Grandparents

Samuel had a great time with his Memere and Grandpa Bob last week. Here he is helping bake cookies:

Pretending to nap on the couch with Grandpa Bob:

Moose the dog also came along for the visit. He LOVED Bella and wanted to play with her non-stop. Bella, however, did not feel the same way and spent most of her time across the room from Moose, pretending to sleep, but keeping one eye on him at all times.

Here's Samuel helping get corn ready for dinner one night (husking? shucking? I don't know what this is called.) Surprisingly, he loved doing this. And it kept him busy the whole time I was making the rest of our dinner. I think we're going to eat corn every night from now on.

One day when Samuel was at school, Ernie and I took Barbara and Bob to tour DeBrand - a local chocolate company. When we lived in Colorado we went to Celestial Seasonings Tea, and Coors Brewery with various guests, but never a chocolate factory before. It was yummy!

And, finally, in case you are searching for that perfect accessory to complement the humidity and 85 degree summer weather, may we suggest...

winter boots.

Blast from the Past

Barbara and Bob are visiting us right now, and they brought these old pictures of Ernie and his sisters. This is Ernie, Angie, and Bridget circa 1984.



This second picture of Ernie just cracks me up every time I look at it:



More pictures of our visit to follow later this week...

New Olympic Sport

The 100m splash and dash:

Toddler Etiquette

Attention toddlers! Not sure how to handle certain situations? Baffled about the easiest way to get things done? Here are some tips to help you out, from your resident expert Samuel:

1. If you are unable to get a tiny part of a toy truck to stay up or down, you could politely ask your mom for help. OR you could scream and flail your body around and say "YOU do it Mommy!"

2. If you are given the option of wearing red shorts or blue shorts, you could thoughtfully consider the choices and then pick one. OR you could scream "no shorts! I want to be naken (naked)" and then run down the hall with no shorts on.

3. When your mom gives you a 2-minute warning before bed, that is THE best time to suggest some long activity like watching an entire movie, or taking the playdough out. When your parents don't like your suggestion, scream and flail your body around until they are forced to pick you up and carry you upstairs.

4. Limit the number of foods you eat to 5 or less. It's really fun for your parents to think of new interesting things to serve you, and then watch you say "blehhhh" (or "no thank you" if you are feeling particularly polite) and then end up giving you yogurt for dinner, and your new interesting food to Bella.

5. When you see your toddler girlfriend at school or church (after you have been asking nonstop if she will be there), the best way to get her attention is to roll around on the floor like a dog.

6. The only time you should suggest sitting on the potty yourself is after your parents say it's time to get out of the bathtub and go to bed. Your mom and dad will never figure out that you are just stalling. Try to get an M&M every time, too, even if you don't actually pee in the potty.

7. People don't like to use the bathroom by themselves. They might tell you they do, but ignore them. If you see a bathroom door closed and know someone is in there, bang on the door as hard as you can and demand to be let in. Once you are let in, grab anything sharp and dangerous you see and claim it for your own. Offer your parents M&Ms if they have successfully used the potty. If they decline, graciously say that you'll eat the M&M for them.

8. If there is some kind of expensive shiny object on the table, do everything you can to get it. If your mom moves it up to a higher spot, get a chair and try to reach it. Once you get it, press all the buttons as fast as you can, before it gets taken away. Then scream "MY ________" (fill in the blank here with camera, computer, field journal, cell phone, etc...) over and over.

9. The best time to play in your parents' bed is after it has been made in the morning. Just ignore your mom as she tries to put the blankets back on the bed. It's more fun to throw them on the floor multiple times and then jump on them. This is especially fun when morning starts at 5:30 am.

10. If you try to tell someone something and they do not understand your unique toddler speech, you could politely repeat yourself. OR you could say the same exact thing, but LOUDER and ANGRIER, while stomping your feet on the floor. If you had a Hawaiian shirt and multiple cameras around your neck you could pass as a mini tourist.

11. Fixate on one TV show or movie. Refuse suggestions of anything else to watch, even if your parents get something really good from the library for you. The optimal number of times to watch the movie Cars is 2 million. Only when everyone in your house, including the dog, knows all the lines of the movie is it time for something different.

Salt Art

I found a great website called No Time for Flashcards that has all kinds of fun, inexpensive things to do with kids. One of the things they talked about was salt art. I've done this before at fairs with colored sand, and the salt was just as easy. Basically you just spoon some colored salt into a container, then tap it flat, then add another color, and do the same thing.

Samuel had a great time filling up containers with different colored salt (and if you look carefully, you can find Lightning McQueen enjoying salt art, too.)





Here are his finished creations:

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.