So nothing ever goes quite according to plan does it…….

The Fear Factor party is being detained for at least 3 weeks. Several factors involved including house arrest, illness of family members, family out of town, Aunt Beck’s surgery (she had a hernia repaired – please pray for her quick healing)…

Also, I would mention that the guest list to this party will be short. Thought I would forewarn in case any of our many friends thought we forgot their invitation in the mail:). With such a big family, kid parties are going to be VERY hard to manage. The guest list right now includes immediate family, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and Ty’s birthfamily. Tanner and Ty may get to invite one friend each but mommy can’t accommodate more than that at the moment:) Can I just get some grace on this realizing I am limited by my inability to multi task? LOL.

Since several people have asked about this though, I will at least update you on our little plans so far…still open to more ideas folks!!!

Menu Thoughts

* Pizza with plastic bugs
* Dirt pudding
* Bug Cake
* Eyeball punch
*Pinata with bugs and candy

My friend Jennifer mailed Tanner gummy eyeballs clear from MI for this punch! Tanner was very excited about this but he made me eat one and he wouldn’t try it. I think HE is going to be sent home packing if he doesn’t get an iron stomach soon LOL. Unfortunately, now Tanner wants to keep checking the mail in case there is more fear factor stuff out there LOL (Thanks Jennifer:)!!!

Games

Worm and Bug Tank
The kids will have to submit to cold spaghetti noodles and plastic bugs being poured on them:)

Shark Attack
I am going to get a small plastic pool and get them to swim with the sharks (goldfish) possibly waterdogs too:) Hoping Ty can’t catch any or we know what he’ll do.

Dig for Quarters
I will hide some quarters in buckets of dirt with earthworms.

Cricket Catch
Give the kids bug catchers and see who can catch the most crickets in a given period of time. Tackle and bait stores should have the necessary elements for this party right?:)

Slip N Slide
Make green jello blocks and put them all over a slip and slide – tell them they have to slide through frog guts:) My mom won’t appreciate reading this…sorry. I should have mentioned that this section is not mother friendly:).

Brain Food
Our friend Kathy gave me a brain jello mold and a recipe for brain colored jello:) Think they’ll eat it?

I guess another few weeks of planning will just give Tanner more time for his meetings which he loves. Sweetie was worried for the party to be over because Tanner is enjoying the planning so much! I still can’t find a lot of plastic small bugs though. I want flies, or crickets, or spiders…stuff like that. The dollar store, Walmart, and Target didn’t have them. A few people have given me other ideas so I am still looking. We have a little collection of reptiles and bugs growing in my closet.

Tanner’s official birthday is this Sunday (the 22nd). Not sure if we will just not tell him or do something little as a family holding him off until the party. Ty will end up having birthday parties six month’s a part this year! (June and January of 06:) I am glad I waited with Ty though because he will enjoy it more now. I need to do a photoshoot this week of Tanner too. I am rambling and getting off subject because I am typing while watching Ty in PT.

Anyhow…..back on track……

Stuttering

Have I mentioned lately that Tanner still has a stuttering issue at times? It seems to come and go. Last week Jenna was talking with him and finally (in her blunt little fashion) say’s “Tanner! Just spit it out!” He did:).

The Mail

In an earlier posting I mentioned that Tanner didn’t want to send Aunt Christine a letter, he wanted her to come here. He finally decided to go ahead and draw a picture to mail to her. He has been working on this while I have been typing. He just needed me to come in and check it and told me to put it in the mail. I said I would. He then said “And Aunt Christine will come to our home and get it out of our mailbox!” LOL! He isn’t quite getting it! “If we mail it, she will come!” Hee hee! He is now drawing a Teradactyl for Grandpa.

Dinosaur Walk

Sometime I hope I get great video of Tanner’s dinosaur walk. I will attempt to describe it because I hope always to keep this mental picture. First of all, you have to be a quiet observer because my shy little boy will not perform his talents if he knows you are paying attention to him. If you pretend to be looking at something else though;), you will see him hold his arms up with elbows bent at chest level with wrists bent – imitating short arms of T-Rex. Then he will take slow exaggeratedly large steps. He will then slowly move his head dramatically from side to side while in a hunched position. Then he will screech like a velociraptor. Pretty good imitation too. Scares me:)

Back at Ya

When Ty’s ST used to come, he had this habit of forming a cowboy pistol with his hand and firing a “back at ya” shot every time he was affirming Tanner for a job well done. Do you know what I mean? Very common gesture. Anyhow, Tanner picked up on this habit and uses it occasionally which is pretty adorable. Last night when Jim was tucking Tanner in to bed, Jim said “I love you”. Tanner responded with not a word. Instead he gave him the “back at ya” gesture. LOL. Sheeeesh!

Kid Jail

This week while driving in the car, Tanner heard his daddy mention that we were passing the Adobe Juvenile Delinquency Center (barely a mile from our home). He asked what that was and I told him that it was a jail for naughty kids. I then elaborated on this because I didn’t want him to think that every naughty kid goes to jail (I am not in to idol threats) so I explained that kids that disobey the laws – don’t obey God – don’t obey police officers…etc….may go to jail. Tanner didn’t like the thought of a kid jail so he asked several questions to make sure that HE wasn’t a likely candidate for this jail. When he was fairly convinced, he then asked “Are any of our people gonna go dat jail?” Meaning, are any of my cousins going to go to that jail?

The next day, we were driving and Tanner starts talking about God. “Mommy – we lus (love) God. We all pray to God. All our people pray to God. All uh us!” Hmmmmm…..what a sweet little evangelist I thought. His next words were “Mommy – there’s the kids jail.” Ah ha! Thoughts of that jail on the near horizon prompted a little someone to get things right with God (LOL). Nice when fear of consequence actually works:). And for the record…I had nothing to do with this. It was his own little brain working. I have no intention of using that kid jail to my motherly benefit. I find kid jail’s too sad already and I sure as heck won’t be threatening my little one’s with it (though some day’s it could be a might tempting:)

Speaking of God….

Tanner asked me to sing “I am in the Lord’s Army” this week and when we finished the song, he yells out “Go Jesus!” from the backseat of the car. Where did he hear that? I got a giggle out of that one. I certainly won’t knock it though, that is one team I want my kids rooting on:)

Who Run’s This Joint?

How many times have I asked this question? Here are a few examples of Tanner’s firstborn tendencies.

I was reading this week and didn’t pay attention to where I put my coffee down. Next thing I know Tanner is yelling “Mommy! Watch your cossseeee!” You know who was on his way to pay me a visit. THAT would not have been good. Tanner stuck his foot in Jim’s hot coffee as a baby – not an incident I would like to repeat EVER.

Sometimes I think Tanner watches Ty better than I do. He is continually closing doors and watching his every move. The line I hear 50 million times a week is “Mommy – he’s eating sum ping”!

When I was in the car this week I had to turn around and get Ty’s bottle which meant I had to momentarily remove my seat belt. Tanner noticed and said “Don’t take your seat belt oss!” I explained that I was going to put it back on right away. Once my seat belt was back firmly in place, Tanner say’s “Mommy! Don’t touch that button until we get home.” LOL. Think maybe he has heard that himself a time or two?

Then there was the evening that he thought I should be busy in the kitchen. He said “Mommy, I hungwee. Make me some shood.” I told him it wasn’t dinner time and he would have to wait. He then walks over to his daddy, points in my direction and say’s “Daddy – I want her make us some dinner.” All said with a very authoritative and commanding voice. I had to hide my smile. Dinner may have been pushed a bit later after that. This mamma has no intention of allowing a gang up effect:)

And yet another one….last night Jim got Tanner ready for bed. Tanner came in to me and said “Mommy. It’s bedtime. You need to go to bed.” I then said, “No. It’s your bedtime. Why do I have to go to bed?” In a whispering voice he said “It’s too early – you have to go to sleep.” LOL. I relayed this to Jim and he didn’t “get” why Tanner would say that. Easy one. On mornings where Tanner wakes up too early, I whisper to him “It’s too early, go back to sleep.” :):) Mystery solved.

Funny Stuff

When things are too loud, Tanner say’s “It’s too loud – I can’t hear my ears!” I LOVE that one.

When he is asking about “tomorrow” he asks “When the morning wakes up?” Isn’t that precious. Oh please don’t grow up anymore Tanner!

Urban Legends

Tanner (like his mommy) loves a good urban legend. Jim has made so much fun of me over this through the years that I now won’t believe anything. In fact, if you send me an email story, you better check it out first on www.snopes.com or one of the other urban legend sites because you can bet I will:). I don’t dare repeat any story in Jim’s presence without documented evidence. Most of the stuff on email is bunk.

Anyhow, this week Tanner was watching an APL show about the Mexican Cooba Cabra. It is a legendary little monster that is a bit alienish that raids farms and sucks the blood from animals. Tanner wanted me to watch the show with him. After a bit, it was obvious that the whole show was centered on an urban legend so I started telling Tanner that the whole thing was pretend. He then said “Mommy. Don’t watch my show. Read your book.” Okay fine…but I told him the truth… One more reason for Aunt Brooke to support the Santa story darn it.

Finger Crossing

Jim and I have been giggling at Tanner lately because he, first, points constantly when he talks (Jim also couldn’t talk without his hands:)..and second, has been crossing his pointing fingers all the time. Funny to watch. No idea why he is doing this. You will notice in one of the pictures that I posted of him and Grandpa that he is crossing his fingers.

Dinosaurs and Adoption

Last week Tanner was watching a Mr. Rogers episode. I happened to notice they were talking about adoption so I thought it was a good teaching moment. Here was our conversation:

D: Oh Tanner – that’s cool! Their talking about adoption on your show.

T: Yeah – that’s a good name (meaning adoption is a good word). Just like adopt Ty?

D: Yep and you too. You started out teeny teeny tiny when we adopted you. Some kids start inside their mommy’s tummy but you and Ty didn’t. We adopted you AFTER you started. You were this big (showed him with my hands) and Ty was this big (showed again) when we adopted you boys.

T: Just like a dinosaur?

D: Huh?

T: Like a dinosaur lay’s eggs?

D: Hmmmmm….wellllll…what if a T-Rex laid an egg and then a Triceratops got the egg from the T-Rex? The Triceretop would then be the T-Rex babies mommy. She would have adopted her baby from the mommy T-Rex. Do you understand?

T: No.

LOL. I’ll try again another day. For a minute there I really thought that was gonna work:)