Shhh... It's a Surprise!

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

So, since Nurse Boy is in the process of changing jobs and getting ready to go back to school, summer vacation is NOT in the budget. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we have decided to take little day trips or plan simple activities off and on this summer. My favorite part of the simple festivities that we have planned is that they are a complete and udder surprise to the kids.

Tomorrow we are going to wake the kids up with the news that our lunch is packed and we are headed to the Topeka Zoo. We have never been to the Topeka Zoo. Rumor has it that it is better than the KC Zoo. However, that's not saying much. I think the KC Zoo is almost awful. Not quite, but almost. Hopefully, we will make some memories.

And the best part? We are going to have a date night when we get home tomorrow evening!! Woo Hoo!! A day spent together as a family and a night alone with my Nurse Boy! That sounds like a perfect day to me. Hopefully our old age won't catch up with us. We could be wiped out after a day at the zoo. We shall see!

Does anyone else have some ideas for some simple activities or day trips? We are trying to think of some more ideas before the summer is over.

I Warned Her

We did not inherit the best shower fixtures. The cold handle has jiggled since we moved in. Every now and then MNB(Mrs. Nurse Boy) decides that it is jiggling too much. It A.- always jiggles too much and B.- is not jiggling any more than it did yesterday. But today it's an emergency. Anyway, the last time I tightened it I warned her we could never get that handle off again, because in an effort to get it to actually tighten it I stripped it out. Well we had a new emergency last night. All of the fresh water in the universe was going to drip out of our faucet. That is quite a bill you know. Anywho, in an effort to still problem solve I may have wrenched the handle in a complete 360 which then tore the metal thingy inside it, gently. We have suddenly surpassed my plumbing ability. So the $375.00 that is took to fix my mistake is actually less than our bill would have been for the 3 trillion gallon drip that would have occurred if MNB had never sent me up there. So I saved us money. Who knew that my unprecedented strength would get us into plumbing trouble. I suppose my massive pythons don't know their own strength.

The moral of the story is you don't call a pre-plumber to do a plumbers work.

"Plumber" Boy He is Not

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

Last night we cut Nurse Boy and Dimples hair (out in the backyard with their shirts off...because we are a little white trash too, Chaos). Next, all of the kids and Nurse Boy showered before bed. Since I need a good, long shower to wake me from glorious slumber every morning, I went in the bathroom to wash my face. I was saving my shower for the morning. I noticed the shower was dripping.

Those darn ears. WHY did I hear that sound? Why didn't I just mind my own business? Scrub my face and jump into bed?

No, I told Nurse Boy that the cold water handle needed some tightening. He proudly got out his tools and went to work.

He returned with a handful of faucet parts. He BROKE the faucet. That's right, he BROKE it. It just needed some GENTLE tightening. I mean this man works on his patient's plumbing everyday for a living. Clearly, it is not the same thing.

It is official, he has chosen the correct plumbing in which he should make a living.

So, that quiet little drip cost us $375.

Did I mention that he leaves his current job tomorrow and begins his new one on Monday? And that we won't get paid for a month? Don't ya just love life?

Now, I need to jump into the shower...

Terrible Two's, Here We Are...

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

I really don't think the two's are terrible at all. (But DON'T even get me started on three's.) I mean, sometimes the two year old IS terrible, but they are still so stinkin' cute. That cuteness simply saves their lives. I mean it! They still have those chubby cheeks and legs and an adorable little tummy. One look and your heart melts just a little.

I often tell Sweet Pea that she is being a booger. Now she will do something she is not suppose to do and look me in the eyes and say,"Booger." I realize I shouldn't be calling her that, but she does crack me up when she says it back.

Well, today Sweet Pea was coming off of her holiday sugar high. I always think am I controlling their diet better than this. Today it was obvious that those chubby checks had "suckered" some other people into giving her sweets. I won't name any names, but let's just say I tend to stand alone in some of my firm ways.

I had three bags of candy up on the kitchen counter from the 4th of July parade. Needless to say, the kids had cleaned house during the parade. I didn't even think Sweet Pea knew where the candy was. Not only is she a booger, but a smart one at that. While Dimples was reading and "watching" her in the kitchen, she pushed the chair up to the counter and helped her little two year old self to a sucker. She immediately left the room and began to enjoy the hard earned treasure. I found her and took the stickiness away. She cried. I did not cave. She still cried. I folded laundry...it is Monday after all and it was piled high...do I get an amen?

A few minutes later, I break away from the foolishness that I like to call laundry after the holiday weekend, and I found Sweet Pea in front of the television (that SHE had turned on) eating a STARBURST! WHAT! Oh, she is cute, but I made her spit it out and turn off the T.V.

Finally, I decided that I MUST be smarter than a two year old, but I do realize I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader (fun show, though). So, I place the three bags on top of the fridge. I hold my breath, realizing if she is smarter than me, she just might kill herself standing on the counter. However, she is afraid of heights. Will the need for candy over ride the fear of heights?

I continue to fold laundry. Next time I check in the kitchen, the chair is pushed up to the fridge. The fear seemed to win out. She left the kitchen without a sugary snack and I AM SMARTER THAN A TWO YEAR OLD.

Now, I must go fold some laundry and run the washer since everyone had to wear more clothes today. Whatever...

Fireworks

We went to see fireworks last night for the first time in about six years. They were very enjoyable. The kids did like them, but were not enthralled like I thought they might be. We went to a spot that seemed perfect. There were very few people around, so we did not have to feel too bad about our obnoxious kids. But, we did not escape the post fireworks traffic jam. Right when I was about to exclaim that we would not see fireworks for another six years, it came on the radio. It was a dance remix that blended two of the most sophisticated songs of my generation. They were Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, and Nasty Boys by Janet Jackson. It had us rolling for about 15 minutes with lines like this:

Quick to the point like the point I'm making, cooking MC's like a pound of bacon... uh huh, I know... oh, you nasty boys.

The wife and I were laughing so much the traffic jam was more of a blessing. If you are wondering what the point of this particular blog entry is, it has to be that:

If this blog were a drug, I would sell it by the gram.

Ice Ice Nurse Boy

Too cold, too cold.

Research from the Peck Household

Researchers have shown that two out of two boys under the age of nine do not have the ability to flush the toilet in the Peck household. It is not yet known if this is a trait passed on by the Y chromosome. More information is needed to solidify this hypothesis. When these boys will gain the flushing ability is yet to be determined.

Are They Listening?

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

Bruiser always keeps me on my toes. He is such a fun, active kid. Since the very day he was born he has brought a lot of laughter into our home. I refer to him as "mini nurse boy." Just like his father, he often says what is on his mind without always thinking. That is why they both make me laugh so much.

They also embarrass me quite often. But, that is a subject for another day.

We spent the other day at the church picnic. The kids had a blast. They left the park tired and dirty. The next morning we discovered that Bruiser also left the park with a dear tick on his ear. And, I must mention that I successfully removed the tick, even though I considered driving 40 minutes to Nurse Boy's work to have the NURSE remove it. But, I resisted and it actually wasn't so bad. Have I mentioned how much of a city girl I am?

Bruiser also woke up with what he called "nipples" all over him. Then he remembered that his brother had one of these so called "nipples" last week that was driving him crazy. When he showed me his HUGE mosquito bites, I told him not to itch them. He must have heard me say this last week because I was about to say, "so they will go away faster." But, before I could get the rest of the sentence out, he said, "I don't want them to go away faster. I have to itch them." That was the end of the discussion. This kid keeps me on my toes!

Today, Bruiser and I were having a serious discussion about one of his so called friends. This "friend" isn't always very kind or even nice to Bruiser. I wanted him to come to this conclusion on his own. I started asking him questions about how this person treats him and how friends are suppose to treat each other. He answered my questions. Just when I thought I was making progress, he looked me straight in the face and very profoundly said, "Mom, I have to go to the bathroom." Again, that was the end of the discussion.

He is only five.

He will learn, right?

RIGHT?