Breakfast

Hey all you kids out there...in the mood for a new breakfast treat? You should try jelly toast dipped in a fabulous new condiment - "green wemmonade" and "yellow wemmonade".





Tips for enjoying your breakfast to the fullest:

1. Eat at 5:30 am. It's fun to eat when it's dark out, plus getting up at 5:45 is SO last week.
2. Insist you like the green wemmonade on toast even when you make faces that clearly indicate otherwise.
3. Never, under any circumstances, admit that this condiment might actually be called lemon juice or lime juice. If your mom tries to tell you otherwise, just scream "NO! It's green wemmonade!"
4. The crazier your hair, the better your food will taste.

Updates

We've been busy the last few weeks here. Samuel was baptized at our church (I know most people do this when their kids are babies, but because of the move here, we held off until now.) Ernie's Uncle Irv and Aunt Roseanne are Samuel's godparents, and they came all the way from FL for the baptism (thanks guys!) Here's a picture of us at the church:



Samuel did great during the short ceremony, and even said to Pastor Stan "tank you for gibbin me that water on my head."

Samuel loved having 2 extra adults around the house that weekend, so he could order all 4 of us around to do his bidding. Lately I've noticed he actually seems to be better behaved when there are adult guests over, instead of adults with kids for playdates. Maybe the adults aren't threats to his toys or something, like other kids are. Or maybe it's just a stage. Who knows. Anyway, here he is making one of his subjects push him on the swings:



Ernie finished the box/storage chest he has been working on, and it's now in our kitchen. Roseanne helped me sew a cushion for the top of it, and some pillow covers for our living room from the same fabric. While I consider myself a crafty person, sewing is something I don't have that much experience with. Something about it is always a little intimidating to me (and the whole figuring out how much fabric you're going to need and sewing the right sides together thing throws me.) But, thanks to Roseanne, the bench cushion and the pillows came out great:





Ernie is off on a business trip right now. Before he left he gave Samuel a matchbox car that looks like Lightning McQueen (from the movie Cars). Samuel LOVES it. He has barely let it out of his sight the past few days, including when he sleeps at night. Usually if he wakes up in the night, he'll cry "my mommy...my mommy" or "my daddy...my daddy," but the past 2 nights he has woken up crying "li queen...li queen" because the car has fallen off the bed, or gotten stuck under his pillow and he can't find it. Lightning McQueen must eat breakfast with us, sit on the edge of the sink at bath time, go on the swings with us, etc... I think I had better buy a back-up car just in case anything happens to this one.




Two final things to share: 1) this morning at breakfast Samuel was putting something in his mouth and he happened to sneeze at the same time. He didn't get his hand out of his mouth fast enough, and he was very upset. He said "hey! mommy! my mouth bite me!" and 2) later on when he sneezed again, I asked him if he needed a kleenex and he said "that's okay, I just wipe my nose here." Here being my brand new bench cushion. Ugh.

Things in Threes

Three things Samuel loves to do lately:
1. swing
2. play with the hose
3. play in the sandbox

Three things he does not love to do lately:
1. practice sitting on the potty
2. eat any vegetable
3. come inside after playing

Three TV shows he can't get enough of:
1. Mickey Mouse
2. Dora
3. Little Einsteins

Three TV shows Ernie and I are thoroughly sick of:
1. Mickey Mouse
2. Dora
3. Little Einsteins

Three things Samuel ate for breakfast this morning:
1. shredded cheese
2. yogurt
3. sour cream
(apparently he is a fan of dairy products)

Three traits he most certainly did not inherit from me:
1. car recognition*
2. the difference between an excavator, bulldozer, and loader
3. a love of condiments
(*note about #1 above - Ernie always talks to me about people and identifies them by their cars. As in "you know those people who live down the street and drive the (insert technical car name here) I usually have no idea what he is talking about unless he clarifies with "you know, the BLUE car", but Samuel already (at 2!) knows which kids are at school by seeing their cars in the parking lot.

Three books that must be read each night before bed:
1. Merry Christmas Mouse (who says you can't celebrate Christmas in July?)
2. I Spy Cars and Trucks
3. Harold and the Purple Crayon

Three items that must be in bed with Samuel before he'll go to sleep:
1. blue blanket
2. yellow blanket
3. as many matchbox cars as he can get away with

Three phrases I never thought would come out of my mouth:
1. take the batteries out of your mouth
2. you may not have chips for breakfast
3. we don't eat things that are already in the garbage

Three times he has woken up this past week:
1. 5:45 am
2. 5:46 am
3. 5:47 am

Three art projects he loves:
1. any kind of painting
2. gluing uncooked noodles to paper
3. playdough

Three manners he is working on:
1. covering up after EVERY sneeze
2. saying "excuse me" when adults are talking
3. saying "no thank you" instead of "bleeehhhhh"

Three foods he would eat non-stop, if we let him
1. chips
2. chocolate pudding
3. granola bars

If you're in the market for a vacation the involves getting up super early, getting covered with glue/sand/water/dirt/paint, reading certain books one zillion times in a row, and more dairy products than you know what to do with, stop on by!

New York Trip

We are back from our trip to NY for our family get-together. I was really nervous about how Samuel would do in the car for that long (660 miles each way) but he did a fantastic job. I think this was because 1) we rented a car for the trip that got better gas mileage than our Jeep (and was way more comfortable to ride in) and 2) we bought a portable DVD player and he got to watch some movies when he got tired of playing with toys.

The car we rented was called an HHR. It was great to take on such a long trip.



Here are some pictures from our trip. Some of the kids playing miniature golf:



This red ball made ice cream after you rolled it around for awhile:



Ernie playing basketball with Kevin:



Olivia (or Liam's mini-me as we called her):



Samuel with Gran and Papa Michael:



Samuel and me:



We had a great time getting to see everyone. Samuel had fun playing with all the kids, all the toys, and eating his weight in potato chips. He also did a really great job sleeping in a big bed in the hotel room (we made a barrier of pillows all around him). Our first major road trip was a success!

Almost Finished

Our basement is just about back to normal now. This weekend Ernie painted the wall, put the bookshelves back up, and Samuel and I put most of the toys back. The only thing left now is for Ernie to install an access panel in the ceiling, in case we ever have to get to the pipe again that started all this trouble.





The wall is a light brown color, which is hard to see in the pictures above. Here's another shot of it close-up:



And here's our tiny helper:

New Floor

Here's the latest update on our basement situation: we didn't have any luck finding the original carpet to match the part that wasn't damaged by water, so we installed laminate flooring this weekend. The room is just under 200 square feet, so with Ernie and I working together (and a babysitter entertaining Samuel) we were able to do it all. Here are some pictures of the room now:







The wall still needs to be painted and the furniture needs to be put back, but other than that, the room is almost back to normal!

In other news, one day last week I took Samuel down to Indianapolis to see my friends Sara and Melissa and their kids. Here he is having fun in the wading pool at Sara's house. He LOVES to play with water lately. Hose, buckets, pool, sprinkler...he can't get enough of it. He is usually blue lipped and shivering when we make him come inside, yet he still screams for more.



And here he is playing with a toy Jeep that he completely loved (and also screamed when it was time to get out of):





Thank you to everyone who left us a nice comment about Monty - we appreciated reading those!

Dear Monty,

You were, without a doubt, the best dog in the entire world. Anyone who had the good fortune to meet you would say the same.

You were the dog that other people would meet and then decide they wanted one of you. After they went out and got their own dog, they realized how different you were.

You considered yourself to be a person in a dog's body, and would give us looks that clearly said "why am I being forced to do these silly dog things?"

When Bella first came to live with us in 2002, you weren't so sure about her. After awhile, though, you decided she could stay.



You loved kids, and your ears would perk up whenever you heard them playing outside. You were always gentle with Samuel, even when he would pet you a little too enthusiastically, or would claim your blanket as his own.



You didn't jump up on people or lick them. In fact, you so rarely gave kisses that it was an honor to get one from you. You loved for people to pat you, and if they stopped, you would nudge their hand with your head for more.

With the exception of the evil squirrel that taunted you and Bella in Parker, you were always nice to other animals.



You loved to go for rides in the car. So much so that one time you jumped into a car that was just being cleaned, not taken for a ride. We didn't know you had jumped in there, and found you several hours later, patiently waiting in the back seat.

You had wonderful fashion sense, and loved to show that off:



You were Ernie's faithful companion since he was 19 years old. You two loved to go for walks in the woods in NH, and for rides in Ernie's truck.



We were blessed to have you in our family for as long as we did.



Although we are sad that you are no longer here, we know you are in a better place now. A place where you can walk without pain, a place where there are no scary thunderstorms or fireworks. A place where, perhaps, a giant conveyer belt goes past all day long, bringing you bowls of ice cream, pieces of bacon, and - your favorite - cheez-its.

We love you Monty, and we always will.