Just once...

Just once, I'd like to be the first one to eat my ______ (insert any food or meal or snack here).

Just once, I'd like the dishwasher and laundry to do themselves.

Just once, I'd like for all three boys to sleep at the same time besides at night.

Just once, I'd like for somebody to go to time out with whining, screaming, sitting on their heads or stomping their feet at me.

Just once, I'd like to get through a day when nobody pushes, hits, bites, pinches, climbs on top of or otherwise irritates their brother. Or call the other one a meanie.

Just once, I'd like little boys to clean up their toys, books, plates, socks, underwear, etc. without dragging their feet and having to be told a million times.

Just once, I'd like somebody to remember that there are some rules that have been in place for three years, at least.

Just once, I'd like to eat a whole chocolate cake or ice cream sundae or milkshake and not have ANY of the calories, fat or sugars count.

Just once, I'd like to sit at home, blog, read, watch tv while someone else brings children to swimming lessons (where I have been sweating like crazy!), goes to Wal-mart, goes to storytime, goes to the grocery store, plans meals.

Just once, though, I'd like to remember that they are only this way once, that they will grow out of it, and that someday, they may have children that drive them crazy.

Wordless Wednesday: Courtesy of Two Crazy Older Brothers

(Yes, I quickly reminded the boys that Eli could not have that many animals around him and we removed them.)

Alphabet Adventures 2011: B

B is for baby and bath!

Maybe not. This is what I found when I went to pick him up to shower him.
B is for BEES!!! The boys and I went over to Kim's house and Nate joined us with this little adventure. First we made the bee puppets. Then we read a book about bees. And for a short time, while I still had their attention, we made the bees go from a flower to the hive. We also looked around the house for things that started with B.
Zack's was anatomically correct, based on the Weekly Reader he was using. Except the googly eyes, of course.
B is for BLUEBERRIES, brothers and buddies! The day after the bee adventure, Kim and I took all four boys blueberry picking at Vollmer Farms. This is what over one hundred pounds of kid looks like in one wagon.
They told us not to pick the "red-back" berries, but with my children being color-blind, we had lots of very red ones!
All Nate wanted to do was pick the berries and eat them.
Nate and Kim
Eli decided he was done blueberry picking, so Nate and Xander and I took him to pick a few strawberries. That didn't last too long either. The boys ate berries on the way back. I kept hearing "That's my basket!" from them in the wagon.
They had a nice little playground with a pirate ship. And some monkey rings for my crazy monkey to swing from.
Nate carefully walking the plank off the pirate ship

This is our loot of strawberries. When we got back to the market, I realized that every single berry had a bite taken out of it!
Eli with a full tummy of milk, hanging in the Adirondack chair.
Zack and I enjoyed the blueberries for a couple days, shared some with Gramma, and froze some too. We're going to use those to make blueberry cheesecake -- YUM!!

I have pictures for D and kinda-sorta E, but we're going to work on C tomorrow, since we finally got the toilet in the boys bathroom installed (let me tell you, that's a whole 'nother blog!!).

The Caterpillar

When I was pregnant, Kohl's had Eric Carle books and animals. I couldn't resist the caterpillar, one of my all-time favorites. Zack even came home from the hospital in a very hungry caterpillar outfit. So as Eli was lying there with his caterpillar, I realized that it would be a perfect thing to take his picture with to watch him grow.

This picture was taken when Eli was 7-1/2 weeks old, just shy of two months.

His legs are curled up, but this one was taken at age 3 months.

3 months old

My three-month-old son, Eli...

• probably eats too much
• sleeps through the night, but he sleeps in his papasan seat, not his crib.
• will always be my baby boy.

• smiles when I walk in his room in the morning.
• nurses first thing in the morning, which means I get to snuggle with him in bed.
• is a very happy baby most of the time.
• screams at Daddy when I'm not here.

• loves his brothers, looking around at people and things, and his mobile
• has staring contests with the bird attached to his car seat. Tonight as he was reaching for it, he caught the foot and smiled.
• hates being alone, being put down when he is hungry and stopping his bottle halfway to burp. It's like he's offended or something.

• has the sweetest smile and the biggest, brightest blue eyes
• will be baptized next month, and he'll have three Godparents.
• is loved by his Mommy, Daddy and brothers.
• is such a sweet blessing to our family!

Alphabet Adventures 2011: A

A is for...ancestors and Xander's Awesome Family. I got a collage picture made at Walmart (less than $5) with pictures of each of our family members outside of our house. After I cut them out, I picked them up one by one and asked Xander if he knew who each person was. He knew more than I expected! Then we sorted them by their relation to him. We put our little family in the middle of two generations, and we have a place for great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. For some of the pictures, we talked about the person. We tried to make family connections with them, but that's still hard for him to understand. He was really excited to share his Awesome Family with everybody that would listen, and I think it helps seeing the people all sorted out. I haven't done anything with Zack yet since he's still in school. Maybe next week, but here's Xander's Awesome Family!

Coming up... b is for bees, c is for clubhouse, d is for Daddy and more!

Wordless Wednesday

What is he doing?

Yeah, Mommy, fist bump...

If you take another picture of me, I'm going to have to punch you.

I call on the power of the _______!!
I gotta get ready, cause those brothers of mine punch hard!
Whoa, Mommy, that flash was really bright!

Bridging

Zack bridged to a Wolf Cub Scout at the end of May. When the boys bridge up, they paint their faces with five different colors. The yellow under their eyes stands for the sun, the green on their cheeks stands for nature, but I don't remember what the others stand for (I'll look it up!).

Part of the painting ceremony has the boys painting the noses of their adult leader, or Akela. Yeah, don't remember what that stands for either.

It's always hard for Xander to sit still, but as long as he's quiet, I'm cool. He decided to hang underneath the table.

Getting his belt loops for geography and physical fitness. He was really excited about his fitness belt loop.

Wordless Wednesday

Alphabet Adventures

They're starting again. Last year's got overrun by morning sickness and lack of energy. But I have two things in mind: A for ancestors and B for bees. More on those later...

Speaking of bees, do you remember how much a bee sting hurts??? Zack got stung by a wasp on Sunday after church, and he screamed his head off for five minutes. I didn't think it could be that bad, really. But yesterday afternoon, I reached for Xander's rescue pack and got stung. Yup, right here in the house. I managed to smack it and smack it and smack it. Then it was still wiggling, so I smacked it again. Anyway, that bee sting HURT!!!! I mean, to the point that I was screaming, too. Poor Xander didn't know what to think. But now I know how Zack felt on Sunday, and now I remember how badly stings hurt and why kids are afraid of bees.