Friday Funny

The boys struck up a conversation about baby Hudson one morning that I must share.

Garrett: I remember seeing Hudson in his bed at his house.

Me: You do? I don't think we've been to his house since he's been born. We've only seen him at our house.

G: He was still in Kristin's belly. Did she push him out?

Me: [Mentally: Where is this going?] Yes.

Liam: How?

Me [Mentally: Oh no! I'm not ready for this! Stay calm!] I don't know how. I've never done it before.

Liam: Did it hurt?

Me: [Mentally: I'm so glad I don't have to lie on this topic!] I don't know. Ask Kristin. [Mentally: Will this conversation stop here?]

Silence while the boys resume eating and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Wordless Wednesday: Feet

Liam, Garrett, Jack
2 years ago
Where does the time go?
So this isn't wordless. Oh well!

The Death of Me

I haven't decided which of these two events will be the death of me first:

• 2008 Presidential Elections and all of its campaigning
  

OR

• Chutes and Ladders (Yes, the bored, I mean, board game.)

I could certainly live without both of them.

Friday Funny

Out of the blue, Liam asked me, "Does God have a last name?"

Nope. I don't think He needs one. He's the one and only.

But I take great pleasure in teaching my boys about the God that loves us.

The Simplicity of Cooler Weather

We were greeted with one of our favorite gifts this morning...cool weather! It was downright chilly at 47 degrees this morning.

There's no greater way to get me out of bed in the morning than to know I can open the back door and be greeted with the rush of cold air.

Well, if Rick woke me up and whispered that he's taking me to Europe that very day, then I suppose I would hop out of bed for that event as well. But that didn't happen today.

At any rate, I hopped out of bed to experience the weather change firsthand with the opening of the back door. Pure bliss!

When I walked upstairs to get the boys up for the day, I whispered, "Boys! It's cold outside! Let's go open the back door." They sprang out of bed and ran downstairs. They love cooler weather as much as I do.

When it was time to dress for the day, they were thrilled to choose long sleeves and pants and insisted the I take a picture. I let them twist my arm.
Garrett chose a Beatles t-shirt, naturally. Liam wanted camo and an army shirt, of course. Jack chose a shirt merely because it has a pocket on the front. It's the little things that thrill these boys.

A silly photo was snapped, as well. Naturally.

Wordless Wednesday: My Baby Is Reading!

Translation Please

Liam's love for paper grows by leaps and bounds by the day. He's loved drawing and coloring for quite some time now. But he's recently been trying to write sentences almost daily.

He brought me a piece of paper last week that said:

Yoo luv Liam I no sats

I luv yoo Didi bucus I pwa wf you

I must have graduated from kindergarten with flying colors, because I was able to read that without Liam's help. Translation:

You love Liam. I know my states.
I love you Didi [my mom] because I play with you.

I showed great excitement over his ability to sound out his own thoughts. He scampered off to try again.

He came back with:

Dot figet the postr I luv yoo Didi
Wsuo roo ike pin

This one took much more concentration on my part. But I can tell you that the first line translates to:

Don't forget the poster. I love you Didi.
[He's referring to a poster project that he began with her a couple weeks ago.]

But that last line.... Well, now, that one had me stumped. I humbled myself and asked my 5 year old what "Wsuo roo ike pin" meant.

My question was met with silence. He was equally confused by his own writing.

Perhaps I need your help. What could it be?

Wsuo roo ike pin

Friday

We were able to have baby Hudson overnight recently. The night before he came over, I told the boys that I needed them to get a good night's rest in order to be my big helpers.

All three boys cheered.

And Jack asked, "Mommy, is Hudson's head still expensive?"

After a good laugh, I said, "You mean 'sensitive'? Yes, his head is still sensitive."

The Aggie

The Aggie received his latest edition of Aggieland Illustrated last week. And he just can't put it down.

Notice that he is using a bean bag correctly in these photos.

But that was last week.

Today...the bean bags have all found a new home in the attic. Bury the brother under the bean bags went a little too far this morning.

I hope to bring the bean bags out again. Maybe when the boys are 13.

Wordless Wednesday: They Got My Love for Babies

Not quite so wordless today: Lest any of you think that we adopted another child...this is my nephew, Hudson. We love him like crazy!

A Reading Lesson

Recently, Liam (5) proudly handed me a piece of paper with his own writing. I really wanted to be thrilled with his current work of art, but I could not decipher the scrambled writing.

This is what it said:
YRTNUOCEMAGGIB

Hmmm....

Are you also puzzled?

Humor me and tell me that you are.

Thank you.

I finally admitted defeat and asked him to explain it to me.

"It's my shirt!"
Aha! BIG GAME COUNTRY

How silly of me to not think of reading his writing backwards. You see, if you are reading the shirt that is on your own trunk, then you might be tempted to read it backwards.

I often say that I learn something new every day. Today's lesson: Never forget to read backwards.

YADDOOGAEVAH

That's "Have a good day" for those of you as slow as I.

Friday Funny

Not too long ago, Jack was annoying Liam by playing in his personal space. Liam became frustrated and said, "Jack, you're advertising me!"

I corrected him with, "Liam, be kind. Besides, you mean 'annoying' not 'advertising'."

It Tastes Like Butter!

Liam and I are studying cows this week, which has also taken us onto the topic of dairy products. We created butter from cream today. Isn't that an impressive idea?

No, I didn't think of it myself. The teacher's guide in My Father's World says, "Make butter."

And I just so happen to know how to make butter.

If you believe the above statement, then I have a mountain home to sell you.

I do not know how to make butter, but I didn't even have to google it. The teacher's guide explained to pour whipping cream into a jar and to shake for about twenty minutes.

We don't have a jar, so how about a sports bottle?
We shook, shook, shook for twenty minutes. We sort of shared the shaking responsibility, but I bet you can guess who did the majority of the work.

Then, everyone enjoyed some fresh butter on crackers for a mid-morning snack. Some of these children weren't too sure if they would like it. I won't name any names, but I bet you can figure it out.
"Mmm, this is good, Mommy!"
And we tried to not cry over spilled butter.
I'm really glad that butter-making is not left to me and a sports bottle. It was quite a workout for my arms, especially considering how little butter formed from a pint of cream.

But it's what memories are made of.

Wordless Wednesday: Photobucket: 5 Years Ago

Liam at 4 mos.

Smokey Joe's Cafe

I Have a Question

Whose torso has lengthened 5 inches since the last time I shopped for myself? Raise your hand if that question describes you.

I swear the majority of American females must have grown 5 inches vertically in the torso since I last shopped. Granted, I probably haven't shopped in nearly a year, but still.

What I tried on a year ago was already 3-4 inches too long for my short trunk. So I just didn't buy very much in hopes that the long shirt style would hurry up and die.

After shopping at Old Navy on Saturday, I am very sad to report that the long shirt style has not died. Instead, the long shirt style has grown to be at least 8-9 inches too long on me. I might as well buy the shirt and wear it as a dress, because that's what 85% of Old Navy's shirts look like on me.

Who else out there needs this style to die a quick death? Where can I shop for shirts that fit my short trunk appropriately yet stylishly? Please don't tell me to try a petite shop. I need more specifics than that before I hyperventilate.

Friday Funny

While Daddy brushed his teeth, Jack asked, "How do we get coyotes in our mouth?"

That would be cavities.

But we don't want coyotes in our mouths either.

A Day at the Farm

The boys and I gathered some cousins and friends for a trip to the pumpkin patch at the Mainstay Farm yesterday. We spent 4 hours at this old dairy farm and enjoyed nearly every square inch of it. Of course, there were pumpkins, but there was also a hay ride, two mazes, a super chute, a three-story tree house, and plenty of sneeze-inducing hay.

Excellent photo opps? Of course. Willing participants? Not so much.
Garrett never agreed to a decent photo during the entire visit. He was just too busy climbing and jumping on the hay.
Jack says, "Would you take the picture already?"
Liam says, "Yep, you can take my picture, but I'm going to give you some 'tude in my pose." (That would be "attitude", folks.) He really just wanted to be left alone to climb on the hay bails for hours.
I did pull them away to see the baby goats. Isn't this one cute?
Almost cute enough to take home, except for the poop issue.

Garrett became friends with this little fellow.
While waiting for the hay ride, I told the boys to find the tiniest pumpkins out of the patch. Their finds:
Actually, we brought home some bigger ones, but I like messin' with my boys.

Garrett has been interested in photography lately, so I let him take a couple shots. Proof that I was indeed the adult in charge:
In my mind, this was such a cute photo opp. But the boys were done buns after 4 hours of intense sunshine.
Oh well, we had a good time.
Fall, please come to Texas soon!