fail photo: a couple things to chew on

the conference i am currently attended has dug into the area of connecting the heart to the mind.
folks who know me will know that this means that i am enjoying MMI immensely.
it has given me a ton to "chew on" and some more to bring back to campus.

the conference also happens to be in Florida.
i've been told a few times to enjoy the sunshine while i am here.
so far, i have deeply enjoyed seeing the sun in a very blue sky.
sadly, it has been mostly out of the conference center windows.
but, i'll take it.

in the mean time, let me phone in another post.
from a break here in the conference center.
that i should probably be using to talk to other humans.
oops.

here is a young anth enjoying the beach on a family trip to San Clemente, California.



and, speaking of "chewing on" things, here is anth learning that the beach isn't quite as tasty as it looks.



happy Tuesday, and here's to s little sunshine, wherever you are!

fail photo: i dropped my brain somewhere

so.
I'm at a conference.
on being a mid-level manager.
and it's awesome.
but I'm super behind on blogging as a result.
and, after tons of great dialogue, my brain kind of feels like this:



that.
is.
all.

things that are impossible

this morning, i was upstairs looking for split pea soup recipes, and bern was in the basement with the boys. 
ben suddenly came flying through the basement door, grabbed a blanket from the couch, and started building a tent. 
this mainly involves stretching a tent from our couch to our coffee table.
"hurry, mommy! put a book on the blanket so it won't fall down!"
i put a book on one side of the blanket, and a binder on the other. 
then i leaned down and asked benny what he was doing. 
"i'm building a tent to hide."
"what are you hiding from, benny?"
"the Impossible Man!"


um. 
what?
i wandered downstairs to see what was going on. 
apparently, anth had told benny about the Invisible Man. 
we tried to explain the difference.
benny would have none of it. 
"no, mommy. i have to hide from him. HE. IS. IMPOSSIBLE!"


only one of many times those last three words have been uttered on this planet. 

Ben MD

tonight, i had the opportunity to collaborate with a colleague to present a StrengthsQuest workshop to some of Ohio State's PharmD students.
i got home a bit later than usual as a result, and the boys were done with dinner and just about ready for bath time.
after i hung up the phone with a friend i don't call nearly enough, i headed into the kitchen.
benny walked in behind me, and wandered into the bathroom to get some toilet paper to blow his nose.
(note: there are approximately 5 boxes of tissues in various locations on the same level of the house.)

bern and i took a good long look at benny's eyes and thought that he might be developing more than the sniffles.
bern walked in to ask benny if he wanted to take some medicine for his cold before bed.
benny, of course, declined.
"no, dad. i don't have a cold. i'm just sick in my snot parts."

and that was when we knew we had a future doctor in our midst.

why ben can't go to the moon

driving home from work the other day, ben noticed the moon in the early evening sky.
and here is what followed:

benny: look momma, the moon! (pause.) but i can't go there. (sigh)
mom: that's only for Backstreet Boys.
benny: what?
mom: nevermind. i was kidding. why can't you go there?
benny: because you don't give me the stuff i need.
mom: a spaceship?
benny: no. i need to shoot all the aliens. and you won't let me have guns.

that's right, friends.
benjamin thinks that mom, and her crazy no-weapons-for-preschoolers safety standards, are the biggest roadblock between him and the moon.

fail photo friday 46: bedtime stories

benny's pre-school classroom has been exploring the art of storytelling.
i, of course, love this.

recently, i walked in to find their latest storytelling exercise posted on the wall.
basically, the teachers read the same prompt to each child, and allowed them to finish the story.
the prompt detailed a little brother and sister who wander into the forest behind their house.
when they try to go home, they find that their home is no longer there and has been replaced with more forest/mountains.
they heard a noise and turned the corner and see. . .

given all the stories in the world. . .
(or the 7 basic plots.)
. . . my three-year old chooses to have his parents murdered.
neat.

thankfully, he also made himself a hero.

minding his manners

earlier this year, anth had to have a baby tooth pulled to make room for a permanent tooth that was growing in behind it. 

like most little boys, he was concerned about his clothes getting stained.

the whole ordeal actually wasn't much of an ordeal at all, and anth was thrilled to get $5 from the tooth fairy for his troubles.

recently, anth has had a new permanent tooth growing in on the other side.

and his baby tooth didn't look like it would loosen up on it's own.

until the last week or so.

and, little victories, he lost it last night.

during dinner.

(gross.)

(approximately 10 minutes later, benny decided to pretend to be a dog and crawl around on the floor on all fours. in his footie pajamas. and one of his knees slipped on our flooring. and he landed flat on his face. this resulted in all of our emergency "icies" being used at the same time.)

anyway.

anth lost his tooth.

we were getting him ready for bed, and he remembered that my colleague, Curtis, had told him he would get more money if he wrote the Tooth Fairy a thank you note.

we had already explained to him that the tooth fairy leaving him $5 was a one-time deal.

but, he insisted on being polite.

"just in case it works each time."

in an effort to reward his kindness, the tooth fairy left anth $2.

suffice it to say, anthony was displeased with his meager earnings.
bern reminded him to practice gratitude.
i told him that this was a 800% increase on what we used to get.
and, bless his heart, he looked horrified at the thought of getting a quarter and ran straight to his piggy bank  to deposit his cash.