Deliciousness

If you were a mouse on the wall, you might hear some comments like these:

"These brussels have lots of deliciousness in them.  I love them!"  Caleb

"I'm naming the dragon that I made 'flick fluke'."  Jonathan

The last requires a little explanation.  We talk about where things come from a fair amount around here.  It may have started when we began gardening or it may have started because I'm a scientist and a teacher.  Or a combo of both.  Anyway, we talk about where things come from.  I may have mentioned the questions we've had about babies (that's kind of an obvious "come from" question), but we've had ones about metal ("I've never seen a metal plant or a metal animal so where does metal come from?"), and so the list goes.

We talk about where food comes from and my meat-loving boys are not the least bit squeamish.  Caleb told Jamie that he wanted him to shoot a turkey and cut off it's head so we could eat it for Thanksgiving.  We've had dinnertime conversations about meat and vegetables and pancakes and bread and where all of them come from.  I do not make things up.  If I don't know, I say so because the oldest Guild has what I call a "crapometer" and can tell if something smells fishy or somewhat made-up.

They wanted Halloween candy one evening so I told them they had to eat their healthy food first.  I was questioned about why M & M's weren't healthy and where they came from.  Remember, no lying.
So I answered, "In a factory."
"What are they made of in a factory?"
No lying.  "Chemicals that they make in the factory and some chocolate that came from a bean."
"Why aren't they healthy?"
Answer: "They don't help you grow or fight off sickness."
"Well what happens to them, then?"
"You poop them out after they go through digestion."

Things kind of ended there.  Thankfully.

Except that we had some Christmas M&Ms for a party a few weeks ago.  And, Caleb informed a few guests about M&Ms.  Unsolicited.

"M&Ms are made of chemicals in a factory.  And they're not good for you.  You just poop them out."

Love that not so much.  The not lying about stuff is going to have to probably come with a little bit of training on the verbal filters, I do suppose.  It certainly doesn't stop them from loving sweet candy treats :)

Merry Christmas.  Maybe you can eat some delicious chemicals in the form of M&Ms.  We recommend the peanut butter variety.

Tis the Season

Tis the season for all sorts of stuff, and we are enjoying the wide assortment of celebrations.  A couple of glimpses of us:

Birthday in Photos

The photos of the four year old's celebration:

1,2,3,4.

See this little boy?  The little peanut that we were delighted to welcome into our family turned FOUR a week ago.  Four.  That seems not toddler but little boy.  A gem of a little boy he is, too.

Caleb, my sweet, spunky, contented little man:

 - You love cured meats... salami, pepperoni, capicola.  Anything with some zip and you are ready to eat it.  Along those lines, you are still delighted by olives, pickles, and peppers.  You are such an adventurous eater and always willing to try anything on my plate.  Wonder who you got that from?

 - You are a creative lego builder and your creations always have long and very interesting descriptions.

 - Upon turning four you told us that you were old enough to take off your training wheels.  Come spring, I will have two two-wheeling maniacs.

 - I can pick out whatever I choose for you to wear and you wear it.  Without another thought.  Shocking after our wardrobe comedies with your brother.

 - Cutting and scissors top your list for craft activities.  I have to hide the scissors a bit or our furniture would be beyond repair.

 - Just when I think your fidgeting on the couch is a sure sign of inattention to the story we're reading, you come out with a great summary about what has happened in the story.  You seem to think better with a little wiggle.

 - Music class is a dear favorite.  Ms. Joy is truly joyful for both of us.

 - People comment to me often about how content you are to play by yourself.  It is true... you love to play alone, but you also are never slow to join in the fun with friends.  You can run around and jostle with Jonathan's school buddies and have a great time.

 - You like green.  Second place: blue

 - We spend each morning together and have such great times.  Sometimes its a game, fun crafts, books, trips to Traders Joes and laundry when things are getting really needy in that department.

Four.  Going to enjoy four for while :)

Ready, Set, Shoes...

The boys (all three) got new shoes.  The oldest boy's shoes were picked by his sons.  The younger two picked their own (very bright) shoe selections.

Tree Fun

Climbing trees is so much fun so we ventured to a park with one of the best climbing trees in the city...

 Happy Thanksgiving brought to you by little hands, big hands, and lotsa paint.  I decided to preserve the memory of this fun craft with a picture instead of the actual giant piece of paper.

All Sorts of Fun

The little Guilds love legos.  So, we ventured to Legoland in November to celebrate both of their birthdays... we went on a Tuesday and it was lovely.  It was quiet and I took only two photos because we were all so busy playing that there wasn't time for more.

Jonathan had to make a "book box" for school.  This had to be one of his favorite activities, yet.  He and I spent three hours making this gem, and he said over and over: "this is so much fun, isn't it, Mom?"  As I've stated, we love the Boxcar Children so this was an obvious choice and quite fun to make.

Farming Time

My mom and her brother own the family farm in Minnesota.  My Uncle Bruce still farms a bit of it.  We decided to trek up there, enjoy the outdoors and farm with Mom and Bruce for a day.

 Family friend, Loren, gave the boys the delight of riding in this monstrous farming machine.  What great fun!!

 Bruce, Me, Jonathan and Caleb

 Two happy tractor boys

 It's a farm.  There are tons of outdoor kitties.  The boys loved playing with them.  One was fond of them, the others just ran and hid.

 Bruce and the boys on the mower

Farming is hard work.  They were both sacked out in the backseat almost the whole way back to my hometown.  And, yes, there is still some finger-sucking by the oldest when he sleeps.  We've tried tape, we've tried band-aids and gloves.  When he is sleeping he takes them off... so we'll probably just be looking at orthodontic work.

A day well enjoyed... until our next farm adventure.

I like paint.

I like paint.  Jonathan likes paint.  Caleb likes paint.  So, we paint.  Birdhouses, paper, wooden stuff from the craft store, and PUMPKINS.  Lesson about paint: the washable stuff is junk.  The colors are watery (hence the washability, I imagine) and they don't stay where they are supposed to stay.  So, I've abandoned washability and just got out the tarp and the heater in the garage.

Halloween

Hands down, our most festive Halloween thus far.  However, my efforts at the festivities meant that I absolutely slacked in the photo taking.  I was also deterred by having to pull the huge jet plane that Jamie made out of cardboard and our wagon.  Keeping track of the munchkins and pulling the plane pretty much took all of my attention.  The photos were a distant third.

 My two ADORABLE jet pilots

 Jonathan and Caleb with the school buddies.  This group of kiddos is great fun.  We all hang around after the half day pick up time and the kids run and play.  As you can see, on Halloween, the ninja was trying to take down the SWAT team guy.  Jonathan isn't quite as much in the middle of the playing as the others, but he still has fun just running and playing with the friends.

Here is my best photo: sun in eyes, massive plane wedged between the rock wall the parking signs.  Jake and Josh: baseball players.  Jonathan and Caleb: co-pilots.

Fall Fun

Have I mentioned the leaves before?  The volume of leaves produced by sixty year old oak trees is a wonder to behold.  If you live in a neighborhood lacking these gems, let me give you a little taste... our neighbors have raked 3 times: each time with two piles this size in just the front yard.  There are still many more leaves to come.  All of the beauty and shade has a price.  We're hoping it will be a good money making venture for the boys in this house in a few years: raking.  If the wind blows from the northwest, all of the leaves left on our neighbor's trees are coming to our yard... yeehaw!

 My very talented Aunt Kathy made these robes for the boys.  They love them.  Especially the fact that they have hoods.  Amazing what things with hoods can become by way of "dress up".

 Football season for 5 and 6 year olds is over.  We are not going to rock the talent pool of the local football team, but we sure did have fun.  Jonathan had amazing coaches and he met several little dudes from his school so this all was a big win for him.  He mostly played center because in flag football, center is the best place for a little dude.  And, he was the littlest on the team.  The pizza party at the park was a great way to end a great season of fun!