A little lost

September 2, 2010 | Filed Under Benny, Luke, Photos, Sammy | 2 Comments

Jason is at First Thursday. The boys are in bed-even Luke! I have an unexpected day off tomorrow. I’m a little lost on what to do. Sure, I have a pile of pictures to edit, not to mention the pile of laundry. I have a craft project I’ve been looking for time to finish, and a bathroom in desperate need of cleaning. Really, I just kinda want to sit.
The VERY least I can do while I sit is give welikedogs a little love…

Ben is very into “rock” right now. When we get in the car, he asks for “rock music.” (Apparently, he isn’t a fan of public radio like Mom). He plays air guitar, using a coin as a guitar pick, or air drums, or even air bass. He declared it the “most rock” today. He says a keyboard is more rock than piano, and electric guitar is more rock than guitar. He says he’s getting a guitar for his birthday. He drew his rock band. Pretty awesome if you ask me:

This afternoon, Kaleigh watched the kids while I worked. Then, she watched Sammers, as I took Ben to his elementary open house. When I returned, he told me how he had another apple. He kept babbling about apples. Kaleigh and I shrugged, as he hadn’t had an apple…or so we thought. Later, I found him opening his Little People school house box, sneaking a bite of apple, and hiding it back in his box. Kal wondered why he kept carrying that box around. This isn’t his first time sneaking food of course. Earlier this week, I discovered this on the counter:

Yes. That is a zucchini. Weirdo.

Random picture of Luke, with his BEAUTIFUL smile. Have I mentioned how much I love my Cookie?

I can’t believe summer is almost over. We’re headed into the end of cookouts and summer walks. On the bright side, we’re headed into the season for cookouts and autumn walks.

Perfect timing, as I hear a motorcycle in the garage. Hopefully I’ll post Luke’s 4 month pics this weekend.

summer 2010

August 25, 2010 | Filed Under Benny, Luke, Photos, Sammy | 1 Comment

We had lots of big hopes and plans for summer 2010. Luke’s first summer. The last summer before Ben starts school. We decided we wanted more time with the kids this summer, so we planned to pull the kids out of daycare/delay starting Luke. I’ve been working only 3 days, to spend an extra 2 with the kids. Things haven’t gone exactly how we expected. There has been more fighting, more time outs, more exhaustion and more frustration than we ever expected. There has also been all the fun stuff. Errands, crafts, story time at the library, play dates, picnics, and trips to the park. Plenty of extra hugs, snuggles, and kisses too. I’m ready for fall and for the new chapter. I’m eager for Ben to start kindergarten, meet new people, and learn new things. I’m ready for Sam to return to daycare and enjoy playtime with kids his own age. I’m actually ready to work full-time, if only to lessen the headaches that part-time brings. Not really eager for Luke to go to daycare, but it is part of the package. No, this summer hasn’t been what I have expected, but I’ll never regret the special times I had with the kids.
Story time at the library:

Making ice cream:

Art time:

Playing around the house:

Guess what’s in the box?

Did you guess Brother?

Picnic with Daddy:

Errands and playland:

for stacey

August 22, 2010 | Filed Under Benny, General, Luke, Photos, Sammy | 5 Comments

Stacey is keeping me honest with subtle reminders to update this site. There is so much going on and so much I want to write about that I get overwhelmed. I’m going to try a baby step here with a few recent pictures and words.

Lukie is (over) 3 months now. Like his brothers, he is strong. He always wants to sit or stand up. He’d walk if he could figure out the balance. He’s smiling and laughing now, but he’ll make you work for it. He’s good-natured and rarely fussy, but very serious and watchful. We retired his baby bouncy seat this week, as his efforts to sit up straight were causing him to fall out. I found him this week, still strapped in, but with his face laying on the floor fast asleep. It would have made a funny picture, but my first thought was “Oh my God! Is he dead?” We replaced his bouncy seat with a new saucer/jumper hybrid. He seems to like the upright position more.

Sam is … Sam. He’s the happiest kid on earth. He’s so sweet and loving and cuddly. He is so gentle with his baby and his dogs…yet so aggressive with Ben. So stubborn and so mouthy. He is such a joy and the cause of so many new grey hairs. We’re just starting to really think about potty training, and we’ve had some successes. I think he’s ready; we just need to be consistent…which is hard in our crazy life. He’s been plagued this summer with chapped cheeks, but Ben was too.

Ben. My big Ben. Starting school in just a few weeks. This kid just blows me away. He’s completely growing up. This summer he loves playing computer games on the Internet. He is obsessed with dinosaurs. He can identify about 20 and knows facts like their size and what they eat. So smart. He loves to play dinosaurs, which involves growling and wrestling. We had to tell him that when he approaches strange kids at the park, he should ask them IF they want to play dinosaurs…not just approach and growl. Goof. He’s at the age of testing his limits (when has he not been?) Asking to do something over and over and asking why or why not. Yes, I tell him “because I said so.” He idolizes our 8 year old neighbor, Preston. They go “bird hunting” together. He draws pictures of birds, tapes them around the yard, and shoot them with nerf or squirt guns. He then tells me he can’t eat dinner, because he is full of bird meat from hunting. Best, worst, weirdest usually involves some story of bird hunting or his neighbor. He loves to draw and is really quite good (mommy’s opinion). I plan to share some more of his drawing soon. Here’s a recent boat scene. I suggest clicking through to flickr where I included notes on parts of it.