Two Years

From this:


to, very shortly thereafter, this:


Then it's just two years. . . two short years, and we have this rascal:


We love you, sweet Babyman!

Of Birthdays and Spontaneous Forts

Wow- the end of October is already around the corner. Soon, my big Littleman is turning a great big 6 years old! I am still without a camera cable, so have no new pictures to upload. But, I remembered a bunch of pictures that I took last year, at Littleman's 5th birthday.

(The birthday boy, 5 years old)


(And the Pirate, looking sweet and shaggy.)

It was a gorgeous, perfect October afternoon.


Babyman was having a ball. He was crawling, and loved the warm sun, pinestraw, and all the attention from adoring relatives.

There were bunches of kids running about, and after awhile I noticed a certain "purpose" to their busyness. There was much discussion and collaboration. I looked over, to find an interesting sight.



They were working together to build a small fort. Framed in sticks, "thatched" with pinestraw, it was really an impressive little structure. And, it was growing.


Soon it was attracting admirers. Still, the work continued.


I was impressed with the communication, cooperation and all-around teamwork that was operating to create the fort. Mostly cousins, the kids are a wide range of ages. Everyone put aside differences and simply enjoyed working together to make a great structure and have fun. Older kids let younger kids do their part, while helping ensure that the final product would be structurally sound.

I love thinking about all the skills they were building: teamwork, cooperation, compromise, empathy, assertiveness, problem-solving, creativity, communication, motor skills, hand-eye coordination, leadership. . . Then there's the "school" topics they were covering:

Natural Sciences, Social Studies, P.E., Art, even a little basic Math and oral Language Arts.

Not to mention the pure, healthy benefits of being active outdoors, working with natural materials to create for the pure joy and accomplishment of it.



There were many wonderful artistic touches and details.








It was a perfect project, entirely conceived and executed by the children. The ideal example of the rewards of hours of free play outdoors.


It was my kind of birthday party- outside, in gorgeous weather, with room to roam in natural surroundings, and plenty of wide-open time for plain old play. I'm a slacker party planner- and I like it that way. ;) This year we'll be trying something different, though- hopefully it works out well, and hopefully I'll have my camera working again so I can take lots of pictures!

(sigh) They're growing so fast.

Checking In

Somehow Babyman managed to get into the hall bathroom recently. When I finally realized what was going on, here is what I found:


Busy, busy! (Little stinker.)


I'll spare you the pic of the toilet, with half the toilet paper unrolled into the bowl and stretching off around the floor. Oh, yeah, and a sippy cup tossed in too. I'm just thankful nothing else got dunked- he's already put assorted clothing, toys and a paperback book into the toilet, on previous occasions! (I swear, we really do keep that door shut- but his older brothers can be careless, and they also don't close the toilet lid!)

* * *

That's all I've got for you right now- I've had a whirlwind couple of weeks, and I am still cleaning and doing laundry to recover. . . only to have a birthday party coming up this weekend for the Pirate! I promise I'll be back around soon with some posts for your pleasure! Thanks for your patience. :)

Made it! And party time.

Monday, November 05, 2007

Made it! And party time. Current mood: cheerful Woohoo! We made it to full term. Of course, my due date isn't for a few weeks, but baby should be just fine from here on out. So, as far as I am concerned, it's time to get moving! LOL. I'm really glad he's waited this long, but now I am ready to meet him (and NOT be pregnant anymore). ;) Littleman had his birthday party, and it was great! We did it up at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and had a really fun time outside. The weather was gorgeous, and we played with bubbles, frisbees, Tball, the dogs, and of course pinecones, sticks and rocks. The boys stripped off their shoes, rolled up pantlegs and dangled their feet in the lake. They found all sorts of natural things to throw into the water. We watched a couple huge herons fly about. Billy and the boys tried flying a kite (the field isn't ideal for that, though). And we grown-ups really had the opportunity to chat, which was great. Pretty much everyone honored my request to NOT bring gifts, which is pleasing. Littleman came home with a small pile of cool stuff. Perfect! :) Incidentally, the biggest hit was a set of Magnatiles. They are a cool toy- at one point all six cousins were grouped in a tight circle, building together. That's kids ranging in age from 2 - 12. It's a set of geometric-shaped tiles that are magnetic on every edge, allowing you to construct 3-D structures. It sure was a nice day, and the boys had a blast.

an ebay listing, birthday, Cabbage Patch, minivan and writing. . .

August 23, 2007 - Thursday

an ebay listing, birthday, Cabbage Patch, minivan and writing. . . Current mood: amused First of all, this is a hoot (read the whole description): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675&ru=http%3A%252 She has a blog too: http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/ Second of all, Mr. Sweetcheeks' birthday party will be the second weekend of September. I am delaying it in hope of (somewhat) cooler weather. More on that as soon as details are nailed down. As usual, I had all sorts of ideas for blog entries that popped into my head over the past couple days. . . I never write them down, and they flee my neurons just as quickly as they arrived. I will mention that Grandma and I took the boys up to Cleveland GA, for a visit to the world-famous Babyland General Hospital. . . the birthplace of Cabbage Patch dolls. (LOL) It is mind-bogglingly cheesy, and really rather cute. Other than the price tag for one of the Cabbage Patch "originals", the whole thing is pretty sweet and unpretentious. The boys were amused, and it was fun to take advantage of this bit of local color. I let Littleman choose a babydoll to "adopt". (One of the mass-produced, inexpensive "toy" Cabbage Patch dolls- I simply can't stomach spending $100+ for any doll. . .) He wanted a boy doll, and decided to christen it "John Jeremy". (I was explaining ways that people choose names for their babies, and mentioned that sometimes they use names of people they know and admire, such as older family members or other people they look up to. Littleman liked that idea. He immediately liked "Jeremy" because of our friend Jeremy, whom the boys adore. Littleman chose "John" after his Grandpa. I threw the names out there amongst a bunch of possibilities, but the selection and arrangement of the name was all Littleman's idea). I'd been unsure whether the boys would enjoy a babydoll, even though they are of an age that typically enjoys all sorts of imaginative play and imitative roleplaying. However, they both seem to enjoy having the doll around. I figure it was a nice outing, and perhaps the doll will come in handy when the new baby comes along. They might enjoy role playing some baby care, to feel more included when I am spending so much time taking care of the new infant. (Well one can hope, right??) Anyway, if you have young children and are near the area, the Babyland Hospital is fairly cute and has free admission. (Must leave through the gift shop though- of course!) I can't really say it's worth any major field trip, unless you are a rabid Cabbage Patch fan. And if total cheesiness makes you want to vomit, stay far, far away. ;) Grandma and the boys certainly enjoyed themselves. On another note, we have now finally embraced the inevitable and purchased a minivan! I am actually quite excited about it- I have nothing at all against minivans, and they are perfectly designed for our current needs. We ended up finding a very nice used Honda Odyssey- it's even a color I like! We are all quite pleased with it and can't wait for our next family road trip. Even better- we do not have to go to the trouble of listing the old sedan for sale, since it turns out Billy's folks are in the market for a smaller car. So everyone is happy! :) So often, by the time I find time to sit down and blog, my brain is so fried from the day that I feel rather useless in the writing department. So once again, this has been a bare-bones report, and I sincerely hope I am not boring you all to tears. However I am struggling right now simply to make coherent sentences, and my pregnant heartburn is threatening my gullet. Time to chew some antacids and get ready for bed.

birthday

Friday, June 22, 2007

birthday Current mood: full Happy birthday to me! Not incidentally (I believe), also to Billy! We celebrated tonight with a lovely dinner out at a local Itallian place in Suwanee. Thanks to everyone who came! Billy and I are 'plumb wore out'- let's just say I am glad I can truthfully tell you that Littleman and Sweetcheeks' behavior tonight is NOT indicative of their usual restaurant manners. Um. I'm just waiting on my tea to brew before I head off to bed. Nice day.