You know you're a mom of boys when...

Our male-dominated household is noisy and amusing.  There is certainly never a dull (or quiet) moment around here.  Wherever there is a group of boys there is fun to be had--and it usually involves some kind of mischief.  There are many fascinating and perplexing moments that occur every day in the life of a mom of boys.  These are just a few of mine from recent days:

...you tell your son to please take the (rather large and alive) beetle off the kitchen table in such a calm voice and without even flinching that it amazes even yourself.  Because, after all, you have come to understand and accept that insects are just part of life with boys.

...you do have a "breaking point" with bugs however, and have discovered, much to your chagrin, that plastic insects placed under the sheets in your bed and live cicadas being tossed at you both cross that line.  Your boys (and everyone within earshot) now know this also, which you realize may be to your disadvantage.

...you keep a collection of 'treasures' on top of the dryer--the interesting items found in boys pockets when doing laundry.  There are the usual assortment of rocks, sticks, golf tees, and coins, but when the clanging in the dryer alerted you to something that was left in a pocket, you smiled when you pulled out a pocket knife and an arrowhead.  Boys are so much fun.

...while tucking in a boy your foot hits something under his bed.  You peek under the bed skirt and discover that you have knocked over a bowl of dirt.  You ask your son why he has a bowl of dirt under his bed and he explains that it is his pet worm.  His pet worm that died.  You continue on with the the bedtime routine because worms can wait until morning.

...you bring home your hot, sweaty, muddy boy from football practice and still have to tell him, "Yes, you have to take a shower."

Spring Summarized

So, it seems that I have long neglected updating this blog.  Not that there has been a lack of blog-worthy material, on the contrary, we've been having so much fun that finding time to sit at the computer and document hasn't come easy. 

  

Taking a deep breath now...here's to getting caught up!

Monopoly, or better yet--Virginia Techopoly-- became a favorite game at our house.

We were able to meet Grammy's friend from Japan, Chako.  We took her to visit the Japanese gardens at Maymont Park.  She shared some of her authentic Japanese rice balls with us and the boys enjoyed playing with the old fashioned Japanese toys that Chako gave to them.  

Classical Conversations came to a close.  This is a photo of Carter during the closing ceremony.  We all greatly enjoyed and benefitted from our first year of C.C. We look forward to participating again next year!

The Easter Egg hunt at Parkway Baptist was quite a thrill for the kids--eggs were dropped from a helicopter!  

Aunt Tara and Uncle Archie came for a visit--fun!

Our good friends, the O'Connors, spent the night making it 8 kids (7 of them boys) 

in our house for the night!  We had a blast!  

We welcomed my brother, Eric, back from his deployment in Japan.  Thank you for your service, Eric!  

Eric and his wife, Mandie, are expecting a baby boy in September.

We did several field trips.  This photo was taken at the Virginia Living Museum.

Carter went through the letters of the alphabet this year in Junior Kindergarten.  

We had a fun activity for each letter.  This was our "X marks the spot" treasure hunt.  

Lil' Miss and Davis just because...

A visit to some recreation's of two of Columbus' ships.

The guys had fun camping at Pocahontas State Park.

We studied American history this year so it was only fitting that we include a trip to Monticello 

(even if it is in Charlottesville).  

The boys' favorite part was learning about Jefferson's air tunnel 

(a vent for the indoor privies).

In September I blogged about our hamster Pancake.  We recently got a female hamster, Cupcake.

Pancake + Cupcake = Shortcakes (i.e. 10 baby hamsters!)

Just arrived! Tiny, pink and hairless. 

The proud mommy.

One week old. 

One month old.

Birthdays (belated)

I wanted to be sure and post about two important birthdays we celebrated in January. Claire turned two on January 7 and Grant turned nine on January 13. Grant graciously agreed to a joint birthday party, with separate cakes of course. We are grateful to our family who were able to celebrate with us!

With her recent owl infatuation, it was only fitting that Miss Claire had an owl cake. For her birthday she received some owl books, an owl stuffed animal, and a cute handmade owl card from Gramma along with some other fun girly presents. I think that Claire enjoys the clothes and hair bows just as much as her mommy does! She was sure to say 'thank you' as she opened each gift.

Grant requested a football cake. After completing his first season of tackle football this past fall, he can't wait to start practice again in August. With golf season just around the corner, he received a new set of clubs for his birthday.

Claire wore her new owl dress made by my friend, Juliana. She was all smiles. She is always the life of the party, whether there is a party or not. We love this little girl!

What a joy Grant and Claire are to their Daddy and me! We are so proud of Grant and the young man that he is becoming. He is a caring big brother, a hard worker, and a help at home. Happy birthday Claire and Grant!

Sermon on Spiders

This sermon of sorts is what I found on the back of our little entomologist's notes from church the other week. And yes, the front of the sheet was filled out with "real" notes as well.

Two Cute

We sure do love this girl! This photo was taken on her second birthday. January 7th just so happened to be sunny and warm and in the upper 60's in Richmond so we enjoyed a family picnic at Maymont Park. In this photo Claire is wearing her favorite shirt. She loves this shirt. She points at the owl and says, "Dowl! Who-o-o who-o-o!". Her daddy has been known to put this shirt back on over top of her pajamas just to calm all the crying that occurs when it is time to change clothes. Yes, this girl has an opinion about what she wears. She woke me up twice during the night recently crying and asking for a "diff-ren shirt." And no, I did not oblige her request. We are not doing wardrobe adjustments at 2 am!

Other than having strong opinions about her clothes and shoes, Claire is quite a happy little girl. She loves to tickle, play hide-and-seek, run, swing, wrestle, jump, and laugh. She is usually happy-go-lucky, not afraid to leave mom, willing to attempt almost anything and loves getting attention. She likes to play with dolls and stuffed animals and I am amazed at just how motherly she can act. She rocks her babies, whispers "shh-shh," pats their backs, and kisses them just like a sweet little mommy. Her favorite foods are mandarin oranges, yogurt, crackers and grilled chicken. Her favorite tv show is Clifford as she loves dogs. She loves to sing "Jesus Loves Me." She is still a little peanut, weighing in at 22.5 lbs (3rd-5th percentile) and 32.75 inches long (10th -25th percentile). Her brothers adore her and still call her Claire-E affectionately. Davis is sweet to his little sister with the exception of discovering that she is terrified to be shut in the laundry room (poor Claire may be forced to overcome her fear because of this discovery). We are all so grateful to have had this little lady in our lives for the past two years. We love you Claire!

A+

We didn't hand out report cards this past week at the Little Academy. However, the following conversations took place which assure me that my boys are learning.

At the breakfast table one morning, while discussing the strengths and weakness of various superheroes, one boy explained to his younger brother that IronMan has a significant weakness: he cannot go under water. He went on to explain how iron will rust when exposed to water and oxygen. Wow!

One boy told me that he had a hard time breathing at the top of the maze at Chick-fil-a. "Because," he said remembering our discussion from the prior week, "the air gets thinner the higher up you go and it is harder to breathe." A little bit of a stretch, but he did get the idea.

Just this morning we were pouring milk into our cereal bowls when one boy asked, "What weighs more, a gallon of milk or a gallon of water?" So, we talked about density (and for all of you science buffs out there, I did explain that a gallon is a measurement of volume and not mass) and that the density of milk is greater than that of water.

I do know one thing for sure, I am learning a lot!

Boy-isms

During our most recent round of kitchen-turned-barber-shop, a boy sat begrudgingly on the stool in front of me anticipating the dreaded chore. A loss of ten minutes of play time is such a terrible crime. In an effort to make the task a little more tolerable and to provide him with some style options, I asked if he would like the scissor cut he usually receives or a buzz cut this time. His response embodies the typical boy's perspective on style: "Which one is the fastest?"

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This past month I took a couple of children in to see the pediatrician for their annual check-ups. The doctor questioned one boy about all of the usual things: what his address is, how old he is, does he wear a helmet when riding his bike, and then in a whisper she asked if he has any trouble going to the bathroom.

"No," he said, red-faced.

His brother then blurted out loudly, "Yes he does! He has trouble with his aim!"