Fav Phrase Friday (a.k.a. those things he says)

The difference between boys and girls~

After soccer on Tuesday we joined some of Harrison's soccer friends at a little playground next to the field. He immediately climbed to the top of the play structure and called out to his friend, Lauren, as her mother was changing her into play clothes, "You want to play E.T.?"

She immediately responds, "Do you want to play Cinderella?"

"Well.   ...I'll think about it." he answered back.


They played the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf.

Guess who volunteered to be the Big Bad Wolf?

Yup.

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We started hosting a Home Group at our house this month and found a great deal on a new Love Seat and Sofa. This morning I asked Harrison to get his clothes from the Love Seat and hand them to me.

"Love Seat?"

"Yes, right there."

"This is a Love Seat?"

"Yes."

Pointing at the Sofa he continues,

"Is that a love seat?"

"No that's a sofa."

"An angry sofa?"

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And finally tonight as I finish tucking him into bed, he grabs my cheeks and pulls me close; I lean in for one last kiss of the day when...

He licks my lips! 
[I felt like Lucy when she gets slimmed kissed by Snoopy.]

I pull back and look at him.

"I'm becoming a dog."

And then he went to sleep.

Almost Wordless Wednesday - He's Going to be an Architect!

Harrison received some wooden blocks from his teacher late last Fall and within a few weeks he was consumed with them. Almost immediately he started building up.

 At a Christmas party he discovered a bucket of blocks; but with all the small children he couldn't build without another little hand swooping in an knocking down his handiwork. Toward the end of the evening after the kids had thinned out, he began building once again. The hostess was so impressed by his building skills that she insisted Harrison borrow the blocks until her son grew into them.

The next morning he immediately got  to the business of executing the building designs envisioned in his head.

Which included a plethora of smaller towers scattered about the floor that he referred to "chocolate factories" after watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But it didn't end there...

He also built some Superhero hideouts - specifically Ironman's house. Not that he has even seen Ironman either in movie or cartoon form...

That didn't stop him though.

It seems he has a lot of design plans and plenty of space to carry them out.

Maybe we should call him Bob the Builder...He can do it!

Yes. I watch too much of the Disney Channel.

Find fewer words over here.

BSM - Forgive Me Friends For I Have Slacked-off...

It has been 11 days since my last post here.

{Wow, and it went fast!}

Honestly, January has been a busy month as we prepare for the changes of the new year; hosting our Home Group, beginning the process of Spring Cleaning [two years late] and getting to know our plumber a little better with his multiple trips to our house in the last week. (I guess that's what happens when your house is a 130 years old.)

As for Harrison?

I'll let the camera do the talking.

 he was so cute in the shower the other morning, I had to snap a picture - through the glass, in aperture priority mode. Oops. But it's still a happy accident.

 This was last week's Best Shot Monday. Oh, you didn't see it?  Another - Oops! As well as another happy accident. I love this picture but I really did focus on Harrison and the camera refocused on the rail. I like how it came out anyway. It's his "King of the World!" impression, only we were at the back of the Queen Mary, not the front of the Titanic. He found a stage area and immediately started dancing around with arms out. (where did he get those genes? Hmm?)

Moving and cleaning presented Harrison with a wide open space to dance and sing - he didn't waste a moment of it. Another shot here.

 He was thrilled to see Wall-E in person! ...until he got a little put-out that Wall-E was only one-dimensional. He plans to have a conversation with the Mouse about that.

Then there was a visit to the store where he got so excited to ride on the little merry-go-round - until he realized how S-L-O-W and boring it was... this epiphany comes after recently riding Star Tours at Disneyland for the first time.

Check out that face, it says it all, "I. Am. So over this." So much so, that he started climbing off before the thing stopped, which only provided new fun. Yup, that's my almost four-going-on-14-year-old.

I introduced him to Jenga. I am no longer the only person in my household that likes it.

he loved playing it and had great laughs each time it tumbled down.

Who said you had to be eight-years-old to play this?

 And just to finish off the week, he went a second round with big  ole' Darth Vader.

Check out those rain boots! Every Padawan (Jedi in training) needs a good pair of rainboots for battle, don't you think?


Check out more Best Shots at Mother May I!

Wordless Wednesday

 Left is January '08, he's washing dishes; right, January '09 - washing toys.

What a difference a year makes.

More WordlessWednesday here.

The Best Little Jedi-In-Training...

I L.O.V.E. Disneyland. Just in case anyone forgot. We pulled up today and I just became instantly happy.

More so, I love having this experience with Harrison; of being able to just get in the car and go for a couple hours at the drop of a hat.

That's what we did today after church, thanks to a Christmas gift from the G.I.D., And now it gets better because Harrison is tall enough for pretty much everything in Disneyland park.  Rock On!!

Needless to say, he's hooked on Star Tours.

And today? There was no exception to the fun, Harrison insisted on running over to see Darth Vader and the Jedi Training Academy; but not only did we watch, he raised his hand while jumping up and down excitedly to be chosen.


Chosen, he was.

He was put right up in the middle of the stage and beamed with excitment.

 

He listened and learned...

 

 Then Darth Vader appeared and the match began.

 

It was close...

But Darth Vader backed off {no full surrender today}.

And the newest Jedi-in-Training, Padawan Harrison, made his way back to his mother, certificate in hand, knowing that he defeated Darth Vader and all was well in the universe.

Isn't he the best!?
May the Force be with you this week.


Visit Mother May I for more of the best.

What We Did During Our Time Off...

Harrison and I returned to school and work today - an hour late. We over-slept our first day back from vacation.

Oops.

But he went skipping into his school saying hello to every employee he saw - by name no less and as we headed upstairs to join the rest of his class in their movement time, Harrison excitedly announced, "Mommy, my friends missed me!"

I think he missed his friends.


What did we do with our time off?

Harrison made this really cool coffee mug that he received as a gift from his good friend and I actually baked some family recipe cookies that my sister-in-law emailed over! They were dee-lish!! Thanks again!!


Now since I've started working on some other projects, Harrison is nipping at the bit to get started on his Robot Softie.


It won't be long before the big {robot} reveal!

The Best Weather for {almost} the Last Day of the Year

We went to the Wilderness Park a week ago and the weather was perfect.

Harrison is fearless sometimes - much to my dismay. Keeping up with him can be a challenge and I try not to envision him going head-first into the duck pond,

or falling off a log he's walking across...

or flipping off a branch he's climbing up (he did - but he got back up.)

Luckily there are other things he enjoyed doing, like collecting sticks and stones. This pile was left behind...

...in the quest to climb higher.

But I still came home with pockets full of sticks.

And he found friends to play with and build a fort together.

For a moment you would think that we were in the forest.

It was the best way to end 2008.


Visit Tracey for more Best Shot Monday.

Toasting in the New Year

He may not fully grasp the concept of the new year starting, but he toasted with us anyway. We pulled out a small cordial glass and put orange juice in it.

Now before you go judging me for being a bad mommy and keeping him up until almost 1pm, let me tell you the rest of the story.

Harrison went to bed at 8:30 pm, a bit wound up, but he settled in. Then during the nine o'clock hour there was a loud bang outside which woke him up. After that, he had to go to the bathroom; then he stayed awake lying in his bed - he said "hello" to the G.I.D. as he came out of Big Brother's room and continued calling out comments late into the night.

Finally at 11:45, after hearing bumps on and off and then silence, I went upstairs. His door was closed (it stays open for heat to get in) and the light was on. I opened the door to find him sitting quietly, playing with cars.

So I took my wide-awake child's hand and led him downstairs to watch the ball drop and yell Happy New Year! with us.


Exactly eight hours later he was awake again and ready to go...
give me strength. 


Happy New Year!!