Quotation Mark Mondays: Catching up

Christmas, the end of the semester, and a whole bunch of other stuff have put us a bit behind lately. We promise to add some photos soon, but in the meantime enjoy Mark's latest quotable quotes.

This weekend, Mark got to meet Casey Crosby, a major league baseball player. Before Mark and Matt went up to Casey, Matt had prompted Mark to ask Casey about what team he played for and what position he played so they'd have something to talk about.
Mark: "What team do you play for?"
Casey: "The Tigers."
Mark: "What position do you play?"
Casey: "I'm a pitcher."
Mark: "What's your number?"
Casey: "I'm number 43."
Mark: "What street?"
Matt: "Um, I think he was telling you the number on his jersey, not his house."

(later)
Lynne: "Did you get to meet the baseball player?"
Mark: "Yeah. He doesn't know what street he lives on."

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After Lynne and Matt were singing Santa Claus is coming to town.
"You only have to be good in the months that are close to Christmas, when Santa is really watching."

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While in line to see Santa
Lady in line in front of us to her children: "It might snow this week."
Mark: "No, not until Dec. 21st."
(Because, as Mark pointed out, that's the official first day of winter. So no snow until then.)

--------------

Now, the sentimental one:
"I'm such a good boy because I have a good mommy and daddy."

Quotation Mark: Christmas almost carols

Mark take on two Christmas favorites:

"Frosty the snow man! Was a jolly happy one day. With a corn cob pipe! Thumpty-thump-thump-thump."

"We three kings of glorious guys!"

Mark of Fridays: All Tucked In

Mark and the Guys
From left:  Mark, Murray, Mommy Elmo, Grover, Knuffle Bunny, Baby Elmo.

Quotation Mark Mondays: Deep Questions, by Mark

How old is God?  When does He have a birthday?

Did God make the angels, or is He just friends with them?

Are there grass and trees in heaven?

Which is higher up--heaven or the planets?


By the way, if you have good, three-year-old-appropriate answers to any of these questions, please let us know.  He does not accept "I don't know" or "You can't see heaven" as answers.

Mark of Fridays: Mark your ballots

After Lynne took Mark along when she voted, Mark wanted to cast his own ballot. And so he had that first wonderful taste of voting for the guy who didn't win. He seemed nonplussed by that development.
Mark also cast his vote for: Republican (over Democrat), blue (over red) and donkey (over elephant). I believe those three races are so close that officials are considering a recount.

Mark of Fridays: Fall

Mark loves fall!

This is Halloween, This is Halloween!

Apparently, 2011 was the last year mom and dad got to choose Mark's Halloween costume.  This year, he was very insistent on choosing his own.

Halloween, he said, is for spooky guys.  He needed to be someone spooky.

But he didn't want to color his hair, so no Dracula.

And he didn't want to color his face, so no Frankenstein.

Mom said he would trip over a ghost costume.

So skeleton it is!

The catch:  He had to be a not too spooky skeleton, so he didn't scare any of the kids at school.

On the left is our not too spooky skeleton, all geared up for Trick-or-Treating.  He loved it.  He thinks it should be Halloween every week.

Mark of Fridays: How to Make a Jack-o-Lantern

Step 1:  Choose the right pumpkin.  Be sure to wear the proper hat for the occasion.

Step 2:  Watch Mom cut off the top and inspect the insides.  Be careful not to touch them.

Step 3:  Draw on face.  Purple crayon works best for this.

 

Step 4:  Help Mom cut out eyes, nose.

Step 5:  Inspect closely as the mouth is being cut out.  Insist on as many teeth as possible.  At least 6, for sure.

Step 6:  Name pumpkin.   A girl's name--Erin, perhaps--is best, regardless of possible holiday confusion.
Pose next to completed pumpkin and say Cheese!





A Halloween Story, by Mark

Once upon a time there was a dracula and it was very spooky in his land.
And he fell underground and all his spooky friends were there. Then he climbed up from underground.
Then, he fell back down!
And his friends climbed up. He climbed back up with them.
And then they went on a spooky trip. A spooky picnic. Then, they played spooky opposites.


Just try to get some sleep after that one!

Quotation Mark Mondays: Abe Lincoln

Mark: Where does Abraham Lincoln live?
Matt: He's not alive any more. He lived a long time ago.
Mark: Is he buried?
Matt: He's buried in Springfield, in Illinois.
Mark: Did they bury him in his hat?

Mark of Fridays: Boo at the Zoo

 Last week, Mark went to Boo at the Zoo with mommy, Aunt Leslie, and Aunt Laura.  It was fun!

Quotation Mark Mondays: Talking to Sweetie

Matt: "Ok Mark, why don't you go over and say goodnight to Mom and Sweetie?"
Mark, after climbing up on Lynne's lap:  "OK, Mommy. Open your mouth."
Mark, very loudly, into Lynne's mouth:  "Goodnight Sweetie!"
Lynne:  "Mark, I don't need to open my mouth for you to talk to Sweetie.  She can hear you just fine through my belly."
Mark:  "Yes I do need to talk into your mouth.  It goes through your mouth to your tummy, then through the little cord that connects to Sweetie."

Hard to argue with, especially since it's so hilarious.

Photo Bonanza, Part 3: Spaghetti

 Trying spaghetti--and getting it all over yourself and the floor--is a normal rite of passge for kids.  Our Weird Eater didn't try it until a few weeks ago, but he loved it.  Especially the noodle slurping part.

Photo Bonanza, Part 2: Apple Picking

 

Photo Bonanza, Part 1

Well, Dear Readers, you might have noticed that we haven't added much to this blog in the way of pictures lately.  We're sorry, but things have gotten a little crazy at the Hanley House lately.  Lynne and Matt have been busy with work, Matt with grad school, and Mark with being three.  Plus, we've been dodging the shingles--who knew this was such an epidemic and such a hazard for pregnant people?--and trying to get ready for Sweetie.

But we HAVE been up to some fun things, so we thought we'd post a whole bunch of pictures for you to enjoy :)  These are from our Day Out with Thomas the Train, in August.

Quotation Marks: Quote bonanza

Did we miss a few weeks? Hmmmm... how about two three quotes?

While eating watermelon: "This is amazing!"

"Toots are the stop sign of poops."
(If anyone can explain this, let us know.)

Mark: "Mr. Kevin, are you a scientist?"
Kevin: "Yes, I am a scientist."
Mark: "What do you study?"
Kevin: "I study outerspace."
Mark: "Do you ever see Buzz Lightyear when you're looking into outerspace?"
Kevin: "I don't see Buzz Lightyear because he is, in fact, a cartoon."
Mark: "Okay."

Quotation Mark Mondays: Naps

"I wish there was no such thing as naptimes in the world."
                                     -  Mark, upon waking up from his nap

Mark of Fridays: I can't believe their moms posed the kids there and took that picture

Really, how juvenile.

Mark of Fridays: Birthday boy

He insisted on wearing a birthday hat. Luckily, we had one for the occasion!



For the first time, he ate some of his birthday cake.

Quotation Mark: birthday edition

"I am bigger today but my pajamas still fit!" - Mark, as soon as he woke up this morning

Mark (and Friends) of Fridays: Honestly, Mark doesn't wear that shirt every day

Mark and Calvin

Mark and Elyse

Mark of Fridays: First day of school



Mark, leaving for his first day of pre-school!



Mark, outside his pre-school.

Quotation Mark Monday: Oh My God

Mark:  Was God around in the time of the dinosaurs?
Lynne:  Yes.
Mark:  When the dinosaurs went to church, did God bless the dinosaurs?
Lynne:  There weren't any churches in the time of dinosaurs.  Just trees, rocks, and water, because there weren't any people around to build the churches.
Mark:  (after long pause for thinking)  Did God bless the dinosaurs anyways?

"Mark" of Fridays: Sweetie

Just in case our previous posts weren't clear enough, yep, we are having another one!
Child II is due in late January. So, technically, this picture isn't of Mark, but not everything is about Mark anymore, is it? (Won't he be surprised!)

If you look on the far left, you will see that this baby is a GE product.
Patent pending.

Quotation Mark Mondays: Baby Names

Mark:  I want to help pick the name for the new baby.
Lynne:  OK, what do you think the new baby's name should be?
Mark:  Hanley.
Lynne:  Well, the baby is going to have the last name Hanley, just like you and me and Daddy.  We get to choose the baby's first name.  Any ideas?
Mark:  How about Mark?
Lynne:  Well, don't you think that would be confusing if we had two people in the house named Mark?  How would you know when we were talking to you, and when we were talking to the baby?
Mark:  Ok, I will pick another name.  (really long pause for thinking and dramatic effect....)
Mark:  We should name the baby SWEETIE!

So, Sweetie it is.  At least for now.  We think Sweetie Hanley, if he's a boy, might run into some problems on the playground.

Mark of Fridays: Oh, brother

Quotation Marks: months

"After November comes Yesvember!"
- Mark, proudly.

Mark of Fridays: Bubbleman

Mark has discovered the sheer joy of a bubble bath.
Now he wants to take a bath every night.
And every afternoon, too.

Books for sale! Get your red-hot books!

Because there's 50 of them sitting in our house. The first 48 were pretty good reads, but the last two kind of dragged.

But how can we buy these semi-wonderful books? Well, you can order them online here.
You can go the book launch, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 24 at the Aurora Historical Society.  (More info on the book's Facebook page.)
Or, you can tackle Matt in the street and force him to sell you one. That would be the most hilarious option.

Quotation Marks: Kisalofadon

Some facts you might not know about Kisalofadons, a dinosaur that Mark made up

- Kisalofadons live underground in a big hole.
- Kisalofadons come out at night.
- Kisalofadons are purple and pink.
- Kisalofadons eat trees and they can climb up trees.
- Kisalofadons will only be alive for three more Mondays and then they will be all be dead.

Books for sale!

The book is officially for sale! Buy a copy right here! It makes a great fly swatter!

Mark of Fridays: Fun in Misconsin

Fun at Circus World and near Misconsin Dells!

(Oh, Mark pronounces that state "Misconsin".)

Remembering a hero

Many of you probably saw the story about the pediatric surgeon who drowned this weekend while saving two kids who had fallen into Lake Michigan.
Dr. Donald Liu had a special connection for our family because he performed the surgery on Mark's stomach when he was six weeks old.

We only met him for a few minutes but he had a profound effect on all of our lives. Lynne and Matt recall the hospital staff saying how lucky we were to get him as the surgeon.
We were very frazzled when we met him, but he was happy and calm. He even spoke to Mark, who was only 37 days old. It made us feel relaxed.

So send some good thoughts and prayers to his family. It's amazing the difference one person can make for so many families.

Matt wrote a story for our paper about our experience with Dr. Liu. You can read it here.

Quotation Mark Mondays: windmills

Mark, as we drove past windmills:
"You spinny around things are not being good. You are making my feet cold. That is not nice to make my feet cold, you spinny around things."

Surely, it has nothing to do with taking off his socks. Nope, it had to be the windmills.

Quotation Mark Monday

Lynne and Matt were discussing a story in Matt's new book, and what Matt could do to fix a certain part of it.
Mark: "You should use vowels, dad. Use vowels when you're writing."

Turns out he was right. That's just what it was missing.

Book it!

Are you struggling to find a decent coaster for your favorite drink? Do you find yourself thinking: "I wish my bathroom reading material included a little bit more about obscure Illinois murders"?
Having trouble starting your campfire?
Are you one thin book short of finally filling out that shelf on your book case?
Is one of the legs on your favorite table one-quarter inch shorter than all the others?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, and if you have $19.99 ($20.36 Canadian), then we've got just the book for you!

True Tales of Aurora, Illinois
by Matt Hanley

Hey, you know that guy!

Over the last few months, Matt has put together a book of short stories about historical events in Aurora, Illinois. All the stories are true, but their written in a narrative style. In other words, they're dramatic and have full rich characters. (At least that was the intention.)

For instance, you can read about the day that one of the most influential blues songs of all time was recorded in Aurora's tallest hotel. Or, the day the Wright Brothers amazed an Aurora crowd with their new invention. Or the season in Aurora that may have saved the career of future Hall of Famer Casey Stengel.
Also included, for no additional charge, are stories about: a tall, skinny Springfield lawyer's work on an Aurora patent case; the death of John Dillinger's best friend; some really gruesome murder mysteries; and the incredible heroism of Aurora's only Medal of Honor recipient.
In all, The Book is 37,064 words...or 53 pages...or 1,150 paragraphs...or 181,244 characters without spaces... long. That may seem like a lot, but it's a fast 37,000 words. (The last sixty four are a bit of a grind.)
Some of the stories were previously printed in the Beacon, but four are brand new. And since there is essentially zero overlap between the Beacon's readership and this blog's readership, they'll all be new to you!

Pretty soon, you'll be able to order it here.
The book is scheduled to be published in August. Not sure the exact date when it will be available , but the publisher said it will be "in the stores" by Aug. 8. What stores? Not sure.
But if you see it, consider buying eight copies, just in case the first seven get ruined.
For more information and exact dates of publication, search for "True Tales of Aurora, Illinois" on Facebook or click here.

Quotation Mark Mondays: Campbell's Soup

This isn't so much a Quotation Mark as a little story about Mark. Those of you who have been around Mark for more than three minutes know that he's full of questions. He loves to ask questions and he doesn't really accept "I don't know" as an answer. Two other things you should know about Mark is that he loves the show Diego and he loves soup. Particularly, Dora the Explorer soup.

Mark eating his soup, thinking about life's inequalities.

With that background knowledge, we shall proceed.
One day, Mark asked Matt why his Dora soup didn't have Diego, Isa, Tico or Benny in it. These are some of Mark's favorite characters and it seemed a shame - at least to Mark - that Diego, Isa, Tico and Benny could not join Backpack and Map in the Dora soup.
When Matt failed to provide a clear answer for this obvious oversight, Mark continued with his probing questions. Again and again and again he asked, but his intellectual curiosity about these noodles was not satisfied.

Being the helpful Dad that he is, Matt suggested Mark could write a letter to the Campbell's soup company and ask them why Diego wasn't in the Dora Soup. Matt even told Mark the name of the man who own the soup company: Pete Campbell.
This letter-writing suggestion was met with great enthusiasm and Mark set about planning his missive to Mr. Pete Campbell, king of the Campbell Soup company.

Of course, this was Mark's first letter so he needed help with the basic structure. (Also, it should be noted that Mark can't write. But this obstacle was overcome when Mark hired his father as a freelance contract employee to take dictation.)
Anyhow, Matt suggested that Mark should start the letter with something nice to say about Campbell's Soup. That way The Campbell Higher Ups would know Mark was truly a concerned customer, not some fly-by-night soup rookie. Mark thought this was a splendid idea. He wrote: "I like your soup. I really like it. It tastes good. I like to eat the Dora soup and the O Soup." Nailed it.

Next, Matt suggested that Mark get straight to the heart of the matter. While these soup folks might appreciate a little flattery (who doesn't?), they are busy people. Split pea with ham soup doesn't invent itself, you know. Mark again concurred. He wrote: "Please could you put Diego, Benny, Isa and Tico in the Dora soup? Could you put the other letters in the O Soup? Thank you. Mark Hanley, 2-1/2 years old." Nailed it again.

Everyone involved in the project agreed it was a good letter. But was it a great letter? Would it touch the heart and mind of Pete Campbell? What about Trudy Campbell? The editorial team agreed something seemed to be missing.
Mark struck upon a solution right away. The back of the letter absolutely needed random bits of color. Mark set about adding this editorial flourish.

With the random-color issue resolved, the letter was addressed and stamped. A picture of Mark eating the soup in question was added, for authentication purposes. The letter was mailed with conviction, haste and not a whole lot of further thought.

Days passed.
Weeks.
The Dora Soup problem fell behind other issues.
The letter was forgotten minutes after it was written.
Until...
one day...
in the mailbox...
an envelope!
From Campbell's Soup!

"Dear Mark,
Thank you for taking the time to contact our President to let us know that you think our Campbell Soup products are 'M'm! M'm! Good!' We enjoyed seeing a picture of you eating our soup!

The Campbell Kid

At Campbell, our number one priority is to delight customers. In this case, it is you who have delighted us. We appreciate your enthusiasm for our company and our products. We have forwarded your great suggestions to our Product Development Team so they may benefit from it.
As a small token of thanks, I've enclosed a coupon and a Campbell's Kid doll.
Thanks again for the letter, Mark, we hope you will be a loyal customer for many years!
Sincerely,
Susan Baranowsky
Director Customer Affairs"

So, in short, Campbell's Soup is a pretty cool company.
And, second, somewhere there is a Product Development Team in a conference room watching a "Strategies for Diego Soup Addition" PowerPoint and enjoying some very awesome random blobs of color.

Mark of Fridays: Reading room



 

Like father, like son.

There's one other great thing about learning to use the potty: more time to get some serious reading done.

Quotation Mark Mondays: In your dreams

(Sitting in bed)
"When do I get to the dream part of sleeping?"

Mark of Fridays: Look out world!

Quotation Mark Mondays: Naperville and Mom O's

"Naperville is a shady town."
- Referring the multitude of trees, of course. What did you think he meant?

Bonus quote:
"If you take a bite out of a Mom O (Mark's name for a Multigrain Cheerio), it looks like a C. And then Cookie Monter can eat it!"

Mark of Fridays: Hat Manly

The wind in here is incredible. A guy can hardly keep his hat on!

Quotation Mark Mondays: Bellies

Lynne: "Why don't you ask your belly if he wants some banana?"
Mark: "Hey Belly! Do you want some banana in you?"
Lynne: "What did he say?"
Mark: "Nothing! Bellies don't talk!"

Mark of Fridays: artist

Great artists need great concentration. And it helps if you stick your tongue out a little bit.

Captain Underpants

So, we've been working on potty training in our house since Lynne got out of school for the summer. As it turns out, we have to our advantage that Mark really likes underpants.  He gets really excited whenever he gets to pick a new pair.

The problem is that... well, Mark really likes underpants. He figured out pretty quickly that if he pees in his underpants, he gets to pick out a new pair.  And we're not talking about a little bit of pee.  We'd turn around to find him standing in a pee puddle 4 feet in diameter.

So we tried some other incentives/penalties: 

1.  If you tinkle in your underpants, you don't get to pick out new underpants until tomorrow and we'll wear a diaper for the rest of the day.  Mark's response:  It's OK, I got tired of using the potty today anyway.

2.  We'll give you an M&M every time you make a tinkle in the potty.  Mark's response, after the first 2 M&Ms:  No thank you, I don't want any more M&Ms.

Then Matt had a genius idea.  He tried:  Mark, if you make it all the way until bedtime with dry underpants, I will give you your very own baseball card.  We can make a special box for you, and you can put a card in there for every day you keep your underpants dry.

As it turns out, Mark likes baseball cards even more than he likes underpants.  It was like flipping a switch. 

So far, he's made it 6 days without any accidents.  He's been to the Children's Museum and Brookfield Zoo in his underpants,  both without incident (other than visiting the bathroom roughly 400 times).  He's made several long drives in the car without soaking the seat.  We haven't gotten rid of the diapers at bedtime yet, but so far he's telling us (with approximately 2 minutes warning) before he has a potty emergency.  Pretty good, we think.

Matt says this experience should teach us all how valuable baseball cards really are.  To that Lynne adds:  to little boys. 

Quotation Mark Mondays: Woodland Creatures

Mark:  Mommy, let's talk about the animals that live in the woods.  Do you know any of those animals?
Lynne:  Well, there are wolves, bears, lots of birds, rabbits, deer, squirrels, and chipmunks...
Mark:  Those animals are really smart.
Lynne:  Which ones?
Mark:  Chipmonths.  They know all their months.

Mark of Fridays Past: Bedtime Routine

We've gotten into a bedtime routine in which we read three books, tell Mark a story (usually one Matt makes up on the spot), and sing three songs.  He picks the songs, so it's usually the same three or four songs, over and over.  He also asks us to change the words to some of the songs to make them, in his mind, more suitable for bedtime.

For example, "How much is that doggie in the window?" must be sung three times, one verse for each of the dogs Mark knows best:  Jack, Cole, and Charlie.  Each verse should describe the color of the dog in question.  Sometimes for extra fun, he requires that we sing the whole song in Spanish.

In "Playmate," Mommy Elmo has the flu, not a dolly.  And they don't slide down a cellar door.  It's a slide.

Sometimes "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" would be better if we changed it to "Take Me Out to the Softball Game" and the words altered to fit a description of the Beacon-News Softball tournament that Mark attended a few weeks back.  It's important that instead of peanuts and crackerjacks they go to McDonald's afterward (like Mark did) and have french fries.

But the best is "Animal's Fair."  In case you don't know it, the real lyrics are as follows:
We went to the Animal's Fair
The birds and the beasts were there
The old baboon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair
The monkey, he got drunk
He sat on the elephant's trunk
The elephant sneezed
And fell to his knees
And that was the end of the monk, the monk.

And here's the version Mark insists that we sing at bedtime, after realizing that the original version is not so kind on the monkey:
We went to the Animal's Fair
The birds, the beats, the lions, and the elephants were there
The old baboon by the light of the moon
Was sitting in his own cage.
The monkey, he got drunk
He sat on the elephant's trunk, which was sticking out a little into his cage
The elephant sneezed
And fell to his knees
And no one got hurt because they were all in their own cages!