a new toy

The little man's older sister bought a huge inflatable trampoline for her kids. They started using it inside their house (yes, they really did), in the kitchen area but now that the weather is starting to warm up they moved it outside. She said she is happy she bought the trampoline because her kids enjoy playing in it all the time. Even said it is worth the money she spent. Last year, it was a nice wood swing/slide playset she bought for them. She is a little kid at heart so I am not surprised with her purchase. In fact, if she tells us she bought a pentair pool for her backyard I will not be surprised at all. She is just like that. There are times I wish we were neighbors so my kids can play with hers. The little man will surely love the playmates and the toys as well. Since we aren't, there is really nothing we can do about it :)

so many questions

The little man asks a lot of questions. He does this on a daily basis from the moment he gets up to the time he gets to bed. It is good that he wants to know a lot of things but there are times he asks even if he knows just so when I say I am not sure of the answer he will tell me straight away. I must admit it is tiring to listen and answer to his questions but I can tell at a lot of times he really is interested to learn. So I try to give him accurate answers as possible. He asks questions like if I am his father's wife, or what are test sieves (questions like this comes from his interactions online), to what pronoun he needs to use to call his little sister, or what my favorite color is. Then he asks me about sports terms he learned from playing Wii sports on his Nintendo Wii. There are times I direct him to his father for answers. The husband can better answer questions about sports than I do so I am stirring him in the right direction. He is asking more pertinent questions every day though and I am almost afraid when he asks me personal questions. I am not ready for those yet. In fact, I am not ready for some of his questions but I don't really have a choice but tell him anyway. I am now starting to realize why I was sent to school with my dad (he was a teacher) when I was the little man's age. I was told at the time I asked so many questions which I thought there was nothing wrong about. Now I know my mom just wanted to have some peace and quiet while taking care of a newborn. I guess I am raising a mini-me :)

early birds

My kids are early risers. I don't know why because I am not. The husband does wake up early but not as early as his kids who wake up at four in the morning. Yes, four AM. It still can be considered dawn right? I mean, that is two hours before daylight. But the little girl has been making a habit of waking up early and waking everybody up along the way. The little man wakes up after all the noise she makes and then I have to wake up too to keep an eye on them. I make sure the door to our room is closed so the husband can sleep some more. This has been going on for weeks and I don't see any change in the pattern yet which means this very well could go on a few more. So what do we do while we are up? The kids watch cartoons (yes, there are cartoons that early) while I get online. One morning I can be updating my blogs and the next I can be looking at a floral arrangement online or I can be window shopping. You get the picture. I cannot and refuse to do chores that early, I would rather get in the couch with my laptop while my kids torture me with cartoons that we have watched over and over. I prefer to be back in bed but I don't trust the little man to be up alone without getting into trouble. I sure hope this is just another phase and that it will not become routine. They can do this again when they are of school age though, it will be nice not to have to forcefully wake up a child to go to school.

a happy birthday

My cousin's birthday is today. Her gift to herself? A new htc desire hd she ordered online days before. She said she has worked hard so she deserves a treat. I could not agree more. She has been working while going to school full time and I am proud of her. She said she will show me the phone when she gets the chance to sit down and we can talk. I told her to take her time. She needs to enjoy her day because it is special and she is special. She deserves to be happy on her day considering the things she went through last year. Happy birthday girl!

he needs a haircut

But he will not allow us to cut his hair. Not even a trim. Ever since his first haircut, the little man has been vocal about his dislike for a haircut. He cried, he screamed, he kicked, he tried to run away. Imagine the stress we have to go through just for a haircut. I asked him why he does not like his hair to be cut and he told me it hurts. When I told him it does not, he said that yes it does. It hurts him when his hair is cut. I think he means emotionally. I can totally relate. When I was a little kid I used to despise having my hair cut. I wanted my parents to just leave my hair alone so it will grow long like all the other girls in school but I was told it was not hygienic so it was cut, about twice a year, every year. I cried every time it was done but there was nothing I can do about it. I know I need to be sympathetic to the little man's feelings but I don't want to do it at the cost of his looking unkempt. I will try to talk him into having a trim and then if he is up to it, a haircut. I better be good at explaining things to him though so he will understand and the experience will not be too painful for him nor will it be stressful for us. I hope.

nintendo dsi

I don't know what got in me but I want to buy the little man a Nintendo DSi. I just had the idea in my head that he needs one and now it will not go away. Not that I have tried to get rid of it but it is there reminding me all the time. It is insane! He did get plenty of toys last Christmas which he is happy about. He has not asked for another toy or game yet here I am with plans to spoil him more. It should be against the law to buy more than one toy for a child. It should stop me on my tracks real quick. But it is not illegal and nothing is stopping me to get him a new game system but my conscience which is pretty weak right now, lol. I figure he can use the DSi in the car instead of the touchpad because it should be easier to charge. And if I find a good game he will like it should make him happy and quiet while strapped in the backseat. What do you think? Should I get him one? Or should I completely get rid of the idea? Help!

toys and more toys

My kids got tons of presents from friends and relatives this year. The little man received several boxes from his sister with all kinds of toys in them, including a complete set of miniature carpentry tools that he is so tickled about. He also got clothes, toys, and more toys. He loves his aunt's Lego present although I am having second thoughts about it especially when I saw the very minute parts. I sure hope it will not tear up the vacuum cleaner. The little girl got plenty (maybe more than her brother's) of toys that are mostly educational which makes me happy since I have been thinking about buying her some of the stuff that was given to her. Good thing I didn't. Unfortunately, the husband and I did not get anything. We did not even get presents for each other. He said we are getting stingy which is true but we do have think of ways to save money, not spend it considering how bad the economy is. But, we would have accepted gardening gifts if anybody just asked what we wanted. I mean, I do plan to have a garden next year so it should help. Nobody asked though and maybe it was a good thing too because then we would have felt guilty if we got something from any of the relatives without us giving anything in return. So, I guess it was okay we did not get presents. What matters is that the kids did and they are happy with what was given to them. Our kids' happiness is what counts.

new shoes

I bought the little man a pair of converse canvas shoes last week. The shoes were on sale at JC Penney and I just love how they look and thought it will look good on my son's feet. It was already discounted but I found out I can still use coupons if I buy the pair which is what I did. We normally get coupons for the husband who has a jcp store card but I also got birthday coupons from them this month being my birthday month. I had a $15 coupon then used the husband's $10 coupon which when applied had me paying 1.99 for the shoes. I could have saved more if I opted for store pick up but since I did not have anything I wanted to go to the store for plus the fact we live about thirty minutes away from it so I went ahead and paid for shipping. It was still less than $10 all in all. I am happy with my purchase. The little man who has seen the shoes (I did not think of wrapping it up as one of his Christmas presents) said it is nice. I am glad he likes the shoes. I might even buy a pair for his sister if the size I want to buy for her will become available. I like it when I score a good deal especially if it is for my kids. I want to buy them nice stuff but only if I don't spend so much money on it. After all, we do not need to spend so much if mommy is patient to scour online for good deals :)