Competitive Gnome Counting

On a recent visit to Great Grandma's house (and gardens), Peter and Joseph called me outside to show me how many garden gnomes they had counted.

As with many things, it suddenly became a competition to see which one could count them aloud for mom the fastest.  These things often do not end well.

In an effort to keep peace, rules were immediately established,

"Peter, you count the odds, and Joseph, you count the evens.  Let's start at the beginning."

Sounds fool-proof, right?  Wrong!

"I already counted THAT one!" broke out at once.

So, another rule to the rescue:

"Name the gnome as you count it out loud: 1 with the red hat, 2 with the rake, 3..."

And so we began again to count aloud and together, alternating for peace's sake, the gnomes in Great Grandma's yard.

"5: sleeping!" Joseph called out.

"6 puking!" followed Peter.

"Hold on, hold on... puking?"

"Well he sure looks like he's puking!"

Pretty happy fellow for puking, don't you think?

Next competition?

Steep hill climbing, racing down and rolling.

Meanwhile, Grandma made fresh arrangements with flowers from her garden.

There's nothing quite like a visit to Grandma's house.