Las Flores

Another Booger Story

2010-01-06T21:48:00.005-06:00

Driving home from my mom's house this afternoon, I hear Calvin say "Don't pick your boogers Luke." I look in the rearview mirror. Sure enough, Luke has his finger UP his nose. Calvin, again, "Luke, don't pick your boogers." Then Luke says "I'm not picking my boogers Calvin." I look back again - his finger is still in his nose. Calvin appears to be getting disgusted (can't imagine why, he's certainly picked enough boogers in his life...) and says in a very loud tone "Stop picking your boogers!!" To which Luke replies "I'm NOT! I'm just poking my boogers!"

Happy Birthday Gunner!

2009-12-08T08:41:00.002-06:00

This is for my nephew, who turns 3 years old today. Happy Birthday Gunner! (And I'm not really sure what that last line of the song is...)

November Activities

2009-11-23T20:06:00.002-06:00

Reading other people's blogs and seeing pictures of changing leaves and evidence of real Fall, I have been quite jealous. As you can see from the picture below, it's not cold here. One afternoong the boys were playing in the backyard and I was cleaning out the toy box. I went inside to get dinner ready, noticed they were playing in the water hose, then saw Luke pulling off his clothes and diaper. I went out to see what was going on and the boys informed me that they were going swimming and needed their swimsuits. Properly attired, they then splashed about in their homemade "pool".

Calvin has always loved to read stories before bedtime. Lately I have been letting him stay up with the light on and look at books until he is ready to go to sleep. He loves this, although I'm starting to rethink it. Some nights he will stay up for an hour reading. I go into check on him and he has books spread all over his bedroom floor. Normally when he is done he will lay down and pull his blankets up over him and go to sleep. One night when I went to check on him I found this:

It's like he was going to reach for one more book and just got so tired and passed out in the process.

Another night we took the boys to "Santa's Arrival" at the mall. It was neat, but it was SO crowded. They had coloring activities, milk and cookies, a visit with Mrs. Claus, music, Curious George, Care Bears, and ballet dancers. Unfortunately, the line to see Santa was so long that we didn't even bother. Calvin was upset, but has since been back to the mall to give Santa his "list" (which only consists of 3 items, thankfully!). We did get a picture of the boys with Mrs. Claus though.

Calvin went to a great pirate themed birthday party at the CC science and history museum, complete with a scavenger hunt, and we ended up with these pirate costumes that the boys had a great time with. Could it be next year's Halloween costume?

Calvin had his last soccer game this month. It was really amazing to watch him during the last game and think of the first game he ever played and what a difference there was. He actually got better in just two short months. And although his real love was playing goalie, he did pretty good on the field. I managed to get a video of him almost scoring a goal. He actually did score one shortly after I shot this video. In case you can't tell, Cal is number ten (or the one with with his shirt tucked in and shorts pulled up to his armpits - his doing, not mine!)

Halloween

2009-11-23T19:48:00.004-06:00

Halloween was spent at our house again this year and I'm very happy to say that Dave managed to be at home for the first Halloween since Calvin was born! After dinner, both boys were ready to get into their costumes and go trick-or-treating.

Here is my niece Claire, in her first ever Halloween costume. What a cute little pea pod!

Calvin was a brave knight and Luke was a fearsome dragon. Calvin HAD to have the costume that came with a helmet, but of course, he refused to wear it to trick-or-treat. The dinosaur/dragon costume was actually a one piece outfit that Calvin wore for his first Halloween - when he was 7 months old! I was going to sell it, but Luke loved it and just wanted to be a dragon, so I (well, my mom, actually) cut off the legs and made it wearable for a two year old. Luke got into the whole dragon theme and was actually walking up to people and "roaring" instead of "trick-or-treating"... Luckily they all laughed and thought it was funny.

Mimi and the grandkids - all dressed up.

Well, I guess we all got into it this year and had to dress up a bit.

Luke was very excited about getting candy and walked right up to those doors with his bucket.

Some neighbors had this sign in their yard so we posed the boys in front for a picture. Luke stared up into the tree, then pointed and said "Look, its the bobo brothers" (from Diego). I'm really not sure what he was talking about, but it was amusing.

It was a fun night with just enough trick-or-treating for all involved. The boys had buckets full of candy and got to eat quite a few pieces. The next day they wanted more candy. I let them each pick out 5 pieces and told them they could eat them whenever they wanted, but that was it for the day. Of course, they both ate them all right away, but they didn't really ask for more after that. I put their candy up in my room and "out of sight, out of mind" seemed to pay off because they never really asked for it again. And that is what I call a successful Halloween!

Fall Fun

2009-11-23T19:12:00.004-06:00

Okay, it's almost Thanksgiving and I figured I'd better get around to my fall activities or they might never get done. In mid-October I got to the take the boys to the fall festival at a local church. There were lots of games, inflatables, and food. There was a puppet show, a hay ride, and a pumpkin patch. We had a great time and stayed for over three hours! Here are the boys picking out some pumpkins.

They also had face painting. What does Calvin ask for? A snake, of course. Not long after she started, the face painter (a church volunteer) asked him if he knew Jesus...

A week later, while Calvin was in school, I got to take Luke to the pumpkin patch all by himself for storytime. Of course, he had to pick out another pumpkin.

He loved this scarecrow and "hung out" with him for about 10 minutes.
.

Can you tell he just had a haircut? Yes, we are in our shorts and t-shirts. There's really no such thing as "fall" in south Texas!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-16T19:34:00.003-05:00

Dave came home from Lowe's with a gigantic pumpkin last weekend and was very excited to carve it with the boys.
The boys, of course, were excited to help as well.

They were very intrigued by what was inside the pumpkin. However, neither one would reach inside to get the seeds out. I figured Calvin would be that way because he has never wanted to feel the inside of the pumpkin, but I was sure Luke would give it a try. Nope.

Okay, so really, the boys just watched as we de-pulped the pumpkin and Dave drew the face on. After that they were off to play while Dave painstakingly finished his intricate design. The finished product.

Now, had Dave asked, I would have told him it was very silly to carve a pumpkin 3 weeks before Halloween. But he was set on it and sure enough, after 6 days in the hot Texas sun (three days of a heat index in the 100's!), our pumpkin is sporting some fabulous mold. Oh well, we did enjoy some roasted pumpkin seeds. I guess we get to do this all over again!

Sea World Trip

2009-10-01T20:20:00.005-05:00

Once again, thanks to the military, we enjoyed a nice weekend in San Antonio last weekend on one of Dave's cross country's. The boys and I drove up to San Antonio on Friday evening, picked Dave up at the airport, then headed to our hotel on the Riverwalk. We were kind of late getting in, so we checked in to the hotel and headed right out to eat. We took the boys to the Rainforest Cafe (Calvin's suggestion - he actually remembered it from last year when we were here). They enjoyed it, but Luke clung to me whenever the thunder started.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to Sea World early. Here is our before the park picture. I read somewhere to take a picture of your kids before going to a place like this - that way if they get lost, you have a photo of them in the clothes they are wearing.

I felt like the boys were at a great age to really enjoy all of the things Sea World had to offer. Our first stop was feeding the dolphins. This was probably my favorite part of the day. You buy a tray of fish, and the dolphins come right up to you to eat. You can touch them as you feed them. I had never felt a dolphin before and I thought it was really neat. I probably could have stayed there an hour and not got tired of it. Calvin, on the other hand, was too scared and wouldn't try feeding them.

That's me, with the boys watching.

After feeding the dolphins and seeing the shark tanks, we headed to the water park portion of Sea World. We lucked out, as this was the last weekend the water park was open. A cold front came through the week before, but temperatures were back up in the 90's by Saturday. Some of the water was really cold, but the boys didn't seem to mind. There was a splash park with lots of squirters and dump buckets, a wave pool, a lazy river, and several water slides. Calvin got to go down two different slides, but Luke was too little for those. Dave and I took turns watching the boys so we could have a chance to go down the slides as well. I am scared of and will not go on roller coasters, but I really like water slides, so this was alot of fun.

After snacktime and getting changed, we headed to the Shamu show. Both of the boys were pretty impressed with this one.

Next we picked up some frozen lemonades, then went to see the penguins. They have an exhibit with a conveyer belt going by that you ride on as you watch the penguins (we rode several times). It was even snowing in the penguin exhibit. After the penguins we went to the Sea Lion show - a "mystery" featuring three sea lions and a gigantic walrus, then went to feed the sea lions.

Calvin actually gave this one a try, since the sea lions were far below us and he just had to drop the food down to them. Next we hit the kids area, which has games and rides just for the little ones. Calvin and I rode the Shamu Express, a kiddie roller coaster that he had been dying to go on all day. Then the boys (and Dave) went and crawled all around on this giant rope play area (I am really lacking in pictures).

Our final stop of the day was the "Viva" show. This was a really neat performance combining divers, synchronized swimmers, beluga whales, and dolphins. Its almost like a circus in the pool. We all liked this one as well, but were worn out after a long day.

We got to Sea World at 10 in the morning and left at 6:30. After grabbing some dinner at Pizza

Hut, we headed back to our room, where I expected the boys to crash out. Instead, they were up for some playtime and a late night snack. Notice their red cheeks and noses. They had on sunscreen, but I guess I didn't get that area too well.

And a video recap of the day. As you can see, Calvin liked everything and Luke, well...

First Soccer Game

2009-10-01T20:10:00.002-05:00

Calvin has started playing on the soccer league on base. He's only had one game and three practices, but he really seems to be enjoying it. He's excited to get out there and play. I can't believe we are finally getting started with sports! I'm sure it is just the beginning of many years of shuttling to practices and games... He had his first game two weeks ago. Here's the team, getting ready to start.
Ready for the kickoff. It was really hilarious to watch this game. Every single child on that team cried at one point or another and walked off the field. All you can do is just laugh.

Here's what Luke thinks of the game.

Actually, some people on the other team had little flags that they were waving, and Luke was watching them and saying "I wish I had that flag."

Taking a turn in the goal. Calvin loves playing goalie and we have to practice it all the time at home.

After the game team shot. I just think they are all so darn cute at this age!

For Aunt Jenny

2009-09-15T21:26:00.002-05:00

September Pictures

2009-09-14T19:34:00.003-05:00

Calvin's first day of school. He was so excited to go - got up and dressed with no complaints. He goes Tuesday and Thursday from 9-2. He has been for two weeks now and has loved it so far, even telling me that "school is way funner than home".

Finding his name in the "Frog" Class.

I found this in my Family Fun magazine - a geodesic dome. It's made from sheets of newspaper. We put it together last Saturday (luckily Dave was home to help with the construction). Calvin thought it was pretty neat.

We put a blanket on top to make a tent and the boys ate lunch in there. Unfortunately the dome didn't last too long with my rough and tumble boys. They managed to completely collapse it in three days.

Luke's first buzz cut. Dave was trimming up Calvin's hair (because Cal decided to cut it himself last week and left a few bare strips on the back of his head) and Luke came up and said "Can I get a haircut?". So we went for it. Turns out he has this funny bump on top of his head - maybe the reason his hair never looked quite right when it was cut. I think it's cute though.

A little brotherly game of Ring Around the Rosie before bedtime. I thought it was funny how their p.j.s had coordinating colors (not intentional).

They were excited to be videotaped - notice how they both keep looking at the camera.

Creative Play

2009-08-30T19:31:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to share an activity I did with the boys today and that we have done before that they both enjoy. We call it "Mail Man".

We started off by making a mail carrier bag for each of them. I found this in a book - you just cut a strip off the top of a brown bag, fold it in half, fold down the top part of the bag, and staple the strap on. Then the boys got to decorate their bags with markers and stickers.

Next we made mail. I use junk mail that I've received, reply cards from inside magazines, and then we make our own mail by putting pictures or other "writing" in envelopes. I even gave the boys some address labels and let them stick them on. We addressed the mail with names and numbers.

We each had a mailbox. I got out some letter stamps and let the boys stamp their names and a number on them.

I brought our little bikes inside and let them ride them around as their mail trucks. I divided the mail between the two of them and spread out our "mailboxes" and the boys rode around and delivered the mail. Calvin did a little better at matching the names and numbers - Luke just wanted to put all of his mail in his own box.

Sorting the mail.

And finally, we each got our own box and opened up our mail.

This is a good one to one a half hour activity, especially if you make the bags first. We actually made our bags about a year ago, but I just folded them up in my closet and we use them over. My kids really enjoy it.

We also made "oobleck" the other day (there's a Dr. Seuss book about this). I did this project with my third graders when I was student teaching, but thought I'd try it out on the boys. You just mix corn starch with water until it's a little runny, then you can add some food coloring. It makes the neatest stuff - you can pick it up and shape it like a solid, but then it turns liquidy again and runs off of your fingers. Calvin and Luke loved it!! They probably played with it for 30 minutes or more, which is pretty good for my kids, and Luke keeps asking to play oobleck again. Just a note - it makes a pretty big mess, but is easy to clean.

Anyone else have any creative activities they would like to share??

A Few More

2009-08-30T19:12:00.005-05:00

Just had a few more pictures to share. Luke in his "nest" as he calls it. I still have my pregnancy body pillow (I love that thing) and we have used it as a nest before when we played baby birds. The other day Luke told me "I need to go read in my nest" and this is where I found him.

Dave's squadron had a dining out last week, which for the non-Navy folks, is a formal dinner. It was at the Corpus Christi Town Club which has a beautiful view of the water, but not the greatest food, but it was fun getting all dressed up and seeing everyone else dressed up as well. We had a great time at the dinner - I actually had to drink the grog (they said I brought multiple cocktails to the table???) We went to two clubs afterwards, and ended up having to take a taxi home! Didn't get home until after 2 in the morning, which didn't bode well for the 6:20 wake up call we got from Luke. Let's just say it was a very lazy Sunday with a "movie morning" (that's probably the most t.v. my kids have ever watched at one time), but we were back into the swing of things by Monday.

August Happenings

2009-08-29T20:20:00.000-05:00

Another cross country weekend means.... time to catch up on the blog. Can't believe its been almost two months since I wrote. This summer has flown by. We've had swimming lessons, Vacation Bible School, two trips to my sister's in Austin and a trip to Missouri to visit Nana and Papa.
The Missouri trip was the first two weeks of August. It's about a 14-15 hour drive to Dave's parent's house, which we split up into two days. Reallly, I could not have taken another minute of "When are we going to be there? I want to see Holden (cousin)." It was actually a nice, relaxing vacation for me, as the boys spent most of their time playing and with grandparents. I actually read three and a half books on that trip! So we drove to MO, spent a few days at Nana and Papa's, then we went up to St. Louis for two nights, then back down to Nana and Papa's for a few more days before the long haul back. The first day in St. Louis we went to a great Children's Museum called The Magic House. Here we are at the museum - looks like Holden could be one of our sons, huh?

The construction zone.

Being newscasters.

Fishing. You could catch little "minnows" then go release them in a pond on the other side of the room. They would then float down a little river and back into the big pond.

Our little mechanics learned how to work on a car.

The next day we went to Grant's Farm, which was land where Ulysses Grant once lived, now owned by the Anheuser Busch corporation. There we took a tram ride through some of the land and saw deer, longhorns, and other various animals. They have a bunch of different animals on the farm and we got to feed goats and camels, ride a carousel, see Clydesdales, watch an awesome elephant show, and other fun things like that.

Waiting for the elephant show to start. Missouri was warm, but NOTHING like south Texas!

My other new niece - Kelsi.

The amazing elephant. He picked up that piece of wood from off the ground with his tusks and carried it over to stand on the stump. I never realized how smart elephants were.

This was kind of interesting - they were feeding him peanuts before the start of the show.

Feeding the goats.

And the camels. I was actually surprised Calvin did this. He's usually a chicken and won't go near animals like this.

That afternoon we went to a place called the Incredible Pizza Company, which was sort of like a glorified Chuck E. Cheese. They had a huge pizza buffet with four different themed dining rooms. In the arcade area, aside from the usual games, they had a mini-golf course, a mini bowling alley, bumper cars, and race cars. It was alot of fun.

The start of mini-golf (which only lasted about four holes for Calvin and 1/2 of one for Luke, who preferred to climb all over the obstacles).

Go-kart racing. I think Calvin was a little nervous because he clutched his seatbelt like that the entire time.

The mini bowling alley. Notice the size of the balls. It was perfect for my boys.

Enjoying some ice cream afterwards (maybe a little too much).

The last day we went to the science center, where all of the boys were very frightened by a life-sized t-rex. The neat thing about St. Louis is that alot of their attractions (Grant's Farm, Science Center, zoo) are free - you just pay for parking which is $7-10 a car and that's it. Pretty nice. Dave and I were also lucky to get two nights out up there - to a casino and a comedy club - so we had a nice time.

The terrifying dinosaur! (That's Dave, trying to get Calvin closer). Luke refused, and even my nephew, who's 7, wouldn't go near it.

We went to two wineries while in MO. They had quite a few and I'm sure we would have enjoyed stopping at a few more, but of course, that's no easy feat with small children. We also spent a night at Dave's sister's house. They have a lot of land and raise cows, so of course the boys had a blast there.

Our last afternoon in MO. Nana and Papa have the perfect yard for playing outside in, and the boys sure took advantage of it.

It was a great trip but it's always nice to get back home again. When we got back, my sister was down visiting for my mom's birthday. My other nephew spent a night with us and had fun helping Luke play dress up.

My grandmother also came down and we had a nice birthday breakfast for my mom. I even got to use my china (for maybe the third time)!

Mimi tried on her new apron and Luke had to put his on too.

Calvin is starting preschool next week! I can't believe it. He will be going two days a week from 9-2. He's very excited. I'm a little worried about how he's going to deal with naptime, but we've talked about it so hopefully he'll be okay. He will also be starting soccer on base. It's crazy to think that they are big enough for all this.

Our other news is that Dave is getting orders to Everett next summer. Hard to believe that we are already thinking of where we're heading next, but it will certainly be nice to feel some cooler weather again!

July Pictures

2009-08-29T14:16:00.009-05:00

I'm a month behind, but here are pictures from July. Didn't realize I had so many!

The boys doing an afternoon paint project.

Look Mom, no hands!

Notice my younger son still insists on eating the paint.

Calvin did an "Itty Bitty" sports clinic at the YMCA this summer. It was six Saturday mornings and they spent two sessions each on baseball, soccer, and basketball. It wasn't the most organized thing, but he enjoyed it. Here is his last day of basketball.

An unforgettable moment: the praying mantis I found in my salad from the grocery store. I screamed when I realized the piece of brown lettuce I was plucking out of the package actually had eyes and legs... Luke thought the bug bit me and neither one could get over it. Luke still mentions the praying mantis from time to time. (I don't buy this salad anymore after finding a ladybug in one package, this, and then a multitude of little aphids in another).

While up in Austin for my grandmother's birthday/family get together, we went on a Duck Tour, which was alot of fun (although VERY hot). If you've never heard of this, its a bus tour that takes you through downtown, and then drives right into the water and floats around like a boat.

The duck "quackers" we got, with which we would randomly quack at people as we drove by.

My family took up half the bus. These are aunts, uncles, and cousins from my dad's side of the family. What a bunch of "quacks"! (HA! I think we had too much fun with those quackers).

My brother and his baby.

Luke showing off his "hawk" (as he called it). "Mommy, you give me a hawk??"

At the children's museum in New Braunfels, TX.

Calvin was excited to see R2-D2.

And of course, the space area was a big hit.

This is my nephew, Gunner. What a cutie! He reminds us of Calvin in many ways.

A jet Calvin made with his Tinker Toys, that he could actually get in and fly around.

A trip to the Ringling Brothers Circus. I had not been to the circus in years and it was quite a show!

With older cousins Kathryn, Collin, and Grady.

I love these two pictures. The kids got all dressed up - Cady even let Calvin borrow her "soccer" shorts. Then they found shin guards and socks to wear and went out back and played soccer together. (Luke's shinguards are actually a pair of pink princess knee pads)

Best cousins. I think it won't be too much longer before Calvin is bigger than Cady though!

Wow, I guess we had a busy July. Now I have to get on to those August pictures. But my blog is driving me crazy - I used to be able to click and drag the pictures, and now I can't. I can move them a little bit, but not past any other picture. The pics on this post just had to stay in the order that I uploaded them. Any ideas on how to move them around? Help me!

Fourth of July

2009-07-10T20:09:00.003-05:00

We spent the Fourth of July at my sister's house again this year. She has the perfect location because they shoot off fireworks at a park that is right across from her neighborhood, so we can watch them from her front yard. We decided to check out the parade this year, which was alot of fun. It had the feel of a small town parade, kind of reminded me of Oak Harbor, and they threw LOTS of candy, so the kids were thrilled. Here are the boys, ready to head to the parade.

We found a great place to take pictures in downtown Round Rock.

Waiting for the parade to start. We had great seats right by the road, but in the shade so we didn't sweat to death.

A rare family picture.

My mom bought the boys sets of matching shirts.

After the parade we went back to my sister's house and hung out for awhile. That evening my aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandmother came over. We had a cookout and went on the slip 'n slide (even me - it was fun!). We had a big whiffle ball game and the kids had a pinata to break open. Around 9:30 we went and sat in the front yard and watched the fireworks. The kids all got glow sticks, so they were a little distracted by those. I think Luke was the only one who actually sat there the whole time and watched the fireworks. He sat in my cousin, Karen's, lap the whole time and would say "Look at that" and "There it is".

It was a great day. I love being able to watch the fireworks, then go inside and put the kids to bed. No traffic to deal with, no waiting for hours in the heat, no port-a-potties. Definately the way to go and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Lessons from a Four Year Old

2009-07-01T22:10:00.004-05:00

I was in the kitchen, having just got off the phone with my mom, when I hear Calvin say from the bathroom, and I quote, "Mom, I just pointed my thing up and the pee came out."

To which I replied, in that absentminded way that moms can, "Oh, that's nice."

Wait...

What?

"Calvin, where did the pee go?"

"On the wall"

At which point I ran into the bathroom to see that yes indeed, when you point your thing up, the pee goes all over the wall. And all over the floor. And NOT in the toilet. So I ran to get a rag to wipe up the mess. And then I realized, well, I can mop the floor, but I don't really know how to clean pee off of a wall.

The things your kids teach you...

Conversations with a Two Year Old

2009-07-01T22:04:00.002-05:00

This was the conversation Luke and I had the other night, as I was laying down with him before bedtime.

L: Mommy, what's that? (points to the hair tie on my wrist)

M: My hair tie.

L: Oh, your hair tie. Goes in your hair. (pats my head)

M: Yes.

L: Why?

M: To hold my hair back.

L: To hold your hair back?

M: Yes.

L: Why?

M: So it doesn't get in my face.

L: So it doesn't get in your face.

M: That's right.

L: Why?

M: Because it bothers me.

L: It bothers you?

M: Yes. (kind of like this questioning)

L: Oh. What's Calvin doing?

That was the point when I said good-night.

It amazes me how they can wear you down on minor little details and then just completely change the subject and move on. WHY??????

June Recap

2009-07-01T14:17:00.011-05:00

Is it really July already??? I'm pretty sure the entire month of June just flew right by. I guess we have been pretty busy, since I haven't managed to type up any new blogs in a month. So this will just be one really long one about all that we've been up to the past month.

Playing in the backyard pool. Luke is crazy - going down the slide backwards and headfirst, and throwing himself over the edge of the pool into the water.

We started out the month with two weeks of swim lessons for Calvin. Every day for 45 minutes. I thought it was going to be awful because they don't offer lessons for under 4, so Luke just had to sit on the side and watch. It worked out okay though because Dave had a bunch of late flights during that time and was home in the morning to watch Luke. I actually only had to bring him three times, and he only made a mad dash for the slide once. He did really well. Calvin did great at the swim lessons and learned alot. He passed Level One and it is amazing to take him to the pool and watch what he can do, in comparison to last year. He likes diving for sticks, jumping in to the pool, and going down the little slide. A couple of weeks ago he was actually jumping into the pool, then turning and swimming back to the side all by himself. This makes going to the pool alot more fun! (and less worrisome) We have spent quite a bit of time at the pool this month. Luke likes to wear his swim vest, so I can actually sit on the side of the baby pool and talk to friends. Which is probably why we've been going to the pool alot more than last year...

This picture just makes me laugh - he has to wear his goggles, just like Calvin.

My sister was down visiting for two weeks the first part of the month. She stayed with my mom but we saw them almost every day. A rare picture of all the kids together, including my new niece.

One day we went to the aquatic center in a neighboring town. They have a shallow pool with little animals that squirt out water and a small pirate boat slide, which Luke loved. Of the two and a half hours that we were at the pool, he probably spent an hour going down the slide. A few pictures from that:

Last week Calvin attended his first Vacation Bible School at a local church. It was every day from 9-12. I'm not sure who was more excited, him or me... The first day I told him he was going to "school" he was dressed and ready to go in about 5 minutes - very excited. It wasn't quite so easy the rest of the days, but I think he had a good time. On the last day they had a pizza party for all the kids and parents, and they sang a few songs for us, which was fun. I really enjoyed having some time with just Luke. It's amazing how easy things are with just one child. This week did teach me that I do not want to do every day preschool next year - too much running around and not quite enough time to get anything major done. Two longer days would be much better.

Dave has been flying alot at night, leaving me to put the boys to bed by myself. Usually it goes pretty smoothly (although it does seem to take alot longer with just one person). However, one night last week Luke was not cooperating. I told him it was time for a bath and he ran from me, shouting "No!" He ran into Calvin's room and shut the door. Not really in the mood for this battle, I decided just to put his p.j.s on and call it a night. After getting him in pajamas, I told him to go brush his teeth while I went to check on Calvin, who was in my shower. I came back to find this:

Isn't that sweet? Apparently he changed his mind about the bath, or just decided that a mini-sized bath would be much better. Notice his toothbrush and toothpaste sitting right beside the sink - I guess he forgot about that task. I laughed (sort of), ran to get my camera (as always), and then ended up throwing him in the bath to rinse off anyways, and had to change his diaper and pajamas, which were soaked.

We went out for sushi the other night, which was the boys' idea. I occasionally buy sushi from the grocery store and they both really like it. After having this the other night, they both had to call Dave (out of town, of course) and leave a message asking him to take them out for sushi. It was cute. So when Dave had an early day on Monday we took advantage of half-price sushi hour and went out. All ready to go: Calvin was so excited - he had to put on his jeans (which I believe now qualify as highwaters), belt, and "handsome" shirt. Although Luke wasn't quite as interested in the restaurant sushi, he did eat some, and Calvin filled himself up. It was a fun night and a great way to end the month of June.

My Green Thumb

2009-06-30T15:35:00.005-05:00

Disclaimer: For whatever reason, my blog is not cooperating with me and letting me move the pictures around. In the interest of keeping my sanity, the pictures are just a jumbled mess (kind of like my garden).

Okay, I guess realistically this should be titled "Dave's Green Thumb" since he has done the majority of the labor. I helped pick out the plants and am involved with simple upkeep, namely, weeding, picking and eating the food. But wanted to share and document what we have growing in our garden this year. It's so much fun to see how everything grows!

Check out this cantaloupe - it's huge!

Lots of squash growing!

This bed looks a little unorganized, but the watermelon and cantaloupe vines grow like crazy and kind of go wherever they want. We also have squash, peppers, basil, and lavender.

Here's my basil. This started out as a small plant that I got from Lowe's and has grown into this giant monster. It also keeps trying to flower so I am contstantly out there picking flowers off. I have been eating fresh caprese salads and sandwiches (tomatoes, mozarella, basil) and have made several batches of pesto with the basil.

Dave built these beds early this spring. After starting seeds in a smaller box he transplanted them. Unfortunately, south Texas winds can do a number on small plants and several things - like green peppers - didn't quite make it. Those are tomatoes on the right, all grown from seeds, and they have done awesome! We have beefsteak, roma, and cherry tomatoes that I have been picking like crazy. Unfortunately, nobody but me eats the tomatoes, so I have also been giving them away to family and friends.

We also have lime, kumquat, satsuma, and grapefruit trees, a few strawberry plants, and a pineapple guava tree. Last year we had lots of flowers on the guava, but none of the fruit stayed on. This year we had two fruits growing. One fell off this weekend, but there is one still hanging on. I really hope it gets ripe because a fresh picked guava off the tree is absolutely amazing!! (My cross country team used to pick and eat them when we ran through the botanical gardens in Hawaii - haven't found fresh ones anywhere else). That's about it for the garden. I'm hoping to be eating fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the summer, but I'm afraid this hot weather and lack of rain might put a damper on their growth.

Luke's Birthday

2009-05-30T20:48:00.006-05:00

I am now the mother of a two and four year old. No more babies here...

We took a trip up to my cousin's house in Houston for Memorial Day weekend. The kids had a blast swimming in her pool and playing in her HUGE house. We opened presents at our house Friday morning (Luke's actual b-day) and had our "cake" (doughnuts) before driving to Houston. Then Saturday we had cake and presents for Luke with the family.

Here's birthday morning at our house:

(Luke has become obsessed with mowing and weedeating and talks about them all the time. Every time Dave mows, Luke has to watch him or worse, be held by him. Hence the weedeater.)

The kids all had a blast playing in the pool. If anyone is looking, these floaty vests are awesome. They sell them at Wal-Mart for $15 and they have several different animals. They are actually coast guard approved life vests and they worked great. The kids could jump in the pool and swim around very easily with them on.

Luke's birthday party. He is completely into cake. Whenever I asked him what he wanted for his birthday the only thing he told me was "cake". I guess we've had a lot of birthdays lately because whenever he sees a cake or something cake-like (muffins), he starts singing "Happy Birthday to you..."

I love how Luke is just smiling during the song and looking around. Now, shortly before I started taping this, I told Dave, "Go stand by Luke and make sure he doesn't burn himself". Where is Dave in this video???

NOT where he should be. Luckily Luke was prevented from doing damage to his fingers.

We took the little kids out just to play outside and somehow they both ended up in the pool???

I can't believe it's been two years already! Happy Birthday Luke!

Little Builder

2009-05-20T20:29:00.003-05:00

Wow, here I am, just blogging away the past few days. I think I've done more blogs in the past three days than I have in the last three months... Well, it really helps that Dave has been working late. Monday he flew until 9:30, last night he had duty until 1:30 (a.m.) and tonight it looks like midnight again. Since he's not home to spend time with, I can get things done...

So it occurred to me the other day that I an knee deep in building blocks. Small wooden blocks, mega blocks, tinker toys, Legos, even a small set of K'Nex. Now, Legos have by far become Calvin's toy of choice. Some days that is the only thing he plays with. And I am absolutely amazed by the things he builds with them. Mostly it's airplanes and spaceships, but sometimes there are cars and forts. It's really neat to watch and makes me wonder if he's got a little bit of an engineering gene from his dad... Anyways, I don't have pictures of his Legos creations, but here a couple of "ships" he built recently from tinker toys - all by himself.

Well, this one might be a gun.

This is a Star Wars ship. It actually kind of looks like one to me. I love how symmetrical it is.

Relaxed and Re-"Wined"

2009-05-20T19:59:00.004-05:00

Last Friday was my birthday and also our sixth anniversary. To celebrate, we headed out of town, sans kiddos (thanks mom). Okay, I guess I should be clear about this. Technically, Dave was on a cross country (again). He actually asked for permission on this one and it worked out that we got a weekend away. We were originally going to take the kids with us, but when my mom volunteered to watch them, I jumped at the chance. So Dave flew up Friday morning, and I drove up that afternoon. I picked him up at the airport, then we headed to the Marriott - which is right on the riverwalk. That night we ate at the Cheesecake Factory (my choice - since we don't have one down in Corpus). After that we went and saw Angels and Demons. Yes, an actual movie at the movie theater, which is exactly what I wanted to do. I'm pretty sure the last movie I saw in the theater was Mamma Mia last August with my mom and cousin. But anyways...

Saturday we got up and headed to Fredericksburg, which is a German town in the Texas Hill Country. It is a really neat town with stores all up and down Main Street that you can walk to. Unfortunately, a lovely little cold front went through on our drive up there and with it came rain. It was really too wet to walk around and I didn't get to take any pictures. We ate at a restaurant in town (an hour wait - so wouldn't have been fun with kids) and then moved on to our real destination - the hill country wineries. I'm not exactly sure how many wineries there are in the surrounding area, but we went to five, and skipped over several, just in one small area. It's kind of like Texas' own Napa Valley. In fact, Texas is number two in the U.S. in wine production now. We had a blast doing the tastings at all of the wineries and of course, restocking our wine supply. Our last wine trip/binge on the Olympic peninsula supplied us with enough wine for about two years. I don't think we were quite as crazy this time, but I shouldn't be hitting the grocery store for wine any time soon...

This was one of my favorites - Grape Creek winery. The setting was so beautiful - green fields all around. They called themselves the "Tuscany of Texas".

That night we went for a stroll along the riverwalk. It was so pretty down there and the weather was perfect because of the cool front.

Here's a picture of the Riverwalk, so you can kind of get an idea of what it's like. It's down below street level and there are restaurants on both sides, plus stores, bars, and hotels.

We probably ended up walking a mile or more before stopping to have fajitas at a Mexican restaurant (not as good as La Playa, though). But the view was great - this place had a patio a so we were above the foot traffic, but still could see everything. My picture didn't turn out that great, but here it is:

You can't see the river, but it's there behind the railing and bushes.

After dinner we went to Howl at the Moon (a bar which features sing-along pianos) and had a blast! There just happened to be a bachelorette/girls gone wild party right in front of us that kept us entertained most of the night. After drinking beers there for a couple of hours we decided to call it a night. Sunday was time to head back home, although I could have used another day to just sit around and read and relax. All in all, it was a great weekend away and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

What the Heck Was I Thinking???

2009-05-19T20:05:00.002-05:00

In what was an apparent total lack of judgement/common sense, I left Luke sitting on the counter in my bathroom last Friday as I was packing for my weekend away. He was brushing his teeth, so I ran to take some bags downstairs. I could hear him moving around up there and suddenly realized that Dave had razors sitting in a cup on the counter and I had better get back up there. I flew up the steps only to be greeted by this:

You're going to have to enlarge the pictures to get the full effect. Well, in my temporary loss of brainpower (see "Where Has it Gone?" post for clarification), I seem to have forgotten that I had given Luke a tube of lipstick to play with while I was putting on makeup. And yes, he still had that lipstick (sort of), and my sweet little angelic boy had decided to brush his teeth with said lipstick. What did I do, you might ask? Well, I told him to stay right there and ran and got my camera, of course.

He was so proud of himself and couldn't stop smiling and saying "Cheese". Guess he felt kind of beautiful with the makeup on... Check out that tootbrush, and notice the EMPTY lipstick tube (yep, he used the entire thing).

The toothbrush went straight into the trash.

Luckily, it was a light pink shade and not dark red... Did I mention there were streaks on the counter and pink handprints on the mirror??

Well, lesson learned, I suppose. Does this mean I won't ever do anything brainless like this again? Probably not...

On another note, I am happy to report that Luke has been sleeping great since he got his "big boy" bed. He's getting a new quilt, but it hasn't come in yet. I just love his room, although it is kind of strange not to have a crib in the house after using one continuously for the last four years. Just reminds me how quickly they are growing.

Claire

2009-05-18T20:15:00.004-05:00

I got to see and hold my new niece for the first time today!! Claire Penelope Redman was born last Tuesday, May 12th - 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 inches. She had alot of trouble breathing on her own, so they ended up taking her to the NICU and testing her for infections. They only allowed parents and grandparents in there, so I didn't even get to see her until today. My brother and sister-in-law stopped by on their way home and I got to hold that sweet, precious baby. I forgot what it's like to hold a newborn. Even though she was a good sized baby, she was still so incredibly tiny!

Calvin was really excited to hold her as well. He's been talking about holding her since last week. It was sweet, especially when he leaned over to me and said "I just love this baby".

Luke, on the other hand, wasn't really too sure what to do. He got up from his nap, and there she was. My mom asked him if he wanted to kiss her cheek and he was quick to reply "Nope". Here he is, checking her out. He's been the baby of the family for two years now, so I'm sure he will have some issues.

Welcome to the family Claire. I'm sure I will be your favorite aunt. We love you!

Mother's Day

2009-05-18T20:06:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to share this gift I made for my my mom. They are paper flowers made from the boys' handprints. I found the directions in my Family Fun magazine and they turned out really cute. Calvin enjoyed helping me make them.

And here's my handsome boys and I on mother's day. Dave was gone on a cross-country once again so we went out to eat with my parents and brother and sister-in-law.

Primping Already??

2009-05-17T21:08:00.002-05:00

I just had to share, because this really cracked me up and I'm not sure where it came from. The other night I sent Calvin to my shower to get cleaned up. Luke was in the other shower at the time, so Calvin went off on his own. It really hits me now how quickly he is growing - he can bathe, dry, and dress himself. So this particular night he takes his shower (being sure to use my foot scrub to clean his feet), gets out, gets his towel and dries off. I periodically went in to check on him and first found him sitting on top of the toilet, towel wrapped around his waist, with my nail clippers, cutting his finger and toenails. He has never done that before. The next time I came back I found him sitting on the counter with a comb, wetting and "styling" his hair (which he just got buzzed, so there really is nothing there). I watched in amusement as he totally checked himself out in the mirror, gave a satisfied little grin, then hopped down and went to get dressed. It was hilarious, but I couldn't help but thinking, isn't he a bit young for this? His latest obsession is tucking in his shirt and wearing a belt. Metro???

Where did it go??

2009-05-07T15:01:00.002-05:00

Ever get the feeling that having kids has just sucked every bit of brainpower right out of your head??? I swear that from the moment I first got pregnant, my mental capacity has been on a downward spiral, and I don't know how to get it back. Is it the lack of sleep? The long hours spent playing the same game over and over? A lack of adult conversation? Okay, it's not really that bad, but I did have to laugh at myself when I poured Grape Nuts into my coffee this morning. I somehow managed to pour quite a bit before I realized that something was not quite right...

On another note, I am happy to report that Luke has been doing great sleeping again. I finally got a childproof knob for the door so he couldn't open it. He was pretty mad the first night but eventually got over it. I somehow came to realize that he was okay in his room if I was laying in there as well. This led us to throw a sleeping bag on the floor (hey, if I'm going to be sleeping in there, I at least want to be comfortable). Luke loved the sleeping bag and has been sleeping on the floor for the past two weeks with pretty much no problem (all by himself). I guess he was just done with his crib. We just purchased his big bed today and took the crib out of his room. It's a full sized bed, just like Calvin's, but it's not on a frame so it's pretty low to the ground. I think he's pretty excited to have his own bed. We'll see how it goes tonight.

The Night Walker

2009-04-21T20:38:00.002-05:00

That's Luke's new nickname - "the Night Walker". The little stinker is driving me crazy!! Okay, so he figured out how to get out of his bed. No big deal because he couldn't open his door - trapped in his room. (Except for the week we spent at my sister's where it took almost two hours every night to get him to sleep. But that's another story). So two days ago he figured out the door opening thing. Now, every time I put him down, he pops right out of his room. Last night he was up about 5 times between 1 and 3 a.m. One of those times he crawled into bed with Calvin and woke him up, another time I found him just standing beside Calvin's bed, staring at him (maybe getting ready to climb in??), once he was just standing in the hallway leading to our room (kind of creepy). The funny thing is, he doesn't protest at all when you take him back to his bed. He just puts his head down on your shoulder and lays back down without a word (unlike his brother, who could throw a crying fit that would wake the whole house). Then he's up again fifteen minutes later, trying again. I was tempted to put him in our bed last night, but I really don't want to go down that path. Tonight Dave is flying and I put the boys to bed by myself. Poor Calvin, his bedtime reading was interrupted every minute or so as I got up to put Luke back in his bed. He got up for an entire hour! He even went into Calvin's room and turned off his fan and music... It's 8:45 and Luke is finally laying down in his bed (I think), this time with the door open so it's not such a temptation. I am off to drink some wine and tomorrow I am going to buy one of those childproof things for Luke's door, before I pull out all of my hair.

Coming soon - I have lots of pics to post. Just can't seem to get around to it...

Luke Footage

2009-03-30T21:06:00.006-05:00

As I'm writing this, I have just put Luke back into his crib for the eighth time tonight. I guess that makes it official - time to move on to the big boy bed. He first got out three times last Wednesday (at 4 in the morning, I might add), then was content to stay in his crib for the next two nights. But now it seems he rather enjoys this new found ability. Oh well. Just wanted to share a few videos.

And here's Luke and my nephew, Gunner, forming their very own baby band version of "One Two, Buckle My Shoe". Unfortunately, the harmony needs a little work. Please ignore the brief nose picking - he learned it from his brother.

Birthday Celebrations

2009-03-30T13:13:00.008-05:00

Calvin has had several birthday celebrations and now is officially four years old. We had a "construction" party for him in mid-March, since his cousins were visiting during spring break and he wanted them to be there. Unfortunately, most of the pictures I took during that party turned out blurry. I'm hoping my mom got some good ones and will send them to me soon (hint, hint). This is kind of sad, but these are really the only ones that weren't too bad.

A picture of the cake. The beauty of a "construction" cake is that it can look like crud and that's totally okay.

Here are the kids digging for "treasure" (in the big sandbox that Dave built just in time for the party). The only problem here was that I gave Dave the job of burying the treasure... Let's just say he buried it a little too well and the kids needed lots of help to find anything.

My sister with the little kids.

This past Saturday Calvin got a special night out. We had a free night's stay at a local hotel and tickets to the Corpus Christi Sharks, an arena football team, that I had won (which made it a cheap, special night out). So Luke got to spend the night with Mimi and Papa while Calvin had alone time with mom and dad. The hotel had a great play area with a ball pit and an indoor pool. We went swimming Saturday afternoon and had so much fun we went again Sunday morning. Calvin got braver as he spent more time in the water - can't wait to put him in swim lessons this summer.

Calvin had fun at the football game too. He made it through two and a half quarters before he was ready to go, which was about one and a half longer than I expected.

Ready to go out. He even got gel in his hair for the first time.

I just love the hair and glasses.

On Sunday (his actual birthday) my parents, aunt, brother and sister-in-law came over for some Papa Murphy's pizza (yum!) and cake. Calvin got to open his presents, which is really all he talked about all day.
Some lovely birthday glasses from my mom.

Here's the fun digger Calvin got from my parents, which is just perfect for our new sandbox. He had fun today digging up the sand and loading it in the dump truck.

Another birthday cake - what a lucky kid!

Decorations Anyone?

2009-03-30T12:46:00.003-05:00

I was holding Luke this morning and he pushed on my boob and said "Mommy's belly button". I told him no and showed him where my belly button was. He pushed on my boob again and said "Mommy's belly button." Again, I told him "No, that's mommy's boob. You don't touch boobs." At which point Calvin chimed in, "Yeah, they're for decoration, right?" Huh??? I laughed and asked him who told him that. His reply? "You did." I did?? Well, I really can't remember telling him that, but it definately sounds like something I could have said...

Here are the boys looking at pictures of themselves on my blog. Notice how Luke is totally lounging on the desk.

Brotherly love.

Surprise Spice Cake

2009-03-15T20:56:00.002-05:00

I'm pretty sure somebody mentioned something one time about a cake made with tomato soup. Am I imagining that? Well, I found this recipe and tried it out. One box of spice cake mix, one can of tomato soup, 3 eggs, 1/2 c. water. Mix it all together, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Yummy! We had my family over for dinner tonight - everyone loved it and nobody could tell that it had tomato soup in it!

2009-03-11T15:02:00.002-05:00

Is it really March already?? Where has the time gone? We have been busy these past few weeks. Two weekends ago I played in a co-ed soccer tournament up in Austin. It was near my sister's house, so I went up to stay with her. The cool thing is, I took just Calvin with me. This was the first time I've left Luke for more than a night, so it was kind of weird. But I have to say, I don't know why I ever thought having one kid was hard... That was the easiest road trip I've ever been on. I didn't end it with a cramp in my shoulder from having one arm constantly behind me, trying to pass things back to a fussy child... Bathroom stops took 5 minutes instead of 20 (not to mention there wasn't a child trying his best to crawl under the door of a disgusting bath room). It was kind of nice to have some time alone with Calvin. Plus, when we got to my sisters, he just went off and played with his cousins. It was almost like having time off... Anyways, so this was my first time playing coed soccer and it was quite an adventure. When I drove up to Austin on Friday afternoon it was 85 degrees out. When I got up to play soccer Saturday morning it was 44 degrees out with winds like you wouldn't believe. We were freezing! Someone would kick the ball up in the air and we would all watched as it went forward, then stopped and went right back towards that person. Seriously. We ended up playing two games Saturday and two on Sunday, with the championship game going into overtime. That's 6 and a half hours of soccer in about 30 hours! Needless to say I was sore the next few days. But we did take second place and won $500, which was pretty neat.

Last weekend my sister-in-law had a baby shower in Austin. So we drove back up, just five days after we got home. But this time we all went and Dave and I decided to take the boys to the San Antonio zoo on the way. It was fun, but both the boys had colds and we didn't get there until 11:30, so they were tired. We didn't see as much as we could have, but we did get to see an elephant having his nails trimmed, which was kind of interesting.

So we spent the weekend at my sisters. Dave built her a vegetable garden (he's so handy), while the girls went to the shower. Unfortunately, Luke spent Saturday night up and crying, so I hardly got any sleep. Finally got him to the doctor on Tuesday and it turns out he has a double ear infection, poor baby. It's the first ear infection either of my kids has ever had, and the doctor said it was pretty bad. He got oral antibiotics as well as drops for his ears. Now let me ask, whose bright idea was it to make drops to go in a kids ears? Do you know how hard this is to do? Even with two people it's a struggle. But he's doing better now, thank goodness.

Just want to leave you with one picture. I'm not really sure what Dave was thinking, but this picture just makes me laugh. And Luke loved being in there. If Dad's could be pregnant?

Trip to the Lex

2009-02-22T20:34:00.005-06:00

Today, Dave and I decided to take the boys to see the U.S.S. Lexington, which is a decommissioned aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum. It even played a part as a Japanese ship in the movie Pearl Harbor. Corpus Christi has a special this month where if you are members of one of six museums, you can get into any of the others for free. So (since I am always up for a good deal) we thought it would be fun to take the boys and let them explore a little. Here's a picture of the Lexington, on Corpus Christi beach.

Calvin had been before last year, but Luke hadn't. It's kind of tricky with a little one because there are lots of steep ladders to climb up and down, but Dave did a good job hauling Luke around. You first walk on to the main hangar deck and strangely enough, sitting there were three rather large John Deere tractors! Pretty neat to see but we had no clue why they were onboard an aircraft carrier and there were no signs to explain. I took pictures anyway, because it was, well, different.

Here's Luke in the ship's "brig". It was really just a little thing they had out where you could stand inside and take pictures. Calvin absolutely refused to go inside. Luke didn't like it too much - as you can see, Dave is holding the door closed.

Both boys seemed to enjoy seeing all of the planes and other parts of the ship. Here they are in one of several mock cockpits that you could sit in.

This is Calvin's favorite place to be.

We got to watch an IMAX movie which involved lots of jets that Calvin really loved. He actually cried when he walked out of the theater because he didn't want it to be over. Luke and I had to leave halfway through because it was too loud for him - he held my hands over his ears almost the whole time. When we walked out he told some lady "Loud... ears" and held his hands over his ears. It was funny. The boys had so much fun, they didn't want to leave. In fact, here is the scene in our car on the way home.

In case you can't tell, he's saying "Boat, boat" over and over. And yes, he did this the entire way home (which is at least 15 minutes). Dave and I were just glad that his crying kept him from falling asleep, since it was already 5 o'clock. I had to laugh when Luke started fake crying as well - he really does copy everything Cal does. After we got home and Calvin got over it, he told me, "I still miss the boat Mommy." Aww, well, at least I know he had a good time.

So Many Things to Love

Here's a random picture from last week. This is the little co-sleeper bed Luke slept in when he was a baby. I got it out for them to play babies with, but of course they both like to lay in it themselves. Hard to believe he used to fit right inside and now he's hanging over the edge.

Tonight after dinner Calvin started crying because he didn't want to take a bath and go to bed. Luke looked at him with concern and said "Bubba, cry". He then looked at Dave and I and said "Nigh-night?". Yes we replied. Again he pointed to himself and asked "Lukey, nigh-night?". Again we said yes. Luke then got the biggest smile on his face, threw his arms in the air and said, "Yea" with all the excitement you could imagine, then started clapping his hands. I'm either living in the twilight zone or every mother's dream. A child who embraces bedtime... Okay, so his next comment was "Blanky, binky?" Ahh, he just wanted his lovies. Well, whatever works. At least for now...

The Perils of Fast Food

2009-02-15T12:57:00.003-06:00

Dave went on a cross-country this weekend (another one). Yes, my husband left me all alone on Valentine's Day :(. Anyways, since it was just me and the boys, I decided to take them to McDonald's after church for a little treat. I got to drink my coffee and read the paper while they played. Perfect.
They had a great time, running around and climbing. I was keeping an eye on them as I perused the local news. Well, first of all, Luke insisted on carrying around his blankie. Unfortunately, he likes to hold it by one corner, so it drags around all over the ground as he walks. Kind of gross, I know. (That blankie has been washed so many times in the last month...) I watched Luke run over to the video game machine (Really, why do they have these??? As if the fast food isn't enough, now your kids can go eat crap and play video games at the same time. I like McDonalds because they can go run around and play. I certainly don't want them sitting and staring at a screen. But, I digress...) So, next thing I see is Luke climbing under a table and kind of patting the underside of the table. I turned back to my story, then looked up again to find Luke eating something. Great, I thought, he found somebody's left over french fry on the floor and is eating it. Not too surprising for my kid, but still disgusting. I went over to remove the offending food. As I got closer, Luke gave me a silly little grin. I held out my hand and ordered Luke to spit. He spit, but nothing came out. That's when a flash of color under the table caught my eye. It was worse than I thought. Luke found somebody's chewed up gum stuck to the bottom of a table, pulled a small piece off, and was happily chewing away!! The worst part was, it was stuck to his teeth, so I had to stick my hand in there and pull it off. Talk about yuck. I just hope that gum had been there long enough for all germs and bacteria and anything else that might have been living on it to die. At this rate, Luke is going to have a fantastic immune system.

Little Aviator

2009-02-12T19:58:00.004-06:00

Another dress up costume that Calvin loves - his flight suit. I love how he has to put everything on - even his hat and boots. Dave ordered him a patch just like his that Calvin was thrilled about. Look how he's standing with his hands behind his back and everything.

Since several people commented about the sunglasses in my previous post, I just have to say - the second picture was somewhat staged. Calvin used to put on his glasses, then go get the stroller and push it around. Luke was up in my room the other day playing with the baby and there were sunglasses lying around, so I thought it would be neat to get a similar picture and compare them.

Here's a new version of fun the boys have discovered. They've always liked to be spun around, but "Mommy doesn't spin", as I tell them, so they figured out a way to do it on their own.

This and That

2009-02-07T14:44:00.003-06:00

Okay, first of all, I have a guilty mom confession to make... The boys hair was getting so long - it hadn't been cut in two and a half months. And I just couldn't resist the temptation... So I pulled a Tracy, and I put a little barette in Luke's hair, just to see what it would look like. Oh, he would make such a cute little girl... No pictures though. He apparently didn't agree with me and ripped it right out. Oh well.

Lynn and I took the boys to the science and history museum here last week. They had a great time running around in the children's area. But despite our best efforts, pictures of them together were hard to get. They did not want to stand still at the same times. Just wanted to share the few that I did manage to get.

Here's Luke and Bradley, tasting the little magnetic poles, naturally.

Calvin and Jack, hanging like bats. Except Jack didn't really want to...

Finally got them stationary, but the picture turned out a little blurry.

Here's my own little blast from the past. Calvin at about 22 months, pushing the baby in the stroller.
And Luke, at 20 months. Yes, this is the same baby that they fight over.

The Boys are Fighting!

2009-01-27T19:41:00.003-06:00

Okay, having two boys, I never thought I'd have to say this, but my kids have been fighting over the baby doll! Of course, they both want to play with the baby. I told my mom about it and she found one of our old cabbage patch kids. Great solution - two boys, two babies. Guess what? Nobody wants that other baby. Apparently it is just not as good. So they continue to squabble. Boys, what can you do? It's funny because this past week the baby and cooking have been two of the daily "games" we've played. I just love having boys!

Luke has started to parrot EVERYTHING we say. Every word, he repeats it right back. Fun, yes, until my brother decided to test this... Yes, Luke repeats everything...

Today he decided to build a tower of blocks. This is really the first time he has built anything and check out the tower he made! Could be we have another engineer in the family. The funny thing was he got a bunch of blocks from the basket and carried them all to the table. Then when he used those up he looked at me and said "More blocks, mommy". So I fetched him blocks as he worked on his masterpiece.

I also let the boys paint a picture together this morning. They actually did pretty good sharing the canvas, although Calvin's painting took up about 75% of the page and Luke's a small corner, but neither one cared so neither did I. Luke only painted one stripe on Calvin's clothes and only licked a little bit of paint off the brush... He's getting better...

I just love how they are at the point where they actually can play and do things together. It makes having two close together totally worth it!

Weekend Getaway

2009-01-18T19:36:00.008-06:00

We took advantage of another one of Dave's cross country's to get away for the weekend, this time to Austin. Since my sister lives up there, I drove up on Thursday so we could spend the night with them and let the kids have some play time. My sister's youngest, Gunner, is 5 months older than Luke. Now that they are getting older, the differences between them are not quite so great and I think they will have a lot of fun together as they grow. Here they are, hanging out together.

At one point while we were there Luke disappeared. I went to find him and my sister said "He's just washing his hands." Well, turns out he was actually "washing" his hair. He would get the hand soap on his hand, then smear it on (one side) of his head. He was so proud of himself. And what did I do when I found him?? Run and get my camera, of course.

On Friday I went and picked Dave up at the airport and we staying in a hotel in downtown Austin. Calvin loved "making coffee" in the little coffee pot and opening the door with the key card.

On Saturday morning we got up and went to the Austin Children's Museum. The boys had fun but I really wasn't impressed at all by the museum. I guess for a bigger city, I thought it would be alot better. It was crowded, not alot of room to move around, and seemed to be geared more towards elementary aged kids. It was okay for a day, but I probably wouldn't go back. The San Antonio Children's Museum is much better.

One thing Calvin liked - dress up.

Putting shingles on a roof.

After lunch and driving around while the boys slept, we went to Zilker Park in downtown Austin. It's a huge park and we only went to one small part of it, but it was really neat. And can I just say, you would not believe how many people are out running in Austin. I saw so many people all day long, it was really great. Anyways, the park had a big play area for the kids and a little train you could take a ride on. Dave bought tickets for the train ride, but somehow only purchased one adult ticket and didn't realize it until we got on. I went to get another ticket and they were sold out. A woman sitting behind us overheard us talking about it, said she had been on the ride many times, and was nice enough to give me her ticket so we could enjoy the ride as a family. I was touched by her kind gesture.

After a long day of playtime for the kids, they were ready for bed. However, Luke didn't want to go to sleep in his pack n' play. When we made a bed for Calvin on the floor, Luke laid right down on it with his blanket and everything.

I let him stay there, just to see what he would do. He tickled Calvin for a little bit, then I gave him books to look at. After awhile it was quiet and I looked down to see that he had fallen asleep, right there next to his brother. We moved him to his bed but I thought it was so sweet that he just snuggled next to Calvin and actually went to sleep.

We headed home early Sunday morning, so it was a pretty quick trip, but so nice to get away from all the chores and routines of home!

Just Another Day

2009-01-07T19:45:00.002-06:00

Games We Play

Somehow, this morning, playing with a bouncy ball turned into a game of fetch and both of my children turned into little puppies eager to crawl after a ball and bring it back to me, in their mouth of course. Who would have thought that something so silly would be so much fun, but both of them loved "chasing" after the balls. Never thought I would be scratching my kids behind the ears and telling them "Good doggy"! And let me tell you, this was not a short-lived game, either. I had to draw the line though, when Calvin told me it was my turn to "fetch". No thanks, I'll pass on that...

Cheap Entertainment

My garage door has been broken for months. I finally got somebody out today to fix it. Of course they didn't get there until after five (since I had been waiting since noon...) but as it turns out, their timing was perfect. As I finished getting dinner ready the boys sat, enthralled, at the garage door and watched the men work. I just had to snap a picture.

Independent Reader

Tonight I read Luke his stories and went to put him into bed, but he jumped down and grabbed another book and got back in his chair. So I said goodnight, walked out, and closed the door, just to see what he would do. I opened it back up to check on him right away, he looked at me and said 'Bye, Mommy'. Well, I can take a hint, so I left again. But I couldn't resist and had to go back to check on him. I opened the door just a tad so I could peek in and I watched him "read" his book, then get down and search for another book in his basket, get back up into his rocking chair and read the next book. He did that three times before he apparently found a book that I just had to read to him, at which point he came calling for me, and then led me back to his chair to read the last book. I thought it was pretty cute, but I hope this is not the beginning of bedtime stalling tactics.

Once Again...

2009-01-03T08:10:00.001-06:00

Catching up. I always think of things to write about and then by the time I get around to actually sitting down and writing, I just draw a big blank...

We had a great Christmas. Calvin was so excited about Santa coming, but still young enough that he went to sleep and wasn't up too early in the morning. He got his first "big boy" bike and loves it. We have been out riding almost every day. In fact, I even dusted off my bike, pumped up the tires and took a few laps around the block. I forgot how much fun that was.

Luke got his very own "turtle bike" (that's what he calls it).

It was a hard wait, but Calvin did it and was so excited to rip open all of his presents on Christmas morning.

Posing with their stockings.

Calvin also got an astronaut costume, which he loves. In fact, he put it on that morning and didn't take it off until that night, even though it was very warm and sunny on Christmas Day. He actually wore it every day for about a week. To Home Depot, the gym... Got some cute little smiles too as he went waltzing by.

Luke liked trying out Calvin's bike. Who says you can't talk and drive at the same time?

We spent Christmas morning at our house (for the first time in three years), then headed over to my parent's house for dinner. My sister and her family came down that day and we had another big gift exchange that night. Which is really pretty crazy and chaotic with five small kids. My parents got all of us "big" kids a gift card to a local steak restaurant and were kind enough to offer their babysitting services, so the next night we all went out, kidless (how absolutely wonderful). Here we are, getting ready to go out.

The mandatory family picture in front of the Christmas tree.

After dinner we went back to our house to play some games. (Okay, really we were afraid the kids would still be up and we needed a place to hang out until it was late enough to return to my parent's house). I decided it might be fun to play Animal Scramble, which is a kids game where you run around and tag animals with this wand thing. My sister had a little too much fun with it and I just had to throw in this picture. Ha Ha Jenn! It's a neat game though.

Take a close look at this picture. Does anything seem off?

You can't really tell, but that's Calvin's shirt on Luke and vice versa. We were getting the boys dressed one morning and I threw down clothes to Dave, who got them dressed, naturally. I walked down, took a look and just laughed. I mean, the football shirt is a 4t and the other is 18-24 months. But really, the shirt sleeves are just a little short on Calvin and other than that you couldn't tell so much. Won't be long before they're sharing clothes...

One last picture - Calvin got an umbrella for Christmas and was so excited when it started raining the other morning. He ran inside, got his umbrella and just stood in the driveway with the biggest smile on his face.

Can you believe its 2009 already? Seems like the last year has just flown by. Wishing everyone a fantastic new year.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-23T10:09:00.003-06:00

The cookies are baked, the presents are wrapped. My house is a mess, but that's okay. I am ready to sit down and relax and enjoy the next few days with my family. Okay, we know the relax part is so not going to happen, but it's nice to think about, isn't it??? Wishing you all a very blessed and merry Christmas.

The Penis Story

2008-12-17T22:02:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I knew this would get your attention. Just a quick little story to share. Last weekend my mom, Calvin, Luke, and I were driving home from my sister's house. Out of the blue, Calvin pipes up from the back seat "Mommy, does Luke have a penis?"

"Yes, Calvin."

He chuckles. "I knew that. Because Luke is a boy. I'm a boy and I have a penis and Grady has a penis." (Keep in mind, my mom is in the car)

He pauses for a few seconds. "And my daddy has a BIG penis"

Enough said.

Staying Busy

2008-12-06T13:57:00.012-06:00

All right, I promised myself I was going to post something tonight, so even if it means I have to prop my eyes open with a few shots of espresso, gosh darn it I am getting this done tonight... With what, I'm not exactly sure, but it seems like we have been busier than ever here. I guess its just that time of year when we get caught up with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays. My in-laws were down for a week and spent Thanksgiving with us. The boys really loved seeing them and their cousin, Holden, since they only see them about twice a year. (And I really enjoyed having just a little bit of free time while they played with the kids).

Here's a random picture of Calvin, enjoying one of the first cool days we had down here. We're so excited to get to wear pants and long sleeves.

As soon as Thanksgiving dinner was over we put up the tree and started decorating. Five days later I was about done. And now that I've had a few weeks to enjoy the decorations I can say that it is very nice to be in my own house at Christmas. It's hard to belive, but this is actually the first time in the last three years that we will be home for the holidays. We have a beautiful, 9 foot tree (Dave's choice, not mine). I made the mistake of wrapping presents and actually putting them under the tree ahead of time, not realizing that this would be pure torture to a 3 year old who just LOVES presents. Now I hear daily, "Mom, I want to open a present. I can't wait until Christmas, it's too far away." (imagine a very whiny voice) Which then turns into a threat, "Mom, I'm just going to open all of these presents." (demanding voice) Which then leads to my own threat of "If you open a present, I am giving all of them away..." Day, after day, after day - the exact same thing. I'll try to remember that next year. But hey, a closet can only hold so much.

Since we have no fireplace, we made our own. We took one of the (many) boards Dave had lying around the garage, painted it red, added some blocks for bricks and voila, a fireplace to hang our stockings on. Okay, so Dave did most of the work, but I came up with the idea, and painted it (well, the red part). I thought it turned out great.

Here's Calvin by the tree. His pajamas say "I've been good all year". Ha!

I got him doing the whole "I can't wait" thing.

The first weekend in December, Dave's squadron had a children's Christmas Party. They had a bounce house, a T-34 to sit in, face painting, cookie decorating, and of course, Santa. The boys had a great time. Here they are, waiting for Santa to come.

Santa rides in style, taxiing in on a T-34. By the way, is this not the skinniest Santa you've ever seen? Get that man some cookies...

Decorating/eating the cookies.
Calvin and I made a gingerbread house one day (totally from a kit). He was so excited to do it so we waited until Luke was napping, got everything out and sat down to work. As it turns out, I was the only one working. Calvin was really just excited about the candy. So I squeezed icing on and carefully placed little candies around while Calvin said "Mom, can I eat this? Mom, I'm going to have some of that..." Here is the finished product.

Looks great, right? You should have seen it two days later. Apparently I was off in my own world when Calvin mentioned that he was going to eat the gingerbread house. I walked into the kitchen one night and noticed the bites going up and down the edges of the roof... I think he wanted some icing...

We went to my sister's last weekend for my niece and nephew's birthday. Here's a Luke, coloring with the big girls. What you can't see are the three large blue marks on his face and arm that lasted for three whole days.

Sweet little Luke. It is fascinating to watch his personality emerge more and more every day. As much as Calvin is crazy, Luke is a little sweetheart. He loves to give kisses (and will turn your head to make sure he gets you right on the mouth) and has started walking up to you and giving hugs as well. He can repeat just about anything we say. For some reason he says "Claus" instead of Santa and will point out every single Santa he sees when we are out. He has also started saying "Luke" when I ask him what his name is (although it comes out more like "Wook"). And apparently, he is starting to develop his own fashion sense as well. One day I got out his blue shoes to put on him. He said "No" and pushed the shoes away, then went to the basket, picked out his brown shoes and brought them back, took the blue shoes back to the basket, then came back and sat down. I'm pretty sure he's too young to have an opinion about shoes.

Here's Cal in another of his outfits. I actually picked this one, but I intended the t-shirt to be an undershirt. He decided that he would much rather put the sweater on first, and the t-shirt on top. After much resistance, I finally gave in. He's very particular about his shirts and lately has been insisting on tucking in his sweaters. Yes, I have the kid with pants pulled up to his armpits, sweater tucked in. And we go out like that. All the time.

A couple of fun videos of Luke.

Boogers

2008-11-16T20:57:00.003-06:00

Remember those little pink paper hearts I talked about awhile back and how they kept "showing up" in wierd places. Well, they have been replaced by little green boogers. I wasn't even sure I wanted to write about this but I have to know if other kids are doing the same thing or if it's just my kid (in which case, I lay all blame upon his father). I've found boogers on my couch, the walls, the stair rail. Recently I went to get Calvin out of his carseat, only to find four (yes, four!) boogers smeared on the door. Yuck! I've tried to explain to Calvin how gross that is and that he needs to get a kleenex to wipe his nose. One day I caught him with a booger (sometimes he tries to hand them to me or other people - sorry Uncle Nate) and I told him to go get a piece of tissue paper and put it on there. Guess what I found when I went to the bathroom later? Boogers stuck to the toilet paper, still on the roll!!! And that has happened more than once! Is anybody else having this problem????

It's Froggy Out

2008-11-16T20:51:00.002-06:00

"It's froggy out today." That's what Calvin told me when he opened the blinds and saw his mist covered window. I tried to tell him it was "foggy" but he insisted on froggy.

The other day while painting he informed me that "I need a fresh piece of paper." As if paper could go stale or something.

Last week in the car we were driving and Calvin commented that there was one girl and three boys in the car. This, for some reason, led Dave to ask Calvin if he would like to have a little sister (don't read too deeply into this - no plans for another baby right now). To which he replied "sister Calvin?". And Dave said "No, her name would be Christy or Carly or Angie or something." Calvin looked at us and said "No, I don't like any of those girls. I just love you mommy." Awww!!!!

Baking Cookies

2008-11-16T20:34:00.006-06:00

I had some "manly" aprons made for the boys recently. (I originally wrote cute, but that would really make Dave roll his eyes in disgust). The day after I showed them to Calvin he came up to me and said, "I have an idea. We can make cookies. I can wear my new apron." Well, who could turn that down? In the spirit of Amber, who bravely takes on such activities, we proceded to make some sugar cookies. Calvin put on his apron and pulled the chair up to the counter. As soon as Luke noticed, he went and pushed a chair over to the counter too, so he could get in on the action.

Here's Calvin rolling out the dough.
Luke stirring the dough. I left his binky in to keep him from eating the dough. It didn't work.

These were pre-baking pictures. They did not look quite so clean afterwards.

Of course, the boys made a huge mess, but Luke was all too happy to grab the vaccuum and "help" clean up.

Why I Have Gray Hair

2008-11-16T20:25:00.003-06:00

Dave found a gray hair on me the other day!!! On my head - still attached. A long gray hair. I think that I am too young to have gray hairs. On the other hand, I have two boys...

Here's what happened when Calvin was left alone with the markers. He colored his hand orange "like Ironman!". His entire hand. And then proceded to color the other one as well.

Caught red, I mean orange, handed!

I'm all for artistic expression but this painting the mouth thing is getting a little old. I'm pretty sure Calvin was past eating paint (or playdough, or crayons...) at this point.

I guess there's not much to do but continue plucking out those hairs...

Thought this was Funny

2008-11-01T20:22:00.003-05:00

Every time Luke sees a camera he says cheese. I guess I don't think much about it but last night I was looking through some videos I had taken on my camera and I started to notice the pattern. There were quite a few, but I just wanted to share these.

Just a Few Things

2008-11-01T20:13:00.003-05:00

Well, gas is down to $1.99 here. Hard to believe, as it was at $3.99 less than two months ago. I completely filled up my car (was almost out of gas) for $38 the other day. Funny, but I never thought $38 for gas would seem cheap to me... What's the price where you are??

On another note, I got to see Lynn, Jack, and Bradley!!! It was very exciting for me and so nice to have an old friend back. When Lynn first pulled up and opened the door, Jack said "Hi! My name is Jack." It was so cute but I guess he didn't remember us at all. I'll have to get some pictures of the boys together and post them on here.

Apparently, kitchens aren't just for cooking anymore. They now qualify as climbing structures as well.

Halloween

2008-10-31T21:34:00.005-05:00

Well, despite the fact that Dave was gone on a cross-country once again, we had a pretty good Halloween (for the record, Dave has never been home for a Halloween since Calvin was born). Mimi and Papa, as well as Uncle Nate and Aunt Nikki came over and went trick-or-treating with us (that must have looked kind of funny - 5 adults and only 2 kids). The boys were so cute dressed up in their costumes and going trick-or-treating. Calvin and I worked on what he was supposed to say when he went up to a house and he did a great job remembering the "trick or treat" and the "thank you". Luke was really quick to pick up on the pattern as well. He would walk up to the door, knock, and hold his little pumpkin up to get some candy. Then he would stand there and stare at the person until I took his hand and led him away. At one point he was moving pretty slow and I tried to hold his bucket for him, but he tightened his grip and would not let go of it. He wore Calvin's bumblebee costume and only one person called him a girl. This lady told Calvin "Here, take some candy for your little sister." (lucky Dave wasn't there to hear that, although my dad promised to tell him). The best part of the night was that we went to about 10-12 houses and then Calvin looked down in his bucket and said "I've got enough candy. I'm ready to go home." And as we walked back towards home he added "I'm ready to go to bed." Can't get much better than that!! Here are some pictures of the boys in their costumes.

This is actually after trick-or-treating. Notice Luke is already checking out the loot.

Before trick-or-treating.

First Camping Trip

2008-10-21T14:40:00.002-05:00

Calvin and Dave had their first overnight camping trip this weekend - right in our backyard. They pitched a tent, put their sleeping bags in and enjoyed some daddy-son time. Calvin was so excited and had a great time. They told each other ghost stories and ate banana splits (okay, not exactly "camping" food, but that's one of the perks of staying in your backyard).

Here they are, putting the tent up.
"Cheese"

Snuggling in their tent bed.
I wasn't sure if Calvin would make it through the whole night, but apparently he slept through and didn't wake up until 6:30. At which point, Dave decided to send him into the house all by himself to pee. Calvin decided he had to go upstairs to use the bathroom, but found the gate closed at the top of the stairs. Needless to say, Luke and I were both up by 6:35...

I can't wait for Luke to get old enough to join them, then I can really have some quiet Mommy time...

Bedtime Woes

2008-10-21T14:31:00.004-05:00

Usually Calvin goes to bed pretty easily. Last night he was a bit overtired though and Dave took him to visit the neighbors after dinner, which wound him up. Anyways, I read to him and turned off his light around 7 (he'd been up since 6 a.m. with no nap). I figured he would pass right out since he was so tired, but no such luck. I heard him wandering the hallway multiple times. When I walked by his room I saw that he had turned on his overhead light and was laying on his floor, looking at books. Well, I don't really mind him staying in his room and reading, so I left him alone and went downstairs. Dave and I soon heard "wandering" again and told him to get back in bed. The highlight of the night, though, was when a little "robot" voice piped from the top of the stairs "I - am - a - robot. I - am - still - awake. And - I - am - hungry." Dave and I took one look at each other and burst out laughing. We were so amused we brought him a snack - a plain piece of bread that he had to eat in his bed. I guess a hungry stomach was keeping him up because after that he went right to sleep!

No Bubbles

2008-10-08T18:43:00.004-05:00

"I don't want the bubbles to touch me!!!"
That was Calvin in the bath earlier tonight.

"But I thought you said you wanted to take a bubble bath."

"I do want a bubble bath, but I don't want the bubbles to touch me! Wahhhhh!!!"

Huh??? Well, if I figure out how to accomplish that one, I'll let you know.

It was just one of those afternoons/evenings when he's tired and nothing can please him.

"Fine" I said, "Just get out of the bath then." To which he replied, "I don't want to get out of the bath." while Luke stood up and said "Out, out..."

"No, you sit down and stay in the bath. Calvin, you get out." Which left them both in tears. So I turned on the shower to clean them off. Apparently, this was what Calvin wanted all along and he happily played in the shower for 15 minutes while Luke happily got out. Things just never go the way you think they will.

No Man

2008-10-03T15:15:00.002-05:00

Luke has become a certified "no" man. His standard response to any question asked of him? No, of course. Even when he means yes.
"Luke, are you all done?" 'No!' then hands me his plate, cup, and spoon and tries to take the tray off of his highchair.
"Luke, do you want a cookie?" Shakes his head no, then stands there and waits, expectantly, for the cookie that's been offered.
"Luke, do you want to go to take a bath?" 'Nooo', then runs to the stairs saying 'Bath, bath,". "Luke, can you help put these blocks away?" 'No', then puts every single block in the basket. It's quite confusing. I've tried explaining to him that if he does want something he has to say "Yes", but he just doesn't seem to be getting it. Oh well, maybe when he's two...
(I remember how Calvin never said 'Yes' either - he always said "Okay!". At least he was on the affirmative side...)

Catching the Bug

2008-10-03T14:51:00.002-05:00

Oh, the week I've had. I'm not even sure I want to share. It started out when I came down with a cold on our trip. It turned out to be a bad one and kept me up several nights, unable to breathe. On Tuesday afternoon, I was laying in my bed reading a magazine and the boys were in there watching Baby MacDonald (the first time Luke has actually sat and watched a show) (hey, I was tired from the cold). I just happened to look down and see Calvin puking all over my bed! I quickly got him up (as vomit runs off the side of the bed) and ran him to the bathroom where he puked again. Now ladies, this was my first time dealing with "big boy" puke, as evidenced by the fact that Calvin looked up at me and said, "Mommy, what IS that?" He didn't know what throw-up was! So the puke went through my duvet cover, through my down comforter (which has since been thrown away), through the sheet and onto the mattress pad. Also all over my floor and both rugs in my bathroom. Great, now I have a whole bunch of laundry to do. But that was just the beginning.
Calvin wanted chocolate milk and against my better judgement, I gave it to him. Wrong move. That came up 10 minutes later. We moved downstairs to the couch. Calvin had to throw up again and as he was standing at the toilet, suddenly another puddle appeared down on the floor. Nope not pee, the other one... So now I am using my foot to keep Luke out of the bathroom while cleaning up a puddle of poop off the floor (the words puddle and poop really should not have to be used together), trying to get Calvin's dirty clothes off of him without making an even bigger mess, and get him clean enough to go upstairs to the shower. I finally get him up there and cleaned up, into his jammies and back on the couch. Now I have an even bigger pile of laundry to clean, as well as several things to take to the trash...
I think Calvin ended up throwing up about 8 times in a span of four hours, before passing out on the couch. Then he was done - he woke up about 2:30 that night, drank 2 whole bottles of water, and was fine. Dave and I, on the other hand, both came down with the same thing and were up sick all night. I think I slept about 3 hours the whole night. Luckily, Luke didn't catch it and my mom was kind enough to come take him and watch him the next day (thanks mom!) so Cal and I could just chill on the couch, watch t.v. and rest. We're all better now (except for a lingering cough here) but I do not want to go through that again anytime soon!

John Deere Day - Planting Trees

2008-10-03T14:37:00.003-05:00

Dave is notorious for coming up with new projects. So despite that fact that there is an unfinished workbench which has been in my garage in various degrees of completion for the last four months, my husband decided on Monday that he HAD to plant some fruit trees in our backyard. Off we went to the nursery, 30 minutes later, to choose. We picked out a Mexican lime, a satsuma (mandarin orange), and a kumquat tree (these have small little orange-like fruits that you can eat skin and all). We brought them home and of course, they had to be planted right away. Luckily, Calvin has some cool rides, and he is all too happy to do the "dirty" work for Daddy. It was really pretty cute. Dave shoveled dirt into the back of the gator, and Calvin drove it around to the front and dumped it out (we have an empty lot right next to us, but not for much longer). Here he is getting ready to dump some dirt.
It takes two strong guys to lift the bed. (can we say, like father, like son???)
A boy can't have just one John Deere... The second is a souped-up hand me down from Nana and Papa. It actually wasn't working, but Dave "fixed" that. It no longer goes in reverse or first gear, but hey, what kid doesn't need a hot-rod John Deere????
They had alot of fun, and we've actually enjoyed some yummy fruit from the Satsuma. A branch broke off in transit and although the skin was still green, the orange was good. On a side note, I have to attribute all this lovely tree planting opportunity to the 90 degree weather we are still having down here. Isn't it October already?

San Antonio Trip

2008-09-29T12:45:00.004-05:00

The Flowers Family took a trip this past weekend. I think it's the first time we've been on a "vacation" since Luke was born (excluding trips to see family). Dave had to go on a cross-country to San Antonio which is only about 2 1/2 hours from us (I know, that's really "cross-country" isn't it?). For the non-military, that's where he takes a student on a trip so they learn about planning and traveling to different airfields. They have two full days of flying (Friday and Sunday) but typically have nothing to do on Saturday. I was supposed to be playing in a soccer tournament that weekend so I was kind of conflicted on going, but at the last minute (Friday afternoon) I decided to do something spontaneous for once and packed up the boys and hit the road. We got up to San Antonio Friday evening and met Dave at the hotel (Grand Hyatt on the Riverwalk - beautiful). If you've never been to San Antonio, the Riverwalk is awesome! It's down below street level, a small "river" which is paved on both sides with shops and restaurants all up and down it. I'm not sure how long it is, but we walked at least half a mile. It was really, really neat. I lived in San Antonio for two years and never really went down there (probably because I was in college, no car, no money...). Anyways, we walked right out of the hotel and down to a restaurant, not having to worry about traffic or anything.
On Saturday we took the boys to Sea World (which offers military and their dependents one free visit a year). We had such a great time - saw some neat shows, rode rides, and fed some animals. Here are some pictures I got.

Dave and Luke, waiting for the "VIVE" show. This has beluga whales, dolphins, synchronized swimmers, and divers putting on a very neat show. Both boys loved it. Luke kept pointing to the whales and dolphins when they jumped, and then he was saying "more, more". It was cute.

After the dolphin show, Calvin wanted to ride a roller coaster. Luckily, they had a great kids area. He got to go on a Shamu coaster, which was just a small ride for little kids, but he loved it. While he and Dave rode, Luke and I walked around and took some pictures. There were Halloween decorations all around. Here's Luke posing with some:
There was a huge sand pit for the kids to play in, as well as all these tunnels and ropes to climb through. Here's Luke's first carnival ride. Waiting for the Shamu show to start. We were in the splash zone, which Calvin did not like one bit. In fact, he insisted on sitting elsewhere and he and I had to move.
A picture of shamu jumping out of the water.
Here's Calvin feeding the seals and sea lions. You could buy a little basket of fish to drop down to them. Calvin was all for this until he saw the little fish. Then he had to be coaxed into picking them up. But he did it. You can see the fish falling, just below the railing.

And here are the sea lions, waiting for the food. That seal in the back actually jumped over the sea lions to steal the fish!
The dolphin interaction area. You can stick your hands in the water and you can feed them too, but we weren't there at the right time.
The dolphins are so close to you.
Calvin didn't make it to see the dolphins. I let him ride in the stroller for a bit and by the time we got to the dolphin area he had passed out. Well, who could blame him after that exciting day.
That night we went back to the riverwalk and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. The boys weren't too sure about all the animals and noises at first, but ended up having a great time. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm glad we got the chance to have a little family getaway.

Reunion

2008-09-28T20:02:00.002-05:00

All right, so I want to know who's planning the "Oak Harbor Little Swimmers Playgroup" reunion? I'm just going to go ahead and nominate Tracy for that one, since she's a planner and has all those great ideas. Any one second the idea?

Facts of Life

2008-09-22T12:37:00.004-05:00

So, I got one of THE questions today. In the middle of what was an otherwise peaceful breakfast, Calvin looks up at me and asks:
"Mom, how does the baby get out of the mommy?"

What? Where the heck did this thought come from? Panic setting in. What do I tell him? What do I tell him?
"What did you ask honey? (stalling for more time)

"How does the baby get out of the mommy?"

Think, think.... Luckily, I've had this conversation with my sister. What did she tell her kids? Ah-ha!!
"Well, from the baby hole." Please work, please work.

"What's a baby hole?"

Hmm, haven't thought this through too clearly.
"Mommy's have a baby hole."

Calvin contemplates this for a moment.
"Oh. Where is the baby hole at?"

Okay, I'm so not going there.
"It's hidden, honey. But when the baby is ready to come out, he comes out of the baby hole."

Calvin pauses and thinks about this a bit more. "Oh," he says, nods his head as if this makes perfect sense, and goes back to eating his cereal.

Crisis averted, remember to blog and laugh about this later.

Outdoor Painting

2008-09-22T12:29:00.002-05:00

Since the weather was nice on Saturday I decided to let the boys have a little outdoor painting fun (plus, less worry for me about clean up). So we headed outside, taped down some paper bags, gave each of the boys some paint and a paint brush and let them go at it. They were both very excited.

Calvin worked very hard on his painting. Luke worked very hard to make the biggest mess that could be made. Calvin's masterpiece:

Luke's masterpiece (you have to click on this one and make it bigger to truly appreciate):
I think he did two brush strokes on the paper and the rest was on him and the driveway. Oh well, that's what the garden hose is for, right?

Just Random

2008-09-19T21:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, we went to our first non-playgroup, non-family birthday party tonight. Calvin had a wonderful time and was so excited, but it just wasn't the same for me. Probably because I didn't know any of the other moms except the one throwing the party. Nothing over the top like I'm used to...

I have an asparagus-lover. Luke will not touch ANY type of fruit except for frozen berries, yet he can't get enough asparagus. I made some last night and he kept asking for "more, more, more". I just don't get it.

This morning Calvin asked me "Mommy, can I get dressed and go for a run?" Then he said "Mommy, I just need to go for a run. I need to get some exercise because I haven't exercised in a long time." (This is almost exactly what I say to him when I want to go for a run and he's refusing to cooperate). It's so nice to know that they're just sitting there, soaking up everything you say, and waiting for the right time to spit it back out at you. Except, of course, for the things you want them to remember, like, say, letters or numbers...

Has anyone read the Trucktown Books by John Sciezska?? He's really into promoting boys reading, and he created a line of books just for boys. Calvin loves them.

Dave is flying tonight, it's 9:45, and Calvin is still awake. He's been playing in his bed for the last hour and just walked in and told me I was supposed to be going to bed and the computer was for daytime, not night time. Too much cake and ice cream I guess.

That's it. Just some random thoughts. And one random, somewhat blurry picture of my little sockman (I walked out of the closet to find him putting Dave's socks on both his legs and arms...).

Daily Reminders

2008-09-18T14:42:00.003-05:00

I am constantly reminded of the good friends and times we had in Whidbey whenever I look down on my carpet and spot....................................... a pink confetti heart. Yes, from the Valentine's party a year and a half ago. They somehow attached themselves to my stuff and made a move of thousands of miles, just so that I could look down every now and then and say............ "What the heck, another heart??!!!" I don't know how many are left, or where exactly they are hiding, but they just keep turning up. And I do cherish the memories they elicit.

Aunt Jenny's Part 2

2008-09-17T14:14:00.008-05:00

So it looked like Hurricane Ike was going straight towards us last week and I decided to take the boys and get out of town ahead of the storm. Dave had to evacuate the planes, so he's no help to me in a hurricane. Anyways,last Wednesday I packed up the boys and drove up to Austin, back to my sister's house, which we had just left 4 days before! This was also my first time driving long distance alone with the boys. It wasn't too bad except for the last 45 minutes up there, when both boys were whining and fussy (it was 6, so past dinnertime, and they had been in the car for over 4 hours). Calvin alternated repeatedly between "When are we going to get to Grady's house?" and "It's too far, it's taking too long". But we made it. Again, it was LOUD there. Seriously, I have never heard so much screaming, crying, and fighting. It's funny how the kids can go from best friends one minute to tormenting each other the next. Now, they don't always fight - there were plenty of times they played together very nicely. But they know just which buttons to push to get to each other. My sister and I are both just hoping that they grow out of it as they get older. Even Luke has learned to scream. Ugh! I'd like to blame it on my sister's kids, but I'm pretty sure he would have picked it up anyways. He let out a good one when I picked him up to leave the play area at Chik-Fil-A. In fact, he screamed so loud that I'm pretty sure people thought I was abducting him. There were lots of strange looks as I quickly exited the building...

Some pictures from our trip. Here are the kiddos, watching a movie.
Luke showing off those pearly whites...
Playing red light, green light (pretty hilarious with two little kids who totally don't get the start/stop thing). Notice Calvin's baseball uniform. That was actually Grady's, but Calvin had to try it on and then decided he needed to wear it the entire day - socks, cleats, and all.
The "babies" playing on the table. Don't they look so innocent? hah
Story time with four of the five kids. Just a little crazy.

On a more serious note, Hurricane Ike did so much damage along the Texas coast. We were very lucky that it changed direction and didn't hit near us. Whole towns were destroyed and lots of people lost their houses and all of their belongings. They're saying that it could take months to get everything cleaned up. Keep those people in your prayers.

On another note, Luke said "I love you" for the first time!!! My mom has been teaching him to do it and make little hand signals (point to his eye for "I", point to me for "you") and he did it last night while also saying all the words. So cute!!!

Cold Front

2008-09-17T14:14:00.002-05:00

We are enjoying the first cold front of the season. Which, down here, mean temperatures in the mid-80's with lows in the mid-60's. Some of you (those in WA) are probably laughing about that being a "cold front" but trust me, when you've been living with 90 degree temperatures and 90% humidity, 80 degrees feels AWESOME!!! I can walk outside without breaking into a sweat! I got to open my windows, and the boys and I spent a good portion of the day outside. There is something about that change in weather that just really lifts your spirit. I'm sure it will be back in the 90's by the end of the week, but I'm enjoying it while its here. I can't wait for more fall weather!!!

Trip to Aunt Jenny's

2008-09-08T20:08:00.002-05:00

The Flowers Family (sans Dave, plus Mimi) took a trip to visit my sister last week. We had completely chaotic fun (and just a few I want to pull my hair out moments). Well, I guess I should start by saying that two little boys and one mommy sleeping in one room is not the greatest thing. Especially when the older boy is sharing a bed with mommy and he likes to rock and roll all night long. Calvin would toss and turn for an hour, before nestling his feet right in the middle of my back. As soon as I'd move him, he'd roll back over and stick his head on my neck. And so it went for four nights... Which really just makes for one tired mom who had to drink two cups of coffee plus a diet coke by 10 a.m.... But I digress...
My sister has three kids - 7, 4, and 20 months. A perfect fit for my two - 3 and 15 months - or so it would seem. But something about that combo just doesn't work out. A lack of sleep coupled with too much together time led to some major squabbles. My sister even made the point that it was strange that she's fine at home with her kids and I'm just fine with mine, but put them all together and we're both crying "MOM!!!!". No, really, we had lots of fun and its so awesome for the kids to get to spend time together. I wish she lived closer!!! Some pics from our trip:
Cady and Calvin hanging out
A rare picture of all five kids. Of course, it was the oldest who refused to cooperate.
Well, they were supposed to be going to sleep, but that didn't happen. Listening to "Frosty the Snowman" on Cady's MP3 player. Hey, at least they were sharing.
Batgirl and Batman, saving the day (Calvin's new favorite superhero - he's moved on from spiderman).
We love Aunt Jenny's cause she has tons of cool dress up. Notice Luke in the background cheesing for the camera.

That's about it for the past week. Right now we are keeping a close eye on the hurricane and if it looks like its going to come close we will probably be taking another trip to my sister's.

A bit of Nostalgia

2008-08-31T20:29:00.004-05:00

I got down a box of winter clothes from the attic today (not that we will need those any time in the next month and a half) and in it was Calvin's bumblebee costume, which he wore for Halloween when he was 19 months old!! Of course, he just had to try it on. And of course, I had to take pictures. So then I decided to find these old ones and compare him then and now. It brings back such memories. How much fun was this party? Look at those cute kids!

Here's Calvin at 19 months:

And today, almost 3 1/2:

He's growing so quickly!! I actually can't believe he still fits in it. This will be Luke's Halloween costume this year. I'll post pictures whenever I manage to wriggle him into it...

Who needs a daughter

2008-08-31T20:03:00.006-05:00

when you've got a son who likes to comb your hair, try on shoes, and wear makeup??? I must admit, it is freaking Dave out just a bit, but I think its kind of cute.... for now. Last week Calvin discovered he could comb my hair and he's asked me to do it just about every day since. He's also had several forays such as this one into his Mimi's makeup (disclaimer - he was supposed to be napping at the time).

Today I got a glimpse as to what a daughter (should I ever have one) would look like when Calvin donned a black unitard (part of a Halloween costume) and refused to take it off (see pic at top - couldn't get it to move). I think you'll agree with me, she'll be pretty cute.

If you see my chairs lying on their sides...

2008-08-23T15:16:00.003-05:00

So, Luke has become a bit of a monkey in the past few weeks. He has discovered the joy of (groan) climbing. In the past few days he has managed to climb up on Cal's table and eat colored pencils (not too big a feat), climb onto the dining room table and try to drink (hot) coffee, climb onto my desk and turn the computer off AND try to eat the stapler (a heart stopping moment for me), and he has somehow learned how the get on top of my bed and jump (from which he has fallen only once, so far). Yesterday I was at my mom's and heard this little giggle from the next room. I went in to find Luke doing a little jig from on top of the coffee table! My sweet little baby has become a full-fledged climbing monster!!!! Nothing is safe anymore - I can't even take my eyes off of him to go to the bathroom. So if you come to my house and see my chairs lying on their sides, now you know why. It's the only way I can think of to keep Luke off of the table (until the day he learns to pick them back up)...

Another Day, Another Outfit

2008-08-21T13:52:00.002-05:00

Once again, Calvin has proven his knack for putting together a stellar ensemble. His outfit of choice today:

Red polo, yellow athletic shorts, and green "army" sandals. And where did we go in this beautiful get-up? Why, Chuck. E. Cheese of course. Where he was very, very easy to spot.
And at this moment he is in the same shorts, a green soccer tank top, shin guards, soccer socks, and cleats (his latest obsession). Are any other little boys into "dress-up" right now? I swear, Calvin changes his clothes 4 times a day. And did I tell you he LOVED his bowling shoes??? Who likes bowling shoes??? At any rate, he keeps things interesting.

Another Week Gone By

2008-08-17T19:58:00.011-05:00

Well, another week has passed and what the heck did we do? Do you ever feel like your days are so busy, you're constantly on the move, and then somebody (like your husband) asks what you did that day and you say "oh, I don't know" or "nothing much, really". Where does the time go??? Well, let's see. Calvin had his first bowling trip last week. Not much to say about that except that I've never seen a bowling ball take ------ Two ------ Whole ------- Minutes ----- to make its way down the lane. It's almost like magic - I'm pretty sure the laws of physics are surpassed on that one. There must be a slight decline down the lane. Cal had a great time until he realized there was a game room (with shooting games...) and then he wasn't so interested in bowling anymore.

We also had lunch out and a trip to the aquarium. That's about it for our week. Here's my attempt to get a cute picture of the boys together. I decided to put all of them on here just to prove how hard it is to coordinate a picture with two children (although I'm guessing most of you know that already). These were taken in a span of about 1 minute.

Okay, after putting all these on here I realized that Calvin is such a goofball. Luke has a perfect pose in all the pictures - Calvin's the one messing them up. Oh well, I really like the last one I got. Luke's a "cheeser".

Just to prove it:

Dressed Himself Today

2008-08-08T14:51:00.002-05:00

Getting dressed has become an issue in our house. Calvin has developed an OPINION about what he wears. Oh my. I was hoping that having two boys would mean this would not be a problem, but I see I was wrong. I dressed him in a cute t-shirt and matching shorts this morning, but that just was not working for him. After whining repeatedly about his clothes I told him to go pick out what he wanted to wear. He quickly ran upstairs and came down after about 5 minutes with his chosen attire - a surfboard hawaiian shirt, cammy shorts, and socks with red and blue stripes. And yes, he wore those to the gym and the grocery store. You just have to love a 3 year old's fashion sense. (I just hope nobody thinks I picked that out for him)

Fun in the Sun

2008-08-07T18:40:00.003-05:00

Let me just start by saying, there will be no pictures in this post... You know a great way to spend a warm summer afternoon? Playing outside. You know an even better way when you're a little boy? Playing outside naked. We were outside watering the plants and cleaning off toys, which somehow (can't imagine) led to both boys getting soaked, which led to some spontaneous naked swimming, which led to naked sliding, naked climbing, naked John Deere riding, and even naked swinging. And now that I have thoroughly dissuaded everyone from ever coming to play in our backyard, I just want to say that little boys are truly a joy to have!!

The Next One

2008-08-05T20:03:00.005-05:00

All right, its been a couple of days since I started this and nothing has been written yet. So I think I'll just post some random pictures to give you an idea of what we've been up to. Let's see if I can figure this out.

Oops, already had problems. The pictures didn't go where I wanted them to... Do you have to put all the pictures on first and then go back and write about them??? Or can you add them as you go? Someone with experience, let me know...

Oatmeal night!!! This was, I believe, the third night in a row that Dave had night flights and the boys dined on one of their favorites - oatmeal. Luke is a little messy, but hey, at least he's learning to feed himself. (And dinner is right before bathtime)

Here's Luke sitting in Calvin's (emptied) toy basket and playing peek-a-boo. He cracks me up.

Wow, both boys actually sat on the couch and watched Elmo's World while I made breakfast. For the most part, Luke has no interest in t.v., but he can say "Elmo" and he'll watch it for a bit. Calvin, on the other hand, will watch absolutely anything. He actually sat with my dad for about 30 minutes one night watching golf (talk about boring). He really loves the "All About" shows (trucks, spaceship, motorcycles, etc.)

This is Luke's new favorite pasttime. He climbs up onto the safe beside my desk and plays with well, really anything. But here he is with a penguin solitaire game that I have. He takes the tiny penguins out and places them on the pegs (I'm actually pretty impressed by his fine motor skills), and only occasionally shoves them in his mouth.

Finally, here's a shirt Calvin will never wear outside of the house: My cousin gave me this shirt (it was her son's). Actually, she threw it in Dave's truck when he wasn't looking. At first Calvin said, "this is a girl's shirt", and Dave said "that's my boy". But then Calvin changed his mind, "actually, Dad, I think I like this pink shirt" and he had to try it on. But only behind closed doors... Tracy, I'm sure I could send it your way if Mikie is in need of a PINK shirt.

All right, that's all for now. Thanks for looking and I hope to stay on top of this, as I enjoy reading everyone else's news.

Starting Up

2008-08-01T19:36:00.000-05:00

Wow, I didn't know there were so many decisions to be made in starting this up... Template, title - it took me 30 minutes just to get to this point. But hey, I got started. Anyways, in case you don't know, the meaning of the title is "The Flowers". Corny, maybe. Thought it might be appropriate considering this lovely south Texas climate I'm living in. All right, I've begun. Let's see where it goes from here...