Sugar Gourmet

I was fixing up some vanilla ice cream and strawberries for dessert. We had a little bit of Ben & Jerry's left that had a tiny bit of freezer burn. I scrapped it off and used that one for Nick. Then I opened up the new container of a local brand (that is amazingly creamy and delicious) for me and Chris. Sat down with the boys to eat it and Nick said, "Mine tastes funny." Chris and I gave each other knowing looks and both did a taste of his. It tasted fine. I asked Nick to try some of Chris's ice cream (I wasn't giving up mine) and Nick said "Yum!". So back to the kitchen I went to get rid of the B&J and give Nick the good stuff.

Protectors

So part of the fun of being a boy is getting all excited over monsters and ghosts and such. Except when it's time for bed. And then the dark seems a little scary. But now we set up a line of defense in front of Nick's bed so that he feels protected. A strange possie (sp?) consisting of the Master from Kung Fu Panda, Batman, a three-headed dragon (with Nick), a two headed sea serpant, the infamous aligator truck from the zoo, a pirate and other folks we think could put up a good fight.

More Snow

It was one of those snow storms where it started in the morning and just never stopped. Not sure what the offial measurement was, but Chris measured 13+ inches (and 4 trips out to shovel). We decided to hit the road Sunday for some free ice skating at Millenium Park downtown. Run by the park district, you show up and skate on a fairly nice rink outside. Except Nick outgrew his skates from last year, so we had to stand in line to rent his. But when the lady saw what size we were getting, she waved us away saying "He won't last long. I can't charge you." Little did she know that Nick turned into a skating machine today! Super wobbly, bambie legs for most of the afternoon. His little legs went every which way. But I have to say they seemed to have a bit more control to them than last year. Then we'd hop off the ice for a bit. Then he'd ask to go back on. Then off. Then on. By the last time (after a soft pretzel and view of the zamboni) he was doing really well. Still needing assistance from us, but the feet were moving in the right direction. And he learned to walk in his ice skates. Nice!

Zoo

So Nick often has dates with Grammy and Papa Jack. They'll go to the zoo or the Field Museum. Or as Nick refers to it, "Grammy and Papa Jack's museum". So they went to see the Zoo Lights last weekend. I gave Nick $10 and told him to buy popcorn for him and PJ. When he came home, I asked, "Did you buy popcorn?" and he said "No, I bought an alligator truck." Huh? Yep, that little stinker was in the gift shop and used his money for a toy. Next time we'll give him exactly enough for popcorn. Photo above it Nick showing Chris his new truck.

Family Secret

So every family has a family secret. So imagine our surprise when we went to Nick's school a few weeks ago and found out he'd been blabbing ours all around town. We asked the teachers to hold onto it for a while, but now we can share with everyone...we're having a baby! Baby Nordloh is expected to arrive July 20th. Fun fun! We made a few phone calls last to family last night and Nick was supposed to say "I'm going to be a big brother. We're having a baby". Instead, the first try came out as "My mommy's having a baby. It's got a penis." We don't know if it has a penis, but looks like Nick might want a brother.

Handyman Chris

We finally got the basement recarpeted after the flood. You remember, the one that happened a month or so after we moved in. Great timing. Anyway, the new carpet gave us the encouragement we needed to finish the storage room down there. You know, the one he tore the walls and ceiling out of last year. So he bought some drywall the other day to start on the ceiling. He and Nick were down in the basement playing with the racetrack they set up when I heard a huge crash. I yelled down asking if everything was ok and only Nick answered. So I started downstairs right as Nick was running upstairs to get me. Turns out the drywall (which was stacked outside the storage room) had fallen across the storage door when Chris stepped inside. Trapping him in. Which made me laugh so hard, except that I kept thinking about Chris working alone in that room this past week and how he would have been trapped down there all day!

"Let's Play Man"

Nick and Chris have put together a game called "Man". From what I can tell, it's Chris talking like he's on Starsky and Hutch and Nick handing him sharp things. Typical Man dialogue -
C: "Hey man, what's happenin? Give me some skin."
N: "Here, how about a nail?"
C: "Ouch!"
N: "How about a shark?"
C: "Owwie!"
N: "How about a fork?"
C: "Owww!"
N: "Mom, what else is sharp?"