Life and Times of a Couple of Wild and Crazy Guys

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-27T13:59:00.002-06:00

DADDY-O

2010-06-20T08:44:00.003-05:00

So, on Father's Day, it's only fair that I ask the DADDY quiz, too, dontchathink?

25 questions about DADDY...

I started off with probably the most important question:
What makes Daddy the coolest Daddy? K: When he plays the guitar really cool like a rock n roll man. C: What I'm doing! [Playing air guitar :) ]

1. What is something Daddy always says to you? K: I will tell you something he always tells me. No! And he tells us I love you. C: He always tells me to go to my room.

2. What makes Daddy happy? K: When we kiss him and be nice to him and hug on him. C: And listen.

3. What makes Daddy sad? K: When we be mean to him and we hit him. And we have to make him spank us. C: And pull our ear.

4. How does Daddy make you laugh? K: When he does funny stuff. Like, spank hisself. C: And pull his own ear.

5. What do you think Daddy was like as a child? K: He act really good to his Momma. C: Be nice.

6. How old is Daddy? C: I don't know. K: 37

7. How tall is Daddy? C: This taller. K: Bigger than you.

8. What is Daddy's favorite thing to do? C: Be nice. K: Play with us!

9. What does Daddy do when you’re not around? C: Look around. K: I don't know. Gets us presents.

10. If Daddy becomes famous, what will it be for? K: Us. C: Playing.

11. What is Daddy really good at? K: Playing with us. C: Brushing his teeth.

12. What is Daddy not really good at? K: He's not really good at playing with toys. C: Playing with Bakugan.

13. What is Daddy's job? K: Fixing rockets. Taking care of rockets so they don't break. C: Fixing cars. K: Un-uh. Almost.

14. What is Daddy's favorite food? K: Fish. C: Salad. [Note that these are the same foods the boys think are MY favorites, too.]

15. What makes you proud of Daddy? C: When we listen. K: When he be's nice to us.

16. What makes Daddy proud of you? K: When we listen to him. C: When we listen.

17. If Daddy were a cartoon character, who would he be? K: Ben 10! Ultimate Alien! Swampfire! He would be Swampfire! C: JetRay!

18. What do you and Daddy do together? K: We play a lot. Sometimes we work together C: And sometimes we fall down together. K: And sometimes we do funny stuff like spanking and pulling our ear.

19. How are you the same as Daddy? K: When he smiles when he was a kid, he was like me. He smiled like me and I thought he was me C: Cause I'm brown. K: I'll tell you what's same as you as Daddy. You have brown eyes!

20. How are you different from Daddy? K: Because we both have different skin and different hair. C: 'Cause we both have different bodies. K: I'll tell you something. You have smaller bones than Daddy. Daddy's bones are bigger than your little bones.

21. How do you know that Daddy loves you? K: Because he always says it. Connery, you can say that he always, always tells us how much he loves us. C: Because he loves us!

22. Where is Daddy's favorite place to go? K: Mexican place! C: Um, Alabama.

23. What is one thing you wish you could change about Daddy? K: I wish he would be nicer to us. I want him to say "Yes, yes, yes!" C: I wish he would be 'lover.'

24. What would Daddy do with a million dollars? K: He would buy us everything. He would buy us a lot of stuff and more stuff. C: He would buy us a DS.

25. What do you wish you could go and do with Daddy? K: I wish we could go to Target all the time. C: Flush down in the toilet. [Me: Flush WHAT down in the toilet?] C: Us.

So, Sandy, I hope you like your Father's Day trip with Connery! An all expenses paid flush down the toilet!! [And we might go to the movies, too.]

Love you, Daddy-O.

The Momma Quiz, v. 2

2010-05-10T19:55:00.009-05:00

I stole this idea from another blogger and posted the boys' answers last year on Mother's Day. I've been looking forward to asking them again and was warmed by the theme that runs through their answers.

25 questions about Mommy...

1. What is something I always say to you? C: Clean up our mess in our room. Pick up our clothes. Go potty. K: I love you.
2. What makes me happy? C: When we love on you. K: When we be nice to you and when we call you momma.
3. What makes me sad? K: When we be mean to you and hurt your feelings and hurt you and hurt Daddy. C: When she pulls my ear it makes me sad.
4. How do I make you laugh? K: When you tickle us (Tickles me) C: Tickle me!
5. What do you think I was like as a child? C: When we love on you. K: You loved on Ba. C: She liked when I was big. K: She didn't even know if she was going to have a boy or a girl.
6. How old am I? K: Can you tell me? I don't know. C: You're 2. I want you to be 2.
7. How tall am I? C: This tall. (Stretches his arms wide.) Mommy get in my hands. K: Can I measure you?
8. What is my favorite thing to do? K: Um, love on us.
9. What do I do when you’re not around? K: You give Gryphon a hug. C: She goes to work.
10. If I become famous, what will it be for? K: For us. C: For cool.
11. What am I really good at? C: Cleaning up. K: Loving on us.
12. What am I not really good at? K: Helping us. C: Hitting me.
13. What is my job? K: Teaching. You're a teacher. Come on. C: Going to your school.
14. What is my favorite food? C: Salad. K: Fish.
15. What makes you proud of me? K: That you help us and love on us. C: When we (kisses me) kiss you.
16. What makes me proud of you? K: When we do stuff that you didn't even ask us to do like make our beds without you telling us to. C: When I kiss you.

17. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? K: Gwen. C: Gwen! [That would be Ben's cousin Gwen Tennyson, who can shoot pink lasers out of her eyes. I AM that cool.]

18. What do you and I do together? K: We go to the Botanical Gardens together. C: I don't know but I hurt my toe.
19. How are we the same? K: We both love each other. C: Cause I love on you.
(Sandy: How are we the same?) Cause we both have brown eyes. Cause we both have black hair. Bear skin and monkey skin. [Um...I don't know what goes through his mind.]

20. How are you and I different? K: Because you're bigger than me. And you're a girl and I'm not. And you have different color hair. C: As gwen. K: And you have bigger bones than me.
21. How do you know that I love you? K: You always say it and you act like it. C: Because I love on you. And we both have brown eyes and Daddy too.

22. Where is my favorite place to go? K: Mexican. C: McDonalds. [Actually, I don't like McD's at all. I think he WISHES that I did.] K: the place with the peanuts on the ground.
23. What is one thing you wish you could change about me? K: I wish I could change you to love me more. C: Love me more.
24. What would I do with a million dollars? K: Buy something for us. C: A [Nintendo] DS. Told you. K: Love for us. (Sandy: You can't buy love.) We can buy love. From our heart.
25. What do you wish you could go and do with me? C: Go to the store and buy a toy. K: Go and buy a DS.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!! Hope you get to 'love on' the ones you love!

Wordless Wednesday--c. 1979 and 2009

2009-12-16T00:12:00.003-06:00

Thankful to be so BUSY!

2009-11-24T12:07:00.021-06:00

Have I ever gone this long without posting?? Really, I've not been slacking! We've just been BUSY. In fact, someone needs to create a new word for the kind of busy we've been. It's been crazy and exhausting but also sweet and exciting and fun... and it's looked a lot like THIS:
Visit with KellyMasi in October during Fall Break. She and I went to a concert [The Airborne Toxic Event!] and Ba kept the boys at Masi's house.

A trip to Zoo Atlanta with Ba. You know, see the family again ;)

[Sorry for the sideways picture. My computer is NOT cooperating...]
Diwali--Indian New Year. We celebrate by washing money (to bring prosperity in the new year) and lighting a diya...or in our case, tea lights. We didn't have a big celebration and didn't follow all the traditions, but we at least try to do something to recognize the Indian holidays.

Rotary and theatre. Sandy organized a huge fundraiser for Rotary Club called Parrots of the Caribbean. And I was in a show at UAH AND produced the one-act at school for competition. We were officially worn out afterwards. And, of course, the boys went easy on us.

Yeah.

Of course, Halloween. This year, we went on a hayride with some friends of ours--the BEST way to Trick or Treat! Fortunately, the boys chose easy costumes. Red and black Power Rangers (on the left). Mind you, they don't even watch the Power Rangers. Apparently, one of their friends at school likes them a lot, and it's rubbed off. Also in disguise in this picture are Eli as Samurai Jack, Finn as the robot [not to be confused with a ball of flames], and Nathan as Darth Vader.

Gryphon's birthday. The boys celebrated our 'grey-haired puppy' by making a cake of cheese, peanut butter and doggie treats. Yum! [Only the dog ate it, trust me.]

Soccer? Well, the truth is, it didn't keep us busy, because the weather was rainy so many Saturdays in October that all his games were cancelled except the last one.

Sandy and I got to visit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital with friends Melissa and Evan, our favorite 'St. Jude dude.' I plan to post more about our visit on the baldonpurpose site. The place was incredible. And Evan? What an amazing boy...

Sold the house! Funny story: I was alone with the boys when Sandy went on a trip with his buddies to Florida. I saw a police officer pull up and thought, "This is what they do when people die." My heart sank as I imagined the worst, and I tried to prepare myself and figure out how NOT to become hysterical in front of the boys. I watched the officer get out of his car...and get a flyer about the house! Once I was able to breathe again, I joked with our friends that I would forgive him IF he bought my house. Two days later, guess who made an offer! :)

So we scurried around to find a new house...and...

Tada! We moved in this past weekend, and we LOVE it. L.O.V.E. It's bright and open and big and has tons of closets and new carpet and pretty hardwoods and a big yard and gas fireplace and jacuzzi tub and and and... Oh, and lots of boxes right now. So I'd better get busy :)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I realize this year, more than ever before, that we have so much to be thankful for. Everywhere I look, I am reminded that LIFE IS GOOD.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-23T22:13:00.003-05:00

I know that the whole point of Wordless Wednesday is to post a photo and shut up. :) But these photos move me because of the story behind them.

My friend Shawn adopted sweet Tihun from Ethiopia just a couple of weeks ago.

To see them together, and to see that beautiful smile...
well, I don't have any words to describe that. [So that counts, right?]

A note from the boys to Momma...

2009-08-24T20:16:00.003-05:00

Here is a video message to Momma from her boys just before K tried to decapitate C. Boys.

Cheers, S.

And the baby is 3

2009-08-15T11:50:00.026-05:00

A week ago, I celebrated my little sister's birthday. And Saturday, Kieran celebrated his little brother's.

When Connery was born, 3 years ago, he looked EXACTLY like Kieran. EXACTLY. It was a bit eerie, to tell the truth. We had one little boy, 19 months old, and then gave birth to his identical twin. Except for one thing. He had a little 'stork bite' under his nose. [Sandy called it a snake bite. Said it sounds tougher.] In some pictures, that red mark is the only thing that clues me in to which baby I'm looking at.

In fact, when I quizzed family and friends with some photos of the boys, NO ONE got 100% right. And the other day? When we were out shopping? A young woman stopped us and apologized for staring at the boys. "They look JUST alike," she said. We laughed, told her we think the same thing, and a few minutes later, I heard her call to her mother, "Look at these boys. I can't get over how alike they look." People constantly ask if they're twins, until they see the height difference.

I remember rubbing my pregnant belly while holding Kieran in my arms. And I worried. I adored this little boy. He was my heart. And, yes, I asked THAT question. "How will I ever love another child as much as this one?" I think every parent asks that question. And everyone told me, "You will. Don't worry, you will."

But I never spoke the question that really worried me. "Will having a second child TAKE away from the love and attention that my first child deserves?" My first child? That little boy that I adored? That was my heart? He would have to share me now. I couldn't give him ALL my attention anymore. I felt guilty about that.

And then the second child was born. And the two brothers met. And face to face, they looked like a mirror slightly out of time--one side a 19 month old toddler and its reflection, a newborn eager to catch up. And all those fears disappeared. Because I realized that I wasn't taking anything away from Kieran--I was GIVING him everything. This little baby was the best gift to any of us.
And, of course, Connery will tell you the same thing. A few nights ago, I asked Kieran, "Who's your best friend?" Before he could answer, Connery excitedly said "His best friend's right here!" ...and pointed to himself. I know that Kieran won't always agree with that, especially when they're teenagers, or--who am I kidding?--even tomorrow morning. But he didn't argue that night. And whenever he gets a toy, or piece of candy, his first question is ALWAYS whether he can get one for his brother, too.

The Big Brother's Tribute to the Little Brother:

... I like to play with him because it's fun. When he's hurt and when he's sick, I be nice. And when he's not hurt and he's not sick, I play with him. I love him all the time I do that, but I don't like it when he's sick and he's hurt.

[What do you like best about your brother?] He knows how to do a flip.

I don't like when he spits at me and hits me and bites, but I like when he plays with me and he lets me be the doggie and he lets me be Sharkboy.

Connery, thanks for letting your brother be Sharkboy. I have to remind you a lot that you're only 3, and I know that you think you're much older. And I know that you also can't read this...but one day you will. One day much too soon. And I hope that when you do, you catch even a glimmer of the love that I--WE--have for you. Love's not even the word. It's too small.

Our C-dude, Baby Dude, Dodderdy, Gubbuh, Kie-onnery... Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Boy.

Wordless Wednesday--Connery's Birthday edition

2009-08-12T09:10:00.001-05:00

Multiply Life By the Power of Two

2009-08-06T00:40:00.000-05:00

I won't lie. I didn't always like my sister. She. Got. On. My. Nerves.

A lot.

There is a 5 year difference in our ages, and I think that contributed a lot to the fact that my sister was annoying. Er, I mean--that I didn't appreciate her. Come on, when I was 13, becoming a teenager and teasing my hair up in honor of Motley Crue and Poison? Kelly was 8. And what was she listening to? I don't even know. I didn't have time for that.

So I was pretty mean to her. I tricked her into eating grape Kool-aid powder. Not the Kool-Aid already made up. The POWDER. It will kill tastebuds and brain cells. Try it someday. Then imagine someone holding you against the kitchen counter pouring it down your throat.

Our babysitter (!!) helped me paint my face to look like I was possessed by spirits. She ran to get my sister who was playing outside. "Something's wrong with Amy!!" I was sitting in a closet rocking back and forth, a thin sheet over my head like a shawl. My sister FREAKED!! Crying, not because she was afraid OF me, but afraid FOR me. [Yeah, I felt really guilty about that one.]

And maybe the thing I feel MOST guilty about? I called her stupid. A lot. A few years ago, when we found a journal she kept in elementary school, we saw where she wrote that when I yelled at her, it made her 'nervose.'

WHY? WHY did I do that?? I've spent many nights asking myself that question. Sometimes I think it's because I was jealous. Or maybe resentful? Just plain selfish? I don't know.

Only now do I realize how cute and precious she always was. How smart she was. And very loving.

When we were around 4 and 9, we shared a bed, and EVERY night, she would sweetly ask, "Amy, will you put your arm on me?" Sweetly, lovingly. And every night, I said NO. I rolled my eyes and sighed with disgust. I know that sometimes I gave in, because I can recall flopping my arm over and waiting for her to drift off to sleep so I could get my arm back. Other nights, she tried to compromise and said my leg would be okay. I remember going to sleep some nights with just my toe on her calf.

So now, I consider it a mission to make up for all that time I terrorized her, kept her as far from me as possible. And I don't always know how to do that. I wasted many years when I could have been learning to be a good big sister. There are some walls between us. Some scars.

Today is my sister's birthday. She's the big 3-0. And I hope that somewhere in her celebration, she knows that for every one time that I made her feel unloved, I have regretted it at least twice.

I hope that sometimes, when she looks back on growing up with me, she remembers that I let her lay across the back of the big chair, stood behind her and strummed her belly like a guitar. That I traded rooms so she could have the big room. That our cousin Diane and I feathered her hair and took pictures because she looked so pretty. That I cried when we couldn't find her in the neighborhood once. That we were together with Grandpa when he died. That she was my maid of honor. That she is my boys' ONLY masi. That she is my favorite sister ;) That when I hear my own voice on the answering machine, I think it's her.

And that, as different as we may be, there is NO other person on this earth who has so similar a genetic makeup, family tree or common experience.

I wish I could snuggle in bed with her now. I would put my arm over her and sing this song.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-08-05T00:58:00.002-05:00

The old "I'm shaving my head that night" excuse

2009-07-16T23:33:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted about the Wild and Crazy Guys lately...NOT because they haven't lived up to their names! Trust me, I've got stories. But I haven't posted because we've been busy raising money for St. Jude Children's Research hospital.

I've posted on here about my friend's little boy, Evan, who has been treated for three years now for Stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma. He's a really amazing kid, and I've wanted to do something for a while now to honor him and help the hospital that takes such amazing care of him. So I decided. To shave my head.

You can read my first announcement as well as stories about Evan and other children suffering from cancer at www.baldonpurpose.org And you can donate there, too. A lot of people have donated over the past month. I am amazed that we have raised over $5000 to date!

Here's the post from baldonpurpose about our 5k run for St. Jude on July 10, with videos from the headshaving right after. Sandy and I both shaved our heads!

Sandy and Eleana, our niece both finished the 5k around 30 or 32 minutes...(I'll find out the exact times soon) which just amazes me. In the time it takes to watch a sitcom and maybe grab a drink, THEY ran 3.1 miles. Wow.

Me? 35:19. My goal was 34, but I'm not disappointed. I'm glad I finished. And having my two boys cheering, "Go Mom-my! Go Mom-my! Go Mom-my!" Well, that's what I'll remember about crossing the finish line. Not the digital number that shined by my head.

But you know what's fabulous about that number 35:19?? We've raise more than $3519! [Note: That was a week ago! And we've raised over $1500 more since then!] My 5k time is SMALLER than the amount of money we raised by running it. And the donations are still coming in online and in checks! I can't tell you how YOU have exceeded all my expectations!! It makes me incredibly proud...

And now, the moment of truth. The head shaving. It meant so much to have the boys there, along with my Momma, my best-best friend and her mom and daughter, a good friend of mine from work, and a former student and her boyfriend. And my hairdresser? I've decided that for the next few months, since I won't need hair cuts, I'll make appts. and go to coffee with him. Because I love him.

Here, Alison, the 5k coordinator introduces us to the everyone and lets us explain why we're going bald. [I had a great speech written out. And left it in the car. It had some great stuff by Melissa and Evan. Duh. As it turned out, I just tried to make sense.]

Here Jonathan lets Sandy take the first cut, then my 4yo, then my mother. Then...there's no turning back! And the crying? Well, I was fine except that I looked up and the camera-girl (my former student) was crying. I blame her. At one point, Jonathan asks, "Are you okay, baby?" And all I could think to say was, "It's not the hair..." It's Evan and Jessica and Kayla and David and Hunter and Rayley and.... and.... and....

Here I get the first look at it. And I LOVE it! Makes me feel like a real rocker chick. :)

Here Sandy takes his turn. [I joked that he'd better not back out...] I'm proud that he did this with me. It's one thing to support your crazy wife when she says she wants to shave her head. It's another to JOIN her.

Thank YOU for joining us, too. And the road's not over. The donations are still coming in. Because the children are still fighting this cruel disease.

As the banner hanging over the registration table read: "No child should die in the dawn of life."

Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-01T11:36:00.003-05:00

Wordless Wednesday--Father's Day Edition

2009-06-17T08:16:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-03T01:27:00.004-05:00

Peanuts and Crackerjacks

2009-05-25T04:42:00.012-05:00

Sounds like new nicknames for the boys! ha!

They're taking us out to the ballgame, because it's T-ball season again! This year, Kieran plays for the Red Sox...but he says "some socks are stinky" so he prefers the team to be called the Eagles. And Connery? He thinks he's on the team, too. Not that he expects to bat or catch the ball. But he wants a shirt and hat, and he likes to run around on the field. And we let him.

Here is a video that will be replayed on ESPN one day, I'm sure. But don't worry. We'll stay away from the steroids. He'll get to the majors on chocolate milk and good ol' Flintstones. And Daddy's good coaching.

(His "homerun" after which he slides into home. He does that every time. Tonight was the first time he wore his baseball pants, which he requested just for this purpose.)

Thou art thy mother's glass...

2009-05-11T20:58:00.019-05:00

Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee Calls back the lovely April of her prime. ~William Shakespeare

My grandmother with her mother (1937)..................... Me with Kieran (2005)

When my first son was born, I gave my mother a series of four photos. And for my first Mother's Day, she gave the same photos to me. They show my great-grandmother with my Gran, my Gran with my mother, my mother with me, and me with my son. Photos taken almost 70 years apart, proving five generations of Momma's.

I know the names of ancestors going back several generations. "Ancestors" always seems like such a formal word to describe the people whose eyes, hair, freckles and mannerisms might explain me. So I'm thankful to have a photo of my great-grandmother Stella Frances holding my grandmother Helen Louise. Frances is young here and looks so much like my Gran did as a teenager. Gran remembers very little of her mother, since Frances died of tuberculosis when Gran was only six. She told me once that she does remember running through the house and being told to be quiet, because her mother was sick. She remembers peeking into the room and seeing her mother in bed. I wish she had happy memories of her mother, or that I had the chance of ever knowing her either.

The candidness of this photo strikes me. My Gran so young.
Twenty, I think, with her new baby. My mother. The summer of 1956, soon after my mother learned to sit up. My grandmother tells the story of giving birth to my mother at home during a harsh winter in the mountains of Tennessee. The doctor arrived late, after my mother was already born, and not having a scale to weigh her, he guessed that she weighed about the same as a five pound sack of sugar.

Seventeen years later, a few months after my mother and father married, Momma was helping cook supper in the kitchen and told my Gran, "I think I'm pregnant." Gran stopped cooking, smiled big, turned to her and said, "I think I am, too." A couple of months later, my mother's sister Rhonda announced that she was pregnant, too, and the three of them were pregnant together. I was born in April of '74, my uncle John was born two weeks later, and my cousin Brian was born two months later. They raised us like little triplets. John was the seventh--and last--of Gran's children ;)

Here is my young Momma. In her short shorts and ponytail. Holding a very cute, fat, redheaded baby. Two years before, she and my dad dated and broke up. Then she and one of my uncles were in a terrible car wreck that almost killed her. As she woke in the hospital, she asked for my dad, so of course, they got back together ;) They married in June of 1973, and I was born the following April, so they didn't have much time to be newlyweds before they became "three of us." (Don't worry. I've done the math on that one, and it's all good. ;) What I love about this photo is my mother's sweet smile. I know that smile.

And if you look carefully on her right hand, she's holding my pacifier, or my "fooler" as my other Granny called it. Just a couple of months after this photo was taken, we moved to Germany. My family said goodbye to me and Momma at the airport, (Daddy had already shipped over) and after my mother boarded the plane with me, my Granny looked down and saw that she had my "fooler" on her finger. Granny cried all the way home, not knowing that Momma had another one on the plane.

And the lineage continued when I gave birth to Kieran. It's hard to describe how instantly I felt that I was doing something for my mother, my Gran, my Frances...and our many mothers before us. Not in honor of them, but for them. Something they started and that I was now continuing. I never anticipated that I would feel that way. That's the meaning of legacy, after all, right? Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past. Now my journey, my adventure, my blessing is that each day, I shape what exactly I hand down. A sense of humor? Love of the grass under my feet? Stories of life in the country? Good looks? ;) A killer work ethic? Amazing recipes? ...I'm not always sure that I'm doing my job well (especially with the whole 'cooking' thing). But I'm so thankful to have the chance.

The boys are intrigued by these photos and aren't quite sure whether to believe me when I say that the babies are me, Ba and Gran. Connery shouted, "There's all the babies! And all the momma's."

All the momma's. And I smile, looking a lot like my own Momma did when she held me in that rocking chair.

See Mommy Laugh

2009-05-08T23:08:00.003-05:00

So what exactly do the boys see when they look at me? Of all the things I say. Of all the things I do with them. What sticks out in their little 4yo and 2yo minds?

I stole this idea from another blogger. 'Cause it's fun. And just in time for Mother's Day. 25 questions about Mommy...

1. What is something I always say to you? K: You love me. C: Hey.
2. What makes me happy? K: When you told me to clean up and I do it. C: Me.
3. What makes me sad? K: When I don't listen to you. C: Him. (points to Kieran)
4. How do I make you laugh? K: When you do [See photo.] You know what makes me laugh? When you say 'monkey head'! (Hits his head and laughs.) [Note: I never do that.] C: Hahaha
5. What do you think I was like as a child? K: (shrugs shoulders.) I don't know. C: Hahaha
6. How old am I? K: I don't know. How old is Gryphon? (Me: six) How many is Sweets? (Me: 12) How? Does Sweets have 12 birthdays? (Me: What if you had to guess how old I am?) C: I don't know. Eleven! Thirty! K: Thirty-one.
7. How tall am I? C: This big. (Points to bag of chips.) K: (stretches his arms up and down)
8. What is my favorite thing to do? C: Um (growls) K: Having students.
9. What do I do when you’re not around? K: Go to work. We don't know what you do when we're not around. 'Cause if we watch you we do know, and if we don't watch you we don't know. C: I don't watch you.
10. If I become famous, what will it be for? K: So everyone in this world can know you. Everyone in Africa. And ... C: And I'm not in Africa. K: and in Alabama... C: Mommy, I need to go potty. (for the third time)
11. What am I really good at? C: You. Me. K: Having a car.
12. What am I not really good at? C: You're not good at your car. K: Standing on one foot for a long time.
13. What is my job? K: Your job is to tell us what to do. C: I don't know.
14. What is my favorite food? C: I don't know. K: Pickles! [Um, actually. I don't like pickles very much.] C: Tell me what your food is. (Me: Chili) C: (pauses) I'm going to tell you your food is. Do you like pickles? Do you like jelly beans? Do you like candy? Do you like pickles? Do you like coffee? Do you like my head?
15. What makes you proud of me? K: When I, when you, when I, when you clean up a mess and I didn't tell you to, and you listened, that makes me proud. C: Me!
16. What makes me proud of you? C: Him (points to Kieran) K: Nothing. When I listen to you.

17. If I were a cartoon character, who would I be? K: Princess Leia. No, Wonder Woman C: Wonder One, Mommy, Wonder One.

18. What do you and I do together? C: Boat! Potty! We do potty! K: Nothing. Stay home together!
19. How are we the same? K: Because we all have Patel in our name. C: With the part [I have no clue what this means.]
20. How are you and I different? K: Because we don't have the same name. You're Amy, he's Connery, I'm Kieran, Daddy's Sandy. C: Two! [Again, only Connery knows.]
21. How do you know that I love you? C: Cause. K: Cause we listen to you. Cause we just do.
22. Where is my favorite place to go? K: School. C: I don't know. School.
23. What is one thing you wish you could change about me? K: So you can be a boy.Aand Daddy can be a girl. Let's call Daddy Amy when he's a man and call you Sandy when you're a lady. Is that a good idea? It's a silly idea. C: Here's a rocket!
24. What would I do with a million dollars? K: (giggles. giggles harder.) I am a stone. C: I don't know. K: I want you to ask me. Pay a million. (giggles.)
25. What do you wish you could go and do with me? K: Go to work a lot and have doughnuts a lot. C: I'm gonna be right back.

Well. I certainly learned a lot about myself. I'm thinking that each Mother's Day, I will ask them the same questions to see how their answers change each year. But someone will have to remind me to do that. Because--as you can imagine--my mind is not entirely stable.

Gonna run and learn to stand on one foot for a long time now. Happy Mother's Day!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-05-06T00:05:00.004-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-22T00:07:00.005-05:00

No, not taking a vow of silence today. [Though I did consider it last Thursday on Charlie Chaplin's birthday.] Instead, I've run across an idea that embodies the whole "A picture tells a thousand words" concept. And I guess you've noticed I take lots of pictures. Would love to learn about photography...but um, when?

Anyway.

So the idea is to post a photo without explanation. www.wordlesswednesday.com has a listing of bloggers who participate each Wednesday (at least).

So here's my first. Really says... a LOT.

Getting into a little bit of "fubble" and a lot of "fazy."

2009-04-19T22:40:00.006-05:00

I know the last post was full of random one-liners and things the boys say. Well, there's more where those came from ;)

Tonight, the boys and I baked cookies at Ba's house...and made a complete mess, of course. Connery ate flour right off his spatula while Kieran carefully placed his cookie cutters. (Could they BE more different?) On the way home, Kieran asked if we brought a heart cookie for Daddy, "because I want him to have a heart cookie, because I love him really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad." Hm. Really? Later as he brushed his teeth, he reminded me, "I love my daddy 200 bad."

Could be because they look JUST alike. I nearly cried when Sandy showed me this picture.
He was barely 5 in this photo, and when Sandy showed it to Kieran, Kieran smiled and said "That's me." No need to wonder why.
It's like going back in time... I am curious to see when he starts to veer off and look different--or if he ever will.

I've updated the photos on the right, and if you click here, you'll go to our Picasa page, where we have folders of pics from the past few months.

Here are a few Connery-bits I've been saving up:
He still loves his fire-f*ck hat. And still gets in "fubble."

It's funny when you see your children do things that you know they learned directly from you. Connery grabs the sides of my face, puckers his lips and says, "Oo yistening to me?" That's EXACTLY what I do when I'm angry with him. But it's not as cute when I do it.

Says 'yow' instead of yes. We have no idea where he came up with that one.

Noticed the freckles on my arm one night and asked, "Why oo have dese? Oo get dem fum de mall? Dem tattoos?"

Mysteriously hurts his 'pinguh' whenever it's time to clean up toys. He gets a really pitiful voice and tells us 'My pinguh is hurting."

Iyuh oo.--I love you.

I am yisten.--I am listening.

One night, Sandy and I worked out at the gym while the boys played in the gym's kids' room. The next morning, I changed Connery's diaper and found 2 AAA batteries! Kieran told me (very matter-of-factly) that they were from the tv remote from the gym. WHAT?? I asked Connery if he put them in there, and he (also very matter-of-factly) told me that he had. I asked him why, and he gave his usual explanation. "Because. I no have pockets."

It's a little scary how quickly he can change emotions. When we tell him he has to stop crying before he can get whatever it is he wants, he takes a deep breath, then wipes his eyes with both hands. All done.

One night as I gave the boys a bath, Sandy walked into the bathroom and asked, "Are you boys being good?" They both were, and Kieran proudly announced, "I am!" And Connery stood up and said, "I am... NOT!" HUGE smile on his face...I guess because he knew it would make us laugh. And it did. He's constantly cracking us up.

And even though he started his preschool class in January, in his mind he's still transitioning at school. He still calls his class his "big boy class" as if he may one day go back to the old one.

And some Kieran-isms:
Kieran still translates when we can't figure what in the world C's saying. It comes in very handy. Even when he barely pays attention, he understands better than we do.

Girlfriend update: "Madeline is a little crazy about me, but she's a lot of crazy about my brother. When I have my birthday, I'm not going to give her an invitation."
"You're not?"
"No, 'cause I want her to be a lot of crazy about me, too."

I took K to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the Musical (actually back in February). Uncle Mike (aka the Lone Ranger) and his wife and son (aka Tonto) went and had extra tickets for us. We invited one of Kieran's friends from school with his mother. The boys were funny together...instantly silly, of course. They both really liked the show. Kieran said his favorite part was the dancing, and Ryan liked the flying car. (Which was pretty freaking awesome!) After the show, Kieran and I broke all the rules and went out for burgers and milkshakes. Just me and the boy. A nice little date. It made me realize how little time I get with just one child at a time. I think I'll try to build in some "date nights" with each one.

We spent a weekend at Aunt Mary's just before she passed away, and the boys were surprisingly VERY good the entire time. When we got home, Kieran pointed out "We didn't have to find a corner at all. And they had some corners, I saw them."

Ah, the way he describes things: When he didn't want crust on his pizza, he explained, "My teeth shake when I try to crack it." And he has a hard time getting to sleep sometimes. He tells us he's trying to go to sleep but his "eyes won't stick together."

K just told me that sometimes he gets in trouble but 'when my daddy tells me I'm in trouble he still loves me.'

KellyMasi came into town last weekend and took Kieran to Build-a-Bear...and he built a monkey! ;) As much as he looks like his dad, he's also very much MY child. He named it Batmonkey, because he dressed it like Batman. Masi didn't want Connery to be left out, so she bought him a smaller monkey, too, which, in true Connery style, he named "Nuffin."

He sadly told us that his friend Chloe was "never, ever, ever, ever coming back to my class." He sat quietly for a minute, then asked Ba to flip her rearview mirror to look at him. He pointed to the corner of his eye. "Ba, do you see that little water?"

The boys have learned more about car batteries in their short lives than I have in my own. My van's battery was pretty old, and twice, we left one of the interior lights on and the battery died. A few months later, we were driving home, and I noticed that the light over Kieran's seat was on and casually asked him to help me remember to turn it off when we got home. It was a cold night, and neither one of us remembered. The next day when Momma explained to him that my "car died," Kieran immediately made the connection: "I didn't turn off my light." :( The next night, I kept calling him to get out of the car, but he was trying to turn off the interior lights that were on because the door was open. :( And another night, he asked if we could turn on the light and promised he'd turn it off. Connery said, "Oo cah will be die. Oo battery will die." Needless to say, Sandy has replaced my battery since then.

And the music around here? Kieran loves Kenny Chesney and sings along with "Everybody wants to go to KEVin" ;) (For those of you non-Kenny fans, everybody really wants to go to Heaven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do realize that I've not updated about several important events like Kieran's birthday party, PaGaga's return from Afghanistan, our visit to TN over Spring Break, Easter, or my own birthday. Sorry 'bout that. Don't get me wrong. We are extremely thankful for those big moments. And I get pictures, of course.

But the little moments, the little "out of the blue" moments are the ones that come to me when I sit down to write. They're unscheduled, unrepeatable, and sometimes, I am almost terrified that I will forget them. I've heard enough people say,

"Enjoy them while they're young. They grow so fast."

And when Kieran puts on pajamas and cries when we explain that they're too small now... I believe all those people, and it makes me more than a little sad.

Exactly enough time

2009-04-02T00:22:00.017-05:00

That's exactly what I feel like I don't have enough of. Time. But if there's ever a moment in my day when I feel the noisy world fade out into someone else's direction, it's when one of the boys says something funny, or makes a new face, or touches my hand. Their skin is cooler than mine, and of course softer.

That's why this Brian Andreas print stopped me tonight.
I need to remember that.
So here's an update on our latest adventures and some KieranSpeak and ConnerySpeak. With a few photos thrown in.

We've spent more time in Tennessee during the past month or so, and it's been wonderful. I remember spending weekends and then weeks (months, even?) in TN when I was little. In fact, almost ALL of my childhood memories are there, while I remember very little of my neighborhood or friends here. I want the boys to know the country, to walk the same gravel roads I used to walk down...back when they seemed much longer to my little legs than they actually are. So I was excited to take the boys to TN for several days during Spring Break. And the weather was perfect for walks down to the barn and the cemetery at Granny Pugh's house. Connery got a little confused when I said we were going to see Grandpa Carson's grave--"Not GRANDPA Carson. CONNERY Carson." The boys helped Granny weed in the yard and showed off for Aunt Estella. She hadn't seen them since they were babies, so she was pretty amazed.

At Granny Roysden's, the boys stayed fully entertained by all the cousins. And Kieran LOVED Uncle Terry and Aunt Brenda's horses. He didn't recognize Cheyenne from the last time we saw her...when she was only a few days old. I've got TONS of pictures from the weekend, but I just got a new computer and haven't gotten many pictures transferred over. That's why the slideshow over on the right is from DECEMBER! Sorry.

CONNERYSPEAK
Das Fazy--That's crazy.
infeBiDles.--increDiBles.
a yil bit--a little bit. That's usually his answer when we asked if he got in trouble at school.
oppopus--octopus
heyo daryin--hello, darlin'
hey, fitty yady--hey, pretty lady
...and one of my favorite things he says, "Oo yisten to me, Mommy?" while he holds my face in his hands.
...oh, and how can I forget the night he dropped his spoon on the floor and said, "What in the head?!" !!!!!!!!!! My jaw dropped! And I had to turn my face so he wouldn't see me laugh. We asked him where he heard that, and he said, "From myself," so we may never know the culprit who taught him that. We're just glad he thinks it's "head."

As you know, C LOVES to sing, and often requests a bedtime song. One night, he told me he'd sing one. 'On Top of Spaghetti.' Gotta love that kid.

Oh, and he loves to take his clothes off. We've noticed that he takes his socks and shoes off in the car a lot. But lately, when he's home, he's not satisfied with being barefoot. One morning, I found him dancing wildly in front of our full length mirror. Stark naked. When I asked what he was doing, he told me he was Obi Wan Kenobi. Not sure which scene he's thinking of...

One night, Sandy caught Connery drawing on the floor. Of course, he got onto him...and then felt bad when he realized he had drawn "tick up, tick down, tick afoss"--an A. Sandy asked him what it said, and Connery told him "I love you." Poor Sandy got a full dose of Dad-guilt there.

KIERANSPEAK
He's constantly telling us something that impresses us. Like when he asked me to "accelerate" and knew what it meant. I asked where he learned that, and he said, "I heard it in my imedicination." Yes, folks, i-medicin-ation. It turns out he learned it from Ben 10, one of his favorite cartoons. one of the aliens' names is XLR8. Makes me feel a little less guilty about letting him watch so much tv.

He's been struggling with the concept of city and state. He knows we're in AL but gets confused when we say the city. And when we go to TN, we go to two different cities sometimes (Crossville and Chattanooga), so he asks a lot: "Are we still in Alabama or are we in Tennessee? Which Tennessee are we in?" He told me once that we were in California, Tennessee. I think a globe is our next purchase.

Sandy told him that he was going to buy him a new house. He replied, "Daddy, you can only buy a new house if yours blows up." We have just started our house-hunting, and I'm just a little concerned about how the boys will adjust. One day we pulled up in front of the house and he saw the realtor's car. When I told him why she was here, he said, "I like our house best. Not another house." That will be the sad part about moving. This is the only house they've ever known.

He asks us almost every day if it's "a stay home day." Even though on our "stay home days" we usually go somewhere.

One night, he told me out of the blue, "I love my daddy and all his clothes."

Our newest toy is a four-sided Lite-Brite. And the boys love it. It's the "Light Game." The first time they played, Kieran cheered "I'm winning" every time he put a peg in.

He's in this "smile like a freak" stage that cracks me up. I'm guilty of taking LOTS of pictures, and he's great about smiling for them, but oftentimes the smiles are so fake.
This is pretty much his real smile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This is NOT. ;)

They both loving watching YouTube cartoons on Sandy's iPhone. One morning, they were zoned out watching Thundercats. (Great blast from our childhood!) Suddenly, Sandy and I noticed that the cartoon was in Spanish. ha! The boys never seemed to notice.

Speaking of Spanish. Every day, we ask the boys what they did in school. Almost every time, Kieran says "I didn't do Spanish." Clearly, Spanish class is a highlight for him.

Kieran has started reading a few words! He's learned a few sight words like dog, clap, and cat. One of his favorite books is Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel, and he excitedly points out the words "kitty" "bad" and "good."

It's just hard to believe he's big enough for that.

I think that every day.

The Wind Cries...Mary

2009-03-13T22:21:00.002-05:00

Dear Mary, You will be missed and always loved. Where ever you are now, know that I am a better person for having the chance to have you in my life. I look forward to seeing you again in the next life. Love, Sandy.

There's Something About Mary

2009-03-11T22:44:00.011-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been trying. My dad called me on Feb. 26 to tell me that my great Aunt Mary had been sent home on hospice care. She is my great aunt for more than the obvious reason that she is my Granny's sister. Here is another reason...
That's her with some of her grandchildren at our family reunion. For years, she has made an appearance in the bikini shirt. Dances. Sings. And last year, when it was difficult for her to walk, her granddaughter's boyfriend helped her strut around.

Here's another reason...I've always known that Mary was incredible. Yes, she was sweet and wise, but sweet Lord, she was FUNNY! Her sisters (including my Granny, the one they call "Saint Alice") were usually embarrassed because she wasn't afraid to say something inappropriate. She always seemed much younger than her years. And she could grab a baby and love on them like no one else. As she would say, "I could just kiss your face off." (This is her with Connery in July 07.)

Sandy and the boys and I drove to Chattanooga to see her the weekend after Daddy called, and as hard as it was to see her weak, it was also comforting just to see her again, to be able to tell her how much we loved her. To see her wake and brighten when she saw the boys or when one of her grandchildren fed her ice cream or brushed her hair. When I first saw her, I sat by her bed, held her hand and cried silently. She opened her eyes--crystal blue, by the way--reached up and wiped my tears. As long as I live, I will remember that. It really symbolized what she did all her life. Even when she was in pain, she tried to comfort others.

When we left to come home on Sunday, I felt a strong pull to stay behind and just let the boys go home. My cousin David told me that my Granny felt the same way when she left. So on Thursday, I picked my Granny up in Crossville, TN and drove to spend Mary's last days with her. Those last days taught me more than I can ever sum up here. In fact, I think I will realize more of those lessons in years to come.

...Those two sisters taught me to appreciate my own. When they look at each other, I wonder if they see what they looked like when they were little.
...Looking through old pictures taught me that time is fleeting by. And that my dad and his cousin Pam played house when they were kids. ;)
...Watching Mary's children laugh and cry with her taught me that the bond between mother and child is always, always as precious as the first moment they meet.

We cried a lot that weekend. But we laughed. A lot. Often through the tears. And that, I think, is the greatest lesson.

My granny amazed me. She stayed by her sister's side almost the entire time we were there. At 11:20 Friday night, my cousin told me I needed to make her go to sleep. (I was flattered that they thought I could make my granny do anything. ;) But when I asked her to get some rest, she sweetly said, "I will. Just give me 30 more minutes. You can time me." I think she knew that Mary was leaving; 10 minutes later, she called my cousins to the bed, and I went through the house to get the others. At 11:35, Mary took her last breath.

Mary passed away quietly with her children, grandchildren and her oldest sister all around her.
At her funeral, I sang a song called "Mary" by Patty Griffin. Now, I can't get these lines out of my head.

Mary, she moves behind me. She leaves her fingerprints everywhere. Every time the snow drifts, every way the sand shifts, even when the night lifts, she's always there.

Sweet Mary, I do love you "gooder'n snuff and better'n bakker." I'll laugh at least once every day for you, kiss my boys at least twice, and make sure somebody wears that bikini this year. They'll dance. And we'll laugh.

Brotherly Yuv

2009-02-23T00:14:00.003-06:00

As we all four lay in bed watching The Lone Ranger, I heard Connery tell Kieran, "I yuv oo, Theh-Theh." I reached for my camera, of course, and caught the moment...which quickly turned silly.

Brother
(Toad The Wet Sprocket)

i find my brother in there
deep in my heart
i find my brother in there
hold in my arms
i love you
and if I seem too quiet now
there are no words
to tell you how
i love you
i often feel
like the prodigal son
take all I need
giving back none
our beauty shows
in such different ways
you're like the light behind the fog
so soft
but still you burn my eyes away
i find my brother in there
deep in my heart
i find my brother in there
hold in my arms
i love you
and if I seem too quiet now
there are no words to show you how
i love you
so much has changed
and so much has happened these years
but still I find that you
are waiting here
we have a bond
that nothing can change
and still I find
a peace of mind
whenever I hear your name
and if I seem too quiet now
there are no words to show you how
i love you

Family Pic

2009-01-31T08:11:00.001-06:00

HI Everyone. Amy and I were lucky enough to spend a nice evening at home with the boys. Even though we were exhausted from the week we decided that since everyone was nicely playing together and were all in the living room that we would take a few minutes to try to snap some family pictures. We took about 20 picture and I think there were 2 that worked out well. We tried to get one with the animals as well. Our dog when we finally had the cooperation of our dog (Gryphon) and cat (Sweets), we could not get Connery to pay attention. C'est la vie. At least we have a good representation of Kieran's forced camera smile. Have a great weekend everyone!

1-11-05 5:04 pm

2009-01-11T01:11:00.004-06:00

That's the moment Kieran entered our world. All the words I can think of to describe that moment seem inad- equate. He was tiny, shriveled, loud, with dark brown hair and already big eyes. Until then I had known the love of a wife to husband, daughter to father, daughter to mother, sister to sister, friend to friend... but somehow when I looked at that tiny boy, I was overcome with a love I had never experienced or even imagined. As my friend Sean said when his daughter Anna was born, "I realized that parents love their children more than children love their parents." Any parent knows it's not an even exchange. And now I was witness.

The Indian word Kiran means "ray of light," and I'll never forget the moment Sandy's mother pointed to the sky and explained it. "You see the individual rays from the sun, coming through those clouds? That's kiran." I hate to over-romanticize anything, especially a 4 year old boy who spends his fair share of time in the corner. But, on his birthday, I can't help but overlook the mundane. Kieran truly is our ray of light. You see, he was born just over a year after my cousin Eric was killed, and only months after my Uncle Al died. In fact, I was pregnant with Kieran when I visited Al for the last time. During that visit, his friend showed us both a branch from the cottonwood tree, Al's favorite. I was amazed to see that if you cut a cottonwood branch at the thick knuckly parts, you'll find a brown star in the cross-section. A true star. Al's friend explained the legend of the cottonwood.

Stars don’t begin in the heavens.

They begin on earth, traveling up through the limbs

of the cottonwood tree and waiting on the tips of

its branches. When one star falls to the earth,

another leaps from the tree to take its place in the sky.

I knew Al was preparing to leave this earth, and I still grieved Eric. Then when Kieran was only 9 months old, Sandy's father passed away suddenly. And again, I thought of the cottonwood. Kieran came to earth, his "Dada" spend a short time with him, then left to take his place in the sky. I don't believe in reincarnation and wouldn't put so much pressure on a little boy as to claim that his purpose is to fulfill the lives these men left behind. But sometimes when he laughs or gets excited over something very simple, or puts his arm around his brother, I can't help but think that's exactly what he's doing.

My life has never been the same since that little boy came into it. It's larger now. Full of more laughter, more worry, more wonder. My Uncle Al once said, "There is joy in life every day if we choose it." Kieran makes that choice so much easier.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T22:03:00.003-06:00

We welcomed 2009 together (yes, all 4 of us awake!) at Toser and Tater's house with their parents and some friends we've known for many New Year's Eve celebrations. We were only a little surprised that the boys stayed awake. They tend to be night owls like their mommy. We WERE suprised that the three toddlers who stayed awake (K, C, and ?Toser) were still in good moods ;)

Our first family portrait of 2009...taken at about a minute after midnight.

Our friend Matt asked C what his New Year's resolution was, and he said, "Go Honey Pot," which is a gift shop in town. Of all things! ;) Who knows what goes on in a 2 year old's mind??

We actually do have a few NYResolutions, of course. Or goals, if you will. Here are a few...
run a 5k.
save $, of course.
stop talking about visiting some friends, and actually DO it.
watch less tv and spend more family time together.
Break K from sucking his lip. ...that one may carry over into 2010, I'm afraid. Here's a little history on that.

When our niece Serena was little, she tucked her bottom lip in her mouth and sucked it. Like some children suck their thumb, Serena sucked her bottom lip. Even when she was in elementary school, we would catch her doing it without realizing it. Now Kieran does the EXACT same thing! You might notice in lots of his pictures, he's got his lip tucked in. I've caught him doing it while he sleeps, too. Our only worry is that it will affect his teeth. Not really sure what to do to break him from it, since we can't use the thumb-sucking tricks we've heard of--can't exactly wrap it up or put Tabasco sauce on it. We've started giving him gentle reminders like we all did for Serena. "Lip, Kieran," and that works for at least 10 seconds. Problem is, we said "Lip, Serena" until she was in 3rd grade. Oh, boy.

We'll leave you with some New Year's Boy-speak:
The other day, Sandy and the boys and I just happened to sit "criss-cross, applesauce" in a circle facing each other. Sandy asked Kieran and Connery little questions like "Where's your Mommy?" or "Do you have a brother?" It was a neat little family moment and Sandy was trying to get Kieran to say "a family" when he asked "What are we?" But Kieran's answer...Pirates!! I had forgotten that before and after every t-ball game, Sandy asked "What are we?" and the boys yelled Pirates!!

Kieran requests his pizza without "the red things that are circles."

One day, I ordered hot chocolate for the boys (at Kenny Mango's of course--I'm a junkie) and they made it just warm for us. Still, after several minutes, Kieran said he couldn't drink it, because "he put a lot of hot in it."

K's favorite places to eat:
Place with the peanuts on the ground (Logan's)
Place where I can put cheese in my hand (Pizza Hut)
Place beside the place with peanuts on the ground (Rosie's)
The chicken and dumplin's place (Cracker Barrel)

Connery says
his L's like Y's,
his S's like TH's,
his W's like V's,
his R blends (like cr, tr, str) like F's,
and he doesn't say the Y at the beginning of words...
so "oo have to yissen" closely when he says things like "fithah fee" (Christmas tree) or "I vont to vatch va-ee" (I want to watch Wall-E), or requests a "fah bayee" (strawberry), or my favorite "I yuh oo" (I love you). And, don't be embarrassed when he shouts about the big truck nearby.

The boy LOVES to sing! His favorite tunes are Ba Ba Black Sheep and Hunty Dunty. The other morning, he was lying beside me, and I heard him whispering. I leaned in to hear what he said, and he was whisper-singing!

He answers most questions with "Mm-yah" or "Mm-naw," and really accentuates his own questions by raising his pitch (and eyebrows) waaaaaaay high at the end. AT least an octave higher than his normal pitch.

He's started climbing into bed with us just as often as Kieran does. He's not as quiet about it, though, and usually comes in crying, "I 'cared."

He has used the potty several times, but when we've tried Underwear Days at home, I spend a lot of time cleaning up pee, so we don't do those very often. He has actually done "the big job" on the potty more than he's peed on it. Little backwards, huh?

A friend on NYE said "They get along too well," because 90% of the time, they are very sweet to each other. This morning, Kieran walked back to their room, got C's blanket and covered him up while he slept. They always ask for two jelly beans or two vitamins so they have one for their brother. And when K stayed the night at Ba's house last week, the first thing out of C's mouth the next morning was, "Where Theh-theh?"

It's hard to believe that Conneyr moves up to preschool next week, which is the same level K is in! Fortunately, their school has two preschool classes, so he'll be in the one across the hall from K, so they have some independence. Their personalities are so different that I think it will help not to be in the same class where they'll get compared more. And C so loves pestering his brother. Something tells me they'd both be in more trouble if they were together all day.

There may never be another picture that shows their personalities better than this. ;)
Happy 2009 everybody!!

Finn, our blue eyed boy

2008-12-24T09:42:00.008-06:00

When I first met Finn, he weighed less than 10 pounds, was puffy, all curled up...and the cutest thing I had ever seen. He was the first-born of our best friends, and as I held him and rested his newborn body on my big belly, I thought, "Soon, little Kieran will meet you, too." We didn't know whether Kieran would be a boy or girl, so we weren't sure if they would play "pirates" or "house," but we were excited that we would raise them together. We discovered that even their names were connected: Finn "fair-haired" and Kieran "little dark one."

Since then they've played t-ball together, found treasure at the beach, watched movies, fought over toys, ridden in the wagon, chased each other at outdoor concerts, ridden horses, played guitar, jumped on the sofa, and taken baths which will embarrass them when they're older. We noticed early on that they get along like brothers--not always sweetly--but with the recognition that they've been together from the start.

Yesterday was Finn's birthday, and we were honored to spend it with the big guy at Red Robin (his favorite) and the movies watching Madagascar 2. The funny guy sang his own rendition of "I like to move it, move it" at lunch, and it will forever be "his song" in my mind. (That, and "3 Little Birds"...And when Kieran asked for a bite of his birthday ice cream, Finn dipped right in and gave him one.

Finn, we love you more each day, each year. As Kieran explained to me this morning: "I like to go play baseball with Finn, cause he's on my team. He's my pirate friend, because he loves me." Happy Birthday to our Pirate Friend Finn.

Ho Ho Holy Moly!

2008-12-14T16:36:00.017-06:00

This Christmas season is speeding by! The boys are full of energy and love the decorations throughout the neighborhood. Today, we finally put up our tree, which was...well, an adventure, we'll say. They helped put a couple of ornaments and garland on the tree, but they preferred to play with the wrapping paper rolls like "lipe savers."

Kieran's Christmas program was Friday, and he got to play Santa! I had a hard time finding a Santa costume in his size, so I made one out of a woman's thermal shirt and the cuffs off some $1 stockings. I was proud of how it turned out, and both boys have gotten use out of it, since Connery wore it Saturday night, too. Here's a video from the Christmas program. Prepare yourself for cuteness.

Friday night, we went to Sandy's company dinner, which was nice. He works with some guys we've known since they were in grad school together, but we never get to catch up with them. Now that we're married and have kids, it's a treat to dress up and have dinner together.

Saturday night was exciting, as we bundled up to ride on the Rotary Club float at the Christmas parade. Connery dressed as Santa, and Kieran dressed as a pirate, which is unusually appropriate since the theme of the float was "Parrots of the Caribbean," Rotary Club's annual fundraiser. We froze but really had fun waving at everyone while another little boy on the float did the hula dance. ;)

Lucky for us, the parade ended downtown, right next to Bandito Burrito, one of our favorite haunts. Always yummy, and more impor-tantly WARM! And apparent- ly, St. Nick loves Bandito, too, because he and Mrs. Claus showed up!! Sandy and I were excited that the boys got to see him...and we didn't have to wait in line at the mall ;) It was a little surreal watching Santa order nachos, though--like running into your elementary school teacher wearing blue jeans at the grocery store. Connery was in awe and neither one of the boys recognized that Mrs. Claus was our dear, dear friend Sabrina, the one who gave Connery his first haircut nearly a year ago!

Then Sandy and I celebrated the season at a very irreverent (but HySTeriCAL!) play "The 8: Reindeer Monologues" which featured three of my former students. At one point in the play, as we watched one of my "babies," Sandy said, "You did that." I can't describe how proud I was to see Robert, Adam and Jeremy on that stage. I'm humbled to take the blame ;) Then we danced to great reggae music at a local Kush gig. My friend Nichelle sings in the band, and we are never disappointed when we hear them play. I laughed when they played "I Shot the Sheriff"...the boys sing that song, too ;)

We've got several Christmas parties and LOTS of wrapping still ahead before the threat of "Are you being good? Or is Santa going to put you on the Naughty list?" is no longer in effect. In the meantime, we'll enjoy the Christmas lights, watch White Christmas a few more times, and try not to let the holiday rush take us over.

The Lone Ranger's on speed dial!

2008-11-22T16:51:00.000-06:00

Connery walked into the bathroom this morning as I put on my makeup and told me that he needed to use the potty. I got a little excited but didn't want to scare him. He sat on the little plastic seat, and I helped him take off his diaper. Then his pants. Then his socks. Then his shirt. (Who knows why he wanted to be naked?) He got up a minute later, said he was finished, and I thought it must have been a false alarm. Then he sat BACK down...and drum roll please...he peed!

Kieran ran in, we all gave high fives and proceeded to call Daddy, and of course, THE LONE RANGER!!

Now I know this process could take a LONG time, but it's the beginning of the end of diapers, and that is always a wonderful thing!

Here are a couple more "boy moments" from the past couple of weeks.

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We drive into the sun each morning, and again each evening on the way home. So we hear plenty of complaining about the sun being in the boys' eyes. They both yell for us to "make the sun go away." And of course, their sunglasses are never handy on the sunniest days.

But Sandy's come up with the perfect trick for getting the boys just to live with it.

He explained to the boys that the sun gives them "power." So now they just close their eyes and get their power from the sun! Brilliant!!

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Kieran's class made a list of the things they are thankful for and hung them outside the classroom door. It warmed my heart to see Kieran's entry:
I am thankful for my Mommy and my Daddy and Gryphon and my lipe saver. I am not thankful that Connery keeps trying to bite me.

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Kieran told me that he found a parking spot while we drove through the parking lot at the mall. I figured that it was across the parking lot, so I said, Good job, and parked in a nearby spot. Kieran was SO upset! He started crying so hard that I figured something else had happened. He explained through LOTS of tears, "I found a spot for you, and you didn't park in it." I apologized and told him that he would definitely pick the spot the next time. That satisfied him, and when we got out of the car, he walked me to the spot he had chosen...just two spots away. When we walked into the mall, Momma made a comment that it broke his heart, and he said, "You broke my heart, Mommy" and started crying again. It was so innocent that I started crying, too. Now before I pull into a space, I ask, "Is this spot okay?" He always says, "That's a good one, Mommy."

Another day at the mall, he got really upset when I didn't buy him anything at the toy store. In the car, I explained, "Kieran, you don't always get what you want." And--his words of wisdom--"But I want to get what I want." Don't we all, honey, don't we all?

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Connery LOVES to aggravate Kieran, and his latest tactic is saying "Onee ME" when Kieran wants something.
Kieran asks where we're going. I say, "The Mall." He says, "Yay, the Mall!" and Connery says, "Onee ME, Thih-thih."
Kieran asks for juice. I say, "Sure." He says, "Thank you, Mommy." Connery says, "Onee ME juice."
You get the idea. And it KILLS Kieran every time. He starts crying, "Mommy, Connery says I don't get to go to the mall!" Or "Mommy, Connery says you're not my mommy, you're only his mommy." And the entire time I'm telling him not to let it bother him, that Connery only says it to aggravate him, Connery's saying "Onee ME! Onee ME!"

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He has learned all the great nursery rhyme songs.
Ba ba black sheep
Humpty dumpty
But we've noticed that a lot of the tunes are the same, so sometimes he gets the songs mixed up like this:
Patty-cake patty-cake baker's man, no more monkeys jumping on the bed!

Some new "speak"
Connery says a lot of things with an F sound. So cracker becomes facker, breakfast bar becomes veffeh far, treasure becomes fezzer, and fire truck...well, that's a tricky one.

I counted a 9 word sentence the other day--"I want Daddy get me 'racaroni' and cheese, ThihThih."

Oh, and he's sitting beside me now and just lifted his finger to announce, "I got bugger on it! Put back in my nose?" Yuck! And, yes, that's bugger, not booger. Blech.

Random Momma

2008-11-10T10:00:00.000-06:00

It's the random things about a person that tell you all about them, so I thought it was fun when my sweet friend BookMamma tagged me to play a little "blog game."

Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading).
3. Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4. Tag 3 people at the end of your post and link to them. (why not…)
5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. (I’ll try)
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

SIX RANDOM THINGS ABOUT "MOI"-

1. I am fascinated by middle names. Names in general, actually. I love to hear how they were chosen and what they mean. And my students freak a little when I "three-name" call them.

2. I love little known bands. My new favorites are the Airborne Toxic Event and The Gaslight Anthem. I found them on accident online.
3. Underwater scenes in movies or tv (heck, even on cartoons) freak me out. I have a completely involuntary response. Makes me jump and turn my head before I even realize it.
4. When I was little, I LOVED the feel of my grandpa's whiskers. He would let me rub his cheek right before he shaved in the morning.
5. My favorite board game is Parcheesi.
6. If you put all my favorite foods together, I'd have chili, a rare steak, steamed broccoli (with just a little crunch left), pasta, smoked salmon, dried mango, and my Granny's biscuits, with a spoonful of peanut butter on the side and creme brulee for dessert.

TAG - you're it! (So, yeah, I know I'm only supposed to tag 3 people, but I'm tagging 5. What are you gonna do about it? Huh? Huh? Yeah, that's what I thought.)
Shep
JennBeth
Amy W
Olivia
Angela

Ticker Feet!

2008-11-02T11:10:00.017-06:00

That's Connery's newest phrase, Trick or Treat! Fortunately, the "Dark Vader" and Yoda got lots of treats this year, and Kieran's only "trick" is that he wouldn't wear his mask. I even added a longer piece of elastic so it could hang around his neck and lie on his chest, but he wouldn't do that either. Oh, well, right? They still looked cute.

We started the week by visiting Tate Farms, which was a blast, as usual. This year, Ba went with us, and Baby Ellie and her fan club joined us later (Auntie JennBeth, Joan and John, aka Mimi and Oppa). Kieran loved all the animals, but again we saw that Connery's tough talk stops when it comes to mingling with critters. I didn't think we'd ever pull the boys out of the corn "pool," and I can't blame them--it really does feel good. We all loved the hayride out to the pumpkin patch, and Kieran kept pointing to the pumpkins he was going to pick...and was the FIRST person off the truck! He passed right by people once the truck stopped--I think he would have climbed over them if they weren't already standing up. Connery tried to pick up the biggest pumpkins, of course, and we got some cute pics of the kids sitting among them. It was a lot of excitement and knocked both boys out once we started driving home. Connery took a FOUR hour nap!

The next night, we went Trunk or Treating at Nana and Papa's church, which was so much fun! The boys got a kick out of seeing Papa and Nana dressed up, and I've never seen the boys laugh so hard jumping on the inflatables. It was a little bizarre watching "Yoda" inside them. Meagan was a great host (she's always in charge ;), and Kieran won a cake in the cake walk. By landing on the number 3, of course.

On Halloween day, the boys' school had a Fall Fest, so they got to celebrate with their friends, work on their skills at the ring toss, and load up with spider rings and press-on tattoos. That night, they put on their Star Wars garb and "ticker feet"-ed at Ba's house first...only to discover a pregnant hillbilly bride at the door! Connery didn't know what to think and stared at her for a long time. She looked hysterical! Then we drove home so the big Darth Vader (Daddy-o) could greet the boys at the door. We hit up 5 houses in the neighborhood before the bags got so heavy the boys passed them off on us, so we came home and dumped the candy in a pile on the floor of course. All good candy this year. I think it was the first year ever that we didn't get any old Tootsie Rolls... ;)

The next night, Sandy and I planned to drive to Chattanooga for my friend Jay's wedding. Looking forward to a weekend away, we dropped the boys off at Ba's, started driving... and realized the wedding was at 3 EASTERN time. Somehow it just never occured to us. ugh! We were going to be late, so we decided to stay in town, had a nice lunch at Connor's steakhouse, and went to see a local school's production of Urinetown (one of our favorite shows--and it was absolutely adorable!!) and Jeff and Christine's Halloween party. We brainstormed costume ideas, and Sandy suggested the Graduate and Mrs. Robinson. My gut response was, "Are you saying I'm old??" He quickly recovered and said, "No, I thought you could do some theatre makeup to give yourself some lines." Close one, buddy. Congrats to Steph and Caleb for their Most Original Juno costumes. Steph got to be pregnant on Halloween again ;)

Hard to believe it's November, because the weather's been so pretty. Now we're gearing up for my heavy week of rehearsals before our one-act In the Blood, which is going to be amazing, I think. Then Thanksgiving and Christmas will be right here! Halloween opens the floodgate of holidays. Maybe that's why load up on candy. To get a sugar high to get us through! (See some October pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/amysandy/October08#...but give me a couple of weeks to put the entire month up.)

Working out 24/7

2008-10-22T21:00:00.005-05:00

Like I've been working out 24/7...that's how I feel most days. I rarely get a moment just to SIT at school (no Solitaire, funny YouTube videos or fun-reading for me, unfortunately), because I've always got students asking me questions, or meetings to go to, or parents to call, or handouts to copy, or emails to answer...I could go on. And if that's not enough, there's always that HUGE pile of files that I need to sort through on my desk. (And it gets larger every day.)

I've often thought that it would be interesting to keep a log of what I am doing at 5 minute intervals throughout a single day. IF I had the time to stop and write it down every 5 minutes. But I don't.

Time flies when you're having fun, and it runs right over you when you're rushing. Rush out to pick up the boys. Rush home to feed their bellies. Rush through my dinner so I can rush to the sink to wash dishes while they eat. Rush upstairs to give them baths. Rush to get Connery's diaper on before he pees in the floor. Rush to hang their clothes up while they play and pick out a bedtime book to read. ...Slow down a little to read a book and sing a song. Okay, maybe two songs. ... Then, rush downstairs so I can get some school stuff done before I crash around midnight. Rush through 6 and a half hours of sleep, so I can rush through a shower, get the boys ready, rush to get them to school, then rush to get myself to school. And we're back to that pile on my desk and students asking me something every minute.

Thank GOD Sandy takes care of the rushing some nights. We usually trade off getting the boys to and from school, as well as laundry, dishes and regular housework, just depending on who's home and how high the piles are. And MommaBa is a Godsend...she keeps the boys at least one night a week when Sandy and I both have something going on. Because we always have something to do, whether we like it or not.

So when the 24/7 gym opened a couple of streets over, do you think I wanted to add THAT to my list of Things To Do? .... Well. Actually. YES. I was AMAZED at myself. I REALLY wanted to join! I haven't worked out in years. I took a Jazzercise class right before Sandy and I got married 8 years ago, and that's it. I might have tried to walk around the neighborhood a few times since then, but never got on a regular schedule. And I've never believed people when they said they feel better after a workout. That just never made sense to me. In my mind, you'll feel better after getting a massage once a week, not getting sweaty on a treadmill.

Yet, somehow, I was truly excited about joining this gym and working out three times a week. Not because I'd get that massage for an hour (which of course does sound pretty nice), but because once I actually made it through the doors of the gym, I simply wouldn't have to RUSH. I could plug in my iPod, hop on the treadmill and just zone out. Nobody asking questions. Nothing to clean. Nothing to write down. No one to call. Just me.

So now that stack of sports bras and spandex shorts that have been waiting in the corner of my closet for 8 years is getting to see daylight again. And I was so excited when Sandy sent me a link for a sports bra. (I'm a simple girl.) This one has a pocket for a key or iPod. (Genius!) So I don't even have to worry about where to put those. And that's what I think the gym does for me. I have to rush around to get there, but once I'm there...no rush, and ah, no worries.

I entered the Gracie Gear Giveaway!

Check out Roni’s Weight Loss Blog for more information.

Paying Attention Tuesday

2008-10-07T22:42:00.004-05:00

"And when you realize that anything and everything could be gone by Wednesday, all you can do, I've decided, is to really try to pay attention Tuesday."--Paul Reiser

It's such an important lesson, and I've been trying to slow down lately and do just that. I spend time with the boys, but so often it's while I'm doing dishes, or working on the computer, or watching tv, or doing laundry... I hate to think that at the end of the day I've only spent a half hour playing or talking with them. So here's to turning the tv OFF and noticing the little things like this...

The little boy...
Connery had a doctor's check-up yesterday, and I'm on Fall Break, so we spent the day together. Before his appt. we hung out at Kenny Mango's. While I ordered, he handed me wet coins...and I realized he had taken them from the fountain! As we lounged on the sofa, he talked non-stop about the monkeys hanging from the ceiling and I held his hand. Once he asked, "Doing, Mommy?" "Just sitting here, holding my baby's hand." "K." He then pretended to fall off the sofa repeatedly, telling me "bagguy pooth me off adang" (Bad guys pushed me off again.) A few minutes later, he said, "Hold Baby hand?" and reached for mine. That's when a mother's heart melts...

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For a while, Connery had a series of questions he asked:
Ba? (My answer) At work.
PaGaga? (My answer)Playing golf.
Daddy? (My answer) At work.
Bob? (And the only Bob I know is Bob the Builder...) Bob's building.
Doctor? (Where does he get this stuff??) At the doctor's office.
For a few weeks, he would ask us these questions--always in this order--AT LEAST every fifteen minutes. And by the end of the sequence, I would always laugh, so he reached the point that he would laugh afterwards too. He knows he's funny.

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One day as we pulled up at his school, he didn't want to put his shoes on. I said, "You have to wear your shoes, baby." And he said, "No Tew, Baby." Of course, I laughed, so he said it over and over again, laughing each time. He doesn't know why it's funny, but he knows it is!

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Quiet afternoons are a thing of the past now that both boys can say just about anything they want! Connery repeats everything Kieran says, and when we can't understand him, Kieran can usually translate.

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Connery-speak:
hamango--flamingo
dince--dance
Uh-no--I don't know
Yayo--yellow
reem--Green
focks--Crocs, his favorite shoes
oo--you or your, as in "I wear oo shoes, Mommy!"
Yaya Booboo, no det me!--Nanny nanny boo boo, you can't get me!

And the best!!!
Dah-do-dee--Connery

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The big boy...
Kieran has been so good at school lately. One day only three "friends" in his class got a ribbon in Spanish class because they were listening. And Kieran was one of them. Another day, I walked in and saw that he had about 6 stickers AND a car from the treasure box! His teacher said that he was an example to everyone that day, because he was the ONLY "friend" who put his finger over his mouth and sat on the circle for reading time!

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He notices skin color now, which scares me just a little. Of course, I want the boys to have a respectful appreciation of diversity...but how do I explain that to them?? (Heck, it's hard to explain to some ADULTS!) Well, he's noticed that a couple of classmates, his cousins and his Ba are brown--not sure if he's noticed that Daddy is, too. He's crazy about his cousin Meagan, but I don't think he quite catches on that she's his cousin. He thinks she's his girlfriend half the time. In fact, one day when I said, "your cousin Meagan," he explained, "Meagan is not my cousin. She's not brown. I already have some cousins, and they're brown."

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Did Connery behave? "He was being a little have"

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Mommy, do you know who I'm going to marry today? Meagan.

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Gryphon and Sweets are boyfriend and girlfriend. When one of them is not at home, the other is sad.

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Kieran: Mommy, I have a broken leg. See this red stuff? (Points to scab on his knee) That's where my leg is broken.
Connery: Gryphon broke The-The's leg, Mommy.
Kieran: No, Gryphon didn't break it. I broke 'my-thaylves' leg.

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Kieran-speak
primming--pretending
ablieve--As in "Can you ablieve that??"

And "out of the mouths of babes..."

If only it were that easy.

A month of Sundays...

2008-10-05T12:24:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted in "a month of Sundays!" as the Southern saying goes. (For those of you from across the Mason-Dixon, that means that it's been 30 Sundays, or 30 weeks, since my last post.) We've been crazy busy and one or all of us has been out of town almost every weekend. I went to an Indigo Girls concert in Atlanta with some of my best friends and Masi mid-September, and at the end of the month, I flew to Chicago for a theatre conference. (Man, I had really missed that city. It was hard to leave it again at the end of the weekend.)

We all drove up to Tennessee for our Carr family reunion, which is always a major event. Many people dread their reunions, but we look forward to ours every year! It's a three day event with golfing on Friday, lunch, the horseshoe tournament and late-night karaoke at Aunt Bonnie's on Saturday, then breakfast, the big family photo and long goodbyes at Granny's on Sunday. Click here to see the photos and other pics from September. And here for August photos.

And here's a video from K's recent BIG BOY trip with Papa, Nana and M to Lake Winnie up in Chattanooga. It was the first time that Papa and Nana had taken the two oldest grandkids on a special trip just for them, and they had a blast, as you can see. K is not very descriptive about things, so we didn't hear much of the details out of him, but he did volunteer that "Every just kept trying to dump me out. Papa and Nana had to buckle me in so everything couldn't dump me out."

The Ba is back in town!

2008-09-08T00:52:00.006-05:00

IndiraBa visited for a week and did what every good Ba is supposed to do. Spoil the boys, sing Indian songs...and teach them to make puri.

She stayed home with the boys for three days, and from what they tell, played outside, took a few walks, watched cartoons and ate m&ms. She claims that both boys are angels until Mommy and Daddy come home. She actually prefers to sleep on the floor, which is right up the boys' alley! The three of them slept together on the floor all week!

Originally, we had planned to drive down to FL to see Kirti, Scott and the kids, but with the threat of Gustav, we decided not to make the trip. We worried that we would only be able to stay for 24 hours before driving back. And we didn't want to get stuck in the evacuation traffic we had always heard horror stories about. It turns out that Gustav took a turn to the west instead, which was good for them, but frustrated us knowing that we could have visited after all. You just never know... We missed them terribly, and I know Indira thought about it a lot. It would have been the first time in over a year that she had all the grandkids together.

Connery learned that chai was not "gocca muck" but only after much convincing and finally a taste...which he didn't care for. And both boys sat with Ba in the kitchen floor and rolled out dough to make puri. It reminded me of being in India when Kieran was just 16 months old, and I was 7 months pregnant with Connery. We sat on the kitchen floor and dipped our puri in chai every morning. After that trip, Indira said that Kieran was 51% Indian. I hope we can make a trip again with Connery, because right now he's 50/50 ;)

Kieran is proud to tell you that "Ba is India, I'm India, Connery's India, Daddy's India, but Mommy's not India." I wish they got to spend more time with IndiraBa so they really could appreciate how special being "India" truly is.

A little quiz for you

2008-09-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

called "Which boy is which?" This game was inspired by the many people who ask "Are they twins?" everywhere we go.
And by the moment last week when Sandy looked at a picture on our entertainment center and asked, "Which boy is that?"
And by the mistake I made when a student sent me a picture of a bunch of students and Kieran. But it turned out that it was Connery. And they made fun of me for not knowing the difference. We can't help it we had twins 19 months apart!!

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.6. 7.
8. 9. 10.
Answers are at the bottom of the post...but don't cheat!

1. Kieran 2. Connery 3. Kieran 4. Connery 5. Connery
6. Kieran 7. Connery 8. Kieran 9. Kieran 10. Connery

Celebrating Siblings

2008-09-05T22:06:00.007-05:00

In America, we celebrate Father's Day, Mother's Day, Grandparents Day, Boss's Day... but no Brother/Sister Day. That may be why one of my favorite Indian holidays is Raksha Bandan., which is a celebration of brothers and sisters. The tradition is that sisters tie a bracelet--"rakhi"--on their brother's wrist as a blessing, and the brothers give the sisters a gift, usually money. (The sisters win out here ;) Since Kieran and Connery don't have any sisters, and Eleana and Serena are six hours away :( we were excited that sweet Carsyn was willing to step in to tie the rakhi on the boys' wrists. She and her little brother Frankie are in Kieran and Connery's classes, and we've become good friends with their parents. (Olivia and I have decided that we should have been friends long ago.)

The kiddos were all so sweet about it. We met up for dinner at Rosie's, and Carsyn even knew that she was giving the boys a bracelet "like your sister," as she said. And to tie it on, she wrapped the string around and around, I'm sure wondering why it wasn't staying! The boys gave her a hug and gift afterwards, and then they all played in the fountain. That was more fun than anything, I'm sure.

Thank you, Miss Carsyn, for being a good friend and sister for the boys. Of course, you might decide that THREE little brothers is too much of a good thing ;)

And now the paparazzi won't leave us alone!

2008-08-31T21:35:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago, we got the chance to film a commercial for Huntsville's Mayor Loretta Spencer, who is the mother-in-law of Uncle Mike (our personal voice of the Lone Ranger, for those of you who remember way back when Kieran was potty training). Mike needed some really good looking people for the commercial. And since they weren't available, he said we'd do. Haha. Just kidding. He really just needed a family with young children, and THAT we've got.

So we told the boys we were going shopping at Bridge Street, which is a wonderful outdoor shopping area. Mike said they wanted Connery in a stroller...which he hasn't ridden in for several months, I'm sure. We didn't know how easy that would be to pull off, but we asked him if he wanted to ride in "the spaceship" and he hopped right in. In fact, Kieran kept asking to ride in the spaceship, too!

The camera crew was very friendly and patient with the boys. They explained that we were supposed to stand at "Position 1" and walk past the cameras when the director yelled "Action." Easy enough, right? Well, the only problem was that we had to do it over. And over. And over. And over. And over. At one point, Kieran said sweetly, "Mommy, I'm getting tired of doing this."

The highlight of the day, according to Kieran, was when we took a break, and Loretta bought the boys ice cream. Fortunately, we weren't as close to the cameras in the next shoot, because Connery was COVERED in ice cream!

Our small-screen debut lasts all of 3 seconds, so I can't imagine shooting for a movie. But I guess we should get ready for that, because once the world gets to see our performance, they'll be knocking down our doors ;) Especially when they find out that we work for ice cream.

Here's the final product...
Kieran is walking wildly in it, so I think it must have been one of the later takes when he started losing his mind ;)

Thanks for the opportunity, Mike and Loretta! I mean, Mayor Spencer! We'll remember you in our Oscar speeches.

SuperKieran (and July photos posted)

2008-08-30T21:49:00.002-05:00

(Yep, I finally posted photos from July! Seems like I'm always about a month behind... )

Kieran's theme lately has been superheroes. He's "all superhero, all the time." One day, he was coming downstairs and suddenly I heard Connery falling. I rushed to the stairs to find that he was upright and crying just a little. Kieran told me that as Connery was falling, "I saw him falling and I tried to hold his hand before he was falling. I was trying to be a superhero."

He's either a Jedi with a "lipe-saver" or Batman or Spiderman and once he said he was "fast like the Flash." He's already planning Halloween and wants to be IronMan one minute ("Conn can be The Crebble Hulk") and Jedi or a Storm Trooper the next (Connery says he'll be Obi-Wan). His present on Connery's birthday was a Transformer mask he asked about every day for two weeks at least. And he tells us a lot, "Tell me if you see a bad guy, and I will get him."
But he's still our little boy. One afternoon, Connery was sleeping in his room, and Kieran lay in ours. As I started to walk downstairs, he said, "Mommy, don't leave me here by my-thaylf." I assured him that he wasn't alone, that Connery was in the next room. "But I won't have anyone to talk to. Don't you see the drips coming out of my eyes?"

Needless to say, I brought him downstairs with me.

V is for Very Smart...

2008-08-24T10:32:00.012-05:00

Every Thursday, Kieran brings something to school for Show and Tell, and each week it has to start with a different letter of the alphabet. This week's letter? V.

All week, I wondered what we'd find. I thought of violin, vampire--neither of which we had--which meant we had to search his closet for a vest. Thursday morning, I woke him and reminded him that we had to find something that started with a V.

"Vitamin starts with a V, Mommy."

I was amazed. I'm sure they discussed words at school on Wednesday, but even so, he remembered! And bringing vitamins to Show-and-Tell is perfect for the kid who asks EVERY day, "You know what we never got in a long time? A vitamin..."

But it occurred to me that he couldn't take vitamins to school, just like he wouldn't be able to take medicine. I told Sandy we'd dump the vitamins into a ziploc bag and let him take the empty jar. Problem solved.

"Kieran, you can't take vitamins to school, but we can let you take the empty jar."

"Noooooooooooo!" And he starts crying! I'm really surprised and start to explain to him why he can't take the vitamins themselves, and--Get ready, folks...--he says,

"Empty doesn't start with a V!!!!"

Can you believe that?? He was absolutely right! My 3 year old knew that empty does not start with a V!! And when I explained that he was right, but that he would take the VITAMIN jar, he immediately understood. "OHHHH! Alright, Mommy." Could a mother be more proud?

Well, it turns out, I was about to witness even more evidence that my son is brilliant ;) When we arrived in his class, I saw him write his name for the very first time! Apparently, they practice every day, so when we got there, his teacher--Ms. Johnson, who is WONDERFUL!--asked, "Kieran, come write your name, buddy." And he DID! She had to help him through a couple of letters, and it actually says
Kiera
N

but it's beautiful! Of course, I held my breath while he wrote it, and then I cried. One of his other teachers, Mrs. Kyliavas, who is ALSO amazing, let me have the sheet at the end of the day, so now I can frame it and embarrass him with it when he's older.

To top it off, when Ms. Johnson and I asked him who made him so smart, he revealed the big secret.

Philip.

So thanks, Philip, for being the single reason my son is smart. ;)

You must take vitamins, too.

Birthday Boy

2008-08-15T23:50:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, Connery! The big TWO! And he had a party fit for a... cowboy! We invited some of our friends for some hot dogs, chili, cake and horse rides! Yep, soon after the party started, we gathered on the front porch to watch Comanche arrive. The looks on their little faces were priceless, and they kept saying, "A real horse! And a real cowboy!" (MANY, many thanks to the "cowboy" Col. Mike Parsons, one of our ROTC instructors at Butler!)

Then came the moment of truth...the birthday boy's turn to ride Comanche first. And. He. Wouldn't. Nope, wouldn't even touch him. He kept saying, "No wide, Mommy, no wide." Oh, well. Almost all the other kiddos rode him and loved it. (Frankie agreed with Connery and wouldn't get close.) Kieran couldn't wait to get on him, and when I asked what he thought about riding the horse, he said, "I think about being a real cowboy like the cowboy who had the horse, and I want a rope like him, but I want a green rope this time." When I asked Connery about the horse, he said, "Big." Pretty much sums it up, huh?

All the kiddos (except Philip, who got upset right before...)
I've also posted photos to our picasa site and videos to our YouTube account amysandy2000. Here's a video of Kieran riding.

And here's a treat for Aunt Jeannine. Connery's lucky to share his birthday with his "kaki." Wonder if she had a cowboy party, too ;)

Masi and Me

2008-08-06T11:36:00.003-05:00

KellyMasi and Kieran share the same initials--KMP--and Masi and Connery share the same birth month. And they're both #2s! I'm sure they would both say that their big brother and sister are the best ever ;)

Masi turns 29 for the fist time today, and we wish we could be with her!! You're my favorite sister, Kelly, and the boys' favorite Masi!

(A little Gujarati lesson for you! In the Indian language, Aunt and Uncle are not enough...
Masi means Mother's sister (Masa is her husband)
-- The boys have KellyMasi
Mama means Mother's brother (Mami is his wife)
-- The boys don't have one.
Foi means Father's sister (Fua is her husband)
-- The boys have KirtiFoi and ScottFua
Kaka means Father's brother (Kaki is his wife)
-- The boys have NiteshKaka and JeannineKaki
However, when you want to show respect to an older person, you call them Uncle or Auntie.)

Again, Happy Birthday to the coolest Masi ever! Kieran says we'll come to your house. He'll help me find it.

Funny boys again...and June pictures

2008-08-02T15:09:00.018-05:00

We've posted the June pictures to Picasa finally! And I promise July's not far behind. Enjoy them and the newest Boy Stories...

Connery Speak and Story Time:
Diya—dinosaur
Reem--green
Donda--downstairs
Duddy—dirty
Bug bike—bug bite
Wuwwy—Woody
thut—shirt
Ock, Mommy—okay, Mommy
Cabeb—Caleb
Pite-thup—pirate (I think he’s calling a pirate a pirate ship)
Yap—lap
Munnuh--Vitamin
Munnuh--Spiderman (Yes, pronounced EXACTLY like vitamin ;)
MUH-hum-nuh--Superman

Doing, Mommy, doing? That, Mommy, that? Why, Mommy, why? (A lot of questions sound like this.)

He’s asked “Why?” more in the last month than Kieran has probably asked in his entire life.

He likes to shakes his head no when I ask for a kiss. Then he waits for me to pretend to cry. If I don’t, he rubs his eyes and says “Wah-wah” like in The Wheels on the Bus song. When I pretend to cry, he laughs and he and Kieran (even if Kieran has been doing something else entirely) lean in and kiss me. It’s so much fun, he does it over and over. And I get lots of my boy kisses.

He has started singing “Shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your bootie.” It's syrupy cute. But the downside is that now he randomly calls Kieran "bootie" which infuriates Kieran...which in turn entertains Connery.

Recently in the car, Connery asked for juice and asked, “Why, Mommy, why?” when I told him we didn’t have any. This repeated several times, and Kieran suddenly asked, “Juice, Mommy?” When I told him the same thing, he said sweetly, “Okay, Mommy.” Then he asked again! I felt like I was in a hamster wheel until Connery asked again and then said, “Ock, Mommy.” ….Kieran was teaching him to accept whatever answer I gave!! Brilliant!

Kieran-Speak and Story Time...
I teached it from you.—I learned it from you.
Kinnical Goddens—Botanical Gardens
Strahl—Straw

"My hands are playing a game. I don’t want it. I don’t either. Don’t give it a-me."

Once, Kieran called a spider a “Short leg baby”… We had no idea why, but he explained. "Yesterday I saw a Long Leg Daddy, and this is a Short Leg Baby.” Get it? Daddy Long Legs? The way kids' minds work is amazing!

"Mommy, am I your best friend?"
"Always."
"But not all the time. Sometimes I get in trouble."
"But you’re still my best friend, even when you’re in trouble, Kieran."
"Okay."

We've recently realized how much he tattles. I really don’t think it’s because he wants the other person to get in trouble, but he doesn’t know how to handle the conflict that’s going on, or he just feels like somebody needs to know the crime that’s being committed. Like it’s just for the record. I always thought he was being helpful, you know, looking out for his little brother and all. But I’m trying to get him to stop and just try to “work it out.”

We’ve had some workers fixing rotted wood on our chimney, and Kieran asked what they were doing. When I told him they were working on our chimney, he asked, “We have a chimney?” and got really quiet for a minute. Then he softly asked, “For the big bad wolf?” I could tell that idea scared him, so I explained that that’s why they were fixing the chimney, so that the Big Bad Wolf couldn’t come down it. He said, “He will say, ‘Little pig, little pig, let me come in.’ and I will say, ‘Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin.” We walked outside to make sure Larry remembered to put the “lock” on the chimney, and he said he’d make sure we could unlock it for Santa Claus. Whew. I’m glad he thought of that!

And the daily question: "You know what we never got in a long time? A vitamin." He always asks the SAME way. Every time. And now Connery answers the question for him. "Munnuh."

Sink or swim...

2008-07-23T22:58:00.007-05:00

And they swim! Well, they know the basics anyway: hold your breath, paddle and kick. The biggest victory is that they're not afraid of the water. Not that they were afraid before the lessons, but knowing that they really like the water now is something to celebrate!

Connery jumping into the pool

Connery "swimming"

Kieran holding his breath under the water

And the grand finale...
Diving off the diving board COMPLETELY by himself!

Bye-Bye "Bye-uh"

2008-07-20T11:44:00.001-05:00

Connery has slept without his pacifier for about a week now! Woo-hoo! The first night was a struggle but it had to be done, because Sandy couldn't find a pacifier anywhere. The next few nights were almost by accident, as we just noticed that he fell asleep before he remembered to ask for it. Now when he asks, we tell him he doesn't need it, and he moves on. Our baby is growing up...and I can't help but be a little sad about it.

He's also trying to go potty. Well, he sits on it. And he tells us he needs to go, but always after the fact. It's the beginning of the end of diapers! That, I'm not as sad about.

Here's some new Connery-speak:
Thahwwy.--Sorry. But it's sometimes just Thah, Mommy, Thahwwy.
Muhnnuh--Vitamin
Dout--Scout
Bote it, no!--Let me think about it, no! (A silly thing we all do.)

and my new favorite...
Dang--Again, as in when we scare him and he laughs and says, "Dang, Mommy, Dang!"

Fimming!

2008-07-15T00:28:00.007-05:00

The boys love "fimming" in their "fim twunks" and RitaBa signed them up for swimming lessons that they started today! Kieran's lesson was at 9:15 this morning...and he woke up in a clingy, whiny mood. ugh. Sure enough, he wanted me and Connery to sit beside him; he wanted me to do the stretches instead of him; he wanted us to get in the pool with him. But when the lifeguard Krista reached out for his hand, and said, "Come on, I'll get in with you," he was all in! He got out one time, but he went back when he realized that another boy was "trying to sit on my 3 spot"--that's when I realized he sat in front of the "3ft." on purpose. He IS 3, after all!

I was impressed by everything the teachers had him do:
hold onto the side and kick
kick while a lifeguard walked through the water with him
arm strokes while a lifeguard held him
"swimming" from one guard to the other (The video is below.)
jumping off the side of the pool into the lifeguard's arms! (Kieran was the first one to do this, and then he stood in line and did it again!)
and the grand finale...jumping off the diving board down to a lifeguard! (Or being lowered down...)

He really enjoyed it and is eager to go back tomorrow.

Connery's lesson was tonight and is set up as an IPAP (Infant something or other) class where a parent is in the water with them. I think it's set up to get the kids comfortable in the water, so we pretty much played like we usually do in the pool. But he wasn't wearing swimmies at all, and he put his face in a little more than he usually does. He tried to blow bubbles, but I don't think he understood what to do. He made the raspberry sound with his lips, but when he got close to the water, he opened his mouth like he was trying to get the water in his mouth. ?? Don't know what he was thinking. But it was cute, of course.

The biggest accomplishment was that he ALMOST floated on his back (while still resting in my arms). It's a real trust exercise, and he wasn't too sure about it. But he didn't cry. After about 30 or 45 seconds, he just said, "Ah Dohn, Mommy, Ah Dohn."

We've got 5 more lessons, and I hope they all go this smoothly. I'll report back.

Here is a video of Kieran's and a picture from Connery's.

More videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51LSY5Rlj2E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrMRZjTJe2g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9S_dIFO0Y

I do...

2008-07-08T15:18:00.005-05:00

Happy Anniversary, Mr.!
8 years ago today, we promised to stay together forever, come rain or come shine! Or as Johnny so eloquently said in his vows on Two Guys and a Girl..."until one of us is dead." Ah, romance. ;) Thanks for 8 years of devoted work as comedian, chef, accountant, lawn boy, travel agent, computer geek, mechanic, massage therapist, music reviewer, political analyst, counselor, and best of all, my baby daddy. "I'm picking out a thermos for you," Sandy!

Beach Boy Videos

2008-07-08T11:59:00.004-05:00

Connery meets the beach

Sword fighting on the pirate cruise

Digging up Pirate Treasure!

These funny boys, v 3

2008-07-06T17:50:00.003-05:00

Another random post with the little things they're doing these days...
When the boys stand in the corner, we have them count to 10 or 20 before they can get out. Connery counts by himself now! Uh, Do, Uh, Bibe, Debn, Ake, Nigh, Deh!" (yeah, lots of numbers missing, but 7, 8, 9 and 10 are always there...because that means he gets out of the corner now!) He even says his ABC's...A, B, C, D, 7, 8, 9, 10!

He pronounces his ending t sounds like "k" so "bite" becomes "bike," "eight" becomes "ake," "light" becomes "like" and "eat" becomes "eak"

We make him apologize to Kieran after he hits him. (Yeah, it happens a lot. *sigh*) And early on, we tried to teach him the sign for "sorry." To make the sign, you make a fist and move it left to right in a circle in front of your chest. It's almost like you're moving it in a circle over your heart, so it's a nice gesture. Well, somehow he got mixed up and he doesn't make the sign over his own chest. Instead, he makes a fist and tries to move it around in front of YOUR chest. Sweet, but it looks like he's trying to hit you again! I had a hard time explaining that to a father after I told Connery to tell his little girl sorry.

Some friends of ours have a Golden Retriever named Scout who visits when his "parents" are out of town. Gryphon LOVES it! He's been over several times since Connery has been born, but somehow when he showed up after Memorial Day, Connery decided he was afraid of him. He didn't like to be in the same room with him and told us "otTAH" when he wants Scout to go outside. We tried explaining that Scout is Gryphon's friend. We tried getting Connery to pet him to see that he won't hurt him. Nothing worked. So, we just kept them on opposite floors of the house and checked every now and then to see if Connery had changed his mind. We'd ask him a bunch of random questions and throw in "Do you like Scout?"... his answer was always no. Poor Scout. But Gryphon and Kieran love him enough to make up for it. He came back around July 4, and Connery was much more used to him. Scout even got a couple of kisses from him this time! I guess he got more lucky on the second date ;) Oh, and right before Scout left, Kieran said that Gryphon would have "sad eyes" when Scout was gone.

We went on a picnic in the front yard--which was maybe the best picnic ever--and Kieran had an ant on his leg. I flicked it off, and he said, "Momma, you're just great."

Kieran's really into Star Wars right now, or "tah huss" as Connery calls it. Before, any long stick was a sword, but now it's a "lipe saver." He wants to watch the movie every day, and unfortunately the only one we have on dvd is #2 Attack of the Clones...not our favorite. Kieran says that he's a Jedi, and I'm Obi Wan Kenobi. He lets Sandy be Yoda, and I'll have to see who he thinks Connery is. R2D2 maybe?

He also loves Super Why from PBS. Four little characters become super heros to help solve problems, and they always look "in a book!" to find "super letters" to fill in missing letters of the answer. Almost like Hangman or Wheel of Fortune. Super Why uses a "super duper computer" which looks a lot like a Blackberry or one of those phones that has a full keyboard, and now Kieran picks up rocks and wallets and calls them his super duper computer. He wants one whenever we go to the store, but I have only found toy cell phones with number pads. Let me know if you run across a toy blackberry! ;)

Connery-speak:
gobba--garbage
He really hits the letter "p" hard, so "Stop, Kieran, stop!" sounds like "Doppa, Thi-Thi, Doppa."
wij-wudduh--refrigerator
banka--blanket
bike-uh-cuh--bicycle (which is what he calls motorcycles, too)
Home, Home Rain!--Home, Home on the Range
Like, Luh, Muh--I like it, I love it, I want some more of it! (You know, the old Tim McGraw song?)
Muh-Bumbee--More "Bumblebee" (a song we sing)
Mow (rhymes with cow)--Meow. That's what he calls the cat. And it's funny that every now and then I'll call it that, too, when I'm talking to him. Today, out of the blue, he said, "Sorry, Mow." And I asked, "What did you do to Mow? I mean, Sweets."

Kieran-speak:
dissa--different
pimmin--pretending
Look at what I can do--It's just funny because it always makes me think of Stuart on Mad TV
max--mask
floop loops--Froot Loops

Beach Boys

2008-07-02T09:13:00.013-05:00

That would be the Walker and Patel boys! We had a blast at Panama City Beach last week. We kept joking with Caleb and Stephenie that it was a lot different than when we went to the beach with them WITHOUT the boys a few years ago! We weren't digging for pirate treasure and constantly counting to make sure we had all four boys back then!

For the second Walker-Patel beach trip, we stayed at a great house just a couple of blocks from the shore and walked to the beach almost every morning. We worked out quite a system: Pile all 4 boys into the bike trailer driven by Caleb. Sandy rode his bike, too. Steph and I brought a beach bag or two and rolled the cooler. I think once, we pulled a couple of boys in the red wagon.

The boys loved the beach and spent most of their time playing in the sand. We had the beach to ourselves most days, because we were on the private part of the beach and went in the morning. We were really surprised when Finn started burying himself and then wanted us to help. We buried him all the way up to his neck!! Then he broke out like a monster ;) Connery sat inside the hole and let us cover him almost completely, too, but Kieran didn’t like the idea for himself. (I wish I had bet on that...I could have made some money.) They also made “chocolate milk” with the sand and water, buried sticks they found around and dug lots of holes.

One day, we noticed a seaweed X on the sand! And you know what that means…treasure! (Great idea, Steph!) The boys didn’t quite catch on immediately; they wanted to bury the X. But we reminded them that pirates mark their treasure with X’s and they started yelling, “Let’s dig up the treasure!” Who knew that pirates used Gladware and liked lollipops, peanuts and Mardi Gras beads?! The boys were convinced that a far off crane was the mast of a pirate ship, so those pirates must have buried the treasure!

The first day at the beach was perfect. The water was clear, and the sky was just overcast enough so the sun wasn’t blaring. It seemed that the second day would be the same, but as Steph and I were swimming around, we noticed JELLYFISH! A couple of kids nearby started catching them and putting them into big buckets, so we got to see them up close! What a great biology lesson, huh? The boys were fascinated, even if we were a little scared about getting stung accidentally.

The next day, the water was full of light green seaweed, if that’s even what you call it. It was pretty disgusting, so we didn’t spend any time in the water that day either.

Thursday was the best beach day of all! The beach was empty again, and the water was so clear that we could see the fish perfectly!! (Kieran told me the fish were “at school” in the water, learning to “jump in the water by them-thay-lves.”) The highlight was when the sea turtle swam along the shoreline! No joke!! A real sea turtle! None of us had ever seen one for real before, so we followed it down the beach for about 50 feet. It was really pretty. Kieran tells everybody it was "Crush" from Finding Nemo.

Every day, we stayed at the beach for a couple of hours, then piled back onto the bikes to ride back home. At the beach house we stripped the boys down and showered them on the back patio, toweled them off and put them on the stools on the kitchen island for “naked lunch.” It became a daily occurrence and was always cute to see the boys sit completely naked, with no shame. Then upstairs for baths and naps.

At home, the boys spent a lot of time chasing each other, playing with toys, fighting over the toys, watching cartoons, saying “potty words” and going to time out for saying them. (Kieran's words of choice were "cootie" and "pootie" and Finn preferred "poopie butt." Ah, three year olds.) Laura Beth and her boyfriend Tyler were great at wrestling around with them to wear them out before bedtime and draw on the MagnaDoodles.

Laura Beth and Tyler were "on duty" most evenings, when we parents got some date nights! Monday night, we double dated at Reggae J's, but we must be getting older, because we drove around he neighborhood just to give LB and T time to get the boys in bed. The next night, Sandy and I took a walk along the beach and went to listen to some live music at Calypso. Caleb and Steph ate at the Bier Garden and stayed out late...11 o'clock, I think!

We met some pirates at the Treasure Ship restaurant on Wednesday, where the food was just okay. Well, actually, Amy’s shrimp wasn’t even done. But the pirate was funny and made the boys some balloon parrots, dogs and, of course, Kieran wanted a horse. Then we walked around on the dock, and I didn’t think we could get Eli to leave!

The next day's pirate adventure was the best ever!! We booked a pirate cruise, captained by Fearless Phil, with pirates Summer and Billy Bones! [The boys wore their airbrushed Pirate Pal shirts, so they fit right in.] During our "two hour tour" the kids had a water battle with another boat, swabbed the deck, got their faces painted, got into sword fights, got tattooed (Connery did anyway, and the other boys got theirs the next day), and watched everyone else do the limbo and chicken dance (I guess our boys are too cool for that), watched dolphins (!) and helped pull a treasure chest up out of the water! I want the ship's soundtrack now--Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley ("Three Little Birds"--Finn's song!), even "Three is the Magic Number" when the kids got to pick three things from the treasure chest. And nobody got sea sick! Yay! (Steph and I were a little worried about that. But I only had to watch the horizon once or twice.) That night we had dinner at HammerHead Fred's under the pirate flag, of course.

Friday was our last day, sadly. We walked to the beach one last time and played in the water--clear of seaweed and jellyfish this time. Sandy and Amy took turns floating in a raft. Sandy capsized at least once, and Amy came close! Eli fell asleep on a walk with Caleb, which was so sweet...and VERY Eli. He's such a cuddler. Then we found a crab! A dead one, but that may have been better anyway, because the boys got to see it up close and touch it. Kieran says it felt like a "tree." Finn wanted to bury it, so we had a very unceremonial funeral. Cover it in sand and run away to play in a huge hole that Laura Beth and Tyler dug! All four boys fit inside it! And while the boys played inside, LB and T dug another hole that was so deep, Connery and Eli stood in it, and only their heads were above ground! The pirates left us one last treasure chest with more lollipops and some skull and crossbone bracelets. We heard thunder and saw some far off lightning, so we packed up to go back to the beach house for our outside shower, naked lunch, bath, naptime routine.

After naps, we went to see Wall-E! It was very cute...at least the first 30-45 minutes of it was. I didn't get to see the rest, because Connery got too restless. So he and I wandered the hallway, looked at all the movie posters several times and signed the animals we saw on them. When the rest of the gang came out after the movie, we played in the arcade for a while, then walked along the strip, playing in the grass and trying to find something to eat. We tried for Red Brick Pizza, but the line was WAY too long, so we sat outside at the Bier Garden, a great German restaurant which had a polka band--Polka-Haunt-Us! The band was inside, which worked well for us, because they were LOUD! Finn and Connery and I polka'd around, and the adults got a kick out of the German version of the Devil Went Down to Georgia--he Devil battles it out with on the accordion ;) The boys were WILD that night. Throughout the week, we enjoyed moments where they all behaved, but much of the time, it was more like three behaving and one getting in trouble. For our "Last Supper" those odds were reversed! We laughed about it (to keep from screaming, I guess) and said that if all nights had been like that, we wouldn't have survived. Steph and I had to take three of the boys out to the front for some bratwurst samples, ring-around-the-rosie and flower picking (thankfully, security never saw). We survived dinner, and Laura Beth and Tyler came by to get take the Walker boys on a walk (hehe). We met up with them and the boys played in the sand until the moment we had avoided all week...sand in the eye. It didn't take long to get it out, and we headed back to the beach house to get all our stuff packed up and the boys in bed.

The next morning, we cleaned the house and squeezed in a few minutes of one-on-one time with each boy. Long goodbyes, high fives, hugs and kisses and we were gone. We weren't even out of the neighborhood before Kieran said he wanted to go back to the beach house.

Instead of heading home, we drove a couple of hours to see "the cousins"! We hadn't seen Ryan, Eleana, Serena or Kirti and Scott in over a year!! Far too long! And the kids have grown fast in that time. Ryan is taller than all of us, and Serena is taller than Eleana now! We ate at their favorite pizza place (yummy!), played Guitar Hero, picked blueberries (Connery's new favorite) and of course, kicked the soccer ball around. Eleana shared some soccer skills with Kieran while Connery tried to keep away from their dog Moody. Then we made homemade salsa and grilled out while the kids played with lots of blocks and little toys. Ryan's girlfriend Kaitlyn came over (such a sweet girl) and the "kids" picnicked in the living room. After a trip for ice cream (more got on Connery's clothes than in his mouth) and a visit to the video game store, we were ready to get in our pajamas. The next morning, Scott made lots of different kinds of pancakes--plain, chocolate chip, banana and blueberry! I had to fight back tears saying goodbye to everyone, but we plan to go back for Labor Day to have a birthday party for Kirti, and go to Ryan's football game and Eleana and Serena's soccer games. We have never seen the kids play, so I'm excited about it.

On the way home, it rained off and on, and Sandy taught Kieran "Rain, rain, go away, come and play another day"...which worked!! I wish I had video taped it, because right after Kieran sang it a few times, it almost miraculously stopped raining. A little bizarre...but now Kieran thinks he has the power to stop it from raining. During one rainstorm, though, a nearby car splashed a huge flood of water on us, and pulled our front bumper OFF!! (It had been damaged in an earlier "incident" this year, but we thought we had fixed it.) We noticed that the engine seemed loud, but when Sandy pulled over, he saw that the bumper was dragging the ground. So--in the rain, bless his heart--he pulled it off and put it on top of all our stuff in the back of the van. We had to stop a few more times to tie up various things that dragged without the bumper in place, and we drove slower just in case. Finally we made it home to unpack...

and try to get the sand out of everything!

Still working on that ;)

I've posted pictures to the Picasa site, but they don't have captions yet. If you check it in a couple of days, it should be complete. http://picasaweb.google.com/amysandy/Panamacitybeach08

May photos posted to our Picasa site

2008-07-01T00:08:00.000-05:00

A little late, of course. It's July already! But I've been so busy...
Oops, the boys are calling. Gotta go sit and rock on the front porch. ;) Go to http://picasaweb.google.com/amysandy/May08 to see the newest pictures. (Fair warning--we have a lot! The month was pretty busy with Mother's Day, the canoeing/camping trip, Kieran's first t-ball game, a visit to Early Works...plus all the candids around the house.)

Happy Father's Day!!

2008-06-20T12:05:00.006-05:00

to Daddy, Papa, PaGaga, and PaPaw! We had a busy day hopping around to see all our "Pa's," but we're thankful that they all live in town. Sandy and I got to sleep in on Father's Day, because the boys stayed the night over at Ba and PaGaga's. We picked up the boys and spent a little time with PaGaga before he went golfing, his favorite thing to do on Father's Day or any day! Then we ran around Dick's Sporting Goods helping Daddy pick out a new golf bag. Then off to Papa's for hamburgers and some "Slip n Slidin'" with the cousins. Connery played in the baby pool most of the time, but Kieran, Meagan and Briana went back and forth to the Slip n Slide a lot. Logan and Jeffrey played badminton with Chris and Jack, while the rest of us rested on the porch and called out to Kieran to pull his shorts up. Poor guy, he has no curves. At one point, Nana chased the kids through the yard with the hose, and Kieran's butt was just a shining! ;) (Some good country talking for you there.)

The boys gave Daddy and Papa a toy tent with a man and boy figurine. Kieran gave Sandy his the day before Father's Day, because he couldn't wait. And as Papa opened his, Kieran couldn't wait to tell him it was "for camping." We had so much fun camping over Memorial Day, and I can't wait for the boys to go with Papa, the King of Campers! Sandy's going to buy a pair of sandals with his Father's Day money, and we'll see what Papa gets.

The next night, as Sandy put the boys to bed, he told them, "Let me know if you ever need anything. And I'll help you. But sometimes I won't, because sometimes you need to do it by yourself."
Kieran said, "Yeah, because you're my Daddy."
Sandy said, "That's right, and that's what my dad did for me. Sometimes he helped me and sometimes he didn't. But I always told him when I needed something."
Kieran said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a Daddy. When I'm THIS big."

Those days will be here sooner than we know. In the meantime, Sandy's doing an amazing job teaching him how to be a Daddy. Thank you.

An Untitled Play

2008-06-20T11:01:00.006-05:00

A short play by Mommy, inspired by Kieran
A very true story

Kieran: (walking into Mommy's bathroom) Connery keeps knocking down my tower. So I just throwed it to him.
Mommy: You threw it AT him?
Kieran: Yeah. Because he won't not keep knocking down my tower.
Mommy: Kieran, that's not how we treat our brother. (Hears a muffled cry.)
Connery: (crying offstage, muffled) Mommy!! Mommy!!
Mommy: Wait. Is that Connery crying? Is your bedroom door closed?
Kieran: Yeah. But I didn't close it on his fingers.
Mommy:(Hurrying to the bedroom) But you don't close your brother in your room. He can't get out.(Opens the door to Connery, covered in tears)
Connery: (loudly now) Mommy! Mommy!
Kieran: Gryphon, can you kiss Connery on his boo-boo?
Mommy: Where is his boo-boo? (Connery points to his head)
Kieran: On his head, where I hit him with the blocks.

Fade to black

So leave a comment with your suggestion for a title and ending. This is a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure Play. What do you do? Stand him in the corner? Explain what he did wrong, make him apologize and let it go? Let Connery hit HIM in the head with the block? (Just kidding about that last one, though we may reach that point one day...)

Need a laugh?

2008-06-18T00:41:00.003-05:00

Clearly, K & C have plenty to go around!!

Enjoy!

Siskel & Ebert meet Jurassic Park

2008-06-12T23:26:00.013-05:00

No, we didn't take the boys to see Jurassic Park... (Geez, that movie even scares ME!) But we do have a new tradition as of last week! One of the local movie theatres plays free kid movies a couple of times a week during the summer, and this week it was Everyone's Hero...one of Kieran's favorites. (Thanks for loaning it, Finn!) I've been excited about taking him to see it, because he's never been to the movies before! I couldn't wait to see his reaction to the big screen, the surround sound, the popcorn! haha.

They loved all those things. Well, at first, Kieran put his hands over his ears and said it was too loud (which it was) but they turned the volume down soon afterwards. Connery loved just sitting in the folding seat by himself. He got folded up in it a couple of times until I figured out a way to put my foot on it and hold it open.

There was just one problem. You see, it turns out that this free movie gets filled up FAST by day cares, so they had NO seats left for us. And I had already made the mistake of telling Kieran that we were going to see Everyone's Hero. They opened another theatre and showed An Arctic Tale, which was cute, but Kieran kept reminding me that it wasn't Everyone's Hero. Even after the movie was over and we were getting into the van. He said, "But I thought we were going to watch Everyone's Hero." Somehow he wasn't buying my explanation. Maybe Surf's Up next week will make up for it. [Funny story: The boys got a little restless during the movie and I had struggled to get them to stay in their seats. Kieran needed to use the potty, so on our way back, we had a little meeting in the hallway. I said, "Boys, do you want to go back in to watch the movie?" They both said, "Yes!" "Then you have to be good and listen to Mommy, okay?" "Yes, ma'am." "And you have to SIT. DOWN." Connery sat down right there in the hallway!]

After the movie, we went for a picnic lunch at the Botanical Gardens. I always make sure to bring along sunscreen, extra juice boxes and their swim trunks, because the BG has wonderful wading pools and fountains the kids can play in. And once a week, they have a make-and-take craft for the kids. So this week, the boys planted their own begonias and picked out miniature dinosaurs to live in them! (It's all part of the fabulous Dinosaur Uproar at the BG.) The boys were so cute pouring potting soil into the pots, digging a hole, "massaging" the squared off roots...and not at all letting the dinosaurs live in their new "habitats." Are you kidding?? They wanted to play with those things! Let's see, the dinosaurs swam with them, jumped off rocks, hid in trees, jumped on the brother's heads, and even fell asleep with them in the van.

A walk through the butterfly house cooled us off. Kieran remembered the turtles from last year. Surprisingly, Connery didn't want to touch one. He's usually the daring kid, but everybody's got limits, right? And a caterpillar somehow made its way onto my toe, which made the boys giggle. (And me, too. Caterpillars are a little ticklish.)

The Boys of Summer

2008-06-12T22:23:00.011-05:00

Can you smell the "sun-cream" over there? We've certainly been slathering it on. The days are hot and just lazy enough. I wish every day could be like today. The boys and I slept until 8, played a little hide and seek with the blankets, heard Connery say "widge-wuh-duh" (refrigerator), let the dog out, threw on some clothes and loaded up in the wagon. We live in a great quiet neighborhood that's within walking distance to the grocery store, pool, a few little shops and Kenny Mango's Coffee Shop!! They have a drive-through that's perfect on my way to school, and I've always thought, "We could walk here." Today, we proved it. Well, Mommy walked there anyway...the boys just rode along. So they weren't nearly as sweaty when we arrived.

I ordered my "regular"--a monkey-sized Chai Tea Latte--and Kieran immediately asked to play with the little plastic monkey they give whenever you order that size. (Get 10 of them, and you get a monkey-sized drink free! It's a common trick, but much more fun than a punch card, huh?) They splashed a little in the fountain, ate some breakfast, played Scrabble...and just hung out.

Then what to do?? Hmmmm...tough choice. How about load back into the wagon and walk to the neighborhood playground? Good choice. It's a little known place (with brand new equipment, oddly enough), so we had the place to ourselves. Connery amazed me with how quickly he climbed to the top of the tall slide. And Kieran climbed the monkey bars, well, like a little monkey.

Then for another tough choice...how about go home for a little Reading Rainbow and a lazy day nap? Sounds good to me! (Somehow the boys weren't as excited about the nap as I was, but that's not the point. We still snuggled up in the same bed and sang silly songs. I got about an hour's worth of sleep before the boys woke up--if they were ever asleep at all.)

A little lunch and a late afternoon shower for Mommy, and we're ready when Daddy gets home to pick us up for Kieran's t-ball game. The boys have advanced a little beyond the basics--no more shouting "First base!! No, not second! First!"--and are still so darn cute! Some popsicles and Chick-fil-A after the game, then back home for baths and bedtime.
Tomorrow we'll be really busy...swimming. And maybe getting the boys' haircut. Maybe not. We might decide to take naps instead. Or climb some monkey bars. (I could really get used to this...)

No Autographs Please

2008-05-29T22:00:00.003-05:00

You know how all these blogs are about how cool and smart and cute the boys are? ;) Well, you know they've got to get that from somewhere...and today, I think we could all argue, they get it from Sandy!
Make sure you pick up a copy of NATURE magazine today, because Sandy's got an article in it!!

It's pretty exciting that this article has made it "mainstream" especially since it's one of the last articles he worked on before he left the NSSTC where he did research.

The official title is "An infrared ring around the magnetar SGR 1900+14" but one of the online reports has a great title: "CSI: Milky Way team works scene of dead star"

Exciting, huh?

You can buy the magazine at just about any bookstore, and there are lots of articles about it online. Here are a few links.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uoc-cmw052808.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080528132803.htm
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/29may_magnetar.htm
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/the_mysterious_ring_of_a_soft_gamma_repeater_magnetar_sgr_1900_14

He's had a few other articles in NATURE, actually. The abstracts are online, and you might be able to find the full articles out there, too.

Stay tuned for the post about how the boys explain Daddy's article to me!

These funny boys, v 2

2008-05-27T13:23:00.001-05:00

I think Connery says a new word almost every day, so our Connery- speak section is going to get longer and longer... Connery-speak:
dandy--candy
bike--(That one is VERY clear.)
NoMommy. NoDaddy.--He doesn't just say, No. He says, "NoMommy" very quickly.
Off me!--That one is clear, too.
My see--I want to see.
Oth, thih-thih, oth--Watch, Kieran, watch.
Doing?--What are you doing?
teeky--stinky

Kieran-speak:
shooey--sure
fimming--swimming
teddy....t-t-t---T! (He's constantly trying to figure out what words start with.
Know what Amy starts with? F! (I guess because it's pronounced "ehf" and he thinks "Amy" has the same sound.)
My teddy bear's name is "pimple. Is that a funny word?"

One night, Kieran didn't want to go to bed, so after Sandy went downstairs, he climbed into bed with me. I asked him if Daddy told him he could lay with me, and he whispered "When daddy gets in here I will get out of your bed." It turns out that Sandy he could, but it's funny that he felt so secretive about it.

We're out of school for the summer!! We're lucky that our preschool lets us have the summer off. It saves us a lot of money and really gives me quality time with the boys while I'm off. I think they'll miss their friends and teachers at school, though, so we may stop by every now and then just to say hi or read some books or something. We might stop by on a Thursday every now and then for show and tell. Otherwise, Kieran will miss a lot of the alphabet! And this week is his favorite: K!
The past couple of weeks he took (Mr.) Incredible for I day, and The Jungle Book book for J.

Kieran was wheezing a couple of weeks ago, so our pediatrician met us at his office and prescribed some medication he has to take through a nebulizer like Connery used to use. Kieran's has a cute Nemo-looking mask, though. He is remarkably cooperative about getting "his medicine" and will even hold the mask in front of his face while he reads or play with toys. It takes about 15 minutes, so the last 5 is usually tougher, because he gets restless. One day, I even tickled him to get him to breathe it all in hard, and he never took the mask off!

He says, "No, ma'am" and "No, sir," but usually only when he knows he's in trouble. And he often mixes them up, so Sandy gets the "Yes, ma'am" a lot.

One day, we spent the day at Butler, and that night he called me "Mrs. Patel" and laughed. I asked him who calls me that, and he said "your friends" meaning my students!

A few nights ago, Philip slept over, because Mike and Susan had to be in Birmingham early the next morning. We were excited, but just a little nervous...I had flashbacks of sleepovers that ended with a call home for Momma and Daddy to pick me up. But Philip did great. He got a little spooked by Gryphon early in the night, and cried that he wanted his mommy and daddy, but after about 20 minutes of cuddling and distracting, he let that go. Bathtime was a blast for the big boys, but Connery kept trying to climb in with them. He's used to bathing with Kieran and didn't probably thought he could figure out a way for all three of them to fit in the tub. Even bedtime went smoothly. Connery fell asleep in the rocking chair, Philip laid in Connery's bed and let me read a couple of books, and Kieran finished his medicine and lay on the Spiderman blow up bed. We want to have the next sleepover during a weekend, so we can stay up late and watch movies...

One morning Kieran looked over at a beautiful magnolia tree in our neighborhood, and shouted, "Mommy, look at those eggs!" I explained that those "eggs" were really blooms, or flowers on the tree, and he said, "But they're eggs. And some of the eggs just opened up by themselves."

Kieran noticed a sore on the back of Connery's back and wanted to put a band-aid on it. While he did, he explained to Connery that he needed a band-aid for his "sword."

Sandy and I set up a swingset in the backyard yesterday, and I thought Kieran was going to lose his mind waiting for us to finish! He kept asking, "Are you finished yet? Can I ride on this now?" Connery hasn't gotten to play on it, because it rained right after he got up from his nap and is raining today. But I know it will be a daily playspot this summer. I'm excited about all the adventures we'll have while we're out of school. But if Connery doesn't stop biting and hitting, HE may spend the whole summer in the corner! *sigh*

Kieran the Camper

2008-05-26T23:59:00.008-05:00

Canoe + Life Vest + a Water Gun + Smores + a Tent = Kieran's first camping trip!!
And he LOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVEEEEEDDDDD it. I can't even stretch the word out long enough. You don't have to take my word for it. I wish I had video of the different times throughout the day when he would blurt out, "We're having fun, guys." Or "This is really great." Or better yet, when he would lean over the side of the canoe, drag his hand through the water and just sing. I don't know the words to the song he sang, but it was pure and genuine. Just a 3 year old loving life.

We went to Elk River Canoe Rental in Kelso, TN, with several of our friends on Saturday. Our friends Jim and Angie organize the trip every year, and it's pretty incredible. We left Connery with RitaBa--just a little too young this year--and have been talking it up to Kieran for a couple of weeks. He's been excited and would say that he wanted to go "Today" so I really had my hopes up that he wouldn't get scared or fussy. And he never did. He loved the life vest and wore it for about 9 hours straight, even after we set up camp. He buddied up to our friend Cameron immediately, which was cute, especially because he's usually timid when he first sees people again. He wasn't scared in the canoe at all, even sitting on his own seat. He was very helpful trying to set up the tent. And, of course, he thought it was fun to pee in the woods.

We saw lots of tiny fish, some buzzards and geese, and even a raccoon who crept to the shore and caught a fish with his paws. Kieran took his "catcher" (a plastic fishing reel with a magnetic end) and let it drag through the water for the first 30 minutes at least. He even asked a couple of fishermen along the way, "Did you got any fish?" When they told him "No," he bragged, "I did." We were on the water for at least 6 hours, with a few stops for sandwiches, learning to skip stones and peeing in the woods. He never complained. Never. He helped paddle, but never quite got that he should oar from front to back. I think he liked the splash that he got when he pushed the oar the wrong way.

We bungee'd our canoe to a couple of other canoes for some of the trip, which really creates a party on the water ;) He loved being bungee'd to Nathan's canoe, because they could talk kid stuff and eat some of the great snacks that our new friend Sunni brought. Mmmm...Cheetos.

And if you ask him his favorite part, he will tell you the water gun fight with Nathan. Nathan had a Super Soaker and he used it well ;) He let Kieran have a small water pistol, and I don't think Kieran ever realized he was at a disadvantage. Later he got to shoot the Super Soaker, too, at poor Georgia, who was unarmed.

We got back to base camp and set up the tent. He helped hammer down the stakes, "because I'm s-rong, Mommy." And ran around like crazy inside it! Then Mike and Philip showed up, which was a real treat, because Kieran and Philip are great friends. They're only a couple of weeks apart, and they're in the same class at school. Philip had a new Cars tent, which fit perfectly INSIDE our tent, so they played inside a little bit. And wandered around with the "big kids" (or at least the experienced campers) Mitch, Natti and Nathan. We roasted marshmallows and made S'mores...with crunchy peanut butter--YUM!

The next morning, he wanted to do it all again.

Today, while we played in the backyard at home, he found a stick with a couple of points on it and pretended that he was roasting marshmallows! I am already anxious to take both boys next year. And in the meantime, we'll have to make some S'mores over the fire pit. Ah, the small joys of life.

(Check out the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/amysandy/May08)

Rookie of the Year!

2008-05-26T23:22:00.005-05:00

Kieran played in his very first t-ball game Thursday! Papa, Nana, Meagan, Ba and PaGaga came to watch, which I'm sure made him feel like a real celebrity. The entire team looked simply precious in their uniforms, and I was impressed by how well they played, considering that they still have to be reminded to go to 1st base first, or to throw the ball when they get it...

Kieran cracked us up by hitting the ball with lots of energy! ..then...walking...to...first...base... He held the helmet a little above his head the whole time, and later told me that "The helmet just moved when I ran and it was just tickling me." But he runs from 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd. Who knows?? His reluctance to run to 1st actually got him out once. (The only out of the game...woo hoo! ;) But I don't think he even realizes it, because according to t-ball rules, a player doesn't have to leave the field when he gets out. So he still got to run the bases afterwards.

One of my favorite moments of the game was when Finn batted Kieran into home. Or when Kieran held Caleb's hand to take position at 2nd base. Or when Ba had to get on the field to help when it seemed Kieran wouldn't play any other way. And especially when they all lined up at the end of the game to give the traditional hand slaps. I admit that I got teary a few times during the game, but I remembered...There's no crying in baseball!

Speaking of crying, I caught Kieran crying on the field once (Not sure why), but he's eager to play again. I'll try to get video at a game soon.

Arrgghh!! Pirates...kings of the sea. Er, the field!
(Check out the pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/amysandy/May08)

Big Boy Beds

2008-05-13T00:31:00.010-05:00

Connery used to lie down in his crib easily, but lately, he cries if he's the least bit awake. In the morning, he wakes up and is content just to lie around and jabber and will even fall back to sleep. (We're LUCKY that our boys will sleep until 8, 9...even 11 am!) Sorry, I'm sidetracked. And pissing off some other mothers, I'm sure.

Last weekend, Kieran stayed all night at MommaBa's, and at bedtime, Connery pointed to Kieran's bed. So we let him sleep there. No harm done, right? Well.......

The next day, he napped there with Kieran. (Very sweet.) And Sunday night, he fell asleep there with him. Of course, Monday night, when I tried to put him in his crib, he cried and pointed to Kieran's bed. Sandy and I relied on spelling-speak: "He wants to sleep in Kieran's B-E-D."

We knew it was TIME.

So while I rocked the boys for a few minutes, Sandy grabbed some tools and took the front off the crib, making it...Ta-DA! A toddler bed! We covered his eyes as we walked back in, and he climbed right in. Of course, they wanted to jump on it first thing, so we had to discuss the dangers of that. (Not that they care.)

He fell asleep pretty easily, with me just rubbing his back and singing. (No pacifier, even.) And he lasted for 2.5 hours before he fell out onto the floor. And went right back to sleep.

Tuesday night, both boys had secretly decided that they should switch beds, so now Kieran's in the newly converted crib-bed, and Connery's in Kieran's old bed, which works better because it has rails on it.

We think the next step is getting them bunk beds, but Friday night, little Madeline (Kieran's "princess" remember) jumped off the top bunk, hit her head on the ceiling fan and had to get 7 stitches. So we'll wait a little while...

These funny boys

2008-05-12T23:41:00.001-05:00

Some random moments from the past couple of weeks...

The other day, I smelled something. The faint whiff of "diaper" from a few feet away. So I got up and pulled Connery's pants back to look down in his diaper. Yep, dirty. I told him we needed to change his diaper and walked to the counter to put my glass down...and he lifted MY skirt! Like he was checking MY diaper...

Kieran has learned to "brake" on his bicycle. In fact, he doesn't go very far at a time now, because he gets a little momentum and then brakes just to show off.

He loves to see flags flying and tells me which ones are out of batteries (because they're not waving).

Connery has started to recognize colors, but he calls everything "boo." He talks much clearer than Kieran did at his age and even strings several words together like "ma ha da pee" (more hot dog please) and "yayo ba" (yellow ball).

The other day, Connery got his first haircut since THE first haircut. I worried that he would have a little tantrum or want me to hold him, but he was so calm. Cool, even. He leaned back and put his arm over the back of the chair like he was modeling! Kieran told me the next day, "I took a haircut so now I don't have any hair. But now I just have more."

He hold his arms up to show off his "missiles." An appropriate wrong word, huh?

On the way home, he was trying to figure out what letters started different words. b-b-b-buzz...Buzz starts with B! d-d-d-dog...dog starts with D! fw-fw-fw-fwoody...Woody starts with WE!

He was excited that last week's letter at school was H, because he could bring a horse for show-n-tell. They've been bringing items which start with certain letters of the alphabet during the last few weeks. Kieran missed the A and D weeks, but here's what he's taken so far. Buzz, his Camera, Elmo, a Firetruck, George (Curious George)...

Oh, and, still, when you ask him what he dreamt about or what he's going to dream about, he says, "hortheth." I think that's been his answer for about a year now.

He told us the other day that he had to hold the rail while he walked downstairs, or else he'd fall and crack his head open. Crack his head open??!! Where in the world did he learn that?? "Luke Shomber" as he calls a little boy in his class. The same boy who taught him the word "venom." But he also wears red galoshes as often as Kieran wears his "rocket boots" (aka pirate galoshes) so he's got to be pretty cool.

Finally, tonight we visited with our friends "Toser and Tater" and Toser took Kieran outside to see the moon. When we got back home, he walked to the front door and shouted, "I have a moon and my friend has a moon too! Two moons!!"

You just never know what he's going to say...and Connery's right behind him.

P.S. I'll post an update about little Tater soon. I couldn't believe how big he's gotten...and what a content little boy he is. His sign for his big brother "Toser" is to put his hands beside his head and move them around like "crazy hair!"

I am Mommy, hear me roar!

2008-05-12T22:57:00.009-05:00

with laughter, mostly. Because they constantly crack me up. But, yes, I have to roar "In that corner, NOW!" or "No, Connery! Bring it here. One, two, THREE!" or "No, sir! I told you NO!" In fact, a couple of times this weekend--even once on Mother's Day [wince]--I did the swat on Kieran. Not a spanking, but that quick, get-his-attention-because- he-won't-quit-squirming-and-he's-screaming-so-loud-I-can't- think-straight swat. I think it surprised him more than anything. And it worked. He stood up straight, cried for a minute, then really listened when I talked to him about whatever led to the corner banishment in the first place. And then I felt TERRIBLE. We spend all this time teaching him not to hit Connery...well, mostly teaching Connery not to hit Kieran, but still....

This Mommy business is tough. Lord knows he's saving a special place in heaven for my own Momma. How did she EVER raise me and Kelly to keep from killing each other? And now she has FAR more patience with the boys than I do. Several times a day, I ask, Is this right? How do I...? Should I...? And I don't anticipate finding the answers anytime soon. I think Sandy and I are raising two generous, patient, inquisitive, energetic boys, and I'm extremely proud of them. But those moments when they're not so generous, patient, etc. I think, "Who is this child?!?"

But this tough business pays well. When Kieran says "Mommy, you're my best friend" or "I'll share with Connery" or when Connery says, "Oth, Mommy" (Watch, Mommy) or signs "I love you" (his version looks more like he's holding up the number three with his middle finger, ring finger and pinky)...I think "This child? He's mine, all mine."

Yesterday, Kieran held my face in his hands and said, "I want to give you a kiss." When I puckered my lips, he held his hand up and said, "No I kiss YOU." So I kept my lips still while he puckered and kissed me. Then I told him it was my turn. We went back and forth until we were smiling so much they weren't even kisses anymore.

Happy Mother's Day, indeed.

Take me out to the ball game

2008-04-29T22:05:00.008-05:00

...or at least t-ball practice! Kieran and Finn (and their Coach Daddies) had their first t-ball practice ever today! All I can say is...it's going to be an entertaining season ;) The boys were so cute, learning the basics of the game. I'll try to give you a run-down of the first practice, but as you read it, you have to imagine Connery and Eli roaming around, too, one kid crying in the sidelines, Kieran dropping his glove and kicking it around, and Finn dancing near home plate. That was just the background music ;)

The first thing Sandy taught was "take a knee" so he could introduce himself and see how many had played "baseball" before. Then all the boys got a turn running to first base...no first base right here...over here...there ya go....good job! Now second base...no that one...other way...yeah second...no, not that way.........you get the idea ;) After several boys struggled with the concept, Sandy realized that it would help if they all ran together in a pack...with just a few free thinkers heading to whatever base they wanted, of course. Finn prefers to run straight to second base, for example. Rafael likes third.

Next came catching. The boys (and one girl!) grabbed their gloves and partnered up, one across from the other to practice just rolling the ball and catching it. A few stray balls, but overall, they did this one well.

Batting might have been the most hysterical, though. A few kids line up with helmets on at home plate. The rest of the kids position themselves throughout the field (with parent helpers). Then the first kid hits the ball...and chases it! Then the second kid does the same thing! Almost every one of them! In fact, one kid was on his way to second and passed it right up to help a kid in the outfield! And by this time, Kieran and Finn are stepping on ants in the dugout, climbing the bleachers, and telling us they're hungry. Thank goodness for the after-practice snack.

The only thing they didn't do? Well, the little girl pointed out to her mom that they "didn't put our hands in the middle and say something." So I'll be sure to tell the Coach about that request.

They played a little, they learned a little, they got high-fives from lots of parents...and they're eager to come back Saturday. What more can we ask for?

For more pictures and details, check out Finn and Eli's site, http://hotwheelhacienda.blogspot.com/ and our April 08 Picasa page

Trike-athon

2008-04-26T00:07:00.004-05:00

Hi -
Today was the Trike-athon at K&C's preschool. Kieran had a great time riding his bike around the parking lot at their school. Connery rode in style in a wagon during the ~1.2 hour ride. Kieran really loves to ride his bike. Just before he went to bed tonight, he informed me that tomorrow there is a "Trike-a-con" where he rides his scooter (as opposed to his bike). So I guess we will be out cruising the streets tomorrow - watch for scooters.
Cheers. S.

Thih thih and Donny, or is it Dottie.

2008-04-24T14:54:00.000-05:00

or is it "Dottie"? That's how Connery says "Kieran and Connery." Lately, as they've both been trying to talk, I am constantly fascinated by the boys' learning of language. The way they mispronounce words or string words together is good fodder for the blog, yes, but it's also testimony of their ages. In just a few short years, they will speak like adults, and I will miss the days when they were just discovering words.

Connery...
The pacifier used to be called bye, but now it's bye-uh.

He's putting two word phrases together. Kieran was fussing upstairs before his nap, and Connery said "seepy." Sandy said, "Are you sleepy, Connery?" And Connery quickly answered, "No, Thih-thih" (Kieran). As they walked upstairs to tend to big brother, he turned to me and said, "Bye, Mommy."

He's said his own name a few times, and I can't tell if he's saying Donny or Dottie. Either way, I love to hear him say it. Kieran says his name so fast, he usually just says "Conn."

The other night, Kieran asked to eat at "the hot dog place" and Connery repeated "ot doh payee."

I visit a local coffee shop called Kenny Mango's (yum!) and love that a Large is not a Venti or Grande but a Monkey Size ;) So I order a Monkey Chai every time. And I get a little plastic monkey each time I order. When I collect 10 monkeys, I bring them back and get a drink of my choice for free. Another Monkey Chai, of course. (It's a common marketing trick, but it's so much cuter with plastic monkeys than a punch card, huh?) Anyway. Not the point of the story. Well, Kieran likes to play with the monkeys and one day showed me one hanging from his finger. I said, "Silly monkey" and he started singing "No more monkeys hanging from my finger!"

Kieran was cranky one day and rubbing his eyes, so RitaBa told him, "You're a little sleepy, Kieran." He said, "I'm a big sleepy too."

He adds "just" to a lot of his sentences. Not to make a point really. He's not adamant when he says "I just like my shoes on the wrong feet." He just does.

Anytime he gets a sore and we ask him what happened, he ALWAYS says, "A 'pider just bit me." Sometimes he tells us that the spider climbed onto his arm, or his foot, and he's never disturbed by it. We're not sure where this "spider" lives or why it bites him, but it thinks he's tasty, apparently.

And he uses correct grammar! (Every English major's dream for her child...) He says, "I didn't close that cup very well" or "I'm not feeling very well."

And the other day, he told us that Monsters Inc. means Monsters "Incohpowated." Such a big word! But I guess he's a big boy these days.

Monkey Boy

2008-04-20T15:47:00.002-05:00

That would be Connery. He is SO adventuresome!! Already, we have found him on TOP of Momma's kitchen counter (thanks to the bar stools nearby) and IN our bathroom sink downstairs (thanks to the toilet and the toilet paper bar which makes a handy step, I guess.)

I know that he has a more active personality than Kieran. Kieran will sit for hours watching a movie. Connery watches it out of the corner of his eye as he runs by the television. Even at Connery's age, Kieran would sit and watch Signing Time episodes over and over. Connery watches MAYBE 10 minutes of Curious George in the morning while we get breakfast ready and the car packed up.

But I also think that he learns more by watching the things Kieran does. Kieran never watched anyone climb on top of the bar, so it never occurred to him to try it when he was 20 months old.

And especially after my own adventure yesterday, I want to invest in bubble wrap to wrap around these boys! Especially Evil CONN-ievel.

Don't try this at home

2008-04-20T15:12:00.003-05:00

I think that as the boys have reached their active ages, I've spent my time worrying about THEM getting hurt. But I learned yesterday, being a mother does not make you invincible.

I had a bit of an accident with a sledgehammer and my big toenail. It's a pretty gross story, so don't say I didn't warn you. We had a carnival at Butler--several large inflatables like slides and moon bounces, a batting cage type set up, a horse to ride, a dunking booth (filled with pickle juice!), and tables sponsored by school clubs with concessions, Make your Own Bracelets, and face painting and Henna tattoos (the last two sponsored by theatre). Well, off to one side (thankfully, just about 20 feet from the HEMSI unit), we had an old car that you could beat with a sledgehammer. It may be unfamiliar to some of you, but I've seen it at carnivals and heard of it enough to know that it's not entirely uncommon. Well, the students wanted me to do it, of course, and I did. Not a big deal. At one point I hit the side of the car, and the hammer hit the car and didn't stop. It swung through and hit my toe. It registered in my mind that the hammer hit my toe, but I kept right on hitting the car. It really didn't even hurt. I didn't even look down at it. About 10 seconds later, I started feeling weak--I thought because I was tired after swinging the sledgehammer--so I told everyone I was finished and walked away from the car. That's when I thought, "Hmmm...my toe does hurt" and looked down to see blood all over my foot...and my toenail sticking UP!

I am pretty proud to tell you that I didn't even cry. Don't get me wrong--it hurt like...well, fill in here with your own obscenities. It hurt BAD! But I used the breathing techniques I learned from birthing class ;) and was comforted by the paramedic who stopped the bleeding, Mr. Lopez who helped me sit up, and Ashley and Caila who took turns holding my hand. (MANY thanks to you guys!!) We put ice on it, which kept the throbbing at bay, and Sandy took me to the emergency room. We waited and waited, got an x-ray (which showed no broken bones), and...here's where I cried folks...two shots of Lidacaine. The shots hurt worse than anything! It felt like the doctor took a curved needle and pushed it around the entire base of my toe. Twice.

We waited about 10 minutes for the anesthetic to take effect but found out that it DIDN'T when...here's where I cried again...the doctor put my toenail back in place. So he gave me a THIRD shot of Lidacaine! It numbed my toe enough that the doctor was able to give me two stitches to hold the toenail down.

Eventually, my toenail will fall off, but it will grow back in a few months. And here's some toenail trivia for you. If my toenail had been pulled off completely and had NOT been put back in place, it would NOT grow back! I would have lived the rest of my life without a big toenail. (Not the worst prognosis in the world, I know, but not a pretty pedicure, either.) But since the doctor put the toenail back in place, he said the "matrix" is in place, so that it can, I guess, take root and grow back.

So I'm on Lortab and spending a lot of time sleeping or playing on the computer. The doctor said I could go back to work Monday. (Trust me, I asked him if he was SURE that I didn't need to lay around until Tuesday, pretty please.) The boys stayed at Momma's Saturday night, and Sandy picked them up just a couple of hours ago. They haven't paid much attention to my toe. Yesterday, at the carnival, we told Kieran that I hurt my toe really bad, and he wanted to see it. But I told him that he didn't need to see it; it was bleeding and I needed a band-aid. That satisfied him.

Topper Birney (who is a HUGE supporter of Butler and was even the King in Cinderella a month ago!) is...I forget how old, but older, we'll say. He challenged me to a race yesterday and said it was his chance to win for a change. Well, I think he's got a couple of weeks to make me take that challenge. After that, I hope I'll be back up to speed, literally. Just don't look at my toe...and keep the sledgehammers away, please.

Thankful for conjunctivitis

2008-04-17T20:10:00.004-05:00

I didn't even know that was the medical term for "pink-eye" until the boys came along. Since then, Kieran's had it twice, and I got it once. Of all the illnesses to get, it might be the easiest. My eyes felt irritated and itchy, and the "goop" was pretty gross, but I felt fine. And wearing sunglasses to hide my bloodshot eyes just made me look cool.

The worst thing about Kieran's case this time is that the doctor prescribed DROPS! THAT, my friends is tricky. I've worked out a system whereby I can sit on him without crushing him but keep his arms pinned down. He cries and twists around, I reassure him that it will help his eyes feel better, and within a few minutes, he's back to playing.

I am thankful for conjunctivitis. When pink eye is the worst illness your child faces, you're lucky. Several of my friends have children who are facing far more serious illnesses.

Little Evan Thomason is the son of a friend of mine from high school. He was diagnosed almost two years ago with a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma. He has undergone several different kinds of chemotherapy and has just regrown his beautiful blonde hair. He has an amazing voice, and talks like a child much older than he is. He uses phrases like "I would love to" and sang for the entire audience after a performance of Cinderella at Butler. My students have adopted him as our little "mascot" and ask me about him continually. We read updates in class and watch every video that Melissa posts. Tomorrow we'll have to watch this one. Just yesterday, Evan got the first part of his "Make A Wish" granted...and he became a celebrity for the day! www.caringbridge.org/visit/evanthomason

Little "Tater" just turned one and spent the first month of his life in NICU...and the doctors still aren't sure why. He's had multiple tests and biopsies, all with no diagnoses. He has had surgery to have a GI tube inserted, has been on oxygen and most recently had a tracheotomy so that he can breathe with a ventilator. He is somewhat delayed developmentally, but he has made so much progress in his first year. And he quickly developed CHARM! http://tosertater.blogspot.com/

Princeton is 4 (hmm...maybe 5?) and was diagnosed a few months ago with a rare kidney disease. His mother teaches with me at Butler and says that the doctor has told her it's a condition most patients grow out of...by the time they're in college. That's a long way off, folks. And in the meantime, he is on a variety of medications (one of which they're having to reevaluate because it hasn't been effective) and a stringent diet with almost NO sodium. He even asks, "Does this have sodium?" before he eats anything. Can you imagine a little boy asking about the amount of sodium in his food??

Bella Rose is not even a year old and has already had two heart surgeries. She was also born with an ear abnormality and is completely deaf in one ear. She had her second open heart surgery a month ago and will have surgery on her spine in June.

And two weeks after Bella's surgery, a friend of mine had a sweet baby girl named Abigail. A few days later, she was diagnosed with a VSD, or hole in her heart, that will require open heart surgery sometime in the next few months. http://mikeamyandizzy.typepad.com/izzy_and_abby

I can't imagine what these children and their parents are going through. That's an understatement. Sometimes I try to imagine watching Connery go under anesthesia for surgery, or Kieran have to drink 16 oz of disgusting "contrast" for a CT scan ...and I chicken out. To see them laugh and play, but know that internally they are fighting for their lives? I can't do it.

Kieran got his last eye drops tonight. We celebrated by letting him dramatically throw the bottle in the garbage. And I thought to myself, We are so lucky.

Time out!

2008-04-08T22:20:00.001-05:00

Did Kieran have to go into time-out when he was Connery’s age? I don’t think so…but Connery certainly does. Not every day, mind you, but a few times a week. Mostly for hitting. He usually doesn’t hit with anger. He’s usually non-chalant about it. Just seems like the thing to do, I guess. At home, he even walks to the corner on his own…crying the entire time, of course.

Speaking of the corner, Amy said “stupid” one night in the kitchen, which we know is forbidden. “No saying stupid words” according to Kieran. So this night, he heard me, and Sandy said, “What should she do, Kieran?” (I’ll get him for that!) Kieran smiled and said, “Go stand in the corner, Mommy.” It’s been YEARS since I stood in the corner. DECADES, really. And it’s really an awful place. You can’t see anyone else, it’s boring and you’re completely vulnerable. Anyone could sneak up behind you and attack. I knew that I was setting an example for him, so I didn’t argue or complain or ask to get out—the very things he gets in trouble for doing—and I was SOOOOOO glad to get out. After he told me I could come out, he said, “Now you have to say sorry.” Which I did. Because I was. I don’t ever want to do that again!

Easter 08 (and pictures from March)

2008-04-06T00:35:00.012-05:00

So it's a little late to be "reporting" on Easter, but I had to gather up the pictures...

We got to spend Easter in Tennessee, just like I always did growing up. RitaBa took a couple of days off, and I was on Spring Break, so we got to stay an extra couple of days, which kept us from feeling rushed.

My cousin Jessi made all the kids sweet Easter baskets. In fact, we ran into her in the Easter candy aisle at Wal-Mart! haha

We got to see Dylan and Hailey (who are growing WAY too fast) and "the twins" Dalton and Dawson. (My cousin Eric was killed in a car wreck almost 5 years ago. He wife Liza remarried and had these sweet little boys. Technically, they're not related, we know, but they still feel like they're ours.) Sweet story about Dylan--I'm always amazed at how genuinely kind he is. At dinner, the kids only wanted chicken nuggets, of course--even though we had a huge spread of turkey, green beans, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, all the good stuff--and the kids grabbed the nuggets and headed out to the porch to eat. I needed to get a couple for Kieran and expected a fight...but as soon as I said that I needed a couple, Dylan grabbed two off his own plate and said Kieran could have them. Simple but sweet, isn't it?

I often felt nostalgic while were there. I am just two weeks older than my uncle John, and two months older than my cousin Brian. There are LOTS of pictures floating around of the three of us, like little triplets, in one crib together, in the tub together, in front of the Christmas tree, playing outside...you get the idea. John and I were even in the same 1st grade class, so we have a class photo together, too. I would give anything to have a picture of Momma, Rhonda and Gran while they were pregnant! (Momma says she remembers telling Gran that she thought she was pregnant. Gran stopped cooking and said, "I think I am, too.")

Anyway, that's not the point of my story...the point is that as Kieran and Connery played and bathed and hunted Easter eggs with Brian's daughter Lily, we all said several times that it reminded us of me, John and Brian. Funny how that happens in families.

We were glad everyone was healthy enough to hunt Easter eggs at Rhonda's on Saturday. (Momma was recuperating from surgery on Kieran's first Easter, and Connery was battling ear infections on his first.) The little ones got a head start, which helped because we did a lot of explaining for the first few minutes--"The eggs. See the eggs. Get that one and put it in your basket. Very good! Oooh, there's another one. You can get it, too..." When the big kids came out, it was every man for himself. But the little ones didn't care by then. In fact, Connery was satisfied with his first egg. He held it up and started calling "Thih-Thih," looking for Kieran. Proud to show his brother...

My Granny Pugh had knee replacement surgery a week before, and we were glad she got to go home on Good Friday. The boys showed off all their new tricks...and worried us when they got too close to her leg. My Aunt Helen was there, and Kaitlynn and Joshua came over. It's always fun to watch the great-grandkids play together. And Connery was hysterical teasing Helen. He would act like he'd give her something, then jerk it away when she reached for it...and CRACK up!!

On Easter Sunday, the boys wore beautiful matching vests and ties. Amy told Kieran, “You’re going to look so handsome.” To which he replied, “I don’t want to look handsome. I just want to look cute.” Well, they certainly did look cute. We didn't get any good pictures of both of them together, but this one of Kieran turned out. For a kid who usually doesn't look at the camera, he doesn't seem to mind posing. He came up with this pose entirely on his own. Here are more pictures from Easter and the entire month of March. http://picasaweb.google.com/amysandy/March08

It feels good to back in TN for Easter, where I spent my very first Easter. I was born on Easter of 1974 in Cumberland Medical Center. Easter won't fall on my birthday again until 2047, but until then, Easter in the mountains feels right.

Smart Connery

2008-04-01T01:40:00.003-05:00

This is my new favorite video of the boys. Connery, this time, saying his ABC's. Yes, that's his sock he sticks in his mouth around Q.
F is my favorite.

Kieran's stories

2008-03-31T23:40:00.005-05:00

So I'm used to posting one big update monthly. I'll have to figure out how I want to post little blogs along the way instead, since it's a lot easier to do that on a blog. So I'm going to write several posts here from last month.

This one's about some of the funny things Kieran's been saying lately.

Green means…Go
Red means…Stop
Yellow means...........Jump.
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At the end of The Monster at the End of this Book, which was my FAVORITE book when I was little, I asked Kieran if we should turn the page. “No. ‘Cause he would be scared. He is scared of a monster.”
We turned it anyway, and then he explained, "He is not scared, 'acause I am here. And I am bigger."
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At the end of The Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss asks, "Well what would you do if your mother asked you?" Kieran's answer...“I would not tell my mother I saw the Cat in the Hat. I would tell her I saw a monster. ‘Cause after I was little last year, I was a big, bad Superman. And Connery was Batman. After he was bigger.”
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He thinks it’s funny to say “poopie.” Especially at the table. When we try to ignore it, he points it out to us. "Mommy, I said 'poopie.' That's a potty word, right?"
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He complains about the sun getting in his eyes on the way home, and one day even said, “I no like the sun.” A few minutes later, he told me, “I make the sun sad, ‘acause I say he is not my friend. But he is nice to me, and I am his friend now. And he is happy.”
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We battle with him almost every day about picking his nose! One day, I reminded him, and he said, “I’m just getting the bugs out of my nose.” I said, “What bugs?” and he said, “I have biggers in my nose, and I call them bugs.”
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He likes to put rocks in his pocket, so laundry is a lot of fun. He picks them up at school, our own yard, in front of Logan’s…everywhere. He sweetly takes some out periodically and gives them to us. “This one’s for you, Mommy.”

Oh, and he knows his left from his right somehow. They must have taught him that at school, because he gets it right (haha, correct) every time we ask him!
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And of course, a regular installment of Kieran speak
After—instead of when—“After I was a baby, I spit up sometimes.”
Dinasoy—dinosaur
Grandpa—RitaBa—One day, he said, “I’m thinking of my grandpa.” We said, which grandpa? Papa or PaGaga, and he said RitaBa. We’ve tried to explain that she’s grandma, but he doesn’t get it.

Butler Theatre presents Cinderella

2008-03-24T00:18:00.004-05:00

And the boys loved it. Well, Kieran did anyway. He watched the play pretty intently, and during scene changes, said, “Let’s do one more.” He thought the stepsisters were funny and said “They’re fighting like me and Connery.” His favorite part was “Cinderella” or “The printheth.” But he wouldn’t say it in front of Viv, the actress who played the part. He got bashful. He sat with Meagan who was dressed in her Cinderella dress and waved a little wand like she was the Fairy Godmother…Kieran held his wand with the star in his hand and jabbed it around like a sword!

Connery liked it until the stepsisters started fighting about 6 feet away from us. He cried and pointed at them until we had to go hang out in the lobby. Not the best place to see a show from.

Our real life episode of ER

2008-03-24T00:01:00.003-05:00

This year's ER visit was not as scary as last year's. You may remember the emergency room adventure last year on Amy’s birthday when Connery's temperature reached 104.3, and he was vomiting. He just stared blankly and was sweating through his clothes--the most pitiful we've ever seen either of the boys. We rushed him to the ER, where they gave him Motrin and determined that he had severe double ear infections. He had already been on two antibiotics which obviously hadn't helped, so the last option was shots of Rocephin. He was given an IV for fluids--an AWFUL experience for us to watch, and for him, too, if his crying is any indication--so he got the first "shot" through the IV. He seemed to feel somewhat better by the time we left the hospital, thanks to the fluid and the lower temperature. The next two mornings we visited his pediatrician to get the other two shots. We worried that the infections would still linger, and he would have to get tubes put in his ears, but fortunately that never became an issue again.

This year, the ear infections were back, but thankfully, not with a vengeance. This time, just one ear was infected, but he wound up getting the Rocephin shots because he’s allergic to the antibiotic the doctor said would surely rid him of it. The problem was that he has to get one shot each day for three days…and our van was packed and ready to go to Tennessee for Easter weekend. Thank God for the Internet and cell phones, because we called around and around until we found a doctor in Crossville who would see him and administer the shot on Friday, then write an outpatient order for the ER at the hospital to give it on Saturday (since all the dr. offices and walk-in clinics were closed for the holiday).

It turns out that the last shot was the worst. He and I waited in the ER for an hour, then went upstairs where they put us in an actual room to wait for another hour. We curled up on the hospital bed, watched some TV, roamed the hall, talked about the clown paintings on the walls, played in front of the mirror and ate the bag of Froot Loops Amy luckily had in her purse. Then FINALLY the nurse came in, and I think Connery got suspicious…after all he had done this twice in as many days. He started to cry. Then the nurse told me that this shot did not have Lidocaine in it like the others did—apparently the medicine itself is really painful, so the syringe usually has Lidocaine in it to help ease the pain—but the doctor who wrote the outpatient order failed to prescribe it. So I helped the nurse hold him down, dreading it, though I'm sure not as much as he was. Then the nurse said, “I can’t believe it. The needle broke.” By the time I turned to see, she had pulled the broken needle out of his leg…which she had poked twice. She got another needle and another nurse to “help” her hold him down. (Geez! He’s a year and a half!) Finally, she got the shot in him…and he cried all the way out of the hospital. So I took him to Dairy Queen. He deserved it.

The new and improved site!

2008-03-23T23:06:00.001-05:00

So we thought we'd change everything...just to spice things up a bit! We think we'll like a "blog" instead of a "webpage." So hopefully we'll get everything transferred over soon.