Stuff Growing

Fish

2012-02-01T15:29:00.005-05:00

The day after Christmas we went to the Aquarium with my mom (Grandma). We met a friend there, too.

The touch tank with sea stars and urchins. I don't think Little Man actually touched anything.

Belugas! One of them is pregnant.

It was otter feeding time.

Sprout and I were watching the penguins play when I saw some familiar faces pop up in the penguin area.

The big tank is the most impressive part of the GA Aquarium. Whale sharks, several types of rays, and some huge, um, something. Fish. Grouper, maybe? First you ride through the tunnel on a moving sidewalk.

Then you can sit in a room at the end and just watch the fish go by.

In the second touch tank, Little Man was able to touch some rays. I also touched a little shark.

Then, the tides turned. (Get it? Ocean pun.) Sprout has his nuk and Little Man has his angry eyes.

The kids ran out of good spirits. We met back up with my friend Amy (who had recently suffered a bicycle accident, but you should've seen the other guy! Okay, the other guy was a car.) and got a couple of photos.

We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets (where, coincidentally, my friend Amy and I used to eat a lot in high school) and called it a day.

Christmas!

2012-01-30T10:25:00.000-05:00

Their first glimpse of the tree!

Sprout is an "a bird in the hand..." kind of kid. He had no interest in the wrapped presents, he just sat in the corner and played with the toys Pop already had out. When we'd open a present for him, he'd sit and play with that until we opened another gift for him.

Actually both boys stopped and played with every toy they opened.

This photo is a keeper, don't you think?

Santa kind of blew it this year. Little Man asked for a Lego Star Wars set and a Lego stuffed animal. Because LM got a Lego Star Wars Advent calendar, Santa didn't get him another Lego Star Wars set. But Santa apparently sort of forgot about the Star Wars stuffed animal (yes, they exist). And yes, Little Man noticed. Ugh.

We got LOTS of new books this year.

That evening we went over to Grandma's house to see Uncle M, Auntie Em, and Eddie. I didn't take very many pictures, but just visualize three little boys and mountains of gifts!

(Do you see Superman sitting at the kids' table?)

Potty Training Experiment

2012-01-27T19:56:00.001-05:00

We're not trying to potty train Sprout yet because he just hasn't shown interest. We do have potty seats so we're prepared, though!

Tonight he said, "I'm poopin' again." So I grabbed him and threw him on the potty. He sat there a few minutes, then said, "I'm not poopin.' Sorry Mommy." So I pulled his pants back up, but didn't put his diaper on. I thought without the diaper he'd at least know when he peed himself. I positioned myself to keep a close eye on him playing.

A few minutes later he came over to me and I noticed that the seat of his pants were a little wet. So I carried him into the bathroom, at which time I noticed that his sock had poop on it. Oh no! No poop in the pants, though.

A quick investigation revealed that a poop had fallen straight out his pants leg, then he stepped in it and walked over to me.

He stayed on the potty while I cleaned up. Because I grabbed him and put him on the potty so suddenly, he was still holding the toy he'd been playing with. Which was a recorder. So he sat on the potty and played us a tune.

When I took him off the potty to put a diaper back on him, he said, "I want an M&M." Me, "Sprout, I'm sorry but you didn't poop on the potty. You pooped in your pants." Sprout: "I pooped on my sock." Indeed you did.

Conversations with Little Man

2012-01-24T09:26:00.000-05:00

This morning on our way into school we passed Dixie's mom (you remember Dixie - Little Man's long-time girlfriend. As an aside, he's no longer going to marry Dixie because a different kid in his class really wants to marry her). After we passed here her, there was this conversation,

Little Man: Sometimes when I get near Dixie, she smells clean.
Me: Oh? Maybe she takes a bath every night. (not like us)
Little Man: No, only sometimes!

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Unrelated, this morning I told Little Man to put his shoes on while I got Sprout's shoes. When I came back, Sprout was putting on Little Man's shoes. Then he strutted around, proud as a peacock, saying "Look at me!" Little Man, in the meantime, was crying real tears that he couldn't wear Sprout's shoes because they would hurt his feet. Sprout his going to destroy him when they're teenagers.

A Quilt

2012-01-24T08:00:00.005-05:00

I keep giving away the quilts I've made without remembering to photograph them. But I got to visit this quilt (and its owner) over Christmas so here we go!

This was the first bundle of fabric I bought. For some reason I never cut into it. Then I decided who it would be for. Then this person had a hospital stay, so I finally cut into the fabric! I was only 3 weeks late for her hospital stay. Not bad, for me.

The front is mainly Amy Butler fabrics, supplemented with some other things I had. The small hummingbirds I bought on sale not knowing what they'd be used for, but I needed the extra yardage for the front of the quilt. So when I saw the large hummingbird fabric at JoAnn's, it seemed perfect!

It's a log cabin quilt, which is a traditional block. The center block is traditionally red (and I used the same fabric with red in it for the center of every block) to represent the heart or hearth of the home. I love the Kona Charcoal fabric I used for the sashing and border.

The quilting was my first attempt at free motion quilting. It's far from perfect, but I think it will hold the quilt together!

First Movie

2012-01-23T13:36:00.001-05:00

We took Sprout to his first movie this weekend! We all went, but Little Man has been to the movie theater before.

We all went to see The Muppets at our local movie theater that gets movies after their first release.

We met another family with a child Sprout's age there. We decided to sit in the balcony so we'd disturb fewer people. Apparently sitting in the balcony is a thing, though, because it was packed. I suspect they had flasks. We didn't. We did, however have yogurt-covered raisins, which got us through the second half of the movie!

The kids did great. Little Man understands that you have to be quiet in the theater. Sprout doesn't, and as I've mentioned before, he has only one volume. So the folks sitting near us (and there were a lot of them - every seat in the balcony was taken!) got to hear, "WHERE ARE THE CHICKENS?!" from time to time. We have a Kermit stuffed animal which I let Little Man bring to the movie. I figured Sprout would want an animal so I brought him Ernie. Which was convenient, because he thought that Walter, the new Muppet that was introduced in this movie, was Ernie.

(no nose)

Christmas Eve

2012-01-21T17:25:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid we went to Pennsylvania every Christmas. Therefore, it wasn't until I was 33 this year that I learned that every Christmas Eve in the neighborhood where I grew up, Santa comes by!

We made pizza for dinner. This always seems like a simple but homemade treat. Then turns out it takes a lot of time in the kitchen and makes a huge mess. Also I accidentally convinced my dad to buy 4 times more cheese than we needed.

We also made cookies! I did chocolate chip and Dad did oatmeal raisin.

A neighbor provided reindeer food, so we were ready for Santa! You might think that Santa ho-ho-hoing through the neighborhood would be exciting for these kids. You'd be wrong. It was just plain scary.

We knew that Sprout would be scared because he was scared of Santa every other time. But we were surprised when Little Man ran into the house and started bawling. He said, "Santa is going to be mad at me!" I think he meant that Santa would be mad that he was still awake (it was after 8:00). But we like to pretend that Little Man got a conscience about his behavior in 2011.

Ultimately we convinced him that Santa wouldn't be mad and we survived.

A little while later I found Little Man checking to see whether there were reindeer eating the food he'd put out.

We did some visiting with a neighbor.

Pop read the Twas the Night Before Christmas,

but someone was a little too wound-up to pay attention.

In all the excitement we forgot to put a Pull-Up on Little Man before bed. He was bunking with my dad, so Pop had to change LM's clothes and sheets at 4 a.m. Then he got to hear the innermost thoughts of a 4-year-old on Christmas morning. "Pop! Do you hear something? Does that sound like reindeer on the roof?"

No I Certainly Do Not

2012-01-05T14:13:00.001-05:00

Warning: potty talk ahead.

Sprout has entered a phase. It's one that I understand will be with him for a very long time. He is fascinated with his penis.

The other day I was changing his diaper and he said, "Mommy has a penis." We talked about it for a minute, and for the rest of the evening he walked around the house alternating, "Mommy has a penis!" with, "Mommy's not a boy!" So I guess I got half the message across.

Then as we were traveling to GA for Christmas (more on Christmas later), we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. It was a weird bathroom - it didn't have stalls but it had 2 toilets with a half-wall between them. I had both boys with me, so Little Man and I each used a toilet. Sprout screamed (because his only volume is loud!), "Mommy! Do NOT go potty! YOU HAVE A PENIS!" Then I heard much giggling coming from outside of the bathroom.

I said quietly, "Sprout! Shh, Mommy does not have a penis!" He said, "Let me see..." and squatted down to check for himself. The two girls were still there waiting for the bathroom when we got out.

Parenthood is not boring!

(eating chocolate pie at Thanksgiving)

Conversations with Little Man

2012-01-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

Little Man is consciously trying to make a proper "L" sound instead of a "W" in its place. For example, "lollypop" instead of "wowwypop." It's really cute right now, though, because he's very intentional about putting the tip of his tongue on the roof of his mouth and it makes a cute exaggerated "Llllll."
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Both kids are worrywarts, especially Sprout. He has actually said, "I don't want the sky to fall down!" He's our very own Chicken Little. They know bears live around here (one showed up at the parking garage of Daddio's work one weekend). So I taught Little Man what to do if he sees a bear (as if a black bear would come near our extremely loud family!) to help fight of the anxiety.

In the car tonight as we were driving through the woods and they were looking for bears,

Me: Little Man, what do you do if you're in the woods and you see a bear?
Little Man: Stand up tall and say, "Hello Mr. Bear, I see you, and now I'm going to walk away."
Me: Right, and then you walk away. Don't run.
Little Man: But if there are two people running, then you only have to be faster than the other guy. Right, Daddy?

Santa Brunch

2011-12-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

We went to Santa Brunch again this year. As with our earlier encounter with Santa, only Little Man wanted to chat with him. Sprout was NOT interested.

Last year we were impressed partially because they had one buffet table with all kids' favorites: mac & cheese, chicken fingers, cookies. This year they didn't have that. The kids still had plenty to eat, but we were looking forward to that.

But, they did still have the chocolate fountain.

The boys had fun looking at all the Christmas trees decorated by local businesses and groups. And once Santa's work was done, they tried on his seat for size.

Because They're Growing Too Fast

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

The kids are about to outgrow these shirts so we put them in them one more time.

Christmas Tree Shopping

2011-12-23T22:22:00.001-05:00

We visited the same Christmas tree farm again this year. Here's our benchmark picture! Last year on the left, this year on the right.

Last year top, this year bottom.

Sprout was traumatized by the tree shaker (that's the technical term) because it was too loud.

We took a tractor ride.

Captain Chocolate Mouth has an aversion to the camera. This is about the best we can get from him.

Browsing:

I look like the Christmas tree farm version of American Gothic in this last one.

This one looks just about the right size...

Is that a Claus child?

We found "the one!"

Last Soccer Game

2011-12-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

Back in November we finished up our last game of the fall soccer season.

The boy has flair.

We happened to know a kid on the other team - it was one of the families we went "camping" with later that day!

End of season medal ceremony.

We also ran into a friend from school. Aren't they cute?

We Hiked - Nobody Died

2011-12-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

A couple weekends ago Daddio wanted to go for a hike. Because I'm a wonderful wife and a good sport, we loaded up the car and headed to a trail we hadn't been on before.

We got to the parking lot and weren't sure which side of the road the trailhead was on. But as we sat there I saw a man coming out of the woods across the street. He was wearing camo and blaze-orange. I told Daddio there was a hunter, so we weren't going that way. He said, "That's not a hunter, he's just dressed that way." Me: "And carrying a gun." So we knew the trailhead was on our side of the road!

When we got to the start, I was really sure Daddio said, "One point eight miles." I said, "Okay!" and off we went.

This was the first hike I've done where there are ladders to climb in order to get over fences and through private property. There was a nice wide stream that would be fun to walk through in the summer, and we discovered osage oranges.

After the stream, the hike gets a little less nice. You cross into the property of a mining company and can see and hear the cement (concrete? what's the difference?) factory in the valley.

Then you start going up. This section is too steep for switchbacks, so you just go straight up. Daddio told Sprout, "We're going straight up!" Sprout said, "I'm okay." We weren't concerned about you, kid. I took these photos on the way down, looking back up. Daddio decided to run down.

See the blue dot at the top? That's Daddio.

Sprout was not convinced that running down the mountain was the right choice.

Then the switchbacks resumed, but it was still up up up. At one point I said, "One point eight miles! That's what it said! It's definitely been one point eight miles!!" Daddio said, "No, it's two point eight miles." Argh.

But finally, we arrived.

And we were able to rectify the blood sugar situation with some gummies. And real food, too.

I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of my children being on heights. Any time either of them would try to stand up, I'd pretty much pounce on them. At one point we were walking right along the side of the cliff. No good.

Everybody say it with me now, "SIT DOWN!!!"

Little Man is sitting next to the USGS plaque telling us where we were.

Then we had 2.8 miles to go back down. Only the long stretch of downhill that we hadn't really noticed on the way up turned into a long stretch of uphill right at the end. It was brutal; even Daddio complained.

On the way home we stopped at a convenience store to get drinks for the grown-ups and hot dogs for the kids. Sprout was so tired (plus he hadn't gotten any exercise so he wasn't as hungry as the rest of us) he just sat there and held his hot dog, plus about 4 other things in his hands.

Me: Eat your hot dog. Want me to hold your nuk?
Sprout: No, you can't hold my nuk.
Me: Want me to hold your water?
Sprout: No, you can't hold my water.
Me: Want me to hold your blankie?
Sprout: No, you can't hold my blankie.
(pause)
Sprout: Mama, wanna hold my hot dog?
Me: Okay, can I hold your hot dog?
Sprout: No, you can't hold my hot dog.

This is the 2-year-old version of a joke.

Town Christmas

2011-12-13T16:12:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Claus was a new addition this year!

One of my favorite days in our town is the Christmas celebration. Santa comes to our old movie theater...

Sprout was NOT interested in talking to Santa, but Little Man asked him for a Lego Star Wars set and a Star Wars stuffed animal. He told Santa that his little brother would like a Thomas playset.

Actually Little Man's Advent calendar is Lego Star Wars, so Santa may not honor that request with more Lego Star Wars under the tree.

Sprout's favorite part was the lady handing out elf lollypops afterwards (he likes to wear his gloves all the time).

As we walked up the hill to the Farmer's Market, Sprout kept saying, "I NOT say 'hi' to Santa! I NOT say 'hi' to Santa!"

They ran around like maniacs until Daddio met us. When Daddio asked about Santa, Sprout said, "Santa's beard! Fall off!" It didn't fall off, but maybe Sprout has a sixth sense about facial hair.

We went to one of my favorite local restaurants and my dinner was completely inedible. I sent it back, which was a first for me. I can only assume that the 2nd plate of tacos they sent me had been licked in retribution. It's cool, I had a flu shot.

Here we are waiting for the Christmas parade to begin. It was fabulous as always. Little Man actually remembered that last year three police motorcycles started the parade, and this year there was only one.

Not Why You're Here

2011-12-11T16:20:00.000-05:00

I know you don't come here to see our 33-year-old mugs, but Daddio and I went to a football game at UVA this season. Here we are!

Thomas Jefferson is standing on my head.

It was a beautiful day for football, and we won. Definitively.

Joke Time

2011-12-02T13:20:00.001-05:00

Little Man's attempt at the "orange you glad I didn't say banana" joke.

Little Man: Knock Knock
Us: Who's there?
Little Man: Banana
Us: Banana who?
Little Man: Knock Knock
Us: Who's there?
Little Man: Banana
Us: Banana who?
Little Man: Knock Knock
Us: Who's there?
Little Man: Banana orange that I didn't say.

Happy Halloween!

2011-12-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Daddio got home from out of town after dinner on October 30 and I informed him it was time to carve the pumpkin! He was obviously thrilled at my timing.

Sprout and Little Man were huge helps. Mostly they worked on eating our autumny treats. YUM. Caramel apples and caramel corn (most of these went to the kids' teachers. We buy their love. Or at least their tolerance.)

On THE BIG DAY we went to "Trunk or Treat" at our church. Sprout seemed to think that to get new candy, he had to trade in the old candy. More than once he put a partially-eaten piece of candy in someone's candy basket so he could take more.

Our friends M*, I*, and A* came over for supper (and their parents, too!).

(I made I* and A*'s pumpkin costumes a few years ago, the same year I made Sprout's dinosaur costume). I think with some Photoshop skills we could make all 5 kids look good!

We took our kids out to a few houses in the neighborhood so neighbors who know the boys could see them.

For a while I had Sprout convinced that there was no candy unless he wore the hat. I am an evil genius mother.

Musical

2011-11-29T08:05:00.000-05:00

Yesterday on the way home from school Van Morrison came on Daddio's iPod.

Little Man: This isn't rock & roll!
Daddio: No?
Little Man: Is this the reds?
Daddio: Huh?
Little Man: No no, is this the greens?
Daddio: Oh, the blues!

Chocolate

2011-11-24T20:32:00.000-05:00

We were eating Thanksgiving dinner tonight and Sprout and I were going back and forth, "Thank you." "Thank you." Thank you" "Thank YOU!"

Little Man said, "He always imitates us." I told Little Man that that's why we have to say nice things, so Sprout learns nice things to say.

Little Man thought about it for a minute, then said, "Sprout, your pants are made of chocolate."

I guess that's a nice thing to say!

A Very Roanoke Afternoon

2011-11-24T13:56:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty fall Saturday with no plans so we headed to Roanoke and had "A Very Roanoke Afternoon."

First we briefly visited the art museum because it was free that Saturday. Preschoolers and art museums don't really go well together, but one funny thing is that Little Man asked us if everything was art. "Is that bench art, or can I sit on it?

Soon we left and lunched at Fork in the Alley. The boys had pizza which was pretty good, but Daddio and I both had sandwiches that were very delicious. Conveniently, Bubblecake is a cupcake bakery right in front of Fork in the Alley! Daddio tried to convince me that it wasn't open, but I cannot be fooled.

Daddio and I split one "grasshopper" mint oreo cupcake and one "fallen souffle" fudgey brownie cupcake. Mmm. The boys had an "old school" vanilla with chocolate frosting.

Then we headed to the main attraction, the Mill Mountain Zoo!

It's a jackalope!

Daddio was very excited that they have a wolverine.

The zoo has a family of red pandas. Mommy, Daddy, and a cub.

(Daddio took more pictures of the critters than the humans we had with us. Here's an otter.)

Some pythons:

Cats and dogs:

We took the very quick train ride.

They have this slide that they built on top of a rock. So it seems. Then you realize it's really a climbing rock with fake fossils. And there's no ladder on the back.

I think this was invented by men. Men who don't have kids.

Ta Da!

Sprout couldn't climb up the rock but there were some other climbing apparatuses.

And here's the Roanoke star.

"Camping"

2011-11-13T17:32:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we went "camping" for a night with two other families. A church group of elementary school boys had a lake house reserved on Friday, and since the other two families help with that group, we got the house on Saturday. Indoor camping is just our speed!

I didn't take many pictures, but we had a campfire and s'mores.

The kids (9 total: ages 11, 8, 6, 6, 4, 4, 3, 2, and 0) got to bunk together in the dorm-style rooms, which made bedtime a bit rough but eventually they did all sleep.

On Day 2 we slept in... HA! First day of the time change, strange place, and friends to play with. We did NOT sleep in. We had breakfast and soon enough 2/4 of the kids in one of the other families melted down so they headed home. Those of us remaining went for a walk.

Sprout was being 2. "Carry meeeeee!"

Little Man thinks he found the coolest nature item.

I don't know if it's the hand-me-down shirt or the hair, but my brain has trouble accepting which child this is. This is Sprout getting a shoulder-ride.

We found a pretty Baptist camp and used their resources.

The way home was hilly so there were shoulder rides all around!

My Sprout

2011-11-12T23:28:00.000-05:00

Man, I just love 2-year-olds. Sprout is picking things up so quickly and is a ton of fun (when he's not grumpy; he's still grumpy a lot).

This morning we were horsing around in bed and he accidentally punched me in the eye. I cried out and he got the upside-down U frown that he's had since he was a baby. Perfect little sad rainbow mouth. I told him I was fine, it was an accident, Mommy is fine. Finally he said, upset, "I hit Mommy!" I guess this story doesn't translate well into words, I just want to remember his rainbow frown that he's always had.

Sprout doesn't sleep with covers - we have to sneak back in at night and cover him because he won't fall asleep with covers on. So tonight I put him in footie pajamas for the first time this season. He was kind of fascinated with them.

There is, of course, no way to take a good picture of constant-motion man.

And you know Little Man had to get in on the photos.

Conversations with Little Man

2011-11-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

Several months ago, back in June I think, we met Uncle J and Aunt L for dinner. As soon as we got there, Little Man noticed that Uncle J was already there, but not Aunt L.

Little Man: Where is Aunt L?
Uncle J: She's still at work.
Little Man, reflecting on this information: Hmmm. So the engineer is already here, but the teacher is still at work.

Baby Shower

2011-11-02T23:37:00.000-04:00

I guess it's time to post about this baby shower since the baby we showered arrived today! (We have a new nephew/ cousin!)

The guest of honor (Aunt L, Daddio's brother's wife) and me:

The nursery is Dr. Seuss themed so I swiped the theme for the shower. The favor was Red Fish/ Blue Fish and Green Egg soaps. The "tablecloth" under the gifts is a shower curtain, which next will be repurposed as curtains for our playroom.

Food! My mother-in-law and I made most of it (and I have to say it was TASTY), but the local bakery/ coffee shop provided the mini cupcakes. A friend made the cute Dr. Seuss garland behind the food.

The gang!

The men did man things while we showered.

Sprout Speak

2011-11-02T11:22:00.000-04:00

Little Man was incredibly excited about Halloween, but Sprout of course had no idea what was coming his way. But by the end of the night when he was all sugared up, he was a wild man.

He told Daddio that he was a "poopy dinosaur." As Daddio was changing his diaper, he said "Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy Party Time!"

Then after we put them to bed (both in Sprout's room as they're sharing right now), Sprout was throwing his sock monkey out of his crib. Little Man picked it up for him once. When the screaming continued I came in and picked it up for him again and told him that's it, nobody is picking up the monkey again. Eventually Daddio went in and Sprout was screaming, "Little Man, get my MONKEY!"

(Little Man is a great sleeper. He can be dead to the world within minutes of hitting the pillow. So great in fact, that he often doesn't wake up when his bladder is full, which is why he's sleeping in the twin bed in Sprout's room. It takes Sprout 30+ minutes to fall asleep, even without candy and a roommate. It also takes him a while to wake up before he's ready to get out of bed.)

Spidey

2011-11-02T11:16:00.000-04:00

I didn't plan to get the boys' pictures in Halloween costumes with our professional pictures this year because Little Man's costume is 100% polyester and from Target. Sigh. But he begged so his reward for cooperating with the photo shoot was costume pictures.

He's quite pleased with himself as Spidey.

NYC - Happy Anniversary to Us!

2011-11-01T08:00:00.006-04:00

Daddio and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in September, so we (mostly Daddio) planned a trip to NYC for the weekend. My mom came to take care of the boys.

10 years later!

We took the train from DC. My first time traveling by rail! I'm sure the business travelers appreciated our photo-taking and chatting.

And of course it was absolutely pouring. But you can't squander a weekend in NYC, so we just got wet. We made it to our hotel then headed out to Katz's Deli for lunch. Soup and the most incredible corned beef sandwiches.

Then we pursued dryness. FAO Schwarz is dry! For $100 you can design your own Muppet! We didn't but I was excited anyway. See the people behind me building Muppets?

I think we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping (but not buying) because it's dry in stores. Hooray for stores. We did buy 2 ponchos.

Friday night we had dinner at an Italian restaurant, La Masseria, in the theater district,

which was very very delicious and wonderful. The Sunday Sauce was amazing. Then we headed to...

Wicked! I've had the soundtrack for years but have never seen it!

We got there about 30 minutes early and were right in the middle, so we had to climb over this family of 8 or 10 to our left. They didn't even move their feet to try and make room for us. It was ridiculous. And it became problematic when I made a poor choice at intermission.

I chose the wrong ladies' room. (Dun dun dunnnnnnnn!) When we heard the overature for the 2nd act begin there were still 20 women in front of me in line. But I couldn't make it through the 2nd act otherwise. The heavy NY food was giving me heartburn so I drank a lot of water at dinner (I suppose that was Poor Choice #1). So we had to climb over these 10 people again, this time DURING the 2nd act. They were peeved. And of course they didn't attempt to make it easier on us. Feet were stepped on. Daddio informed me later that the back of my dress was dragging on the heads of everyone in the row in front of us. UGH. It bothered me for about 10 minutes then I realized that I, too, spent $140 a ticket for this experience and I wasn't going to let inconveniencing these people for 20 seconds ruin my show!

And what a show it was! I knew it'd be great, but had no idea from the soundtrack how hilarious the Galinda character is! I'm pretty sure I was shedding happy tears during "Defying Gravity."

And, since it's the City that Never Sleeps, we headed to Times Square after the show. It's actually a really neat place! The street is closed so tourists are free to wander through town.

M&M's!

In my purse I carried - flip flops for after the show (so in this photo, my heels are in the purse), an umbrella, our camera, lots of event tickets and paper maps (because we only have dumb phones, no smart phones with maps), plus all my normal purse stuff.

Then we headed off to visit a bar we heard was cool. We got there at midnight and saw that they were closed for a private party. But people we leaving so we thought our timing might be perfect - they would reopen to the public. But no. This bar, in NYC, closes at midnight. On a Friday. In THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS! Major bummer!

Saturday morning we met some college friends for brunch at Clinton Street Baking Co. I bought the cookbook as soon as we got home. We'll call it a souvenir even though I got it on Amazon. Everything was delicious and we got to explore the Lower East Side while we waited for our table.

I mentioned that we'd ridden the subway a lot but hadn't seen any rats. Phil said "How could you NOT see rats?" which I took as a challenge. He was right - we started paying attention and rats are everywhere.

Maureen happened to know that there was a St. Somebody festival in the Little Italy nearby. We enjoyed a little taste of local NY life.

We couldn't eat any of these cannoli. Why? Because we had lunch reservations. For 3 hours after we ate brunch.

We're Chef Anthony Bourdain fans - we like his show "No Reservations" and both recently read the book that started his TV career, "Kitchen Confidential." So we ate at the restaurant where he's Chef at Large and where he was cooking at when he wrote the book - Les Halles. I was overwhelmed by food by this point in our trip but Daddio was very pleased. Bourdain claims they have the best frites (french fries) anywhere, and they were very good.

We got a little more walking in. Look! It's my employer!

And did a very brief visit to 30 Rock, home of NBC,

before heading to our main activity for the day, the Yankees/ Red Sox game!

At this point, the wisdom of a couple with 2 full-time jobs and 2 small children taking a vacation to NYC to RELAX was put into question. 5+ miles of walking each day on little sleep was more than I could handle.

I fell asleep AT the Yankees game. Sitting in the bleachers (no seat backs) with a fun crowd against their biggest rival, and I was doing the eyes closed, head-dropping, sleeping sitting up thing. I wasn't hungry (UGH) but had to send Daddio to get me caffeine and sugar. He took so long that I considered going to First Aid in the hopes that they'd let me nap on their stretcher. I'm not making this up.

After some ice cream and soda I rallied. Yankees won. And it wasn't raining! But I had 2 ponchos in my purse just in case.

Nick Swisher was a favorite. He interacts a lot with the Bleacher Creatures. In fact Daddio bought the boys Yankees teddy bears as souvenirs and one of them we got with a #33 jersey.

We'd tentatively planned to get pizza at Patsy's but were too tired. So we took the subway back to our hotel and crashed. Eventually Daddio ordered us Chinese food and we headed back out. When in New York...

Maureen and Phil told us about their favorite bar but it was so far away from where we were going to be Saturday night. But! Then they remembered that it has a sister bar right near our hotel! Apparently there's something of a speakeasy movement in NYC. This place, called Dutch Kills in Long Island City (just across the bridge from Manhattan), was super-cool. There's a menu but we'd been advised to ignore it. Instead we each told the bartender the type of drink we were in the mood for and she came up with something for us. It was a great way to end our anniversary trip.

Sunday morning we headed straight for Penn Station. Unfortunately the subways run on different schedules on the weekend and it's hard for visitors to know what to do. We'd already stood and waited probably 15 minutes for any southbound train to come, then a local let me know we wouldn't be able to go the way we were planning to. She helped us out and gave us a route, but we weren't going to make it. So we got to have the full NYC transportation experience when we ditched the subway and jumped in a cab. Money well spent! We made our train.

Halloween 2011: Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning arrived along with a "wintry mix," so I was afraid we wouldn't get a family trip to the pumpkin patch this year. But the sun showed its face after naptime so late in the afternoon we headed out to the farm.

Ready! Or so we thought.

We found this little pumpkin snowman that someone built.

Then the sun hid behind a cloud, the wind picked up, and by October standards it was stinkin' cold. Just hurry and pick one!

Here they come, apparently back from Siberia, where they found this pumpkin that Little Man named "Georgie."

Brr.

After a quick stop for coffee and heat in the shop (where both boys BEGGED for ice cream but were denied by me) we went to greet the animals.

"Moooo."

Seeing the calf reminded me of coming here when Little Man was 1 1/2. He didn't say much at the time but on the drive home he said, "Woah. Baby Cow."

Huge draft horse!

There was an ear of dried corn which we used to feed some of the animals. You're not allowed to feed the pigs, though. Probably because they're pigs. See the donkey in the picture of Daddio feeding the horse? "I can.... almost.... reach!"

When we got home we seized the season and had hot chocolate and pumpkin pancakes.

With chocolate chips.

Field Trip

2011-10-30T12:00:00.000-04:00

I had the opportunity to chaperone Sprout's field trip to the pumpkin farm earlier this month. It was quite a hoot being in a van with 9 chatty 2-year-olds!

I don't know why they're all so worried here.

I'm not worried!

This cow came to check out the activity, then apparently realized, "2-year-olds?! I'm outta here!" and RAN away from our group.

Punkins!

The little redhead also has an older brother in Little Man's class.

The kids were able to meet the local horses,

Then we lunched and headed home.

Now I just need to chaperone one of Little Man's field trips so we'll be EVEN again. They're keeping track already.

Postapalooza

2011-10-29T22:43:00.000-04:00

I just downloaded 108 pictures from our camera. Get ready for Postapalooza 2011 over the next week. Here's a sneak peek.

And a picture of the boys to tide you over even though LM is making a weird face:

Soccer

2011-10-29T20:44:00.000-04:00

We're in our 2nd season of preschool soccer with Little Man. Between last fall and this fall something clicked in him and he just "gets it." He's very intense and competitive. He listens to his coach and focuses on the game.

We've been doing a little practicing at home.

For preschool soccer they practice and have a game at the same time (which is GREAT). His coach this season was a college soccer player and has 2 kids on the team; he is good at keeping the kids engaged and learning.

This little goofball came with us. It's a full time job keeping track of him at a soccer game. See him wandering up the hill for the playground, hoping we wouldn't notice?

Last week's game was the first game where they had some competition. If you'll allow me a moment to brag on my kid, most other games it was pretty much the Little Man show. He is so intense and enjoys it so much, and in all game he scored several goals (sometimes he scored the ONLY goals for either team).

But last week, there were 4 or 5 kids as intense as Little Man out there, so it was him and a swarm of yellow shirts on the ball. There was an early play where a couple of kids pulled Little Man to the ground.

And that was the moment that I became Soccer Mom Who Yells at Other People's Kids. Actually there were several times LM got knocked down. And as a stickler for the rules (especially other people following the rules!) he let every adult he could find know that, "If you push, you're OUT!" At the very end of the game he was standing on the sideline trying to get the opposing coach's attention to tattle on other kids. We'll work on that!

Waiting their turn:

He seems to have some athlete superstitions. He realized the game started without his VT gloves on. When I put them on him, he said, "NOW I'm fast!"

Working hard for the money:

His last game was supposed to be today but was postponed to next week due to a "wintry mix."

My Computer Wallpaper

2011-10-28T09:08:00.000-04:00

The Sproutlet

2011-10-27T15:50:00.000-04:00

He's 2, but I like him anyway.

I've already shown you this one, but I can't leave it alone.

So there we are, surrounded by green grass and brick buildings and big trees. And he lays down on a lichen-covered piece of concrete with rebar sticking out of it. Why?

I don't want to wear this stinkin' costume!

This hat is absolutely infuriating!

I'm not going to be cute. I'm just going to eat my lollypop (pepop) and mope.

Nice try kid, but you're cute even when you're moping.

Peanut Butter & Jelly

2011-10-25T09:42:00.000-04:00

While the boys were eating breakfast this morning:

Little Man: Peanut butter comes from peanuts.
Me: Yep, and what does jelly come from?
Little Man: Jelly beans!

Jump!

2011-10-24T15:28:00.003-04:00

One...

Two...

Three!

Sprout Speak

2011-10-21T15:30:00.000-04:00

It's hard to know when to stop changing clothes in front of an opposite-gender child. On one hand, I do not want to teach my kids that our bodies are something to be ashamed of or hidden. On the other hand, I want them to be appropriately sensitive about others' private parts and modest with their own. This is why our kids know the real names of their body parts. But for some reason the word for "nipple" has been hard for Sprout to remember. The other day he was walking around without a shirt (his favorite way to be), pointing at his nipple and saying, "This is just my penis."

This morning Sprout let me know it's time to stop changing clothes in front of him. For my own benefit, not his. Sprout is not a morning person so to help appease him after breakfast I let him come upstairs with me while I got dressed to take them to school. I tried to be alone in the closet but of course he had to cram himself in there with me, and when I took off my pajama shirt he pointed and said, "That's a hippopotamus?!"

Little Man

2011-10-17T09:59:00.000-04:00

This is a seriously photogenic kid.

Checking out acorns.

My favorite of him this time! Something about the angle and the colors makes me remember the feeling of spinning around then falling down on the grass, and not knowing which was was up.

The lollypops were more necessary bribery for Sprout, but I do like this picture of Little Man chillin'.

Sprout Speak: Jesus Edition

2011-10-15T20:04:00.000-04:00

Sprout has this gift to recognize every religious book in our house, and he loudly (because that's the only way he knows how to talk) says, "I'M READIN' JESUS!"

He also learned "Jesus Loves Me" at church and sometimes sings that. Daddio said that earlier today he was walking around the house READIN' JESUS, then he shut himself in the bathroom. He loves to close doors but sometimes can't open them, so he was then stuck in the bathroom. After a little bit he said, "Jesus! Where are you?!"

More of my Superheros

2011-10-13T20:41:00.001-04:00

Being 2: (Not the fun 2, the "NO!" 2)

Maybe I'll look, but I won't smile.

Celebrity Dopplegangers

2011-10-12T12:00:00.001-04:00

And the cool guy:

And here's both these photos in color, if you prefer.

I'm impressed with Little Man's moves, but I'm really quite in love with this picture of Sprout.

Fall Photos

2011-10-11T21:26:00.000-04:00

We're so lucky that the mother of one of Little Man's classmates is a photographer with experience in little boys! We had a quick session with her last week.

I'm going to spread out the joy over several posts, but I'll give you a sneak peek of the happiness today.

Hershey Park

2011-10-05T09:43:00.001-04:00

Back in June when we were visiting family in PA we made a stop at Hershey Park. The boys surprised me as typically cautious Little Man loved the rides and our relative daredevil Sprout was miserable for most of the day.

Case in point was our first ride, the merry-go-round. Little Man is about to burst from happiness, and Sprout is trying to escape from the apparently terrifying horse.

Even on the Ferris Wheel, Sprout was screaming "Down!" the whole time. I guess it's a little hard to explain to a toddler that we're supposed to be way up in the air in a tiny car, swinging in the breeze. Just seems wrong. (In the background is an AWESOME water park that we didn't get to do that day.)

One great thing about Hershey Park is their kid swap policy for families with little kids. We stood in line for a roller coaster, then one adult was able to go while one parent stood with the kids, then the next parent was able to get on the very next coaster. And since school was still in session in PA, the park wasn't crowded so standing in line amounted to about 5 minutes.

Another cool thing about Hershey is that they are pretty liberal on what size person is allowed to go on each ride. All 4 of us actually went on the full-sized log flume. That was entertaining, especially to Daddio, because Sprout was screaming bloody murder before we even got in the boat. The employees seemed worried but we were all smiles. "He's fine! No problem!" The official photo (which we didn't buy) of our boat going down is pretty hilarious. Little Man looks a bit concerned. I have my typical rollercoaster screaming/ grinning face on, Sprout is absolutely terrified, and Daddio is laughing hysterically.

All the other kids are behind him because, as Little Man said, "It's a race. I'm winning." Sprout says, "I wanna fwing!"

Little Man was big enough to go on some of the adult spinning rides. Mommio here no longer goes on spinning rides. I did not learn this gracefully and accept it easily, because I LOVE spinning rides. I also love roller coasters. I accepted it only after barfing into a garbage can at the State Fair.

So it was Daddio's job to go on the big spinning rides.

This goes much higher, and you can control the up/down with the wing in front. Barf.

He loved it!

We left the park at around 10 p.m. I can see how people spend several days in Hershey, because there was so much more to do! We did make sure to pick up THE BEST KETTLE CORN EVER on our way out of the park.

See Little Man's glow bracelets? Mom of the year right here had them in our backpack, so the kids sat in the back of the car, ate popcorn, glowed, and slept all the way home.

My favorite photo of the day:

Sprout Speak

2011-10-02T20:27:00.000-04:00

Sprout was fussy and not eating much at dinner tonight. Then he started saying, "I wanna sit in time out" over and over. I tried to ignore him but eventually let him down from his highchair and told him to go to time out.

He sat down on the step, then said, "I'm 'bout to cry." I'd told Little Man to ignore him but when he started a fake wail Little Man and I both got the giggles. Then when Sprout was done with his pity party, he got up and said, "I wanna tackle Mommy." Then he was fine. Although he never did eat dinner.

Community Week

2011-09-30T21:55:00.000-04:00

I just learned today that this was "community week" in Sprout's classroom. As a culmination, they had some guests from the community come in today.

First was a member of the National Guard (who is also the husband of Sprout's teacher).

Then, the intern who is with them every day is also a football player, so he brought a helmet.

I've been told that this guy James has the honor of patting Sprout to sleep at nap time, and Sprout gazes up at him and says, "James, you have a beard."

Family Reunion

2011-09-29T10:30:00.000-04:00

Back in July (yes, 2+ months ago) we went to my family reunion in Delaware. ("Hi. We're in Delaware.") It was Daddio, the boys and me, plus my dad, my brother, and my nephew E*. We amazingly found a bed & breakfast that had rooms that were just perfect for us!

It was, as usual, 154 degrees out the weekend of the party. And a little bit humid. This is what happened to my camera when I walked outside:

That's Little Man and Sprout on a swing. Trust me.

We bathed the 3 cousins before the reunion. Why? I don't know.

We did some swinging at our B&B, too.

Shortly after this I intervened on behalf of my nephew to have shorts put on him. 105 degrees and denim aren't necessarily a good combination.

This little dude was afraid of the swing.

I didn't actually take any photos at the reunion. But my cousin took a few, so here they are!

The pool was SO warm. Might as well just bring in your shampoo.

It's been a few years since we had this reunion so it was great to see everyone!

Deer

2011-09-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

Little Man has seen Bambi many times, as it's stuck in our VCR. I was nervous the first time through when Bambi's mother was killed by hunters. But although he seemed to understand, he wasn't bothered.

I wasn't completely sure he understood that she was shot and truly dead, except then one time we were watching it together and he said, "Are the hunters eating Bambi's mom now?" I guess he gets it.

One day recently we were driving home and he said,
LM: Mama, when are you and I going to hunt for deer?
Me: Well, some people like hunting, and some people never learned how to hunt. Like us.
LM: Well I learned how to hunt at school.

Recently my dad was here and we were watching Bambi again.
Pop: Little Man, does Bambi make you sad at some parts?
Little Man: Why? Because it's boring?

You may also recall that he at one point thought that beef came from pandas and had no problem with it. I'm pretty sure he's not a future PETA member.

Forgotten Birthdays

2011-09-26T10:29:00.000-04:00

We had some birthdays this summer that I never told you about. Daddio requested this favorite cake again on his day.

Sprout had a Paula Deen Pig Pickin' cake (no pigs were harmed in the making of this cake) during our Tennessee vacation. Generally speaking I don't use boxed cake mix and Cool-Whip. But this cake is pretty fantastic!

His favorite gift was the Thomas set that Little Man picked out for him.

Eventful Journey

2011-09-06T10:54:00.000-04:00

After our Tennessee vacation in July, Daddio, Sprout, Uncle J and Aunt L drove north back home while Little Man and I drove south for Camp Grandparent.

There's no good way to get from Pigeon Forge to Atlanta, so our route was scenic. Or at least rural. Towards the beginning of our journey we stopped at a scenic overlook in the border of Tennessee and North Carolina.

There was a stone structure (courtesy of the Vanderbilts, I think) that let you see the valley on the other side of the highway.

We did a little more exploring, and technically went on the Appalachian Trail.

After this stopoff our trip got more eventful than we would have hoped. My car wouldn't start. Full tank of gas, wasn't running hot, nothing. Just wouldn't start. I asked a motorcyclist to see if he could help me figure it out. He didn't help, but I couldn't freak out quite as much with him standing there so that was something. Eventually it started but was idling really low so I just hit the road, afraid it'd stall.

Plus every mileage - every one! - on the directions I'd gotten from the internet was wrong. If it said 10 miles, it was 20. So a couple of times I had to stop to ask directions but couldn't cut off the engine, so I'd run into the gas station, engine running, one eye on the car to make sure nobody stole it or Little Man or both.

Eventually Little Man had to go to the bathroom. I pulled over to a gas station but we couldn't go in so I stood him behind the van in the grass.
Little Man: But Mama, I have to poop!
Me: Sorry, back in the car!

At one point I called Daddio and yelled, "I need a smartphone and a new car!!" I didn't get either but I did call the insurance company and sign up for roadside assistance.

Eventually we got to Grandma's house, both needing the bathroom and at least one of us rather frazzled.

Art

2011-09-04T20:47:00.000-04:00

More pictures from Sprout's 1-year-old teachers.

They do a lot of different projects at our daycare, like seeing what happens with different textures:

Or techniques:

But they have told us that he doesn't like messy art.

It looks like he got into it eventually!

In Motion

2011-08-29T16:38:00.000-04:00

The reason you've been seeing old pictures of Sprout lately is because he won't be still long enough for me to get a current photo.

The other day he was wearing a hat and he just looked so very TWO, so I got out the camera. I captured such gems as these from constant-motion Sprout:

Or, from big brother who wants only silly pictures, these:

This is pretty much the best of the bunch:

I did get these two gems, though!

Another Lefty?

2011-08-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

Am I going to be another lefty?

Or a righty? (Look at those eyelashes!)

Lefty.

Nah, maybe a righty.

He's keeping us guessing so far.

Hat

2011-08-25T09:32:00.000-04:00

Sprout's teacher gave me many photos from his year in the 1-year-old room this week. It's great to get a sneak peek into his days.

Conversations with Little Man

2011-08-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Daddio just put on the Braves game which reminded me of this sports-related Little Man funny from my family reunion.

We got into a room with a bunch of cousins and Little Man asked me to tell him everyone's name.

Me: The guy with a beard is my cousin Jamie...
Little Man: Did he used to play baseball?

LM thought my cousin was Brian Wilson, pitcher for the SF Giants.

The Rivah

2011-08-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

Friends came to visit last weekend. The original plan involved an overnight canoe trip for some of us, but when reality set in that we have 4 kids under 4, plans were scaled-down. We did get to visit the river, though. (Please just imagine that my children are wearing Coast Guard-approved life jackets in all these photos.)

Bathing beauties.

My baby and me.

There was a splash war.

Friends.

This little friend was sitting under his "big" sister during a spaghetti dinner. He's laid-back about it all, though.

We had s'mores.

Departure breakfast.

A Good Man

2011-08-11T08:00:00.003-04:00

One funny thing about Little Man is that he's very observant about appearances.

A couple of weeks ago I got my hair cut and Little Man noticed immediately (and first - Daddio just got a sheepish look on his face when he was outed by a 4-year-old). He said, "Mama, your hair doesn't look like your hair." Not quite a compliment, but I'll take it.

This morning Daddio was getting ready for work and LM said, "You look handsome in your tie, Daddy!"

Then this morning at daycare Sprout's teacher's hair was styled differently and Little Man commented on it immediately. Then he pointed to one of the 2-year-olds and said, "Elizabeth [a girl in his class] has that outfit!"

Hiking in the Smokies

2011-08-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

While we were in TN, the four of us went for a hike. There were some hikes near our cabin that were PACKED. Truly 100 cars next to the trail-head. But we found a less popular hike and almost had the place to ourselves.

Again with the rocky streams - we had several little log bridges to cross.

And balance beams.

The destination was a waterfall, and here again you will see our using the flash over-exposes but not using the flash makes them out-of-focus problem. (you can also tell who took each photo because Daddio prefers over-exposed and I prefer out-of-focus).

Now would probably be a good time to mention Sprout's fat lip. He's old enough now that the boys mess around in the car. Play tug-of-war with a blankie, what have you. This day on the way to the waterfall Little Man whipped his baseball cap at Sprout and Sprout started SCREAMING. We still have him rear-facing in the car so we couldn't see the problem (LM claimed he hit him in the arm) until we stopped. Big fat lip.

Hi. We're at a waterfall. (Can you spot Sprout in that photo?)

Quick snack break!

And we're off!

Bedtime Stories

2011-08-10T10:17:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago Little Man convinced me to do made-up bedtime stories. This is not my forte as I'm not really creative, so all my stories sound pretty similar. It's like Mad Libs.

Once Upon a Time, there was a big bad _______________. He liked to go around the world and make trouble by doing _______________. One day, he decided to come to Our Town to do ___________ because THERE ARE NO SUPERHEROS IN OUR TOWN! At which point Little Man gets all excited and goes, "Oh yes there are!" Then together we decide how our superhero family will defeat the bad guy. One night when I was telling the story LM's excitement got the best of him and he started passing gas. So that night Super Little Man drove the bad guy away with his toots. Super Daisy helped.

Last night Daddio got the made-up bedtime story task. His story involved Squid-Boy (bad guy) and Dolphin Man (good guy). Little Man loved it.

Barf-fest 2011

2011-08-08T14:18:00.000-04:00

If you're weak of stomach, look away. More cute pictures will come soon. But Daddio promised Little Man that we'd remind him of this in the future, so it's getting documented.

Last Sunday Daddio and I returned from a wedding in GA after suppertime. We bid farewell to Mimi and Grandpa Jeff who had taken care of the kids for the weekend and put the kids to bed at 8:30. Little Man told me that his stomach hurt but there's just nothing you can do about that.

At 9:30 I heard a pitiful voice, "Mama, I frew up." As I got to the bottom of the steps, he was standing on the landing at the top of the steps and he hit me with vomit. From the top step. I yelled, "Bathroom!" By the time it was all said and done, Little Man was in the tub, and his room, every single step, the wall of the steps, and the entire bathroom were covered. It took Daddio and me 90 minutes to scrub the place clean. That's 3 hours of manpower, not counting laundry. LM fell back to sleep even as we cleaned his floor.

Monday he stayed home and other than a monstrous nap and entirely too much TV time, he was fine. Unfortunately I think Spaghetti-O's are ruined for him forever.

Great Big Redneck Vacation - Part 1

2011-08-06T17:41:00.000-04:00

The boys' daycare is always closed July 4 this week. Last year we did a big juggling act involving me, a babysitter, and swimming lessons and it was kind of a disaster. Little work was accomplished on my part. So this year we decided to take off and go to the mountains. We booked a house in Pigeon Forge, TN. That's right - Hillbilly Vegas.

I'd never been to the Smokeys but I really love the nice wide rocky streams they have there. Perfect for cooling off in! There was one in our rental house development.

The boys had fun throwing rocks and looking for crawdads.

Conversations with Little Man

2011-07-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

This is not particularly hilarious but I just want to document how kids are thinking at different ages.

Sprout: Mama shoes. Mama shoes.
Me: Yes, Mama's shoes. I'm wearing flip-flops today.
Little Man: Why did you say that you're wearing flip-flops and not shoes?
Me: Well flip-flops are shoes, so if I say I'm wearing shoes that's true or if I say I'm wearing flip-flops that's true.
Little Man: If you say you're wearing dinosaurs, that's not true.

Then later, on the radio they were talking about George Burns who is: 1. The star of the movie "Oh, God!" and 2. Dead.

Little Man: Why doesn't God die?
Me: Because He's God, He lives forever.
Little Man: Does God tell us when our time is up, then we die?
Me: Yes.
Little Man: And does He wave his wand and then we die?
Me: God doesn't need a wand. I think you're thinking of a wizard.
Little Man: What's a wizard?
Me: Nevermind.

Before and After

2011-07-26T19:17:00.000-04:00

Before:

And after:

I don't know about him, but I sure feel better!

Hiking

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

This next set of pictures drives me crazy. The set of photos I'll show you after this is the same way. When we take pictures in a forest or at dusk, the camera can't figure out what to do (and no, there's no chance I'm going to figure out how to manually change the settings). We get overexposed photos with the flash or out-of-focus photos without. So while these pictures make me want to scream, it was a pretty good day so I'll show you anyway!

This is our default local hike.

We didn't get there until 5 because the boys are champion weekend nappers. So they had a picnic dinner once we got to the top.

Family photo! We were the only people there so we used the timer. Not bad!

Berries

2011-07-20T16:57:00.001-04:00

The boys and I went berry picking a few weeks ago on a Saturday morning. We've already eaten all the berries (most in the form of a cobbler for a party!) and they were well worth it! Can't get berries like these in the grocery store.

Little Man isn't a fan of most berries. But food you can put on your fingers is pretty fun (these are grocery store berries).

Sprout Stats

2011-07-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

We had Sprout's 2 year checkup today.

The important numbers are: 37 inches and 30 lbs. I'm a little skeptical on both of those because he was shuffling around on the scale while she weighed him then wouldn't stand up to be measured. After she got his weight the nurse looked at me and said, "30 pounds, does that sound right?"

His growth curve is no longer a curve. He was constant around 90% or so until 4 months ago when both his stats dipped and he was around average. The curve looked a little like a rainbow, going back down. Then today it shot straight up. 97th % for height and 73% for weight now.

The doctor asked him how old he is and I realized, crap, we haven't taught him that baby trick! But I assured her that he's a regular old Chatty Cathy. At which point he refused to say even one word and walked around the room humming. Eventually he put some words together for her and all is well.

I asked them to re-test his hemoglobin. Last time his blood was tested was after the illness and weird bloodwork last October. Even before that they identified that he was borderline anemic and it was confirmed in October so we gave him iron for several months, then got lazy and stopped (oops). Today his iron was good. Not in the low range at all - just normal.

So basically, he's a rather tall but otherwise normal 2-year-old boy!

Camp Grandparent & The Snake Incident

2011-07-16T21:55:00.000-04:00

Because Camp Grandparent was at a house with a pool this year, Abi told me ahead of time that she had a little drama worked out to ensure that the kids wouldn't be curious and venture near the pool without her. I didn't get the details until today, but here's what happened Day 1 of Camp (Abi's words).

I was paranoid about the pool (even though the door knobs are 5 ft off the ground and there is an alarm system that announces when the door is opened) so Tony [Abi's son] and I had concocted a plan. I asked Cookie [Abi's sister whose house Camp was at this year] to purchase a rubber snake (and she bought it without any questions – what a loyal little sis). Sunday night the counselors and I practiced a routine where on cue Bird would say “Is that a snake sun bathing on the deck?” and the others would bring the campers to the deck French door to look out.

After breakfast on Monday morning I told the boys that besides the safety of not going out without an adult or counselor, or the penalty of losing all your camp store tickets, snakes like to come out at sunbathe so Abi must check the deck before we go out.

Well the theatrics went as planned, I volunteered to go out and as they watched as I did a vaudeville fight with the snake, back and forth/ danced around and finally threw the snake over the hedge. When I went inside I was met by two skeptical 4-year olds. D* immediately asks me how come the snake didn’t move and Little Man asks was that snake really real? Well I never had a chance to answer them as I had to answer the phone…and the conversation goes like this:

Me: Hello

Her: Who is this?

Me: I’m Abi, Cookie’s sister

Her: I just happened to be looking out the window … and I have two children and two dogs…. And did you just throw a “poisonous snake” into my yard?

Me:…blah, blah, blah – (explaining to a person who said nothing)

Her: Well I just had to make sure.

(end of conversation)

Moral of the story: My theatrical routine could not fool the 4-year olds, but the adult gave me an Oscar.

Looks like they did some rescue drills, too.

Uh oh, Bird is in trouble!

The 4-year-olds will save her!

Pull! (I love that the other 2 "counselors" are going down the slide in tandem in this photo)

Good thing those big buff lifeguards were on-duty.

Camp Grandparent - Day 4 (China)

2011-07-15T10:14:00.000-04:00

Thursday's country: China.
The craft: Ricepatty hats (not their real name)

Morning ice cream by the pool (glad to see he's surrounded by sunscreen)

Mealtime!

Camp Grandparent - Day 3

2011-07-14T12:25:00.000-04:00

Bird (not her real name) making waffles for breakfast!

Waffles with NUTELLA.

Finishing up their Italian rigatoni flags from Tuesday.

And today's craft - German flags and Eidelweiss hats (nose crinkle).

Every day they have ice cream mid-morning. Yesterday it was ice cream and pretzels.

I managed to send the kid to Florida with no bathing suit and no stuffed animals. Thanks to Amazon I got a bathing suit down there pretty quickly. And while I was at it I threw in a new stuffed animal. Every time Little Man sees a shark he says, "It's my favorite animal!"

I may have gone a bit overboard on the size shark I chose. Mom-guilt is a powerful force.

Camp Grandparent - Days 1 & 2

2011-07-13T17:56:00.000-04:00

Little Man is currently at Camp Grandparent. Here are some snapshots.

I call this series: The Nose Crinkle.

This is a weird picture.

I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the sugar cubes making up the flag made its way into LM's mouth.

Aren't they cute?

PA Visit

2011-07-13T14:14:00.000-04:00

After the tee ball world series we left straight to visit family in Pennsylvania. Some of them hadn't met Sprout yet so we were overdue. The occasion was my cousin's HS graduation. Little Man was a bit upset that he had a cousin who was old enough to be a college boy but he's not old enough yet.

Sprout helped with the decorations.

My aunt had a baby pool for the kids and it was a bit hit!

Pretty sure Little Man is hoping someone will turn on the hose right now.

Mandatory photos with the guest of honor:

I'm so far away from high school at this point that I have no idea what the "kids" are wearing. Apparently they're wearing slippers as shoes. There was more than 1 college student wearing slippers in June.

We always towel-dry Sprout's hair after a bath but look at the curls when it dried by itself after swimming!

Conversations with Little Man

2011-07-11T12:41:00.000-04:00

A few funnies of our vacation last week.

One night we were driving though Pigeon Forge, TN which is fondly referred to as "Redneck Las Vegas." It's full of neon lights promoting mini-golf, go-carts, wedding chapels, and of course all things Dolly (and also Jesus). I said, hesitantly, "This place is really something." Little Man said, "And BEAUTIFUL."
_______________________________________________________

We went to a restaurant one night as our waiter was giving us bread plates he said, "Hi, my name is James..." Little Man said, "Thank you, James. I'm Little Man and this is Sprout."

Then when the heavily-tattooed James was taking our order, Little Man looked at him and said, "I like your stamps."

_______________________________________________________

We didn't do Dollywood but we did do Dolly's Dixie Stampede, which is like Medieval Times but with a Civil War theme. You sit and eat a whole chicken with no utensils while there are horse races, etc, in the arena. After the South won (yes, really) Dolly Parton came on the big screen in a sparkly red dress and said that what really mattered is that we're all Americans and she sang a patriotic song. The gist was "I am the red, white, and blue." Partway through the song Little Man said, "I don't see any blue on her. She LIED."

World Series of Tee-Ball

2011-06-27T14:28:00.001-04:00

I'm just kidding, there is no World Series of Tee-Ball. But our first tee-ball season did end a couple of weeks ago (yay!). Little Man is confident that they won all their games. Little Man is also confident that he's the fastest person ever.

Friends.

Signing a ball for the coaches.

Snack may not be the BEST part, but it's definitely close.

Graduations

2011-06-25T12:30:00.001-04:00

The kids' school had their annual graduation ceremony this month. Little Man moved up in December so he's staying in the same room, but Sprout "graduated" from the 1-year-old room to the 2-year-old room. Each class sang a song for the parents, then we had snacks and socialized.

Sprout's room (actually it's both 1-year-old rooms combined):

LM's room:

He has a special thing going with Miss Katie. Unfortunately she is moving away but you can see how he loves her!

And "My Best Friend J*," as Little Man always refers to him, plus my other men.

A Natural Man

2011-06-17T16:39:00.000-04:00

This is how Sprout prefers to go around. No shirt, no shoes or socks.

Sometimes he likes to scratch his 'pits to add to the image.

Memorial Day

2011-06-17T16:37:00.000-04:00

I'm less than a month behind! Yay!

Abi came to visit on Memorial Day. We did more than blow bubbles.

But I only took pictures of the bubble-blowing.

After we quickly ran out of store-bought bubbles we tried out this tutorial. It was fantastic! We poured the bubbles in a bowl so they would get the wand fully bubbled.

We also bowled. Little Man got a 128 and beat us all. Okay, he used the ramp. I got a 127 and Uncle J got a 126. It was exciting!

Stuff I Made

2011-06-10T09:21:00.000-04:00

Good friends of ours are having a baby next month so I made Baby G a quilt! I forgot to take pictures of it but fortunately mom-to-be took pictures so now I can share it with you.

Their nursery theme is forest creatures so that worked out perfectly with this fabric!

For those interested in the details, the fabric is a Wee Woodlands layer cake (10x10 inch squares) from Moda. Actually it's only half of a layer cake, so evenutally some other new baby will likely get a similar quilt.

The back of the quilt is flannel, also Wee Woodlands by Moda. I wanted to try flannel because it's a baby blanket and I guess I didn't feel like wandering around JoAnn until I found a flannel that coordinates with all the crazy colors on the quilt top. So I went with the sure thing. Binding is from JoAnn. Quilting is mostly straight-line quilted by machine with some hand-quilted accent squares in Perle no. 8.

That's all, folks!

More Army Talk

2011-06-02T19:56:00.001-04:00

Little Man: I don't want to be a grown-up.
Me: Why not?
Little Man: 'Cause I don't want to go to jail.
Me: Well I'm a grown-up and I'm not in jail.
Little Man: But I want to be bad.
Me: You want to be bad?
LM: Yeah. I want to be an Army man.
Me: Little Man, Army men are good.
LM: Oh. Okay.

Conversations with Little Man - Memorial Day Edition

2011-05-30T11:43:00.000-04:00

Me: Look down Main Street, see all the flags on the light posts?
Little Man: Why?
Me: Because it's Memorial Day.
Little Man: What's Memorial Day?
Me: It's when we thank soldiers for being soldiers.
Little Man: Do they shoot bad guys with guns?
Me: Only if they have to.
Little Man: But is God mad at them for doing that?
Me: That's a complicated question.

I don't know where he comes up with this stuff. But then he declared that he's going to be an Army man when he grows up. So I guess he's not too concerned with the God angle.

Manhood

2011-05-28T21:48:00.000-04:00

Tonight Little Man, at 4, ate half a pizza by himself and beat 4 adults at a game of bowling. Kids grow up so fast.

(Alternate title for this post: "You Might Be A Redneck...")

(Okay, he did use the ramp at bowling. But he devoured the 4 slices of bowling alley pizza with no assistance.)

Boston!

2011-05-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago Daddio and I left the boys with Uncle J and Aunt L and headed to Boston for the wedding of a childhood friend of mine. We met in 5th grade when I moved to GA and thanks to technology have kept in touch pretty well despite not seeing each other often since HS graduation!

Delta canceled our flights on Friday so we wound up getting in to Boston about 5 hours late. We weren't too deterred and stopped at a restaurant before even getting to our hotel. We had soup dumplings! Inside these dumplings there's actually broth. The goal is to eat it without dripping broth on your plate.

It was a morning wedding on Saturday and we were in walking distance of everything. The church was on the corner of Boston Common.

It was a good wedding. I almost did the ugly cry when she walked down the aisle 'cause I'm just so happy for my friend!

Not a bad view from the reception, either.

I haven't seen Grace often but I haven't seen her little parents or her brother at all since 1996! They grow up so fast, kids these days. There was one other friend from growing up there so it was fun to catch up at the reception!

With the bride & groom:

Since it was a morning wedding we had the rest of the day to explore. I'd never been to Boston so we started with the basics and chose to walk the Freedom Trail. Incidentally, the first stop was the same church the wedding was at!

We got to see lots of Revolutionary War era sites but of course I took pictures of a street performer and a firestation.

And here's the ole battleaxe. I mean battleship! Old Ironsides.

Finally after I'd gotten my quota of wandering around for hours and hours, we earned our supper. Daddio did his research and found an Italian restaurant called Giacomo's. It's tiny, there's no waiting list or reservations, and it's cash-only. Shortly after getting in line I started worrying that it's not actually good, but that tourists just stand in line because we're like lemmings. But actually the people in front of and behind us in line were native Bostoners and they swore by the place.

There is no lingering in Giacomo's. It's like a 20 minute meal. But oh so good.

Our new Bostonian friends told us to go to Cafe Vittoria for a cappuccino and a cannoli after dinner. Who are we to argue? I'm a fan of cannoli and it was very good, but the cappuccino was fantastic!

Sunday morning we walked around a little before heading to the airport. Here we are at Boston Harbor.

I really loved Boston. I don't think I'd want to be there in January but I definitely would like to go back for a longer visit!

Carpe Sprinkler

2011-05-25T22:39:00.000-04:00

We planted the vegetable garden this weekend. It was a hot day so when I got the sprinkler out to water the little starters Little Man decided to carpe diem and put his bathing suit on. Of course he put his bathing suit on over the clothes he was already wearing which kind of defeats the purpose.

Nearing 2

2011-05-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

Daddio blames Sprout's recent first haircut for instantly turning him into a 2-year-old. It's kind of true - instead of saying, "Bagel, no!" like he used to do if he didn't want a bagel, he now says, "Bagel, no! Yuck!" Along the same lines, he didn't approve of the dinner Daddio chose for him last night. He pitched a fit in his high chair so Daddio let him walk around and eat (hey, whatever works). Daddio shoveled a spoonful of vegetables in his mouth and Sprout walked around with them in his mouth for 5 minutes, refusing to chew or swallow.

Tonight the boys were in the bath and when I scooted Little Man toward me his foot touched Sprout. Sprout said, "Kick. Kick, no! Go-way." I forgot myself and laughed before I told him that's not nice.

Little Man had 5 good days this week (well, 5 mostly good days) so he earned Friday brownies. Tonight we were making them and Sprout couldn't be left out so he stood on the same stepstool as Little Man, directly behind him (even though I had 2 stepstools out). He yelled, "my turn!"

Haircuts

2011-05-15T20:54:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago after tee-ball I decided it was time to get Sprout his first haircut. Little Man had been refusing to let me cut his hair so we got him a cut, too.

The before:

We've always know that Sprout likes to be petted, but this was a new level. He went into a weird trance while getting his hair cut. He didn't fuss one bit; I think he'd have fallen asleep if she'd kept playing with his hair.

The after. Not only was he in a trance but she put product in his hair to make it lay down.

Really it just looks the same but shorter- superfine blond wavy hair.

And here's how Little Man feels about getting his hair cut:

A Good Influence

2011-05-02T22:08:00.000-04:00

By now we all know about Dixie, one of Little Man's girlfriends. Specifically, she's the one he plans to marry (the others, I believe, are "girl friends"). Little Man's teacher reported to Daddio that Little Man has had many good days in a row, and she attributes this to Dixie's influence. She said that they sit together on the playground and talk and don't let anyone join them. And Dixie bosses LM around and he does what she tells him to do. The other day they had a particularly messy afternoon snack and Dixie wiped Little Man's face with a napkin. The teacher finds it all hilarious.

However, if you ask Little Man how he learned to be good at school he said, "Because I want dessert."

Hi!

2011-05-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

This also documents how he says "motorcycle." "Kickle." He and LM are picking up language so differently.

Easter 2011

2011-05-01T16:48:00.000-04:00

We had a good, low-key Easter this year. We had all kinds of plans for Saturday but instead 3/4 of us took giant naps. We did get around to dyeing eggs, finally.

Sprout got the 1-year-old-approved version. Water and plastic eggs.

Ta-Da!

Sunday morning they checked out their goodies. The Slinkie was a big hit.

Before church they found that the Easter Bunny hid some eggs in the yard! Actually we hadn't said a peep about the Easter Bunny, but Saturday night bedtime was rough with Little Man and I caved. "You have to go to sleep if you want the Easter Bunny to come!" And then it was a done deal. Halfway through Easter morning Daddio said, "I don't really like this whole Easter Bunny thing. Can we get rid of it?" Next year, Buddy. This year the bunny is working for us.

Daisy helped, once or twice managing to open the egg and eat the candy herself.

Then, in ancient Easter tradition, there was swordfighting.

Apparently when Sprout turned his sword around things got intense and Little Man had to don a helmet.

(Yes, Sprout does look like Calvin in these shorts. Remember the one where Calvin is complaining about the heat and Hobbes says, "Why don't you put on shorts?" Calvin says, "These ARE shorts!")

Big Questions

2011-04-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

Little Man has started to ask The Big Questions in life.

The other night on the way home from school he was asking Daddio about where babies come from. Daddio of course said, "Ask Mommy." Coincidentally, that night we found out about a pregnancy (not OUR pregnancy, someone else's pregnancy. Geez). When we told Little Man he said, "I'm so excited! I can't wait to see that baby pop out!"

Last night at dinner he got a little more specific:
LM: How do cows make babies?
Me: Well, just like other mammals make babies. It grows inside the mommy cow, then it's born.
LM: But how does it get IN the mommy cow?

This put me in a bit of a quandary, because of these things I believe about hard questions from kids: 1. Tell the truth. No stupid stories. 2. Tell them only as much as they need to know at their age.

And in the case of bovine reproduction, the truth is artificial insemination. And there is no way I'm going there with a 4-year-old. So I said, "Well, there's a mommy cow and a daddy cow and together they make a baby cow. Hey, aren't you excited about so-and-so's new baby?!" Hopefully that bought us some time.

Opening Day

2011-04-26T22:22:00.000-04:00

This is Little Man's first season playing tee ball. He's on the A's.

Warming up:

Our friends I* and M* are on the same team.

Team.

Their coach, on his cell phone in the above picture, is pretty serious. Not that he expects too much of them, just that I'm not sure he sees the humor in all of this. And the assistant coach seems surprised every time they do something ridiculous like skip 1st base and go straight to 2nd. This entertains the rest of us parents even more.

The prayer (it's church league baseball):

Batting! M*, LM, and I*. Of the three, M* is righty but bats lefty, LM is actually lefty but can't quite figure out batting, and I* is righty so I just got a picture of his back.

The real hilarity lies in the outfield. They're all poised and ready for action.

Some are more poised and ready than others.

Then the ball is hit and they all go for it, regardless of whether it was near them.

Those who are not poised and ready are in danger of injury. I had my camera pointed at I* because he was out there swinging his arms and looking around and I accidentally got this photo of the ball bouncing off his head.

Then, IF the fielder remembers to throw to first base, he/ she likely can't get it that far (although M* hit the first baseman in the kisser the first play of the game) and if he can get it that far, the first baseman isn't prepared (see above).

If you get bored, you can bump booties with your teammates.

Everybody bats and scores each inning (if you bat last you automatically get a homerun!).

Good game, good game, good game.

Chili Recipes

2011-04-22T12:57:00.003-04:00

With apologies to the grandparents who are only here for photos of kids, I wanted to share a couple of great recipes that I've made in the past month.

This week I made this Chicken Tortilla Soup and have seriously considered eating it twice a day. We didn't put cheese on it but instead went with green onions, avocado, baked tortilla chips, and a dollop of sour cream. Both our kids love sour cream.

But Daddio said, "The only soup you've made that's better than this is that Chicken Chili." It's actually a Martha recipe but here it's posted on one of my favorite cooking blogs, The Bitten Word. These guys get several cooking magazines a month, choose their favorite recipes, cook and review them. So it's like getting a peek into several cooking magazines, with a real-person review! The canned chipotles in adobo I found in the Hispanic section of our local Kroger. I don't think I served this to the kids (Daddio, correct me if I'm wrong) because it was pretty spicy, but very tasty.

Birthday Celebration

2011-04-19T21:08:00.000-04:00

We had a joint birthday party for our friend I* and Little Man. Their birthdays are about 2 weeks apart. This year we rented a pavilion at a local park so the kids could go crazy and wear themselves out while we grilled. The scene:

It wasn't a great day for it, really, it was cold and a bit wet. But I didn't want 25 people in my house so we did it anyway. And the kids didn't mind.

Men.

Birthday boys LM & I*!

(To Little Man's right is his best friend from school, J*)

30 seconds after the boys blew out their candles and everyone dug into cupcakes (I*'s choice - strawberry with green frosting), Little Man found me and asked, "When do I get to eat a cookie?" He held true to the birthday cookies idea! I don't have any photos but I made sure we had some huge chocolate chip cookies, too.

Sprout was there, too.

Sprouts

2011-04-19T20:19:00.000-04:00

(when I took this picture he said "cheeeeese" and showed me his food)

Because he doesn't communicate as well as Little Man did at that age, I forget that Sprout will soon be 2. Here's a recent update:

Bananas are still his very favorite food. Tonight after he finished his dinner he asked for a banana and as I peeled it for him he sang an ode to the banana
His new favorite toy is one that Little Man got for his birthday. Ironman. "Ionmah!"
Whenever a dog barks he says, "Hush!" Also sometimes when Little Man cries
When he's doing anything sports related, like playing with the basketball hoop or hitting a golf ball, every single time he does it he says, "Almost!" Which sounds a lot like "Elmo" in Sprout-Speak.
He caught on that we were putting him to bed before Little Man. Now we have to let him brush his teeth with Little Man, read a story with Little Man, and say night-night to Little Man or else he'll scream in his crib (although truth be told, he did that tonight anyway).
I still haven't had his hair cut.

As for the other sprouts in the photo, one tray is veggies-to-be (and cantaloupe) and one tray is flowers. Getting a head start this year!

Conversations with Little Man - Girlfriend Edition

2011-04-18T08:13:00.000-04:00

Me: Did you have a good day?
Little Man: Yes.
Me: Who'd you play with at school?
LM: Dixie. 'Cause she's my girlfriend.
(I should pause here to say that I do NOT think it's cute when people talk to/ tease young kids about having a girlfriend/ boyfriend. I don't think it's cute to make them grow up too soon in any way. So here I am trying to downplay the whole thing.)
Me: Oh. Who told you that Dixie is your girlfriend?
LM: I don't know, one of my other girlfriends.

Then yesterday we ran into one of the administrators of the school at LM's teeball game (more on that later). She told me she was taking pictures of the kids recently and asked, "Little Man, who do you want your picture taken with?" Little Man: "Umm... My girlfriend! Hey DIXIE!"

Sigh.

Relationships

2011-04-13T17:10:00.000-04:00

Little Man is trying to understand relationships now. My friend Erin and her friend Jen stayed with us one night last week. While we were waiting for them to arrive he had some questions.

Little Man: Who did Erin marry?
Me: Erin isn't married.
Little Man: Why not?
Me: I don't know; not everyone is married.
(a few minutes later)
Little Man: Does she live by herself?
Me: No, she has a roommate.
Little Man: What's a roommate?
Me: A friend who you live with.
Little Man: Why doesn't Grandma have a roommate?
Me: Well, not everyone has a roommate.
(a few minutes later)
Little Man: Is Erin's roommate a man?
Me: No.

Erin and Jen arrived, and later Jen left the room.
Little Man: Where'd the girl who Erin married go?

He's a Little Sprout

2011-04-12T21:11:00.002-04:00

I like this little glimpse of our morning - you can see Little Man eating breakfast in the background - he's always slow - and some tulips from a friend on our table. The school bus is outside which indicates that we were running late. Both kids were exhausted after tee ball last night and I had to wake them both up after 7.

First Quilt

2011-04-06T22:10:00.000-04:00

11 months ago, I took a quilting class at the Y. Our instructor gave us templates for several traditional pieced blocks, and we also had to learn to applique. She taught us how to hand-quilt. I didn't realize until several months later, reading blogs, that most people no longer hand-quilt.

By that time I was committed to hand-quilting this thing. I showed you preliminary photos of it several months ago.

And last week, 11 months after starting it, I finished it! It's composed of 12 12-inch blocks, 11 pieced and 1 appliqued, all different. And when I presented Little Man with his much anticipated completed baseball quilt the next morning, he said with disappointment, "Awww. I wanted Albert Pujols." Sure kid, next time I'll quilt you Albert Pujols.

But until I tackle the job of quilting a major league baseball player, Little Man is stuck with this (to see all the blocks, look at the old post):

I was dreading binding a little, but it was really fine with the help of a couple blog tutorials. It was HUGELY satisfying to do the binding because I knew it was the last step and it looks so finished instead of having batting sticking out every which way.

Now that this quilt is finally done I've allowed myself to get back to my sewing machine which has been great. Sprout's quilt top has been done for a long time so I made the back, basted it, and did my first attempt at machine-quilting. It's not too terrible. And now I'm doing some hand-quilting on it as accents. I also made the blocks for my next quilt and am looking forward to sewing more on that one.

Mama and the Mama's Boy

2011-04-04T21:46:00.000-04:00

And my other boy made me a piece of jewelry last week.

It's tucked safely in my jewelry box.

I'm off to put lotion on my crocodile hands after seeing this photo at full resolution.

Faces of 4.

2011-03-31T22:14:00.000-04:00

Little Man's real birthday was Tuesday. We somehow got a pretty day in between several yucky days and were able to celebrate outdoors.

But first I sent LM to school with cupcakes for his class. There were a few left over. Then I drove out of the daycare parking lot with cupcakes on top of my car. But! They were in a nice plastic carrier and just did a few rolls. We ate them anyway.

Then we headed to a college baseball game for a very fancy picnic dinner (peanut butter & honey sandwiches). Daddio and Little Man spent most of the time playing catch.

Sprout decided to hang with the college boys. He probably spent 10 minutes interacting with these three guys.

Once I got tired of chasing Sprout around we went home for singing and gifts. Thus began the hopeless attempt to get a decent picture of Little Man at age 4.

Seriously, what's with the faces?

This one is passable (focused on the card, not him; let's just call it artsy)

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Updates

2011-03-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

Today is Little Man's birthday - he had a good day. I'll get some pictures up later this week. It's really hard to get a good picture of him right now because he won't stand still and won't look at the camera.

But in the meantime, some updates.

Little Man's Swimming: Little Man's swim lessons ended anti-climatically - his last lesson was canceled due to lightning. Over the month he did get more comfortable in the water. He's not a swimmer and still would panic from time-to-time, but he did get more comfortable. So, progress. Next week tee-ball starts.

Sprout's Attitude Problem: He seems to be coming out of it (knocking furiously on wood). It's like he skipped over the cute toddler phase and became a Little Monster (that's a quality movie, am I right?). But now he's getting cute. Glory Hallelujah! He should be a normal kid just in time for the Terrible Two's to set in.

Cake and Other Festivities

2011-03-28T12:00:00.001-04:00

We kicked off Little Man's birthday early because my mom, Grandma, came up for the weekend. Little Man specifically asked for M&M and chocolate chip cookies, which he got on Day 1. On Day 2 they made him a birthday cake.

I think Sprout is smiling at the frosting.

Dinosaur cake!

I'd say it was a hit.

Modeling some of his gifts: a "racecar driver" hat, sunglasses, and an Orka. He named the Orka "Lemonade." "Lemonade Doobie," if you want to be formal. That's "Mr Doobie" to you.

I'll wrestle you for those sunglasses, big brother!

What Happens When I Have Ice Cream

2011-03-27T22:04:00.000-04:00

I become very popular.