Time with my boy

It's been so crazy around here that we don't even have any Halloween decorations up yet. Which, as you can guess, probably isn't going to happen now.

Today was Jeff's 8th day in a row working, so Biscuit and I have been on our own a lot this week. And although we have our costumes ready, he and I were both talking about how we just haven't had a chance for the three of us to do anything fun this year.

So with time running out, Biscuit and I got busy making some fun Halloween candy this afternoon.

I need to get him in the kitchen more. He really enjoys it, and I've already told him I'll teach him how to cook. He can already make homemade pizza and lasagna. Maybe we have more Italian blood in us than I thought!

We had a really good time. It was just hanging out and laughing and being creative.

A while after we finished, I said to Biscuit, "Hey. I had a lot of fun with you today."

"Yeah, me, too," Biscuit said.

And I guess I said it a couple more times without thinking because the last time I said it, Biscuit responded, "I know, Mom. You told me. ... And told me again. And told me again."

"Alright, Mr. Smarty Pants," I said to him. And he responded with a giggle.

After dinner, I asked Biscuit if he wanted a piece of the candy we made.

"Yes. Yes I would," he said.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"Hmmmm," Biscuit said, thinking. "I think I'll take a four-eyed pretzel."

We both giggled, but since Jeff wasn't here when we made the candy, he just looked at both of us like we were crazy.

Here's what we made:

Four-eyed pretzel.

Do you ever feel like somebody's watching you?

White chocolate with Halloween cookies,
pretzels, candy corn and sprinkles.

Milk chocolate with Halloween cookies, pretzels, candy corn and sprinkles.

The boy loves sprinkles!

One-eyed pretzels.

See what I mean about sprinkle-crazy?

These were supposed to be a light purple. They turned
out sorta gray, which I guess is fine for Halloween.

Out of the mouth of my babe

A few things Biscuit has said recently:


Defining words: We were watching TV this weekend, and on a nature segment, we saw whale sharks swimming on the screen.

I knew Biscuit would like seeing them, so I called him to get his attention. "Hey, check out the whale sharks on TV," I told him.

"Whale sharks suck," Biscuit said.

I was just about ready to tell him not to say things suck when he said, "But not the bad kind of suck. I mean the kind of suck that propels food into their mouths."

Whale sharks are "filter" feeders. They open their mouths
and swim and just take in whatever's in their path.

Sorting out the rules: In Biscuit's play world, a character can be one thing one day and something completely different the next. And sometimes animals can talk and act human-like, and sometimes they can't.

When he comes up with his adventures, he calls them games. So when Biscuit showed me an array of animals laid out on the couch and asked me which one I wanted to be during the game, I said, "Oooo. I want to be that dolphin."

Biscuit said okay and handed the dolphin to me.

He takes his games very seriously, so I always have to question him about the rules.

"So can my dolphin talk in this game?" I asked Biscuit.

"No, Mom, not in this game," Biscuit said. "The animals are fully committed to their animal behavior."

Glad we got that straight. 


Genetics: Biscuit was chatting with someone recently and as I walked up on their conversation, I heard him say, "Well, I look like my dad, but I have my mom's attitude." 

What in the world?! I have no idea if that was a compliment or not!

The looks

Tomorrow is Jeff's birthday, so we took him out for a nice dinner tonight. 

We were sitting at the table, playing some of the games in the coloring book they gave Biscuit. One of the games was called Tricky Truths. You had to share two things that were true and one that was false, and the other two were supposed to try and guess which one was made up.

Jeff and I knew the answers to every one about each other, and we both thought it was kind of funny that Biscuit thought he could come up with facts we didn't know about him. But of course we played along.

Something came up about Biscuit getting in trouble, and what happened next caught me off guard.

"Well, Mom," Biscuit said, "you have these looks."

"What kind of looks?" I asked him.

"Well, this one is for when I'm in trouble," Biscuit said. He said I raise my eyebrows and look at him. And he knows that I've had enough.

"And this one means that I'm gonna get it!" Biscuit said. He said I look at him over my glasses and stare at him really hard. And that, apparently, means that he's in really big trouble.

I knew that I had certain looks that I gave him, but I didn't know he had seen them enough to be able to mimic them!

But I guess that means I've perfected them to the point that when I throw him one of those looks, he better walk a tight line!

The Magic Man

Jeff will be turning 50 next Monday, but he's not one for big bashes. His perfect long weekend would be driving out to the beach and just relaxing. So that's what we were going to do.

And now there's a stupid hurricane that should be on our coast by Friday or Saturday. Ugh!

So to cheer us up, I secretly recorded Biscuit practicing piano. If he knew I was recording it, he would've made me start and stop the video until he played the song with no mistakes. So that's why I was sneaky and recorded over his shoulder. It's called "The Magic Man," and this will be his second week working on this song, and I think it's coming right along.

Things he likes

When Biscuit was little, he loved firefighters. Then he moved on to cowboys. Then he moved on to superheroes. If he had a brother or sister, he might be able to share his most current interests with him or her. But since he doesn't, I've learned lots and lots and lots about cowboys ... and firefighters ... and superheroes.

I actually miss the superheroes. I had learned where they all came from, what their powers were, what they looked like and more.

And then there was "Star Wars." Now, I have to say upfront that he's actually moved on from "Star Wars" to "Indiana Jones," but he still has a weakness for "Star Wars." And he's all about mixing characters from different movies, books, etc. into one big complicated world.

When I found out that the new "Star Wars" movie was going to be shown outside in a new park downtown, I knew that Biscuit and I would have to go. But I wanted it to be a surprise, so I didn't tell him.

They were encouraging people to dress up, and I knew Biscuit would be excited about that. And then I wondered if he would like it if I dressed up, too.

So I went into my closet and threw something together, then walked into the living room.

"Who am I?" I asked Biscuit.

Biscuit looked me up and down and said, "Ooo! You're Rey."

He guessed exactly who I was, so I told him what we were going to do the next night.

"Really?" Biscuit asked, his face lighting up. "Can I dress up, too?"

"Of course, you can," I told him.

I wanted to make sure that Biscuit was okay with me dressing up, too. If he said he didn't want me to, I wouldn't have. I mean, I was doing it for him in the first place, and I certainly didn't want to be one of those moms who tries to be younger than her age.

"Do you want me to dress up for the movie, too?" I asked him. "I just did it here at home to make you guess who I was."

"Yes, yes I do, Mom," Biscuit said. "You dress up like Rey, and I'll dress up like Han Solo. Because Han Solo was played by the same actor that plays Indiana Jones. So if I dress up like Han Solo, I can sort of be Indiana Jones, too."

Good Lord that child is single-minded!

So we got dressed up and went to see the movie. It was such a nice night. It was cool (especially for summer here!), and there was a breeze blowing. We stopped for takeout on the way, so we had some yummy food to eat, too.

Playing at the park before the movie.

Biscuit had been playing on the climbing equipment and got all disheveled.
I should've made him tuck his shirt back in because you can't see his
belt or holster. I was nervous about letting him bring a gun, even
a toy laser gun, so he put an action figure of Chewbacca, the Wookiee
that is Han's right-hand man, in the holster. Biscuit didn't want to wear
boots. He wanted to wear his stormtrooper slippes because he
said it looked like he was stomping on stormtroopers (the bad guys).

Rey (left) is from the newest movie, and this picture of Han Solos is from the first movie.

The area in front of the ropes was for people who were sitting on blankets. We
brought our comfy chairs, and we were on the front row with a really good view.

And there's no telling what we'll have to learn about next!