Another Sleeping Beauty

I have never been willing to risk taking my kids' pictures while they are napping for fear of waking them, but today Ben slept so late I had to go upstairs and wake him. When he didn't make a peep after I opened the door, I saw my opportunity and went for the camera.

I hate waking a child, especially when they are sleeping so peacefully, but sometimes it has to be done. Like Ben's pink bunny? It was an Easter gift from Gigi. When I pointed out the feminine hue to her, she said she didn't even notice the color. We should all be so open-minded!!!! Anyway, Ben loves it, so who cares?

"I'm not tired, Mommy."

Today I told Patrick he didn't have to take a nap because he said he wasn't tired. I figure that he will probably drop his nap by the end of the year and for the time being, skipping one or two a week would probably be okay as long as I still get my "mommy" time. We agreed that he would stay in his room and play very quietly because Ben was going to sleep.
Cut to thirty minutes later...

Incidentally, his bed is exactly two steps from where he was laying.
I guess he was just too tired to get there...

To the Rescue!!!!!

Today Patrick was out in the shed and discovered Luke's old EMT helmet, instantly catapulting Luke to God-like status in his son's eyes. I think he would have worn it the rest of the day, except his tiny little neck was about to snap under its staggering weight. There'll be no peace now that he knows it's there...

Tagged By Mandy

ONE BOOK THAT...

. . .changed my life?
To Kill a Mockingbird made me fall in love with that genre.

. . .I've read more than once?
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

. . .I would want with me on a deserted island?
I am thinking the Bible would probably be the most helpful.

. . .made me laugh?
Any book by Dave Barry makes me laugh out loud.

. . .made me cry?
I'm sure Where the Red Fern Grows would have mede me cry if I'd had the guts to read the end.

. . .I wish had been written?
A cookbook that claims to have cheap and easy meals and actually does.

. . .I wish had never been written?
Lord of the Yawns...I mean Rings

. . .I am currently reading?
Every Inch of Her by Peter Sheridan

. . .I've been meaning to read?
Kiterunner. My boss gave it to me and said it was horribly depressing. Can't wait!

Tag Five Others:
Andrea
Jennifer
Jenny
Ashlyn?
Haley?

A different kind of Friday's Feast

Well, I went to do my weekly Friday's Feast and sudenly I couldn't stomach the meaningless questions anymore. It had definitely run its course for me. So I'm saying adios to the Feast with a pic of my boys feasting on their lunches.

Besides, who could ever get tired of looking at these gorgeous mugs?

Okaaaayyyyyyy........

Just in time for the 2008 Summer Games, we've got a new sport. I had seen this before (on Webjunk 20, I believe), but had dismissed it as sheer idiocy. But wait, it seems that sheer idiocy is actually in vogue and Nascar is no longer the stupidest "sport" out there. Nope, now there's SPEED STACKING!!!!! Go here to check it out and make sure you have your volume turned waayyyyyy up to get the full effect.

Okay, have you checked it out? Good. Now we'll chat. First off, did you notice the empty stadium seats? Yes? Okay then. Did you also notice there was merchandise to be bought? Well, that's actually what brings me to this post. This morning while Patrick was watching Tom and Jerry (current favorite), a commercial came on for this "sport"...kind of advertising the sport and kind of advertising the cups. And at the end, they mentioned the retail stores where you could spend your hard-earned money on them (for shame, Target). And I thought "They're selling.....cups? Plastic ones? Seriously....CUPS?"

And indeed they are, folks. For more money than you'd probably want to spend on a good steak dinner, you can instead go out to Target (SHAME!) and buy what you already have in your cabinets and a carrying case!!!!! And the fun doesn't stop there, oh no! You can bring them home and make pyramids out of the like a complete los--ahem!--like a one-year-old! And then you can pretend you're an athlete, just like all the Nascar drivers do.

And the best thing is, after all this, nobody will care. Have fun!

9 months old and counting...

Haven't had any starring shots of Ben lately, so here he is in all his glory...

A Man and His Truck

Well, this is Luke's new pride and joy...the "Big Gray Truck", as Patrick calls it. Seem like a sudden thing? We've been thinking about it for a while, but we didn't think we'd find the deal of the century. And then we did....so voila! The Nissan Titan!

P.S. It's not as monstrous as it looks--that's the camera angle.

Jesus

Mommy: Shhh...they're talking about Jesus.

Patrick: Jesus? Where's Jesus? (points to priest) Is that Jesus?

Mommy: No, that's not Jesus.

Patrick: So where's Jesus?

Mommy: (pointing to Patrick's heart) Jesus is in here.

Patrick: (looking down his shirt) No, that's no Jesus, that's my belly button.

I'm Gonna be a Supermodel

So the other day I thought Patrick was coloring, but when I came back to check on him, I found he was actually channeling his inner Brooke Shields circa 1980...

Feast.....Friday's Feast

Appetizer: What color is your car?
Raspberry red

Soup: If you could wake up tomorrow with full training in another occupation and a job in that field, what would it be?
Marine biologist or wildlife photographer.

Salad: How many times in your life have you had the flu (or something similar)?
Who the heck keeps track of this? I don't know, maybe six or seven times?

Main Course: What is something that has happened to you this week that you didn't expect?
My computer was fixed!

Dessert: How old were you when you had your first kiss?
The ripe old age of sweet sixteen.

Copying Mandy here...

But yeah, I have a few things to get off my chest as well. So these folks are officially on notice as "Dead to Me." Care to know why? Say the word and I shall enlighten ye...

Dog Days of Summer

Why are we so tired?

8:00--Go outside to pee. Lay on patio until mommy comes to let us back in at...

9:30--Come in, hunt for scraps of breakfast under the table, and get a drink of water. Go under the bed to avoid the two rowdy boys.

10:30--Mommy kicks us back out while she goes out to run errands. Find a shady spot and snooze.

11:30--Come back in and wait for dropped food under the table during lunchtime.

1:00--Rowdy boys take a nap. We take advantage of the quiet house to sleep also.

3:30--Boys are up. Back outside to pee and find shade again.

5:00--Daddy comes home and rescues us (lets us back in). We return the favor by following him around for an hour.

6:00--Take positions under table while dinner is served.

7:00--The humans go for a walk and leave us inside by ourselves. Again, we take advantage of the quiet for a nap.

8:00--The kids are upstairs getting ready for bed. In a few minutes, Mommy and Daddy will come back downstairs and let us out to pee one more time before we crash from our hectic and exhausting day. Twelve hours in this house can really do you in...

Well, whatever!

So I hear Shannon is alive and well in Africa and blogging!!!! That is so fantastic, because as you can tell, neither Katie or myself have been able to blog for days upon days now. Seriously, I am so glad Africa's technology is that much better...

No really, glad you're okay, Shannon, and good to hear from you. Tomorrow my computer will be given to someone who can hopefully fix it. Blogger...well now, that's a different story. I'm not sure Blogger can be fixed. (Incidentally, I am typing this from my work computer. I was planning a post about the pups, but good old Blogger gave me the nix. If I seem cheerful, it's because I've realized how stress-free your life becomes with no computer!)

Ciao friends--I'll be back to blogging as soon as I can!

Read it and Feast

Appetizer: Tell about a toy you remember from your childhood.
My dad built me a dollhouse and then we bought this kit to make furniture for the house. I remember that we bought a silver paint pen to color the bathroom and kitchen fixtures to look like chrome. I thought that was really cool.

Soup: If you could make one thing in the world absolutely free for everyone, what would it be?
Duh...GAS!

Salad: Approximately how many times per day do you think about your significant other?
Too many to count (love you Luke!)

Main Course: What is something you believe in 100%?
Spaying and neutering pets.

Dessert: Name one thing you have done this week that you would consider a "good deed."
I lent my maternity wardrobe to a girl at work who's having her first baby and is just starting to show.

Warm Fuzzies

Today we were riding in the car and Patrick was singing along to one song in his endless supply of kiddie tunes and he started clapping to the beat. Ben watched with interest for a while and then focused really hard and put his own two hands together. He watched Patrick a little more and then did it again. As I watched them in the rearview mirror (instead of watching the road), I sighed with content to see the two of them interacting and Ben emulating his older brother. I imagined the happy times to come, with my two boys playing happily together with smiles and laughter. Then Ben threw up all over himself and the happy feeling was gone.

Cousin Matthew comes to visit!

Last Saturday, my mom and Sandi brought Matthew over to play with his cousins. This is only the second time all three boys have been together, and the first time was at Thanksgiving, when Ben was two weeks old. Needless to say, this time was a lot more fun!

Matthew (top left) is so cute and huggable. He is at that sweet, sweet age that I loved with Patrick. He is old enough to walk and laugh and have fun with, but he can't talk back yet. Below, the three handsome boys are enjoying a snack. As you can see by Matthew's obvious determination, he is one serious snacker!!!

Somebody in this family needs to have a little girl...Sandi, you get right on that, you hear?

I've been meaning to do this...

I want everyone to notice that I've put my sister-in-law's scrapbooking page over in my links. I've been meaning to do this forever, because, although I have absolutely no interest in scrapbooking myself, I do think Sandi's pretty much the most talented scrapbooker EVER. She does really really beautiful work and she is very creative, so if you want to have precious memories of your baby's childhood but are too lazy to do it yourself, give Sandi a call! You won't be disappointed!

Now, if we could just get her to start a blog...

Fire truck to the rescue!

We went to an outdoor concert on Friday and well, it was supposed to be boiling hot and so the firefighters were going to come and spray the kids (or anyone, really) with their hoses. But right before it started a big storm blew in . While the rain missed us, the temperature did drop about 15 degrees and there was some very nice cloud cover and a cool breeze, so it actually turned out to be quite pleasant!

But the firemen were still a huge hit, especially with the one and only Patrick! He got to sit in the cab and look at all their gear, and then he took them all around the truck asking questions. Here he is with two friendly neighborhood firemen, talking about attachments and actually spraying the fire hose!!!! I mean, does life get any better? I think not!

Last Beach Pics....

Okay, the last hurrah of beach pics, and then we're back to normal life tomorrow...

Ben playing in the surf...that kid loves the water--he is definitely his mommy's boy!

Patrick and his friend Noah at the pool. They only just met this year, but you know how 3-year-olds can become fast friends. Noah was a really sweet little boy and Patrick enjoyed his company so much, I just had to take their picture!

Okay, that's it! No more beach pics until next year!

Don't mess with me today, Feast!

Appetizer: Name an actor or actress you think is totally underappreciated.
Every actor on my radar is over-appreciated if anything.

Soup: Impress us by using a big word in a sentence.
How's THIS for a big word?

Salad: What is something inanimate that you've given a name to (such as a pet rock)?
Sorry, I'm going to have to refer to Bella Sera for this one.

Main Course: What color would best represent your personality and why?
Go here and see for yourself.

Dessert: Fill in the blanks: ____________ is so ____________.
This type of question is so getting on my nerves!

Laugh-In

I am generally a lazy mom--I hate to say it, but it's true. I rarely sit down and do arts and crafts with my kids and I don't dance and play super-hero with them. Not to say I never play with them. I sing with them and push them on the swings, and I take them to the pool and the park and I'll sit on the floor and talk to them while they play with their toys, but basically it's normal mommy stuff. Every now and then, though, I get a wild hair and decide to really go all out. Last night I was playing hard with the kids--airplane rides, throwing them on the couch, lots of noise, the works--and they were having such a great time. I love it when a kid laughs from his belly. Watching them crack up was so cute I had to take their pictures.