Blurbs from the Burbs by Chickysara

We just returned from the most amazing trip to Yosemite. The boys all had a fabulous time, so of course, I did too. I love having all of my boys together all at once. Since The Husband and I had some work obligations a couple of the nights during our stay, the big brothers (the Big Boys) took the little brothers (the Little Boys) for the evening. On one of those nights, the Big Boys (Bert and Topher) decided to take the Little Boys (J and T) out for a night hike. I am guessing the Little Boys were probably too amped up to go to bed and the Big Boys were hoping to wear them out. So off they went into the night (of which I would NEVER have approved). Of course, they wandered around lost for a while. Not far from help since they were wise enough to remain on the trail, but lost in the sense that they could not immediately find their way back to their camp site. After wandering around aimlessly in the bitter cold for a while, T made one of his grave announcements: “If we are lost, I am g...

A few weeks ago, we were all out celebrating the end of summer vacation, presumably doing something fun. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what the fun thing was that we were doing. All I remember is that at the end of a long day of having fun, the car keys went missing. (Why is it that it’s always easier to remember the one bad thing that happens rather than an entire day of good things?) All of us were hot and sweaty and fraying at the edges, and now, here we were stranded in the middle of a parking garage, searching desperately for the car keys. I rifled through my purse for the third or fourth time while The Husband stood behind me asking questions beginning with phrases like: “Did you leave it in the….?” or “How about checking your…?” which was driving me crazy because I’d looked in all of the places he’d suggested about a million times. In the meantime, the kids, exhausted and feeling our frustration, were beginning to unravel. “Are we going to be stuck here all day?” J whined. Sin...

T always says the most interesting things. The other day we were in the car, driving to or from one of the boys' extracurricular activities, FM radio blasting, all of us bopping along to the music. When we reached our destination, I cut the engine and the music and we all made moves to get out of the car. Except for T. He sat in his booster, his eyes glazed over, staring straight ahead unblinking, brows furrowed-obviously deep in thought. "Yoo hoo," I said, waving my hand in front of his face. "Let's go, buddy." He blinked, looked at me, and came back to reality. As we were walking from the car, he looked up at me and said: "Mom? Whose face is she poking? And why is she?" I was puzzled. "What do you mean?" Then T said, "You know, the lady in the song. She keeps saying,"puh-puh-puh-poke her face! puh-puh-poke her face!" I stifled a giggle. He was talking about Lady Gaga's song " Poker Face " which we...