What's Going On Back There

Kindergarten = Freedom

2010-08-18T14:29:00.002-05:00

Day 4 of Kindergarten has come and gone. Today on the way home I asked Adam and Walt what they had for lunch. Adam, as he did the last three days, led out with chocolate milk, then said that he also had a hot dog. Walt shared that he had white milk, and a peanut butter sandwich. Walt then told Adam that he should probably just drink chocolate milk once a week, that it would better if he primarily drank white milk since that was better for his body. Adam responded by saying that he drinks white milk all the time at home and can do whatever he wants in kindergarten. It was silent for a moment, and then Walt said, "Well maybe you can have it two times a week."

Again, silence for a moment, and then Adam said, "Did you know that we have to do this (go to kindergarten) until summer starts?

After that they made farting noises with their hands, which made the argument go away, and which, by the way, Micah absolutely loved.

Kraft Theology (Now 35% Cheesier)

2010-08-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

It's almost time for back to school, and I'm sure that will mean new material and more laughs. But until the commute resumes, we have a special post from Meredith Jubilee and Madeline Jane's mommy, who obviously drew the short straw today and hosted Walt and Patrick in addition to her own.

Background: Neighborhood Church is having its first ever baptism tonight at the same pool in which most of the Neighborhood Church kids have had swim lessons. This has resulted in many discussions among the adults about how to explain baptism to five-year olds and, more importantly, how to explain that they don't get to swim. We're still not sure about either, but the kids have obviously made great strides with the theology . . . in spite of their parents.

According to Kate, here's how it went down:

Mer: Mom, when are Walt and Patrick leaving?

Mom: In about an hour. But then we'll see them again at the baptism tonight.

Walt: What's a Baptist?

Mer: I'll tell you Walt.

Walt: No, wait. I already know. It's when they hold you under to see how long you can hold your breath. My mom told me.

Mer: No, Walt. That's not it. It's when you're dipped in the pool to show that you love God, and then you eat mac 'n cheese.

More on Money

2010-07-13T10:55:00.002-05:00

Walt: Hey Adam, how many dollars do you have?

Adam: None. I mean, one.

Walt: I have 64.

Adam: I know. You have a lot of dollars. It would be nice for you to share.

Walt: With God?

Adam: No, with me! God doesn't buy things.

Keeping up with the Joneses

2010-07-01T09:43:00.003-05:00

Playdate edition. They were knee-deep in Legos and Star Wars toys...

Adam: Stop buying stuff! You keep buying stuff and it makes me want to keep buying stuff!

Walt: I can buy stuff when I want to!

Adam: But I can’t buy stuff until I get money. It takes a long time!

Walt: You know how I buy stuff? I save up my money.

Adam: I want to buy a Vulture Droid.

Walt: I don’t think you can get one. I bought mine in Nashville.

A: Do you want to buy my Bakugan?

W: No.

A: Well, I don’t want you to buy any more.

They moved on pretty quickly to racing the actual Tank Droid and the Lego Tank Droid. But I'm sure we haven't heard the end of this conversation! Did I just hear Robert begging for the new i-phone?

Know It All

2010-06-09T15:40:00.003-05:00

Another swim lesson edition:

I wish I'd caught the beginning of this conversation, but the ending was classic...

Adam: Walt, remember what Ginger said. You don't know everything.

Walt: I know. And the first thing that I don't know is how a snake moves when it doesn't have feet. I think because it slithers.

(I guess he does know everything!)

Size Matters

2010-06-08T15:35:00.001-05:00

Swim Lesson Edition:

Walt: Look! We're in order: small, medium and big (pointing to himself)!

Adam: Well, I'm almost the biggest.

Walt: Micah is small, you are medium, I'm large, and your mom is extra-large!

Me: (burst out laughing)

Adam: Mom, why are you laughing?

Me: Well, it's just not really polite to call someone "extra-large!"

Walt: But you're like a big kid!

Adam: She's not a kid. She's a grown-up. Mom, are you a kid or a grown-up?

Me: I'm a grown-up.

Walt: But she's a kid-grown-up. Like my mom's a kid.

Adam: Are you a kid-grown-up.

Me: Umm...Sure.

Walt: She's a kid, 'cause she has parents. But she's a grown-up too. (smart kid, that one!)

Me: Yes, I guess you're correct.

Adam: Her parents live in Kentucky.

Micah: TUCKY!!

Adam: They are Pa and La La.

Micah: PAAA!! LALA!!!

Walt: We're about to turn on Poplar.

Micah: POPLAAAA!

Then I dropped off one very excited swimmer (Walt) and one very scared and nervous swimmer (Adam). Hope the week gets easier!

WE'RE KINDERGARTENERS!!

2010-05-25T15:00:00.005-05:00

Well, it's the last day of Pre-K CLUE...Micah and I waited patiently by the school door while Micah entertained all of the other expectant parents as he practiced walking up and down the steps. Then the sound of scurrying, excited children grew louder and louder as the class lined up on the other side of the door. Mrs. Merritt opened the door, thanked the parents for giving her the best class she has ever taught, then dismissed "Meredith...Adam...Walt....!"

"WE'RE KINDERGARTENERS!!!!!!" Adam yelled at the top of his lungs as he bounded down the stairs. The boys said goodbye to various friends, Doran, Aaron, and CJ.

As we loaded up the car, I noticed the medallions they each had around their necks. "Medals of Courage" from the Wizard of Oz, because they will be "brave when we go to Kindergarten."

Walt: You know Adam, we probably won't ever see these kids again.

Adam: Yeah, I know.

Walt: We'll see CJ, 'cause he's going to Peabody with us. And Meredith. But we won't see the others. (Glad to see they are adjusting okay to this milestone! Geez! Someone hand me a kleenex!)

Adam: Why is it called Kindergarten? That sounds like something that should be outside.

Walt: Mandy, have any astronauts been to Pluto? I bet it would take astronauts three years to get to Pluto...

And so went the rest of the drive home. But I did manage to snap a pic of the little guys on their last day of Pre-K/first (unofficial) day as Kindergarteners:

Soon, they will be trading in their Downtown Elementary Red polos for Peabody Elementary Blue polos. We will no longer be carpooling them to Pre-K, but walking them to our neighborhood school just a few blocks away. But I'm sure we'll continue to write about the adventures of these two. How else will Mrs. Merritt keep up with the little rascals (at least until they are old enough for facebook accounts!)

Fame

2010-04-29T09:49:00.000-05:00

Walt has been dying to show Adam and all of his CLUE colleagues that one of their own had her photo in the latest Memphis Zoo magazine. He had a copy rolled up in his snack bag this morning, and Adam's feet were still on the street outside the car door when the first and best exchange of the morning occurred:

Walt: LOOK!!! Look, Adam. Look whose picture is in this magazine! She made the news! She's famous!

Adam, after casually glancing over at the page while I was buckling his belt: I saw a guy with a green face at Chick-fil-a once.

Luckily for Walt, most of the rest of the class was very excited about their newly-minted superstar. Adam never said another word about it.

Good Choices and Snack Packs

2010-04-27T15:47:00.004-05:00

Today was Walt and Adam's best friend, Meredith's first day of Clue. I asked them if they thought Mer had a good first day.

Adam: I think she liked it. But she just got her first sticker, so she can't pick anything from the Good Choice box. I only have one sticker left to get before I can pick from the Good Choice box. Not tomorrow, but the NEXT DAY!!

Then Walt told all about his excitement for Friday when the "Bug Guy" would be visiting his school. Adam was fairly disgusted until Walt assured him the bugs were in cages.

As we pulled up to the intersection at Union and Danny Thomas, the boys reminded me that we needed to pass out a Snack Pack to the hungry man standing beside the car. I told them we didn't have anymore. I was interrupted with two very loud, unison "YES WE DO!!! THERE'S ONE BACK HERE!!"

Sure enough, one Snack Pack was hidden under my seat near Adam's feet. I could barely reach it, but just in time, we were able to give the food to the man before the light turned green. He was very appreciative and said thanks to the boys. Then they made plans for going to the store to buy the needed supplies to make more Snack Packs.

Further down Union, Adam said, "Hey! That's where my Dreamatologist is. He fixed my cheeks. They're white now, but they were red." Yes, Adam should have a dreamatologist. He's had some really weird dreams lately!

No Confidence

2010-04-20T08:47:00.003-05:00

I know I'm the rookie in this, but what gives? Today marked by third time to drop the boys off. Before we even left our house to pick up Walt, Adam told me he didn't want me to take them to school. He wanted mom to instead. I asked why. His response: "Because I don't want you to keep breaking the rules." Something about where to park the car.

Apparently neither one of them has much confidence in my ability to get them to school. Needless to say, I decided to be stubborn and park somewhere I knew would be different. They didn't like it. I told them to man up - "Five blocks isn't going to kill you." They cried. OK, most of that I just made up. Good to get a morning started like that. It wasn't even a block that we had to walk, and there were no tears. Maybe they even like me a little more. Or not.

One more thing about this morning...there was silence for over 2 minutes at one point. It was as if they had nothing else to talk about. It felt very weird. I almost started talking just to break the awkward silence. You'll all be happy to know that I resisted, and soon enough a reference to Star Wars came out, and all was ok with the world again.

A Life Lesson

2010-04-13T15:09:00.000-05:00

Adam: It’s NOT Fair!

Me: What’s not fair?

Adam: Noah and Doran got to pick something from the “Good Choice Bag” and I didn’t. It’s NOT FAIR!

Walt: Well, Adam. When your card fills up with stickers you can pick something from the “Good Choice Bag.”

Adam: I have to get two more stickers. But it’s NOT FAIR!

Walt: Adam, sometimes some people… (he hesitates)

Adam: Walt, I want to hear what comes out of your mouth…

Walt: Well… sometimes… some people get things and other people don’t.

Adam: It’s NOT FAIR!

Walt: Hey Adam, do you want to save someone today?

Adam: Yeah! Let’s save Asoka! (from Lego Star Wars on Wii)

…and all becomes FAIR with the world as they plot how to save Asoka from certain doom.

Amazon and China

2010-04-08T09:48:00.004-05:00

I had the privilege of doing the morning carpool duties today and found that the boys are much chattier in the mornings. Adam was quite thrilled to show off his new Mace Windu Lightsaber that the wonderful UPS man delivered yesterday. Adam had been saving his coins for months for something special, and he shopped for a while with his very proud dad, finally choosing the purple lightsaber.

So, with his new toy in hand, in the carseat, he told Walt about it, again. (Walt had already seen it yesterday during a playdate.)

W: Where did your new lightsaber come from?

A: It came from Amazon.

W: Oh.

A: You can get one from Amazon too.

W: Where did Amazon get it from?

A: I don't know. Maybe Target?

W: I think Amazon got it from China. That's where all toys come from.

A: That's a lot of toys in China!

W: (taking the lightsaber from Adam.) Look...it says "Made in China. 2008." 2008. That's a long time ago.

A: That's a big number! (oblivious to the fact that it's a year.)

A: Look! It's the FedEx Forum!

You're Not a Single Lady!

2010-04-06T16:23:00.002-05:00

These aren't our kids, but if they were, they'd definitely be on the blog. And Josh, we need video cameras!

Spring No More

2010-04-06T11:51:00.005-05:00

As soon as the seat belts were buckled, the boys asked to play Lego Star Wars on the Wii when we got home. I expected this and decided to reply with my rule about "no Wii on sunny days. You guys can play outside today. It's so nice!"

Adam pouted loudly, "I wish Spring wasn't a season. I don't like sunny days. I like days where we have to stay inside and I can play Wii."

How did I not see this coming? Am I unintentionally giving my son a reason to hate sunny days? Their complaining went on for a little while, but I stuck to my guns. And suggested that they do another Star Wars play, outside. See previous post...same episode, same scene. But at least they are outside.

His Daddy's a Lawyer

2010-04-06T09:43:00.002-05:00

It must be nice having all of your memories compacted into about two years' time. You can remember just about everything that's ever happened to you or been said to you (unless, of course, it was said to you two minutes before and involved eating, getting dressed, getting out of bed, leaving your brother alone, washing your hands, getting into bed or anything not fun). Or at least that's how it works with Walt. Poor Adam. Again he suffers abuse at the hands of Walt's selective (and generously embellished) memory . . .

W: Do you remember which episode you watched first?
A: Yeah. Episode IV.
W: Which episode did you watch second?
A: I don't know.
W: Five?
A: No.
W: Six?
A: No.
W: One?
A: No.
W: Two?
A: No.
W: Three?
A: No.
W: Well, which one did you watch next?
A: I don't remember. Which one did you watch first?
W: Episode IV. And then I watched Episode VI and then Episode V, and then I watched Episode II. And then I think I saw Episode I and then Episode III. Yeah. That's right.

This can't possibly be true, can it? Regardless, Adam didn't challenge him on it, and that's going to come back to haunt him, because one day Walt's going to be all . . . "Yeah . . . she said her number was 8-6-7-5-3-0-9. You should call her." Meanwhile, her number is firmly implanted in Walt's brain and is nothing close to what he told Adam, and Walt has a date set up for Friday night.

You gotta watch this guy, Adam; trust me, I'm a lawyer. Would I lie to you?

Who are these Star Wars kids?

2010-03-28T14:54:00.008-05:00

Adam and Walt performed their first Star Wars play for me the other day. Apparently it was scenes from Episode 3 in the Lava World. Adam was Anakin and Walt was Obi Wan Kenobi.

Micah was cast as Yoda.

There were frequent uses of "The Force."

And much intensity.

It wasn't quite "The Three Little Pigs" play that they learned that morning in CLUE, but they had fun and grasped the concept of putting on a play! I look forward to many more.

We Should Charge for This Privilege

2010-03-23T08:45:00.004-05:00

Today marked my first time taking Adam and Walt to school, and although I'm taking a break from blogging, twitter and facebook for the season of Lent, I thought I would exercise my liberty in Christ by sharing my experience. Three things come to mind:

I believe there was a total of 22 seconds of silence during our 15 minute drive downtown
Walt begins every sentence with "And Adam..."
Walt shared with Adam that they had played with the light saber yesterday at his house, but then they left it outside and he forgot to bring it in. He then said, "And Adam, that's why I knew that was a bad idea." Then, and I kid you not, there was a silent gap of 8.5 seconds, with me waiting in anxious expectation for a response. Finally, Adam answered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Spicklers on banking

2010-03-16T12:18:00.005-05:00

Walt: I got a new Star Wars dvd. Episode 3. But I'm gonna save my money to buy more.

Me: Oh, did you buy the new one with your own money?

Walt: No, my dad did.

Me: That's nice of him. Do you know how your dad gets money?

Walt: He gets it from being a lawyer.

Adam: No he doesn't! He gets it from the bank.

Walt: No he doesn't! He never goes there. Only mom goes to the bank!

Something Mysterious

2010-03-11T09:20:00.002-06:00

Technically, this didn't happen during carpool, but during a playdate. After playing outside on one of the first sunny spring days in months, Walt came inside looking for me.

W: Mandy, Adam and I have found something mysterious growing in your backyard and we need you to come out and tell us what it is. It's green and mysterious.

(Curious myself, I went to check it out.)

Me: Um, boys. This is what you call a weed. Walt, have you never seen this before?

(Seriously, Spicklers! The kid's never seen a weed?!)

Walt: Can you eat it?

Me: No, but feel free to pull it! Pull all of it. Make a soup with it. Make a Star Wars juice with it. But don't eat it. That would be gross.

(I return inside. After a few minutes, Walt returns.)

W: Mandy, um. We have to apologize. We accidentally ate some.

Me: You ate the weeds? Well, what did it taste like? Was it good?

W: It was kind of good.

Me: Please don't eat anymore. It's not very good for you.

W: Okay.

You know, when we lived in California, they would bring in a few hundred goats to clear out all of the overgrown grass on the hills on the campus of the seminary. I didn't know that we could use our kids for that! We discover new benefits to this parenting thing every day!

On Bell Towers and Proper Nouns

2010-03-04T09:16:00.000-06:00

Today's commute was all about Walt. About how Walt can read. About how Walt knows the names of things. About how much Walt knows about . . . well . . . everything. As told by . . . who else? . . . Walt.

W: One time when Meredith was over at my house watching Star Wars, I read the part at the beginning that tells about the episode.
A: Meh (or something else insufficiently enthusiastic)
W: That sign says 'New York.'
A: How did you know that?
W: Because I can read.
. . . . . .
W: Do you know that bell tower across from Schnucks? I think I just saw it.
A: What?
W: The bell tower. The one across from Schnucks. Do you know it?
A: (emphatic) Where?
W: (exasperated) At Schnucks. (exhale) Schnucks is the big store. Where you go in. And they have the cookies at the front . . . .
A: Oh yeah. I've been there.
W: There's a bell tower across the street that has bells in it that they ring.
. . . . . .
(Lengthy discussion about The Force, its uses, various practice sessions for its use, the varying degrees of said Force, things The Force can and can't accomplish, etc., etc.)

W: There's another bell tower up here that you can see. It's by where the smokestack is. It has a college hat on it.
A: (ignoring the fact that Walt just said a bell tower had "a college hat on it") Where?
W: Up here (rounding the corner, at which time the three of us are craning our necks for a glimpse of what must be a very strange looking building).
A: I don't see it.
W: It's taller than the other buildings, and it has a college hat on it. See that little pointy thing? See?
A: That one right there?
W: Yeah. See? It has on a college hat.

Sure enough. The bell tower at the UT Health Science Center campus has a teeny tiny little . . . well . . . mortarboard-looking thing on top it. But Mr. Smartypants just calls it a "college hat."
. . . . . .
A: Hey. There's the basketball stadium.
W: It's called FedExForum. You can call it FedExForum.
A: It's a basketball stadium. I can call it a basketball stadium.
W: But its name is FedExForum.
A: I can call it a basketball stadium if I want.
W: But, like, if someone said, "Hey, where are you going to watch the basketball game?" You would say, "At FedExForum."

The fact that Walt had just referred to a mortarboard atop a bell tower as a "college hat" was completely lost on Adam.

Career Paths, etc.

2010-02-25T11:53:00.000-06:00

Well, our little theologians were at it again. I'm going to try my best to remember this whole string, but it was a long one and I'm sure I'll leave some good stuff out. Let's see . . . I think it started when we pulled up to the light at the ramp that leads off Danny Thomas to turn onto Union. As usual, there was a man sitting at the top of the ramp with a "homeless" sign. It was at this same intersection that I'd once given away one of the snack packs we made at church one night for just such an occasion.

Walt: Mommy, do we have some food to give him?

Me: No, we don't have any today. We need to remember to get some more on Sunday night at church.

Walt (rolling down window): I'm sorry, we don't have any food today.

Me (rolling up window): Walt, that was nice, but it's really not a good idea to talk to strangers. You might not always know if they're nice or not nice. You should really let mommy talk if we need to tell him something.

(Though, for the record, the man was very nice, smiled at Walt and said, "That's okay, man.")

This led into a discussion of why we shouldn't talk to strangers, and who a kid should talk to if he needed help. Why, the police, of course.

Adam: I'm going to be a policeman when I grow up.

Walt: I'm going to be a basketball player.

A: Or I might be a preacher, like my daddy.

W: You'll have to learn a lot about God to be a preacher.

A: Yeah.

W: Do you want to be a preacher because your family owns the church?

A: We don't own the church! God owns the church!

W: Is that true, Mommy?

M: Well, yes, kind of. Robert is just kind of the leader of the church, but I guess God really "owns" it.

(Aside: Walt is very into who "owns" everything lately. He was very excited to meet his second restaurant owner last night when we went to Lou's Pizza for dinner.)

W: Does God own it because he lives there?

M: Well, God kind of lives everywhere.

(Somebody help me, please!)

A: Is he in that truck up there?

M: Well . . .

W: You can't see God because he's the invisible Holy Spirit.

A: Yeah, like a ghost. Like ghost Anakin Skywalker or ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi!

So, to answer the burning question in your mind . . . can two preschoolers start a conversation about social justice and bring it back around to Star Wars? Yes!!

Silence Is Not An Option

2010-02-25T10:18:00.000-06:00

(prolonged silence)

Walt: Adam, why aren't we talking about things?

Adam: Meh.

Walt: ADAM. We always talk about things when we're riding to school.

Adam: What?

Walt: Adam, we are supposed to talk about things. What do you want to talk about?

Adam: We could talk about dinosaurs.

Walt: No. I'm not an expert in that anymore.

Adam: What about Star Wars?

Walt: I know. We could talk about Star Wars AND Transformers.

Adam: Okay.

Walt: Is Captain Rex a good guy or a bad guy?

Adam: At first he's a good guy, then he's a bad guy.

And so on and so forth. Finally, back on track. And all is right with the world again.

"TRANSFORMER!!!"

George Lucas, I Hope You're Happy

2010-02-23T17:00:00.000-06:00

I was five-years old when The Empire Strikes Back was released in theaters almost thirty years ago. But I still don't have as firm a grasp on the stories and characters of the Star Wars franchise as my two passengers exhibited this morning. With the help of the Star Wars insert on the outside of Adam's backpack, they methodically marched through each plot line, each major character (and some minor ones I've never heard of) and their favorite types of "light savers" (per Walt) from each episode. Wow.

Walt: How can Anakin be good then bad and then good again? How can he keep changing his mind?

Adam: TRANSFORMER!!!

This response, of course, has nothing to do with Walt's question or the topic at hand, but it illustrates the trouble I've had coming up with content for the past few trips to school. Thanks to Walt's Putty, Walt is able to identify and distinguish a typical pad-mount electrical transformer from the kind that turn into machines and robots and dominates the universe. Seeing none of the latter during the drive to school, these two floppy-haired, galactic travelers have taken to screaming "TRANSFORMER!!!" directly into my ears every time they see one of the ubiquitous, green boxes. As you can imagine, this greatly hampers the flow of their conversations and my ability to remember them. Don't forget, I'm trying to navigate Memphis traffic, listen and remember simultaneously.

I'm waiting for a few more trips before I begin to develop the screenplay, Starformer Wars, Episode 6.5: Revenge of the Clones, or something like that. Are you listening, George?

Note From the Teacher

2010-02-23T15:06:00.000-06:00

From Ms. Merritt:

Today Adam and Walt were debating "Who's more powerful - God or Yoda?" They determined God must be. :-)

Potty Talk

2010-02-18T11:54:00.001-06:00

Today's carpool conversation was peppered with talk of the tooth fairy and the tooth pouches they made in CLUE today. Also, something about the plaque monster and spicy toothpaste. But the most eventful conversation went something like this:

W: I think I have to go to the bathroom.

A: You always have to go to the bathroom.

W: Do you know why I always have to go to the bathroom? Because I drink a lot. And what you drink...is really your pee pee.

Me: Walt, we are two minutes from home. Can you hold it?

W: Umm...yeah.

Me: (beginning to narrate our way home so that Walt knows how close we are) We're on Cooper...almost there!

W: Next is Nelson! My pee pee is telling me it wants to come out!

Me: Please tell your pee pee to hold on. We're almost home. Turning on Philadelphia!

W: Oooh....I don't know if I can hold it!

Me: (speeding down my street and abruptly parking the car in front of my house, then jumping in the backseat to undo the buried middle carseat seat belt.) Walt, run to the steps, I'll meet you there! (Then leaving the other two children in the car wondering where mommy went, I ran to the door to unlock it for Walt.)

Walt: WE MADE IT! (and he proceeded doing his necessary duties as I retrieved the other children.)

Fun times, fun times!

Prayer

2010-02-15T08:46:00.000-06:00

This is my first post, and it only involves one of the kiddos. Hope I'm not breaking the rules.

This morning, while taking Adam to school, I said a prayer for our week. After the prayer:

Me: Did you know that you can talk to God whenever you want?

Adam: Yes

Me: How do you know that?
Adam: I learned it at church (Mandy, you're redeemed; nothing about storm troopers)

Me: How does God hear everybody at the same time?

Adam: I think he has a lot of ears

Battle of the Titans

2010-02-12T23:08:00.000-06:00

A: Who can beat up a giant?

W: Um . . . God?

A: Yeah, and Goliath.

W: And Megatron!

A: Yeah, Megatron!

W: Yeah!

Is that what you're teaching them in Sunday School, Mandy?

Evasive Maneuvers

2010-02-11T11:02:00.000-06:00

W: Oh no! What's that?

A: It's a cwash! We can't get through! We have to stop! There are police cars in the road!

W: It's okay! My daddy is a good driver! He'll just go left then right then left again and get us around it! (As I do so.)

A: Oh!

Yes, the entire conversation, as with all conversations this morning, was screamed back and forth from the gaping distance of two feet.

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacks

2010-02-09T09:06:00.000-06:00

Walt and Adam immediately broke down Super Bowl XLIV this morning.

Adam: "Yeah. I wanted the Colts to win, but my dad said they didn't win."

Walt: "I wanted them to win, too. They have Peyton Manning. He's a really good player. I really thought he would help them win."

That's pretty much a three-line summary of every sports talk radio show in the country yesterday morning. And I got it in 12 seconds directly from my backseat.

But the real jewel of the drive was Adam's take on what has become the most iconic image of the game, a shot of winning quarterback, Drew Brees, holding his infant son, Baylen, after the game. Being a daddy, I, of course, saw it live because I can stay up late. And CBS was eating it up. I'm sure many of you saw it, but if not, Brees had tears in his eyes; his cuter-than-cute little boy had on protective ear muffs to shield his little ears from all of the post-game noise; Brees is clearly taking it all in, and you can just see him capturing the most awesome mental image of it all for his own sake and that of his son, who will never remember it. Here's a screen cap of the moment:

Here's Adam's take on this moment in response to Walt's position on the Colt's loss even with Peyton Manning:

"Yeah. (He always starts sentences with 'yeah.') And my daddy told me that after the game there was a little boy and he had on headphones and he looked around."

Yeah. One day they'll understand.

Houses Don't Build Themselves

2010-02-04T08:51:00.000-06:00

A: Hey Walt, do you remember our plan?

W: What plan?

A: Remember that Abby stole Fluffyduck? We have to get her. Do you have any weapons?

W: Weapons?

A: Yes. We have to have weapons.

Me: What kind of plan are you talking about?

W: We can't tell you.

A: It's a secret.

A: Mom, who woke me up this morning?

Me: Dad did.

A: My dad woke me up to say goodnight.

W: My dad didn't wake me up. He went to Texas.

A: My dad went to Texas!

W: He went to Austin. It's in Texas.

A: Like Austin from Backyardigans.

W: Like Austin, Collier's friend. Collier's my cousin.

A: I have cousins.

W: Are your cousins girls?

A: Yes.

W: My cousins are boys.

W: Did you know that some houses are really, really big? My house is old.

A: Some houses are yucky. My house is old, too.

W: My house is older. Did you know that God made people because houses don't build themselves?

M: Waa...Waa.

W: Why is Micah making that annoying sound?

A: Micah, stop that whining...it's freaking me out! It's freaking me out!

W: There's a koo koo.

A: Oh! I see a koo koo. What's that smell?

W: I think it's my stink bubble.

Permission

2010-02-02T11:13:00.001-06:00

Pick up was just as entertaining...only Adam was sour because I let Walt take his carseat and made him sit in Micah's carseat (since Nana had Micah at home and I hadn't yet installed the booster). Then they began to whisper to each other about the fact that they didn't have time to eat snacks in the classroom and Ms. Merritt told them to ask their parents if they could eat them in the car. In a whisper, they argued for several minutes about who should ask me if they could eat their snack. Walt kept whispering, "but Adam, she's your mom. You should ask her." When I finally said "Hey guys, why don't we eat our snacks when we get home." Adam said "how did you know what we were talking about?"

On Star Wars and the NBA Western Conference

2010-02-02T11:11:00.000-06:00

That, my friends, is comedy gold. I couldn't get my recorder going fast enough to get the ESPN-worthy breakdown of the Griz game, but I did get some pretty good commentary on the bonus features on Star Wars DVDs for Episodes, let me see if I get this right, 1, 2, 6 and 3. But that's all.

It took them until Peabody Ave to figure out that they had both watched the same game last night. One at home and one at the game. Adam, I'm guessing didn't make it to the end, so he was convinced the Lakers won. Walt who made it to the very end, corrected him with the addition of "And even the Lakers have the best player in the National Basketball Ahs . . . . . (pretty clear he didn't really know the word). Then Walt claimed a vast majority of the credit for the big win, and Adam told him that OJ Mayo was his player and that he couldn't be Walt's favorite, then they decided that he could be both of their favorite.

Mike and Mike would have been proud.

Of course, by the time we got to Cleveland, the conversation had devolved into a series of addition problems, massive amounts of hyperbole ("Hey, look! That building is 2 million miles away AND it's on fire!), and repeated use of the words Koo Koo Head.

That was awesome!