Croc-orama

Owen was pining away for Grandma all day today, because he knew she was coming and he knew she was bringing crocs. This may seem like a silly thing to long for, but Owen is a very "fashion conscious" 4-year-old. He knows what he wants to wear, and gets upset when he can't find it. (This concerns me a little. What's it going to be like when he's a teenager?!!) Owen has been asking for crocs for a month, and they happen to be rather hard to find at the end of the summer. Grandma saved the day, going to a dozen or more stores to find crocs that would fit the boys. Thank goodness for Grandmas. Owen can now proudly show his crocs to everyone he meets.

Dancing in the Living Room

This morning Owen and I put on some Reliant K, Hillsong and TFK, turned it up very loud and danced in the living room. He led the way having me copy his moves. After about 15 minutes of running around in circles, spinning on one foot, hopping and diving into a bean bag, I was tired and dizzy. If there is one thing I have learned about Owen since Carter started school is that he has and unending supply of little boy energy. In the past, I have not had to entertain my boys a whole lot, because they had each other. The past week and a half has been a new experience. I'm trying to enjoy my time alone with Owen as much as possible, because it will be short-lived, but I'm having a hard time keeping up with the little Towhead.

Lets Go Fly A Kite

Here are my boys with a few of the neighbor kids out playing last night. After supper they are outside until one of the parents decides it's time to come in, usually at 7:30 or 7:45. It's so hard to make them stop playing when it is light out and they are having so much fun. Last night Owen said, "It's like a party, but it's not really a party."

Hangin' with my big bro

This Scooby-Doo episode is riveting.

A double dose of trouble

Pictured here are Aiden and Owen relaxing after giving themselves a spa treatment. This is where Marti and I found them after we decided they had been playing quietly for a little too long. With big brothers Carter and Caleb at school, these two can now be the proud instigators of mischief. Notice that Aiden is reading a Bible and Owen is learning how to run a sound system. And he's reading upside down!! I always knew he was going to be a bright boy. They looked so cute we had to laugh. We laughed even harder when we discovered they had put Vicks Vaporub on their faces (Aiden said it was yucky on his lips), mango lip balm on their lips and my favorite lotion on their skin, after stirring it up with my toothbrush of course. Don't I smell clean? Owen asked me. I don't know if I should even mention the feminine products I found in various places in my bathroom.

Big Boy

Lewis got a new toy. He loves the freedom of sitting up and looking around. And he just looks so darn cute in it!

A Page is Turned...

The paragraphs below are my musings from Carter's first day of Kindergarten. We are still definitely in the adjustment phase and will be for a while, and I am still sad that my little boy is growing up, and that I only have to get one orange plastic plate and one spiderman cup out at lunch time (sigh), but we are going to make it. Carter thinks the school day is too long and doesn't want to go every day, but he will get used to it. And Owen misses him like crazy, but he'll adjust to the new routine eventually too.

"Six years ago this morning I was holding my brand new baby boy thinking of all the things we would do together and all the time we would spend together, oblivious to the speed at which father time had the cruise control set. Other moms told me repeatedly, “Enjoy this while it lasts. They don’t stay little for long.” Cliché, Cliché’ I listened, but I didn’t believe them, not really. Now I do. Now I understand.

This morning I can hardly stop the tears that started flowing last night at bedtime when my scared son said with his wet eyes that he didn’t want to go to school. He wanted to stay home with me. I just wanted to pick him up and hold him and tell him he could stay, that he didn’t have to start school, that we could go to any park he wanted to and eat lunch at Chuck E. Cheese, and he and Owen could dump out all the toys in the basement and not clean them up, and they could watch 5 movies and eat candy all day and go get super muddy in the creek, and then we could go get a pet kitty even though I’m allergic…It’s just so hard to make your child do something they are scared to do, even when you know it is the right thing.

As I sit here with my heart breaking and a lump in my throat, I hope Carter is pleasantly surprised by having fun his first day of school. I hope he makes a new friend. I hope someone says something to make him laugh. I hope his teacher makes him feel at home. I hope he builds an awesome lego ship or colors a cool picture. I hope he gets something yummy for lunch. I hope he gets to play with Joe at recess. I hope he misses his brother, but not so much that is makes him upset. And most of all, I hope he is not as lonely for me as I am for him because that would make for a very long sad day."

Jump!

Because I am altogether too sad to write about sending Carter to kindergarten today, I decided to post a few happy pictures. Our most recent form of family entertainment - a trampoline.
We have all taken a turn, even Uncle Keith was doing flips on it the night it was put up, but Lewis got to be the first to try it out. By the look on his face, I don't think he was all that excited about it.

Grape Kool-Aid and a Melancholy Mom

In honor of Carter's last day home (what happened to the last 6 years?) I decided not to catch up on the laundry I missed this weekend, not to make my bed or the boy's beds, not to pay bills, not to make them drink milk with their breakfast, not to keep track of how many glasses of grape kool-aid they drink and not to nag them about little things. Instead I helped put together two super-hero puzzles, jumped on a trampoline, played Hungry, Hungry Hippos and took them to the library to pick out movies.

I can't say it's been a perfect day; I have gotten frustrated with each of them a couple times, but I've tried. I know I can't keep Carter protected under my roof forever, but I am sad that starting tomorrow, he will be spending more of his waking hours with Mrs. Campbell than he will with me. I guess it leaves me a little melancholy.

Where oh Where Has My Baby Boy Gone?

My baby is 6-years-old! I can't believe it. He is such a joy to us, and it is unreal to me that he has surpassed a hand full of fingers in age. He's playing video games, riding a bike without training wheels, doing math, climbing across monkey bars with no help, doing flips on a trampoline....But not long ago he was the cute little baby below wondering why in the world people were singing to him and what that flickering thing on his cake was.

Now Carter knows all about birthday cake and can eat it like a pro. He inherited his father's sweet tooth and can stuff a lot of it in that slim little body of his. He can be a messy eater but generally keeps his feet out of his food now, unlike on his first birthday. Who taught that kid table manners anyway?

Carter scored big for his birthday with a spiderman video game, a scooter, a remote control tarantula, a bug vacuum, puzzles, a whoopi cushion....

9 Reasons why I love my neighborhood

These are 9 of the 17 (yes I said 17) boys who live on our cul-de-sac. I think 5 of the 17 are in high school or college and two are babies, so this is the majority of the gang who are always out playing. We LOVE where we live. It is heaven for the Carter and Owen. They are always riding bikes or scooters, or digging in dirt piles with some of the neighbor kids. They are all great kids and the big boys are so nice and patient with the little boys. Plus, getting to know the other moms and dads on the block has been fun. We've only been here for a year, and I know my neighbors much better than I ever knew any of the neighbors in Slater and we lived there for 5 years! I can't think of a better place to be.

The love of the great outdoors vs. the love of modern plumbing

So our 10th anniversary is a little over a year away and we have been planning to take a nice trip to celebrate the occasion. A few years ago, we were able to spend a week on the island of Kauai (Hawaii). It was incredible. The most beautiful place I have been to in my life!! We are both in agreement we want to go back, but Corey's itinerary would include a few days of hiking and camping before staying in a hotel. Yes, camping. Carry your tent and your food on your back and camp somewhere on the rugged Napali Coast which is only accessible by hiking trails. There is this little part of me that says, "try it. It would be an adventure. We could pretend we are on LOST." (hee, hee) And there is this other part of me that really likes a flush toilet and a nice warm shower. Anyway, who knows what we'll end up doing or where we'll end up going, but I thought it'd be fun to try this new polling feature and get some opinions.

Hobo Days

We were at my folks in Britt this weekend for Hobo Days. We spent time with tons of relatives that we don't see very often, ran a 5k run (Corey beat me, I'll get him next year!), took in a parade, played on the inflatables and ate way too much food (but we ran, so I figure we deserved all the food).
Owen is waiting patiently for the parade to begin (Owen and patient in the same sentence...that's an oxymoron). He and Carter got way too much candy! When we got back to Slater, Carter said, "I'm only hungry for candy for supper." Surprise, surprise.
Carter playing on the inflatables.
Lewis wondering what in the world is going on and why he can't play in the big jumping house (maybe next year)!All tired out and literally dripping with sweat, we walked back to Grandma and Grandpa's house while eating funnel cake and cotton candy. Who can go to a carnival and not get some funnel cake and cotton candy?

FOUND: One Opposable Thumb!

After several weeks of gnawing on his fist, Lewis finally realized that his thumb is opposable. He's a happy baby. His big brothers have been at Grandma and Grandpa's for a few days, so he has had some peace and quiet to work at getting that thing in his mouth.

Imagination

Okay, so here's the story. Carter aka Superman, Owen aka Green Gob, and Lewis aka Knight, are in their boat heading toward the volcano. They say they would fly but their arms get so tired. The volcano is full of dragons and Lewis is a dragon slayer. Adventure abounds at our house.

Buddies

Lewis may not know it yet, but this guy is gonna be one of his best buddies. Ethan, my friend Marti's son, is 9 months older than Lewis. Below is a photo of Carter and Ethan's older brother Caleb taken in 2003. Caleb is 10 months younger than Carter, and they have been playing together since they were babies. Couldn't find a picture of Owen and Aiden together. Both of us are living life as the only females in our households. With three sons each our lives are full of dirt, noise, trucks, bugs and general chaos, but we love it (most of the time).