A brief glimpse into the daily happenings of a 6-year-old, his new baby brother and his family.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Actually, my name is Leonardo

Before Ben was born, I swore I would NOT, under any circumstances, EVER allow a child of mine to wear costumes in public if the date was not October 31st. I thought it was funny to see a little girl in her jeans, a tutu and fairy wings, and plastic high heels at the grocery store or a little boy with shorts, a Superman pajama top with a cape, and cowboy boots at Target. Funny, but embarrassing. Who lets their kid go out looking like that?

I also swore I wasn't going to be a "weapons" mom. While I understand that the hard-wiring on the Y chromosome clearly carried some need to pretend to shoot things, a child of mine would have to be creative enough to build a weapon out of Legos or straws. We would NOT have a house full of guns, swords, etc.

Fast-forward to the present day. Who lets their kid go out looking like that? Turns out I do. But, it's not a costume that my kid wears... it's weapons.

Thank you, dear Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for introducing my son to the weapons of a ninja. Most of all, thank you for having turtle shells (that during the mutating process that made you grow as big as people and learn to speak and eat pizza) suddenly come equipped with convenient storage for your weapons.



See how Leonardo (the blue mask) wears his swords? Turns out, poor Benjamin Charles Mayfield wasn't born with a sword holder on his back, so he had to improvise. One day, he started cramming two swords down the back of his shirt. The next thing I know, I began allowing him to wear them until he got into the van. Later, it was "into the store." Next thing I know, he's wearing swords everywhere we go except school.


The swords have made an appearance at Target, the grocery store, Costco, the library, every house we visit, and restaurants. It's become a ritual that when we go out for dinner I say, "If you take out your swords at dinner..." and Ben chimes in with, "I know. You'll take them away."

He wears them so often, I think he looks a little naked when he leaves them in the van to attend preschool (strict NO WEAPONS policy, even for turtles). Everywhere we go, people comment. Ok, they point and laugh, then they comment. We hear, "Look at that little boy with his swords." Then they say, "I like your swords." Ben looks them in the eye and says, "Hi. My name is Leonardo."

Recently, we were at a party at a friends' house. A mom I hadn't met before said, "Are you Leo's mom?" I looked totally confused. She tried again, "Leo? Little guy with blondish-brown hair? He has swords on his back?"

At our every-Friday-night dinner spot, everyone from the hostess and servers, to the manager say, "Hey! It's Leonardo! How are you?" Often, they bring over other servers who haven't had the pleasure of having us sit at their table to meet the famous Leonardo.

You'd think that this sword-wearing phase would be restricted to hours when Ben is awake. Clearly you don't know the obsessive nature of my son. Turns out those swords can be crammed down the back of a pair of pajamas just as easily as a shirt. Heck, you can even sleep with them. I think the point is that you never know when you're going to need them. That, and, that we're all really good parents BEFORE we have kids.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Rock Chalk Jayhawk

The celebration of the Jayhawk National Championship is now even better since Coach Self has promised to stay at KU. Not that we haven't been celebrating... After the exciting win on Monday, we picked Ben up early from school on Tuesday and joined 20,000 of our closest friends at Memorial Stadium to welcome the team home.

In honor of the Jayhawk victory, here's a little historical review of our own little Jayhawk.
Baby Jayhawk
November 2004


Ben and Allyson
January 2005


"Jay" Walking
November 2005


First visit to the big Jayhawk on campus
July 2005


We're a Jayhawk Family
November 2007


Future Frat Boys
(Ben and Linus)

January 2008

Sunday, April 6, 2008

10 Random Things

Because Amy tagged me and nobody loves a good list as much as I do, here is a list of 10 random things about me (in no particular order).

1. I am obsessed with buying can koozies. (You know, those trashy foam things that you put a can in?) I love them. I firmly believe that diet coke from a can is only acceptable when consumed while inside a koozie.


2. I can't use text-messaging short hand because it drives the grammar teacher in me crazy. (ex: b4 for before, U for you)

3. If given the opportunity, I would eat only salt & vinegar potato chips for the rest of my life.

4. When I was 3 or 4, I was on Romper Room. I had to be told to let the other kids have a turn in the tunnel (I kept going through then running right back to the front of the line).

5. In the last year, I have come to believe in angels. Well, one anyway. (I miss Allyson so much).

6. Right now, I'm reading "I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids" and "Nineteen Minutes." One is a feel-better-about-yourself-parenting book, the other is a fiction novel about a high school shooting.

7. I purposefully think of words I know Ben can't pronounce and then find reasons for him to say them over and over. Right now, it's "pink fury" (a Backyardagains thing), "trick", and "Band aid."

8. I can't stand black licorice. The smell alone makes me sick.

9. Someday I want to live on water--- lake, or ideally, an ocean.

10. I think "fart", "poop", and "burp" humor is hilarious. I laugh like a 13-year-old boy. (Just typing the words made me chuckle.)

Friday, April 4, 2008

Truth in Advertising...


..and, why I haven't been blogging as often.