Photos I've been meaning to post

I've been meaning to post these photos for, oh, four and five months. Just never got around to it. Obviously, they are Heather's 1st Prom picture, with her friend, Ashley. (They went stag.) The other is Payton's 1st (pre-)school picture. I almost didn't order the pictures, thinking they were just trying to suck more money out of me. Then I decided they could be his four-year-old photos, since they were taken about two weeks before his birthday. I was so glad I ordered them, because they turned out sooo cute!

Not sneaky enough!

One of Payton's favorite tricks is to sneak toys into his bed at night, and play with them rather than go to sleep. I don't have any photos, so I hope I can tell this story and do it justice.
Payton likes to sleep just in his jammie bottoms. I don't know where he got it from. So, he is wearing Lightening McQueen jammie shorts, and nothing else. Got a mental picture? OK, good. He's been put to bed about fifteen to twenty minutes earlier, book, prayers, kiss, hug, etc. He comes out from his bedroom, holding his crotch, the international sign for "I have to go potty." Ray tells him to go. (There are usually anywhere from three to eight potty trips each night before he falls asleep.) From where Ray is sitting, he can see Payton, but I can't.
Payton closes the bathroom door to go potty this time. An anomaly. He usually never closes the door. Hmmm, something's up. We hear Payton peeing, and the toilet flush. We wait for him to come out of the bathroom.....nothing. Remember, all he has to do is pull up his jammie shorts. Ray calls, "OK, Payton, get to bed." I didn't see what happened next, Ray told me this part.
The bathroom door opens, and Payton side-steps out, with his back to the living room. Still got a mental picture? Ray tells Payton to come here. Payton turns and walks into the living room.....with a large bulge in his shorts (not that, you sickos LOL). Ray asks Payton what is in his shorts.
Payton pulls his newest Transformer out of his shorts, and hands it to Ray. In a completely serious voice, Payton says "I was just bringing this to you, Dad. And it's wet." (cuz he'd been playing with it in his bath earlier. Sickos!) Ray's trying hard not to bust up, and I'm not doing very well holding in my laughter either. It was so funny! Ray sent Payton to bed, and we both lost it! Maybe you had to be there. But kids say and do the darnedest things, don't they?

The Saga of the New Bed

When we bought a crib, before Payton was born, we spent a little extra and bought the crib that converts to a toddler bed, and then a full-size bed. I thought I was being exceptionally thrifty. We would only need to purchase a full-size mattress eventually, and that would get Payton through until he moved out. So, Payton is now too tall for his toddler bed, and we went looking for a full-size mattress, to convert his toddler bed.
We shouldn't have taken Payton mattress shopping with us. At the second store we went to, they had a loft bed with a SLIDE! I threw a blanket over the slide part, hoping he wouldn't notice. It didn't work. Once he saw that bed, we couldn't get him off of it. I left the store without buying the bed, exercising some restraint. But, Ray and I discussed it. Buying the bed was going to be a couple a hundred dollars more than buying a mattress. And, we could use the full-size bed with Payton's crib frame in the guest room when we build our new house. So, we asked Payton if he would have at least two hundred dollars worth of fun on the slide bed. Guess what he said?