I wanna take off from a carrier...

the first video is Duane coming in for a landing on the carrier - he put the camera down at the very end so he could fully experience the landing - unfortunately for us watching, it looks like he crashes! The second video is when they were launched from the catapault - SO cool!

Questions...

Conversations that Colin posed on the way home from preschool today - a 10 mile, 15 minute drive at best.

• "Why are sharks blue and white and gray? If I were a shark I would be brown on top and white on the bottom, and mommy, if I were on Shark Tale I would be Lenny because he's a nice shark but he really needs to learn how to be a shark. And Mommy, why do sharks eat seals? I would not want to be a seal!"
• 
  
• "Tomorrow is show and tell and the letter is A and so you know what starts with A? Avalanche - can I bring snow to show and tell and throw it at people?"
• 
  
• Mommy, why does God make sharks eat fish? Are the fish scared of sharks? What do the fish eat? Who eats sharks? Do sharks go to heaven? Do fish go to heaven? Are the sharks still hungry when they go to heaven? Does God want them to eat the fish?
  

• Colin, what did you do at school today? "Well, I didn't go to the time-out table and we talked about Halloween but we didn't learn about Halloween and I'm going to be a pirate for Halloween, but I really want to be a great white shark and maybe next year I can be a great white shark or maybe a hammerhead shark or maybe Caleb can be the diver and I'll be the shark and Clarissa can be the fish that I eat!"

If you can't tell, Colin has recently become rather obsessed with sharks - we have no idea where this came from, but we have checked out EVERY shark book our local library has and we are all now experts on every kind of shark there is, their diet, behavior patterns, etc. And while I'll admit it gets rather annoying (even his poor teachers have had enough - he was at the time-out table at school yesterday for talking about sharks too much!) I love the fact that he is such a sponge right now - he is learning so much, taking it all in, and remembering every detail!

And of course - his Uncle Scott and Aunt Traci are just the WORLD'S Coolest Aunt/Uncle because they SWIM with sharks and FEED sharks and oh my, everyone Colin meets gets told about his aunt and uncle who swim with sharks and DON"T GET BIT! You guys are cool...

Whale Underwear

You know, sometimes you have to just stop in the middle of the chaos and laugh... or cry... depending on the hormone levels of the day. But mostly, laughter is key... because I'm starting to realize that the years pass by WAY too quickly and all the things you think you won't ever forget, you do, because even though they are precious and hilarious, somehow the daily grind of grocery lists, sports schedules, meetings, carpools, and laundry... it all gets muddled together and the truly priceless things get smooshed down and forgotten.

So, I'm trying to do better.

Trying to remember the cute little sayings, and at the very least, putting them in an email or this blog so they will be archived forever in internet prosperity. But I also have a Mommy Journal - I"ve been writing letters in it to my kiddos since Caleb was two - and in the back I have written down many of the precious sayings, also known as blackmail during dating years.

But I digress...

My three young children have, for the most part, been raised in the south. Now, for an LA girl whose only exposure to the south was through Mark Twain novels, this has been somewhat of an adjustment for me, not the least of which has been the twang that prevails down here. But y'all (Yes, I said it) - I'm a firm believer that it's just not fun if you can't make fun of the quirks that make the south, well, the south!

For example...

Last week Colin and I were in Barnes and Noble to get Starbucks, I mean, look at books. While we were in line, I asked Colin if he was ready to go. "Waaiiilll, I don't know" he replied. I looked at him and said, "Whale? Are you a whale? There aren't any whales here!" He cracked up... I cracked up... the cashier looked at us kinda funny, until I explained I was from California ("Ah, that explains a LOT!" he must have thought)... and now it's a personal joke between us. In the middle of nowhere Colin will pipe up, Hey Mommy,. WHALE! And we'll both laugh... 'cuz it's the little things, I'm telling you.

And then this afternoon, we stopped by the house for a total of ten minutes in between activities. During that time, Colin took off his jacket, shoes, socks, and changed clothes.

Obviously he's been taking notes from his sister, who can change outfits five times in 90 seconds.

But again, I digress.

So, when I - not quite in the "aww isn't that cute" mood - more like "SERIOUSLY?????" mood... said asked him, "WHERE are your socks and shoes?" and he responded, "Under there" I, not thinking of course, said, "Under where?" To which he promptly cracked up, rolling on the floor in uncontrollable 4-year-old belly laughs. When I looked at him strangely, he said "Mom, you said UNDERWEAR!"

Obviously he has also been around the jr.high humor that is oh-so-popular with the local 10-year-old and pervades most fighter pilots in this family not that I'm naming any names, Caleb and Duane.

But, I'll admit I laughed. 'Cuz you're only 4 once... WHALE UNDERWEAR!