Chili vs Beans

I love Chili. I love it so much I would marry it, well, you know, if Pol was okay with sharing me. Here's what keeps me from marrying it. Beans. I do not love beans. It's a consistency thing. I don't like mushy things... especially beans... any kind. Well, I take that back, green beans are ok... but that's because they have a hardish shell.

We have said goodbye to canned beans and we only do dry beans now.. my lame attempt at a being a little bit healthier. Oddly, I do a bit better with these beans... don't ask me why... but trust me... the beans are different.

WHY am I tell you all of this?!? Because I sit here at my desk eating my leftover chili, and I am thinking about how when I take home my container Pol will make fun of how I only really eat half of my food because I leave so many beans. And he's right. I eat a lot of crackers and meat, with a few beans thrown in (the crackers help with the beans mushiness)

Harmonica Sessions: Part 2

Harmonica Sessions: Part 2 from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

In case you need help understanding 3 yr old dialect:
At the end of Part 1 he asks for a sip. Yes, that would be a sip of coffee.. his father's iced mocha. The addictions of the parents will be passed on to the children.

In Part 2 he is saying "this one is pretty cool.. right?" There might be another word or two in there... but that is the gist.

Harmonica Sessions: Part 1

L discovered the harmonica. He also discovered he is awesome on it. Because of these discoveries I will be bringing you the "Harmonica Sessions" for the next few weeks. Enjoy!

Harmonica Sessions: part 1 from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

Spike

L loves his dinosaur/dragon, Spike. I think Spike is technically a dragon, but sometimes he's a dinosaur. If he wants Spike to be a dinosaur one day and a fire breathing dragon the next, I am completely okay with this considering I have no idea what are the differences between the two species anyway.

Why am I babbling on about this dino-dragon that has infiltrated every part of our lives? Simply to say...L loves him. He cuddles with him, he eats with him, he pees with him, he baths with him, they terrorize Scout and Mocha together, you know, real boy and dragon bonding things. Here's the thing, this dino-dragon is hard as a rock... literally, he is a hard-shelled plastic toy. He often makes L cry by konking him on the head, the hand, the toe, the mouth... really any and all body parts have been hit hard by old Spike. L endures the pain all in the name of love, only the love Andy from Toy Story could possibly understand.

L loves Spike so much he insists on hanging pictures of him all over the house. Lucky for us, Pol is quite the expert dragon artist. We have lots of pictures of fire-breathing dragons hanging in our living room now. L said the other day we needed to add people to the pictures. When I asked why he said, "Then the dragon can breath fire on them. Kill them. And eat them."

oh. ok. of course.

Here is a little glimpse into the dragons created during daddy and son art time.

My Liam

This morning as we walked into school, L's little girlfriend ran up to him for her morning hug. He obliged. He used to just stand there stiff as a board while she tackled him. He has finally learned to give into her embrace.

She yelled "MY LIAM!"

Then I grabbed my son into my arms and said "You are not hers! You are MY LIAM!"

Thus begins the endless fight of a mother vs every female in the world for her son's affections.*

*of course it is not like that with MY mother-in-law.

PS. Reliable sources have told me that said girlfriend tells L what and when he can eat. If she can get him to try new veggies then she just might win my heart. I said MIGHT.

Go Fish

Gamblers beware... L knows a little something about playing cards. And he's not so bad. As a matter of fact, he is so good his father is asking me to play at night in order to figure out the boy's secret.

I know you think I am joking.. I am not. Literally the other night around 9:30pm Pol looks at me and goes "Want to play cards?" It's not really all that odd of a request, but since we have never played cards. EVER. It was an odd question. Plus, I don't even know if we own a deck of cards, not counting L's Cars cards.

Here's the funniest part (I know you are thinking... could it really get funnier? It does). Pol follows up his questions with.. "You know, we could play Go Fish or Crazy Eight or War. Whatever." TOTALLY SERIOUS. I might have burst out laughing at him. No, it wasn't a might. I did. I burst out laughing.

You need to see the video below to totally understand the serious card playing that goes on in our household.

Go Fish from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

Snot + Chocolate

= yumminess

Heavy Metal Mater

I know I have been posting a lot of videos lately... you are welcome. I don't think I have told you, but my parents got me a fancy schmancy new macbook for Christmas, so editing/posting videos has been a ton easier. You, my blogosphere friends, reap the benefits of the wonderful mac world that now sits in my lap.

All that to say... here is a riveting video of our musical son playing the guitar he got for Christmas. It's pretty darn cute. And I think his music influence is Heavy Metal Mater.

Guitar Boy from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

The Angel

Some kids decide to do angels in the snow. Some kids, well, our kid, decided to do a different kind of angel. Another awesome reason to have dogs.

Untitled from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

Also...

We did this...


and this...

Snow Day

Here's what we are doing today...

Bouncy thing at the mall

I need to start this post with letting you know I am only posting this against my better judgment. I might have lost a bet. Pol might have actually won a game of Frisbee golf last night.

HAHA.. that's just funny, I said Pol won a game of Frisbee golf. Man, even typing it makes me laugh. I am and will always be the reigning winner of some serious Wii sports resort. But a bet is a bet and even though I won, I am still uploading this video, like I said.. against my better judgment.

Now, what you are about to see is an extreme sport that I do not recommend you allowing your children to participate in. My sister obviously does not care about the welfare of her children, or she too would not allow them to get on this dangerous apparatus. You will take careful notice that my son safely has his two feet planted on the ground.

I chose to go on this death trap because I was not warned of how very high you are flung into the abyss. Once on trampoline I just knew one really good bounce and my head would shatter into a million pieces on the ceiling of the mall. I was saving myself as well as the Christmas shoppers of the Asheville mall by just barely going air born. Anna and Josh did not understand the danger they were in, as they were trying to touch the ceiling with their tongues.

As far as this video goes.. it really doesn't look like I am jumping at all.. but I am. I AM GOING VERY HIGH!

Untitled from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

Year of the Train

If you know anything about our son, and if you read this blog, then you know something about our son. Our boy is one of those boys that stands. in awe. and wonder. mouth-open. drooling. at trains.

I have no idea how long this crush will last, but for him it's a very real and very deep love. Polar Express was the theme of our entire December. We are slowly trying to ween him off of the need to watch the movie and listen to the soundtrack on repeat. It's like we are ripping a band-aid off slowly.

To extend the pain, I made a little video to remember how this Christmas the sweet baby Jesus was delivered via a big huge steam engine. I am positive L will want to watch this video one thousand and one times. I am also positive I will regret making him this video, but until regret sets in.. enjoy riding the rails with L.

Christmas 2010 train from michelle buckingham on Vimeo.

Thank you, God, for bedtime prayers:

Me: Thank you, God, for hope.
Pol: Thank you, God, for Liam and his mommy.
L: Thank you, God, for my big huge steam engine.
Me: Thank you, God, for Scout and Mocha.
Pol: Thank you, God, for a warm house over our heads.
L: Thank you, God, for my big huge steam engine.
Me: Aren't you thankful to God for anything else?
L: Ummmm... Thank you, God, for train tracks.
And my gun.

Thank you, God, for little boys.

Butterbeer

Sometimes you just need a Butterbeer.

The East Nashvillian:

Whiskey drinking.
Theology loving.
Thrift store wearing.
Burly bearded hipster.

Only one of those descriptions actually fits Pol. Yet... perhaps he is a closet hipster.

Yes, yes, I think he just might be.