You Know You're Tired When...

This is poor Andrew at dinner last night. He never did eat anything and went to bed at 6:30, but apparently he woke up hungry. He ate a bowl of Cheerios, 4 slices of bacon, some strawberries, a scrambled egg, and to top it off, a chocolate Whoopie Pie. It was enough to fuel him for a morning of fun at the playground.

And in honor of reaching 12 weeks old, Matthew decided he would sleep through the night. He ate "dinner" at 6:30 and went to bed at 7:30, but when I tried to wake him up for his nighttime snack, he wasn't interested. He didn't wake up until 6:30 am!

I was busy feeding Matthew when Stephen used the potty, and instead of waiting for me to be done, he took matters into his own hands. The underwear was on backwards and both of his legs were in one leg of the shorts. And below is Joe Cool on his all-purpose vehicle (it changes from motorcycle to train to pickup truck at a moment's notice).

The three rugrats and I are headed to Virginia for a few days. I think I'll keep a running count of the times I hear "Momma" during the 5+ hour drive. It should be interesting.

Alligator Baby

It seems Matthew did not inherit immunities towards our numerous allergies. This week has been especially problematic for his delicate skin though we're extremely thankful for the improvements we've seen in the last 24 hours.

He's still very pleasant despite it all and enjoyed some tummy and play time with the boys on the porch this afternoon.

It goes "Vroom, vroom" Maff-a-yoou.

Andrew enjoyed looking at our new books from the library.

Sandals

Skechers for Andrew: $14.97

Tevas for Stephen: $14.95

Freedom from socks and tennis shoes: Priceless

The Chronicles of Klickibusysodorarnia Springs

As told by Andrew (to get the full effect, read outloud very slowly but with much expression):

....And Lucy threw open the door to the wardrobe and walked inside being careful to not shut the door completely and it was very cold and she stepped onto the train track and saw Thomas coming along and she hopped into one of the coaches and they went rumbling over the old bridge that had beed fixed after it broke when Percy took the plunge and then they came into the station and met Huckle Cat who took them to his house in Sticker the race car and at the house they played with Ribsy the dog who has license tags that jingle when he runs but Henry had to take them off because Ribsy could not get to the flea who was nipping him but he finally got rid of it in the shower....

Spring Shearing

I gathered my flock onto the front walk yesterday for our spring shearing. I told Stephen to hold still while I trimmed around his ears. Andrew asked, "Did you cut off Stephen's ear?" Stephen quickly piped up, "No, I was cooperative!" We didn't think Matthew needed a trim quite yet.


As a reward for their cooperation, they got small cans of Coca-Cola (I admit, I resort to bribery on occasion).


Here are some shots that the kids took of Maff-a-yooou. He often shows us his beautiful smile and has discovered his tongue, too, which is a constant source of amusement.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work We Go

Daddy and "the other daddy" decked out with their neckties and lunchbags and ready for a hard day at work drinking Coke, eating cookies, and playing with toy vehicles. And after the strenuous day at the office, it was time to tackle the yard.

Andrew voluntarily put on his shoes and asked to go outside, and they managed to occupy themselves for an hour and a half with minimal fussing. I was finally summoned when Stephen said Andrew put mud on him. Apparently the artists had been decorating our basement door. Needless to say, they went straight to the tub.

Here is Matthew ready for his first outing to the aquarium.

Quote of the Day

"I just wiped snot on Maff-a-yooou."

Ah, brotherly love! Spring, and all the pollen that comes with it, has hit the 'Nooga full force leaving a trail of used tissues in its wake. Thankfully, I had the foresight to tell Stephen to kiss Matthew's belly and not his face. I checked with the doctor about allergy meds, and I must admit that there was just the briefest moment of elation when she cautioned that it might make him drowsy.

Here are the other two drowsy boys taking an afternoon siesta on my bed.

It's been a pretty exciting week in the neighborhood. Here are the boys watching a man from the electric company trim our trees. Stephen, our little guard dog, was upset at first. "I'm gonna be mad at that worker if he cuts down our tree." It was pretty neat, though, because the cherry picker was on a flatbed behind his pickup and was operated by a remote control. We had never seen one of those before.

We also got to watch an excavator and skid steer tear down the remains of a house that burned a couple of weeks ago. This is Matthew's typical vantage point.

Awhile back I found a recipe for slime that was made with Metamucil and have been wanting to try it. We happened upon the main ingredient on clearance for $1 at Walgreens and tried it out. The boys were unsure of it at first and just sat in their chairs looking at the orange blob, but finally they dug in with spoons and pretended to be excavators.

Tricky Tacos

These holidays just seem to sneak up on me. I had been thinking that I wanted to do something to fool the kids, but unfortunately put it off until last night. All the great ideas I found would have required a trip to the store, but Doug was at a meeting and the kids were in bed. After racking my brain (what's left), I came up with these Tricky Tacos.



The meat/bean filling is tinted Rice Krispy mixture; lettuce is green coconut; salsa is strawberry ice cream topping; guacamole is green icing with chopped mini green marshmallows; and the cheese is an orange Twizzler.

I had a brief discussion with the boys this morning about the first of April. The boys were excited when they saw dinner put on the table as tacos are one of their favorites. Andrew was the first to take a bite. His delight soon turned to dismay. "Oh, the cheese does not taste good. Momma, you did not make the cheese taste very good." So I said, "Just try the guacamole. I'm sure you'll like it." He refused but we finally coaxed Stephen to try it, and he told Andrew what it really was.

We again explained about playing tricks. Andrew never would eat any of his food though he would periodically look at it, smile, and say, "It looks like a taco but it is really just a kasert." Only Mr. Literal would react in such a way.

In other news...

The skies cleared this morning and it warmed to nearly 80. The boys discovered a muddy hole and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Here are some shots of Matthew admiring himself in the bathroom mirror.