State Fair Recap

Somehow I failed to write about our last hurrah of the summer. On Tuesday, August 17th, I decided to take the little boys to the Indiana State Fair on my own. It went so well. I felt thoroughly blessed and glad that I had dared to attempt it.

Thankfully, we were able to take advantage of the Turkey Hill $2 Tuesdays. As a result, I only had to pay $2 to get in and the boys were both free. Plus, all rides were $2 and many of the booths offered $2 food and drink specials.

I purchased enough tickets for each boy to ride 5 rides. Trevor started out on a parasail ride that Sean was too little for. Then, they rode four together:





The gunny sack slide.

A smaller parasail ride.

The dragon roller coaster.

And the swings.

After that, I explained that Sean had one more, but Trevor was done. Sean graciously offered his last ticket to his brother, so Trevor could ride a gigantic ride that swings back and forth and spins around (called "Fireball"). I was surprised that Trev was brave enough to attempt it alone, but then he does follow in the footsteps of his big brother, Bryce.

They also enjoyed getting their picture taken near the super huge American Gothic statue.


As for the animals, it seemed like slim pickin's. We saw the bunnies and chickens and roosters, then headed to the horses and sheep. All the pigs were gone, except for the two largest boar and the two newly birthed litters.

I couldn't have asked for better behavior, even though it was a very hot day. I'm hoping they'll offer this same $2 Tuesdays special next year. We had a wonderful time together.

Boys Will Be Boys

I will begin with sweetness and light:


This is a very sweaty Sean at a local jump house establishment. They had fun. Dad stayed with them, while I drove off to shop for a new bathroom scale.


Sorry for the shirtless aspect, but this is what we have been seeing around the house ad nauseum these days. Trevor spends a good part of every day, standing on his head against any furniture or walls he can find.


The boys, in their endless teasing of the dog, finally suffered a less than pleasant response. I fully believe that Trevor is the more offending party in these antics, however, the dog managed to chomp down on Sean's forehead.

Then, he got the short end of the stick again when we went to get haircuts yesterday morning. Normally, they both love a trip for a haircut, but this turned out to be quite an ordeal.

There was a new heavy-set black woman working at the Great Clips where we always go. Somehow the lot fell to Sean again as she called out his name. To begin with, Sean looked downright scared of her. He didn't really say a word, but several times I thought he was going to burst into tears. The woman was sweating profusely and had to stop to wipe her brow with a towel about 20 times in between cutting. The whole time, I just wasn't sure she really knew what she was doing (or for that matter, had even really cut hair before).

After Sean descended from the chair, I noticed that the area around his ears looked like a square had been cut around the ears. I hemmed and hawed (I hate to be the customer who registers their dissatisfaction aloud). Finally, I asked if she wouldn't mind touching up the area over the ears just a bit more. Even after we left, I was still uncomfortable with the cut, but decided it was just hair. So, here they are after their trims (Trevor's turned out just the way he likes it - spikey).



At the moment, they are in their rooms
for the rest of their lives for a half hour following a horrible shopping adventure.

When we left the house at 2:10, I swear my blood pressure was in the normal range. We needed to take Harley over to the vet for a Bordatella shot (since the last time we went to Indiana Beach and kenneled him, he returned home with a case of kennel cough). That alone shot the old blood pressure right up.

The dog goes into manic mode and the little boys seem to feel that they have to mimic his behavior (checking out every single animal they see and wandering hither and yon). Thankfully, we were only there for about ten minutes.

Why I decided to follow up that brief adventure with another one, I don't know. Once the dog was safely crated at home, we headed off to Kroger. Sean noticed those EVIL race car carts (fine, back in the day, when I only had one child to deal with - EVIL when you have two boys along). Trevor assured me that he didn't even want to go in one, so I reluctantly agreed.

No, instead Trevor walked directly in front of the car cart the entire time and I ran over his ankles a few hundred times. Sean could not decide whether he wanted to be in the cart or out of the cart, so finally, I turned around and headed back to the cart corral and exchanged the EVIL cart for a normal one.

Sadly, this didn't solve the problems, since Sean persisted in trying to hang off the side of the cart ... the empty cart, I should add. I continued to run over ankles and beg them to walk nicely next to the cart. Trevor persisted in offering to help: "I want to pick out the bananas. Let me put the eggs in the cart. No, let me do it, Mom."

I thought it would be quickest to avoid the long lines and approached the self check-out lane. Once again, Trevor wanted to "help." I had to monitor closely so that we would neither leave with groceries we hadn't paid for nor pay for groceries we didn't leave with.

In the midst of the joint check-out effort going down, Sean piped up that he ... of course ... had to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW. Helpful Trevor offered to take him to the bathroom. I reminded them to go to the women's and said I would be right there (the bathrooms were only about 10 feet from where I was completing our transaction).

When I popped my head in the door a minute later, they were both in the handicapped stall with the door wide open (I doubt the one other woman in the bathroom really minded). Sean jubilantly tattled on his brother: "Trevor peed ALL. OVER. THE. WALL."

I looked over, and sure enough, there was a puddle of urine at the base of the wall next to the toilet. I know that I really should have stopped, grabbed my purse from the cart, left the cart untended and joined them in the stall to clean up their mess.

Instead, smoke began to pour out of my ears, I ordered both of them to skip washing hands and come immediately with me to the van. I stormed out of the store with them both clinging to the sides of the cart. I drove the entire way home in silence while Trevor wondered aloud what his punishment might be.

I am quietly hoping that the individual who is assigned to clean those bathrooms today will be a patient young MAN who will merely be doing "his time" for all those occasions when he urinated all over the place as a young boy!

I am writing this all out now so that I can return to my blog twenty years from now and bring back these terribly present feelings of utter mortification. Because obviously, I'm going to look back on all this and miss these days, right? That is, if I live to see twenty years from now!

Lovin' the Little Boy!

I have been experiencing swells of deep emotion for my youngest son lately. He is just delicious. Of course, I do recognize that, unlike the other two, at this point in life he has yet to develop habits and behaviors that annoy me. He is pure and unadulterated cuteness.

If you don't believe me, check this out:




He makes me smile every day. Lately, he is in love with the "Despicable Me" commercials. Here is his all time favorite one. He asks Trevor to replay it over and over again, because he loves the line where Gru says: "No Annoying Sounds!" and the little girl responds with "Does this count as annoying?? (cheek slapping)" This bit occurs at about the one minute mark.

Plus, he has recently been noticing certain signs along the road. Now both Trevor and Sean spend a good portion of every drive pointing out all the "No Pee signs."



Hee-hee. Boys!

My absolute favorite thing is to watch him cuddling his Sleepy Bear and sucking on those fingers. It is his trademark. Trevor even caught that on video this past week
(at this point in the post, I tried, unsuccessfully three nights in a row, to get the video to upload ... I'm giving up for now, but may try later).

Apparently, I'm not the only one lavishing great love on my boy these days, either.
Here's the evidence:






Really, those mosquitos can't help it. After all, he's so SWEET.

Argh - He's 3-1/2 Mateys!

We celebrated Sean's third half birthday this past weekend. The poor kid's birthday falls a few days after Christmas during family gatherings and a focus on the birth of Christ. Thus, we determined early on that we would celebrate his half birthday, to give him a special day all his own.

I can't say it has worked out as we intended. Originally, we planned for him to receive his birthday cake and one gift on his half birthday. Once Trevor caught on to this plan, he clamored to celebrate his half birthday. I don't mind an occasion to bake a cake to their specifications, because that is something I enjoy creating. However, the gift has gone by the wayside. And, many days, I wonder if we should dispense with this whole half birthday effort. Then again, when he is old enough to have birthday parties (Bryce was having annual birthday parties by this age), I'm sure it will be next to impossible to entice friends to celebrate his birthday during that busy and expensive time of year. This year, he was most excited because our annual trip to Indiana Beach Amusement Park fell on his birthday. We had another wonderful experience with limited crowds and fabulous weather.

I love many things about Indiana Beach. Unlike larger parks, where the crowds and chaos exhaust you, Indiana Beach is laid back and relaxing. I so appreciate their smoke-free atmosphere and the music piped over the intercoms is always family friendly. As we rode the sky chairs (Skyride?), I was singing along with "Hey Jude," and "Yesterday."

Side note: the song "Yesterday" always makes me smile because it reminds me of a year at CMI when some guys wrote a spoof on that, called "Leprosy": "Leprosy ... all my skin is falling off of me, I'm not half the man I used to be, oh leprosy has eaten me ... suddenly, all the vultures flying over me, once I had five fingers, now I've three, oh leprosy has eaten me ... why'd it have to come, I don't know, it just won't go. I tried Elmer's glue, but you know, it wouldn't do-oo-oo-oo."

This year seemed far more expensive. Ticket prices have increased, and you don't get as much bang for your buck. We have always enjoyed going one afternoon, playing games and looking around, then staying overnight in a local hotel and returning for a full day of rides and the water park. I think next year, we will just drive up for one day.

The littler boys don't appreciate splitting the two days up into games and rides. The first evening, they wanted to ride rides. We looked into the cost of a mere train ride for the four of us (Bryce had gone off with his friend to play games). You practically had to pick me up off the floor when they said it would be $8 PER PERSON for a train ride. $32 just to ride the train around the amusement park one time. You've got to be kidding.

They used to have a much more customer friendly approach. You could either pay a set fee for a wristband or you could buy a packet of 10 ride tickets for $20. There are smaller rides for the younger children and this seemed fairly reasonable. We would have been willing to pay $8 for the four of us to ride the train once, but $32 - UNREAL!

Needless to say, we waited and enjoyed all the rides the next day, when we purchased the wristbands. Trevor enjoyed riding the Corn Ball Express roller coaster this year and Sean amazed me when he fell in love with the Falling Star ride . He would get off, run around ahead of me, and get back in line to ride it again. What a little daredevil!

Trevor talks about Indiana Beach all year round. This year, he kept inviting all the other kids in his preschool class to go with him to Indiana Beach. He must be their biggest fan. As we headed home, he asked if we could go again this summer. They offer a season pass now, and when the younger boys are older, I might consider that (although, I would want to pack healthy lunches - since there were even fewer healthy options this year).

For Sean's cake, he requested a Jolly Roger cake. I had recently picked up a Jolly Roger flag for a quarter at a garage sale and both boys fell in love with it (they are fixated on skulls these days).

The cake didn't turn out as I'd hoped, but my boys made me feel so much better when they raved about it. I see all the things that didn't go as planned, while they just see a cool cake. It thrilled me that Sean liked it so much.




Here are my perceived flaws: I used the frozen butter cream transfer process I learned on Amber's blog, only I didn't want to attempt to make black icing. For one thing, it never gets black enough and ends up looking like a dull gray. For another thing, it seemed easier to use chocolate store-bought icing for the dark background and homemade butter cream for the skull and crossbones and words.

The transfer ended up being larger than the top of the cake, so the word happy curved over the edge of the top of the cake. Plus, I didn't get it centered very well. When I went to pull the top piece of waxed paper from the frozen frosting, it would not come off. Apparently, the chocolate icing is stickier, even when frozen, than the butter cream. While removing the waxed paper, I pulled apart some bits of the skull. I suppose it makes the skull look more brittle, as skulls are.

Personally, I didn't care for the mix of flavors with the chocolate and the butter cream together. I encountered this with Trevor's dinosaur cake, so this shouldn't have surprised me (or I shouldn't have repeated the mistake). But, John thought the cake was delicious. As for the boys, they only seem to lick the frosting off and barely nibble at the cake.

I can't believe Sean is already 3-1/2. The time evaporates, but inches by on days when they are mischievous or cranky. He thinks he is one of the big boys now. He tries to read, like Trevor, and he tries to talk "like a teenager," like Bryce. I don't mind the reading, but I could do without the teenage talk from the mouth of a preschooler. I say, "Argh, clean up your mouth, little boy, or ye'll be walkin' the plank!"

===========
For other Indiana Beach posts, see our 2008 visit, our June 2009 visit, our July 2009 visit, our 2011 visit, and our 2016 visit.

Found

Thankfully, almost all of the missing items from last week have now been accounted for. The tooth was never found, but the tooth fairy made good on the "lost tooth" note found underneath Trevor's pillow.

The blender seal turned up in the most unlikely spot. John found it on Bryce's desk. Of course, since Bryce was gone for a week of percussion camp, we really didn't go in his room at all. We have no idea who carried it in there in the first place, but we are greatly relieved that we didn't blow $13 purchasing and shipping a new one.

We also hadn't been out on the porch for a while. The table and floor spaces are covered with items I had hoped to sell in our May garage sale (that never materialized). Plus, it is too hot to eat out there. Thankfully, Sean sometimes goes out there to lie with the dog (his favorite past-time). He suddenly came running inside to declare that he had found my camera tucked under the cushions of the couch on the porch. I gave him a Hershey's kiss and quickly began taking photos with mad abandon.

Here is the flowering bush:




The bird's nest is still up in the swing set and the Mama bird swoops down at our heads in attack mode whenever anyone approaches the ladder to the slide/fort. Once this family have vacated the residence, I will vigilantly raze any future home-building efforts the birds might employ.




Thankfully, the robin's nest (in the usual spot, just outside the kitchen window) is much safer to observe.

I don't know what I think about my haircut. I appreciate the breeze on my neck. However, beyond that, the shorter style seems to be a draw-back for me. I find this cut very unforgiving. I used to be able to wash my hair every other day. Sadly, when I wake up on the second morning now, my hair is matted down to my head and no amount of brushing seems to be able to rejuvenate it enough to hold off on a shampooing. I suppose this isn't too much of an inconvenience, since I have been trying to exercise DAILY. Still, on days when I can't get the exercise in before late afternoon, I have to wear a hat. Plus, hubby isn't very fond of it, so methinks I will be growing it out again.

Here are some shots of the boys at the fireworks the other night:

They look so quiet and innocent, don't they??

Ah, looks can be deceiving.

And finally, here's a few shots of our toothless wonder. Even without teeth he manages to gab and eat just as much as usual. In the second photo, he is sporting a nice little welt on his forehead from where John attempted to hoist his hefty little body out of an inner tube and managed to bash him right into a metal beam overhead. Poor Trevor!

Chinese Water Torture, Red, White and Blue Style

Tonight I took the boys to see a fireworks show.

As we exited the van:

Them: Oh, look ... someone did a firework over there in their driveway. Are those the fireworks, Mommy? Are we there yet?

Me: Yes, yes they did, but no we are not there yet. We need to walk along this sidewalk to the park.

Them: Can we play at the park? Oo, oo, I see a lightning bug. Seannie, do you want me to catch the lightning bug for you? I can catch the lightning bug. (Catches one, puts it on Sean's shirt, to much screaming from Sean.)

Me: Leave the bugs alone. Leave your brother alone.

Them: Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Oh, look, that guy has a motorcycle on his shirt. That's a cool shirt. I want a shirt like that. Can I get a shirt like that? Hey, they have ring-pops. I want a ring pop. Can I have a ring pop? (At this point, the teenager with the children with the ring-pops turns and says, "Sorry, we don't have any more.")

Me: Trevor, you don't comment on what a person has and ask if you can have one. It is impolite.

(We arrive at the park).

Them: Can we go play on the playground?

Me: Yes, for a few minutes, but then we are going to sit on the blanket and wait for the fireworks.

Them: My shoe came off. Help me get my shoe back on. Wait for me. Oh, look, a dog. Can we pet the dog? Oh, I want to go on the teeter-totters. Hey, watch Seannie, I'm stepping off now.

Me: Don't do that!! Your brother will fall off!

Them: Can we go sit down now?

Me: Yes, let's go find a spot.

Them: Ohh, look, they have a table full of those light-up thingies. I want one of those. Can we buy one of those, Mommy? Look, this light-up ball is only $5. Can I have $5, Mommy? I want a light-up ball. Hey, that guy got a light-up ball. Why can't I get a light-up ball. Wow. Look at that girl's shirt. It shows her belly-button. When I have a girlfriend, I want my girlfriend to wear a shirt that shows her belly-button. Hey, those people in front of us are smoking. Don't they know that smoking is bad. It turns your lungs black, just like you said, Mommy? How come they are smoking?

Me: Be quiet and watch for the fireworks to start (inwardly praying that they start on time).

Them: Hey, who turned all the park lights out. What, are they starting the fireworks now, Mommy? Look, I see the first star. Let's say the wishing rhyme. Star Light, Star Bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. Hey, I didn't get my wish. I wished for one of those light-up balls, but you won't buy me one. (The fireworks begin.) Wow. That one was cool. Hey, that kid in front of us is taking pictures of the fireworks. Can I have the camera? I want to take pictures of the fireworks. Why won't you let me get a glow ball or take pictures? Ooh, red, my favorite color. Ooh, Trevor, what is your favorite color? Ooh, green, your favorite color, Trevor. (repeated throughout the entire 20 minute display, despite my pleas to stop talking and simply watch)

Trevor counted to one thousand, hundred, ninety the entire walk back to the van. Sean complained about his shoes the entire way to the van and told Trevor to stop counting about a million times. When Bryce arrived and joined us in the van, his radar picked up my signal from a mile away.

Sadly, when he asked what was wrong, I burst just like an inmate after the thousandth drop of water.

Swimming Lessons

Both Trevor and Sean have been going for swimming lessons M-Th since last week. This is their last week and tomorrow is the last day. I think Sean will breathe an audible sigh of relief. He dreads those class sessions and still spends a portion of each lesson crying (mostly when they are pushing him through the water, forcing him to use his arms and put his face into the water). Trevor, on the other hand, considers it a total blast.

Trev was feeling bad that his dad wouldn't get a chance to see him dive into the water, so he begged me to bring along the camera on Tuesday. I caught this short example of his progress:



As for me, I have enjoyed the time sitting on the bleachers reading!

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.

Fighting Fatigue

This past week, I have been overcome with intense fatigue. At night, I am finding it difficult to stay awake for my usual late hours. Last night (after what was a very long, tiring day), I laid down with the little boys to help them fall asleep and we were all three out within minutes. When I woke at midnight, I moved to my own bed and continued to sleep until quarter to 8 this morning. Now again, tonight, despite last night's lengthy sleep, all I want to do is head to bed, but the length of time without blogging keeps niggling at my brain. So, I will do my best, even if it ends up a shabby run-down of what has me feeling run-down.

I wanted to share a few photos of the flowers we now have adorning the house. I do this partly because I fear that they will all die and I will have no evidence that a more knowledgeable hand planted them and yet, somehow, I killed them. Ha!

Here, also, is a photo of our blooming crab apple trees. They are already starting to lose those buds and become merely green trees.

Here are the annuals my mother-in-law planted where they had dug up a few small bushes (I have no idea what they are called):

More annuals (don't know if these will grow, since they are on the patio and it seems to be more mulch than dirt there):

They also purchased three lovely hanging baskets. Sadly, hubby informed me tonight that the yellow plant (again, I have no clue about names) is already looking like it is dying. I swear I haven't touched it once!

On Saturday morning, I went to get the mail and discovered a huge amount of litter right along the edge of our lawn (I have no patience for the rural litter problem). Apparently, someone was transporting some furniture late Friday night, and an entire vacuum cleaner fell off their vehicle. It was in about a million (o.k., maybe 15) pieces along the road. Later, hubby told me that there is a television on the side of the road around the corner, near our neighbor's farm. Crazy!

I actually took a video of the vacuum cleaner debris, but when I watched the footage, I realized how ridiculous I sounded giving a play-by-play of trash strewn at the edge of my lawn. It was kind of hilarious though, because as I was filming several bikers were riding by (they probably thought I was more of a lunatic than the lunatic who dropped their vacuum off their vehicle). Plus, MS came running out of the house asking me what I was doing. I tried to ignore him as I panned the debris, but then heard him shouting, "Is that YOUR VACUUM??" Give me a break, boy!

Actually, the boy did give me a break. Several weeks ago, his best friend, Evan, had invited him to a cool gymnastics birthday party. It was on Sunday from noon to two. I spent most of Sunday morning on the couch with a stomach ache and somehow completely forgot about the birthday party.

I sat MS down the next morning and primed the pump by explaining that I had made a mistake and it was something that was probably going to make him feel a bit angry with me. I apologized and said that I had forgotten to take him to Evan's birthday party. I braced myself for tears and angry retorts (like I normally hear - things like "You're the worst mom ever!").

Instead, he looked up at me and gently said, "It's o.k., Mommy, we have a trampoline we can jump on any time. Plus, we can invite Evan over to our house and then he can jump on the trampoline with us and we can show him the cool lamps big brother gave us." (ES cleaned out one of his closets and gave the boys his cool lamp collection including a disco ball, lava lamp and aqua lamp, plus a whole slew of car posters.)

On Monday, the two little boys began a two week stint of swimming lessons. Unlike ES and MS, who both went with me to the Hopkins Park Pool in DeKalb almost every summer day, YS really hasn't had much exposure to pools. ES taught himself to swim at age 4 and began doing flips off the diving boards at age 5. MS, at age 2, would toddle over to the edge of the pool, lower himself into the water and either cling to the edge (without floaties) or paddle the water to make himself spin (with floaties).

YS has cried and screamed the whole week (3 lessons, so far). MS thinks it is great fun and can't wait. YS spends all day agonizing about what is coming and begging me, "please don't make me do this again."

On Tuesday (after a long morning - they were told they couldn't do anything until their room was clean), the half hour prior to leaving for the pool was sheer torture. YS took 3 cups of water and poured them all over the floor of the bathroom. I had just cleaned that up and was preparing the swim bag. YS must have dug around in it while I went off to get my shoes. I returned to hear MS yelling, "Mom, look what YS did!"

The dog was covered in sunscreen, so much so that there was a puddle of sunscreen oozing off of him onto the floor. We were supposed to be leaving any minute. I grabbed up a towel and began sopping up the mess as best I could. Just then, the doorbell rang. As I opened it, the dog bolted out the door. I had to chase after him to get him back in the house and secured in the crate.

By the time we returned home from the little boys' swimming lessons and ES's drum lesson, the workmen (who had been laboring for most of the day) had finished the swing-set we recently purchased:


Thankfully, the boys have spent a lot of time playing on it since then. (I have always wondered about these wooden swing set structures, because so often we drive by others and barely ever see kids actually playing on them.) Selfishly, I would have rather spent the money on a trip to England to celebrate our 20th anniversary this year. Then again, the boys are really thrilled with it. Besides, I wouldn't even have the energy to pack my bags.

Then, this morning, for who knows what reason, YS decided that he would cover the dog in mulch. Now here's the irony: When someone's vacuum cleaner drops off their truck, I document the experience with photos and videos. Sadly, I failed to capture either the sunscreen slathered Harley or the mulch maculated Harley. I'm only glad that I delayed washing him until after the mulch experience.

And thus, (with my run-down complete) I will head to bed because I, myself, am a rather pooped pup!

Time to Play

Ah, blessed Friday - day in which small boys attend PDO and preschool from 9 to 3! My window of fresh air. My limited walk in the sunshine of the courtyard, during my prison term of stay-at-home motherhood.

Okay, okay. It is not as bad as all that, but still, I do LOVE my Fridays. Yet, somehow I always feel this deep sense of obligation to make the time count. Since cleaning up is so difficult while they are steadily working to destroy another section of the house, it behooves me to clean like a whirling dervish while they are away. OR NOT! Usually it is not, but I do carry the guilt.

Today, I had a doctor appointment at 10, with a blood draw to check my cholesterol. By the time I returned to the house at 11 it was almost lunch time, so (despite the fact that my mil will be visiting our house ... er, I mean her house ... on Wednesday) I decided to PLAY.

There are so many things I want to learn how to do on the computer and with my blog. But, in the evenings, by the time the boys have finally finished their bathroom rounds and managed that most-difficult task of falling asleep, I spend my time taking care of "my work." This includes things like finishing up the supper dishes, checking my mail, looking in on Facebook, and writing blog posts. If I took the time to dally with "what my computer can really do..." I might never get to bed and anyone can tell you that I don't function well if I don't get enough sleep.

I was wanting to figure out how to delete my son's name (an identifying factor my husband won't allow on my blog) from that photo of his burn project so I could include it in yesterday's post. I spent most of the day fooling around with FotoFlexer, a free photo editing site on-line. Believe me, this kind of play could suck me into a black hole (time-wise). It was tremendously fun, even though my first attempts (I was trying to cut out the space where his name appeared) continued to fail. In the end, I settled for drawing a line of black through the name, which worked just fine.

Now, I don't want to give the impression that I never play, but other play usually occurs WHILE I am keeping an eye on the boys. I'm sure some would voice the opinion that I'm not exactly the hardest worker on the block. Of course, saying this wouldn't injure quite so much if the only other two individuals on our block weren't retired.

For example, I have been frittering away time playing at making a puzzle that Santa brought for MS for Christmas. I don't know what that old guy was thinking! If you ask me, he's got a few too many on his list. He brought MS a 550 piece snake puzzle that is clearly marked "Ages 12 and up!" Although I tried to help him with the puzzle, it became clear early on that I would be completing the puzzle and he would help put in the last 6 or 7 pieces.

At first, I couldn't figure out why the puzzle was causing me such difficulty (it seemed to have plenty of variations in colors, etc.) I was continually turning the lamp on the table downstairs up higher and even dragging over other lamps. Finally, it dawned on me. I'm not 20 anymore! Apparently, I need those glasses for more than just reading. Once I donned them, things moved along at a better clip.

Perhaps I did get a bit too engrossed in the play of the puzzle. At one point, while I was working and the boys were playing just 6 or 8 feet away from me, I looked up to discover that they had very quietly been standing next to the mouse cage and filling it almost to the top with extra cedar shaving bedding. The mice had already looked up to discover that with greater levels of bedding, chances of escape were greatly improved.

At another point, they had been tossing bouncy balls across the room and disappeared into the other section of the basement. This is where we stack all the garage sale fodder (steadily taking over the basement), ES's drums, and hubby's office and exercise spaces. Alas, it also leads to a small room where the utility equipment and extra freezer are housed.

I pulled myself away from the puzzle too late. They had climbed a pile of salt bags, taken the lid off of the water softener, and thrown salt all over the floor. A few days later, hubby discovered that they had gone a step further than we had realized. They had apparently also unplugged the water softener (our well water is very hard and we began to notice an odor). Yes, I think it is clear, they love to play just as much as I do!

So, tonight after enjoying my day playing around with photos, I decided we would play at dinner preparation. I asked the boys if they would like to have octopuses swimming in blood for dinner (thanks to Megan at Plum Pudding blog for the interesting suggestion). When MS asked how I would make that, I decided to include them in the process.

We chopped up our hot dogs, poked them through with linguine noodles (we discovered that thin spaghetti noodles break too easily while trying to poke them in), and boiled them for 7 minutes. The boys had a blast, even if the hot dogs did look a bit more like porcupines than octopuses.




Can you believe that after all that fun/work, YS proceeded to de-tentacle our fine octopuses and eat the hot dogs plain (the way they normally enjoy them)? It didn't take long before MS was eating them minus the noodles as well. Octopuses and blood ARE cool, just not cool enough to eat. So, a clever idea and great fun to work on together in the kitchen, but not on our menu again in the near future, except if we're merely in the mood to play, which happens now and again.

Sorry Simon, You're No Longer in Charge

Last night, my husband had salmon for dinner. The little boys begged for a bite. Surprisingly, they actually liked the taste of it.

This afternoon I overheard them, playing on the heated porch.

MS: Hey, you weren't supposed to move yet!

YS: Why?

MS: I didn't say "Salmon Says!"

Already Fighting Over Girls

Today was MS's first day back to school (ES is grateful not to return until tomorrow). As we were leaving the building, Andrea and her mother were walking in front of us. MS said good-bye and waved to her repeatedly. When YS tried to also say good-bye to Andrea, MS snapped at him and said, "She's not your friend, she's my friend."

I: "She can be YS's friend, too."

MS: No she can't. He might try to steal her from me.

I: He's not going to be able to steal her. After all, she'd be more likely to pick a boy who is closer to her age. She'd like a boy who is five more than a boy who is three. But he can still be her friend.

MS to YS: I hate to rain on your parade, but she's my girlfriend.

I (chuckling to myself - that boy picks up every phrase he hears!)

YS: No, she's MY girlfriend.

MS: No, she's mine. She wants her boyfriend to be like her in age and she's four so she would want me as her boyfriend.

I: She's only four? I thought she was five, like you.

MS: No, she's four.

I (mentally): Oh brother, just imagine when they are 13 and 15 and fighting over a 14 year old girl! Yikes. Somehow, I'm not so sure MS will have the advantage. Although his personality is charismatic, I wonder if YS will be more attractive to girls.

At least he has his art to fall back on. Once we returned home, MS headed to his art table to create a valentine for Andrea. Knowing she likes the Jonas Brothers (yes, she has an older sister), MS drew all three Jonas brothers (HA!) and then asked me to dictate the spelling for: "Please be my girlfriend."

I feel like I waited the first half of my life for a boyfriend. Yet, here are my sons, at ages 3 and 5, fighting over one girl to be their first girlfriend. Good grief!

The Weekend Was a Bright Beautiful Blur

It seems, these days, that each and every one of my 24 hours is spoken for. My mind is preoccupied with a few gifts that still need purchasing, cookies I hope to bake, Christmas cards or letters I would like to send out (but every photo session is determined to undermine), household management while my (neater than I) husband has a few days off of work, and constant prayers for a peaceful family gathering at my house shortly after Christmas. Thus, I find myself a week late in updating on our whirlwind trip back to DeKalb.

Last weekend, a good friend from my former writer's group, Kyle White, hosted a book signing at the Borders in DeKalb. I decided to bring the two little boys with me, so that I could provide them with memories of the many traditions I used to share with ES at Christmas time, back when we lived in DeKalb.

We had a fabulous time. Such a good time, in fact, that MS claimed on Saturday evening that it had been the "best day of his life." This was especially endearing since the majority of our activities were geared towards appealing to my train-loving YS.

We started with a free carriage ride through downtown DeKalb. This was something we had always tried to fit in when we lived in DeKalb. The last year we were there (Christmas 2005), it was bitterly cold and ES and MS and I huddled together on our supposed "final DeKalb carriage ride." This year, the temperatures were more agreeable.

Next, we waited to enter Santa's little cottage. The boys were overly excited and running up and down the ramp and trying to grab handfuls of snow less than cooperative about standing still in line, as I tried to contact a few friends to arrange visits. I'm glad that we had already visited Santa in Indiana, because a mother and grandmother in line behind us began to pressure me to give up my spot in line because they were scheduled to attend the 2 p.m. showing of the Nutcracker and had decided to quickly squeeze this little visit to Santa in.

If I had been living in DeKalb, I would have happily granted their request, but I was feeling a bit put out since I only had a few mere hours to enjoy the town I still remember fondly as home. Thus, I told them we were under time constraints as well and merely rushed the boys through their visit with Santa. Thankfully, I'm sure the people behind us still made it to the Nutcracker on time.

After Santa, we enjoyed visits, first, with my friend Laura M., and then, with Andy & Renee and their kids. The little boys had a blast. They fed goats at Laura's house and played with her dogs and toys. They also thoroughly enjoying playing with the toys and kids at Andy & Renee's, but did mourn the fact that they couldn't play in their back yard, as we had the last time we visited.

We then headed off to Waterman, Illinois, where for years ES and I attended the annual Halloween and Christmas train rides. A small train runs around the local park, which is decked out in Christmas lights. They have a building where you can warm by the fire, drink hot chocolate, munch popcorn and visit Santa. All of this is offered free of charge (donations accepted inside) and they have always been so friendly and nice (offering blankets for the train ride). I think both boys want to return next October to experience the Halloween train (which also boasts a haunted house).




A tunnel provided shelter from the winds, as well as some indoor train sights:






YS wanted to stand in line again and ride a second time, but we returned to DeKalb, as freezing rain began to come down. We enjoyed our dinner at The Junction Restaurant where the boys were able to watch a small train running along a track above us. They are not practiced or skilled at sit-down restaurant deportment, so I filled their head with the theory that the train stopped when their behavior deteriorated and started up again when they were sitting or eating nicely.


By the time we arrived at Borders, both boys were like whirling dervishes and completely out of control. I tried to talk with Kyle, but the boys were busily wrestling each other on the floor. I then attempted to calm them by shifting them into high backed bar stools near Kyle's daughter, M., who is my ES's age. I was explaining that she knew their older brother.

Soon a boy with long blondish hair came over to stand near M. MS piped up, "Hey Mommy, he looks just like B-----! (ES)" Then, he cracked us all up when he continued, saying, "He smells just like him, too!" Ah, teenage boy odor! Apparently, you can place it anywhere.

What better way to end a night, than an exciting motel experience. Every time I entered the bathroom, they commenced with jumping from bed to bed. When I finally emerged, weary and ready for sleep, they fought over whose bed I would share (ah, if I had been smart, I'd have stuck them in bed together and had a bed to myself, but I was somewhat worried YS might fall off the bed ... instead he kicked me most of the night). "The best day of their lives," indeed.

The next morning we were able to attend our old church. This was such a balm to my soul. The boys thoroughly enjoyed their classes. During the service, we ended up sitting behind a family we used to know from cub scouts and AYSO (soccer). MS managed to sit quietly until he was released for children's church. I was able to greet people without the frazzled look of a woman reigning in wild horses. Moreover, the service was such a blessing. The only part I could have done without?? That would be the time when I was in the foyer saying my farewells and realized that I had lost MS. I found him outside the front door, standing in the front driveway, throwing snowballs at cars. Yikes. Good thing we only get back every once in a while, huh?

Before we left DeKalb, we stopped to visit one more friend, Sandy. She had two dogs as well. I think my MS remembered this because he ran ahead of us to her door. When we left, she said it felt like a tornado had just blown through her house! I replied, "Welcome to my world!"

During our visit at church, I had managed to talk with Kori (who heads up the plans for the annual women's retreat). She encouraged me to come again this February, since it would be the last year that they will hold the retreat at the church (they plan to return to the outings held in retreat settings after this). As much as I enjoyed this opportunity to make memories with my boys, I'm really hoping I can attend their women's retreat in February. Perhaps it will be a beautiful weekend, without so much of the blur. Perhaps, I will return feeling rested, nourished and with memories of therapeutic laughter (like last year).