Batteries

I didn't know this, but rechargeable batteries will eventually get to the point where they won't hold a charge any more. The batteries for our camera had been dying more and more quickly, and now they are completely dead all the time. It's very sad. It also makes for a slow week blogging, since I have no camera with which to take pictures of my adorable children.

So, if our batteries hadn't died, here's what you would have seen:
** a video (at least I was going to attempt to post one) of Ethan making Alex laugh - you can't help but laugh along!
** a picture of my living room floor, completely covered in Legos. Not because there is something unusual about having several hundred Legos waiting to be stepped on, I just thought you might like to see the typical state of my floor.
** Ethan's new haircut, which he has deemed too short. I think it looks great. (Thanks, Grandma!)
** Alex's face when I feed him cereal mixed with formula, rather than his preferred beverage. You'd think I was trying to poison him! I'm thinking his aversion to formula combined with his tendency to bite doesn't bode well for the future ...

So just use your imaginations ... and I'll be getting more batteries soon!

Shameless Mama Brag

My wonderful son, who usually delights in grossing me out, just delighted me tonight. He told me, "Mama, I know what 'betwixt' means. It means between."

Now, I may be a bit biased, but I don't know that most 5-year-olds would know that.

See, this is why it's fun to homeschool, despite the fact that he tends to heave exaggerated sighs over having to practice handwriting.

Autumn Leaves

A time to laugh ...

Motherhood brings a lot of entertainment with it, I've found. Actually "parenthood" is probably a better term, since Luke finds at least as much humor in our children as I do.

Some things are funny right away ... it's really hard not to laugh when you find yourself saying something like, "Don't lick the cat!" Or maybe, like Saturday night while we had company, "Don't put your lips in your brother's mouth!" (And yes, I have said both of those. I wish I'd kept a list of all the things I never thought I'd say.)

Some things can take a few hours before they make you smile ... like learning that fabric shopping alone is so much more enjoyable than fabric shopping with a five-year-old and a four-month-old. Or having to cut silly putty out of the baby's hair. (Tonight was an interesting evening.) Or when your son mutters about how bossy you are because you expect him to go from the bathroom to his bedroom to get his own pj's, and ends his muttered monologue with the phrase "lazy woman!". (Yeah. That didn't go over so well.)

Then of course there are the times you're trying to discipline the child while you're trying not to laugh. This is further complicated if your spouse is around and also thinks the misbehavior was humorous. Not only is difficult to convince a child that they've been naughty when dad is literally shaking trying to hold the laughter in, but it makes it that much harder to control your own laughter.

And don't forget the things that you figure will take years before you can laugh much about them. Right now I really don't find the "rude noise, obnoxious boy" stage very entertaining, although I can see how others would. Maybe years from now, when Ethan is a refined gentleman (a mom can hope, right?) that memory will just be funny and endearing.

But I think my favorite entertainment is listening to Ethan and Alex laugh. You know those uncontrollable belly laughs? The kind that you have to join in just because it's so infectious? Lately I've realized it's even more delightful when the two boys are laughing about the other one laughing.

I'm so thankful for my sweet boys!

Mmmm!

It's hard for me to believe that Alex is big enough for solids, but he is! He can even sit in a high chair, as long as he's helped by a towel in the corner. Today was his first taste of rice cereal. Yummy! Or maybe not so yummy, if you look at the second picture ...

A captive audience

Ethan loves to talk. And at this point, Alex loves to listen. Because I have horrible timing with a camera I missed it, but just before this picture was taken Alex was gazing at Ethan with a look of absolute mesmerization. Apparently he really enjoys hearing all about the way a "rocket camper" works. It was so sweet.

Bandit Baby

Ethan has been playing with the baby again ...

Lego Man

Ok, to be perfectly honest, the only reason I'm posting this picture is that Ethan and I both think it's funny. Ethan has been playing with legos a lot lately - today we built a rocket camper! - so he perpetually has little men laying around. When I started taking pictures today, he asked me to take a picture of his little guy.

People are strange ...

There, do you have a song in your head now? (People are straaaange ...) Here's my favorite 5 year old being strange. We made the possible mistake of introducing him to Calvin and Hobbes ... you may remember that Calvin always made faces when he got his picture taken ...

Dr. Ethan

Ethan's stuffed dog "Goldy" has been sick. He decided she was born too soon, didn't have any hair, and had a big chunk of algae in her throat. (I'm not sure if the algae is related to her being premature.) So he put her in his sweatshirt, and has been operating and giving her medicine for the last week or so. Here's how they've been sleeping.

Since Goldy first started having health problems, there's been a rash of illnesses among his stuffed animals. Currently, three of them are wearing clothes in order to stay warm and get well. I figure pretty soon, his stuffed animals will generate more laundry than he does.

Soldier Baby to the Rescue!

This picture is courtesy of Ethan's idea of playing with Alex. He actually plays with him, as though Alex were a toy. Maybe it's the 5 1/2 year age gap? Anyway, Alex seems to enjoy it as much as Ethan does.


And here's our other soldier - although he's pretty adamant that he's not a baby ...

Monster Soup

If Ethan decides he doesn't want to be a pirate after all, he may have a future as a chef. Today he created a recipe for Monster Soup. I can't give you all the instructions - it took him about 20 minutes to explain it to me, so there's no way I remember all of it - but I can tell you it starts out, "Take one monster, and all the meat ..."

It also has ham, electrical frosting (he explained it to me, but it still doesn't make sense), carrots, maple syrup, and m&m's in it. I'm sure there are ingredients I'm missing, but you can tell from this list that it's a very interesting dish indeed. Here are the final instructions:

"If you want it to be poisonous, put in a weeny drop of poison. Otherwise, add a cup and a half of sugar and beat for 10 minutes. Then pop it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Well, an hour. Then it's all done!"

Dinner, anyone?

Alex, and my thoughts on gross little boys

Here's my baby ... he's getting so big already!




And here he is again ... I guess it's been a long day!



Now, just to be fair, I took a picture of Ethan to post, too. He doesn't change as fast, but we don't want the baby to get all the attention, right?

I won't be posting the picture, since it ended up being one of him with his mouth open and his partially-chewed dinner showing. He thought it was very funny, and that I should definitely put it on our blog.

I doubt you'd find any mention of it in any milestone charts, but little boys definitely become gross at some point. They go from being sweet, adorable little angels to rude-noise-making, fascinated-with-any-bodily-functions, let's-see-if-I-can-gargle-with-my-own-spit BOYS. To illustrate my point, Ethan is currently alternating between wiping drool off of Alex's face and wiping it on me, and making a stuffed animal "poo" on Alex. Both of these activities are extremely funny. To him, anyway.

Now, I know this is normal. And that, hopefully, he'll outgrow some of this behavior. (But I want you to know that it's a lot easier for you to say that. After all, you're not the one with slobber wiped all over you!) In the meantime, you just may not see as many pictures of Ethan. Unless, of course, you actually want to see what a chewed-up grilled cheese sandwich looks like.

Edited to add: I read this entry to Ethan. He's laughing hysterically over his own grossness. He especially enjoys the mention of gargling spit.

Real Pirates Don't Suck Their Thumbs

Wednesday is "Talk Like a Pirate Day"

Did you know there was a day designated to talk like a pirate? Neither did I, until my wonderful Aunt Ginnie emailed me this link. (She's a librarian, and she always knows about the coolest things for kids!) If there is a little person in your life who likes pirates, it's well worth your time to visit the site. There is a downloadable pirate kit with lots of fun activities, and some great suggestions for pirate-related reading. As you may imagine, Wednesday is being anticipated with great relish in our house! Aargh, mateys!

Oh, and in case you need more pirate websites, here are some others.
Blackbeard! Lots of shooting games, and some other stuff
Information on the Whydah galley, a pirate ship that sank off the coast of Massachusetts in 1717
Match pirate captains!
Pictures and detailed descriptions of pirate weapons

Our Little Soldier

We went up to Mackinaw City this week for a family vacation. The highlight of the trip was a visit to Fort Michilimackinac. Ethan had been anticipating going there since last summer, when Luke and I brought back pictures - we had been there celebrating our 10th anniversary.

Ethan very carefully chose what he deemed to be appropriate clothing, and took his tricorn hat, muzzleloader, and canteen. Apparently he also had a number of scenarios he wanted to play out, since all of these photos except the last one are posed according to his directions. He would run around the catwalk that surrounded the fort, dramatically drop down to shoot at the enemy, then turn and ask Luke, "Did you get a picture of that?" Unfortunately, he was moving so quickly, we missed a lot of photo opportunities. But you can still see he was having a great time!

He likes me! He really likes me!

Smiles

Alex is a very happy baby - he often spends a good part of his "awake time" talking, cooing, and laughing. But as soon as we bring out a camera, he typically becomes very serious. (My theory on this is that his smiles are very responsive, and when our smiles disappear behind a camera, his smile disappears too. I have no idea if that's a valid theory, but it's mine.) Today though, Luke got a pretty good shot of him smiling.

Seven Days

Seven days. That's exactly how long it took Ethan to go from being wildly excited about school to saying, "I wish I was graduated already." There were also a few comments about how unfair it is that Alex doesn't have to go to school, how he wishes he'd started school later, and how much work writing letters is.

Life is hard when you're five and in kindergarten.

Family Weekend

We went to my aunt's cottage up near Mercer this weekend. Ethan was so excited about going ... he thought Friday would never arrive. He had a great time playing with his cousin Jonas, kayaking, riding the jetski, swimming, riding 4-wheeler, and numerous other activities. Grandma Cunningham held Alex for most of the weekend - it was so fun to watch her enjoy him!

We always have a great time when we go up there - Ginnie and her family are gracious hosts, and the time spent with family is so sweet!