Day 28: Gangster Baby

My new nephew, Steven, came over for a visit and flashed us all a gangster sign while sleeping. Boys--I think they're hard wired for war games from birth. He's already found his first pretend gun. Isn't he huge? One week old and ten pounds.

Day 26 and 27

Day 26: We celebrated Luke's birthday a day early because of a funeral for his great-grandma today. Luke's been looking forward to turning three for months. We blew up balloons, ate pizza, and jumped on bubble wrap.

Day 27: Here are the boys playing with one of Luke's birthday presents after the funeral today: playdoh. Elyse got him a new set of four, since the ones we had were either rock solid or empty.

Day 25: Ward Picnic

We had an unofficial ward picnic at our house today, since we haven't had an activities committee for a while and the usual Memorial Day Picnic never got planned. People brought a dish to pass, a blanket to sit on, ate, and played ladder ball, mexican horshoes, soccer, and ultimate frisbee in the yard and high school field behind us. Elyse and her friends built a six blanket nest/fort in one of the trees and stayed aloft for a good half hour. I actually got a sun burn today and barely did any work at all--for some reason I'm still exhausted. I'm thankful there weren't too many little kid mishaps and tears and it was fun to see whole families together. I usually only see the kids in primary or moms with kids at playgroup. It was fun talking to people I don't normally get to see.

Day 23 and 24

Day 24: Elyse got her hair cut on Friday and here she is trying to run away from me before I can take a picture of it. I'm not nearly fast enough to get a side or back shot.

Day 23: Paul built a fort for the boys and Elyse kept sneaking in.

Day 22: Swinging

Paul had his last field trip of the year today: a picnic at a local park with all the parents invited. What do my boys want to do every time we go to a park even when they have perfectly good swings at home in the backyard? Hmm....I wonder. Here's Paul swinging with his bro in the infant swings. Just three more weeks of school!

Day 21: It's a Sad, Sad Day

There's only one reason Luke's sleeping this soundly and fell asleep tonight so quickly: he's given up nap time. Sad, sad day for Mom. I don't know why, but when my kids turn three they don't nap anymore. If they fall asleep during the day, they don't fall asleep at night. After two weeks of nagging and nagging, threatening and threatening the boys at bedtime to stop talking and to stop getting out of bed, I came to the hard realization that it was time for me to let go of the afternoon nap. He's sort of in the transition phase. Earlier this week he's taken half hour naps and today a fifteen minute cat nap in the car with the result that at bedtime I don't hear anything coming from the boys' room and I end the day feeling like a semi-sane mother instead of the wicked witch of the west. I was hoping naps could carry over until the baby was a month old, but there it is. Side Note to my good friend Connie: Sorry I'm copying your picture ideas. First the sand box pic of Andrew and now a sleeping shot. What can I say? You're great inspiration for a gal who has zero motivation to be creative this month.

Day 20: Kindergarten Homework

After school we have snack time/gab fest about school and then buckle down to homework. I love kindergarten homework. Paul practices writing three buzz words a day and then reads for 10 minutes. Every Monday he usually has one worksheet sent home to do. And days when I'm tired or busy we just totally blow the homework for the day. Too bad it only lasts one year. Elyse has daily worksheets and projects that have to be completed and then checked and signed by a parent. Plus she reads 25 minutes a day, which she usually does at bedtime. That way she feels older because she gets to stay up later than the boys, but it's nice for mom and dad because she's still in bed the same time as the other kids.

Day 19: Mailboxes

A couple days ago, Paul made himself a little mailbox and taped it outside his room. When I tucked him into bed that night there was a letter for me inside. Elyse, not to be outdone by her brother, made herself a bigger mailbox the next day and proclaimed herself mailman for the week. Since then the kids have been writing letters for each other and the mailman gets to deliver them. And every night before bed they plead for Mom and Dad to write to them so they have something to read when they wake up. Luke absolutely treasures his letters and hoards them in a drawer in his room. Today, Paul made a mailbox for Luke, too, and taped it beneath his own. He also took these photos for me so I wouldn't have to walk upstairs--hee, hee.

Day 18: Playing in the Sand Box

I posted similar pics last year, but my boys still love playing in the sand box. Today they made me crumb pie to eat, which involved Paul digging like a dog to add the crumb topping. And while he thoughtfully removed his shoes before playing and placed them to the side of the box, with all the flying dirt, they are now filled with sand.

Day 16 and 17

Day 16: Tickle Torture!

Being the smallest, Luke gets tickled the most. Elyse better watch out, though. Someday that boy is going to be stronger than her and fight back.

Day 17: Matt came home today after a five day med conference in New Orleans (which he wasn't excited about going to, but didn't have a choice). He brought back 3D chalk for the kids and they spent close to an hour coloring the driveway. Paul is a true boy. He drew explosions and planets. While Elyse drew pandas and fish. My favorite: Paul wrote really big "You are the bast [best] dad!"

Day 15: Dish Duty

As part of her weekly chores, Elyse has dish night once a week. I love it!!!

Day 14: Aftermath of the post-school kid storm

Here's what my living room typically looks like half an hour after the kids get home, although today there seems to be less toy cars and planes on the floor. Here's a typical list of items found in the living room before the evening clean up (the kids take turns doing clean up of the living room after dinner):

1. Backpacks--even after asking them three times to hang them up in their lockers, someone usually forgets.

2. Blankets--there's usually about three to four dragged across the floor somewhere.

3. Shoes--notice the one sandle in the picture. Who know where the other one is.

4. Toys--always trucks, the Bakugan battle mat that is only tossed in the air and is never played with bakugans, blocks, and balls.

5. Books everywhere!

6. Pillows

7. After school snack detritus: today, an empty bowl of grapes on the couch.

8. School papers that they showed me and I haven't got around to throwing away or hanging up.

9. Jackets if the weather is slightly cold.

10. Random bits of garbage.

11. Church magazines and the yearly scrapbook, book jacket removed, that have been taken out of the box and scattered on the floor.

12. Usually, but not today, one or two of Luke's underwear, because he likes to pull extras out of his drawer and leave them somewhere visible. I guess as a just in case?

13. Flowers, sticks, or stones that the kids have brought in from outside.

Day 13: Morning Cartoons

For the past nine months, after I get the older two out the door to school, Lukers and I make a bed out of the ottoman and couch and snuggle up for an hour and a half of cartoons. Yup, a whole hour and a half. I usually have my back to the TV and he snuggles his back up against mine. I finally fall asleep after Mickey Mouse, sleep through Special Agent Oso (most retarded cartoon ever) and another episode of Mickey Mouse, and always wake up at the final song of "Hot Dog." Course, some mornings I don't sleep at all because someone is too squirmy, or likes to kick me or use me as a foot rest.

I finished!

After almost two years, I finally finished the rough draft of my book, Cecilly in Cinderland(title is a work in progress) late last night. Now it'll probably take another year to rewrite it, but I finished my goal of getting it all written once before this baby is born. Hear that baby? You can come out anytime now!

Oh, and this picture is in response to a challenge from a friend's blog: to include one picture of yourself on your blog, since it's usually all pics of the kids. I've been pregnant the same time as my young sister-in-law, Meghan, who lives about a half a mile from me. She's young, thin, and cute prego, and I'm older, grayer, heavier prego. Good thing she's blocking some of me. I have no idea what is up with my shining face in this pic, either, but here you go: proof to posterity that I bore these children myself. It's been fun being pregnant with Megs the same time--when someone feels as bad as you, it makes it easier to feel good about being so lazy.

Day 12: Sukiyaki Night

Once a week we eat Asian for dinner. Tonight was Sukiyaki night and I made the mistake of letting the boys wear their jackets because now they have to be washed. On Sukiyaki night we put a grill in the middle of the table and grill the beef, onions, and cabbage (already softened in the microwave) in front of us and pick off what we want to dip in our sauce bowls. Paul's favorite is the sticky rice, which we eat with our fingers, and Luke's is the meat--he's getting pretty good with the chopsticks.

If anyone wants to try for themselves, the Sukiyaki sauce is pretty easy: 3 T soy sauce, 3 T mirin, 3 T sugar, and 1 C of beef stock brought to a boil. Then divide between 4 to 5 bowls.

Day 11: Flowers for Mom

The kids like to pick flowers from our trees, bushes, and the baseball field next door and give them to me. It's little things like this that remind me that my kids kinda love me.

Day 10: Attack of the freaky bird

You get a video today instead of a picture. I guess that's kind of breaking the rules, but I was trying to capture Luke's hilarious laugh--and someone usually does laugh around here everyday. We've had a bird attacking his reflection on almost every window of the house today. He doesn't seem to see the kids and isn't scared of their laughter because he'll sit right underneath their noses at the windowsill before up and whacking himself against the glass again. You can't really see the bird in the video, but it was worth a try.

Day 9: Window Garden

The kitchen is the only place in the house you can find live plants. Aside from the struggling hibiscus tree by the kitchen table, all of those plants live in my kitchen window sill. We are currently up to a spider plant I've had since eigth grade, the resurrected orchid plant, three cups of pumpkin starts for the garden, and two pots (painted by Elyse) of flowers: marigolds and zinnias--I think they're zinnias. I've found that if they're not kept under my nose, they die, and since I spend a lot of time at the kitchen sink, this is the best place for them.

Day 8: Hot Dog Feet

My feet are so stinkin' hot. It feels like my toes are those splittin' hot dogs that have been left in the microwave too long. They actually don't look too bad tonight--they've been up for a while. Can I just say I'm thankful for fans? My hands look like beefy man hands, too. You could fry an egg on them.

Day 7: Wrestling

I cheated. I really took this last night and am counting it as today's picture. It's been interesting to watch the dynamics between boy siblings and girl/boy siblings. Elyse can be pretty rough and tough, but usually in an organized game or contest sort of way. This past year, the boys will get this weird look in their eyes, like my old wild cat Lisa used to do when I was a kid, and then just attack each other. They'll roll around on the floor, jump on each other, drag each other around the room and laugh their heads off and squeal while doing it. Growing up with mostly girls I find this behavior rather strange--strange that they find this game so much fun. Paul is mercifully semi gentle and on the rare occasion one of them gets hurt, the other does feel bad and apologizes without me having to step in. Then they'll tackle each other again. This went on for a good half hour last night--perfect for wearing them out before bed.

Day 6: Newborn Chicks

For the last 21 days Elyse's second grade class has been taking care of eggs in an incubater. She's had a couple turns turning the eggs and being on egg watch. I've been receiving daily updates and on Monday the first chick hatched. They're up to nine of the twelve hatched, so today I took my carpool group into her classroom after school to look at the chicks. The teacher was nice enough to let everyone hold one. I had to include a pic of Paul, even though this wasn't his project, just because I feel bad I haven't posted one of him yet.

Day 5: Watermelon Season

It's watermelon season--hurray! It's a toss up as to who eats the most at our house: Elyse or Luke. Last week I cut up a whole melon and put it in a giant bowl in the fridge and it was gone in about two and a half days.

Day 4-Piano Practice

I've been teaching Elyse piano since the new year. The newness and excitement has worn off for her and now daily practice is a chore. She fiddles around most of the time and I'm constantly reminding her from the other room to sit up straight, count out loud, practice her assigned songs, etc. But it is really fun to listen to her sit down to the piano when she isn't required to and tap out a melody to something or play a song she's memorized because she likes it.

Day Three-Food Storage Room

I know this is more than one picture, but I'm very excited about my new storage room. Matt moved the wall in the above picture about eight feet into our toy room in the basement, added a wall in the back left corner, and painted all the cement walls with water sealing paint. We found shelves for 90% off when Circuit City went out of business and now, finally, all my food storage is organized and off the floor. We still have to add the door and the rest of the basement is still a mess. Good thing it's spring and the kids can play outside more.

May 2nd

This is not such a good pic of Luke--he's got some crazy hair going on--but it shows how Luke loves to play with his toy cars. I find them lined up in even rows all over the house: on couches, stairs, my bed, etc. In this picture he's even color coded them by lining up the yellows first. Wish he'd do the same with his toy planes. They're always scattered around at random, hiding in the carpet, waiting for unsuspecting bare feet to step on their tail fins.

Every Day Pictures in May--May 1st

My friend, Arianne, has challenged fellow bloggers to A Picture a Day in May again. Her guidelines are to try and capture the every day things that happen in your life--things you'd wished your mother or grandmother recorded, even the messy and annoying parts. Things you'd like to remember when you're a grandma. Your daily routines, your home, etc.

Unfortunately, my good camera chose today to go missing and all I had was Elyse's crappy one. Here's today's: this definitely happens almost every day at our house. We've had to put a timer next to the computer so that Elyse doesn't hog all the computer time. Luke just likes to watch. Usually all three squash in together in this chair.

Any bloggers out there up to the challenge?