Logic will get you from A to B.  Imagination will take you everywhere.  ~Albert Einstein

Until his ipod, you couldn't pry Kyle's Nitendo DS from his hands... (T-shirt courtesy of Aunt Nikki)

Kyle is definitely a logical person, very uniformed and structured in his thinking and habits.  He thinks things through, and in order to accept the way something is dictated or presented to him, he has to have a full understanding and it has to make logical sense.  If not, he has no trouble questioning, anyone!

Although, I am happy with this level of logic Kyle exemplifies.  I am also happy to have observed his inner creativity on a number of occasions from Listening to a Child’s Thoughts and Afraid of a Story.  Kyle does have a very vivid imagination!  This is so true for movies, books, video games and even walking back the hallway to his room.  Granted, I get it, Kyle is after all a kid, and majority of children have imaginations to some degree, but Kyle physically feels the story.  However, the opposite is true, when something doesn’t capture his attention.  He is not interested and doesn’t give it the time of day.  But, once Kyle’s mind is engrossed in the subject, he is mentally and physically committed.

While watching cartoons, movies and playing video games, Kyle brings the action to life through his verbal and animated gestures.  It seems the natural course of action goes like this:  Kyle sees the subject of interest, the visual enters through his eyes and ears, it makes its way around his brain, then exists through his mouth and arms.  Kyle will literally makes the gun and car sounds, his version of a running noise, or mimics the background music, especially if it emphasizes tension or suspense.

During his video game battles when things  start heating up, Kyle throws up his hands and begins rubbing his head, as if in a stressful motion, and his whole body tenses.  It’s rather funny!

When Kyle was probably around five or so, he would ride around in the shopping cart in the store, usually playing his Nintendo DS.  One time, just out of curiosity, mom and I pushed the cart containing Kyle, to the middle of the isle and we proceeded to hide at the other end, peeking at Kyle from around shelved merchandise.  This was my experiment, to see how long it would take Kyle to leave his game, come back to reality, and realize he was alone and not moving anymore.  Just as we started to execute the experiment, one guy in the isle watched us and wondered what the heck we were doing.  That is until he gave us a devilish grin and saw the kid in the cart intently playing his video game.  It took Kyle close to ten minutes before he realized he was along and we were gone, well actually hidden out of immediate sight.  Mom and I almost fell over laughing as we peeked around the isle to watch him.  He first just happened to look up, then to his surprise he was alone, no one was in the isle.  All we heard him say was, “Hello?” like he was answering a telephone!  No screaming, no immediate panic, kind of just curious.  It was too much, mom and I busted out laughing and came walking toward Kyle.  He sat there with the biggest grin ever!  He said, “I was wondering where you went?”  I said, “You didn’t even notice we were gone.”  He just smile, knowing the point I was making.

Kyle's dinosaur drawing 9/18/11

This past weekend was really rainy, cold and dreary.  The ingredients for a perfect book weekend, well the perfect time to do some baking too.  Kyle was almost done with his Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix book, so we sat and read it together.  I really enjoy creating intensity while reading, through the rhythm of the words, the pace the sentences are read, and the proper use of enunciation and exclamation.  On Sunday night, we both squeezed in the chair in my living-room and picked up where we left off from earlier.  It was pretty intense.  Every time I turned the page, Kyle was rubbing his head, throwing up his hands in an excited motion, and letting out squeals.  He truly makes reading fun, and brings the excitement of the stories to life!  I hope Kyle keeps that intensity through life!

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.  ~Maya Angelou

Kyle sport'n Nicole's Turbie Twist 2001

Everyone knows I can’t sing, plain and simple.  I wish I could, but alas I was not blessed with the gift of music.  In fact, I think I’m slightly tone deaf, but regardless, I do love music and sometimes I just have to belt it out.  I am also a bit of an instigator, no big surprise there.  Sometimes I need to fulfill my need to sing and antagonize, what better way than through the repetition of rejoicing through song.  Then when you put the need to squeak out, off beat musical lyrics, with my natural ability to push someone’s buttons, you get a lot of irritation.

There are times when I am just inspired by great music and I want to sing.  I feel happy and joyous and I certain let it out to let the world know!  For example, when we leave church and they play my favorite songs, it truly makes my day!  I can’t help it, when you hear the organ kicking How Great Thou Art, America, or Amazing Grace, you just want to continue singing those songs all day long.  There are a number of other tunes I adore that are played in church, but alas they are escaping me at the moment.  Not only are they great songs that rejuvenate the soul, but they also take me back to my childhood.  I remember listening to the same songs, sitting in the pews of the same church, with my family and my classmates from Sacred Heart.  Then when we get home, just like I was a kid, I’m still singing the songs.  Sometimes very slight and subtle and sometimes you’d swear I was on stage performing for an entire arena.

Kyle's play at daycare was a hit! c.2004

What really cracks me up is Kyle.  He does the exact same thing!  Out of no where I’ve hear him repeat a song or a line of a song and bellow it out like he was an opera singer.  Especially when we leave church, just like me.  He will continue singing the song or Kyle’s favorite, Alleluia.  Yep, that’s his old stand by for anything, especially if something goes his way or turns out right, like a Lego creation, you’ll hear Kyle sing, ALLELUIA!  ALLELUIA!  He even uses his hands as if he’s a conductor or lifts them in a fashion as if the light of God was shining down on him.  It’s hilarious!  I even join him in his jubilation.

Then there are times when it’s not a song, but a word or a phrase, usually heard in a movie or on a show.  I can’t help myself, I just have the urge to keep repeating it.  My sister will appreciate this one.  When we were in Los Angeles, on our way to our hotel room, I all of a sudden I started saying, “Hey you what’s your dream?  Hey mista, what’s your dream?, everyone’s got a dream.”  If you didn’t know it’s a line from Pretty Women, from a side character without a name.  Nicole knew instantly where I got that from.  She laughed at first and then said, “You better not do this the entire time we’re here.”  You know what?  I did!  I just felt like it.  The funny thing is, I do it when you least expect it.  Although, even Nicole has to laugh over that one.  As I think back on it now, my brother used to repeat that line too! But he was much funnier.

Sometimes there’s no reason for the outburst, just to do it.  One weekend a few months ago, Nicole was home and out of no where I walked around saying “Watcha self!” with complete gusto.  Where I got that phrase, I have no idea.  But I thought it was so funny.  So at random times throughout the entire weekend, you’d hear me project, “Watcha self!”  With small giggles to appease me, Nicole would say, “Yes Aunt Heather.”  Even Kyle thought it was funny, or he enjoyed me tormenting my sister.  Either way, he decided to join in, to get a rise out of Nicole no doubt.  She just laughed and I believe I saw her roll her eyes at us.

That following weekend, I was at the computer and Kyle was playing with his Lego’s behind me, then all of a sudden Kyle said, “Hey Aunt Heather, Watcha Self!”  That was a classic!  I instantly stopped and started laughing as I turned around.  Then to get him going, I belted it out, “Watcha Self!”  Then of course taking the most of the situation I said, “Hey let’s get Aunt Nikki on the phone.”  Kyle, with this devilish grin, nodded his head and instantly agreed.  I love my buddy, he is truly the coolest cat!!  Sometimes it little stupid moments that show we are related and cement our bond further. What’s your Alleluia?

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of the generations and nations.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Me & Nicole ready for Easter mass, holding our new books c.1979

As Kyle continues on his journey through Harry Potter (Order of the Phoenix), he seems to also be interested in what I’m reading.  It’s no secret that my sister and I have read The Hunger Games, a couple of times, and we did anticipate the movie launch with much excitement.  Kyle was certainly interested in the books and asked me about them on a number of occasions.  Nicole and I have discussed letting him read the books.  I told him when he finishes his Harry Potter books, he can certainly start The Hunger Games.  Once, when we were talking about the movie coming out, Kyle said to me, “You know I’ll wait to see the movie first to see if I want to read those books.”  Yikes!  No that’s not the way it’s suppose to be.  I told him, “Kyle the books are ALWAYS better than the movies.  You miss so much if you just see the movie.  You get to use your imagination and escape when you are reading. I promise you, you will love these books, they are easy to read and will keep your attention.  Plus the fun part about getting so involved in a book is the excitement you share with other fans when movies are released based on books.”  First let’s step back to analyze this.  Nicole and I weren’t sure if Kyle was old enough to read the books, and just because of his reaction, my logic was turned completely around to the point where I was now pushing the books on him.  Ummm, he is a smart little man!

Regardless, it’s neat to see Kyle’s interest in what Nicole and I are interested in.  It’s no secret Kyle hears us talking about a new book coming out, a book being turned into a movie, or simply the stories themselves.  Nicole and I both still purchase the old fashioned words printed on paper.  Neither one of us are really interested in reading electronic books, at least not just yet. We still enjoy swapping books back and forth, which I think gets Kyle intrigued and influences him by our actions.

Me on Easter morning, probably really early in the morning c.1979

Sometimes when Kyle is working on his homework, I’ll sneak in a few pages of whatever book I’m on, while waiting for him to finish up, to check his work.  A little while ago, I was reading The Millennium Series, better known as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.  Kyle came over to me and asked, “What are you reading?”  He inspected the cover of the book, which is the original, plain with a canvas type of cover, not the movie cover.  He flipped it over and there was a very yellow inside page with a map of Sweden on the inside.  He instantly said, “Wow, look at that! What’s the book about?” I tried to generally explain it’s a mystery thriller and one of the main characters is a hacker who is a genius and the other main character is an investigative journalist.  He was really intrigued by the plain book.  He gave me a look of ‘Do you think I would like it?’, until I read his thought and instantly jumped ahead of the question by saying, “This is an adult book.  It’s really very good, but a little too violent for you.”  That satisfied him and he omitted the thought from his mind.  At least for now.

You know, two weeks ago Kyle pulled out his Harry Potter book and was sitting there reading in the living-room.  The TV was blaring but it didn’t seem to bother Kyle, he was pretty engrossed in the words on the page.  Just then dad turned to Kyle and said, “Whatcha reading buddy?”  Kyle responded with a very brief, “Harry Potter.”  It seemed as though now at that moment, dad wanted to have a conversation with Kyle, which I knew was not going to happen.  He was too involved in the story, but that didn’t stop dad.  Sometimes my dad is so thick, he never pays attention, yet sometimes he is so intuitive that it’s almost shocking.  Anyway, this is one of those times when dad was just being thick and didn’t notice Kyle didn’t want to be disturbed.  Dad proceeded to ask, “Is it good?  Do you like those books?”  Kyle not even looking up from his book gave him a very short, “Ya”.

Ryan Easter morning. He always had a sweet tooth! c.1979

Guessing those short comments didn’t satisfy dad, because he decided to talk about his old reading habits.  I knew my dad was a reader, but I had forgotten.  Ever since dad’s eyes needed the assistance of reading classes, he really doesn’t read much.  Regardless, dad went on to say, “Yep Kyle you don’t know it, but your old pappy used to read all the time.  There wasn’t a book in the library that didn’t have my name on it.”  Just then I saw Kyle break away from the imaginative world he was visiting, to listen.  Dad went on, “Yes and even Gigi was a reader.  We both liked to read.  I’m glad to see you like reading too.”  Kyle nodded and was now giving dad his attention, but with a ‘Really?’ look.

My parents love of reading seems like a thing of a faint memory, but I absolutely remember it.  My mom would read poems and short stories to us.  For some reason the only author that comes to mind was Edgar Allan Poe, specifically the poem Bells!  She would read it with such great rhythm and timing, you couldn’t help but get excited and get wrapped up in the ringing of the bells.  Another book that sticks out was North and South, and I remember her talking about some book on drug wars and discussing it with her friends.  That’s funny, but looking back on it now, I see things from Kyle’s perspective.  You know, growing up around such an interest in books does stays with you.  Believe it or not, I remember thinking, I would like to read that book on drug wars.  It seemed so interesting, that was before I knew about drugs or even where Columbia was located, but I knew I wanted to read what mom was talking about.  Now dad’s reading choice consisted of mainly history books, specifically wars.  I was never a big war buff, but I always liked hearing about history, still do.  I guess I was pretty lucky to have parents who indirectly influenced us.  I mean it was a given that every Easter we would have new books in our Easter baskets.  A tradition I have adopted for Kyle.

Kyle mentioned that some of his friends had already read through all the Harry Potter books.  I know he can’t wait till I read them.  Finishing the first one with Kyle when he went through his I HATE READING! phase and the follow up, Harry Potter Made Me Do It!  He told me that his friends are always asking him what part of the book he’s on.  I’m sure they discuss the books, just like I do with my friends.

It’s amusing, but it’s true, books create a different type of interest and communication that literally spans generations.  Well, sometimes Reading Brings Generations Together…Or Not?.  Whether its fiction or some other type of genre, there is always a reason to discuss or give an opinion, and there is always so much to learn.

Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor! Effie Trinket, p. 19

While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.  ~Unknown

There is nothing like getting excited about a good book and looking forward to retiring for the evening and curling up on the couch or in bed with the story that has consumed your thoughts.  What makes it better is when you can share that excitement with others of equal interest.  My sister and I tend to steer toward the same genres and book themes, for the most part.  Nicole doesn’t like my political or art history books, and she used to like her suspense, horror, which I never really cared about.  But we both love fiction.  Regardless, when we get into books, we REALLY get into them!  Nicole lent me a helping hand to join the Twilight bandwagon.  Sad to admit it, but I read each book three times.  Then to give my contribution, I brought Nicole into the Mortal Instrument world and the most recent craze, The Hunger Games.

Now bringing me to my point.  I’ve always said, reading closes the gap between generations and opens up communication.  Very true!  But what if confusion is caused because of a lack of information or interest?  Well then, it can be hilarious and make for a great story, or at the very least a ‘Comment’ on Facebook!  Well before today, the release of The Hunger Games movie, I will admit I did partake in the hype and countdown as with many other fans.  Nicole and I talked about it endlessly and Nicole even purchased her gear for the premiere last night.  Yes we both read the books twice already and I’m sure Ill read them again before the next movie, Catching Fire comes out in 2013.

Ok I’m making this very funny short story, long.  I wish I would have recorded the date, but alas I didn’t think of it.  I could go back in Nicole’s Facebook timeline, but that would require a lot of unnecessary work, since it won’t effect the the story.

As I was reviewing my Facebook wall, naturally my sister’s posts are at the top of my feeds.   I almost died when I read this…. LOL.  Mom cracks me up!  She couldn’t understand what my sister was volunteering for?  What really brought tears to my eyes and made me fall out of my seat, is the lack of inquiring of what exactly is District 12?  In fact, at the time this unfolded, I was at work.  Without hesitation, I quickly called out the post to Kelly to read.  We were both completely laughing out of control.  Just then I was a bit quicker on the response to my mom, which I guess Kelly wanted to post that quote.  Thinking about it, she may have added another quote, but I must have been to quick with the screen shot to capture it.

When I finally got to talk to mom about this, she mentioned my sister had already called her to explain.  Yep, leave it to Nicole to make sure there is understanding and peace in the world, while I would rather just sit back and laugh.  Mom said she thought Nicole was volunteering for something but she couldn’t quite understand what?  I asked her, “What did you think District 12 was?” and she responded, “I thought it was a section of Washington, D.C.”  I said, “Mom what do you think Nicole and I have been talking about for months?”  Mom replied, “O I don’t get into all those vampires.”  Umm, strike out again mom!  I said, “The Hunger Games isn’t about vampires, it’s about kids killing kids.”  She gave me a confused look.  No wonder, putting it that way, she probably wonders what demented tastes we have in books.

Well, mom’s all straightened out, not that she was really concerned.  So please take a minute and enjoy the communication gap between generations and between interests in book genres.  I truly found humor in the entire conversation and post conversations.

A healthy outside starts from the inside.  ~Robert Urich

Mom & dad at Dad's Christmas Party 2006

My family is certainly not the epitome of good health and we are certainly not the poster children for great physical shape.  Do we try? Sure sometimes.  Like most people, we fall off the wagon and try to get back on, the endless cycle.  Recently we’ve noticed that Kyle’s eating and physical activity needs to be addressed, and fast.  He is like most kids who sit and play video games, probably more hours than I care to image.  It’s true I still take him to swimming lessons once a week for 45 minutes and on the weekends we take the dogs for hikes through the woods, lasting at least a good hour and a half, sometimes more.  Depending on the weather, Kyle will snowboard with me, weather permitting, or we ride quads, kick the ball around in the yard and so worth.

Nicole, me, mom and Ellen Myers c. 1985 Sacred Heart Walk-A-Thon

However, I am also aware that a good diet mostly consists of eating correctly.  Not to say we eat horrible, well sometimes, but mostly we have no boundaries with portion control.  Yep, instead of eating a serving of meat, we eat a pound of meat.  Granted, like I’ve said before, it not bad food, just too much.  I will also give my family credit, we eat a lot of home grown veggies, deer meat (Hunting – Survival or Sport?), and fruit off the trees.  Plus dad is a regular at the fruit stand, of course, sometimes those visits will end you up in the ER. (Pudd’in vs. Dad vs. Kiwis)  Regardless, the effort is still there.

When you have issues with portion control there are a number of tricks and method you should use.  Example, count every bit and every time you chew, making the food last longer.  Whatever!  I would fall asleep if I had to do that.  Another, illusion is to use a smaller plate to allow a lot less on your dish, while appearing like there’s a ton of food.  It’s not really my eyes that’s the enemy, it’s my stomach, which never seems to be happy.  I do eat a lot of food, always have.  But alas in my age bracket, I realize it’s not working out for me anymore.  I will digress for a moment.  My sister and I were traveling and we had a pretty full day booked.  Nicole said to me, “You better make sure you have something to eat so I don’t have to hear you be cranky the entire time!”  That was a classic!  Ahh, I guess my sister knows me pretty well.  That comment resulted in my face retracting into a big old smile.  But it’s true, I can’t go for hours and hours without grub.  I get headaches and I actually start feeling nauseous.

Sacred Heart Walk-A-Thon at Westmoreland County Fair Grounds

Now don’t mistake me for a health nut or a fitness expert.  By all means, I do try to eat right and exercise, but I’m not a radical by all means.  I believe in a well balanced died without foreign additives, you know the synthetic stuff added to food as a preservative, or in lieu of sugar.  The words I can never pronounce.  Yep!  That stuff.  If it’s not from nature, then I tend to steer clear of it.

Bringing me back to my family.  Mom started to institute the rule of eating dinner at the table and not in front of the boob tube.  We used to always  eat at the table growing up, just like a family should.  I couldn’t actually remember when we stopped and mom brought up a good point the other day.  We stopped eating together at the table when Nicole, Ryan and myself hit high school.  That’s when we got jobs and stayed after school for extra activities and practices.  Not to mention both of my parents worked, coming home later.

Since mom’s re-institution of the ‘eating at the table’ rule, we have gone back to the bad habit of grabbing a plate and eating in front of the computer, TV, etc.  At least I will have to admit, we do eat together, meaning the same time, just not in the same place, unless it’s in front of the TV.  But we’re getting closer…

Without meaning to promote specific apps I have two I would like to share, if anyone is interested.  The first is called Run Keeper.  I love this app.  It geo tracks your activity.  I love it because you can select running, hiking, walking and even snowboarding.  The app allows you to see your path on a map, track the elevation, time and calories. There is a function to share on Twitter and Facebook, which I sometimes do, but not required.  You can also set up groups, and watch each other, which I don’t do either, since I don’t like anyone knowing my locations, just playing it safe.  Kyle has this on his phone too, except we found out that once we are walking in the woods, his ipod looses wifi, and since he needs to be connected to wifi, it stops recording his progress.  However, since I have my iphone it uses 3G and I’m good to go.

The second is My Fitness Pal.  This a great tool to help with understanding what has been eaten. It also helps with proper planning of food and portion control.  There are great graphs on your progress for exercise, weight, and measurements.  This app recognizes most food items, actually I have been impressed by the data of food information stored in this app.  Plus what makes it easy, you can simply scan bar codes to get record exact nutritional information.  This helps to realize your weak areas, such as too much fat, or carbs, or sugar in one day, all pertinent content worth reviewing.  Of course with anything, it’s not going to record the data on its own, you have to be diligent and consistently and realistically add your activity and consumption.  Again, you can invite people to create your own personal message board to encourage one another and post your results to Twitter and Facebook.

Both of these apps are available on the iphone and the android. Plus you can enter and review your information online.  Please note, there are many many many more apps out there, I’m not saying these are the best, but they are the ones I personally use and like.  Not to mention they are FREE!

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants.  ~ John W. Gardner

Kyle & friends made pizzas for his 8th birthday at with Chef Dato

Taking the opportunity to make something healthy is an art in and of itself, especially something liked by a ten year old.  Kyle has been sick for the last few weeks.  He’s been battling this ear infection for nearly a month, being on his second dose of antibiotics.  Along with the ear infection, Kyle seemed to picked up the flu.  This past Saturday night, Kyle crawled in bed with me and to my surprise, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I just entered Dante’s Inferno.  Kyle really had a fever!  His body ached and he was miserable, to the point that around 3:00 am he wanted to get up and go to lay on the couch.  As I rolled out of bed, half awake, we made our way out to the living-room and plopped ourselves down in front of the TV to catch a little Phineas and Ferb.

By Saturday Kyle was feeling a little better, but not quite right.  Since Kyle has been on antibiotics for so long, I wanted to get a little yogurt action into his system.  Naturally, (pardon the pun) I don’t like him to eat the yogurt with high fructose corn syrup, aspartame and such in it.  I usually buy all natural yogurt only containing cultured grade A milk.  Bland?  Yes, but if you mix it properly with other ingredients it’s a great nutritious snack.  So I told Kyle we would make yogurt smoothies.  I figured it was a different treat, which would sooth his sore throat and accomplish my original intent, to get yogurt into his system.

Kyle fishing with his pappy on his birthday. 7/30/05

We made our Tropical Fruit Yogurt Smoothies.  Basically about a half a cup of plain yogurt, a cut or so of crushed ice, and tropical fruit in 100% natural juices.  Blend and serve.  It’s not an overly sweet treat, so Kyle decided to doctor it up a bit by adding a little honey.  Through Little Acts of Kindness I have talked about Kyle’s love for honey.  He drank the Yogurt Smoothie since I asked him to, and he knew the yogurt was good for him, but he wasn’t a huge fan.  He never said anything, well that is until dad opened his mouth and said, “Next time make mine without the yogurt.  I don’t like it.”  Agg, dad sometimes should not be allowed to have an opinion or speak!

Kyle hanging in the backyard. On the weekends, during summer we cook on the bonfire- steaks, pork loins, corn on the cob & mountain pies! 6/11/05

Well now, Kyle, who really does like to cook and experiment in the kitchen, which I completely encourage decided he wanted to continue making different types of smoothies.  On Sunday right after church, Kyle said he wanted to make a smoothie without yogurt.  Thanks dad!  Kyle said, “I’m going to make a healthy fruit smoothie, Aunt Heather!”  How could I object, plus it seemed like Kyle was starting to feel better.  He asked me what he should put in it and I responded by telling him to start experimenting and thinking of what would go good together.  Next thing I knew, he was adding blueberries, which are one of his favorite foods, a banana, tropical fruit, and yes the honey made its appearance.  I did suggest to him to add a little milk just to loosen everything up.  He really had a lot of fun adding the fruit then test tasting his concoction.  He made sure he made enough for everyone and he served us all our own smoothie.  It was really tasty!

Apparently, Kyle must have been really feeling better and really enjoying his smoothie Sunday, because later in the day, Kyle mentioned he wanted to try another type of smoothie.  He asked me, “Aunt Heather can you make a smoothie out of apples?”  I told him it might taste good if he cooked down the apples and added cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon juice and maybe a little sugar.  Next thing I know, Kyle was peeling the apples and preparing to cook them down.  This smoothie contained cooked down apples, spices, milk, ice, and the honey made its appearance again.  It was really pretty good! It would be a great fall smoothie made with apple cider, but regardless, very tasty.  And keeping with Kyle’s style made enough for all of us.  Now it looks like my plan to get natural yogurt into Kyle was pushed aside, but he was feeling better and really enjoying himself, all while learning.

It’s amazing how an introduction to making something new can turn into a passion and peek a child’s interest.  So what is your smoothie?

See other cooking episodes Egg Sandwich Spectacular, Cooking With Kyle – Kitchen Safety, Cooking With Kyle – Introduction, Puppy Problem Called Seven!

Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.   ~Saint Patrick

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Over the years, I’ve participated in Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations through the consumption of my fair share of green beer.  However, should today really be a day for commemoration?  It seems, sometimes the facts are not completely uncovered, misunderstood, or are lacking all together.  Not that I’m a theological expert to discuss saints, but Saint Patrick’s Day is a neat inspiring story.  Saint Patrick was a priest from England who wanted to spread Christianity throughout Ireland.  At least that’s my condensed version.  In fact, he said that God spoke to him and told him what to do.  I’m sure there are many different stories presented in history books, but all in all, Saint Patrick wanted to make a difference with God’s best intention in mind.  With that being said, it sounds like a good enough reason to celebrate today.  What better reason for parades, green beer, and let’s not forget the McDonald’s shamrock shake, a favorite of mine, than the spreading of the word of God!  It may not be a day of luck, but it shows an example of opening your heart,  listening, and following your true purpose in life.

I’m glad Saint Patrick chose the path he did.  Traveling through my blog entries (European Travels Part 1 , 20th Annual Great Guinness Toast – Brilliant!, Traveling Habits) I have commented a time or two on my time spent in Ireland with my sister.  It’s an amazing destination, which I do encourage everyone to entertain the idea sometime in their lives.  Try to open your heart to your true destiny, who knows it might take you to Ireland.

I’m at an age when my back goes out more than I do.  ~Phyllis Diller

My sister, Nicole R. Piper, better known as Aunt Nikki, was born on March 16, 1974.  Surprisingly, she was born around noon, never being much of a morning person.  She is the oldest of the three, preceding me by 21 months and my brother, Ryan by 42 months.  Nicole and I share the godparent responsibilities of Kyle and she enjoys her roll as an aunt.  Please enjoy my collage of the years of Nicole…

Happy Birthday!!!

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Giving an update to the war that was raging in the Piper household, I am happy to announce it has since subsided.  Pudd’in has thrown up the white flag and has been behaving herself, as is dad.  However, as history has always told us, it’s not long before another war breaks out.  This time it’s dogs waging war.

Scooby vs Pudd’in, well not Pudd’in per se but Pudd’in’s lifeline, her food and Scooby and Seven against mom and dad.  Ok, it’s not full blown war like we’ve seen with dad and Pudd’in but it’s certainly well played sneak attacks.  Let me step back about five or six years ago when we got Scooby.  He was a tiny little puppy that Kyle held on his lap and brought him home.  Scooby has never known a time without us.  Needless to say, over the years he has picked up certain eating habits from my parents.  Basically eating anything he wanted, when he wanted, which he did a lot of.  Now jump to a year ago when we rescued Seven from the pound.  Unfortunately, he had two sets of families that returned him back to the pound before making his way straight into the hearts of the Piper’s.  He was a year old.  Seven, as far as we can tell has only had dog food.  On a side note, I have never, in the 17 years I’ve had Pudd’in, given her anything but cat food and water.  Anyway, over the most recent year my parents tried to ease Seven into their eating habits just as Scooby has always eaten.  As it turns out Seven has a sensitive digestive system and he can’t handle different foods.  Actually, mom found out that the Dad’s brand dog food has been agreeing with him the best.

Great!  Problem solved, well no, it started another problem.  Since Seven couldn’t eat scraps from the table, mom and dad felt it’s not fair to give one dog and not the other.  Over the last few months they’ve really reinforced this rule in the house and reiterated it to me and Kyle.  So new rule, don’t give the dogs food scraps!  Check!  No food scraps to either dog and as I’ve mentioned, Pudd’in never received any anyway.  Seven, didn’t seem to know the difference, but Scooby on the other hand is taking this quite personal.

A few weeks ago mom told me she made dad fish with veggies for dinner.  She set the plate of food on the table while dad took a shower.  When dad came out, the plate was cleared, however he didn’t notice the cleared plate of missing food.  I guess dad sat there for a while, then asked mom where the dinner was?  Mom responded, ‘You ate it.’ followed by dad saying ‘No I didn’t, I didn’t eat anything.’  Mom said, ‘Ron, I made you fish and vegetables, where’s it at?’  At that moment those two, who probably looked like a skit from Abbott and Costello discussing Who’s On First?, realized there was a thief among them!  All they had to do was ask, ‘Who ate pap pap’s food?’ and the guilty party walked right into his cage.  So you see, Scooby decided he wanted to eat what dad was eating, throwing a good old fashioned temper tantrum.  Scooby is basically telling my parents, you are not cutting me off of food just because of the new addition.

It gets even better, Scooby’s blatten defiance doesn’t end there.  He is now showing his discontent through an easier innocent source.  Pudd’in’s cat food!  Since Pudd’in has a heart condition and she burns so many calories, we are having a hard time keeping weight on her.  She acts very healthy and happy with long strong whiskers, shiny soft coat, and a playful demeanor, however she is very anorexic looking.  In order to help Pudd’in keep some weight on, we have her on a special indoor high calorie formula.  Well, apparently Scooby is in on the same special diet, because recently, mom and dad have been busting him, sneaking to the back room where Pudd’in’s food resides and dibing into the bowl.  Mom made a comment not long ago to get more cat food for Pudd’in.  I thought that was odd since she is only a six pound kitty and I just got her cat food.  I shrugged it off thinking it was longer than I realized, no biggie.  Then I heard the news.  At that moment my eyes opened and as I compared the dogs, Scooby is noticeably thicker in the middle than he was before.  I guess the high calorie kitty food is doing it’s job.  Just on the wrong animal.

A weekend or so ago, mom made dad eggs and toast for breakfast.  As she buttered the toast on the counter and walked away, apparently Seven decided to takes Scooby’s lead and help himself to a slice of toast.  I asked mom, how do you know it was Seven. Mom’s reply, “Because Scooby was in the living-room and when I came out in the kitchen Seven was licking his lips.” Ummm

Just like children, the boys don’t realize we are trying to help them and not limit them.  It’s for their own health.  Well, I guess there’s another war raging in the Piper household.

Read more on the wars in the Piper household.

Pudd’in vs Dad – A New Kind of War

Pudd’in vs Dad vs Kiwis – War Continues…

Puppy Problem Called Seven!

Dogs are wise.  They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole once more.  ~Agatha Christie

Rescuing Seven from the pound seemed like a good move.  Not only did it benefit the dog, but it gave Scooby a playmate and a new addition to the Piper household.  This was about a year ago, which he was already almost a year old at the time.  Sure there was an adjustment period, especially where Pudd’in was concerned, but everyone seemed to work it out and the harmony of the house was whole again.

Now Seven seems to be going through his terrible two’s.  He is out of control, jumping on people and getting into complete mischief.  This weekend was the perfect example of what I’m talking about.  I will first tell you about the sleeping arrangements.  For the past few months, when I sleep at my parent’s house, Seven anticipates my actions and jumps into bed before I can and won’t get out.  He is like a log spread out over the entire bed.  In recent days, so I’ve let that one slide and now the route includes Pudd’in, Seven and now sometimes Kyle, for reasons I have no idea.  Great full bed!  Then when I sit in the chair in the living-room, either reading a book or watching TV, Seven feels the need to jump on me.  Jumping up a little for some attention I can handle, but he literally jumps halfway across the room and lands in my lap with his paws like baseball bats slamming my chest.  He doesn’t even care if Pudd’in is on the arm of the chair or who may hurt.  I get it, all this might be just for some attention and love, I can almost excuse these actions as a child in need of attention.  Good or bad attention is still attention.  I have been through this before with Kyle, so I understand the signs, but some actions are not excusable.

On Saturday, Kyle and I took our weekly hike through the woods with the boys (Seven and Scooby).  Now on their defense they have been really good with the walks, listening to me when they are too far away, and coming when I call.  Great!  Just to give you a comparison between the dogs.  When Scooby’s running towards you, he will zip right past you without taking you down.  He may get really close when he whizzes past, but as long as you don’t make any sudden movements he will not hit you.  Seven on the other hand, will run you over like a freight train, and leaving you like a hit and run victim.  He does not care who he plows down.  As Kyle and I started to make our way down the hill, which is a tricky path since there are a lot of loose rocks and it was icy on the flat stones where the water had once ran, I noticed that Seven was out of my line of sight.  Naturally, I called Seven and he came, however, he shot out like a missal.  Just as I turned my head to see how to avoid the racetrack he was headed on, I saw him collided with Kyle.  Poor Kyle, his feet flipped up into the air while Seven crashed through like a tornado.  I can’t believe Seven would just run into him like that!  It wasn’t like there wasn’t enough room, cause there was, at least three people could walk on the path side-by-side comfortably.  It was like he just wanted to knock him over!  After that incidence we made it home and the dogs were being good, until we decided to make oatmeal cream pies.

Every once in a while, Kyle and I enjoy making something new together.  We both enjoy cooking, and I will admit, since I opened my account I do like to review different recipes and save them for later.  Well, since I showed Kyle my board and some of the recipes, he has wanted to make something new.  After we got back from our walk, Kyle said, “Hey Aunt Heather, I have a good idea, let’s make something new.”  Well, how and I resist?  We looked on my Pinterest board and he commented that he wanted to make the Oatmeal Cream Pies, which I have always wanted to make since I saw them.

As we retrieved the ingredients, both dogs kept getting in our way, but nothing out of the ordinary.  We finished making the first part of the batch and had to immediately taste the final product, still warm.  They were awesome!!  In the meantime, I let the cookies cool on the counter and me, Kye and dad were watching TV in the living-room.  Gigi was at the store.  Note the Oatmeal cookies were cooling on the parchment paper they were baked on.  As we sat there, both dogs were playing with news toys, courtesy of dad.  Just then, I heard the parchment paper moving.  It was coming from the kitchen.  At that moment, I looked around and saw everyone in the house in the same room except for Seven.  Dad called Seven and he didn’t come flying into the room.  He doesn’t realize that I’m pretty quick and I flew around the corner of the kitchen to see him with his head down, trying to escape to the laundry room.  Immediately, I saw all but two cookies GONE!  He ate just about the entire batch of cookies right off the counter!  Really?  Yep!  I was so made at him.  He still had his shock collar on and I did zap him, which I try never to use.  Then I put him in his cage and walked around like my mom, ranting and raving like a crazy person.

Seven stayed quite in his cage trying not to draw any unwanted attention for at least an hour.  Then I let him out.  He humbly walked out and joined us in the living-room.  He was good, well naturally since he was in serious trouble.  Not long after, Seven was at the door crying to be let out.  Couldn’t image that, a dog with a weak digestive system who can only eat dog food without getting an upset stomach all of a sudden needing to go out after eating a dozen Oatmeal Cream Pies!  Without hesitation, I let Seven out to do his business.  Then I realized he was out for a while, I forgot about him.  As I opened the door on the porch, I saw Seven run down the steps with his head down and his tail between his legs.  It didn’t register what had just happened, but then it hit me, Seven tore open the garbage mom had set on the porch to be placed in the trash can at the end of the driveway!  I yelled, obviously, and Seven squeezed between me and the house to get back in, running straight to his cage.  As if self punishing himself.

What a stinker!  Is this a phase of going through the terrible two’s?  Or is this in retaliation for something else?  What to do with Seven?  I can tell you Kyle felt sympathy on the dog.  After he got in trouble with the Oatmeal Cream Pies, Kyle slipped his water bowl in the cage with him, like he was suffering in the kitchen for that hour.  Then Kyle came to me to take some responsibility for Seven’s actions.  He said, “It’s not his fault Aunt Heather, I left my stool next to the counter.”  I couldn’t believe it, Kyle was trying to elevate Seven’s punishment.  At this point I was still mad, I said, “No it’s not your fault, it’s not like you left the cookies on the floor!”  Kyle retorted by saying, “But he used my stool to get up to the counter.”  I kinda laughed, because that was not true, Seven is tall enough to merely lift his head and he can reach the counter.  Ahh is it man’s best friend or the other way around?  Love Kyle’s heart!

Here’s the recipe I got from Blooming on Brainbridge site. Make them, they’re great!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

• 1-1/4 c. butter (softened)
• 1 c. brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1-1/2 c. flour
• 3 c. oats
• 1 egg
• 2 T. vanilla
• 1 T. soda
• 1/2 T. salt
• 1/4 T. cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Beat butter and sugar till creamy.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well.  Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup and level with flat knife edge.  Combine flour, soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir. Add oats and mix well.  Add the butter mixture and blend well.  Drop by rounded tablespoons 2″ apart.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Leave in pan and cool 2 minutes.  Put cookies on wire rack to finish cooling.  Spread 1 tablespoon cream filing between two cookies.

Cream Filling

• 1/2 c. butter (softened)
• 2 c. powered sugar
• 1-2 T. whipping cream
• 1 T. vanilla

Combine all in medium bowl.  Beat on low till mixed well.  Then beat on high till light and fluffy.

ENJOY!

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.  ~Carl Jung

You know sometimes I can be a bit of a goof.  That is, for no reason I  just start acting silly.  Doesn’t matter where I’m at, who’s around me, what I’m doing, sometimes I just need to bust free from the moment and escape before coming back to “normal”.  I’ve always been like this, and I forget how my family and friends are just used to me.  Even Kyle knows no difference.  He either ignores me or joins in on the fun.

You see these outbursts have created some very funny scenes and characters.  Example, I’ve always carried the movie Flash Dance in my heart, not because of the good storyline or acting, cause it reached neither, but it was a movie about the passion and love to fulfill a dream to dance.  Ever since I was a little girl I’ve always wanted to dance.  All sorts of dance.  I did take a year of tap when I was a little tyke, but the lessons and costumes became expensive, not to mention it was difficult to get us back and forth to the lessons.  Thus ended my career in dance.  Well, that is to say if I actually had a talent, I could have made a career out of it, which actually I think I could have.

So what does Flash Dance have to do with my silliness?  There are two reasons.  Maniac by Michael Sembello and What a Feeling by Irene Cara performed by Jennifer Beals with body double, Marine Jahan.  I made a dance to each song similar to the ones performed in the movie, kinda.  In fact, one time my sister and I were somewhere and I think it was Maniac came on the radio or TV, and it seemed to stop me in my tracks. I stopped, and turned toward my sister with a smirk on my face, and instantly she knew what I was thinking.  Nicole laughed, gave me a smile and replied, “Yes Heather”, with a ‘My sister is so weird but funny’ type of tone to her voice.  Actually I think I’ve had more injuries resulting from that dance than from snowboarding.  Once, when Nicole was home from college, I was kicking around the living-room to What A Feeling and I kicked her crate full of video tapes with the top of my foot.  I actually thought my foot was broken.  My sister busted out laughing and my brother just sat there with a smirk on his face like ‘idiot’.  I even think he rolled his eyes at me.  On another occasion, I was wearing a long skirt and one of the songs same on the TV for a commercial.  I instantly started dancing and flailing my arms and legs around, and the next thing I knew I was laying with my shoulders square to the floor.  I kicked too high for my skirt and the makeshift booby trap pulled my grounded leg out from under me.  Ahh I guess that happens.  On a side note, as I’m typing this What a Feeling just came on the radio!

Anyway, there have been more songs that I have made up dances.  As an influential kid, besides adoring Princess Leia, I loved Wonder Woman!  Yep the cartoon and the shows.  Of course I was too young to watch the original shows, but every summer I caught the re-runs.  I used to run around in my swim suit, with a head band, those workout wrist bands, and a jump rope on my hip.  I loved the fact that we both had dark hair.  Over the years I created my impersonation of Wonder Woman, and yes it includes spinning around in a circle with my hair in a ponytail, loosely placed, so it would come out and I could run off to save the day.

Then let’s not forget Fame! …. remember my name.  O yes, back to the first paragraph where I wanted to be a trained dancer.  I watched the show Fame on Sundays and loved it, loved Debbie Allen, loved the idea of going to a school to dance! My “Fame” dance included trying to do a split leap and yelling out FAME!.  Of course it was more fun to do it across a doorway to take people off guard in another room.  Now I’m not saying what I accomplished was a split leap, but it was funny.

Then there’s the Dirty Dance dance.  No it’s not bad!  It included placing your arms out in front of you in the air as if someone was dancing with you and moving your hips and feet in a cha cha motion.  Then doing this in a circle just as Jennifer Grey did when she practiced by herself in the movie.

My friend Christina and I made up a few little ditties.  One was the steam press, where you’d set a folded piece of clothing on a chair and the other sits on it and makes a “Purshhhh’ sound, like an industrial iron pressing the cloths with steam.  And of course my favorite, the Bee.  We would fly around making buzzing sounds like we were bees, then we would move our backsides in a direction to touch someone with our tooshies and say, “Buzzzzzip” as if we stung them and then fly off.  If you can imagine a couple of grown young ladies buzzing around you and then stinging you, it was hilarious!  What brought that one on, I truly don’t remember but it was fun.  Ironically, now I’m allergic to bees…

Now I have to discuss Solid Gold.  Yep another one of those shows I watched as a kid in the early 80’s.  It was kinda like a prelude to MTV.  They had their Solid Gold dancers, performing routines to pop songs.  Sometimes they would have a guest singer or group perform their hit song and little skits.  I would again, dress in my swimsuit and try to mimic their moves to the music, so when I heard the tune later on the radio, I would bust out in dance.  Well, this brings me to my final dance, which I did not make up, but has since become a classic.  Naturally it was called Solid Gold, created and executed by my friend Keith.  We were working together at the Ground Round and you know how things get started when you start joking around.  Again, I don’t know how it got started, but I believe I gave my demonstrations for Fame and Maniac, and then Keith out danced me with the best dance ever!  He was standing with his back toward me, turned his upper body around with a jazz hand in front of his face yelling Solid Gold!  Then somehow he was crawling on the floor in my direction.  Hilarious doesn’t even truly describe it!  Not only did I love Solid Gold as a kid, but he made it into such a dance that honored the show.  It was great! Over the years I’ve tried to recreate the dance but alas I don’t have the grace he extruded and his performance power.

I’ve never really seen Kyle act like this and I don’t think he will.  He’s never really wanted to act anything out or mimic a character.  He is just content building his Lego’s and playing with his cars.  Well, nowadays playing with his video games.  To each his own…

At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.  ~Jean Houston

Kyle sledriding infront of mom & dad's house with his deloved Angry Birds Hat. 2012

Sometimes a spontaneous conversation about nothing is the funniest!  After all it worked for Seinfeld, the show that went from 1989 to 1998.  His show was based on nothing, they even did a show on that very theme.  To this day, people still quote and remember Seinfeld and the gang.  Can’t go through Christmas and not bring up Festivus and the “pole” or the “man hands”.  Being a fan of the show, I still catch a re-run every now and again, but I don’t think they ever had a show based on a goat.

If the show was being produced then Kyle and I would have the best “nothing” story for them.  First of all, it seems that most of my stories revolve around swimming lessons.   I’m not sure why, I have Kyle on other days too, but it seems like things just unfold with us during that time.  We were on our way to his lessons and I looked down off the side the road to a field.  I never noticed it before but there were goats.  All I said was, “Kyle look at the goats.” and he looks and said nothing.  As we continued toward our destination my mind started to go toward, “nothing” and I kinda laughed out loud.  Well, Kyle wanted in on whatever was churning in my brain.  Then I posed a question, “Wouldn’t that be the funniest thing ever to get Gigi and Pap Pap a goat, just to give it to them to see their reactions?”  Kyle and I started to laugh, and so started the conversation, really about “nothing”.

First we started talking about goats in general.  Kyle asked, “How do they eat everything?” and I explained their stomach acid is potent and can break down all sorts of things.  I said, “They can even eat a barbed wire fence.”  Then Kyle chimed in saying, “Ya wouldn’t that be funny if you tied the goat to your fence, then you wouldn’t have a fence anymore?” and I added, “You would just have posts sticking up out of the ground.”  We both envisioned that one and laughed out loud.  He asked very intuitively, “If they eat everything how do you keep them in a fence?”  My response was, “I guess you put them in an electric fence.  Then when they go to touch it, they would get zapped and say ‘Baaazzzzip’.”  We started laughing so hard.  We couldn’t control it.

Then I brought up the time when Pap Pap had a goat.  I was told that it kept jumping the fence and he would have to go get it.  From the story that I was told, the same as I’m telling Kyle, when the goat would be on one ridge, dad would be on the opposite.  Then as dad got to the opposite ridge, the goat would have moved.  That alone did it for us.  Me and Kyle were completely tearing up picturing my dad chasing a goat in the woods.  Kyle asked, “What happened to the goat?”  I said with much difficulty only cause I couldn’t catch my breath.  “He shot it.”  We both lost it!  We were in hysterics!  Then I calmed down enough to explain, “We’ll Pap Pap couldn’t catch it and it kept getting out anyway, well and you know Pap Pap’s fuse is a short one, just like mine.  So he shot it, and I guess ate it.”  As soon as I got the words out, we were shot with laughter again!

At this point, the conversation had a life of its own.  Then I went back to my original thought, just getting a goat and just showing up to give it to them.  I said, “Could you imagine how funny that would be? Pap Pap would be ok with it and would instantly want to put it up in the woods to eat the brush.  But Gigi on the other hand, would not be happy.”  Kyle, always thinking, “Ya we could put it in the garden to clean down the weeds so Pappy doesn’t have to.”  As we continued to laugh over this imaginary goat, we continued with our fictitious stories.  Kyle said, “What if it ate Gigi’s pants?”  I lost it, that was too funny!  I said, “What if we got it to clean the dishes?”  Kyle let out a such a gut stretching laugh that I think even took him by surprise.  Since he was laughing, that true hearty contagious laugh, I couldn’t help myself, I  joining in.

I was shooting photography at a TV Commercial c. 2011

We sobered up enough to start again.  Kyle said, “Do goats eat wood?” My response, “We have two dogs who think they are beavers, what do you think?” And the laughter started all over again.  I said, “Can you image the two dogs and a goat, how much wood they would go through?  We’d have so much sawdust, it’d be like a family of beavers lived there.”  Now at this point neither one of us could breath.  Then Kyle said, “We’d have to take the goat with us when we took the dogs walking.”  That did it, I was having a hard time driving.  That was too funny!  I said, “Ya we’d have to take me, you, the two dogs and the goat on a hike through the woods.”  Thank goodness for the seat belt or Kyle would have remained in one large contracting muscle ball on the floor of the car.  I said, “Could you image if someone drove past to see me walking a goat on a lease?”  I almost couldn’t get that one out.  “What would we do, get it a shock collar like Scooby and Seven and let it fraulic in the woods with the dogs?”  Kyle’s response, although very faint since he couldn’t talk, was crystal clear, “Ya and when it gets too far we call it back.”  I died!!  We couldn’t breath, we weren’t even expelling laughs, it was pure soundless air.

Then the minute we thought we were done, Kyle starts on how the goat could play with the dogs.  O no, not again!  And of course I had to add to this story by saying, “Ya Scooby would bark and growl at it and Seven would be like ‘I have a new friend to play with’ (in the dopiest dog voice imaginable)”  Kyle added, “Ya and can you imagine if the goat would ram Seven, he would be like, what was that!”  I said, “Ya but it probably wouldn’t hurt that tank and Scooby would be like, ‘Idiots, I’m going back to bed’ (in another dopy dog voice).”

So by now if we were making up a TV show, we had enough episodes to fill a season.  That night after swimming while Kyle was taking a shower, a.k.a. playing with a hippo washcloth in the shower, or an empty shampoo bottle used as a water launcher with his swim partner and taking 20 minutes to surface, I was still feeling silly and told my sister about the “nothing” conversation over a goat.  I was actually still reliving it with her, even though she laughed, she probably thought, ‘I have no idea what she’s talking about.’  I asked Nicole to, “Tell Kyle you have a really great idea, you want to buy Gigi and Pappy a goat!”  She laughed and said, ok.

Later, after the pruning settled in from the long shower, Nicole talked to Kyle and asked him about getting Gigi and Pappy a goat.  He just looked at me and smiled and said, “Ok”.  He was slightly amused, but silliness has passed.  I love it that Kyle has my sense of stupid humor.  Actually, not just mine, but my sister’s.  Nicole has always had that type of humor, after all she was the one who introduced me to Saturday Night Live when we were kids.  Although, Kyle also joins in stories and laugh right with you just like my mom.  When my mom starts to laugh no sounds can exit her mouth and she topples forward.  Sometimes I laugh even harder when I see that.  My brother and dad would laugh out loud not like the silent stupid laughs.  Ahhh I guess the family that laughs together…

In chess one cannot control everything. Sometimes a game takes an unexpected turn, in which beauty begins to emerge. Both players are always instrumental in this.  ~Vladimir Kramnik

Kyle was suppose to be putting away groceries... instead he chose to stack them like a poltergeist. 2012

It’s pretty evident that Kyle brightens my day, as he does with my family.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Kyle is so much fun to be around!  I mean that sincerely.  Now I’m not saying it’s always peaches and roses, but when we are out and about, there’s usually a story that erupts of our excursions.

A couple of weeks ago was Ash Wednesday, and I picked Kyle up early in the morning for church before school started.  That way he didn’t miss swimming in the evening and he didn’t miss a bit of school.  First I’d like to say that starting your morning off in church, really starts the day off right, especially when Kyle is by my side.  Hitting the local Panera afterwards, Kyle got a breakfast sandwich to fuel him up for the day.  We won’t even discuss the ham that was on the sandwich, which I forgot no meat on Ash Wednesday, but that’s another subject all together. Then we proceeded to straight to school.  I must say I really enjoyed spending the morning with Kyle and seeing him off.  He seemed fine hanging out with me and the whole arrangement, well, that is until I decided to unfasten my seat belt to get out of the car.  In a devastated tone, Kyle said, “What are you doing?”  I said, “You’re not getting away without at least giving me a hug.  No one is around so I’d make it a quick one before the buses arrive.”  Kyle grunted and barely got near me.  Then just to torture him some more, as he walked away, I yelled, “Hey you didn’t give me a kiss!”  Kyle turned around with this shocked look, put his head down and kind of gritted between his teeth saying, “Aunt Heather do I have to?”  On my defense I looked around to see that no one was looking and then I said, “YES!” I don’t think his lips hit my cheek, but I was still happy with the half gesture.

For no reason, Kyle painted his face like a cat with maker... he had to serve mass that night 2/2012

Now fast forward about eight hours while I was at work.  Kyle and I decided to stop at the grocery store to pick up eggs to make egg wraps (multi-grain) for dinner.  Basically its a fried egg or two on a wrap with cheese, sometimes ketchup, sometimes fried potatoes, and sometimes veggies.  As we entered the store, the first thing you pass is the bread and pastry section.   Kyle all of a sudden groans, “O no why do I have to walk through this torture.  Smell Aunt Heather!”  You know he was right, it did smell heavenly.  Once we managed to get into the produce section I decided I wanted lettuce to make a salad.  I love salads!! I actually crave them.  Just then Kyle spotted the pepperoni sticks.  He grabs this long stick of pepperoni and said, “Aunt Heather I think I’m going to snack on pepperoni before we get to swimming.”  I said, “Why do you need so much?” Without missing a beat Kyle remarked, “It’s cheaper to get the big one.”  Of course! What was I thinking. It’s cheaper to get this huge stick of pepperoni that will literally last me for three years.  While we were discussing the pepperoni stick, I completely forgot to pick up potatoes.  By that time we had already maneuvered to the eggs, on the other side of the store.  We trekked back to produce section, but I didn’t realize we were headed straight for the bread and pastry area again.  We should have taken the back way, I knew I got off lucky with no arguments from Kyle the first time through.  Now, I wasn’t so sure second time around.  Not to mention I was really hungry too and I didn’t want to fall prey to the sweet temptations.  As we approached the naughty delights, Kyle took in this huge whiff and exhaled saying, “O no not again!” as he held onto the giant stick of pepperoni.  At this point I felt his pain, but he was seriously cracking me up.

On our second trip through the grocery store, we managed to get what we needed and avoid the high sugar, high carb, and no nutritional value section.  Then, Kyle realized something very important in his plan.  He said, “Hey wait, how am I going to open this to eat it?” referring to the pepperoni stick.  I busted out laughing saying, “What are you going to do, gnaw on the stick while I drive?”  He started to laugh so hard.  I mean we both pictured how utterly ridiculous he would look.  Just then, I realized they had a smaller amount of pepperoni already cut up in containers.  I instructed him to get that as opposed to the weapon we were walking around with. He argued, I could tell he really thought it was hilarious to chew on the stick, but in the end I prevailed.

As we made our way to the check out, I started scanning in the items through the self-check out. Kyle graciously said he was going to bag the items. Then he started going on in his instructional, planning dissertation about how he was going to bag the groceries, which items were going to go into which bag etc.  He was going on about what he WAS going to do. He didn’t even get started as I was too focused on looking up the lettuce code.  He kept asking me questions but I just said, “Ya ok buddy, whatever.”  because I needed to focus on paying etc. Just then I looked up at him, started to laugh and I admittedly said, “I didn’t hear a word you were saying.”  We both busted out laughing, and just at that moment I saw a clerk standing there trying to hide her giggles, no doubt directed towards us.  We must look like Laurel and Hardy.  But you what, even a simple trip to the grocery is an adventure for us.  We really do enjoy each others company!  He’s my sidekick and my little man!