Twisty Balloons

Have you ever seen those balloons that clowns use to create things like poodles, and giraffes, and crowns? My kids received a pack of those today. Guess who got to do the creating? Me of course!

"Mom, can you make a puppy?"

"Ummm, sure."

I looked at the diagram and figured out what kinds of twists and turns the balloon needed. Soon, we had a rather long-nosed puppy.

"Make another," my daughter exclaimed.

As I was creating this second puppy, my son left the room. A few minutes later he returned. I felt a cold drippy sensation on the back of my leg.

"Puppy is giving you a kiss!" (Apparently he had wet the puppy's nose at the sink.)

I just can't seem to get away from slobbery dogs!

Those Doggone Dogs!

In case you've been wondering where I've been, I've been in the great state of Virginia, covered in dog hair and dog slobber. My family and I went to Virginia to visit my father-in-law and his two giant yellow labs, Hoover and Clancy. They are the sweetest dogs, but boy are they messy!

I walked in the door with my kids, and was immediately greeted with slobbery kisses and a few good wacks with the tails. I reached down to pet the beasts, and found myself covered with clumps of hair.

"Do these boys need a brushing?" I asked.

"It doesn't do any good," was the reply.

"Okay," I thought as I looked around at the blanket of dog hair covering the floor.

My kids didn't seem to mind. Soon they were rolling around on the floor using the big dogs as pillows. They were covered from head to toe in dog hair.

"Mommy, can we have a dog, PLEASE!!!!"

I looked at my clothes. I looked at my kids' clothes. I looked at the floor around me. I looked at the wet slobber on my knees.

"No." End of discussion.

In Disguise

Blue bottle pop candy leaves stains on one's lips, teeth, and tongue. Make a mental note of that.

My son had one of those things just before we had to leave the house to run some errands. His teeth, lips, and tongue were a bright shade of blue when he was finished. I grabbed a wet paper towel and tried to clean him off. It didn't work as well as I had hoped.

"Okay," I said. "Wear these sunglasses, and maybe nobody will recognize you."

He was pleased to comply.

First stop was the bank. We pulled in the drive- through, hoping nobody would pay that much attention to us. "Hi Sherry," the teller said as soon as she saw me. "Does your son have blue lips?"

Ugh!!

"Yes," I replied, "he was eating a bottle pop candy."

"Oh," said the nice teller. "Then I'll give him a blue lollipop so it'll match."

How thoughtful!

Sticky Fingers

There's a neat program here in Cincinnati, where an artist painted thirty pianos and placed them in various locations throughout the city. If you see one, you can play it. Today my children and I found one at a local ice cream shop. I told them they could play it before they got ice cream, because I knew their fingers would be a sticky mess afterwards.

They played and had a marvelous time doing so. We got our ice cream and ate it. Everything was going as planned until my son decided he wanted to play again.

Let's just say I had to clean Mr. Sticky Fingers and the piano before we left! Who's brilliant idea was it to put a piano at an ice cream shop anyway? (I'm actually glad it was there. We had a lot of fun playing it!)

Squeaky Knees

My husband decided to teach my kids a new trick this evening. He lay down on his back on the floor, cupped his hands behind his knees, and alternately bent and straightened his legs in rapid succession, thus creating a noisy squeak. The kids thought that was great. Of course they had to learn how to do it.

After about five minutes, all of my "kids" were on the floor in my son's bedroom squeaking their knees. What a sight! I just stood there shaking my head.

(I think I know what my kids will be doing tomorrow. Thanks, Daddy!)

Name that Smoothie

I was browsing through my Family Fun magazine today and came across a recipe for a smoothie made with a certain green vegetable (which I happen to like). My kids always stick they noses up at it when I slice some up and put it on my sandwich.

I thought I'd have a little fun and see if I could get them to like it this new way. While they were out of the room, I got out the blender, the vegetable, milk, ice, and a couple other ingredients. I went to work.

When I had completed the concoction, I tasted it. Delicious!

"Kids, come here," I said. "I want you to try this."

They looked at the green thing. "What is it?"

"Just try it."

My son, the brave one, tried it first.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it's good," he said.

My daughter tried it. "It has vanilla in it, doesn't it?" she queried.

"Yes."

"I like the vanilla, but I'm not sure about the back taste (whatever that meant). What is it?"

"Avocado."

"Ewww, mommmmm! You made us drink avocado?"

Hee Hee.

Here's the recipe if you want to try it: In a blender, combine a peeled and pitted avocado with 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of ice cubes, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Blend until smooth.

Chainsaw Men

My husband decided that today would be a good day to prune trees. When my husband does things, it's no small job. Today was no exception. Out came the big, noisy chain saw. My six-year-old son decided that he wanted to get in on the action. So he came out with his little, noisy chain saw.

The boys started hacking away at the trees. When they were done, there was a big pile of branches and a little pile of leaves. Both were filthy, and both were grinning from ear to ear.