Saturday, July 25, 2009

I thought Violet

I thought Violet was supposed to be a bad example! Do you remember Violet from the old "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"? The one who endlessly chewed gum and stored it behind her ear?

Eli thought that was a marvelous idea. In spite of my protests, I see him walking past me now and then with a wad of pink or green flashing out from behind an ear. Even though it's been going on for some time, I still do a double-take at each sighting.

I discovered yesterday that it seems he always uses the same ear. Due to all the dirt from our addition excavation (the boys play in it as endlessly as Violet chewed gum), Eli's gum location has collected dirt. At some point in time, gum obviously stayed stuck. Now there is a small, disgusting spot of caked on gum and dirt behind his ear lobe.

How in the world do you remove that? I'll take any ideas I can. Because it looks really gross.

In other news, we are doing our best to kick what appears to be a resistant strep from our family with our church day camp looming on Monday (and two parents in charge of various parts of that camp). And the last thing I want is to have Jake end up with strep. After all, he leaves shortly for a two week trip to England to visit my brother and family with my parents. That would be a much bigger bummer than Eli's gummed ear.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

First the dirt

In order to re-side the back of our house, we had to rip up our deck. We didn't want to replace it because of the upkeep, thus we decided upon the "easy" task of building a new patio. Well, Steve was the builder. I made lemonade.

After getting everything built/propped/fixed - along came the dirt. Doesn't Jake look as if he is sizing up the job they're doing? He probably is.




The truck.


The dirt.
The child who was allowed to help pack the dirt down.


My child was NOT barefoot while helping operate that large, powerful machine.


And next will come the "tontrete" (as Sammy calls it).



Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Beeto

It's possible Silas gets more than his fair share of blog exposure, but when you're two years old (three in a few short weeks!) - it's fair.

These are from earlier this spring when Silas joined me in my bed with a little treat. I decided to remain and enjoy the show. His little treasure entertained him for more than an hour.

I present to you, "Beeto".


Beeto had a happy life. Beeto lived in a little, yellow, Lego boat with Lego men. It was also a busy life. Everything out, everything in; over and over again. I most enjoyed watching Silas as he carefully fitted the Lego men into the boat and then had to search around for where Beeto had gotten himself in the ensuing time. Beeto never escaped while in his slippery home. Here's a slightly blurry picture of Home Sweet Beeto Home.

Beeto seems to make his appearance almost daily. (Don't tell Silas they aren't all the same Beeto) In fact, Beeto has been a joy for all of our little boys. One of our favorite poems stars Beeto, called "Forgiven" http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/songs/mmilne-forgiven.htm .
Chatting with Silas is a joy for us. Ever since he decided English was his primary language and began speaking it (thus stopping his screaming), his little voice left behind its raspy sound and I still melt whenever I hear it.
43 seconds for your enjoyment, if you so wish:

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Puppy love

Silas absolutely loves our dog, Amos. I love seeing him stand next to Amos, arm draped across his back, staring off together into the distance. They move every time I try to get that shot, but this one suits me just fine ... we can even see some of the torn up deck that got turned into a new patio this week. It's so great to have that job done. Of course, now our fence is partly taken down to make room for the addition we are putting on the house. And that "adorable" dog? He thinks it's a free ticket to play the neighborhood. At least he isn't shedding on my floor while he's roaming.