Monday, July 28, 2008

Meeting the Neighbors

Montgomery, Illinois, is a really nice place to live. Where we live, there's a real sense of community, and not just a bedroom community.

From our backyard, we can see Gamble's new school between the houses, and we have met quite a few of the neighbors, who come from all walks of life, and who have all been very welcoming.

Block party for the neighborhood is this Saturday.

But the real kicker was the other night. At nine o'clock at night, the doorbell rings. I go to the door, hoping it's someone to pick up the free boxes we've unpacked and get them out of our hair.

Nope.

The next thing you know, I'm going to the pantry to get a single slice of white bread to help a couple of kids - a brother/sister team, possibly - with their scavenger hunt.

How cool is that?

That Dream

Gamble's been dreaming more and more, and reporting on those dreams.

The other morning, I was sitting at the computer checking personal email before leaving for work, and Gamble came out of his room to talk to me.

"Daddie, I had a dream last night."

"What was that dream about?"

"Well, in my dream, I played in my backyard on my playset. Except the playset had three slides on it - the ones it has now, and another one, and it was really big!"

"Wow, Gamble, that's really cool!"

"And you know who was playing on it with me?" He looked at the floor, almost blushing. "Jenna. From my preschool?"

Wow. I remember Jenna, but I'm surprised he does. It's pretty amazing, as he hasn't seen her in about a year, I think.

So it was his first girlfriend!

Moved

Finally.

I feel like we're mostly in.

Not that I had anything to do with it. Nicole is the hero here. She not only organized almost all the closing stuff and the movers, but once here, she unpacked a majority of the boxes in the house.

It looks beautiful. With most of the boxes out of sight (though many are still in the garage), the house is functional. Next step, color on the walls. I'm not sure whether it will be me or a pro, but we will soon have some color.

So now that we're in, and everything's calming down a little, hopefully I can update everyone on the kids, one story at a time.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Mommie Jackpot

From Mommie:

The most adorable thing just happened.

I was cleaning the kitchen and the boys were gone, so it was just Pabu and I. We haven't really mentioned it here, but she is known for loving the intro song to the TV show "Reba" ("I'm a survivor"). Whenever she hears it, she will move mountains to get to the TV to see it.

Well, it came on and I knew to look for her. She was far away from the TV, so I ran and met her half way to get her to see the last little bit of it. After it was over, I asked her for a hug.

Without hesistation, she gave me a hug and then with a coy smile, she looked to her left, smiled again, and gave me a kiss... without prompting! Wow!

Those of you that know her knows that she is not free with her kisses or her hugs and you have to almost beg her to get one. To get blessed with a Random Kiss... I just hit the mommie-jackpot!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Getting a Drink

Today, Nic sent on a funny story:

From the Kitchen to the Master bedroom I hear, "Pabu, you are going to be in so much trouble! I am telling Mom on you!"

Me (calling out): What is wrong, Gamble?

Stomp, stomp, stomp. (Gamble is coming to the bedroom.)

Gamble: Pabu tried to drink my water and now we are both soaked. There was no lid on it. She now has it all over her head and my clothes are soaked. I am so mad at her!

I started laughing hysterically

Gamble: Mom, it is not funny!

I went to have a look at the situation. Sure enough, Random was standing at the kitchen table with water all over her head trying to reach the cup again for a sip of water. Because I was still laughing, Gamble was growing even more frustrated. "Gam," I said, "It's funny. She tried to do something and ended up with water all over her head. C'mon, you gotta see how funny that is."

Gamble: Okay, I guess it is kinda funny.

Shirts were changed, the floor was cleaned, Gamble finished breakfast and all was again right with the world... even if it was a little wet.

Same Tall

The other night, Gamble and I called Nic’s folks on the phone, the way we do many nights. For some reason, despite having on reasonably warm jammies, he decided that he wanted some socks, so he pulled out two white socks.

They weren’t quite a pair; one was a calf-length, and one was an ankle sock. After putting the ankle sock on, he scrunched up his face in disgust. Then he took the short sock off and went back to his closet for another. He found one that was also a calf-length sock.

The evening’s light was waning, and we’d not yet put on the light in his room, so I wasn’t sure the socks were different colors.

“Gamble, that sock looks grey. Is it grey?”

“No, Daddie. It’s white. See?” He held up his foot. The color still wasn’t clear to me. It’s amazing how color-blind we are in dim light.

A couple minutes passed, and we were playing on his bed when I held up his two feet. “Gamble, these socks are two different colors.”

He scrunched up his face, and he held his feet up in the waning sunlight, where he could see them more clearly. He shrugged, “That’s okay, Daddie. Because they’re the Same Tall.”

This resonates, as I remember the old Stephen Wright gag (found on Wikipedia):

I went into this bar and sat down next to a pretty girl. She looked at me and said, "Hey, you have two different colored socks on." I said, "Yeah, I know, but to me they're the same because I go by thickness."

Still. I prefer “Same Tall” as a punchline. But then again, I prefer Gamble to Stephen Wright.

They’re not the Same Tall.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Welcome Home

Woohoo! The kids are home.

G gets a little more mature, and R gets more beautiful every day, and it's never more evident than when they're away.

With Nicole and I packing up the house all weekend, the kids got to spend the fourth away in sunny Wauseon with Nic's folks. Thank goodness. We got to get so much done, and now we're ready for the close on the 18th.

Oh man, I can't wait for the new house. Moving sucks. Selling a house sucks more.

But we did get a lot done. And we got to go out. Nic had the best prime rib we've ever collectively had at Entourage in Schaumburg, and that's definitely a plug. Some of the best meals we've had have been there, and even though we'll be moving about 45 minutes away, we'll still consider going up there for date night.

Either way, we're super glad to have the kids back. Gamble and I played Mario tonight, and played with his new Kid K'Nex (Kid K'Nex : K'Nex :: Duplos : Legos, if ye ken). Pabu was super happy to see her Daddie, and we rolled around on the floor playing.

Welcome back home, kids!