That's what I said! Boobie traps!

For whatever reason, my children (especially Asa) find the need to create booby traps... everywhere. Sometimes they are called booby traps, sometimes spider webs, but they are always a mess. Right now, their room is an impossible network of multicolored yarn... zigzagged throughout the room in a tangled mess. Combine that with the normal everyday landmines of tiny legos that do a number on your barefeet and you have quite the danger zone!

(Below is his new house for "Mr. Wormy", complete with interior lighting and a series of five overlapping doors. Why? I have no idea. Who's Mr. Wormy? I'll have more on him in a later post.)

Not only have these strings become a constant form of entertainment indoors, the "beaver dam" has also acquired the web-like appearance. What once was a simple pile of sicks and holes in the bare dirt is now a complete white trash adventure. Asa has been attempting to construct various contraptions out there, including a hot tub that is suspended in a tree (for the squirrels, I presume) and a waterslide and pool area complete with buried plastic tubing. His ideas are very thorough and he seems to enjoy working on them, but his inability to be flexible on his design is leaving us, well, batty. He wants help, but only if we help exactly like he has in his head... in ways that may not be possible. If you are helping, then the reason that things are not working are not a flaw in his plan but a flaw in his hired help. It is driving us nuts. But, he is such the engineer.

Feeding basics

Last weekend we were sitting in Grandmomma and Granddaddy's living room. The boys were bouncing around and everyone was talking.

Addison said to Granddaddy, "Ivey has 5 teeth! Sometimes when Mommy's feeding her she bites Mommy's nipples!"

Granddaddy replied, "Ouch! Addison, did you ever do that?"

Addison answered, "No. Boys don't feed babies."

Baby, you can drive my caaa

Ivey can say Cat! There is no T on the end, but she knows exactly what she's saying. Caaaa. She loves the cats. We have to pull open the curtain to the utility room so that she can see them when they are in there eating. Hopefully soon she will learn that squeezing and pulling aren't very nice ways to show them how much she cares!

She also LOVES to be in the driver's seat of the car! I think she would stand up at the wheel all day if I'd let her. She bounces and squeels... she loves it. I have got to get a video of her when she is excited... she pants... like Odie on Garfield. Maybe I can catch that one in action.

The Replacement Birds

After the great chicken massacre (yes, all were lost) we have decided to replace the chickens with some already partially grown teenage chickens. No, they are not as cute and adorable as the little chickies, but they are hardy and can go ahead and live outside! Jeff and the boys have constructed a "hoop coop". It's a portable chicken coop that can be moved across the yard. This gives the chickens fresh grass and bugs, and gives the grass some fertilizer to boot. As the first hoop coop, there are many improvements that could have been made, but it was a great first try and the chickens seem to like it just fine.

Asa loves to go in and hang out with the chickens, just like his momma did when she was his age. They don't have names yet, but I'm sure they will in time. Now, if we can only keep that dog away long enough for us to get some eggs!

Eat Mor Chikin

Today I felt especially motivated. I managed to wake up, create cow costumes for each kid and head to Chick-fil-a for Cow Appreciation Day. I began that morning and had us there, spots and all, by lunch! The boys had a great time and we all enjoyed our free combo meals!

Just a few pictures...

Not much going on... just a couple cute pictures to share.

Ivey News Flashes

Just a couple quick news flashes:

Ivey has cut her top two teeth!

She is slowly learning to "cruise" the furniture. It's not graceful or fast, but she is learning!

She is still extremely quiet (except for the occasional tropical bird-like squealing sessions) but has added "mamama" to her vocabulary. Now she can choose to bababa or to mamama... or to squeal like a tropical bird.

Baby Cubes

I spent the day making baby food cubes! The day is rapidly approaching where I will no longer be making baby food, or washing diapers. Unlike last time, I know this time there will be no baby to follow, which makes me want to not only enjoy days like today, but capture them so that I can go back later and see pictures of the tasks I used to enjoy.

The freezer is now re-stocked with baggies of yummy freshly pureed baby food. I have organic carrots, bananas, avocados, and mangoes which are simple and just require mashing. I peeled and cooked apples, carrots and pears. I cubed ham into tiny Ivey-size cubes and then pureed some with the apples for a ham/apple dinner. I made organic mac-n-cheese cubes and homemade chicken and dumpling cubes. I cooked organic peas and blended them up, as well. For a small amount of effort and money I filled the freezer with handy little servings of healthy food!

Dance Dance Revolution

Thanks to Mim, we are the owners of DDR for the wii. I have wanted this game, and it is just as fun as I thought it would be! It's difficult (really difficult), but I think I'm getting there. Addison, my little dancing machine, really enjoys it and is also improving. It seems that Ivey also has quite the sense of rhythm herself!

Mr. Modest

Okay, I have no idea how I forgot to write about this experience I had at the hotel pool at DisneyWorld... but I will write about it now.

One afternoon, we all came back to the hotel for a rest. Jeff got the nap, I took the kids to the pool (how restful). After we swam, I parked the boys on some reclining chairs while I dried Ivey. She was in her adorable new bathing suit and swim diaper. If you aren't aware, swim diapers are not designed to hold pee, in the least. Their only purpose is to keep the poo from escaping in the pool. So, as I dried Ivey, she proceeded to pee all in my lap. As I dealt with this, I had my back turned to the boys for about 3 minutes. When I turned back around, I was completely a totally shocked to see that Addison had stripped his bathing suit off and was lounged back on the reclining chair, sunning himself as if he were a lizard on a rock. I gasped. My almost 6 year old boy was exposed for all the world to see, and did not give a rip! I quickly put Ivey down and wrapped him in a towel, trying not to cause a stir and direct attention our way. I looked around. I have no idea who witnessed this scene. I covered him up, asking him to look around. "Do you see anyone's penis out here?" This child has absolutely no modesty what-so-ever... which I knew... but underestimated. Asa and I caught eye contact and we both just cracked up. Priceless.

I was reminded of this story yesterday. The boys had spent the afternoon playing in the sprinkler and shooting each other with water guns. Addison came inside and stripped off his suit, with no intention of replacing it with dry clothes. He walked around the house, yelling at Asa through the open windows. Then, he started out the back door. "Addison!" I yelled to him. "You can't go out naked!" He looked up at me and said, "Then, I'll get my shoes on!" as he headed out the back door.

More Ivey Tricks at 7 1/2 months old

So, in just about 9 days, Ivey has gone from army crawling to real crawling to climbing over pillows and such to pulling up! It's not extremely stable, but she's doing it!

Thoughts from my hatchling

Addison: "Daddy, why did you let Ivey taste a chocolate chip?"

Jeff: "Because she told me she wanted it."

Holly: "Parents don't just give kids everything the want. Grandparents do."
(Holly then chuckles to herself)

Jeff: "What?"

Holly: "The thought of you as a grandparent."

Jeff: "Addison, are you gonna grow up and have kids so I can be a grandparent?"

Addison: "NO! I'm not a girl!"

Jeff: "Well, I'm not a girl and I have kids."

Addison: "Yeah, but mommy laid them! Only girls lay kids... like you laid us and Mim laid you."

Rain, Rain, Go Away....

Yesterday was the boys' party... and it was threatening rain. I moved the party across the street to the city Pavilion, which proved to be an excellent move! We had a Star Wars Lego party... because Addison loves Star Wars and Asa loves Legos. It was a success! Although not many kids were able to come, it was enough for the boys to play with everyone and have a great time. We had their large Legos set up for free play, along with their light sabers, Jedi robes, clone blasters and a Darth Vadar helmet. I made the Lego cake for Asa, which didn't turn out quite as nice and I would have liked. I should have used fondant. This year, I asked mom to make one of the cakes... and boy and I glad I did! She did an excellent job on the R2D2 cake!

It rained off and on, but it was a so muggy and warm that we decided to let the kids throw water balloons at the end of the party. Hal and Jen worked to fill and tie all those balloons... and they learned what I already knew. Water balloon fights are a whole lot fo work for a very short fight! Even though it rained, the kids had a blast. Asa said it was his best birthday ever!

The next day, I collapsed and slept for two 3 hour naps. I'm glad I get to have two of my kids' birthdays on the same day! The next one isn't until October, whew!

We Have Lift Off!

Lock up the cabinets... put away the Lego's... Ivey is mobile! She does a army crawl / inch worm combo. It's not graceful, but it works! Go, baby, go!

Graduation Day

Today was the last day of Kindergarten! We had a picnic party in the class and then came back tonight for the ceremony. I am very glad Ivey was there to distract me, or I wouldn't have been able to keep my tears under control! I am so sad to leave. This place has been home for us since the boys were in their two day a week 2 year old program. I had the luxury of having a worry free education experience for my kids. I knew they were in good hands and they were surrounded by people who love them... who love all of us. Asa and Addison are truly sad to leave. Asa has been telling me how much he will miss Miss Kim, who has been his teacher for two years now. I will be forever grateful to this church and this program for all they have done for us!

After graduation, we met Mike and Jodi for dinner. Asa and Addison brought their scrapbooks into the restaraunt and told everyone who would listen how they just graduated! They were so proud they could explode!

Here's Asa with his best friend, Julie. Asa has told me many times how much he loves Julie... and it is reciprocated as Julie has "I Love Asa" written on a sign in her room!

Straw Please

Ivey has been strengthening her straw cup skills. Since she refuses to have anything to do with a bottle, we started using a straw to give her water like a baby bird. After a week or so, I had her sucking the water up through the straw. Now, just give her a straw cup and she is in heaven! She's still up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. She is thinking hard about how to move forward, but just isn't there yet!

Now We Are Six

Six years old. I cannot believe it. People always talk about how fast time flies... and boy are they right.

Their birthday was a crazy day. I brought cupcakes for their class. After school we went to play at the Chick-fil-A playground. After a brief stop at home, we had Karate at 5:00 and then we met Jeff at McDonalds for dinner at 6:30. My kids are so deprived... I told them we could go to McDonalds for dinner and they said, "Since it's our birthday, can we get happy meals!?!?" Yes. You can have your very own happy meal with your very own toy. We won't do the usualy and all split a 20-piece nugget and fries! After dinner and presents, we headed to the ball field for Addison's game. Whew! What a day!

My little preemie baby boys are six. The combination between this birthday and their graduation from Kindergarten... and leaving Bethlehem FUMC Preschool/Kindergarten program, is leaving me very emotional. A chapter has ended and a new one is beginning... a crazy new chapter filled with unknown challenges, surprises and learning... for all of us. Here. We. Go!