Homer

Lip Smackin' Good

Honey Tangerine on the left and Pink Peppermint on the right.

For my May craft column in Chicago Parent Magazine, I wrote about how to make your own lip balm.

Ellie and I worked on this project together and we are pretty pleased with the results. I have been holding off on posting about the lip balm because I gifted little tins of it to many of the mommies in my life yesterday.

Any way, this makes a good little homemade gift. And it is also nice to keep for yourself too.

Why You Shouldn't Care That Your House is a Mess: My Mother's Day Message

In honor of Mother's Day, I wrote a post for the site Sprout for Parents about how most moms (myself included) spend too much time feeling bad about all of the things on their to-do lists that don't get done and not enough time feeling proud about all of the good stuff that is getting done (like raising healthy, happy kids).

I hope you will take a minute to check out my post and then give yourself a big pat on the back for the great job that you do every day, mama.

How to Play Baseball (According to Colin)

First you need to get the round white thing up on this black tube here.
Then grab the heavy black stick and use it to hit the round white thing any way you can.
Just like this.

Then applaud wildly at your accomplishment.

Look cute and make sure everyone saw what you did.

Repeat 20-30 times a day.

What He Had to Say on His Fourth Birthday

Off to the watch the Cubs beat the Diamondbacks.

So, so, so many baseball cards.

Getting a little practice in.

Cake for 50, maybe 60 people.

Brendan's 4th birthday was mostly about baseball -- watching baseball, playing baseball, talking about baseball, and collecting new baseball paraphernalia. Then we capped off our baseball-filled day with a really tacky, fluorescent-colored Lightening McQueen cake. So all in all, pretty much a perfect day for our Brendan.

He is what sweet Brendan had to say in his birthday interview. I just love this kid.

Favorites:

cereal- Mighty Bites

vegetable- red peppers

drink- milk

toy- baseballs

TV Show- Caillou

game- Candyland

book- My Big Rig

dinner – sausage

lunch – pizza

breakfast - pancakes

holiday- Christmas

animal – Hank the Husky

color – red and blue

thing to do at school – color

sport – basketball

What do you want for your birthday? Lightening McQueen stuff like my friend Daniel has. He has a bunch more guys than me. He has the big trucks that those characters go inside.

What do you love about each person in our family?

Daddy – That he goes running.

Mommy – That we sing songs at night.

Ellie - She goes to school.

Colin – He's cute.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Florida and Pittsburgh and Arizona.

What are some of your wishes for this year? Practice riding my bike. When Ellie was 4 she couldn't climb the rock wall at Pump It Up so maybe I am going to try to do that. Or maybe when I am 5. I'm just a little nervous when I get up to the top.

What makes you happy? Playing baseball.

What makes you sad? Nothing.

How old is your Mom? 60

How tall is your Mom? 8 feet tall

What is her favorite thing to do? Go out to the park and play.

What does Dad do for a job? Works on documents and talks to the judge. The judge is an important guy. Daddy goes around the block to the courthouse and he talks to the judge. The judge sits up in a high seat like the book corner in my classroom. Dad talks about his brief.

What is your mom's favorite food? Red peppers.

What is Dad’s favorite food? Chicken on his smoker.

What does our family like to do together? Go out.

What going to be when you grow up? "I don't want to be a Butler basketball player because . . . will Butler still be playing then? I don't want to get hurt so I'll maybe play soccer. I don't want to play hockey because it is rough game. And football is a rough game. Lacrosse is not a rough game. And I'm going to be a dad with one kid. And a lawyer. Who will be the mommy? And who will be Ellie's dad?"

Who are you going to marry? Mommy.

Anything else you want to talk about? No. Can I have a mango smoothie now?