Popsicle Sticks, Twine, Duct-tape, Chili Beans and Sleeping in the Bathroom

Ah ha! I knew the title would draw you in. So, what in the world can I concoct out of a blog title like that, you may ask? I'm sure Joi already knows. But, of course, she has an advantage because she lives with me. If you lived with me, you'd probably know too. So, want the mystery to finally end? Okay...here goes.

My boys love popsicle sticks, twine, and duct-tape. Every day when I get home from work, I find new contraptions built by my boys all around the house. Yesterday, Gage and Garrison showed me their new airplanes/space ships. Gage made a star-fighter design complete with laser guns (which he made the sound effects for). He even figured out that if he left some of the tape sticky side out, he could attach an action figure to it and do aerial tricks without the action figure falling out. Genius! Garrison made a square basket out of popsicle sticks and glue and attached wings to it made out of duct tape with a popsicle stick super-structure. Of course, he also added popsicle stick "bazookas" to each wing because in his estimation a bazooka could do some damage to another airplane. Also, both Garrison and Gage had constructed swords and shields made completely out of popsicle sticks and duct-tape. Complete with an arm strap to hold the shield onto their arm. Also, Gage added some twine to make a belt for his sword. It's awesome to me that a little twine, duct-tape, and popsicle sticks could entertain my boys for hours upon end. If you ever wanted to get a gift for my boys, a box of popsicle sticks, duct-tape, and twine would excite them beyond belief. Seriously!

So, on to Chili Beans and Sleeping in the Bathroom. Gavin decided to do a little exploring in his sleep a couple of nights ago. I woke up at 12:30am and saw that the bathroom light was on and the door was closed. Garrison is the only boy who turns on the light and closes the door when he uses the bathroom in the middle of the night...so I didn't think anything of it. I sunk back down into my pillow and went back to sleep. Joi woke up an hour later and saw the same thing and decided to investigate. When she opened the bathroom door, the light woke me up and I joined her to see what was going on. And there he was. Gavin was curled up on the bathroom mat, sound asleep (with the light on...no less). We woke him up and asked him what he was doing. He was too asleep to respond. After standing him up, we were able to ask him if he needed to go potty. He looked at Joi with a "what are you talking about?" expression and said "No." So, I put him back to bed. He doesn't even remember that he was in there at all. Strange boy! Takes after his Dad.

Last night, Gavin wasn't feeling well. We think his allergies are kicking in and he was stuffy and couldn't breathe very well. He woke up a lot last night either whimpering or talking in his sleep. I went in there to see what was up and he mumbled a lot. But, I was able to discern that him arms hurt. Joi came in a few minutes later and Gavin explained that something was jumping on him. Joi asked what. He said "A bean". Joi said "Like a chili bean?" and he said "Yes." We figured he was just having a bad dream. A little while later, he started crying. So, I went back in to see what was up. This time he explained that his arms were tingling. Oh! It was all coming together now. His arms were asleep and to him the best way he could explain it was that a bean was jumping on him. I turned him on his back and told him that he needed to let the blood rush back into his arms and that the tingling was from them being asleep. Joi got up with him several other times throughout the night (Thanks, by the way)...and he kept complaining about his arms hurting or them being asleep. He even told Joi..."I don't want my arms to be asleep! I want to be asleep!" and "I just can't do this anymore." Poor kiddo! He had a miserable night sleeping. He desperately needs a new mattress. This might be part of the problem. Since his bed is on the floor (we push it under the bunk beds during the day and pull it out at night), his bed often becomes a trampoline or a landing zone when the boys start jumping from the top bunk. As a result, his mattress has some serious internal spring issues. Time to start looking for a new mattress.