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!