A POST FROM LUKE

I am very sad because today my pet grasshopper died. I found him on Wednesday. He was climbing on the fence. I made a house for him with grass and a leaf, and I poked holes to make sure he could breathe. He lived with me for two days. Today he died. We buried him in our garden.

Goodbye little fella. I'm gonna miss you.

Seriously Part II

I am not making this up. Here's a conversation that just took place while tucking Luke in for the night.

Mom: Tomorrow is preschool! Are you excited to see Ella?

Luke: Yes

Mom: Ella is your good friend, isn't she?

Luke: Yes she is. But do you know what? Dallas hates me.

Mom: No he doesn't, Luke. In fact, Dallas probably loves you more than anyone else in the whole wide world. That's what brothers are like.

Luke: silence

Mom: Do you believe me?

Luke: more silence

Mom: Imagine what would happen if a bully was picking on you and Dallas walked up. What do you think Dallas would do?

Luke: He would protect me.

Mom: That's exactly right. And what would you do if you walked up and a bully was picking on Dallas?

Luke: I would kick the bully in the nuts.

Mom: silence

Luke: I said I'd kick him in the nuts. You know, the weenis.

He thought I needed clarification.

Seriously

The following conversation is real. It took place approximately 10 minutes ago.

Dallas: "Hey, Mom, can you guess what I'm thinking about right now?"

Me: "Geez, I don't know, bananas?"

Dallas: "Nope. Fried chicken."

And there you have it.

Happy Easter

MARCH m A d n E s S !

We've been having so much fun this month. From leprechaun traps to championship basketball games (hooray Caitlin!), new Crocs to learning to fall forward when rollerblading... there's never a dull moment. Spring is finally here and we could not be more pleased!

Bummer...

I haven't been much of a blogger lately. Ever since YouTube revoked access to my "Fancy Pants" clip, I haven't really felt there's anything to celebrate.
Actually, truth be told, right before Christmas I was hit by a truck. At least it's felt that way. Life is good, but very busy. Teaching preschool 5 days a week has proven to be more work than I anticipated. It sure sounds easy enough. Twelve-and-a-half hours a week, piece of cake! Wrong. I have to say, though, it is the greatest job I've ever had. I'm doing what I love to do in the comfort of my home. I can walk Dallas to the bus stop every day and have a snack waiting when he returns after school. I'm blessed. And tired.
I thought I would try to get this blog up to date this weekend. We have been having a wonderful time together - enjoying various holidays, birthday parties, dentist visits (NOT!), date nights, tea parties, classroom parties... so many things to celebrate. Forgive me if I post things out of order, but I'd like to go through my photos over the past few months and post some of my favorites. If I have to worry about getting them in chronological order I'll suffer anxiety and give up all together!

What Makes You Laugh Until You Cry???

I love to laugh. I love funny people, and I rather enjoy being funny myself. (At least I think I'm funny. In fact, I'm one of the funniest people I know.) Here is something that makes me laugh until I cry. Every single time I watch it.
Wait!! Before you click play you need to go down and pause the nice Christmas music. I'm too lazy to delete it.


And now for your enjoyment I bring you

F A N C Y

P A N T S

I LOST MY TOOTH!!!

Literally, he said, as he came bounding off the bus this afternoon.
I lost it at lunch today and I totally don't know where it is. I LOST it!

I think he must have swallowed it during lunch, offered sweet Madeline.

No worries, he wrote Ms. Faree this fabulous note to take the place of his coveted tooth, and gently tucked it under his pillow ...



It's a little hard to read...

deer TooTh faree.

I LosT my TooTh

I do not know war my Tooth is.

I have a feeling she is going to reward him BIG TIME! :)

* P * A * R * T * Y *

How Cool Is This?

It's About Time For A.........

Dallas Post!

Man, I love this kid. So smart, so handsome, so funny, and so much like his mom! I have a few funny stories of him to share.

The other day we were in the car (btw, so glad we don't have a dvd player in the car.... soooo many interesting conversations take place while on the road!) and Dallas made a statement about something using the word "similar" in his sentence. I said something like, "Wow, Dallas, I'm so impressed by your vocabulary. Usually only kids in the 8th grade or older use words like 'similar'."

Never being one to pass up an opportunity to toot his own horn, he adds, "I know a lot more big words, like introduction, interactive, and exoskeleton."

"WOW!" I gush. "Go on!" (like I needed to ask.)

"Canine, feline," he says.

I'm growing prouder by the moment.

"United States of America, indecent exposure,"

cringe

"Ummmm, honey, where did you hear that one?"

"You taught me. Remember? It's what police will arrest you for if you show your privates in public."

Whew. Dodged a bullet there. And then I had my Sally Field moment: He listens, he really listens!

And he wasn't done tossing around the impressive big words! "Hillside, electricity," he recites. "Grand finale."

"Ohhhh," I say, "that's a good one."

"No, grand finale. I'm done. Those are the only big words I know."

Have you heard the one about Dallas' first grade teacher? She rocks w/ a capital "R"!!! And apparently I'm not the only one who thinks so. A few weeks ago Ms. Kistler was on the verge of her 30-something birthday. I asked Dallas what he would like to do for her and he suggested painting her portrait. (Lavish vocabulary and a renaissance man? A true force to be reckoned with!) Splendid idea. I hooked him up w/ a canvas and some acrylics, and the kid went to town. He's quite the artist, but typically produces war/UFO/jet/super-hero depictions. I wasn't sure if I needed to run to the store for a "plan B" gift.

Fear not.

Behold, Ms. Kistler.

Ummm, is it my imagination, or does Ms. Kistler look kinda hot? By comparison, I've also included the portrait he painted of yours truly a few years ago.

Granted, his fine motor skills have improved over the years, but why did she get earrings and a pretty necklace and all I got was a silly purple ribbon in my hair? I'm just saying.....

Finally, here's a picture of Dallas after he gave his teacher the gift. She loved it. And I love her because when I tried to get a shot of the 2 of them together Dallas kind of freaked out and tried to squirm out of the way and she grabbed him and held tight while they BOTH smiled for the camera. Looks like I'm not the only one who loves this young man!

I could survive for 44 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

L is for Lucky, and for Luke, and for Love

I don't know how he does it. A quick trip to the grocery store typically results in the mother-load for Lukey Boy. I seem incapable of telling him no. Most recently he asked for a mouth guard like Dallas wears for football. I needed to grab a few items from the store and $.97 for a mouth guard seemed reasonable. Then he pulled me down the balloon aisle. (for those of you who don't know, Luke has a passion for balloons. he covets them, literally) Okay, a mouth guard and a bag of 12 "It's a Boy!" balloons. Enough damage for one day. Wrong! As I whiz by for a couple of 2 liters of diet soda, Luke eyes the bright pink lemon/lime/cranberry concoction, and while it wasn't of the diet variety, I found myself intrigued as well. Mouth guard, balloons, soda. One quick pass down the baking aisle and we're done. Until Luke sees the marshmallows. In a performance worthy of a daytime Emmy, Luke convinces me he must have marshmallows. The colored ones. No, wait, the plain white ones. No, the colored ones. Wait, not the little colored ones, the big colored ones. What? The big colored ones only come in pink? The big white ones, then. Yes, the big white ones. Delicious.
Oh how I love this boy.

What Am I Going To Do With You?

First I must admit that this picture has nothing to do with this post. I just love the picture.
Today Luke crawled up beside me on the couch and sighed a big, shoulder-slacking sigh.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I just don't know what to do," he replied in an overly-dramatic tone.
"What do you mean you don't know what to do? Like right now, you don't know what you want to do right now?"
Another ridiculous sigh.
"Not right now. I don't know what I want to do when I grow up."
"Oh," I replied. "That's not a big deal. You aren't supposed to know what you want to do when you grow up because you haven't tried everything yet."
"I don't know what you mean," he said, perking up a little.
"I mean, you shouldn't decide that while you are so young. Right now your job is to try out as many things as you can to see what you like and what you don't like."
"Like what?"
"Well, like skiing. You haven't tried skiing yet. You haven't tried tennis, or golf, or coaching, or being a teacher, or flying an airplane, or riding a motorcycle, or anything like that."
"Well, what else haven't I tried yet?"
"Let see, you should try playing a musical instrument, cooking in a fancy restaurant, studying spiders, being a zookeeper, a gardener, a cameraman, a mailman, a librarian... there are so many things you should try to see if you like it."
"OK," he says.
"So, what would you like to try first?" I asked eagerly.
long dramatic pause...........
With great confidence and improved posture he looks me right in the eye and says, "Drinking beer. I think I'll try that first."

Luke's Hot Rod

Today after preschool Luke asked me if he (we) could build a car out of a box. I set aside the mile-long list of things I needed to get done during those precious few hours between preschool and Dallas arriving home starved and ready to rumble, and set out to build the best darn cardboard car my child has ever seen.
First I made a preliminary sketch:

Next we gathered all of the necessary tools and art supplies and got to work. I did all the major cutting and left painting to the master.


Luke napped and I made dinner (lasagna rolls - a family fav) while we waited for the paint to dry. Dallas' arrival home from school was timed perfectly and he was able to help with the finishing touches. (The license plate was Dal's idea - it reads "Hot Rod" but it's a little tricky to see in the pictures.)





Daddy came home to find Luke "parked" in his parking space. A day well spent. Oh, and yes, his rims are pink. It's all the rage with the 3.75 yr. olds!

Time to PLAY BALL!!!

Today was the first in an 8-week adventure in juggling two boys playing two sports at two different parks. Sadly I missed Luke Luchini's 1st ever soccer game (Go Red Robins!) but in return was witness to a crushing victory by the Green Bay Packers over the Miami Dolphins. Gooooooooooo Packers! Dallas played defense the whole game, and between snatching flags was able to entertain the sidelines with a few dance moves I've never seen before.
I lie. I have seen those moves before, but I promised Tony I'd never talk about it.

Tony helped out at Luke's soccer game, and if he is to be believed, Luke wasn't exactly thrilled with the whole experience. He enjoyed the first few minutes, then was determined not to have fun, and expressed his disappointment and frustration at being signed up for soccer in the first place.

Luckily today was the only conflict between schedules and I won't be missing any more of either boys' games. I just had to keep telling myself that surely Mrs. Manning had to choose between watching Eli or Peyton on occasion.

A Tribute To My Favorite 1st Grader

I HEART DALLAS

Huge week in the Luchini household. Dallas started first grade. I can't believe it! A few weeks ago I made the mistake of doing the math: he gets up at 7:15am, gets on the bus around 8:30am, gets dropped off again around 4:15pm, and is in bed by 8:00pm. Let's see... that gives me a whopping 5 hours a day with my first born, less than 4 hours on the nights he has football practice. It doesn't seem right! I miss him all day long - and luckily he seems completely unaffected by my attachment issues. He's really enjoying first grade. There are a total of 5 first grade classes at Prospect Elementary, and while I'm sure they are all terrific teachers, Dallas got the best of the bunch. Ms. Kistler is the friendliest, warmest, most compassionate teacher - who loves her job. She's been teaching for 15 years and has only taught first grade because it's the BEST!!! (I speak from experience!)

A good friend suggested I take Dallas on a "1st Grade Date" before school started and I'm sure glad I was able to squeeze it in late last week. I dropped Luke off at Aunt Mimi's and told Dallas the day was his. He chose to have lunch at his favorite Chinese restaurant, then we wandered over to a paint-your-own ceramics studio called "Artist for a Day." Dallas and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves while we painted. He chose 2 ceramic figures to paint - Patrick Star from Spongebob and a Transformer/robot looking guy. I picked a cute little plate and we got right to work. It was so much fun to just sit back and enjoy Dallas; something I don't do often enough. He is such a wonderful little person. Several times during our painting session he got up and danced to the music being piped over our heads. Not dancing for an audience or for attention, just because he felt moved to do so. I loved it.

Over the course of the day I tried to ask Dallas a few questions, knowing I'd want to capture this special time in his life. Here is a few of the questions and Dallas' responses:

1. What is your favorite tv show?

How It's Made

Smash Lab

Myth Busters

Spongebob

2. What is your favorite movie? (This was so funny. He replied, "...that I've seen or that I haven't seen?")

That he's seen: Planet Earth

That he hasn't seen: Batman The Dark Knight

3. Where do you want to go to college?

San Francisco

Why San Francisco?

Because they have fancy restaurants.

4. Who is your best friend?

Bailee

Madeline

Evan

Bo

Calvin

5. What do you want to be when you grow up?

No idea.

6. Favorite food?

"Breakfast of Champions" (hashbrowns w/ cheddar cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream, and 3 links of turkey sausage.)

I can't wait to discover what the future holds for my sweet little man. It really seems like just yesterday I was 41 weeks pregnant during the hottest June on record. Excited and terrified at the same time. Completely unaware of whether it was "Dallas" or "Molly" in my belly - and even more naive about how my life would be forever better, brighter, happier, sometimes sadder, but undoubtedly more meaningful the moment I looked into the eyes of my beautifully perfect son.

Here's to Dallas - the best, brightest, handsomest first grader there ever was!

xoxo

8 * 14 * 08

Happy Anniversary Tony!
Nine years ago today I made you the

happiest man in the world. :)
Thanks for choosing me.

Up....Up....and AWAY!!!!!!!!

Tahoe Homes has just one house left in our neighborhood to sell...and today they brought out the big guns, or rather, the BIG BALLOON, to get that done. Tony was in charge of inflating and securing this gigantic red balloon above the available home. Of course he received a little help from his 2 favorite assistants who chanted, "Go Dad! Go Dad! Go Dad!"... as the balloon got bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER! I won't lie to you, it got a little scary toward the end. I was wishing we all had protective eye wear just in case. But no worries, it went up without a hitch.

From the mouths of babes...

One of the primary reasons I created this blog was for the opportunity to capture some of our favorite moments as parents. For years I have called Tony at work and said, "Do you have time for a quick story? You won't believe what Luke just said..."

Each time I share a story Tony will say, "You need to write that down." Of course I never write anything down, and the story fades to memory, soon to be forgotten.

But now thanks to Al Gore and that amazing thing called "the Internet," the stories of my boys will live on forever....

This afternoon I had the pleasure of dropping Dallas of at his friend Calvin's for a play date - providing me w/ an opportunity to spend some quality one-on-one time with Luke Anthony. A few minutes ago he snuggled up to me on my lap and leaned his face into mine. He's always been my snugly one. We sat in silence for several moments while I took in the wonderful smell of his stinky nap-breath, his scrawny tattoo-wielding biceps, knowing that before long he won't want to climb on my lap anymore, won't need to gently press his face against mine. I quietly whispered to him, "I love you with all of my heart, you know."

And he quietly replied, "Shit yeah."

"She's like this thing, with love in all her cracks." - Dallas

Today we are babysitting baby Claire - who has her Luchini cousins wrapped tightly around her precious little finger.

The Great Flood of '08

We survived!
(And then we bathed!)

Las Cruces - Summer '08