Keatonisms

Keats insisted that I take this picture of him holding Reuben and post it on the blog. We were up in my room and he asked me to take a picture; I told him I didn't have a camera with me. He said, "Yes you do! Your phone has a camera!" He got me there. So here's the pic.

We are so lucky that these kittens let the boys carry them around. Keaton has many small scratches on his arms/shoulders from pushing the kitties' comfort level a little too far. He doesn't seem to mind the scratches, though, as he continues to go back for more.

When I went to pick Keaton up from Aunt Debbie's today, he was full of very serious questions on the way home. Things like, "Why does Aunt Debbie and Uncle Vince keep bowls of candy out at Christmas?" and "Did Moose and Reuben miss me last night?"

As we pulled up to the house, Keaton told me that he changed his mind about what he'll be when he grows up. Instead of a doctor, he will now be a knight. Just a knight. I told him that was a fantastic idea and then asked him what exactly does a knight do? He told me he didn't really know, but they had those "wicked cool" suits of armor (which he described as shiny metal costumes) and he just wanted to be cool like a knight. He then asked me what Daddy became when he grew up. I never know how to answer the question of "what does Mike do?" so I just told Keats he needed to ask Daddy himself. Keaton suggested that Daddy could stop his current job and become a knight as well. Such a considerate kid.

I started to get out of the car when Keaton asked, "Mom, what are you going to be when you grow up?" I told him that I am a nurse, and that I am grown up. He gave me a rather incredulous look and said, "But you're too little. Daddy is lots & lots huger than you! You're a grown-up?" Tee hee. I had to explain that I just didn't grow much and that there are grown-ups even shorter than me. He said he believed me but I don't think he believed me at all. I'm thinking that, to Keaton, you need to be six feet tall to be considered a grown-up. ;o)

Luckily I don't need height to be a mom. Sure, it would be nice if I could reach the top of the fridge so I could hide the dangerous stuff from Sullivan. But chairs are easy to drag around the house. And one of these days I will have two tall boys who can reach the high stuff for me.

Stretching Out

Keats had his first over-nighter last night. He stayed at Aunt Debbie's. She says he fell asleep no problem, did not wake up in the middle of the night, and slept until 9. Now why doesn't he do that for me?? ;o)

Sullivan was able to take a bath on his own last night. Let us just say he loved it. Loved, loved, loved it! He stayed in until the water was cold! This morning he insisted on another bath. Refused to keep his diaper/clothes on and kept coming up to me saying, "Bath! Bath!" So we headed in for another bath. He really enjoyed stretching out, as well as catching all the bubbles. Keaton is usually a bubble-hog. So today Sully liked that he could have all the toys and bubbles to himself and could stretch out and lie in the water as long as he wanted. He stayed in for 25 minutes this morning!

Enjoying the stretch.

It was difficult to catch him looking at the camera today.Reuben also enjoyed the bath!

A picture Aunt Debbie sent. Here is Keats enjoying cinnamon toast this morning. I'm happy to know that he makes that silly face to other people and not just his mom!

In other news, we have our estimate of the damage from the trees. We will be given about $2500 ($2000 with our deductable removed). I hope that is enough to replace and/or repair everything!

Best Wife Ever

This is Mike's newest baby. The Beertender taps a very small keg of beer; currently only Heineken is available, at least in our area. I bought this for Mike for three reasons: 1) I AM the best wife ever, 2) Christmas, and 3) Mike won a big contract in New Mexico for work.

World Famous Photographer

Okay, maybe that is all in my mind...but follow this link to see a pic of mine that landed in the hands of the local paper. :o)

http://statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=J0&Date=20081224&Category=PHOTO&ArtNo=812240801&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=12

Cutest.Thing.Ever.

Caillou

Sully LOVES Caillou. He always demands to watch Caillou (pronounced Kye-you) with our On Demand tv. He will get so mad if we watch something else! When the show starts, Sully always dances to the music. Lately he goes to the trampoline & jumps while he sings along with the opening song. He yells "Caillou", which sounds like "Kye-koo" each time the name comes up in the song. He also says the last part "That's me!" Then he immediately sits & stares at the tube. ;o)

Caillou is a four-year-old boy who is in preschool, has a baby sister and a cat at home, and the cartoon isn't particularly vibrant (either in colors or activities) so we're not sure why Sully likes the show so much. The program is on PBS and is full of good morals & lessons such as sharing toys, being accepting of beliefs different than our own, staying put if you get lost from your mommy in the store...etc. So, we figure there are worse things he could like!

Christmas Fun

This was definitely the most fun Christmas yet. Keaton was soooo into everything and Sully participated in opening the gifts more than he has been able to on past Christmases.

Keaton loves his big car track.


As you can tell from his expression, Sullivan was absolutely thrilled to open a big ambulance!

Keaton's main gift from Santa: a talking Optimus Prime. I had to return it today because it was too difficult to transform. I asked Keats if he wanted a new one and he said no, he wanted Bionicles! I was able to buy four boxes of Bionicles for less than the Transformer so Keaton is absolutely in heaven!

The new Bionicles.

Once I saw the watch on Keaton's wrist, I wanted to take it away from him! It makes him look like a real boy...not my baby boy. :o(

Play-Doh fun.

The "er-f" that Keaton made out of Play-Doh. (earth)

Proof Of Alphabet Obsession

Why My Living Room Is Such A Mess

Neat Pic

If you can zoom in on this picture at all, it is very neato. That's ice, not rain, stuck to the fence.

The boys just opened their Christmas Eve gifts. We let them open gifts from family and one gift from us. We gave them each a pair of pjs and a Christmas book to share. Keaton received Transformer pjs, of course, so he is excited out of his head. He wanted nothing to do with the book. ;o) Sully's jammies have a rhino & a ball on them. He, however, wanted the book very much. Specifically, he wanted to pull the book apart. It is a pop-up book thus very difficult to resist. When you're two, anyway. They each received a toy from Papa & Tari: Sully opened an ambulance that lights up, beeps, and moves forward or backward; Keaton's gift is some sort of Hotwheels track. He and Mike are upstairs right now trying to figure out the instructions. They also opened books & clothes. Then Keaton, as is his nature, begged me to let them open more gifts. I held my ground though and there will be no more gifts to open until after Santa comes.

Please, please, please don't let Keats wake up before 6 am!!!

The snow and ice is finally starting to melt around here. The temp is 39 degrees and you wouldn't believe how fast the cold stuff is falling off the trees. It looks like it is snowing again...only in BIG chunks of snow. The evergreens are finally starting to look green again. What a lovely sight after this historic winter storm.

It will be interesting to see the final damage from the tree limbs. As the snow melts, it looks worse & worse. Our little eight-year-old neighbor boy is very concerned about all the branches in our yard and desperately wants to come over and help us clean up. His mom made me promise to let them know when we're going to do the big clean up; I guess her son is driving her batty with clean up requests. ;o)

This pic (hopefully) shows the final damage. If you look just to the right of the center you will see that the third large branch that fell on the play structure & fence actually split the fence in two. Yesterday the fence was just buckled with a few broken planks but this morning we found the fence completely split.Ice dripping from the bbq.

The tree fared pretty well, all things considered. Sully kept putting a stool in front of the tree so he could reach higher & higher; he'd leave the stool there and the kittens would use it to knock off the higher ornaments or jump right into the middle of the tree. I cannot believe the tree didn't fall over!

I put Sullivan at the table for lunch today. I made his favorite mac n' cheese. I left him there while I folded some laundry and when I came back into the room I found him at the couch, reading an alphabet book. His alphabet obsession continues. Look at his fingers & face...covered with lunch.

This is the look he gave me when I said we need to wash his hands and face before he touches anything else. One of Sully's least favorite experiences is being washed up. I literally have to chase him around the house and pin him down. He's been that way since he was an infant. Of course, he was easier to catch before he could run away! Lol.

This is why all the branches are breaking off. That ice must be so heavy!

This is the very same leaf from yesterday. Notice the thick layer of ice and then new snow on top. I'm so surprised this little guy is hanging on!

Btw, we lost power for another 4-5 hours. The very same tree lost a branch that hit the very same power line last night. Our neighborhood is new so has underground electrical stuff but the older neighborhood surrounding it still has the problematic standard kind.

We were SO hoping for the snow to clear so we could get our ants-in-their-pants, cabin-fever-crazy-driving-their-parents-nuts children out of the house today. No such luck. We woke up to even more snow falling; huge flakes that show no signs of stopping. I am shocked at the state of our backyard, though I know it could have been much worse, and suspect that once all the snow & ice clears the yard will look much worse off than it does now, covered in the pretty blanket of white.

We were without power for about five hours last night. Our gas fireplace worked just fine so we were okay. We all went to bed before the power came on and the house stayed plenty warm.

O.M.G.

Along with the many, many benefits of living amongst the trees, such as all the birds & squirrels & general privacy, come this one main problem: branches sometimes fall & land right on top of your kids' play structure. Mike & I were sitting around being lazy as can be, when all of the sudden we heard this very loud crunching, crashing sound. We got to the backyard just in time to see this branch land on the play structure. I can see a little damage to the roof and I guess we'll have to have the integrity of the structure tested before the boys go back on it to make sure it is sturdy.

Oh well, nothing we can do about it except be thankful that the kids weren't playing there (Sully was there just hours ago) and that it wasn't our branch that fell onto a neighbors yard. ;o)

Here is one of Mike's ski trips. ;o)

Now We Have Ice

Yesterday it snowed for hours. Later in the night that turned to freezing rain. Seems like this is a trend here in the valley: we rarely get snow but when we do it is followed by an ice storm. I'm not sure how many inches of snow poured down on us, four or five inches, but this morning it is all covered with a thick layer of ice. Sullivan could barely walk in it since he doesn't weigh enough to really break the ice. ;o) He kept taking off his snow boots because he thought they were the cause of his walking difficulties. Here are the pictures from our sledding/tobogganing/skiing expedition this morning.

Mike took out his skis and skied down our street.
Sully, giving up the frustration of trying to walk in the snow/ice, spent his time outside picking up large pieces of ice and throwing them into the snow disc. He really enjoyed watching the ice pieces break apart.

Keats was very, very proud of his huge piece of ice!
Not the the same leaf from the photo a couple of days ago but you still get the idea of the change in weather.
Just some neato icy tree branch.

Danka Shein

It is with mixed feelings that I write this post. On the one hand, I am sad that the era has come to an end; on the other hand I am very happy to know that my child is NOT really a German child. Nothing against the Deutsche, mind you, I actually would love to be from Hamburg, Germany. Because then I'd be a "Hamburger" and what isn't funny about that?


Anyhoo, I just don't speak the Deutsch language. For the most part. Except for the song from Ferris Beuller's Day Off. Plus it would be awkward explaining to Mike why his child was of direct German descent, considering Mike & I don't live in Germany and are not ourselves of direct German descent. How would I explain that?


So, what, you ask, is so sad yet such a relief to the parents?


Sully now says "Tank Du" rather than "Du Fyke". Thank you has always sounded Deutsch coming from the mouth of the Sullinator. He still says du fyke maybe 10% of the time. But the child is almost non-bilingual. ;o) He still says "mas" rather than "more".


(Just being silly, of course. I realize that a child doesn't speak the language of their lineage; they speak what they hear & are taught.)

Here is Sully on the bed he made on the mini-trampoline.

Keats In The Snow.

After this, I'm through posting for the day.

At least I think so.

Maybe.

Don't hold your breath.

The benefit of having a driveway that slopes toward the house.Looks like a real snow dude, huh?
The side of the house is the perfect spot to sled! You slide way into the back yard.

Keats after a toboggan ride.

Swingin' in the snow.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

I took the time to take some nature photos. Hard to believe I could turn the camera away from my children, huh?

I love how you can see the individual snowflakes.

My favorite photo. Our little maple tree on the side of the house looks excellent covered in snow.

I thought the snow looked nice on the fence.

One of the trees next to the creek have these red berries on them. Luckily the berries are not within reach of Sullivan Patrick. He would gobble them up as quickly as possible.

On the little play structure out back. Again, more individual flakes.

Keatonisms Of The Day. Plus A Moose.

Yesterday, Keats & I were mailing off some Christmas cards. As we headed to the mailbox he said, "Does the mailman know my cousins? He knows where they live? Does he have to drive and drive and drive all the way to Grandma & Grandpa's house? How will he get back home?" :o)

For those of you unaware, Mike's mom died on Christmas Day 1997. Keaton and Mike were talking about Grandma Nancy, someone who Keats always has lots of questions about. Along with his all-things-medical obsession, he is interested in death. He has also been overhearing a lot about cancer lately since Michelle is fighting cancer right now and, since Mike's mom died of cancer, Keats asks a zillion questions about it. Mike tries to let him know what cancer really is, and what death really is. Keaton apparently wasn't aware of the actual day that Nancy passed away. Mike told Keats that Nancy died on Christmas Day. Keaton was absolutely horrified! He gasped, "You mean Grandma Nancy didn't get any presents from Santa??"

Mike and I are still cracking up about that.

Can you believe how much this kid loves kitties?Just a cute close-up of the Moosie-Goose.

Winter Wonderland

We woke up to a couple more inches of snow this morning. What a treat it was to see the change in our back yard! The trees are amazing. Makes me very, very happy that we live in the trees!

The view from our deck, looking across to the neighbors' yard.
The playset amongst the trees.
The view straight off the deck.

Later today we will take out our new snow discs & toboggan. I will, of course, post pics.

How We Ended The Day

We took Keats out to dinner for his birthday tonight. He likes to go to Bently's (inside the Phoenix Grand Hotel) so that is where we took him. Sully was acting like a typical two-year-old. Labile of mood, to say the least. ;o) We ordered their meals as soon as we sat down and the waitress brought out some bread...usually doing these things allow us to get through the meal without trouble.

Usually.

Keats & Sully are digging into the bread basket and some sort of "you're taking too much" argument begins. Sully's response to Keaton yelling at him was to grab the thick, heavy bread plate from Keaton and THROW IT OVER THE BOOTH. And, yes, he hit someone in the head with it. No joke. Some guy who had zero sense of humor. He wouldn't even accept Mike's apology. We could do nothing but apologize and tell Sully no. What else could we do?

It got better after that. Earlier today, I was at Fred Meyer when Mike called my cell phone. In the conversation he said something about wanting Keats to have a gift to open on his birthday. What a softy, huh? Lol. So, I picked up an Iron Man figurine that Keats has been wanting. I also bought him some new underwear: Transformers and Spiderman boxer-briefs, two packages of which came with t-shirts. Silly gift, I know, but I wanted to get him something he really needed since we'd already given him a bike for his birthday. That kid was SO excited about the underwear. Seriously. Out of his head. As soon as we got home, didn't even get the front door shut, he was opening the packages. He actually had wanted to open them at the restaurant but I told him that he needed to wait until we were home. He tried on every pair and made sure to model them for all of us. He is so excited that I am washing them so he can wear them tomorrow. What a funny kid!

Birth Through Four

Keaton and I spent some time today looking back over his baby pictures. I decided that I needed to post a collection of pics from his first five years. Since I am limited to five pictures, I will just post one for each year, birth-age four. Maybe later I will do a whole post per year. There are so many cute pics it is hard to choose!

Hours after he came into the world 12.16.03

First Birthday 12.16.04

Just before his second birthday 12.05

Age three 8.07

Age four 2008