The Stinker

I was standing in the kitchen eating some pita bread a minute ago when Roman walked in. He came over with an impish gleam in his eye and slapped my pita out of my hands! 

He laughed and said, "That's funny!" -- and so was consequently surprised when I didn't laugh or smile and told him instead that it wasn't funny, it was mean, and pick that up.

He got down, his impish giggle transforming into something a bit more serious. By the time he stood back up to hand me the pita, his giggle had shifted completely to a little quiver in his chin, a pouty lower lip and a sad-eyed look.

"I just wanted you to call me a stinker, cause I'm funny," he says, trying hard to choke back the tears.

Ohhh.

"Do you like it when I call you a stinker?"

"Yeah, cause then I'm funny."

"Ok, well sometimes things are stinker things and sometimes they are mean. That was a mean thing. Are you gonna just do stinker things or stinker things and mean things?"

"I'm just gonna do stinker things."

And then, of his own accord, he climbed upon the counter and got a cup down, filled it half full of ice water and gave to me to make amends, "cause that's nice, huh."

Easter Max

Just enjoying some Easter candy my big brother shared with me and playing some Xbox.

Happy Birthday Shane!

Shane's birthday was at the beginning of the month, day before Easter. We invited him for a 

--- wait for it--- 

day at the BEACH! 

Because we don't do that like every other weekend already. But this time we had 

that's right, folks, pudding cake. That's Zickgraf family tradition. That thing is a made-from-scratch Texas sheet cake with a mixture of chocolate & vanilla pudding and cream cheese and then Cool Whip on top for good measure. 

Do not ask how many calories this thing has. Birthday cakes do NOT count.

Birthday "Helper" Imp

In addition, we collaborated to make this a-MAZ-ing birthday poster (which is still hanging proudly three weeks later),

decorate the kitchen in extreme birthday fun fashion,

make special cards for Shane, 

and wrap this awesome gift from Maggie:

Clearly it was a hit. Apparently he'd been talking about how awesome the Vitamix was that day at work, like literally ten minutes before getting his very own. 

 I wish we had gotten Shane a few gifts ourselves, but we were quite honestly stumped- and besides, anything next to the Vitamix is a token gift. Shane had to settle for our simple little acts of love and a day at the pool instead of the beach. I didn't hear any complaining, so I think it worked.

We love you Shane- and miss you like crazy Mags!

People Who Get Hurt

"People who get hurt all over their body don't have to eat their dinner."

The other day Roman was rolling up the rug at the front door and getting crap all over the floor in the process. So I told him he needed to clean it up, meaning sweep up the mess.

Next thing I know, he's outside, crying. Hard. I go out to investigate and he's lying stomach-down on the sidewalk with the rug crumpled up underneath him. He's crying hard enough it's evident he's still trying to catch his breath and I'm nervous to move him- but then he gets up on his hands and knees and he crawls/I pull him into my lap while he cries, trying to catch his breath and tell me what happened. 

Poor kid had been trying to shake off the rug for me- while standing on the rock wall at the front of our house about 4 feet up from the sidewalk- and lost his balance and fell. 

Fortunately, all he wound up with was a scrape or two and a minor headache which faded pretty quickly. 

So at dinner that night, which was broccoli and cheese soup with rice and tomatoes- which I admit didn't look terribly appetizing but wound up being quite delicious with some s&p and Parmesan cheese- he wasn't terribly interested. In fact, he asked if it was leprechaun poop. So when informing me that it looked "lucky" ( his word for "yucky", and as it happens here, the perfect pun- which of course cracked me and my simple little mind up) didn't sway me from insisting he eat at least three bites of dinner, he brought out that little gem.

"People who get hurt all over their body don't have to eat their dinner."

written by: Sheen