Vikings fans?

I've been watching football this afternoon, big surprise. The boys usually play hockey when I'm watching TV, but today they decided to play football. Liam gets a kick out of throwing the football everywhere, although thankfully he's careful to throw it away from the TV and windows. (I don't worry too much since he uses a stuffed football.) Usually he is a Longhorn (the logo on the football) or a Bulldog (his hockey team). Today, he was a Viking. He might've even been Brett Favre. I think that's why Cole tackled him so aggressively. When I pointed out that in our house, we cheer for the Packers, he said no, he was a Vikings fan. Thank goodness their season is over, too.

Knowing How to Score

Liam and Cole wanted to pull out Jeff's equipment today while he was gone, but I wouldn't let them. Needless to say, Liam was very excited when Jeff got home. Their conversation went something like this:

L: You're going to be a scorer, okay, Dad? You know how to be a scorer, right?
J: Yes, I've seen other people play.
L: Okay, because I'm going to be the goalie.

- pause while Jeff works on an e-mail -

L: Dad, you need to come now. The hockey game is about to start.
J: I need to finish sending this e-mail to Emily, okay?
L: Okay. One of the refs will tell you when it's time to start. When you finish that square, it's time to start.
J: When I finish saying what I'm trying to say, then I'll come.
L: Dad, are you almost done? There's only 1 minute until the game starts. Hurry up.
L: Thirty seconds left.

They made it out to the living room and Liam told Jeff that he was actually early because Liam didn't know when the game officially started. Unfortunately, it was a short game because Jeff was assessed a penalty (by Liam) for shooting too hard.

Portrait Artist

Liam and his class painted self-portraits recently, as least he told us he did. It's been drying for awhile now. We know he really likes to paint, so as a reward for being good today, we pulled out the paints. First, he did a portrait of me. Then, he decided he should paint a picture of Jeff at his computer. (That's the photo at left.) Now he's working on a family portrait, although he forgot to include Cole, so is now working on squeezing him in.

Stuffing Snowmen

As a reward for having a good day at school, Liam gets to choose an activity and make projects. Today he opened up his new Lego pirate set that he received from Grandpa & Grandma Beecher for Christmas. He followed the directions perfectly and put it together all by himself. We were very impressed.

I also talked him into helping me with my project, snowmen for Christmas gifts next year. We felted them lightly in the washing machine and then stuffed them. And stuffed them. And stuffed them. They are now very short, very fat men, although they look more like gnocchi. Liam was very helpful.

Crime Scene?

The details are a little sketchy, but as far as I know:

Some time after Liam came home from school, he went to the bathroom. He was compelled to use some toilet paper. Well, really, a lot of toilet paper. The toilet didn't flush, of course. He's a smart kid, so he knew the plunger might be helpful. He tried it once and then flushed again. Our toilets are not easily managed, so it started overflowing. Rather than call out for Jeff, he ran to the stairs in wet socks, slipped and fell partially up them. Then he called out for Jeff.

Jeff found him and the scene pictured above. Liam's not sure exactly what happened, but his glasses were not broken, and he had a 1+ cm gash next to his left eye. Thankfully, it was next to his eye and not in his eye. Thankfully, his glasses didn't break and go in somewhere important. Liam insisted Jeff wash some of the blood off his face, and then they raced over to clinic.

Liam was a bit freaked out, but did pretty well. Kind Dr Rassbach did a nice job stitching him up and he should be fine. It'd be nice if he'd let me clean it. Anytime he cries it flows right over it, though, so that ought to keep it relatively protected.

Like a Moldy Banana

Apparently, the ornerys stayed away, because today was a much better day. Both boys slept in 'til 9, which is unheard of. They played, destroyed the playroom, and had a snack before Liam and Jeff went off to hockey practice. Cole and I played pirates and soldiers while they were gone, and the boys played well after their return.

During supper (spaghetti lasagna on which the boys chowed down), Jeff said that Liam had skated hard during practice. They did drills today which keeps the kids hopping. Liam told me, "I skated as hard as a moldy banana." Honestly, he comes up with some of the craziest sayings.

The Ornerys

Liam's day started very well. He slept in 'til past 7 and came in to my side to give me his Packer blanket for safekeeping. He said he was going downstairs to play. Cole wasn't up yet, so we thought he'd be good. Then we heard water running, and not, and running, and not, and so on. Jeff finally went to investigate, only to discover that Liam had rinsed out not only the soap dispenser and hand sanitizer dispenser sitting on the bathroom counter, but the refill soap container as well. Hmmm.

He somewhat redeemed himself by helping a lot in picking up the playroom. We ate lunch and told them both they needed to rest in preparation for the Mavs game this evening. They didn't want to, but did finally lie down. Not long after, we heard Cole yell that Liam had spit on him. Both boys had apparently been hanging out of their beds and Liam did spit on him. We explained how naughty that was, which should sound quite familiar to him by now, and told them both to lie down again. Liam lasted about 2 minutes before leaning over the railing again, so we moved him to our room.

He's usually pretty good when he's in a room by himself. He seemed contrite after awhile, so I gave him a time limit and he promised to be good. Cole had finally fallen asleep, so Jeff and I went back to work on the playroom. Then the phone rang. 507 931-6800. Nicollet County. I haven't been coroner in years, so I was a bit confused. Then the dispatcher said he'd gotten a 911 call from our number. Good gracious.

We had a very long talk after that one. He was good for the rest of the evening, and just told me that all the ornerys and bads are out of his head. He wasn't sure if they would stay away overnight, so I told him that Sadie would watch out for them and eat any that she saw. He was concerned that she wouldn't be able to see them, since they're invisible, but I assured her that dogs have far keener senses than we do. We'll see what happens tomorrow.