Several months ago I finally got rid of my beloved blanket/bedspread. I love blankets. It is probably one of the few things that I certainly have too much of. But I ditched the blanket after 10 years because it was literally falling a part. Instead of buying something new for the bed, I went to the closet. There was a nice big white quilt that will do the job. Thinking it would not stay white for long, I put it on and hoped for the best.

As I grabbed it off the bed yesterday morning to wash it, I thought...this has stayed pretty clean. That was until I washed it. As I opened the dryer door, I instantly saw it. Black, all over the blanket. Then I saw the culprit. A black crayon. Now this was the second load of laundry I had done. Somehow a crayon got mixed up with the blanket and sheets as I tossed them in. I considered trying to clean it based on something I found on google, but there was too much of it. Fortunately I was on the phone with a friend who has a 'thankful' blog. Instead of getting mad, I realized at least it was not a load of shirts, pants, etc. It was only one sheet and a blanket, and one that was not real sentimental to me.

Yesterday we had a very weird experience at a restaurant. We don't go out to eat much, maybe once/twice a month, but there is a local pizza place that has a dinner buffet a few times a week. So, we headed over there. From the car I could see that there was no pizza out on the buffet. I sent B in to ask if they have their buffet tonight - he nods his head yes and we walk in. I always forget what their kid ages/prices are for the buffet. So I told him it would be 2 adults and I can't remember the ages but the kids are 3, 5 and 8. He (probably a high school guy) says, "As far as I am concerned, if they are shorter than me, they are free." Then realizing I did not get charged for the boys pizza, figured I would let them get a drink (versus the usual water). The boys grabbed Gatorade out of the cooler. Upon seeing the Gatorade, the guy said "I am just gonna charge you for a drink because I think it is stupid for me to charge you $2.50 for a Gatorade". I headed to the table thinking he is either a disgruntled employee or not very smart - he had no clue who I was and for him to be selling the business short. Then a little later another young employee proceeded to show my boys how you can play air hockey free by pushing in the coin thing and kicking the side of the machine!! The whole time we were there they only brought out one pizza for the buffet. The guy was really nice but I am still bothered by his lack of respect for his job and employer. There is a part of me that wants to go back in there and let management/owner know. I definitely made it a point to tell the boys what a bad employee he was and just because someone showed him how to cheat the game, did not make it right by him doing it.

B has a spelling test every week and one of the best ways for us to practice is to do the words in the car. It is amazing how it is helping JB. He will sit back there and mimic every letter he says, rattling them off faster than his older brother.

Recently in music class, Jbird's teacher had them howling...not sure why but they had to imitate a wolf. So, that has been a recent sound around our house. Just today Jbird got going again, as we walked to the car after school. Pretty soon he had a neighborhood dog going...it was so funny. Jbird would howl, the dog would howl, Jbird would howl, the dog would howl.

The boys were eating dinner last night and drinking smoothies. I had just given them their dark red/purple fruit smoothies. I turned my back and all of a sudden I heard JB crying and the other two boys started saying my name. I turned around. Poor JB was taking the first sip of his smoothie (he normally uses a straw but not this time) and the whole smoothie had slid down the cup and into his face. I so wish my camera had been close by. All you could see were his eyes. He was so stunned, he did not know what had happened. I managed to hide my laugh as I cleaned him up, but was glad to hear him laughing about it a few seconds later with his brothers.

My boys are finally starting to open their eyes to new food. The other night when B made taco meat, he did not realize it was taco seasoned ground turkey. He just kept talking about how good the meat was and if I would buy it again. I finally told him it was turkey - something he does not 'like'. Then we were at Costco recently and they were trying samples. Jbird tried and loved the vegetable sausage patties. There is hope yet!

All is quiet, so time for me to curl up in bed with a book - one of my favorite places as the weather gets colder!