My sons,

Today you chose to get dressed in your matching shirts from Grandma and Grandpa, because you like each other and want to be like each other. You're buddies, playmates, built-in best friends. It's not always like this, of course. Sometimes you fight and argue and cry that you're getting left out. More often than not, though, you find life more fun with one or both of your brothers by your side.

I want this for you, this friendship of the heart as well as kinship of blood. When you grow up, life is lonely sometimes. I can't help but think that having your brothers be your friends, too, will help a little.

So love each other. Choose kind words. Encourage each other to do right, to do better, to have fun, to explore life together. My mama's heart says to keep each other safe, too, as you do all that.

                                                           Love,
                                                           Your sentimental mama

Tuesday, the highlight of the whole day was the discovery of the new "suction-cup lizard". He's easy to use ... just peel his face back and stick him to any smooth, flat surface.

Then enjoy the noises he makes when you pop him off again!

Your little brothers will  not only laugh, they'll think you're about the best thing ever.

Not only that, but it's far more entertaining than something boring like math or writing!

Mornings

There's nothing quite like snuggling in mom and dad's bed in the morning, reading Lego comics together.

Benny's Birthday

Benny's birthday was back in December (yes, I know ... I've been terrible about getting anything posted lately!). We started the day with our tradition of Dad taking the birthday boy to Piggly Wiggly to get donuts and a birthday balloon.


His birthday was on a Friday, and we went down to the N.E.W. Zoo that evening to see their special Christmas displays and take a horse-drawn sleigh-ride. It was cold, but everyone enjoyed the evening!


The next day we had a birthday lunch with Grandma and Grandpa ... and presents! Alex was a very willing helper when it came to opening gifts. He and Ethan had picked out a rubber snake for Benny.


Grandma and Grandpa got him a basket of babies, which he loves!



We got him a ramp racer ... two-sided ramp racer to minimize fighting over it and maximize playing together.


Maybe it should have been three-sided!

The birthday boy and the froggy cake he wanted:


He loves blowing candles out!


It's so hard to believe he's two already. We're so thankful for his lively, funny, entertaining presence in our lives!

Wishes

I was helping Alex in the bathroom today, and as we pulled his pants up he was muttering to himself.

"What are you saying?" I asked him.

"I just wish we could turn this into dirt," he said, gesturing at the floor. "Then I'd turn into a steam roller and you'd turn into a crane and Benny would turn into a cement mixer and Ethan would turn into a dump truck."

"What about Papa?"

"Ah, let's see ... he'd be a digger. And Yellow would be a fence."

And that would be a perfect world to a three-year-old.

Lessons from my children

Never ask, "Is it possible for us to be any noisier?" unless you are prepared for a demonstration. And yes, it is possible. Always.


"That will make a mess!" is a reason to do something, not a reason to stop.

An eight-year-old will be willing to go to bed at 7:30 and get up at 5:00 if he believes that it will truly make him healthy, wealthy, and wise. "Wealthy" being the most important of the three.


Never ask, "What are you eating?" when there's no food in the immediate area unless you're willing to hear the answer, "Boogers!".

Seeing your kids cuddle together in a chair will always make you smile, even when you know it's only a matter of time before they start fighting.


"I love you, Mommy!" will melt your heart. Every time.

Photos in this post are completely unrelated to the text. They just make me smile. They were all taken by my talented husband.

The Book Nook

This is the book nook. It's the area under the basement steps, and we've outfitted it with a beanbag chair and lots of books. One of the things I did this earlier this summer was rearrange our books downstairs so all of the storybooks are here in one place - in our crate "bookcase" system. I was pretty pleased with how it had worked. All three of the boys like to sit there and read or look at books. It's fairly easy for them to return the books to the crates. They like that it's cozy.


Then, the day after I did it, I walked downstairs and saw this:


As you could imagine, my heart sank. I didn't want to look in the book nook; I was afraid of what I'd find. But I did look. And sure enough ...



It was a huge mess. The first name that came to mind? Alex. So I calmly - gently - sweetly called him over and asked if he'd emptied out the crates. He was promptly told me yes, he had. But he had a perfectly good reason for dumping all the books.

"Me was playing with the crates, Mama!"

Life Lessons

Do you know what's worse than changing a poopy diaper?

Changing a diaper full of sand.

Do you know harder than changing a diaper full of sand?

Changing a poopy diaper that is full of sand.

These are the kinds of things they should teach in parenting classes.

Christmas Preparations

Even though I haven't been posting much about what we did in preparation for Christmas, we were busy with lots of activities. Some of them I even remembered to take pictures of! Although I'm a little late posting this, I wanted to share some of the ways we "anticipated" Christmas this year. The boys were entranced with the way Papa decorated the window in the door between the mudroom and the rest of the house:


We made salt-dough ornaments for the tree, some free-form and some cut out with cookie cutters:


Ethan really enjoyed coloring his gingerbread boys and girls with markers. I was a little surprised, since he's never liked coloring. I guess we just never tried the right medium before! Oh, and the two on the lower left side are Alex's.


They've helped with baking and candy-making, and really liked the popcorn balls!


One of the other things we tried this year was a book countdown. I gathered up all of our Christmas books and got enough more from the library so we had one for each day between the 1st and the 24th. Then I wrapped them and they took turns choosing and opening a book for their bedtime story each night. They really enjoyed that!

Benny's Party

I thought before I posted our Christmas pictures, I should get up the ones of Benny's party! We started the evening with dinner, but we didn't take any pictures of that. So we'll start with the presents! Ethan helped Benny open the first one ... it was a gift that Ethan had made himself.


It's a little stuffed bird, perfect for chewing, it seems.


Presents from Mama and Papa followed that, and then gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.


Alex was more interested in the presents than Benny was, but they're doing a good job of sharing. Usually.


We topped the evening off with cake, of course ...


Benny liked it.


Especially the frosting.


It made him happy. And it made us happy to watch him enjoy it!


We love you, Benny!

Brotherly Concern ... and Confusion

Yesterday we took Benny to the doctor for his one-year checkup. For some unknown reason, I made the appointment for 10:15, so we all went. As we were getting ready to go, Alex asked if he was going to see the doctor. I explained that the doctor was just going to check Benny to see if he was growing well, and then he'd have to have a couple of shots.

He got a confused, concerned look on his face. "Bad guys? Shoot Benny?"

So now we call them "pokes".

Treasures under the our table

For some reason, we end up with toys and other objects under our table all the time. I decided to write down everything that I cleaned out from underneath it for one day.

a rifle (all guns listed are toys!)
another rifle
a pistol
a stuffed Noah
Highlights magazine
play-doh scissors
Benny's favorite blankie
Alex's quilt
the Highlights magazine again
plastic spoon (from the play-doh)
a book on tape
the Buyer's Guide
a change purse
an O-ball
Benny's blankie again
a nasal aspirator
another rifle
a monkey-shaped bookmark
a beater

That's One. Day.

And they didn't even camp out under the table, the way they do sometimes.

Rocking

Shades drawn, dim room;
Quiet music, gentle strains;
Flannel blanket, soft and warm;
Tiny, gasping, baby breaths;
Snuggly boy, cuddled close;
Soft hair against my cheek;
Rocking rhythm, slow and steady.
Treasured moments.

Having a two-year-old in the house ...

...makes life interesting!

Just to give you a glimpse of what life with our two-year-old is like, I thought I'd share a few exploits from the last twenty-four hours.

Last night, Luke went in to tell the boys to turn their lamp off, put their books away, and go to sleep. He found Ethan sound asleep. Alex, on the other hand, was not. He had emptied out the basket that holds his picture books, taken his pillow, three blankets, and numerous stuffed animals off the bed put them into the basket, and then climbed in on top of it all. He was laying there quietly, his arms, legs, and head hanging out of this basket that's maybe 12" square. He apparently planned on sleeping there.

Luke had to go into our room and laugh before he could go back and make Alex get into his own bed

Today I was laying him down for his nap, and he had picked out a book with a verse of Old MacDonald for his story. I sang him the little book (it was the verse about Old MacDonald has a cow), and when I finished he wanted to sing it to me. He started at the beginning and sang, "E-I-O-E-E-I-O" as he turned the pages. Except for the cow page; there he sang "moo moo".

And when he was done, he licked the book. Naturally.

He got a hold of a red marker today while Ethan and I were reading during school. He colored his hands red, and dabbed just a bit of color on his cheeks. (I guess he didn't want to be garish.) I was going to take a picture, but we're trying really hard not to encourage that kind of behavior, especially since I had taken the marker away from him once already this morning.

This morning, Ethan was laying on the floor and Alex was stepping on him. (This is something he delights in doing; he loves rough-housing with Ethan, whether Ethan is participating or not.) I told him not to step on his brother.

So he sat on him. I told him not to touch his brother.

So, he stepped over his head, coming as close to Ethan as possible without actually touching him.

He does this obeying-the-letter-of-the-law game quite often, and I know, this is really just being naughty. But the whole time he's doing it, he's laughing this delighted little chortle and watching me to see what I'm going to do. He has such a playful spirit! Luke and I are trying to figure out where the line is between requiring obedience and not squashing his spirit. Obviously hurting his brother during the game makes that line pretty clear, but when he runs away naked to hide after you take him out of the bathtub, it's not so easy.

It's also pretty hard to keep from laughing at his impish grin when he peeks out at you.

I love this stage, though. And I love knowing that as Alex outgrows this charming, make-everything-a-game, make-my-parents-wonder-what-is-going-on-in-my-head stage, we have another one who will be growing into it.

Growing

In a little more than six more weeks, Benny will be one. Some days (or weeks? or months?) it seemed that time was moving so slowly ... but looking back, I can see how quickly it has flown. The changes in the past month show me that my baby is turning into a toddler, a change that is bringing its own set of challenges.

Benny now has four teeth. Yesterday he took his first steps. He recently weaned himself (Mama wasn't so thrilled with that development), and he's sleeping through the night. Well, almost, but his one waking is around 5:30-6:00. That's close enough to count for me! He can climb up on the couch and chairs by himself, and get back down safely (most of the time).


I look at my sweet boy, and I realize that this challenging time has flown by so quickly and taken with it Benny's babyhood. I know soon he'll be running everywhere, talking up a storm, and growing and changing even more. I see that every day in Alex and Ethan. So just like when he was a baby, I'm trying to savor every moment.

Especially the cuddly, rocking-my-boy-who-still-likes-to-snuggle ones! But even the chaotic, messy, noisy, exasperating ones. Even the ones where I tell Luke I just want life to stop so I can get off for a little while.

Time doesn't wait for mamas to catch their breath, so I've just got to enjoy my little - and not-so-little ones now.

What's in a name?

Alex has been talking so much ... he now refers to us all by name. Mama and Papa (or Mom and Dad, depending on his mood), Ethan is "E", and Benny is usually Baby. But if you ask him his name, you'll get a laugh and the response, "Hot Tea". I have no idea why he has decided to call himself Hot Tea, but he does it on a regular basis. He will occasionally try to say Alex if we ask him to, but maybe he finds it too hard to say.

He does occasionally refer to himself by another name. Cookie.


Somehow that one fits better than Hot Tea, don't you think?

News Bulletin!

We interrupt this resounding silence to bring you an important announcement. Benny finally has cut his first tooth!

As long as I'm posting, here are a few other news bulletins.

Benny is ...
**is into everything these days. His favorite "no-no" thing is the dog food dish. Or maybe I should call it the dog water dish, since the water is his favorite part of it.
**actually up at night more often than when he was four or five months old. What's up with that?
**loving watching his two older brothers be goofy. He can't wait to join them, and you can just see that on his face!

Alex is ...
**talking more and more. His current favorite word? Poop. Yeah, we wanted him to talk. (rolling eyes)
**loving the color blue, trains, and strawberry-flavored milk.
**sleeping in his toddler bed. At least when he's not sleeping on the floor next to my bed because he had a bad dream.

Ethan is ...
**doing well in second grade, even though he's still not crazy about school.
**outgrowing all his clothes. I'm having to start using regular hangers for his shirts instead of the little baby ones. (sniff, sniff)
**loving playing with his Lego train set that his generous Aunt Ginnie gave him!

I have several posts in mind, lots of pictures on my camera's card, and no time to post them. I'll get around to it eventually!

One more thing ... I'm scheduled for surgery October 2oth. I'd appreciate prayers that it won't have to be an overnight stay, that the boys will do okay while I'm gone, and for a speedy recovery.

We now return you to your previously scheduled silence.

Mornings

I freely admit that I wish my children would sleep later; most mornings they're all up by 6:30 or so. "Sleeping in" around here means sleeping until 7:00, and it never happens that they all sleep that late the same morning!

But Luke loves coming home and having his boys be awake. He goes and takes his contacts out, and then cuddles with any of them that are willing to cuddle. Sometimes he gets lucky, and they're all feeling affectionate. And don't you just love Benny's yawn here?

Transitions

Ethan has always called us Mama and Papa. A few years ago, he started using Mom and Dad when he talked about us to someone else. Every once in a while, he'd ask if he could call me Mom. I always told him yes, knowing the time would come when Mama was too childish for him.

He'd call me Mom a time or two, and then forget all about it. I never made a big deal out of it, but I was always secretly pleased when he'd revert to Mama.

A week or so ago, he started calling us Mom and Dad. He'd do it very self-consciously, waiting for us to say something about it. When we didn't, eventually he asked me if I'd noticed anything. I told him yes, that I'd noticed he was calling us Mom and Dad. He waited expectantly, wondering what our reaction would be. I told him that was fine, that we'd always known that someday he'd get big enough to want to call us that.

We haven't talked about it anymore, but the slips of calling us Mama and Papa are getting fewer and fewer. It's becoming more natural for him to say Mom and Dad, although when he forgets Luke and I exchange a smile when he's not looking.

Sometimes it seems like he's growing up so quickly. I guess time really does fly!

How to make brownies

To make Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies:

Decide after supper to make brownies while the baby is napping, the toddler is playing with his father, and the seven-year-old is playing with Legos in his room.

Measure butter, brown sugar, and white sugar into mixing bowl. Turn the mixer on to blend those ingredients while you go pick up the baby who is now awake. Because picking the baby up causes the toddler to lose all interest in playing with his dad, pick him up as well. (Remind yourself that this jealous phase will pass.) Sit for a moment rocking both boys to calm the crying. Give the baby to your husband and take the toddler with you to let him "help" with the brownies. Get eggs and milk out of the fridge while holding the toddler. Sit him on the counter (stand directly in front of him - we don't want any falls!) and shut the mixer off. Give him the same lecture you always do when he's near you in the kitchen. "Don't touch the mixer. It's very dangerous and it can hurt you."

Crack two eggs into the mixing bowl. Measure out two tablespoons of milk and add it to the mixing bowl. Turn the mixer back on, pick up the toddler, and return the milk and egg containers to the fridge.

Avoid running into the seven-year-old who has come to show you how his Lego clean team works. Return to the mixer and shut it off. Hold the toddler because the seven-year-old is now using the counter space that the toddler was sitting on to demonstrate the forklift, truck, and crane that help him pick up Legos off the floor. (They're all driven by little Lego men wearing hard hats. Safety first!) Realize that this is why it takes him so long to pick up his Legos. Get out the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa.

Try to pay attention to the Lego demonstration while accurately measuring flour, baking powder and salt into the mixing bowl. (Remember you're still holding the toddler. Don't drop him or let him grab the ingredients.) Mix until blended. Realize seven-year-old is done demonstrating and intends to play with the Legos right there next to you. Ask him to move to the other side so you can set the toddler down on the counter again.

Divide half the batter into another bowl. Pick toddler up and get peanut butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips. Return to mixing area.

Measure cocoa into the batter left in the mixing bowl. Blend. Raise mixer head and reach for a spatula to stir in chocolate chips. Freak out as toddler turns the mixer on. Simultaneously holler, "No, no! That's naughty!", turn off the mixer, and check for injuries. Breathe a prayer of thanks that there are none.

Realize what a mess your kitchen now is. Wash the toddler. Realize seven-year-old has had the sense to vacate the kitchen. Put the toddler down amid much crying as he realizes he's not going to be able to watch anymore. Get down on his level and explain that he was naughty and now he has to stay down. Harden your heart against his pitiful cries.

Shoo the dog out of the kitchen and wash the batter off the floor.

Overhear seven-year-old telling his father (with great delight) that he got brownie batter in his hair but he washed it out. Realize he's coming back into the kitchen to play. Right next to you. Tell him he has to take his toys elsewhere for now as you wash chocolate batter off the counters, cabinets, and your sweatshirt.

Realize there is chocolate being smeared back on the counters. Where is that coming from? Oh, there - you missed a whole big bunch on your sleeve.

Stir in chocolate chips into the batter. Ignore the crying and tugging on your pant leg. Measure out peanut butter into batter in second bowl; mix well. Stir in peanut butter chips. Drop batter in small mounds into the pan, alternating flavors. Put into the oven. Give one child a spatula to lick. Give the other the beater bar from the mixer.




Enjoy the quiet as they enjoy their chocolate.