From Duke to Duchess | Photo Story Friday

Hard to believe that it’s been two years since we said goodbye to Duke-the-Dog. However, he is not forgotten in any way. Duke comes up in conversation fairly regularly with Harrison and he is always pining for another dog – most likely named Duke or maybe Carl.

Then last summer he had a new plan. A parrot. I suppose between all the pirate stories, pirate toys, pirate cartoons, pirate movies and even pirate Legos, he decided on a parrot. 

Why a parrot?
Because parrots can talk.

Harrison wanted a talking bird.

Now, I loved my pet parakeets when I was young, so I was able to quickly talk him into the more manageable size bird. We read about them on the internet and watched YouTube videos of talking parakeets and Harrison even picked out a name, Duke. In memory of Duke-the-Dog.

Although I was trying to hold out for Christmas or his birthday I found a great bird store that hand feeds and hand raises their parakeets and I took Harrison to see the birds. He immediately picked out a blue, male parakeet (males are more likely to talk than females) and was able to touch and hold it. He was sweet and gentle… and he was sold.

A month later, we went back to our favorite bird store ready to adopt. Harrison walked to the parakeets and picked out a sweet little yellow female. He was set, she was IT.  But Duke no longer fit. Then the G.I.D. offered up '”how about Duchess?”
Duchess it was.


She’s still a bit shy.


 But we keep working with her, like letting her watch some Disney channel with Harrison.


We give her the run of the house…


Yet she always heads back to her “safe place”.



And like Duke-the-Dog, she doesn’t always want her picture taken and has no qualms about screaming about it.

After I walk away.





Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Harrison and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Harrison woke up on Monday and it was raining. He doesn’t like the rain. He gets wet in the rain. And when he got to the table to eat breakfast, he was greeted with a waffle and hash brown patty instead of pancakes. Waffles give him heart burn.

“Waffles don’t give you heart burn.” I responded.

“They do today”. He answered.

On the way out the door I gave him a different umbrella, it’s doesn’t open automatically – the other one opens automatically.  The other one has to spokes sticking out, I don’t want him poking some kid’s eye out. I got a heavy sigh and frown.

At school, he got in trouble for not listening – “twice”, he announced.

“I was telling friend #1 not to sit on the square because something yucky was on it, eeww! Then the teacher told me I needed to listen.”

“Later on friend #2 wouldn’t move forward, he’s supposed to move forward! I told him he has to move forward – the teacher told me I have to stop talking and listen.”

During recess Harrison fell and scraped his knee. He told me that it REALLY stung but “there are only two reasons you can go to the nurse -  if your bone is sticking out this way (as he twists his wrist into an unnatural position) or if you’re bleeding”.

“I wasn’t bleeding.” He huffs.

Then at the end of the day friend #3 jumped in a puddle, kicked water toward him and got his socks wet. He had to walk home in wet socks.

“I hate wet socks!”

At home I sat down on the sofa next to him to listen to his day assuring him that we all have bad days, he burst into tears and blurted out, “And now I can’t find the paper fortune from my cookie and it was really good!”

“…I was kind to that little boy in the store this weekend and helped him find his mommy and then he smiled at me and my fortune said, ‘be kind to others and kindness come back to you’… BUT NOW I CAN’T REMEMBER IT AND I LOST IT!”

(we found the fortune under the dining table.)

Later, as I started making dinner, he was jumping up and down behind the counter, playing peek-a-boo with me... Until he misjudged a jump and bumped his head underneath the counter.

Not too long after that as he hid under the table, pouting about yet another indiscretion, Daddy came over to inform him it was time for homework. A short drama ensued. We told him he had to come out and do homework or else and as he crawled out in his grumpy state, he stood up too soon and banged his head again – “in the same place!”.

“I’m really having a BAD DAY!” he cried.

We sat down on the sofa to regroup and pray. After a few more tears, I played him a Nina Simone song– reminding him that tomorrow will be a new day.
God and Nina, that made him feel better.

The G.I.D. told him that his mantra for the day was,
“Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down".
And even though it was lost on the six-year-old – I smiled.

At the dinner table I read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Harrison laughed and happily declared, “At least I didn’t have THAT BAD of a day!”

And with that, bedtime was a breeze.

 

I hope it doesn’t rain next Monday…

What!?! {photo story friday}

He told me he he doesn’t like jeans.

A BOY who doesn’t like jeans!

I mean, REALLY? Boys and jeans go together like a horse and carriage, peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Rosemary and Thyme, Laurel and Hardy, George Burns and Gracie Allen… well you get the idea.

Heck, when I was a kid, I longed for jeans. Where I grew up jeans were cool – especially Levi’s. And I WANTED Levi’s, no other jeans were good enough – not Calvin Klein, Wrangler, Lee or Sassoon. No. I needed traditional, button-fly Levi’s.  But don’t cry for me, I had jeans - I just didn’t own a pair of Levi’s until I was in college.

Harrison, however, has already owned several pairs of Levi's (Thanks to Big Brother, re-sale stores and friends). Although it’s not about Levi’s; he doesn’t like ANY jeans. He admonished me again this morning when I made him wear jeans to school (instead of exercise pants),
“Mom, remember, I don’t like jeans.”

I remember, but you’re wearing them anyway.

I mean after all, who DOESN’T own at least ONE pair of jeans to wear occasionally?

Then again, there was my mom. 
She owned 77 pairs of polyester, elastic-band pants - in a rainbow of colors.

Not one pair of  jeans.

Apparently the no-jeans gene skips a generation.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Who Knew

...that saying goodbye to a silly blue rocking chair could pull so many emotions from our entire family.

We all have sat in that chair, read to Harrison, held him when sick, cuddled with him, slept in it or just, plain, hung out on it.

I suppose we're a little sentimental around here; but even Big Brother, back from college, let out a little sad, "aww" and voiced his own memory when I told him it was being picked up.

Maybe we just weren't ready move on from it yet; but sometimes life dictates those things.

And it was a sacrifice we needed to make for a growing boy {who happened to inherent just a few legos...} to get from the baby room above to here:



The silver lining is that we know it's going to a wonderful couple who are about to become a happy family-to-be through adoption. I hope it will be as much a blessing for them as it was for us.


 We'll miss sitting in that rocking chair.

...That{well loved} silly blue rocking chair...


After all, for us, it was home.






Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Photo Story Friday | He's going to be a Method Actor!

Harrison started out his Halloween festivities at his Awana Club this year. He was told to dress up as his favorite Bible Hero.  I asked him who he wanted to be; thinking Moses, King David, Noah... even, maybe, Job.

"Jesus" he answered.

"Oh-K."
And like that, I had my first costume-making challenge. Not one of my strong suits...


Fast forward one week, Harrison tests out his costume; lovingly, sloppily sewn by Mom.

That serious look on his face? It's his "Jesus" look.

Did you know he walks on water, too?
Or in this case, the Big Blue Blanket.

The day of the event we hopped into the car and headed down the street as the sun is setting.

"Look at how beautiful the sunset is tonight!" I say.

He proudly responds, ""I made that."

I look at him. "Remember mommy... I AM Jesus."

How could I forget.






Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Just Smashing!

There are times when you just need to SMASH something and that is exactly what we [Harrison] did one evening.

After finding that a 30-year-old remote control car no longer worked (like that's a surprise) we were about to toss it in the trash when Harrison spotted a rubber mallet nearby and asked if he could crunch the car.

Why not?

"I'll get the safety goggles!" I happily replied (...and the camera).

  My safety goggles were too big. (what? doesn't every mom have safety goggles?)
Therefore out came the Handy Manny goggles!

 ...oh and the "I'm tough" look. Yes, he's acting. Once again.

Oh. And don't forget the box.




Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

No Boundaries

We live in the city...or at least on the edge of the city, pressed happily against the vast ocean. Yet, when we face the ocean the concrete jungle still lay behind us, waiting to swallow us up once again and in the city we are always on our guard because, really, that's just the way it is.

But in South Dakota, there was no endless sea of concrete, no fences, no boundaries. For days Harrison went outside and played in the yard, or out in the hills in a sea of nature. And he was content.

This day was spent planting wheat...

First you have to pick it.

Then you dig a hole for the "seeds".

Then comes the water...

And mark the spot because, really, the hard ground looks the same everywhere!

Then come out the next morning to see if anything has sprung forth!

Better yet, chase grasshoppers, just like mommy used to do as a child...until they spit on her.

And what ever you do, don't think about traffic and smog, crowds, TV and video games, chain-link fences and BOUNDARIES.

Because sometimes a child just needs to be... a child.




Hosted by Lisa and Cecily

A Little Magic

Now with a volunteer from the audience I will show you, the audience, how a magic trick is done.
It's a secret from Harrison so don't tell him...

 I have two decks of cards, which color to you like, Harrison? Red?

 Okay, we'll use blue.

I'll shuffle the cards you pull a card - but don't look at it...

I'm going to show our audience - shhh, no hints to Harrison.

Hold it on your chest, no peeking and don't let me see it!

Now from this deck of cards, I will choose your card.

As you can see it's a normal deck of cards just like the blue deck of cards, no tricks...

In my hand I am holding the card that matches your card...

What do you mean this doesn't match Harrison's card?

He has the eight of hearts?

Harrison, hand my your card...

They match! They're both the ten of hearts!

And that, my friends, is magic.


Now for the big finish, I will break free from the straight jacket behind me while singing opera...
[true story]






Hosted by Cecily and Serious Krystyn

Already?

He started [big kid] day camp!

You know, the kind where he gets on a big yellow school bus and rides off to fun parks and places...

{without me along-side him}

He was giddy at seeing the bus ready for him to board.

And he didn't even blink an eye.

His first big field trip - to the Long Beach for a guided boat tour around the harbor!
Next week - a trip to the California Science Center for a scavenger hunt.

{I blinked several times realizing just how fast the last five years have gone.}

---------------------------------------------------------------

He also started swim lessons in the morning before camp, five days a week. Phew, what a schedule! I'm even tired at the end of each day. We're busier now then we were during in the school year!

(at least the karate lessons are over with for a while, we were doing those 3x a week through the month of June...)


Summer.

Has.

Begun.



Only...
the living ain't so easy.

Take it away Ella!

Well, I can always fantasize about lazy summer days, drinking iced tea and cool lemonade; but heck, even the weather hasn't been agreeable - we've had 65 degree days for the last couple weeks. That's not Summer.

Harrison asked his dad the other day, "Why is it so cold in the Summer?"


That's what we want to know.



Hosted by Cecily