First Day of School

At 6:30 this morning, my alarm went off. I hit snooze and didn't wake again until Trevor came in, enthusiastically asking if it was time to get up (at around 6:55). Within two minutes, he was fully dressed and wearing his backpack. He almost headed in to the bathroom to brush teeth before eating breakfast because he was so excited.

By 7:10, he was perched on the front step waiting for his big brother to join him in waiting for the bus.




I think Bryce was worried I was going to wait at the end of the driveway with them and possible keep snapping photos as Trevor boarded the bus. (Teens grow quite fearful when they know their parent is an avid blogger, hee-hee!)

They both enjoyed their first day immensely. Trevor said he made a new friend named J.J. (I offered up that it was certainly easy to spell). Bryce said his math teacher seems really nice, his Spanish teacher talks really fast, Chemistry is going to be really hard (with a test over all the elements and their symbols in three weeks) and the desks are weird (???). He also noted that in high school, you can chew gum. Cool.

I enjoyed the quiet. When Sean awoke at 8:30, he asked where Trevor was, but didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest. In fact, I think he was somewhat stoked because he could play the Playstation without having to share.

It will be a great relief to settle back into the routine of school.

Close Encounter with a Heron

This morning, as I stood by the kitchen sink, I looked out the window and noticed a deer biting leaves off of the trees on the bank across from our creek. I called Trevor over and we watched for several minutes. Perhaps, it was the studied eye, looking for the deer, but after the deer had gone, I found myself still looking and the looking paid off. I saw the shadow of giant wings hovering over the grass and trees and knew it had to be a blue heron. Sure enough, one landed in the branches of our tree.

Unfortunately, I had just poured batter for pancakes on the griddle and couldn't afford to devote much time to heron watching. I snatched one obscure photo while the bird perched in the branches. As I waited for the pancakes to cook, it took off and flew down into the creek bed.

Once the little boys were settled at their trays in front of the television with plates brimming with pancakes and cups full of milk, I snuck out the back porch door and did the "fox walk" all the way down to the edge of the creek.

Bryce used to go to a fabulous day camp at Russell Woods Forest Preserve, back when we lived in DeKalb (we loved it so much, in fact, that the first summer after we had moved to IN, we drove back and stayed in a hotel so Bryce could attend one more session of their nature camps). He loved the camp and he loved the instructors. One particular instructor, Jason, taught Bryce how to "fox walk," creep through the woods as stealthily as an animal, with silky smooth movements, barely making a sound. I remember how he would practice in the back yard, trying to creep up on squirrels. Thankfully, Bryce passed this skill on to me.

I made it all the way down to the tree at the creek's edge, without the heron seeing me (not because I am an expert in stealth, per se, but more because the heron was perfectly positioned behind the tree during my entire descent down towards the banks). At that point, I held my camera (just a basic point and shoot, mind you - imagine the shots an expert could have gotten) and caught some wonderful close-up shots of my beloved heron. I was on cloud nine.





Although this one is blurry, I like it because the heron almost looks like a prehistoric creature.


This final shot is probably my favorite. I was really hoping that the bird would startle and spread his wings, so that I might attempt a shot of his incredible wing span. However, even after the heron became aware of my presence, he didn't bolt. He merely walked down the creek towards the woods.

I think, perhaps, I was almost as excited as Trevor was earlier in the week, when he and his dad found a black salamander near a drainage spout. He begged to keep it as a pet. John agreed to let him keep it for a day.







I'm so thrilled that we have this opportunity to live in the midst of such beautiful surroundings. There are constantly new experiences with animals here. The other day, Trevor found another baby bird that had left the nest without fully understanding the mechanics of flight. He would have goaded the thing to death, if I had let him.





Of course, the birds that had taken residence in the swing-set were a bit of a nuisance. We never really noticed those baby birds leave the nest, but we did notice that the entire fort area was covered in tiny bird mites. We had to remove the nest, spray a pesticide and then hose the whole things down a day later. I don't think I'll be as welcoming next year, if birds try to build a nest in the swing-set fort again. However, I'll always welcome the blue heron!

Introducing ...

I've been blogging for almost two and a half years now. In all that time, I have tried to protect my children's identity by avoiding use of their names. I hope that it hasn't been too much of a stumbling block for readers. I do know that it has been a nuisance on my end.

If my husband, John, had his 'druthers, well, he'd 'druther I didn't use the names. I have assured him that I will not divulge exact locations or last name. But, I am weary of the whole ES, MS, YS designations.

Allow me to introduce my boys.

BRYCE is our eldest son, ES, whose drumming consumes the household. He is the axis around which most of our family spins. The younger boys idolize and adore him. For the longest time (8 years), he was our only child and we doted on his every whim (perhaps too much so). He turns 14 next week and is on his way to becoming a man.


After periods of marital instability and reconnection, we decided that we really did want to provide Bryce with a sibling. Along came, TREVOR, or MS. He has brought us great happiness, even as we struggle with the intensity of his need to communicate, create and command attention.

Finally, recognizing the sizable gap between our other boys, we wanted to provide a close sibling for Trevor, so we sought one more child to fill our lives. This decision prompted us to make our move from IL to IN so that I could stay home with the littlest ones. SEAN, or YS, is probably the quietest and calmest of the bunch, yet with his birth 3 years ago, it seemed our lives were launched into chaos. He is a bundle of sweetness. He still cuddles and says adorably touching things like "Mommy, you know why I love you so much? Because you're beautiful."

They are like three distinct gems that you would hold into the light. Each has his own strengths and weaknesses. Each has a personality unlike the others. Without them, our lives would be incredibly empty and bland. I pray that God will protect and bless these boys even as I seek to share them with you, my readers.

Comedy in the Midst of Chaos

Top Ten Chaotic Happenings in our lives lately:

10) YS keeps getting into my deodorant and rubbing it all over his face and clothes. Why?

9) Spilled milk. No, I'm not crying.

Updated: We did have spilled milk, but I truly forgot a more pressing chaos - YS keeps locking various doors around the house and then pulling that door shut, so we can't get in without tools.

8) Harley keeps peeing on the floor when he is excited to see someone. URGH.

7) Harley will not stop humping all the boys in the family. He never jumps on me or attempts this.

6) YS will not stop taking dry food from the dog's food bowl and dropping handfuls into the dog's water bowl. Have still not discovered a discipline which will counteract this behavior.

5) Youngest two boys continually bait the dog to bite. MS can't seem to just pet the dog, but must put his hand in the dog's mouth every few seconds or try to take the rawhide chew out of the dog's mouth. YS thinks the dog is a horse and wants to ride him.

4) ES seems to think it is his job to intervene when the little boys are baiting the dog, but this just makes things worse.

3) Can't get family photo taken because the boys have scratches from the dog on their faces.

2) Boys break floor lamp in basement while playing with Harley. Glass flies everywhere. Must carefully extract 1 dog and 2 boys without injury, then leave them alone, unsupervised, while I clean up the mess.

1) We now have 10 squeaking mice babies. Hubby suspects the mommy mouse is already pregnant again. (Stay tuned for photos.)

Thankfully, we've had some laughs, too.

On one particularly awful day, my husband and I sat the three boys down on the couch, across from us, to discuss some of these behavior issues. I was quite upset. As I started off, talking to ES, I attempted to curb his parental stance. I said, emphatically, "Listen, I AM THE MOM." At this point, YS looked up at ES next to him and said, "Yeah, and he is the dad!" (pointing to my husband). Took the angry wind right out of my sails, I'll tell you.

Another day, we were sitting in the living room. ES held up MS's transformer toy. He looked at MS and asked, "Is it a man or a truck?"

MS replied, "A man."

ES quickly shifted things to turn it into a truck and said, "Nope. Is it a man or a truck?"

MS replied, "A truck."

ES quickly shifted things again and said, "Nope. You got it wrong."

You could see MS's wheels turning. He walked over to the toy basket, picked up Spiderman and turned to ES. Then he displayed a coy smile and said, "Is it a man or a spider?"

We all cracked up at ES gave the final answer: BOTH.

Meet the Newest Member of the Family

When we moved to this house in the country, three years ago, we promised the boys that we'd get a dog. Of course, at the time, I was expecting YS, so we put it off until after his arrival. After his arrival, life entered a state of chaos we hadn't encountered when we added the second son. Now, we had two small children and a dog seemed beyond what I could manage.

Several weeks ago, while driving to ES's drum lesson, ES began to complain again about our empty promises for a dog. When we arrived to pick ES up, the little boys spotted a woman walking a stunning dog. The boys approached with their typical questions, "Can I pet your dog? Does your dog like kids?"

My, this dog liked kids. As he romped with the boys, the woman and I talked. It was a Wheaton Terrier and the woman was merely walking the dog for its owner. I explained how much my boys have been begging for a dog and how we live out in the country. Just then, the owner walked up, saying "Want him?" The three boys were delirious with excitement. I took down her number and told her I had to check with my husband.

Suprisingly, hubby was willing and told me to call and ask her price. Before I called, I went on-line to look up the dog breed (since I had really had my heart set on a Goldendoodle). Several things gave me pause. It said that Wheaten Terriers tend to be like little kids, full of life and energy and will bolt, unless kept on a leash. Heck, I already have three bolting boys; I figured I don't need a bolting dog as well. I called back and said I didn't think it was going to work out for us.

This past Wednesday, I noticed an ad in our local paper for a 9 month old Goldendoodle (crate-trained, potty-trained, neutered, up-to-date on shots, good with kids). I showed ES and he said, "Dad'll say no."

That evening, I didn't even get a chance to show my husband the ad before he burst in with, "We've got to get these boys a dog! One of our customers came in today with her poodle and it was just adorable."

My husband's family had two poodles while he was growing up. His arguments for a poodle were that they don't shed and are good for individuals with allergies. My argument against poodles has always been that they're so yippish! Plus, his poodle used to scratch me to pieces whenever I tried to get near him (which I must say left me with a less than favorable attitude towards poodles).

I asked if the poodle was for sale. He said no and I whipped out the ad. We were all shocked when he gave the go-ahead to call.

The owner returned my call from St. Louis and said that they have had to drive back and forth to St. Louis a lot lately and with her two kids and the dog, it was getting to be too much. We made arrangements to come view the dog on Friday afternoon.

Meet Harley D. (short for Harley Dogg):


The owner seemed really sad to sell the dog. She threw in the crate and all the supplies she had for an extra $25.


YS loves crawling in the crate and pretending to be locked in. ES loves to actually lock him in.



All three boys are completely in love (and say so, all day long). At this point, we have stuck with the original owner's name for the dog. YS makes me laugh. He keeps saying things like "Is it Charlie? Is it Gnarly?" Then, when I say it's Harley Dogg, he says, "NO, it's Harley D!"

We feel truly blessed. The previous owner did a fabulous job of training the dog. He does tricks. He has a steady, calm disposition. The entire first day, we didn't hear him bark once. On Saturday, he barked when hubby came home from work and also when ES got out the go-kart (he went crazy then).

When we loaded Harley D. and his crate and supplies into the van, the owner was feeling so overwrought that she hugged me. I told her to feel free to come visit him at any time. She did call on Saturday, to see how the dog is doing. I'm very grateful to her for providing us with such a wonderful dog (and for handling that whole puppy stage, which is what would have driven me insane).

One Hand Old

As we approach the big day when my MS will turn 5, it makes me think of my favorite little twins, Coleman and Caden back in December of last year when they celebrated being "one hand old." MS has certainly been thrilled about this event.

I was amazed that he didn't choose a snake cake this time (since snakes are still his favorite thing in the world and he is still begging to receive one). Instead, he asked to look at several cake possibilities on the computer. At first we were looking at reptiles, but then he saw a picture of a dinosaur cake and decided to go with that. He watched the video and emphasized what the demonstrator had said, "it is very easy to make." Thankfully, he was right.



I did panic when I removed the french vanilla cake from the pans. The two 9 inch round cakes turned out to be only one inch thick, which I thought would make for an anorexic dinosaur. Thus, I baked a second cake, in chocolate, and layered both parts. Knowing my MS would request either the head or the tail, I cut those portions from the vanilla cake and made the body from the chocolate cake.

I think I would have liked the placement of the head and tail better if I hadn't been trying to squeeze it onto my transportable cake pan, but since the cake was bound for Chuck E. Cheese's, I scrunched those appendages in (I think it looks too much like a dog-shape, but I'm probably just being too critical). I'm pretty sure MS's favorite part about this cake were the chocolate chip and Hershey kiss decorations. He helped line the back with the Hershey kiss spikes and place them upside down for large spots.

I was a bit anxious about the party because we don't really know anyone very well. MS invited one boy, Devin, from his preschool class last year and two kids, Evan and Andrea, from his preschool class this year. Plus, we invited his old preschool teacher and her three sons (unfortunately, they couldn't come).

I'm often sad to recognize the difference between the experiences of my ES and my two smaller sons. When ES was this age, he had parties full of kids we knew really well. Poor MS and YS, like me, have much fewer friends here in Indiana. I'm sure that will change once they begin elementary school. And, I'm equally convinced that MS was just happy to have a party at CEC.

I was happy to have table duty for the entire evening. Each guest received a goodie bag filled with 25 tokens, two tubs of Play-doh, an airplane and an Airhead. One of the parents mentioned that the place was mobbed when they had their older son's party there earlier in the week. We lucked out and the place was almost empty. I think everyone had a very good time (even though one boy, with food allergies, couldn't eat the pizza or the cake, so he munched on a cookie which his mother had sent along). And, the cake was so delicious that it is almost completely gone already.







When we arrived home, ES handed MS a wrapped present. It was so touching. ES gave MS his old game-boy and games. For the rest of the evening, we couldn't pry that out of his hands.

Tonight, he received another gift that we cannot pry out of his hands. His daddy took him to the pet store to pick out a pet. I was thinking they were going to pick a rabbit, because my husband had told me they were very easy to care for and gentle to hold. They returned home with two white mice. Apparently, the deciding factor was cost. The mice were $1.25 each and the rabbits were $20. But the rabbit cages were far more expensive than the equipment for mice.

Hubby said he requested two females, since the females are more docile. MS had already named them, while in the car on the way home. I laughed out loud when he told me they are "Jessie" and "Sammie." These are the names of two girls who have been ES's girlfriends (and thus, as MS confirms, his girlfriends, too).

Alas, when my hubby took them from the box to place in the newly outfitted aquarium, he noticed that one is a male and one is a female. Just great. Now we will be hosting mice babies, as well. Hubby assures me we can sell them back to the pet store (this is what he did when he was a boy and had pet mice).







MS says the names will stick (although he did almost change the name of the male one to be his own name - ha). At this point, the male is Sammie and the female is Jessie. All three boys are crazy about the new pets. I can see that these first few weeks are going to be challenging, because they seem to want to spend every minute holding the mice. We already lost one under the couch tonight. I made an executive decision at bedtime and decided the mice must sleep on the shelf in the closet at bedtime (I had visions of YS waking in the middle of the night and releasing the mice). At this point, all the boys in my house are tucked in bed, and at least one is dreaming of how fun it is to be all of one hand old.

You Know Life is Hitting Hyper Speed When ...

Tonight I went to the library website and renewed 22 books on-line. Twenty-two, for goodness sakes. Granted, many of those are snake books and train books, but quite a few are ones I was sure I would get to, and yet am renewing for like the fifth or sixth time.

I'm actually thankful I had enough brain cells left to remember to do this. Just a few weeks after I paid my $75 fee for out of township library card renewal at the end of August, I proceeded to forget about renewing those books which are due. Thus, I added an almost $8 fine to the money I had already relinquished to them (all the more infuriating because it was totally unnecessary given the ease of on-line renewal). May they purchase excellent books with the funds I have contributed!

Further revealing that brain cells are at issue ... Around 10:30 p.m., my ES called me into his room. (Oh, the number of times I get comfortable in my private throne at the outlet to civilization, only to have one of the boys call out for water or some other necessary assistance.) Instead of asking me to recharge his I-Pod, turn off the television, plug in his cell phone or refill his water, he asked me if he could get his hair cut tomorrow.

Now, how could I possibly turn down a rare opportunity like that? I looked at him in amazement and exploded with an affirmative, only to retract it when I remembered that tomorrow night we are having a birthday party for MS at Chuck E. Cheese's (at this point, I shred my own hair, negating any need to book an appointment for myself, as well). In addition to putting together the party bags, I still have to frost and decorate the dinosaur cake tomorrow. I'm thinking tomorrow won't work, but I did promise to accomplish this before the weekend is out.

As if I suddenly realized what time it was, I looked back up at him (in his loft bed) and said, "Are you awake?"

We both immediately caught the sheer lunacy of this question and began to laugh.

May October bring slower days and rejuvenating brain cells (o.k., a little extra sleep might not hurt either).

Boy, Was That Annoying!

I know I had said that my son's drumming doesn't really annoy me. Well, for the past few days I have been annoyed that every time I open my blog, I had to hear the immediate start of that loud raucous music to his sample video.

Plus, he was annoyed with me because he felt I had put one of his inferior samples on. He claimed he had ones that were much better. I tried to argue that I didn't want to post any of the videos which were five or six minutes long. He suggested one that is just a few seconds longer than the other one I had posted.

So, to make everyone happy (and hopefully, my readers weren't annoyed as well when the music blared to life) I went back and removed the other video (which apparently went through AOL music ... perhaps why the video started without requiring you to select play, as a You Tube embedding normally does). I switched in his drum cover for "In the Belly of a Shark." Now, if it had been "in the belly of a whale," it may have had some Biblical reference, but I'm pretty sure this song has nothing to do with the Bible. Thankfully, all I hear upstairs are his drums and not the music he is playing to. Still, he does wail on those drums!

Milestones

It seems like our boys have grown tremendously over the past month. ES started taking drum lessons. He has never had lessons before and yet, he is quite good. Much of this, I attribute to the excellent musical training he received at Littlejohn Elementary in DeKalb, Illinois. He displayed an extreme interest in music, and in percussion specifically, even back then. For either his eighth or ninth birthday, he purchased his own soprano marimba.

Last summer, he bought a small drum set from a friend. For Christmas, his grandmother purchased some cymbals. Then, he purchased a double bass drum pedal and a few more drums. The boy is constantly playing the drums, yet it doesn't really seem to bother me. Lately, he has been busy uploading videos to You Tube as he plays along with various music.

Here is a three minute sample of his abilities:



He also was thrilled to get his braces removed from his teeth back on September 3rd. I've been super impressed with his orthodontist. They bend over backwards to make it an enjoyable experience for the patient. As a reward for reaching this milestone, they sent ES home with a giant rice crispy treat. I tried to cajole him into showing his new smile (with the retainer), but this was the best I could get (no smile in sight).



The two little boys have been enjoying school and recently went for a hair cut. I usually prefer their hair to be longish (although not as long as ES tends to grow his hair). However, I have been struggling with YS's hair. He has so many difficult cowlicks and his hair always seems to stand straight up. I asked the stylist to give him whatever haircut would be best to work around those cowlicks. She recommended a buzz down to a quarter inch.

MS had already determined that he wanted his hair cut like his friend, Devin, from his old school. I asked what Devin's hair looks like and he informed me that it is "spiky" on top. As he climbed up into the chair, he told the stylist himself what he wanted. It seemed quite funny for a four year old to have a specific style in mind. Sadly, most days, I don't bother to gel it and spike it up for him. I did get one shot when it was looking "spiky."





When YS was finally able to start school (the last Friday in August), they asked if he is potty trained and if he is a napper. I said that he will go in a bucket for us at home (to get M&Ms) and that he still naps, but that I doubted he would do either at school for them.

Lo and behold, the first time I went to pick him up, the teachers explained that he wouldn't use the toilet for them at school, but he did stay dry the entire time from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Plus, he took a nap for them! I was shocked and amazed.

Last Friday, I was greeted with the news that he napped again and he went potty three times, staying dry all day. Woo-hoo! So, earlier this week, I purchased a potty toy for him. It is a set of three Thomas the Tank Engine cars (Bill and Ben and Diesel) and he is only given the cars for ten minutes each time after he goes in the toilet. When he has gone a whole week without any accidents, I promised to give him the potty toy for good.

He discovered that he is tall enough to skip the bucket (I guess both of the other boys started this process when they were too short to stand at the toilet, so they would go in the bucket). I don't want to jinx anything, but so far he is staying dry all day and wearing underpants.

Plus, just this week, YS decided that he is done with his crib. When he naps he wants to lie with me in either MS's bed or in my bed (which is fine because very often, I take a short nap as well). In the evenings, he has wanted to sleep in the toddler bed (which has been set up in their room ever since Christmas when we had guests). It feels like he has grown up so much in the past month. No more babies in the house, I guess!

I Laughed at his Parental Frustration

It has now been one week since we had a baby in the house. I intended to provide follow-up on my ES's computer baby experience. I haven't. Sorry!

I was actually kind of surprised that they offer this experience to 8th graders. Still, I was more than happy to have my son participate. At the end, he and I both had to answer questions about this activity. I gave the program a thumbs up, but did believe it should have covered a longer time frame, perhaps when they are in high school.

Last Tuesday, our van was in the shop, receiving new tires and a full detail (since I always seem to trash it when we go to CBLI). Thus, the boys and I were left with the car - a Pontiac Grand Am. It was highly amusing to watch ES consider the seating arrangements and then ask me to pop the trunk. Yes, he actually placed the baby in the trunk.

He told me later that he wished he were in high school and already driving when they had done this assignment. If so, he said he would have loved setting the baby carrier on top of the car and then getting in and starting to drive off, just so he could watch the startled reactions of people who would assume it was an actual baby. I shook my head and reminded myself that he is a boy. Then, later that night I checked my camera, just to make sure he hadn't made any prank videos to upload to You Tube. You never know with boys.

The baby was turned off during his drum lesson, but we still needed to bring it along, since he intended to go to a football game at school afterwards. However, as we left his drum lesson he called his friends to be sure they were going to the game. It turned out that one friend couldn't go and the other was going to be late by about an hour. When the last friend learned that ES would be going to the game with the baby, even he advised ES not to go.

So, we went home and waited for the baby to come to life. And come to life, it did! At six, it began breathing. Then, shortly after six it began to do things babies tend to do. First it required a diaper change. Then, within a half an hour, it required another diaper change. ES was highly embarrassed because every time the baby cried, MS, YS and I would go running to his room to watch him care for the baby. It was really quite amusing.

Between six and midnight, the baby fussed or needed to be fed often. ES was amazed that each feeding took almost a half hour. Then, he was even more perturbed when each feeding had to be followed up with a half hour of burping. He clearly didn't understand why it should take that long for a baby to bring up the air. What 13 year old can't bring up air on command, for goodness sake?

My husband showers in the bathroom in the room near the garage (where I had originally intended to have ES and the baby sleep). Thus, he was worried that he would waken a weary son and figurative grandson at 5:30 a.m., and he insisted that ES remain in his own room for the night. Of course, it really isn't a surprise that my hubby didn't wake once when the baby stirred, but ES and I were up with every cry.

Around midnight, ES began to get very frustrated. Unfortunately, I don't think I was a very compassionate sounding board. I found it hard not to laugh at his frustration. He was clearly convinced that if he had a real baby it wouldn't be as difficult. Several times, he declared that he would just allow his own baby to cry itself to sleep, since he wouldn't be graded on it. (Hmm, wonder if I could throw that argument back at him the next time he has a displayed need - I'll just delay meeting it because it isn't convenient.)

I did try to remind him of a very young baby's need to eat every two to three hours. After all, he was around when both MS and YS were newborns. Somehow, I think he was oblivious.

The more frustrated he got, the more I felt it necessary to paint the picture of his first months ... indeed, his first year. The first few nights there were three of us to wait on his every need (hubby, myself and m-i-l) and we were completely exhausted by ES's cries. I even took him back to the hospital convinced that something was wrong with him. He cried constantly and was very seldom soothed. Plus, we lived in an apartment and I was always worried about the noise.

When ES was 3 months old, we discovered that he had almost constant ear infections. At 11 months, he received tubes in his ears and became a completely different, and far easier, baby. Of course, by then, we were in a state of severe sleep deprivation. Somehow, I still get the feeling that ES was too busy hearing the cries of the moment to fully take in my descriptions of his infancy.

The baby really wasn't too bad and was only turned on for a 12 hour stint. I mean, come on - what parent wouldn't think life was just a bit too easy if their infant had a 12 hour passage of normal infant behavior and then shut off. Yet, I don't think my ES would have been ready to face those frustrations for more than that 12 hours afforded. At least, it did come in loud and clear that he is too impatient to be responsible for a baby at this age.

I'm sure he went off to school declaring that his baby had been set at the hardest level (the teacher had informed them that there were three level settings and that she didn't know which setting they would receive). I'm also positive that we both (ES and myself) woke up the following morning feeling very grateful that we don't have another small son to care for. I'm truly grateful that I could laugh at his frustration (for we all know that I wouldn't have been laughing much if his frustration had been genuine, instead of simulated).

A Baby in the House

The little boys have been excited all afternoon. YS wouldn't take his nap. ES insisted on a ride home from school. The cause of all this excitement? ES became a Daddy today (yes, temporarily, whew!)



As we drove home from school, I noted that the baby was strangely quiet. Apparently, ES was concerned about the baby crying during his drum lesson at 5, so the teacher agreed to wait and turn the baby on at 6 p.m. I'm pretty sure he is already aware that a real infant never comes with an on/off option.

Actually, I was surprised at my boy's lack of embarrassment over the baby (aside from the demand for a ride home from school). He asked if he can go to the school football game after his drum lesson. He's lucky it wasn't twins; then, he'd learn that plans can remain fairly uninterrupted when you have just one child, but two is another story.

Since ES's room is right next to ours, I'm making him and the baby sleep in the room off of the garage.

I asked ES if he had given the baby a name. His reply, "I don't know."

With a name like that and a 13 year old father, that baby must be destined for trouble. I must add that I was hardly surprised at all when I discovered that this newest addition to our family is ... ANOTHER BOY!!!!

A Bit of This and That

Tomorrow morning, ES starts school for his 8th grade year. It seems impossible that his summer is already over. The little boys are actually jealous (which ES can't understand). YS keeps begging to go to school and meet his new teacher. I'm guessing CBLI got them in the mood. Alas, they will have to wait two more weeks.

Today, we made another trek to the park. After walking the trail (yes, MS's bike chain broke again, before we completed the walk) the little boys were eager to play at the playground.

This requires a brief side-note: When we were returning from CBLI, we decided we didn't want to travel through Chicago again. I had a book to return to a friend in DeKalb, so I decided to drive home via DeKalb (not exactly a straight line, but quite fun). Immediately, MS asked if we could go to the Hopkins Park pool. He was not quite two when we moved, but he has such fond memories of our times at that pool. We decided to drop ES off at a friend's house and spend three hours at the pool.

On the way to the pool, I called my friend, Renee Olsen, to see if she might want to meet us there. Alas, her kids were already occupied with something, but she invited us for dinner. We had such a wonderful visit with the Olsens that my little boys have been talking about it every day and asking why we can't just go back to their house to play. The Olsens have a marvelous back yard and swing set. One of their daughters taught MS to swing without any pushes from an adult. Now he is constantly begging to go to the park so he can show off this skill.

So, of course, today he ran to the swings, eager to impress. There was a girl on the swings being pushed by her grandfather. She began to talk to MS and their exchange has left me chuckling all day.

She: "My grandpa can give you a push."

He: "No thanks, I know how to get started all by myself and go really high. My friend, Karissa, showed me how. I'm really good at pumping now."

She: "What's your name?"

He answered.

She: "That's a very nice name."

He: "How old are you?"

She: "Six. How old are you?"

He: "I'm four."

She: "Oh good! I like young people."

He went on to offer her a chocolate for the person who could swing the highest. This was something he kept doing during CBLI. He would say, "First person to the door gets a chocolate." Wish he had his own chocolate to be doling out!

Still, I felt like offering him a chocolate later in the afternoon. He was stung by a bee. The first time he was stung (at CBLI) two years ago, he had an allergic reaction and ran a high fever for a few days. I have tried to impress upon him that he might have another allergic reaction if stung again. But, this can't stop a creature lover.

I immediately called the doctor's office to ask what I should look for as a sign to get help. I have been watching his lips and tongue for swelling. Thankfully, he is only complaining of pain at the sting site. No fevers. No swelling. No itching. What a relief. Now that, deserves a chocolate! (Don't tell anyone, but I enjoyed a chocolate, too, on his behalf.)

Now if only chocolate could assuage the twinge of guilt I am feeling. Why do I feel guilty, you ask? Well, last month I wrote a post about an elderly woman who asks about my husband every time I show up at church without him. Even though I wasn't trying to be critical, I feel a horrible sense of guilt because I learned that she passed away.

I'm fairly certain there's chocolate in heaven. I mean, there has to be right? After all, it's heaven! Since she made it there before me, I hope God gives her a chocolate.

New Zoo Review

Not to be confused with the tacky American children's television show from the 70's, this is my review of our trip to the Indianapolis Zoo last week (of course, I just wasted a half hour on You Tube watching clips of that and others, like H.R. Puff N. Stuff, Romper Room, and the Electric Company - this is just what happens when I sit down to write at my computer).

After a fairly busy week, we determined to go to the zoo on Friday. Thanks to some highway construction (yippee), we missed our exit and ended up getting a drive-by tour of the Indianapolis Airport. At least, I tried to put a positive spin on it, while our driver was ready to turn around and go back home. I said "Boys, take a look, this may be where we fly out of for our trip to Canada (to see the red-sided garter snakes emerging from their hibernation pits next spring)." Hubby interjected, "We're never goin' to Canada!" (This dialogue already says a lot about our day.)

Despite the 90 degree temperatures, we had a pleasant day. One of the boys' favorite parts in the Ocean exhibit was the shark touch tank. Thankfully, we visited this spot twice (at the beginning of the day - when fully crowded, and at the end - when it was almost empty). All three boys enjoyed touching the sharks; although, we did have to keep a strict eye on MS who wanted to touch the fin. Future vacation idea? Swimming with sharks in Florida? (After all, hubby can't veto Florida, since my parents LIVE there! Ha!)



The train has to be the biggest disappointment at the Indy Zoo. I remember feeling this way back when we used to take ES here during our vacation visits to Indianapolis. We rode it anyway, out of consideration for YS's passion for trains. Here is an example of the running commentary: "On your left, you'll see the back of the building where we provide medical treatment for the animals. On your right, you'll see the back of the maintenance building. Coming up on your left, is the back of yet another building. Be sure to notice the screened images of animals on the walls of the building on your left." And just so the trip isn't a complete waste, they added some information on recycling. This was $12 on top of the $60 entrance fee and the $5 parking fee.



Since this zoo discourages bringing food into the facility, we walked back to our van - in the nether regions of the parking lot and ate a sack lunch, relishing our air-conditioning (and the savings, of course). I'm also glad the little boys didn't hit us up for a full face tattoo either (at $9) - although, the answer would have been "No, I'll paint your face myself when we get home."





The little boys had an absolute blast at the splash area. We did remember to bring swimming suits and towels. They spent over an hour in this area, while ES and hubby went back around other exhibits. ES was especially thrilled to get a shot of one of the snakes with his jaws wide open. Of course, we hit the Desert exhibit twice as well, since MS is crazy about snakes.




When we were in the petting zoo section, we noticed a sign for a snake talk. Hubby took YS back for another thrilling view of zoo alley train ride (the tickets were $11.50 for 5 train rides or $12 for 7). MS was in heaven. I could barely get him to put his hand down (he kept wanting to ask if he could touch the snake, even though the guy had clearly indicated that the chance to touch a snake would come at the end of his talk).



I was surprised that YS wanted to touch a snake as much as MS did (although, he did tire of the activity more quickly). MS would have held that boa constrictor, if the zoo employee had let him.





From there we made our way to the Jungle exhibit, to view zebras, elephants, lions and giraffe.



Those animals couldn't hold a candle to my boys' interest in the baboons. I was hoping that ES had taken at least one shot of the adorable little baboon babies. Alas, most of the shots were of the baboon butts and winkies (believe me, if you don't have boys, you can't even begin to imagine how fascinating this aspect can be to them).



We were hoping to spend our last hour relaxing in the butterfly gardens. In past visits, this was always an enjoyable excursion because the gardens are beautiful and they run a small garden railroad. However, getting through the doors into the butterfly garden area was quite a chore this time (you have to make sure that the doors are fully sealed and it just seemed exceedingly crowded - another example of how timing for a visit can be so key). Plus the doors at the back were inaccessible (thus increasing the traffic for the entry doors). I did linger for a while inside with MS while hubby and the other two boys went to look for the garden railroad. MS asked for a penny to throw in the wishing area. I heard his wish: "I wish for a dog." Hey, at least it was a dog and not a boa constrictor!

Sadly, as we were trying to head out to the gardens to see the railroad, we were met by ES, who explained that the garden railroad wasn't running and the gardens were being readied for a wedding or something. Hubby was ready to leave, so ... no relaxing in the beautiful gardens.

Still, all in all, it was a good visit. ES floored us by his level of responsibility during the trip. He kept an eye on his little brothers every bit as much as we did and he was tremendously helpful. His stellar help even made me ask hubby to purchase a family pass (I was thinking, if he's so good with these little boys, we could do this more often, on days when ES has a half day. Alas, hubby declined my bid. Sheesh - you can't even get more frequent visits to the Indianapolis Zoo - how will we ever get to see those snakes in Canada???)

By the end of the day, I was tuckered out. I was sure that a whole day out in the heat would have zapped their energy and they would sleep like babies. Alas, no babies in my household. The two littles were wired for sound and MS couldn't sleep that night either (probably because he was anticipating his departure for music camp the following morning). Hmm, wondering if they'll have a petting zoo at CBLI this year (they had it a few other times - way cool for the little guys, and at no extra expense).