Question Of The Day

Here goes:

Liam: "Mommy, when Kieran was in your tummy, was it dark in there?"

Me: "Um, sure, I guess...Why?"

Liam: "I want to know how he could see to find the train he brought when he was born. I don't think he's old enough to build one, and babies can't go to Target by their own."

Answers, anyone?

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lemur!

Liam at four months...

...and now at four years.

Happy Birthday to the boy who introduced us to, and is continuing to teach, the fine art of parenting. In four years you've gone from being an adored baby to being an adored older brother. There have been big changes in your life this year. You've got a baby brother, whom you love fiercely except when he's stealing your toys (which, I hesitate to tell you, may happen more often as time goes on). You've started nursery school, which you love, except for early in the morning when you say, "I just want to stay here all this day with you, Mommy." When you are running around with your friends or playing gently with your brother, it's clear you are well on the road to Big Boyness. The next few years will undoubtedly bring more changes, but with your gentle spirit and buoyant personality, you'll weather them with style.

Thank you for the best four years of our lives, and here's to many more to come. Happy Birthday, Super Lemur!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Thankful Boy

Liam: "Mommy, why do we not have school tomorrow?"

Me: "Tomorrow is a big holiday. It's called Thanksgiving."

Liam: "What is Thanksgiving?"

Me: "Well, it's a day where we have a big family dinner and think about all the things we're thankful for."

Liam: "What is 'thankful'?"

Me: "'Thankful' means being happy about all the people and things in our lives that we love. I'm thankful for you and Kieran, Daddy, Gran-Gran, Pop-Pop - "

Liam: "What about Casey? And Pippi? And Stormy? And Houdini?"

Me: "I'm thankful for them, as well."

...a moment of silence...

Liam: "Well, I love all those things, too. But actually I'm really thankful for vanilla ice cream."

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Home Again

I'm sorry I haven't posted photos of our trip yet - I just realized Thanksgiving is this week, and Liam's birthday party here at home is next week. Also it turns out that if you overstimulate two kids for a week and then return them home, there's a bit of a shock factor, and some misbehavior and sleep issues result - but it was well worth that to see all of our family in one spot. Here are some highlights:

This is from a trip to Fredericksburg that Gran-Gran, the boys, and I took. Liam "adopted" this James at the toy store. Gran-Gran paid his adoption fees!

(Liam says, "Thank you, Gran-Gran!")

Balancing on some rocks on a sunny morning.

Learning the basics of bronco riding.

Kevin and Kieran sunning themselves on a rock above the Guadalupe River.


Pop-Pop and Liam made a fire engine cake for Liam's 4th birthday, and had a great time doing it. Liam isn't technically 4 until the 27th, but we did an early family party. It was great because he had everyone in the family there. I'm not showing photos here to protect the privacy of other family members who might not want their pictures on the blogosphere, but trust me, it was a wonderful party.


The finished cake! And the proud pastry chef!

All this fun makes a fellow tired! The kids were pretty much spent by dinnertime each night, but they were having so.much,fun. (The one thing we didn't get a chance to do was to get together with Karen, a blogfriend of mine who I met years ago as she is a longtime friend of my sister-in-law, Janet. Karen, I'm sorry we didn't get together, and I hope we can have a Blogger meet-up next time we come to Texas. Hopefully by then you'll be feeling better, too.)

Thanks for a wonderful week, Pop-Pop and Gran-Gran. I truly hope the visit was all you hoped it would be, and that we can come back soon!

Yeehaw!

Howdy, ya'll! We're having a fun time here. So much so that screen time is limited. I'll post about the trip after we get home this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm off to get ready for the family party for Mr. Lemur, who is about to turn 4!

The To-Do List

Thins to do between now and tomorrow night:

1. Laundry

2. a. Packing (clothes)
b. Packing (toys and travel diversions)
c. Packing (snacks)

3. a. Take the dog to the kennel.
b. Don't forget his meds.
c. He's got the doggie equivalent of athlete's foot, and his feet itch horribly, poor thing.

4. a. Take the ferrets to their caretaker.
b. Don't forget the ferrets' meds.
c. They all are on amoxicillin for a respiratory infection.
d. Remind self not to share pathogenic bacteria with pets.

5. Get new pair of glasses.

6. Clean the fish tank.

7. Parent-teacher conference tomorrow morning.

8. Lantern walk for Martinmas tomorrow night.

9. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. (Mushy brain, ya know?)

So, with all that, why am I lying in bed blogging while the kids are peacefully napping? Because it's just so warm, cozy, and relaxing. Motherhood has its privileges, you see!

Bits 'N' Pieces Of Stuff (Random)

We're getting ready to leave town for a week. We're going to Gran-Gran's. Actually, the boys and I are going to Gran-Gran's, while Kevin gets the fun of attending a conference for most of the week.

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I always get stressed out by travel plans. I'm trying hard not to get all frazzled, but I'm not having much luck in that department.

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I can't remember most of the things I was planning to include in this post - after answering "why" questions all day, my brain is most mushy.

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Example "why" questions:

1. "Why are operas so long?"
2. "Why does Santa live at the North Pole?"
3. "Why can't I eat French fries all day long?"
4. "Why are there so many cars on Route 1?"
5. "What are there so many cars on every road?"
6. "Why aren't you answering me, Mommy? Mommy? MOMMEE?"

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It's the peak of the autumn color around here, and it's really pretty driving to school in the mornings

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I was in the pet store last Saturday, and walked in to find a huge display of Christmas goodies for dogs and cats. I was busy thinking it's kind of early for Christmas stuff, but Liam ran ahead of me yelling, "Mommy! Look! They brought Christmas back!" He was so happy I couldn't be grinchy for long.

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I guess I better start that Christmas shopping. Soon.

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I leave you with the cute picture du jour:

"Mommy, in this picture I am the SuperLemur Express speeding down the track. I almost seemed to fly!!!"

Two Years

Two years ago, I started this blog. I had one son, pretty much still a baby....

...and now I have a pre-schooler and a whole new baby.

Life is good.

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Zithromax is my friend, as is this channel, although I find it somewhat unnerving that my son is running around the house yelling, "Don't go away, Sproutlets, we'll be right back!"

I'll be right back, too, as long as you're willing to define "right back" as being "when this darn sinusitis/tonsillitis thing gets better." I owe about 27 different people e-mails - hang in there, guys, I'll get back to you soon, hopefully in the next couple of days.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!