My Boys are Professionals

This week embodied the craziness that is the last month of the school year. But Wednesday was like it's own little island.... The boys and I went to all sorts of "pee-tend" places. I was the guinea pig and they were in charge.

First: "This is the hair cutting place.

Next: "This is the nurse place. Here's some lotion to make you not itch. (and forty million bandaids)

Finally: "This is the pretend body place. Where you go to pretend to be healthy."

"You're not lookin' so good. You have some big bones."

The piece de resistance: "You're at the dentist. Open up, we need to check your back teeth." (With the cleaning gloves...)

There was also a trip to the beach.

A change of plans to go camping instead....
And a riveting game of hide and seek....

I wish I could record their whole conversations. They take their imagination VERY seriously. I just love how they are totally in it together. In other news... Lucas is obsessed with cutting. And the game of putting all the scraps into the trash. Cracks me up. He is also doing really well with the potty at school. Not so much at home. There it's a no-go. The funny thing is that's exactly how Ethan did it too, and then one day, he just transferred it to home. Here's hoping!

Ethan got a butterfly garden for his birthday from Grammy. We waited to order the larvae until things calmed down after birthday, mother's day, etc.... Well they finally arrived! We do a lot of staring. I got a little nervous this morning because they weren't moving, but it seems they like to sleep in.

So now if you would like to eat at our house, you will have to be willing to eat with a 2L worm farm and a caterpillar cup. You've been warned. They really are cute - nothing like the invasion of monstrous caterpillars that was our wedding weekend. Those were huge and everywhere - including up in my wedding dress - ick! Speaking of that day - our 8th anniversary was on Tuesday. We are celebrating tonight, but Brian was still very romantic with some small treats this week. I'm a pretty lucky girl - and I know it!

Who knows what this weekend will bring! First step is haircuts all around. We're a shaggy bunch! Lucas looked just like pigpen going to daycare yesterday - hair going crazy, dirt smudged tears after a little tantrum, dragging a dingy old towel he insisted was his blankie.... Yep, we leave an impression around here!

Dear Ethan,

Someday, my son, you will tell me that I embarrass you. You will hide from my wacky ways and wince when I perform my silly antics in front of people. Someday you will wish you could just click your heels and disappear.
On those days I will remind you of today. I will remind you of our dinner out with good friends at Red Robin. I will remind you how you cried three times at dinner over silly things; how you fought with your brother over the video games; how you refused to give him his last turn and instead flung yourself screaming on the ground. I will remind you how you head-butted my knees and tried to make me lose my temper. I will remind you how you rolled across the floor screaming as I dragged you to the parking lot; how you did everything in your power to pop Lucas' balloon (since you most certainly did not get one). I will remind you how you sobbed the whole way home, "I DON"T WANT TO GO TO BED!" I will remind you how I kissed you, flopped you onto your bed, told you I loved you but could not listen to you anymore and closed the door.
I love you - even when you are embarrassing.

Adventures...

I promised a fun, relaxing weekend and I got it! The weekend started with healthy, though slightly crabby, boys. We quickly realized that if we kept them together all morning, we'd have a riot on our hands. Lucas and I went off to meet Uma and Upa for a big ol' grocery shopping expedition. He was super helpful, moving all the groceries into the seat next to him. I'm trying desperately to limit the amount of shopping trips we take in a month by buying a lot about once a month. It's working pretty well, though I often like to run away to the store for a bit anyway.... Shh don't tell.

Next up was a Children's Church get-together at a beach near our house. I got the boys a magnifying bucket and a hands-free bug/critter catcher. I'm not a fan of touching. I like to get real close and play with the crabs etc., until they start moving at me. Then I shriek. I can't help it.

There were lots and lots and lots of crabs to look at. We put a few in our bucket for short bits of time to "observe". Mostly they just curled up in the bucket and pouted. I suppose I'd do that to.

Lucas loved looking at all the different creatures. At one point someone found a millipede. That thing was huge! And creepy. It did not make it into the creature bucket. I would not get that close.

Pretty soon Ethan and Brian joined us from daycare and E jumped right in (not literally.) Pastor Bob showed them some really cool looking crabs.

But not as cool as this guy! He wanted to fight. He'd grab the end of my shovel and hold on strong. We played this game, he and I, over and over and over again. I'm easily amused.

The boys also loved scouting out the spitting clams. They stood there for a good 20 minutes watching for them. I almost got squirted a couple of times, but managed to stay dry.

I love living close to water - and seeing all the creatures that go along with it. We saw a blue heron in the distance which looked suprisingly like a mini dinosaur.

After some long naps, and a delicious tuna (but not really, it was chicken because brian will not eat in a house that smells like tuna) noodle casserole, we were off to our community garden plot. It was very exciting because our peas had grown quite a bit!

We weeded, transplanted some strawberries that were in the path, and then laid the garden stones that the boys made at garden night.

After all that hard work it was time for ice cream. They started out clean - it didn't last. Lucas had it all over him - head to toe.

All that fresh air must have been a good thing because today they slept in until 7:45 (after Brian put Lucas back to bed at 5:45). I don't think we've slept that late in a very very long time. Maybe since Lucas. It was nice!

We had a great time at church and then it was off to Toad House for pizza with my parents. I especially love Brian's face in the picture. The former pizza boy is not happy with Ethan's topping methods. Hehehe..

More long naps and it was dinner time. Which tonight came with a show! Lucas has a toy that does a 20 second sound clip of music and they kept playing it over and over. And over and over.

"Hit it!"

At one point Ethan said, "This show's almost over, so if you don't mind, you can stay for the next show." We did. It only got sillier and sillier.

At one point their pants were around their knees while they danced. That's when we declared curtain call. It was time.

Speaking of time... I have stacks of papers to grade and I've procrastinated long enough.... It seems I can never be on top of everything all the time. Sometimes I'm caught up in schoolwork, sometimes housework, sometimes gardening, sometimes cooking, sometimes fitness, sometimes absolutely nothing. I suppose that's okay. Just keep swimming, right?

The Plague of Sprague

Oh my has it been a week.... A stomach bug has ransacked our house, taking out everyone but Brian. Of course. He never catches this stuff. It is infuriating, to say the least. Not that I want him to be sick, I just want to be that person for once!

Sunday was Lucas' day to "shine". We were literally on our way out the door to church and.... well, I'll spare you the details. Needless to say, Ethan and I ran as fast as we could out of there. Poor Brian. Lucas never really acted sick, just had horrible diapers and general crankiness. Monday the boys stayed home with me. Lots and lots of movies and lots and lots of chores for me.

Ethan still hadn't shown any signs, but was shrieking about his stomach, so Brian stayed home with them on Tuesday. Sure enough, midmorning, he could not keep any food or liquid down. Again, poor Brian. Though I was working with a very queasy stomach, and that was tough. Lucas was fine at this point, had gone 24 hours without any tummy trouble, but now Ethan was a total mess.

So Thursday was my day again. He and I sat on the couch and rested the entire day. He had a fever of 102 and was just achy all over. It was awful. Mom came over to sit with him while I ran to get Lucas from daycare. (For once Lucas was excited to go to daycare! He'd had enough of the sick house!)

So Friday we though all was well and took the boys in. We got the call around 11 that Ethan was miserable and needed to be picked up. Not sure how actually miserable he was.... But, he thoroughly enjoyed his afternoon with Uma (thanks mom!!) and was pretty much back to normal by evening. Where he took this cool picture of his inside garden.

And now we are pretty much normal. Though everyone is a tad cranky - as you can see.

So this weekend is rest, recoup, and rebound. Hope this wasn't too whiny. I promise for some more encouraging words/pictures this weeekend! Even if I have to force it!

Busy, Busy Week

This week was insane. I had stuff going on pretty much every day of the week. Add to that the state tests and I was a bit of a stress case. I could not look forward more to the weekend! Finally Friday came and with it a super suprise for the boys! Their children's pastor and family came over for a quick "Unbirthday" party for the boys. They could not have felt more special. What a neat thing to do! I may just steal it!
Saturday morning was kind of hectic. Brian took Ethan to gymnastics and Lucas and I went down to the community garden for a work party - weeding out noxious plants. Lucas loved being in the dirt and entertained everyone. He really loved hanging out with one of my students that was there. After the boys went down for a nap, my parents came over and helped us do a whole bunch of yardwork - ick. At least it was sunny?!
That evening we headed out to Nadia's house for a playdate. Yummy dinner, fun conversation, lots of laughs, and dessert at DQ. What could be better?
Nadia ate hers like a pro, Ethan got his all over his face, and Lucas took forever eating it with a spoon.

Today we knew something was off with Lucas. He was so quiet and mellow - this never happens! But there was no evidence of sickness, so we kept getting ready for church. Poor guy showed us in a bit that he had some sort of a tummy bug. Ethan and I went to church and Brian and Lucas cleaned up the bathroom. Poor kiddo. He seemed to feel better after his nap, but is still not right. So, I get to stay home with him tomorrow and hopefully get him healthy fast! I hate it when the boys are sick! Though I do love the extra snuggles if I'm going to be honest...

And now that finishes my incredibly boring post. If you stuck with my this long, I'm proud of you ;) I'm off to get some rest!

The Non-Sleep-Over

I guess we should have realized that the three of them sleeping in the same room would be a bad idea. But they were so excited! And they looked so cute! And they were so tired we were sure they'd fall right asleep!

"Lucas is out of his beeeeed!"

"Ethan's kicking the wall~"

"Nadia bit my nose!"

Not so much, they didn't fall asleep until about 10. Whoops. But they sure were funny tattling on each other! While we were listening, we noticed that Lucas and Nadia had decorated Duke with stickers. He really is a good sport.

The next morning they were up and at 'em at 5:30. But luckily Sonia had packed us an amazing breakfast and we ate until we were too full to move! It was DELICIOUS!

We were still too early for church and needing to get out of the house, so we headed to get some coffee. The kids ate the cookies Nadia had brought and drank hot chocolate. In hindsight I realize that was a lot of sugar....

But they really enjoyed it!

Somehow they got the idea to play charades. They pretended to be different animals and had us guess what they were. It was hilarious. Lucas just told us the answers. No guessing needed for him.

Church, McD's, and a lot more giggles and Nadia's parents came and stole her away. We had so much fun! Next we headed over to my parents house where my dad proved he knows us mothers pretty darn well! - Flowers and Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels. Perfect.

The boys had little gifts for Uma and Nana and we all listened to Ethan and Lucas' songs on the piano. I was thinking I could use some earmuffs about then.

Luckily the sun came out and we got to spend some time outside! Lucas "helped" Upa garden. I think he followed him around the entire time he was out there, undoing all the projects Upa was working on...

We played a lot of baseball - with and without the helmet....

We played with the dogs and just ran all over the place. Ethan would hit the ball and then "run the bases" - only the bases were all going the wrong direction, all over the place. So he's getting the idea, but hopefully will get a bit better.

We had a fabulous dinner and an awesome dessert and all was right with the world! It's been a crazy week since then! Last night was Garden Night for my school program and Brian brought the boys after t-ball (he had gotten off early). They planted all sorts of things and even made a worm farm in some 2 Liter bottles. I can smell them from here.... They made stepping stones that I think we'll put in our garden down at the park and got all sorts of plants to take home. Tonight was a play for our sister school in the program across town. The boys were very well behaved and enjoyed it. Only problem was they wanted to sing along and not knowing the words were just humming very loudly... And tomorrow I've got another meeting after school so Uma is picking up the boys. This time of year is always nuts. So many places I need to be. Right now where I need to be is in front of the tv, zoning out. So off I go - not to change the world, but just to recharge...5 and a half more weeks till summer! - Crazy.

This and That

What a crazy week! Monday I was home with the boys and we had a blast - for the morning anyway... By evening we were all stir crazy! But during the morning Ethan decided to take on reading! He read all sorts of sentences once I put the words on plates. We even made a story. "I see a lion at the zoo. I run and I yell. The hippo hops on the zebra." Loved it.

Tuesday was the start of Ethan's t-ball class. He loved it.

"It's so great. The teachers tell me exactly what to do and I can do it!" I hope he remembers that when he starts school next year!

Lucas spent the whole time growling at me and calling me a "dragon that spits fire!"

The rest of the week was a blur... Testing, prepping, all of that... I was so ready for the weekend! And a fabulous weekend it has been! The boys woke me up bright and early to go to breakfast at The Family Pancake House! Yum yum yum

Then it was shopping, gymnastics and naps before our friend Nadia got dropped off for the boys' first ever sleepover! (Her parents are at prom tonight - chaperoning of course.) After running all through the house for awhile and setting up all their beds in Ethan's room, we headed off to our friend Alex's birthday party. It was a Dora soccer adventure. There was "the map"...

The backpacks... A journey through Bubble Forest...

A trip through Rainbow Tunnel...

And then bringing color to Dora's house!

Oh my word they had fun! The food was delicious!

The kids loved playing with the new presents.... The boys really liked the pony!

And now the kids are curled up on the couch watching Yogi Bear. I can only imagine how bed time will go - but it'll be funny I'm sure!

Luckily they are all very competitive and were discussing who would get to go to sleep first in the car.... this could be good for us! Oh those eyes are heavy!