Thursday, September 27, 2007

Ahoy, Mateys!

We went outside of the box for Cainan’s birthday this year, but only just a little bit. Every year so far he has had a pool party at Granny’s house for his birthday but this year he wanted to have a pirate party so I thought that the beach was a more appropriate setting. We met everyone at the beach at Lake Carlyle where we grilled hot dogs, swam, and hunted for buried treasure. It was a really fun day.
Granny and Grandad got Cainan a treasure chest full of all the latest accessories for the stylish pirate and he sported his new look for the remainder of that day and the next, including Ryker’s ball game that night where the concessionaire said, “One piece of gum for the pirate!” He was so cute and he had an absolutely fabulous time playing pirates with all of his cousins. Success!!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Cainan on Seasons


Hey, Mommy? What comes after summer? (Fall) Oh good. That's my favorite one! (Why?) Because that's when I get to ride on the combine with Grandad.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby!



Kinley turned one on July 24th. We celebrated jointly with Cainan at the beach at the lake over the weekend, but on her actual birthday we gave her her very own special little birthday cake. At first she wouldn’t touch it, she would just lean down and try to lick or bite off pieces of the icing. After she realized how delicious it was she really started to dig into it and by the end she had thoroughly smeared herself with icing.

She got quite a few clothes and some new toys, but as far as we can tell her two favorite presents have been her shopping cart and her yellow CareBear. She is such a girly girl (thank goodness). She loves to drive around her shopping cart then take the bear out and give him a kiss and put him back in and continue on her way.

It is hard to believe that my baby is one year old already. It seems like just yesterday that she was born (in an un-air conditioned hospital with no anesthesia and no doctor after only 17mins. of labor). This first year has been unbelievably fun with her and we all enjoy having a little girl around sooooo much.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

I'm Baaaaack!

Wow, I didn't realize that it has been almot 2 months since I have posted anything. August was a really busy month and September has just kind of been slipping away from me. I promise details and pictures on our vacation and the kid's birthday parties soon. Sorry to all of you who have been checking here and finding nothing new for the past two months.

1957?

Last Monday was a normal day in most ways. Ryker and Brian went to school and Cainan, Kinley and I played a little, cleaned house a little, and napped a little. Then Brian brought Ryker home and went back in to teach one of his night classes. That is when things got strange. An hour later I was busy cooking supper. I had a pot roast with potatoes and carrots in the crockpot and homemade yeast rolls in the oven. Kinley was toddling around the kitchen and living room playing quietly and babbling to herself. The boys were in the backyard sword fighting with sticks with the neighbor kids and the sun was setting behind the trees. It was like we were suddenly transported back in time 50 years. I was even wearing an apron, for heaven’s sake. (No pearls or heels though.) It struck me that everything was so perfect and simple. Soon my hardworking husband would walk though the door with his briefcase (I had my doubts that the dog would bring him his slippers, but you never know) and we would all sit down to a lovely meal together and talk about our day. But have no fear, ten minutes later it was clear that it was all just a fantasy. After 4 or 5 times of removing Kinley from the DVD player where she was pushing buttons, the boys running upstairs to get lightsabers and Jedi robes to use in their fights, and answering 3 telemarketer calls it was pretty obvious we were rooted securely in the 21st century. But for just a moment I knew what it must have felt like for my Grandmas to look out their windows on a late summer afternoon a long time ago.

If You Give a Baby a Patty

We have a set of 4 round cork coasters that sit on our end tables in the living room. We occasionally use them for their designated purpose but more often than not they are missing because the boys are using them. The coasters are usually playing the vital role of Crabby Patties. The boys love to get spatulas out of the kitchen, use the ottoman as a grill, and cook their patties. They flip them and serve them up while quoting lines from their favorite SpongeBob episodes. Recently I realized that Kinley is getting in on the act too. I was busy in the office when I heard Cainan yelling, “She’s got the patties, she’s got the patties.” I ran in to the living room to find Kinley taking a big bite (literally) out of the cork coaster and smiling like she had just cured cancer. He did cook it and serve it to her so what did he expect?

Sculptorades

This summer the kids got the game Cranium Kadoo and they just love it. It is a really fun kid version of the original Cranium. One of their favorite parts of the game is using the modeling clay to make objects that the other person must guess. The last time we played Cainan drew the Sculptorades card and I read the clue aloud to him, “baseball”. (Ok, I admit it actually said “baseball cap” but I didn’t think he could make that.) So we started the timer and I whispered to Cainan that he should roll the clay into a ball. The problem was that the clay was so hard (it was a hand-me-down game) that he could barely mold it. Finally he got it into a ball and held it out to show Ryker. Of course there are any number of things that can be represented by a slightly irregular sphere of hard purple modeling clay so Ryker didn’t even come close to guessing that it was a baseball. I told Cainan he would have to act out what you do with a baseball to give Ryker an extra clue. From approx. 20 inches away he rares back and throws the “baseball” as hard as he can. It hits Ryker right between the eyes and he falls back onto the floor. I was too busy laughing to make sure that he was OK, but he soon sat back up and rubbing his head made his guess, “Goliath?”