Tic Toc

So, if you know the song Tic Toc by Ke$ha and then you stop to realize that yes, this is my kids' favorite song right now, you can go ahead and award me for the "Coolest Mom of the Year Award". Granted, I didn't say "Best Mom of the Year Award" because the song is downright naughty, but you gotta admit I'm pretty cool if my kids are listening to Ke$ha and Lady Gaga as opposed to the Wiggles (Thank God Ben forgot about them) and Barney. I'm being a little sarcastic, but it is pretty funny that all three of them get the biggest kick out of that song. It is pretty catchy and it has a good beat and honestly, you should see Zach get down to it. He would put Michael Jackson to shame. We taped her when she was on SNL so that the kids could dance to it and they absolutely love it. I don't know if you have seen the performance or not, but it is slightly weird and features dancers dressed like spacemen doing all sorts of robotic moves in the background, which Ben then tries to copy. Maddie just dances her little heart out and sings the chorus when it comes on the whole time leading up to that announcing "Tik Tok is coming, Tik Tok is coming". If I did YouTube, a video of the three of them might just be a classic. To add to how cool they are and how wide their little musical minds go, the other day in the car they were arguing over who sang a song "Lady GaGa or Ke$ha". I can't remember what song it was and who was right, but it was pretty funny. Ben also loves the Train song, Hey Soul Sister and whenever it comes on the radio he goes, Mom, it's my favorite ChooChoo Train song. Close enough. Maddie can pipe up that it's "Jason Mraz" with just a few chords of his popular songs, which is pretty impressive as well. I suppose they have their Uncle Jeremy (and if I would be remiss if I didn't mention that Grandma Laura likes to bring up the fact that she was an All-Stater for a couple of years whenever it seems appropriate), so their Uncle Jeremy AND their Grandma Laura to thank for their musical talents. Man, they crack me up.

Kids Don't Slow Down When You Do

Have you ever noticed that you never really get to take a vacation from your kids? Or that if you are sick or down and out, they don't really understand that? That has been on my mind this week as I have been struck by "the gout". It has been an absolutely awful week for me, as every step I take hurts and I can't get comfortable for anything. But, my kids are SO funny and keep me going. Ben told me that if he gives me a big hug it will make me all better so that I won't have to feel sick anymore. So the other night before he went to bed he came and gave me a big hug and said, now mom, if you need a hug later to feel good just say Ben! I need a hug! and I will come right down. I think that was 50% about me feeling better and 50% about a possible chance to get out of bed, but sweet nonetheless. Maddie just keeps asking about the "bandaid" on my foot, like she can't really understand that there could possibly be anything that would slow her mom or dad down and of course, Zach is oblivious to all of it and is his usual eight-meal-a-day, take no prisoners, I will do what Ben and Maddie do even if I end up in the emergency toom kind of guy.

But, the one bright spot in this week has been how AWESOME my husband has been in stepping in and doing whatever needs to be done without asking, complaining or making me feel guilty for just wanting to sit in the recliner with an ice pack on my foot. I am SO lucky to have him.

On a side note, Ben somehow knows what a smart car is and saw one in the Fareway ad the other day. He told me mom, we need to go to this store, because I need to buy this smart car. It is a car for four year olds, you know. I have to say I kind of agree with him.

And, my sweet little Ben got flip flops this week and it might have changed his whole life. I have been on the hunt for crocs (will, generic crocs) in his size with no luck. So, I thought, I will just see if he is big enough to do flip flops yet. I am not kidding, the kid woke up the next morning at 630 and said, mom! I took my socks off so that I can wear my flip flops now. When I picked him up from school he was running down this list of names from the back seat and I couldn't quite get what he was talking about so, I asked him, who are all of those people? And he was like, MOM! Those are all my friends that have flip flops. He apparently thinks that flip flops have catapaulted him to some upper echelon of society and he could not be happier!

I Want to Be Just Like You!

Okay, we are going to have some serious problems with Zach. This weekend he has tried to ride Ben's bike (he did this by going to get the helmet and actually stepping up onto a pedal of the bike before I grabbed him), tried to climb up the ladder of the swingset and last night brought me all of the pieces to Elefun (which if you are not familiar with the sweet children's game involves a fairly heavy base, an obnoxiously long "trunk", about 50 "butterflies" that might as well be colored tissue paper and a net to catch the things by) and grunted until I would turn it on for him. Which brings me to my second problem with Zach, which is that he seems to be 50% caveman. He doesn't really point, he doesn't say mama or more, he just grunts. A lot. Mostly for donuts. Apparently, the strategy works for him, so why give it up? Now, the positive side of wanting to be just like Ben is that maybe one of these days he will walk into the bathroom and go potty on his own. That would be my kind of imitation!

Ben had his first foot xray after he jumped off some playground equipment with good intentions of grabbing the fireman pole and instead just jumped straight to the ground. His first xray should be followed by his first Emmy nomination. So all night that night he flat out refused to walk on his foot. I couldn't see any swelling or bruising and loathe Urgent Care past 6 pm so decided to wait it out for the morning. He still wouldn't really walk on it and when he did, looked pretty gimpy so I went ahead and called his doctor. I couldn't get him in until 1130, so I left him with the babysitter. When I came to pick him up, he literally ran to me and said excitedly "I'm going to get stickers at the doctor!!" So, I asked him if his foot still hurt and it did, so I took him (and Maddie who refused to be left behind) to the doctor's office. I felt like a moron as I walked in behind my son who ran in in front of me straight to the toys and checked him in for his "sore foot". The doctor went ahead and ordered an xray just to be sure, but as you can likely guess, it was just fine. So, at least we know Ben can act.

Maddie has been entertaining anyone who will listen to her lately with her version of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi. It goes something like this: "I hold a ball and follow you until you love me, papa-papa-razzi." Close sweetheart. But she loves it! She can also do a pretty good version of Poker Face. I guess it beats Ben's version of "Do you know the muffin man" which he swears is: "Do you know the Muffin Man? I'm a Dirty Man".