The Great Shoe Debacle

We couldn't find Finn's shoes the other morning. This was rather problematic, as we needed to get to work, and Finn only has one pair of shoes. I figure, if I'm going to shell out for the expensive shoes that don't actually fall apart on him, he's only getting one pair. This seemed totally reasonable to me until we couldn't find them.

So, Finn seemed unconcerned, Liam was dawdling with his own shoes, and Matt and I were frantically searching every corner of the house. Remembering how Liam had once put his in the laundry basket, I was going through all of the laundry in the house. We were desperate. Finally I turn to Liam, and say, "You get to be Detective Liam! If you can find Finn's shoes, I'll put a treat in your lunch box today!"

Within minutes, Liam had located the missing shoes under a bookshelf. I told Finn, "please don't hide your shoes again!" We were so happy, and Liam got lots of praise and a strawberry fruit leather in his lunch. We were quite late at this point, so I went to help Liam with his own shoes (yes, they were still not on!) while continuing to praise him for helping us.

Suddenly, Liam bursts into tears. "I'm the one who put them there!" He was nearly inconsolable with guilt. I didn't know whether to laugh or yell, so I just hugged him and we went to school/work. I'm glad his conscience works!!

Recent interests

Reading about Jamie's interests has caused me to ponder Liam's recent interests. I think I can safely blame playmobil toys for his recent interest in guns and swords. Sigh. However, Martin Luther King day has re-kindled his interest in death, and he explained to me how someone "shooted" him. Then we had to discuss why someone would do that. In the end, Liam decided that MLK didn't deserve to be shooted. When I asked if anyone deserved to be shot, he said that someone who didn't stop when the police told him to deserved it. A reasonable scenario. The topic was dropped briefly, and then Liam declared "Jesus is dead." Can't we go back to talking about space shuttles??

Liam's joke

Liam tells a lot of jokes these days, and most of them are not funny at all. For example, why did the ice cream truck cross the road? to get some more ice cream. The other day, though, he made a joke that was actually funny.

He was learning about weather at school, and studies thermometers. When he got home, he began to tell us what he learned, and how the mercury went up when the temperature went up. Matt tried to correct him, telling him that mercury was not used in thermometers anymore, but Liam didn't believe him. He repeated that Miss Jill said it was mercury. We obviously were never going to be able to contradict Miss Jill. Matt persisted, though, and really made his point that mercury was no longer used in thermometers, until Liam paused in his protesting, got a sly look on his face, and said, "I think thermometers have Pluto in them!" before bursting out laughing. It was actually pretty funny, and not a bad pun!

Right now . . .

Finn is pretending to drink coffee (he doesn't know it is a bad idea to drink coffee before bed).
Liam is asking where his guacamole (i.e. Guatemala) flag is.
Matt is patiently waiting to read a Dora the Explorer book.
I am coughing and hacking.
The cats are sleeping.

The cats have the right idea.

New Years Day

Since I was feeling really sick on New Years day, we stayed in and spent most of the day in pyjamas. I wasn't up to wrestling, but Matt felt pretty good, so here is how the day was spent:

Giving thanks

I admit that we are not always the best about remembering to give thanks before we eat, but we were able to sit down to more meals together over the holidays, and made some effort. Geof said a lovely prayer before Christmas dinner, and Liam wanted to add something. He gave thanks for his family, and especially his brother. It was incredibly sweet, and brought a little tear to my eye.

As we sat down to eat a couple of days later, Liam again wanted to say grace. He gave a similar speech, saying, "I'm thankful for my family, and my brother, and for his being born because he is a really nice boy. God bless Finian David. Amen." Matt asked Finn if there was anything he wanted to give thanks for, and Finn thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I'm thankful for . . . exercise!!!!" I'm sure he is also grateful for his brother.

Christmas all over again

We all got to have a second Christmas last weekend when Geof and Lo came to town. The boys got lots and lots of vehicles, and some fun dress up clothes:

They also really enjoyed the slot car racing set from Aunt Breezy and Uncle Mike. In fact, all of the boys enjoyed it:

Yes, all of the boys:

It's too bad we all ended up sick, because otherwise it was a great way to end the year.