Manners definitely need some work here...

Brennan: "Look, I'm a shark!"

(He proceeds to pick up his sandwich without hands and vigorously shake his head left and right. Pieces of sandwich fly everywhere.)

Me: "Brennan! That's rude. You don't eat like that!."

Brennan: "But that's how sharks eat."

And this is not an isolated incident. We had read "How do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food". Now when we have spaghetti dinner, Philip will flip his spaghetti "high into the air." Every time.

*Sigh* Boys will be boys indeed!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

My precious two year old! You are such a perfect part of our family! You look just like Brennan did at that age. You have Nicholas's facial expressions (and his temper!). And your voice in indistinguishable from Philip's - I never know which of you is calling "Mom" until I get into your room! Yet you are your own person all the same. You love your trucks, especially those Monster trucks. You will eat anything - Thank you! And you give the biggest bear hugs! My only request - please show just a little more fear in the swimming pool. You truly believe yourself to be part fish!


Happy birthday little buddy. We love you!

My monster: The Dirty Dishes

I hate washing dishes. Seriously, HATE IT. Why? I don't know. There is no rational reason why I would rather be doing just about anything (even waiting for hours in a doctor's office with small ones) than running a load. How horrible is that? I even have a perfectly fine dishwasher, yet still no love for the job. I feel so spoiled!

I am working on keeping a cheerful attitude concerning this household duty. It has to be done. And I do get it done (eventually) But I want to work on my attitude, accepting this task and accomplishing it with an attitude of gratitude. Gratitude that I even have dishes to wash and such pleasant means of washing them.

Even so, I am still looking for any shortcuts. That is when I stumbled across a help in Family Fun magazine. A mom of 8 stated that she also was battling the dirty dishes demon when she had a brilliant revelation: Less is More. So she packed up every glass, bowl, and cup. She bought clear, wide glass bowls, 1 for each person. Everyone decorated his/her own bowls. And that is what they ate off of. If your bowl wasn't clean, you didn't eat! Talk about natural consequences!

She claims this solved her problem. And I am really, really tempted to try it! Maybe I can conquer my own demons as well!

I'm not quite brave enough to take the dive yet! But I am pondering the possibilities...

These Days...

I cannot believe that it is June already! June! 2008! As in half over!

Where has my time been going? It's not just baseball taking its toll on our schedule (Our seasons ended last week). It is life happening all around me. I feel as if each Monday morning starts, and we carry through our routine. Next thing I know it is Wednesday and we enjoy our morning at the park with dear friends. And then the weekend rolls around, flurrying with activity. And Monday comes again...

It is with this that time flies. Colin and I celebrated our 10th anniversary a few weeks ago with dinner at a restaurant which we had been wanting to try for awhile and a viewing of Indiana Jones. Brennan and I finished reading Prince Caspian and then went and saw it in the theater (Yes, I went to the movies two weekends in a row - when was the last time that happened? College, probably!). And my baby MY BABY BOY will be TWO on Saturday! Ahhh!

Sometimes I just wish time would pause for a moment. The whirlwind would stop momentarily and allow me to savor the present. But then I realize that time will not slow down. I instead have to make the best use of the time that I have.

So tonight I did the best thing that I have done in a long while. I left the dirty dishes in the sink. Our van is not cleaned out like I had hoped. The pile of books is still on the living room floor. But tonight I pulled each one of the boys mano a mano. Each boy picked his book and we read together, just the two of us. And best of all, I did not rush through, discouraging any commentary from my little listener. And we talked together. It took an hour and 20 minutes to go through all 4 of them, but it was time well spent.

I know that it would not be practical to accomplish this every night. Dishes, laundry, and such have to get done. Yet I do hope that I remember tonight, and do not let this become a one time event. It was just so worth it!