And The Winner Is...

The winner of the first giveaway on Thou Shall Not Whine is comment #9, Marie who said, "I'm a follower too!" Thanks to all who entered, and congratulations to Marie. I will contact you by email to make arrangments with Big Blue Castle. I hope you enjoy your sleepy wrap! I have more product reviews in the works, so stay tuned for more giveaways in the future!

*I tried to post the random number generator, but haven't been able to figure it out. Hopefully I'll get it by the time I host another giveaway!*

He Lives!

Yesterday during an altercation between Joey and his best friend (and cousin) Mollie he was the victim of a bite on the knee. *As much as I don't promote violence among toddlers, I've got to hand it to the girl as this is definitely payback for lots of hitting that Joey did in his earlier days!* Andrew, an eye witness at the scene of the crime took on the roll of helpful big cousin in comforting Joey as Mollie was removed from the area and I went inside to get ice for the battle wound. Once Mollie rejoined us in the backyard and said her apologies everyone had a popsicle to ease the tension. While eating his popsicle and continuing to examine Joey's injury the ever-insightful Andrew turns to me and says nonchalantly, "I'm glad Joey is still alive." I humbly agreed with him in replying, "Me too buddy." Andrew continued, "Yea, because if he wasn't we'd all be on our way to the hospital." Four year olds can be so profound.

The Outdoor Friend

I've decided that Joey is definitely going to be the outdoor friend. You know, the one that your mom never really wanted you to bring inside your house. His dad was every one's outdoor friend, so it's really no surprise. This kid just loves to be dirty. Today he climbed in yet another sand table at another playdate.



I really think that while we were at the playdate Joey's mantra must have been, "must get dirty, must get really dirty." It's like has little dirt magnets underneath his skin and various items of outdoor fun cling to his body while he walks around outdoors. I actually brought him home in only a diaper and bathed him before his nap. I brushed his teeth too, because the outside of his mouth was so filthy I assumed the inside was probably just as bad.

He Entertains Himself

For Joey, it's not good enough to play at the water table. He has to climb in the water table. At a play date yesterday all the other children were content to stand calmly pouring water in and out of the various containers and toys. My son has to take it one step further. Within moments, he hoists his little legs up and plops himself right into the fun zone. At least he was already in his bathing suit. This kid likes to be right in the middle of things. He has done this before in his sand table at home. And in case you can't tell from the expression on his face, he's quite amused with himself when he does it.

Seeing him do this (and his reaction to himself doing it) at someone else's house got me to thinking ahead to Joey's school days... I know they have activity tables at preschools, which teachers fill with various textured items. (rice, sand, foam, etc.) I can just imagine getting a call from his annoyed teacher someday that Joey pushed the other children away from the table so he could climb in the activity table. Somehow I doubt his future teachers are going to think it's as funny or as cute as I do...

That's Why I Married Him

So I already knew that I married the greatest guy alive. Today was just another day that confirmed it. As we sat around watching the rain roll in this afternoon (again!), all of us started to getting just a wee bit antsy (again!). We were trying to come up with something to do when my adoring husband said to me, "Is there anywhere you'd like to go alone?" Thinking of a dozen errands that I'd rather put off than go do I simply answered, "not really." This is where the really amazing part comes in... Ron said, "Why don't you go treat yourself to a pedicure or something." WHAT??? Did my job-searching husband really just suggest that I go pamper myself leaving him at home with three cranky kids on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Yes, yes he did. And that folks is just one of the many reasons I love this guy. And, as sweet as it was, my constant stream of financial worrying stopped me from taking him up on his offer. Just the fact that he genuinely thought I should spoil myself with a pedicure was actually better than the real thing...