Fly Boys

A note about flies, then onto the boys: I am happy to report that we have resolved our fly problem with the use of good old-fashioned flypaper. I realize it is not the most humane way, but I imagine being hit with a flyswatter is not the most pleasant experience either. In looking for solutions to our fly problem, we searched for a bug zapper that we could plug in at night in our kitchen. However, the only zapper we were able to find was- get this- a hand held one. It looked like a badminton racket with a button and electricity. Really? How is this better than a flyswatter? You still have to aim and hit the fly, but now with the possible dangerous side effect of zapping someone you love. What are Walmart patrons really using this device for? I am sure columnist Gregg Easterbrook would agree with me that the existence of this item is further proof of the decline of western civilization.

Now the boys: As many of you know, I grew up in the Dayton area- home to the Wright brothers, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and the National Air Force Museum and Aviation Hall of Fame. Earlier this month, my brothers Joe and Sam helped me take the little boys for the first time. They were in complete awe of all the airplanes. Elijah's favorite was the little plane nicknamed "Bug" just like him.
Here is Gabe pointing to his favorite plane, although I couldn't get him to articulate what exactly he liked about it.
Both the boys loved climbing in the cockpits and playing copilots.


This is my favorite plane, the B-2 Bomber. I think it looks awesome, and my Dad helped design its radar systems as a top-secret project for the Air Force. I remember feeling a real sense of pride every time I saw one fly over from the Air Force Base. I also had a toy B-2 when I was younger.
David John wasn't too thrilled about the planes, but LOVED the space section of the museum. Here are some of the rockets we saw:
And here is David John looking like, as the boys said, "Buzz Lightyear to Finity and Yond!"

At the end of the trip, everyone was tired- but David John actually fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the car.

I'm glad we live close enough that I can share the history of where I grew up with my little fly boys.

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

We've been saying "hello" and "goodbye" to a variety of things during this past month. Here's the rundown:

Hello Awesome New Camera
Thanks to Oma's early Christmas present we were able to finally get an awesome camera! Did I mention that it is orange and we even found a stylish matching orange-lined camera bag? (Eat your heart out Gina.) We are really excited- but don't expect fabulous pictures just yet. I'm still learning how to use the new-fangled thing.

Goodbye Old Camera
We bid thee farewell old camera... you served us for many years despite your often blurry pictures and tendency to randomly shut down at any moment. We will miss your rabbit-chewed camera case and strap.
Hello Flyswatter
This isn't actually new, more like newly rediscovered. Move over Mr. Miyagi, instead of catching flies one-at-a-time with chopsticks, I took out 50 in one session with this baby.

Goodbye Flies
Warning- the next picture is slightly graphic in nature. This is a message to all of you flies out there. My house is now a no-fly zone (please forgive the terrible pun). I am tired of you coming in uninvited and breaking the maximum occupancy rules for my house. I am pretty sure 25 individuals are not allowed to reside in one window sill- this is a serious fire hazard. I will no longer tolerate you landing on my food, making Elijah scream "Ahhh! Mommy, a bug! It scares me!" or tempting Gabe to try and smash you (what I am talking about- succeeding in smashing you) with his toothbrush. Enough said.
Hello Super-Bright Chalk
My Mom found this amazing sidewalk chalk for the boys to draw with. We had a great time with the bright colors and it kept my monsters busy for a whole afternoon while Marc was on call. They are crayola brand if anyone is interested in finding some.

Goodbye Clean Pants
Of course, the downside of chalk is that it gets EVERYWHERE. Luckily, this stuff is washable.

Hello School Year
Okay, so none of my kids are starting school for a while, but my friends kids are so it still affects who we can play with and it means the school playground down the street will be unavailable during school hours. I have to admit I feel a little jealous of those parents whose lives will be getting "back-to-normal" when school starts. Anyway, here is a picture of my guys enjoying a huge pile of books in preparation for future school studies.

Goodbye Summer Preschool
I really had a great time with this summer preschool. It reminded me that I do have a non-mommy skill set and I miss teaching in some ways. I even got a gift from my "students" aka their moms of some yummy candy and Kohls gift card. Woo hoo! Friday was our last day. I'm thinking about starting a joy school group in the fall or winter. Maybe after we've mastered potty training...
Hello Deer
Marc was on call AGAIN today (after being on call Friday) and David John started running a fever Friday afternoon so we've all been cooped up inside without Daddy. Today we couldn't go to church, but I had to get out of the house so we drove to a park with a stroller-friendly trail. The boys were thrilled to spot a family of four deer. We only got a picture of two of them but they sure were beautiful.
Goodbye Deer
Here is the last deer just before they all ran away through the woods. After the deer left, the boys asked, "Mommy, now we gonna see some cows and goats?" Obviously we have some work to do on categorizing woodland versus farm animals.

Little 'Lijah

I certainly didn't want to deprive my "middle" child and major cutie Elijah of having his own post. Elijah is our resident lover-of-food (although David John is also vying for that title) and consummate organizer. Here are a few stories about my little Bug from the last few months:

One stark difference between Gabe and Elijah is their initial reactions to new foods. Without tasting it, Gabe will immediately declare "I don't like it!" while Elijah will say "I like it Mommy, I like it!" Elijah made this declaration about some hot sauce that I put on the table with dinner one evening. Elijah asked if he could have some on his plate. I explained that it was spicy and that it might make his mouth feel funny, but I put a little on his plate for him to try. He chose to dip his watermelon, of all things, in the hot sauce and ate it. He made a terrible face but doggedly insisted that it was "liscious" and that he wanted more. He continued to dip every piece of watermelon in the sauce and made a terrible face every time. I think it was some show of his manliness.

One evening, Elijah said our nightly family prayer and it consisted of entirely food-related statements. Elijah thanked Heavenly Father for breakfast, lunch, watermelon, peanut-butter and dinner. He then blessed the food (even though we weren't eating anything) and said "Amen."

Elijah loves to pick things up and organize them. He is unable to go to sleep unless every toy is in its place and all of the books are on the shelf and oriented correctly. Last week, he wouldn't start eating dinner until I closed an open cabinet door that was driving him crazy. Hmmm... Marc's son maybe?

Sometimes, Elijah's cleaning means that I can't find something he has "put away". On Thursday I drove to my parents' house since Marc was going to be on call for the entire weekend. I gathered everything that needed to be loaded in the car and put it in a pile in the living room. I then made a few trips to the van to pack it all in. It wasn't until after I buckled the boys in that I realized there were no diapers in the car. I knew that I had put two packages in the pile of things to go out but when I went back in the house they weren't in the living room where I left them. Finally, I spotted them on top of the diaper changing table where Elijah had put them away.

Lately, Elijah has taken to calling me "Honey". I think this is because he hears Marc call me that. I think it is kind of cute but after days of "Honey, I want some more milk." and "I need a hug, Honey." and "I busy Honey." I decided to start correcting him in an effort to get him to call me Mommy again. Yesterday at dinner, Elijah said "Honey, I want more blueberries." I said, "Elijah, my name is Mommy." He looked at me and smiled, then said, "Mommy, you Honey. Okay?"

Elijah has always been very sweet and concerned about other people. When Gabe is in time out (often for hitting Elijah) Elijah will go talk to him under the door and even passes him toys and books. One day, I went into the boys room and needed to look for a box of clothes in the closet. I locked the door so the boys wouldn't feel the need to come in and help take everything out of the closet. Elijah came to the door and said, "Mommy you in there?" I replied that I was. He tried the door but found that it was locked then said, "Oh no Gabe, Mommy in time out." He then pushed a few books under the door.

Last night, Jennifer and Chris Mahoney came over for dinner. They were here when it was time to put the boys to bed. As part of our bedtime routine, once the boys are all tucked in we give them hugs. They often request different kinds of hugs like a "daddy squish hug" or a "baby hug". This time, they asked for a "Christmas hug". It took me a minute before figuring out they wanted a hug from Chris. Pretty cute. Luckily, Chris was up for it.

Elijah is definitely his own person. We hope he knows how much we love and enjoy him and that he doesn't develop middle child syndrome. Marc insists that he is fine even though he was a middle child but sometimes I'm not sure.... just teasing.

Baby Davey's Big Day

Even though David John's birthday was on Friday, we celebrated on Saturday so Sarah's family and many of Marc's awesome colleagues could join in on the fun. Here is a diary of his day in pictures with commentary. However, I first wanted to mention that one of his birthday gifts was the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle (thanks Sophia!). Here is a passage from the book which I think is a fairly accurate description of David John's activities on his special day. "On Saturday he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon." In the book, the caterpillar ends up with a stomachache. Thankfully, that didn't happen but we paid the price today with a record number of poopy diapers. Woo-hoo!mmm... oatmeal with a spoon

Grandpa took me to the park and then we hit some garage sales...

...where we bought a new pool!

zzzzzzzzz

mmmm... cereal on the garage floor

mmm,... Gabe's snack

Is it time for my party?

Happy Birthday to me!

mmm... cupcake

I even shared with my brothers!

awww... aren't my guests cute?

I can't believe I ate that whole thing!

I got some serious loot, thanks friends and family!

My brothers got some too.

Check out my new stylin' boots.

I am one popular guy.

Michelle gave me this awesome balloon. You can see though it!

mmm... ice cream

Good one Joe, "Shovel it in!" ha ha

I definitely needed a bath.

Then it was time for PJs and more attention. I love birthdays!

The 1 and Only David John

That's right people, our baby is officially a big one-year-old. Somehow this happened on Friday even though I am quite sure there is no way that is has been one year since his birth. So what's new in the life of Baby Davey?
- He can sign "more", "finished", "eat", "drink" and a sign that, depending on the context, can mean "this", "show me" or "you owe me". I'm not sure where he learned that one.
- He folds his arms for prayers... sometimes. Sometimes he makes as much noise as humanly possible and throws food.
- He has gone from a toothless wonder to having 4 very sharp teeth. As a result, he thinks he can eat anything... even corn on the cob. While this may theoretically be possible, his technique needs a little work.
- One of his favorite games is to sit on the edge of the boys' mattresses with his feet on the floor and bounce up and down on his bum until at some point he goes flying off and lands on the floor. He laughs, cries, then does it again.
- He loves to read books, preferably upside-down and in a loud voice. His favorite thing to "read" is novels because he can flip through the pages and make that satisfying "pfft" sound.
- He is officially on solids and whole milk- no more nursing. This doesn't stop him, however, from wearing his nursing cover like a poncho and following me around the house.
- He is very affectionate and generous with his blinkers, eskimo kisses, cuddles, and slobbery open mouthed kisses on your face.
- Basically, he continues to be stinkin' adorable (often an emphasis on the "stinkin" part is appropriate) and we can't imagine life without him.