Rain, Spring, And Other Tidbits

It is raining...a lot. We woke up this morning and looked outside to see our new mulch washing down the driveway. Ken went out and dammed up the the bed and shoveled the escaping mulch back into place. There is still a good sized canyon right under the rain gutter drain pipe. We need to get a tube to attach to the bottom of the drain to carry the run off out out to the grass. Fortunately, we have extra mulch, so we can easily repair the canyon. When it rains here, it floods. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.

Spring is in full bloom. I love the early spring colors. The pinks and purples are always the first to show up. The bushes and trees suddenly explode with vibrant color. I was driving yesterday and saw the most beautiful lilac blossoms. It was truly breathtaking. My little flowers are doing okay. I've said before that I love to garden, but I'm not very good at it. So far, most of my flowers are growing nicely. I hope this rain will do them good and not drown them. I looked outside and my flower bed in the front was completely underwater.

We have baby birds in our orange tree. Right at eye level.

We are having a lazy Saturday. We haven't even gotten dressed yet. Ken made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and I made chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. We've watched a movie together and took a nap in between conference sessions. I'm listening to the afternoon session right now as I write this. I love being able to stream the words of the prophets right into my home. The boys aren't sitting and actively listening, but I know they pick up things they hear even when you don't think they are listening.

On a completely other note, the doctor thinks Nathan has rotovirus. Nice. That baby gets everything that comes his way. At least we know what we are dealing with and can take appropriate action.

Yard Work Part 2

It started with a large pile of dirt and a large pile of mulch in our driveway. Papa (and Kyle) came over to put it into the bed we dug out a few weeks ago. I helped by controlling kids, spreading dirt, and spraying weed killer. Ken mowed the lawn.

Nathan contributed by playing with his toys and wandering around underfoot.

Kenny was going to be a BIG helper and shovel the dirt with the men folk.


Fill 'er up!


Dump it in!

Whew! That was hard work!!! Nothing is better than a drinkable yogurt after a sweaty afternoon in the yard.


Job Done! The men stood back and admired a job well done.


It sure looks nice, even without the plants. The next phase will be in a few months, when the plants go on sale!

Bottoms Up

Caboose, hiney, bottom, butt, pockets...It goes by many different names. And my son is obsessed with it.

I know it is an age thing. Kids his age are learning about their bodies. They also have no sense of social rules. Combine these two things together and you get a typical four year old kid.

One of his favorite things to do right now is put his hands on his hips, lower his voice, shake around, and say, "Shake your booty." We've told them several times that it is totally inappropriate, but his has the memory of a gnat, so it's going to take about 1000 more times before it is committed to long-term memory.

Yesterday, I was laying on my stomache on the couch and he comes up to me and says (in a very high, sweet voice), "Mom, I'm going to give you a love spanking. Just lo-o-o-o-ove, Mom. Just a lo-o-o-ove spank, okay." He slowly started walking towards me and I said, "No, Kenny. That is not a good choice." "But Mom, (with a slight note of desperation in his voice) it's just for love. A love spank."

Don't worry. I jumped off the couch before the "spanking" took place. I know how worried ya'll were getting.

Jonny, this is for you. He likes to moon people. Luckily, he has limited it to just our little family.

Nathan is sick. He has had loose bowels the whole week. He has hardly eaten anything for days and today he added throwing up to the list. I gave him a bath tonight and with the hole in his chest and the weight he has lost being sick, you can see each of his little ribs. Overall he is fairly happy, but the poor kid is not feeling well.

The Making of A Pilot

Back the in the 70's, a little boy dreamed of flying airplanes. He drew pictures and poured over books. He could answer just about any question about military airplanes. He never let go of that dream, but as life unfolded it seemed his dream would never come true.

Fast forward to the present. Engineering school was not going as well as planned and we were beginning to feel that maybe this wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. My dear friend Tiff heard an ad on the radio advertising helicopter flight training. I mentioned this to Ken, and he dismissed it as impossible. Several months later, while on vacation out West, I mentioned it again. This time he lit up! As soon as we got home he began researching how to make this actually happen.

Last September, he began flight training. In December he scored a perfect 100% on the FAA written exam! This is an amazing feat and extremely rare. Today he graduated flight training with his private pilot license for rotorcraft helicopters. Only 1% of the population are pilots and only 1% of that 1% are helicopter pilots. He has officially joined an elite club!

I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has done. It is so amazing to me that he has made his childhood dream come true. I am awed everytime I watch him fly. I think he has found his true calling in life. Congratulations Sweetheart, I couldn't be prouder!!!!

The next step is instrument training so he can fly in all conditions. After that he will be a commercial helicopter pilot and the sky is the limit from there.

You know the best thing about all this...my boys will win any "my-Dad's-job-is-cooler-than-your-Dad's-job" argument hands down.

The Mind of a Chilld

I read this and it made me laugh. It reminds me so much of my boys. We are into fighting over toys at our house. It used to be that Nathan would just give in, but not anymore. He knows what he wants and he will fight for it. It isn't so easy for Kenny to take something from him. And it also goes the other way. There have been times when Nathan has taken something from Kenny. All this means two things- we have two of a lot of things, and it is noisy at our house.

Toddler's Creed

If I like, it's mine.

If it's in my hand, it's mine.

If I can take it from you, it's mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

If it's mine it must never appear to be yours in ANY way.

If I'm doing or building some thing, ALL the pieces are mine.

If it looks just like mine, it's mine.

If it is broken, it's yours!!!

---

HeHeHe

Daddy and I have stumbled upon a certain word that when said to Kenny makes his blood boil and his face flush with anger.

It started with rough housing on the bed. Daddy said, "I'm so hungry. I guess I'll just have to eat Kenny." They proceeded to wrestle around. Then Daddy said it. And Kenny went nuts with fury. Of course, being the amazing parents that we are, we have not continued to call him that word just to get a rise out of him. That would be mischievous and no one in our home fits that description.

You want to know the word.

Barbeque
I really mean it. He gets spitting fire angry!

Ahh... The joys of having young boys... (FIXED)

Here's a video of the boys enjoying one of their favorite pastimes. Screaming for no reason other than they can. (I got it working. Enjoy!!!)

New Diagnosis

Kenny earned his first "paycheck." Over Spring Break, a co-worker of mine offered to pay Kenny to take care of her class fish while she was out of town. I lugged her fish and my own home (they are Betas so it wasn't very hard.) Kenny fed the fish everyday and helped change their water. At the end of the week, I took the still-alive fish back to work and she gave me a card for Kenny. It told him thank you and gave him $10.00. We took him to Target and he bought a Thomas the Train game. It is a controller shaped like Thomas and it plugs into the VCR. It only has a few games on it, but he loves to play it. He drives the train around picking up coal pieces, tickets, or taking passengers to different stations.

I read on another blog (Pioneer Woman-she's really funny!) about a medical condition called LBSCBDO, or Low-Blood-Sugar-Cranky-Butt-Disorder. Just after reading about her son's affliction, I went into the kitchen and realized that is the exact disorder Nathan suffers from. When he wants food he wants it NOW and there is no plan B. It is easy to recognize when a flare up is occurring. He will crawl into his chair, pout his lips, lower his eyebrows, and call out your name repeatedly. If that does not produce IMMEDIATE results, he throws his head back, closes his eyes, and lets out a long mournful cry. This crying will continue until food appears in his tummy. A glass of milk can sometimes stave off the symptoms long enough for you to make something, but you had better be fast because I'm talking minutes. Side effects include puffy eyes, a tear streaked face, runny nose, and a frazzled Mommy.

He gets it from my beloved hubby. Fortunately, he doesn't throw his head back and cry (wouldn't that be funny!) But he does become slightly agitated when it's been awhile since he's had food. When we are at home, he can medicate himself with handfuls of whatever he can find. The problem occurs when we are out somewhere and his "condition" kicks in. This usually results unplanned trips to McDonald's or Sonic. Can't blame him though. It takes a lot out of a person to cart 2 small children and a hyperactive wife to the store.

Fortunately, Kenny does not suffer from this disorder. He is never hungry and rarely asks for food. This is probably why he doesn't grow.

I don't suffer from this condition either. I am fat because I like to eat, hungry or not-especially chocolate.

Making Music

My parents gave me a music book for Christmas. It is the viola and piano parts to Lord of the Rings. Ken and I decided to give it a try. We always have fun playing together, though we don't do it very often. I spent a few minutes tuning and brushing up with a few scales. Ken practiced the accompaniment parts. We played for about an hour before our out of shape fingers needed a rest. There were a lot of wrong notes and some key signeture problems, but we had a blast.

I started playing the viola when I was nine and actively played until I was 19. I didn't play for a several years but started again about a year ago. I play about 1-2 times a month, usually when no one else is around to hear my screeching. I love the versatility of a viola. It can play almost all the same notes as a violin, but it is bigger which gives it a deeper, richer tone. It has the same strings as a cello- an octave higher- but it is easier to carry around than a cello. Violists play in alto clef, though at times we also play in treble and very occasionally in bass. That means that I have the ability to read and play in three clefs. I can't tell you the note names in treble and bass, but I can play them on both a viola and piano. Pretty cool, huh.

Ken started playing piano at seven. He mostly plays classical music and in high school he practiced 4-5 hours every day. He took the AP Music Theory class in high school and got the second highest score in the class. He has an amazing musical ear. I love to hear him play.

Nathan is very interested in music. Kenny likes to listen to music in the background, but Nathan becomes memorized by it. He tries to play the piano all the time. He was so excited to play my viola. He did the bow (with help) and I fingered Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I love how excited he gets for any type of music.

Tiny Tots

It's getting warm so I pulled out some shorts for tomorrow. My son can wear 2T shorts. And I'm not referring to Nathan. I am talking about my sweet little skinny-butt Kenny. That boy has no meat on his bones! I think I am going to have to get him 3T's due to length, but his waist fits a 2T perfectly. Nathan need an 18 month size. I have such tiny kids.

Nathan also tripped on his own shoes this afternoon. He fell into the rocking chair and hit really hard. He has a big red goose egg right between his eyes. Poor baby.

They Mimic Everything!

We went to the mall to walk around and Kenny brought his cell phone. It doesn't work, but it is a real cell phone. After about 5 minutes of walking he says, "oh, I have a call." He takes the phone out of his pocket, and says, "Hello? Fine. Everything is under control." He continues for about 2 minutes in his fake conversation. Keep in mind he was still walking the whole time. And he was gesturing with his other hand and had very exaggerated facial expressions. He looked like he was really talking to someone. After his "call" he hung up and put the phone in his pocket. He continued doing this the entire time we were at the mall. He got the funniest looks from passersby.

He had conversations with each of his uncles. He told all of them to stop touching the statutes (I don't know where he got that!) The only Uncle Mike was told something different. He was told he needed to talk to the police because of the statues.

It is amazing how techno-driven kids are these days. Nathan placed his first cell phone call at 18 months by using speed dial.

Yard Work

We did more yard work this evening. I watered the flowers, sprayed some weed killer, and mowed some of the front yard. Ken edged and mowed the rest of the yard. I love this early spring weather. It is so wonderful to be outside enjoying the sun without sweating. I know it is only a matter of time before the mosquitoes move in the the temperature heats up to barely tolerable levels. This weekend I am going to have to pull out the summer clothes and see what we need to get for this year.



I have found that I love to garden. I even like weeding. I find it oddly thrilling to grab a bunch of weeds and ripe them out of the dirt. Nathan takes after me. He loves dirt. He will spend hours digging and eating the dirt whenever I am outside. Kenny is only interested in the worms in the dirt- not the dirt itself. Unfortunately, I do not have a natural green thumb. Yet this fact does not deter me from planting away and hoping I'll figure it out someday.

I'm Totally Cut Out to be a Housewife

Spring break came and I again got a taste of life as a desperate housewife. I, however, have found that I am perfectly content to spend my days wiping. Wiping counters, noses, bottoms, floors, hands, dishes, and all other surfaces. I am perfectly content to cook and clean all day. I don't even mind the laundry- well, maybe I mind a little.

But the time has come for me to return to my other full time job. It may not be as fulfilling for me as a not-so-desperate housewife, but if I can't be with my own sweet babies, teaching other kids is the only job I could possibly leave them for. Not to mention it pays the bills-barely, but it pays them!

Nine more weeks and counting till summer vacation!!!

A Full Day's Work

Lot's happened today, so I'll just start at the top.

I started off the day by making pig's in a blanket for breakfast. Kenny at the pigs but not the blanket, and Nathan ate the blanket but not the pigs. After cleaning up I went outside to finish digging out the weed beds that will eventually have flowers. Kenny came out with me. He played around the yard for awhile and eventually came over and asked if he could help. About 30 seconds into helping, he found a worm. As stated in a previous post, my boys like worms. He said this worm's name was Sherman the Worman. He took Sherman on a tour of the yard- showing him the climbing tree and the sticks in the grass. He took Sherman inside to introduce him to Daddy. When they came back out, he decided that Sherman needed to get his sillies out, so he shook that worm up and down as fast and he could while singing the Shake You Sillies song. It was at this point that Sherman died of Shaken Worm Syndrome (at least he got to see the sight's first!) Of course, Kenny didn't know that Sherman was dead. He petted him and called him his best friend. He said I could be his second best friend- lucky me. He made a pile of dirt on the sidewalk for Sherman to live in. He even looked around to find more worms to live in the sidewalk-dirt-house to keep Sherman company. At dinner, I was telling Papa about Sherman the Worman and Papa asked Kenny, "Where's Sherman now?" His response was so matter of fact, "Well, he just dried up. And then he didn't move anymore. He was frozen." We all lost it at that point and simply could not stop laughing.

Papa came over mid-morning to start digging out the new landscaping bed we are putting in across the front of the house. We started by removing the somewhat ugly bushes that covered the front living room window. We transplanted them to the side of the front yard where they can grow nice and tall like they are meant to. Next, we laid the hose out on the grass to get the shape we wanted, sprayed a line on the grass, and started digging. I use the term we in this sense meaning Ken and Papa. I was weeding beds and shuffling kids. They dug up the grass in perfect little squares and used them as sod to plug up some holes and even out the back yard lawn. After digging out the new bed, they went in the backyard and pulled a branch off a tree that was barely hanging on and threatening to fall at any moment.

At one point during all this, Nathan discovered that the exhaust pipe of Daddy's car was the exact fit for his entire arm.After baking in the warm-but-not-sweating sun, we cleaned up and had dinner. We got a lot of work done today and I am excited about our new front yard. There is a lot of work to do still, but we are on our way!

Boys!

What is it with males and clothes on the floor? When a girl gets undressed, she puts her clothes where they belong. Boys do not do this. When they undress they leave their shirt, pants, and underwear in the place they fell when they took them off. I have always taught both my boys to put their clothes in the hamper. Last night, Kenny undressed and put on his jammies on his own without me breathing down his neck. When I got up this morning I was greeted by Thomas the Train underpants in the middle of the floor. Arghh!!! This isn't the first time this has happened. Every time he dresses himself without me present the underwear always ends up on the floor. I used to think that it was an environmental thing, but I now realize it must be a gene carried on that Y chromosome.

I just looked over at Nathan while I was writing this and noticed he was licking Daddy's laptop. Hmmm...I'm not sure what to think of that.

Kenny is upstairs right now screaming. He's not in trouble or unhappy. He's just screaming. This happens regularly. I'm not sure what to think of that either.

We went to see Daddy fly today. It's always fun to see him up in the sky doing his thing.

Nathan kept getting up until about 1:00 inthe morning. We would put him back to bed and within 5-10 minutes, he was back in our room. Nothing worked to keep him in bed. It turned out to be a VERY long night.

Lazy Days

It's been rainy, rainy, rainy here. So, we have been occupying our time with indoor games.

We also had some friends come over yesterday. We made homemade pizza, orange rolls, finger painted, and played the Cars X-box game.


Even Piper had a good time with her little friend.

Eppie and Papa came home from the Aloha state. They look tan and relaxed. I am glad they were able to have a good time.
I've been having fun taking care of my family and playing with my sweet boys. Though I am ready for the sun to shine and dry up the flooding, I have been grateful for the last few days.

Mama, You're A...

coconut!!! (HaHaHaHa!)

If you don't get the joke don't feel bad. Neither do I. But calling you a coconut is the funniest thing a person can possibly say in the mind of a certain preschooler I happen to know. He says it to everyone! I've had to explain to grocery store people that he is just trying to be funny when he says, "You're a big fat coconut!"

Nathan's new favorite word is "gickle." It's Nathan-ese for tickle. He will walk up to you holding his shirt has high as he can and still maintain his balance saying "gickle, gickle." It's unbelievably adorable.

I'm doing what I always do when I am on vacation from school. Laundry, cooking, laundry, cleaning, laundry, baking, and...did I mention laundry. It is amazing to me how many clothes a family of four can go through.

Master Chef

Generally, I regard myself as a good cook. I base my theory on a couple of facts. The number one being the fatness of the adults in this house. Since we do not like to eat crummy food, my food must be good. I have also been told I am a good cook by other family and friends that I have fed over the years. Of course, they could have simply been "being polite" or trying to boost my confidence. Either way- it worked. I am confident I am a good cook. This is important to know to fully appreciate the impact of the revelation that is about to follow.

I screwed up macaroni and cheese!

I personally do not eat the yellow stuff posing as food, but my family does. I tried to make it for lunch and totally messed up. I, or rather my hubby, had to throw it out and do it again. I am simply baffled and very embarrassed that I couldn't successfully make a dish thousands of college boys can make.

In my defense, I think I can explain why I had such a blunder. It is said that Albert Einstein failed school because it was too simple and easy for his superior brain. I put forth that mac and cheese is too easy for my outstanding culinary abilities and therefore doomed to failure.

At least, that is the lie I am going to continue repeating to myself over and over again.

Kenny Strikes The Chapel Part 3

It's been awhile since Kenny got into trouble at church, so I guess I should have seen this coming. Part two is the muffin story. Part one is a story that I still have to write out . I'll give you a hint...it has to do with taking things out of his pants.) Today's installment takes place during choir practice. He got hold of an ink pen and colored on the wood paneling by the pulpit. He loudly apologzed for doing this after everyone started giggling at him. Since that was not enough, he decided he wanted to read the Book of Mormon into the microphone and turned it on full blast- creating the most ear piercing siren sound. Then, he sat right next to me while I was directing and sang "Old McDonald" as loud as he could. I know it could - and has been- much worse. It is still embarrassing when everyone watches these antics and then starts strolling down memory lane thinking about his past antics.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Ken bought me flowers. Aren't they pretty.
It has been awhile. The reason I haven't posted has nothing to do with lack of things to say and everything to do with not having any spare time. So, I'll back track a bit.

Thursday: I finally finished testing my class. It is a relief to be done. We went over to a friend's house for dinner. They have a little boy Kenny's age. My dear friend was babysitting for me while Eppie and Papa are in Hawaii. We had a great time and dinner was fantastic. It was nice not to have to worry about cooking.
Ken, Nathan, and I were driving at one point today and Ken was listening to this horrid song strictly because he knew I couldn't stand it. The chorus line to this song is "Get your sexy on." He kept saying it over and over because he enjoys revving people up for some unknown reason. All the sudden, we hear this little voice saying, "Get your sexy on." You couldn't make out the words clearly, but he had the rhythm down and the general idea of each word. So Daddy, you corrupted our baby. Tsk, Tsk.

Friday: I survived the day before spring break. We had been studying folktales and I do a little unit on the story Stone Soup. We read all the different versions of the same tale and talk about the similarities and differences. So, today we made Stone Soup. I always thought that my class would take one taste and that would be it, but every year they eat the entire crock pot of soup.
My friend babysat for me tonight so we could go on a date. (She told me, "You look beautiful, but very stressed.") We had dinner and went to see "Music and Lyrics." I laughed so hard! It follows the predictable romantic comedy format, but it was very funny. Within the first few minutes, Ken leaned over and said, "You know, I'm watching this chick flick because I love you." There is an actress in it who plays a pop star character (like Britney Spears in her "glory days.") Very cleverly, within the first 10 minutes of the movie they show this character making a music video. She is an attractive young blond singing this Buddha-Indian style pop song and shaking her booty for about a minute. I didn't hear a complaint again for the rest of the movie. Those producers knew how to get the guys to enjoy this girly movie.

Saturday: Ken got up early and went to work at Habitat of Humanity. And because it is Saturday, the boys woke up extra early. We were up and dressed by 7:15. I had some errands to run, so we packed up and went.
First stop was the donut shop and then on to my parents to get their mail and eat breakfast. Then we ran to Walmart. I only went to get a few little things, but it turned out to be the grand opening day of the garden center and they had a great sale. So I bought all kinds of planting stuff. After Walmart, we ran to a music store to look for a CD I wanted. Next to Target to look for the CD, then onto the salon for haircuts. Kenny was a real trooper as always with hair cuts. Nathan is another story. I have to sit and hold him. He cries hysterically the whole time and says "help me, help me, help me," over and over. It's so sad. We were home by 11:00. I had to clean house. Because I wasn't home Thursday or Friday, things had gotten a bit out of control. It took some serious work, but we are up and running again.

And that brings us to today- Sunday. Nothing has happened yet except eating breakfast, which isn't very interesting. I'm on spring break now, so I can finally get some things done around here that have been neglected lately.

Mama's Boy

My Nathan is a Mama's boy. He loves his Daddy VERY much, but he is still a Mama's boy. He's still so little that such a title isn't devastating yet. I put the boys to bed tonight and just after I shut the door I heard, "Mama." I went back in and asked who needed me. Kenny said it was Nathan. I walked over and said, "What do you need, Baby?" And he responded with , "I love you." His words are a little muttled, and most people who haven't heard him use this phrase wouldn't recognize what he said...but I did. He has repeated that phrase to me dozens of times. Tonight was the first time he independently said it without hearing me say it first. These are the times that making being a mom the best job in the world.

Testing Week

I can honestly say with out any ill feeling that I hate standardized testing. Most people don't have a liking for it, but I loathe it. Maybe it is because I was always a bad test taker. I get anxiety attacks over the pressure to perform. Maybe it is because I don't think the scores actually represent a child's ability. But I think my feelings mostly stem from two very good reasons.

1. Administering the Test- Only other teachers can truly appreciate the nightmare that is administering a test. First, you must attend a half hour training. At this training you will be read a power point, slide by slide. Then you will handed a manual and asked to highlight the exact same information that you heard from the power point. Then, you will be scared out of your mind that if you breathe too heavy during the test, you will lose you job. At least 1 1/2 hours later, your half hour training is done. To get out of the training, you sign an oath promising to sacrifice your firstborn child if anything goes wrong. Naturally, more than one type of standardized test is administered each year, so you must repeat this process every few weeks.

2. Watching The Kids Struggle- How many adults would sit silently for anywhere from 2-10 hours working on one exam without getting an "I don't care anymore" attitude? Not me! But we ask these poor kids to do just that. No talking, monitored restroom breaks, extra supervised lunch, no getting up, and the best- when you're done, you can only read silently at your desk for the remainder of the day. Now, it is not quite that bad on my kiddos. But they are still required to be silent for up to 2 hours. No using the restroom unless taken by the teacher because most of the testing is orally administered. They have to work at my pace rather than their own and focus hard for long periods of time. They are also not allowed any recess, because the noise might interrupt other testing rooms. (This is actually the case if any grade level is testing in the building, which basically means no recess from Feb. -May.) Hello!!! My class is 6 and 7!!!!! Can we get some perspective? All this leads to increased behavior problems, which we have to deal with while keeping everyone extremely quiet. And I test my class everyday for a week. I have seen the look on my kid's faces as we work on page after page of testing. I do everything I can, but my hands are tied. Eventually, a fourth of them give up and start bubbling in patterns. I honestly can't blame them...I probably would too.

Sorry about my soap box, but this is how I feel.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Yep....that's right.
Any estimates on how long it takes to pick up thousands of Styrofoam packing peanuts?

The Tale of the Bird and the Ogre

My kids are very different in a lot of ways. One in particular is eating habits. It is a struggle we are faced with at every meal. You see, Kenny eats like a bird. He bites a goldfish cracker in half! At least once during every meal he suddenly starts wailing at the top of his lungs because he bit his fingers. Genius, I tell you. He also resists all use of forks or spoons. He prefers to eat caveman style. He has improved in this area thanks to his over-bearing parents reminding his before every bite to use a utensil. Below is a picture of Kenny eating 1 Doritio chip.

Fast forward 15 seconds (I know because I timed it.)It's The Same Chip!!!!!

Contrast that with our little one. He eats like an ogre. I am amazed at how much food he can pack away- especially considering how little he is. He takes such huge bites that I watch him in anticipation of needing to administer the Heimlich Maneuver. Cutting up his food does nothing to help the problem. He will shove several bites in his mouth at one time. He also hoards his last bite. After every meal you have to sweep his mouth clean. If not, he will keep the last bite of food- whatever it is- clamped in his mouth. Before I learned this I noticed one afternoon that his lips were clamped really tight. I pryed his mouth open to find a half chewed piece of hotdog! My eyes widened in amazement- Lunch had been 2 hours ago!!!
I don't know why they are both so weird about food. The only thing I did was eat with my feet on the table and refuse to put anything close to soggy bread in my mouth.

Dirt and Worms

I have a house full of men. They do boy things. It is a fact that I have come to terms with.

My little cuties went outside to play this morning. As usual, my dirt loving baby got right into an unplanted flower bed. Soon after, Kenny got his shovel, joined his brother, and started digging in the dirt. Of course it did not take long before they came across a worm. Actually, it was part of a worm. Kenny had sliced it in two. Both the boys lit up with excitement! Kenny picked up those worm parts and begged me to let him keep them. Then I made a mistake. I told him they would miss their worm family if we took them out of the dirt. He said, "There are more worms!" This enticed him to go on a rescue mission for all the worms he could find. Meanwhile, during this little conversation, Nathan was FRANTICALLY digging looking for his own "squirm."

He found one. Poor thing didn't stand a chance. He rolled that worm in his hands. He dropped it on the ground a few times. Finally, he tore the poor thing right in two. So, off Nathan went to find his next victim-I mean worm.

Kenny found a big worm that had somehow managed not to be cut in pieces by the shovel. He named it Sue-Sue. He also found a piece of another worm that he named Nathan- because "it is small and cute just like my brother."

After a few minutes, I sat down on a lawn chair to read while the worm fiasco continued. After reading a few pages, I looked down to find a worm refugee camp on my leg. I recognized Sue-Sue by her large, lifeless, and stiffening body. She had been joined by about 5 other smaller worms and worm parts. There was also a couple of snails. Kenny was trying very hard to find all the worms he could so he could keep them in his bedroom. Nathan was just finding a worm and playing with it until it broke. At one point they were playing by the dryer vent. I probably should go look because I am quite certain they put some poor creature in there.

(The important thing to note in this picture is that the worms are in the trucks.)

And where was Daddy? Out front playing car mechanic. He's changing the brake pads on the van and spark plugs on his car. I got to take one of the hub caps off. It took a long time because I tightened all the bolts first before realizing that I was going the wrong direction.

He's so cute! I like a handy man!