Friday Afternoon

What a beautiful fall afternoon!

The night before I had remarked that I wished it were just a bit cooler (after a wave of days in the 80s), and so it was - 70 and sunny!  I shooed the kids outside so I could tackle a few things around the house.

Matthew discovered theses duds in a box of clothes for Josie and immediately claimed them.

As for the shoes, "I'm going to wear them when it gets cold." 

  

Meanwhile, the others played outside, Stephen making dirt grenades.

Matthew joined them sans his new wardrobe.

Jonathan always asks to go out and always heads for the same spot.

Needless to say, there have been lots of baths lately.

But where, oh where, is Andrew?

I discovered him in the garage...

on the lawnmower...

reading a book.

At least the doors were open and he was exposed to fresh air.

"A Thought"

If I were John and John were Me,

Then he'd be six and I'd be three.

If John were Me and I were John,

I shouldn't have these trousers on.

"A Thought" by A. A. Milne

With all the discussion of Stephen's birthday, Matthew has been quick to announce that he will be four at his birthday, and subsequently there is a question of how much longer until that time.

Me:  "About five months."
Matthew (in an amazed voice):  "Oh, five months!"

This is then followed by how old Josie will be when he turns six.  "Then I'll be big and they won't call me names."  (Hmmm, what really goes on in the basement?)  Matthew has aspirations to greatness, both in years and height, but time will tell.

First Day of School

Lunchboxes with yummy snacks,

fresh haircuts to complement sweet dimples,

large backpack (and swim goggles),

a shiny barf bowl at 5 am....

When I awoke to make preparations for the day, Stephen appeared announcing he was unwell.  Mercifully Doug stayed home so the rest of us could go, and by the time we returned, Stephen had recuperated.

Maybe next week we can catch the whole crew.



One-on-One

Andrew and Stephen are gone for a couple of days, Jonathan is fighting another bug, and Josie still naps a lot; that means I've had a lot of time with Matthew.

He is a really funny kid: his eyes are so expressive; he gesticulates as he talks.  He is uber-confident, quite the helper and eager to use his "big muscles."

His has really come into his own in the last six months, and it has been fun (for the most part) to see his true personality coming through.  Most of all, we are thankful that he is feeling so much better this summer.

The Mini Men

Another One Bites the Dust

Bugs in the summer are always worse,

probably because there's so many fun things you'd rather be doing, especially outdoors.

What started out as a possible case of pink eye with Jonathan two weeks ago has morphed into a raging-fever, achy throat, stomach churning virus that has worked it's way through the house.

Stephen was hit yesterday and though you can't tell from the picture, he's been pretty pathetic.

Hypochondriac Andrew told me this morning he didn't feel well either (but I suspected it was simply a ploy to watch a video).  Sure enough, he had a fever this afternoon and easily fell asleep amid the chaos.

I hope Doug and Josie are spared.

Conversations

The boys received a package in the mail last week and as Stephen and Matthew attempted to open it, I heard Andrew mutter, "I hope it isn't shoes."

Stephen and Matthew were supposed to be sharing a bag of pretzels but Matthew seemed to be taking more than his share.  Stephen declared, "You are being selfish!" to which Matthew matter-of-factly replied, "Yes, I am."

For some reason, Stephen announced that he was no longer going to talk to me; he was only going to talk to Andrew.  "Is that a promise?" I asked.  He was silent for a moment and then said, "Um, probably not."

I always have to cruise through the dead-and-dying plants at Lowe's to see what I can find, and as I perused the boys were asking about the names of various plants.  "That's 'spirea'," I told them.  Surprised, Matthew exclaims in his loudest voice, "Diarrhea?  There's a plant named 'Diarrhea'!  Diarrhea plant!  Diarrhea plant!"

Bath Buddies

More Happy Returns of the Day

We suffered a power outage the night before Matthew's birthday which in turn messed up all the clocks (and my ability to bake the cake I had just stuck in the oven; thankfully I could still make Rice Krispie treats on our gas range).  Andrew, in tears, appeared at my bedside at 6:20 am, distraught at his inability to determine the time (and more correctly, whether or not he was allowed to get up).

I eventually convinced him that in was not in fact Jonathan's fault that the clocks were off (though that happens so frequently, it was no wonder he was confused).  He disappeared, Matthew appeared and we went through the whole tale again.  It took awhile to convince him he was indeed 3, and finally he went off to find Stephen and declare, "I really be 3 now."

The Indian Givers vs. The Mine-o-saur

The big boys kept insisting that they wanted to purchase gifts for Matthew.  Though I tried to persuade them to pool their money and purchase one thing, they were not able to agree: Andrew wanted to buy a NASCAR and Stephen wanted a CARS vehicle because I'm sure that's what Matthew wanted (yeah, right).

When we had Christmas Round Two at our house on New Years, Matthew unwrapped all his gifts and then hauled them back to his room and shut the door.  He didn't get to play with them that way, but neither did anyone else (which I believe was the main point).

Everyone got in on the unwrapping action and everyone was pleasant.  Matthew immediately took to a fishing pole from my sister and the big boys sneaked off to their room with the gifts they had bestowed on their brother. 

Matthew occupied himself for at least 20 minutes placing stickers in a notebook, and when he went to put his book in a safe place (the bedroom), he discovered he had been locked out.  "But Matthew will mess up what we are doing!" came cries from inside the room.  We immediately moved into a lesson about giving and sharing.

Jonathan was oblivious and content to mess with the scraps of paper, leftover stickers, and an empty box.

We finished up with bike-riding lessons

and more blue Rice Krispie treats.

What a birthday!



Matthew Turns 3

Happy Birthday, Matt-Matt!

"Doh Tass?"

This was Matthew's request after dinner last night: "Go class?"

There had been so much discussion over the upcoming school day that he was sure we were going to class right then and therefore made sure he was prepared with his "backpack" complete with pencil, pad of paper, and binoculars.

I finally got it through to him that we wouldn't go until after breakfast, he retrieved the binoculars and went to bed.

I had the pleasure of a Mom's Night Out with several of the moms from the weekly program we'll be attending, and if that was any indication, it's going to be a lot of fun.  (I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and had so much fun but it could very well have been the sheer pleasure of being with members of the fairer sex for a change).

What a great group of guys, though!  Here's to School Year 2010-11!

Like Father, Like Son

Just another reason why we call Matthew "Little Doug."

Pray Without Ceasing

From Matthew: 

Pray Matt-Matt, pray Papa, pray Stink-Stink, pray Matt-too, pray Daddy, pray Angie, pray Mama, pray food, pray Matt-Matt, pray ice tea, pray noo-noos, pray John-john, pray Matt-matt, pray Angie, pray Stink-Stink, pray Mama, pray Papa, pray Nana, pray Matt-Matt, pray meat, pray Grandma, pray Grandpa, pray Stink-Stink, pray John-john, pray Angie, pray Daddy, pray ice tea, pray appets, pray Matt-matt....

Waterplay

This time God's creatures played second fiddle to the man-made "river" outdoors at the local aquarium, but it was so nice to enjoy the cool water and a picnic lunch before the real heat of the day set in.

Swimming at Suzy's

My dear friend Suzy is persistant.

She has invited us over to swim more than once, but I've been a little overwhelmed by the prospect of keeping all four of my children from drowing when I have only two arms (not to mention that the few previous attempts have been met with little-to-no enthusiasm).

She kept asking, and since my mom was around to watch the little guys, I had a trial run with the big boys.  Only a little coaxing was needed before they both were wet and having a fun time.

My confidence soared; Suzy called again; it was time for the whole gang.

Little did she realized, however, that our family is jinxed.

Back in my youth, my dad would periodically take my sister and I on dates.  (Now that I have small children of my own, I realize that these "dates" were probably more like directives from my mother who was tired and needed a little peace and quiet).  Sometimes we went to the movies (cheap night, of course); sometimes to the local pool.

Memories are funny things.  It may have only happened once or twice, but in my mind, every time we reached the ticket office at the theater, the person before us bought the last ticket; or in the case of the pool, there was suddenly a thunderstorm brewing in the distance and a far-off rumbling cleared the overly-chlorinated water.  All was not lost, however; the Baskin-Robbins still had mint chocolate chip and all was right in the world.

Anywho, this brings me back to Suzy.  Had she only known that inviting the Hamills to swim would instantly erase summer drought, I'm sure she would have insisted earlier and saved some time and money on watering.  Two outings were rained out.

Third time's a charm, however, as "the sun shone bravely down and a lovelier day could not have been wished for."  

 

Finally something to help ease the heat of summer.