Friday, April 23, 2010

Garden Gurus


Farmer Andrew showing off our garden. Thanks for helping mow, little one! I'm working hard this summer to keep this garden from being the weed patch it was last year. It started in the fall with some good kitchen scraps tossed into the mess. This spring, I've turned over the whole garden (it was like sugar - so soft!) and dug out barrels of weeds, grass and lemon balm (my arch-nemesis). We WILL bring forth vegetables!!!


So far, we have spinach and lettuce planted. It came up in just a few days and the bunnies were already dining on it. We have since put up a fence. Yes, I am Mr. McGregor! Go eat a heap of grass, you little theives!


And, just for fun, can you guess how many little boys are under the small pool? (note the foot sticking out) The correct answer is FOUR! I don't know how they did it, but they did!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Potty Talk

Some recent things overheard at our house:

Luke: (on a very blustery day) What was that?
Patrick: "That was the wind. It was speaking to us."
Mom: "What did it say?"
Luke: "I don't know. I don't speak wind."

Joe: (carrying our statue of Mary that usually resides in the flower garden) "I'm moving Mary to the (vegetable) garden so she can pray for our lettuce."

Patrick: "Mom, worm poop is good for the garden."

Andrew: (pulling shirt up over his face) "Weh An-doo?" (pulling shirt down excitedly) "'Ere E is!"
If you happen to not speak toddler, that translates to, "Where's Andrew?" and "There he is!"

Mom: "Luke, take that (toy) guitar downstairs"
Luke: "But, Mom! I wanna rock!"

Patrick while dancing: "Mommy, check out my groove!"

Okay, not it's time to confess. These boys have been SUCH boys lately. I don't know if it's the weather, their ages, the barometric pressure, or just being able to be outside and stretch their legs. They've been full of energy, aggressive, wild, an a bit potty-mouthed.

For example, every stick is now a sword. They are superheros, pirates, batman, etc, but with much more vigor and aggression than previously. There's lots of hitting, wrestling, bumps and bruises.

Oh, and the other day, I caught Luke with his pants down and his moon shining to the next-door neighbors. ("Please, God don't let them be home," I prayed) When I quickly brought him inside to take care of that little moon, I asked him where he got the idea. Apparently, all of the boys had been doing it over the course of that morning. Awesome.

Potty talk has been crazy lately. Thank goodness it's still so innocent, but they've recently discovered the word 'butt':
Luke: What's a butt?
Joe: It's a bottom. (giggle giggle)
Patrick: No, it's what you use when you say, "BUT MOM!"
Joe corrected Patrick and the cat's out of the bag on that one. Please, just not at church.

"Potty talk belongs in the bathroom" is our rule, so if they must say it, they know to head to the bathroom. The three older boys were having a potty talk fest the other night. From the bathroom, I hear, "Poop!" "Toilet!" "Bottoms!" "Gas!" all followed by lots of giggles. Then, I hear Andrew bust into the party hollering, "I poopy!" And, of course, everyone erupts into even more giggles. Seriously, folks, he's not even two yet. sigh.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Easter


Happy Easter a little late!


Here are all of the cousins on Scott's side - Colin, Joe, Luke, Andrew, Olivia and Patrick. Kind of light on the pink, don't you agree?


Um, boys, I don't think that's how you use them. We went to the Knights of Columbus Easter Egg Hunt at St. Therese again this year. Patrick was the only one that wasn't thrilled with the results. He's so not aggressive that little kids were snatching eggs right out from under him!


Scott and niece Olivia. It was a beautiful day.


Andrew was no fan of the Easter Bunny. All of the boys noted that the Easter Bunny had a 'guy' inside because they saw him 'in the mouth.' Secret's out!





Sister in law Kelli, nephew (and Godson!) Colin, and Scott's brother Brian. Awesome ties, gentlemen!


Brother in law Michael, niece (and Goddaughter!) Olivia and Scott's sister Katie. Michael is a new Catholic. He came into the church this spring, and we're pretty glad to have him!


Miss Libby, niece and goddaughter on Suzanne's side, celebrated her big 5th birthday while we were in town. The lucky girl had a clown at her party! Yes, everyone's favorite... Dinky T. Clown. Andrew recognized him right away with a sheepish little "Papa?" but still didn't want to get too close.


The boys were a little nervous about a balloon popping. Which, of course, it did.


Preparing for the Grand Parade! So, it wasn't so grand, just a trip to the kitchen and dining room, but who's to tell?


Luke proud as punch after helping Dinky multiply some foam balls. Amazing!

One afternoon while we were visiting, all of the other kids were napping or out running errands with various family members. The only two playing outside were Luke and Libby. Grandpa had recently cleared out the old playhouse that had served his gardening storage needs since Janelle had outgrown it. It was time for a new generation of kids to enjoy the little treasure.

Libby took over playing house. She was cooking and decorating and rearranging the furniture. Luke was helping with the heavy lifting, as any gentleman (and presumably the man of the house in this scenario) would. Luke was asked to take the bench out of the house to suit the mistress of the house’s tastes. Being a distractable little boy, the bench got turned sideways in the extraction attempt, but never actually got out of the door. Luke had discovered a new way to sit on it! He was very proud of himself until Libby saw the disorder and hollered, “That’s *not* the way I wanted it!”

Within a few minutes, Libby was cleaning house in earnest. The outside observer only saw debris flying out the door onto the lawn. Bats, balls, water guns, ball gloves, buckets and various other toys the boys had been enjoying were no longer welcome in her home. We jokingly noted that it looked remarkably like a divorce was transpiring.

Luke needs to learn the classic adage, true even in play, that a happy wife equals a happy life!