Wait a minute! We're fish!

They love this silly Laurie Berkner song, The Goldfish, and they insisted on putting on every item that came with their new goggles - I persuaded them it would NOT look cool at the pool ;-)

Two Hands

Or four ;-)

The boys are helping me make another batch of Amish Friendship Bread this week...

...and it must be exhausting, or they must be silly ;-)

Ben Harper

Knees Of My Heart

There's just something about boys' skinned-up knees that gets me - they are both all about the 'injuries' but these are Harry's sweet knees at t-ball practice the other nite....torn bandage and all :wub:

Pacin' The Cage

The boys have been wildly imaginative lately, asking so many questions I can't answer and generally a lot of fun (when not being cranky, that is)

Jack woke up and told me this long dream about how he didn't wear the 'right' clothes to the Y and they put him in a cage ..... um, what?!? Turns out it was a mix of the story line from an episode of Curious George and the dilemna of what to wear the morning before ....

Harry wants to know everything, including Why do frogs hop? Um, because they can? I'm gonna whip out my old standby The Big Book of Why and hope it has some of the answers I need ;-)

Speaking of books, I ran across one of my all-time favorite books for boys and realized they'll be reading it before I know it......Andrew Clements has a new book out, and he writes wonderful stories for elementary-aged boys. Frindle is one of my all-time favorites, and the new Room One looks to be a great mystery.

Happy weekend!

Doctor, My Eyes

OK, this one's not about the boys...

I've had REALLY red eyes for almost three months now and went to the eye doctor after figuring out that it probably wasn't allergies all that time. She said it looks like I took a brillo pad to my corneas, prescribed some meds and told me I can't wear my contacts for a month! Ugh, not that there was a lot of vanity left, but still.....boohoo.

Happy Father's Day to all!

Bend A Little

Sunday morning at our house was full of weird poses....

Jack getting cozy with his favorite toys, and

Harry showing off his flexibility.

Funny, Jack used to be the one who described himself as 'bendy' LOL!

Ragtop Day

What a gorgeous day - the pool water was perfect, we had a fun picnic with a big group of local moms, and practice was more about practicing tonite.


Their first game is Monday, which should be interesting since they all hit pretty well but I only saw one or two balls caught and they're pretty weak in the arm department ;-) There's something pretty adorable about 12 little boys and girls running around with all those gloves and bats and helmets, tho...I haven't had much luck with pix, but here are a few from tonite

Little Conversations

My husband has finally met his match(es) LOL

Since I have known him, he's loved to repeat "'scuse me" like the little kid in It's A Wonderful Life (yes, it's obscure, but it makes sense to him). It drives me crazy and it's a goofy thing that makes us smile.

Last nite at dinner, the boys started saying "Lean Back!" every time he said it. They picked this up from a brief moment in Toy Story, and it throws them into hysterics every time {shrug}

I am a girl and I do not get this, so I'm glad to let them be in their boy world ;-)

You Can't Always Get What You Want...

...but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need!

This is one of those songs we sing with them, they're even ok about the truth behind it most of the time. Saturday, Jack was singing along and re-wrote the lyrics at the last minute.....

' you get what you DON'T WANT!'

I probably shouldn't have laughed, but it was so true and so pitiful in his sweet little voice.

*****

And back to movie dialogue, lessons, etc.

I can't believe how much of an impact a scene from Nim's Island has had on them. She climbs up the side of a volcano and gets a pretty serious scrape on the way down - it's stuck with them in the 'if she didn't cry and was a brave girl, I can be a brave boy' sort of way. Yay for vicarious lessons!

'Lean back!' from Toy Story throws them into hysterics just about any time....who knows?!?

Happy Week!

Ain't Nothin' Like....Happy Birthday, Carter!

Their friend Carter had a Super Hero birthday party that was Super HOT!

I always loved this silly little song by Brad Paisley (Dean scored tons of points by learning to play it for me :wub:) - it just makes me smile.

Ain't nothin' like watchin' a bunch of young'ns
Run screamin' through the sprinkler in their little bare feet

This is about the only picture that came out between all the water and the blur of motion
Harry caught a ride from JackJack dug into Miss Jenny's awesome cupcakes

Harry pinned the spidey on the web

and Jack took his turn

Is that you, Batman....er, JackMan?
Maybe we need to change Harry's boxing name to Hulk?

Carter was so sweet - when it was his turn to have the gloves, he offered one to Harry so they could have more fun together :-)

They look pretty much like pros to me!

Happiest Birthday Carter! Welcome to 4!

Brad Paisley

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...

Their t-ball team had their first practice this week - we're sort of blind-leading-the-blind at this point, since no one on our team seems to have done much organized kid sporting yet and/or was willing to coach. The games start in a couple of weeks, so we shall see....they seemed to get the basics of the bases and hitting this week. Maybe a trip to watch some 'big boys' play is in order ;-)

On the way to their first t-ball practice this week....awww
Harry's first at-bat.

We had a fun Family Movie Night Friday - saw the Kung Fu Panda movie which was not all that amazing for us non-martial arts types, but the boys liked all the flipping and fighting. It left a lot of possibilities untapped, so not a favorite, but a decent time nonetheless. Free summer movies start in two weeks!

And this is what our morning looked like. I woke and heard them playing "boat' and "car" where they alternate between each other's beds and take trips to the beach or other countries. They must have decided to unpack and dump all the stuff in the floor at some point. Luckily, they've gotten pretty good at cleaning it all up ;-)

They decided these CARS buckets were more fun as helmets, silly boys!

Bank of Bad Habits

Who knows if we are setting the stage for caffeine addiction or great careers as barristas, but one of their favorite activities these days is "making Daddy's coffee" .....

First, it's out with the old....

...then in with the new water....
...and the fresh beans to grind....

...then "O-N spells on!"

We keep telling Harry that a watched pot never boils (or drips) but he likes to watch how it works!

06/07/08 Harry: This is my favorite, EVER! Jack: I already chose, so this time I'll let Harry choose.

What If The Hokey Pokey Is All It Really Is About

Harry, particularly, has that man-knack for remembering dialogue and using it in the right moment outside of the 'show' from whence it came. Some of their favorite dialogue, song lyrics, show themesongs, etc.

What's gonna work? Teamwork! ...but when we work together, we've got the right stuff!

Hi Jake! Let's go flyin'!

Hey Sketch, Draw!

You can't tell me what to do! (we're working on this one!)

Curious George is a monkey, so he can do things you can't do...
CG is a good little monkey, and always very curious!

There are others but I don't have the talent ;-)

You've Got A Friend In Me

I have accumulated a bunch of pix of them being sweet over the last two months - it is amazing to me as an only child to imagine what it's like to have such a good friend with you all the time. We are truly blessed. Thanx for sharing it with us!

This last one is from today and may be one of my all-time favorites, despite the cracked camera lens!

Frere Jack

So, here's the deal....the boys love to sleep. They still sleep about 13 hours a day/nap between their naps and nite. A friend recommended a good sleep book when they were still baking, and I read it and tried my best to follow the "sleep nazi's" prescription. Somehow, they have come to value sleep and will even tell me or Dean that we need to go to sleep so we won't be tired the next morning ;-)

For a few years now, they have slept through the night from a late nap (say 4pm to 6am the next morning - I think 15 1/2 hours is the record!) if they missed sleep or didn't nap for some reason. A few times a month, we get a 'sleepover'


They sort of got away from that right about the time they ditched the diapers but the last few months, it's happened again. Last week, I took them a little snack around 9pm, and we picnicked in the middle of their floor, they talked about their dreams then went right back to sleep. They decided that's what they want to do tonite - Daddy Picnic and Long Sleep


Here they are at the park earlier, practicing ;-)

Happy snoozes to you and yours!

Today

Yes, the John Denver song!

I'm prepping for a yard sale, so we had a slow and easy day around the house. They have their first t-ball practice tonite, so Harry was reading up about baseball in SI...

"You have to keep your eye on the ball, Mommy!"

And Jack was none too happy about the haircut or the hitler-like stache he ended up with - poor guy can't catch a break lately!

Happy afternoon - we'll hopefully get some good t-ball pix today!

Fins and Yoga Is As Yoga Does

Finally, a chance to combine JB and Elvis ;-)

Two boys jamming out to JB's FINS - this would be Fins (on their way) to the Right ;-)

And now for the Yoga part...

Harry has found his center - he loves to do this 'ohmm' type game....

...and I don't mind because it almost always ends in this sweet smile!

Schoolboy Heart

Sometimes I wonder if they are gonna be 'schooled' out by the time preschool gets here ;-)

These aren't the greatest pix, but they do show a bit of the schoolin' they've been giving me these last few weeks. I was working in the yard the other day and got invited to "come to school with us, Mommy!" Harry was the teacher, and Jack and I sat on these little seat boxes we have on our deck while Harry taught us the alphabet and counting and a few new spelling words. I felt very smart, and very proud :wub:

Jack writing on the same desk I used to learn to write when I was about his age - thanx for keeping it, Mom!

They got all packed up for school the other day - backpacks and various computer-y things

They love to tell me"You have to be quiet and listen to the teacher." Let's just hope it sticks ;-)

Feets Don't Fail Me Now

It's all about the body at our house these days -

"My tummy says"....it's hungry...I'm tired....I have to go to the bathroom....it's time to make a new friend....etc.

They are full of rashes and scratches and bruises and such. They are full of questions about organs and bones and such. They always say "Maybe Dr. F or Dr. D can help me" It's sweet that they love their docs so well; who knows, maybe med school is in the future!

Jack saw an episode of a show called Franny's Feet last week; it is a cute little show - her grandfather is a shoemaker/fixer and she tries on different types of shoes which lead to all sorts of adventures. Now he loves to say "Your feet can take you anywhere" which is a pretty good message!

Twistin' By The Pool

Our pool has been wonderful the last few weeks - the weather has been pretty and they've kept it heated, so it hasn't been quite as cold as last year. The boys have been enjoying the relatively small crowds and getting re-acquainted with "pool friends" - should be a fun summer.

(the picture I took didn't work because I've somehow creased the camera in my cell phone - eGad!)

Dire Straits