Cousins... 2nd post today!

I started to put all of today's events in one post but it would have been ALOT of pics! I'm going to try breaking them out AND linking to a full set of pics in Facebook...

After soccer we went to Bruceville to see Mom and Dad and then on to Vincennes to see the boys' new cousin, Clint. Aunt Tammie handed Clint over to Ben to hold - and I wasn't worried. Even though Clint is not yet a month old, I knew Ben would be careful. That is just how he is. THEN she handed him to OWEN! I wasn't sure about that... but he did wonderfully! In fact, he didn't want to give Clint up. He just kept cuddling him and smiling at him. Very sweet. Clint is beautiful... dark complexion, very alert. It was a fun visit. Ben and Owen really liked to look at him and then hold his hand...

The boys also got a few minutes on Nick's 4-wheeler and lawn mower!
After grabbing a quick dinner to take back to Mom and Dad's and then eating with the boys, we went to Dad's shop for a tractor ride. Owen has been waiting for the ride for days... and as soon as we got to Mom & Dad's today he started clapping and saying "papaw, papaw!" Shortly thereafter he was all about the cows and the tractor.

After the ride down the dirt road and back, the boys went into Dad's shop. Owen spied the 4-wheeler and plainly said "I want to ride pappaw's 4-wheeler!" Of course Grandpa obliged. The boys finished and then played in the dirt... and then along came cousin Kyle. The pictures tell the story there... they had a great time! Oh and this last photo of Kyle... this is his "Uncle Steve" sign. How cute!

A funny from today, by the way... Ben was trying to figure out which tractor they were going to be riding. I said "the White" -- he said "I want to drive the gray tractor!" Me: "yes, that is the White." Ben... "no, it's GRAY!!" This continued for awhile and was then repeated when Grandpa gave the same explanation. I said later, whoever chose to call a gray tractor a "White" was obviously crazy!

Here's a link to a bigger photo album on Facebook!

Soccer - Apr 26

We had another soccer game this morning. This week's game was pretty unremarkable for our team... I'm not sure we actually scored in OUR goal the entire game. Ben's friend Scot made 2 or 3 goals, but for the other team. Our shirts were all the same color and since the kids can't READ yet, they were having a heck of a time figuring out who they should take the ball from ! It was also FREEZING out there, so everyone just wanted the game to be over and FAST! Jason had to work (call this weekend) but was able to arrange his calls so that he could stop by the game. Owen and Ben were very happy to see him!

First of all... comments!

Commenting. Seriously -- where are you people? Do you know how to do comments? Comments, in blogging, are a way of encouraging the blogger... saying "yeh, I like to read this.." Hint. Hint. Comment, people. Someday I'll print this -- maybe even two copies (one for each boy). They'll ask "did no one read it?" due to the lack of comments. Since we don't want them to think you didn't CARE about their stories... COMMENT!!

Here are a couple of fun pics from tonight. Ben loves this outfit because: 1. the shirt has a number (he LOVES number shirts... but not as much as superhero shirts), 2. the shorts have no pockets... for some reason he is currently against pockets, and 3. the shorts are blue. Blue, as he reminds me EVERYTIME we get dressed is his favorite color. Expect to see a lot of photos in this outfit this summer. Probably not the boots as they'll get hot... but today we were unable to find his "summer crocs."

Owen is screaming... in case you wondered. Wronged twice in a row... First Ben took the bike that Owen wanted (see pic of bike Ben is on - if you see one of these at a garage sale this summer, pick it up. This will prevent many future fights at our house. It has to be like this bike, by the way. No other bikes are as fast.). Then Owen found the cookies that I threw from the van into the dumpster, missing the dumpster and spilling them on the ground. Two days ago, by the way. He was crushed that he couldn't eat them.

Since he's starving and nearly wasting away, I'd better get on with dinner!

Old post - from 11/10/2007

I'm copying over stuff from another site I used... this is a blog post from Nov 2007...

We are SO getting flu shots next week... all of us! I set the alarm early today to go to Walmart... we were out of juice AND I needed to get ingredients for my pitch in stuff for our church Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I knew immediately that I'd been infected by the little germ-breeders that live in my house! Jason woke up with the flu as well... so it's been an eventful day for the two of us. Owen got sick again last night too - and he was fussy/clingy all day... I don't know what is worse - having a sick kid when your sick yourself or having one that ISN'T sick and is bored all day!! I finally had to go out to Walmart tonight to get some rice, gatorade and jello (for jello water) and was able to pick up some Halloween costumes (Ninjas with MUSCLES) for 90% off. This has ended the boredom for awhile...

So anyway, we're obviously staying home from church tomorrow as we're both still taking turns will the illness tonight. We missed last week's service too as we headed down early to pick the boys up from Mom and Dad's since Ben was sick with the flu. I can't think of the last time that we missed 2 wks in a row of church service... not something I like to do. Even when we had both boys, I think we missed only 1 Sunday. Hopefully the sermon taping is on for tomorrow...

I was also thinking today, as I laid in bed (most of the day), that I need to be sure to insert the kid stuff into these blog posts... since I don't do any other kid-journaling or scrapbooking. So right now, I LOVE:
* Owen's chubby legs and arms (Ben loves them too - we are trying to break him from calling Owen "chubby)
* The way Owen says "NOOOOOO" (picture him pushing his lips out and building up to the NNNNN part). We did explain to him and to Ben tonight that when he's a little older he will get paddled for saying NO. When Jason said paddled, Owen leaned over in his high chair and tapped his bottom saying "butt?"
* Ben's sweetness. He loves to have mommy rub his back when he is going to sleep. He still likes to have every little injury kissed. He was really sweet today while we were sick... once (without graphic detail) when I was obviously getting sick on the other side of the bathroom door, he waited outside asking if I was okay over and over.
* Ben's superhero moves. At present he is yelling "Superhero" and doing some kind of jump/lunge. He's wearing the muscular ninja costume as he does this. The yelling is not so good on the head right now... but it's still cute.
* How both boys call me "momma" all of a sudden. Annoying in volume (like in Walmart when they say it over and over and over), but really sweet most of the time.
* How Owen kicks his feet and gets really excited in the opening scene on Spirit when the horses come running over the hill. He LOVES this movie. We can't say the word or he goes to the DVD player and TV and starts saying "play, play, play, play"
* And finally, Owen's words right now... he can say/repeat ANYTHING if he chooses too. Some of my faves right now: dadeeee, puter (computer), truck, tractor, heuse (horse) (and juice and shoes - which are phonetically the same), Owen, bite, bobble (bottle), and mmmmmmmilk.

We've gotta get them rounded up and calmed down to get them into bed now!

An oldie but a goodie..

Jason found this on the laptop when he was setting up his ipod. Our old camera's "movie" mode was close to the pic mode... so I occassionally, inadvertently, made little movies. I'm glad I did make this one. So sweet!!

Macking Bees!

When I got home last night, Jason was grilling supper and swatting bees with a tennis racket. He has always done this... I don't know. Anyway, not long after Jason walked away and Owen picked up the tennis racket himself and started saying "mack! mack!" as he swung at the bees. I'm sure we'll have at least one good sting this summer!

He's also become quite proficient on the play set... climbing up and down the towers. Since we've added a rock wall, I'm less nervous about him getting up and down. The ladder was a recipe for disaster!

Ben is a big fan of the new trapeze on the playset. Jason questioned why I ordered a trapeze, but then it was only moments until he was showing Ben how to "flip" and hang upside down on it. The best was later in the night when Ben wanted to stand on Jason's back and jump... swinging out on the trapeze. After several unsuccessful attempts he finally got the hang of it and swung back and forth!

Bedtime

The boys were modeling their capes at bedtime the other night. I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to make a cape for a pair of pjs (see Ben's -- cape attaches to the shirt). Adding a cape seems to make a little boy run wild (at my house anyway!)! Just what you need at bedtime!

Following on the "overall modeling," Owen had to turn around and show me the back of his cape! Then his brother followed suit...

This picture of Ben makes me laugh. He said: "I'm going to do the Superman face, okay?" And then he did this.

I said "what?" And so he did it again...

He then pointed to his pillowcase which has a Superman face doing something similar to that he's posing here...

Then of course, Owen joined and showed me his back again.

And finally, our cute and non-Superman-ish face!

Yes it ISSSSS!!

Owen has become quite argumentative. Not sure where he gets this... must be from his Dad's side! Anyway, he is scared of practically nothing - but the bath foam that is kind of the consistency of shaving cream completely freaks him out. Any kind of hair mousse or mousse soap too. But that's another story.

Anyway, tonight Ben asked if he could play with the foam after Owen got out of the tub. I told him we didn't have time tonight, but Owen was, by now, highly concerned about the foam. Ben said "he thinks it's scary" - to which I replied "Owen, it's not scary!" He said "yes it ISSSS!!" We went back and forth... Ben saying "is not" and Owen replying "yes it ISSSS!" He does this a lot now. Pretty funny!

While I am typing, he was throwing a container into the air that came down and smacked him in the face. After a brief "ow" he's off again.

Hee Haw Overall Modeling Session

Building on yesterday's overall success.. I decided to try again today. These "Hee Haw" overalls are some that I bought on ebay when Ben was an infant -- they're just like those that I wore as a kid. Ben always hated them, even though he liked overalls. The bright pattern was just not for him. Anyway, when I put them on Owen today, he actually seemed entertained by them.

I lined him up in front of the "new" bathroom door and took this photo.

Then asked him to turn around...
Then he turned back again and said "cheese"... Then he said "back" (and turned around again)...
And so it went, over and over... him modeling and me shooting pics.

This actually isn't ALL of them. He was having a really good time.
And I was just so impressed that he was LISTENING that I kept right up with him!

Weekend Bday Parties!

Last night we trekked across the road for Hannah's 16th bday party. It was a hog roast and bonfire... complete with "mattress surfing" in the field behind the house. Apparently this activity is something seen on the "Redneck Wedding" show (whatever it is called) on CMT. The neighbors rigged up a twin mattress with some rope for a handle and another rope tied to the back of the 4-wheeler... and pulled crazy riders around the field. Ben and Owen got a turn with Brad driving at a pretty safe/slow speed around the lot. I wish I had taken my camera, but I didn't. Both boys had a great time at the party and enjoyed the attention they got from the 16-yr-olds!

Today after church... another bday party! This one was for Justin - his 4th. It was a "Pony Party" so both boys were decked out in their western wear. Owen wore some horse overalls inherited from Ben... he usually will not wear overalls. As I was trying to put them on him this morning he kept saying "wet! wet!" I said "they are not.." Him: "yes they IS!!" I finally got them on him -- despite the arguing -- and then went to add the cowboy boots (also a hand-me-down from Ben!). This time "stuck! stuck!" He did not like how they went on - but after they were on he was pretty impressed with himself. He walked around half-bent-over checking them out.

Ben wanted to wear his cowboy vest that looked like Woody's (from Toy Story). They made a cute pair. Too bad you have to look at two pictures to see them both!

Finally, the last pics are a few from the attempt to get all of the kids at the party in one picture. Justin, the bday boy, was not present in most of them! My boys were the ones throwing straw, of course. Mark Evans paid for bringing the straw in for photos... lots of vacuuming in the afternoon hours!

A Soccer First!

Of course I didn't take my camera today... there was rain as we drove over to the field AND I had both boys w/o Jason (he did get to stop by, but he wasn't headed there with us). So anyway, didn't take my camera!

The first today WASN'T that Ben fell down. Within the first 5 mins on the field he had fallen/faked falling FIVE times. I think I mentioned before that the coach has pointed out to him - "Ben, you're much faster ON your feet!" Anyway, the first was that a little later when he was KNOCKED DOWN, he actually got up, and then went BACK IN! It was a good fall. His nose and cheeks were muddy. I cleaned him up and held him for a moment, and he went back in. This is definitely proof that FOUR is a better age for us for soccer than THREE is!

A couple of other cool/cute things... he was very into his running today. He pumped his arms and looked toward us on the sidelines with a big smile as he ran. In fact, a couple of times he wasn't even watching the ball .. instead watching us.

He did follow the ball MOST of the time though. Last year the coach would say "come here little Ben, come here Little Ben... nevermind... just stay down there little Ben!" There were actually a couple of times today when Coach Weltz had to practically chase Ben down because after an out-of-bounds he was STILL running for the goal with the ball!

Oh and the last, cool/cute thing... he got his first goal. He was very proud ... and so were we! He called both sets of grandparents as soon as we got to the van! He's still wearing most of his soccer outfit as of 5PM today. It was a good day for him!

ALMOST on the ABCs!

Owen ALMOST knows his ABCs! I didn't even realize this until tonight! He's got a "leapfrog" frog and it does the ABCs. Mom and Dad got it for him when he was born. He's apparently been listening to it and right now he's still in the other room singing "Q-R-S"!

He had a couple of other really cute moments this past weekend. Okay more than a couple... but here are a few highlights...

Friday night Jason was trying to fix a basketball goal that won't stay up right anymore. He went out and got 4 screws and his drill. Why 4 for the plastic goal - who knows.. but that is another story...

So anyway, Owen's got a ball in hand and wanted to play. He kept tilting his head sideways to look at Jason and say "done?" "Done, daddy?" "Done" Jason kept saying NO - not yet!! Over and over and over again... esp when Jason dropped the screw. "Done?" "Done?" "Done?" I found it rather humorous. Jason - less so...

Saturday we were getting ready to go to Avon and I said "where's Owen?" I was trying to get coats on to get them out the door. A minute later he came into the room and proclaimed "here I is!"

And then in Avon, we went to Menards. There was an assembled play set that both boys loved. Owen went fast on the slides and landed on his bottom repeatedly. He was fine. Later as we left the play area a man that worked at Menards asked how old Ben was. Ben answered and then Owen said "1 - 1!" The guy laughed at him and said something about Owen being one. Owen in turn smiled at me and said "him talked to me!"

Owen's favorite sayings right now... "what's this?" "look daddy look!" "go mommy go" and "who was that?" (when you're on the phone and have hung up). At the moment he has lost his bouncy ball and is looking all over saying "where go? where go?"

Soccer last night...

It was a beautiful night to go out to the soccer field last night. Unlike last week -- it was freezing. Ben plays at the field just north of our house and the wind there is incredible. Not unlike the wind tunnel at Purdue, I think. Ben did well... has the running/kicking (dribbling?) thing down pretty well now and makes his goal when they do the drills. He's also listening much better than he did last year (could it have gotten any worse really?). He has two problems though... and I share this because it's just funny. He CANNOT do jumping jacks. The other kids are getting the hang of them. Ben just stands there and grins. We practiced at home last night and he does okay in slow motion... but clearly this is something that we'll have to continue to work on. I guess he really did get my coordination issues! Secondly, he falls down. ALOT. See previous comment about what he inherited from me! Last night as we were leaving the coach said "great job Ben. We just need to try to stay UP a little more... you're much faster when you're up!" Ben just smiled. He gets all shy when the coach tells him something!

Owen took a ball w/him again last night and started kicking around with some bigger boys that were calling him a "baby" (they were probably all of 2 1/2 or 3!). Anyway, they kind of took his ball off and started kicking it between them... so he went to some BIGGER boys (like 8, probably) and took theirs. One of the boys was laying on the ball and Owen walked up and started saying "kick, kick" and trying to kick the ball while it was under the boy. It's a good thing he's cute. I anticipate that won't work for him in a couple of years and he'll be in big trouble for kicking the ball out from under a kid that is 5 or 6 yrs older than him!

1 More Post Today... More of Our Outdoor Fun

I got behind last week due to "technical difficulties" (the post did something odd with the photos ... ) so now I'm still catching up. I have a few more pics from the weekend to post real quick on my lunch hour...

I don't know if I should say "Mom was feeling better yesterday DESPITE the fact that she had three little boys running around" or "due in part TO THE FACT that she had three little boys running around!" In any case, she looked good and I think she felt good. Though she's probably paying for all of her extra efforts today. Here's a pic from yesterday that I thought was a good one.

Here's another interesting pic from the day at their house... that's a cow skull in the background. Uncle Chris distributed cow teeth to the boys. I think Ben's made it home somewhere. I'm SOOO glad that we have a cow tooth. Ben was very distraught that I refused to touch the cow tooth.

I asked the boys to sit down together and pose. Here are some of the notable shots. You'll see that Jonah sat, then Ben joined him... then Owen also sat but in a different place entirely. The last shot is of Owen inspecting his cow tooth! What a day!