is wonderful! Really great, expensive fixtures. At our previous house, we had spent so much on the house itself that we really skimped on plumbing and lighting fixtures. It will be nice to have some high quality plumbing.

This is the downstairs living room, where we'll have the TV and couches. It is shaped like an "L" and there is another alcove to the right where I'll put my desk. Also on the lower level is an unfinished area with storage, a bathroom and the laundry area. Then there is another room which will be Kevin's office, and another room which will be the exercise room.

This is the upstairs bathroom. Unfortunately it is going to be Kevin's bathroom, and he doesn't (for some odd reason) like the pink countertops.

The kitchen. Isn't it beautiful? I love the island in the center with the oven. It's also got lots of really great cabinets. Almost all of the cabinets have roll out shelfs, which is really cool! (See video above for example!)


The appliances are all brand new in 2007.

The door, which is really nice with beveled glass, leads to the double deck outside.

Lots of Pictures

There's nothing more precious that a sleeping baby.

Our new house! Hooray!

Playing golf.

First day of school!

For school he had to dress for a "50s Sock Hop" - so this was the best I could do on short notice.

People standing in line to buy the Harry Potter book. I'm more interested in the phenomenon than the book (which I don't think it the greatest thing ever).

Here is the night of the book release. There were hundreds of people there to get the book at 12 am, and it was like - I'm not kidding - 90 degrees in the store! It was really one of the most horrible nights of my life.

Of course, I brought Finny. And he was thrilled to be part of the experience. As you can see.


This is kind of just a wild and crazy moment. In the fridge. It happens.

Kevin and Finny on a walk along the Mississippi River.

Playing computer games. He's so cool.

His second birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

He is modeling a sweater his Grandma made.


Doesn't he look like a cute little elfkin?

We went to see Bill and Hillary Clinton when they visited the Quad Cities in July. It was almost as miserable as the Harry Potter book premiere event. Though, I did get this picture of Hillary Clinton. No such luck getting a picture of Harry Potter.


Finny drank two bottles of water while waiting for the Clintons to come out. Just some advice to presidential candidates: making people wait in 90 degree weather because you're an hour late does not rally them to your side. Savvy?