What they say...

On the way home from picking Jackson up from preschool last week I spotted a turtle in the middle of the road (not the first time this has happened... Apparently NC is overrun with snakes, frogs, and turtles... And fire ants, and abnormally large arachnids, and various creative pork-based cuisines) - so of course I turned around to help him cross the road. When Jackson asked why I was turning around I told him about the turtle stranded in the middle of the road and he begged to come help, but there was no way I was going to let him out of the car on such a busy stretch of road. So I brought the turtle to the car to quickly show Jack and he was so excited about it that I decided to let him take it home and keep it 'just until Daddy got home' (besides, Eddie had been fast asleep in his car seat and I didn't want him to miss out on seeing the turtle). I loaded it into Jack's backpack (it was the only 'container' I could find, lol) and Jack very gently held the bag while we went home. Once home we moved him to a big empty tupperware container and the boys proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon petting it, attempting to feed it various fruits from our refrigerator, showing it to the neighbor kids, and sticking their fingers it it's face. At one point, the turtle decided it had had enough and finally bit Jack's finger, surprising the heck out of (but not hurting) him. He didn't cry or anything - but he definitely stopped putting his fingers all up in the turtles business. The following day on the way to preschool - Jackson, in a sudden moment of revelation, said,

"Mom! I know why the turtle bit my finger! He just wanted to sleep in for 5 more minutes!"

(Hmm... Where has he heard THAT request before?! LOL!)

(The following day Justin took the boys and the turtle and drove to a nearby pond where they released him back into his natural habitat. :)

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Today, during a much needed 'cool down' session for Eddie, I went into the guest room where I'd sent him and laid down next to him while he calmed himself down (he'd just had a meltdown typical of a child in the throes of their 3rd year). I stroked his hair and his breathing became more calm, but, with tears still on his cheeks, he suddenly looked up at me and asked quietly, "Mommy, do rats have cars?"

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During Family Movie Night I'd given each of the boys a container of popcorn and a little bowl with a few Starburst candies and some sour gummy worms. Eddie was sitting next to me with his bowl on his lap and the gummy worms looked so inviting that I tried to sneak one. He managed to catch me and quickly pulled his bowl away from my hand smiling and exclaiming, "Those are mine, Mommy!" So I laughed and said, "Eddie, may I please have one?" And, trying to be serious, he looked me in the eye and answered, "No, these worms are poisonous!"