I Love This Kid :)

Silas has been asking for a mohawk for a couple months now.  I wasn't too keen on it during school but now that school is out, Justin decided to whip out the clippers and give Si a trim on the deck. 

He absolutely loves it - he was grinning from ear to ear all evening after the cut.  Ella and Mason were oohing and aahing over it and I think that made him feel really special.

He said something funny the other day -

Me: where did  you get those mosquito bites?

Si: when I was outside eating my ice cream sandwich, because mosquitoes like ice cream sandwiches

Me: ouch

Si: yeah, I wish the mosquito would have taken bites from the ice cream and not ME.

It was funny how it said it - very deadpan :)

I travel to Los Angeles this week for work.  I'm excited but I always get nervous about leaving the household.  We all know it won't run nearly as smoothly without me (ha ha) - hopefully they will survive! ;)  

Today was an incredibly gorgeous day.  The temps went from 90 yesterday to 75 today - it was beautiful! 

This was Silas on the swings...

This will be one of those photos that I'll look back at and know just how the day felt...

Much more to update - we had NY Youngers in town this weekend, but the alarm will go off in 4.5 hours and I need to get to sleep!

Spring

If I keep slacking on the blog, it's just going to be one update per season soon.  There has just been no time or energy to get to it.  I realize that I haven't even done an update on March YOSP so I guess I'll just combine March and April here soon!
There is a lot going on - by the end of this week we will have a housemate.  Aunt Amanda is going to come to Columbus to hang out with us for awhile.  We are excited to have her and spend more time with her (and possibly use her to run kids around here and there ;)

We celebrated Easter this past weekend - the weather wasn't very nice but spending time with all the family was great.  The kids colored eggs on Saturday night.  3 dozen this year.  We're eating a LOT of egg salad sandwiches this week!

Silas did a great job of writing his name on one with a wax crayon and then coloring it. He's not much of a colorer (which he readily admits) so anytime we can get him to do something "crafty" is a big step. Of course, he always loves making a mess so egg coloring is right up his alley.

We have had a VERY soggy soccer season so far this spring.  Seems like constant rain. Both Ella and Silas are really enjoying it though.  They are both on the same teams as last fall and Justin is coaching both again.

Ella has been quite the little superstar this season.  She's really going after the ball and last game, she scored 4 or 5 goals.  We read a Mia Hamm book a few months ago and I think that got her all excited. She's really aggressive (and has to watch her elbow throwing) and pretty quick.

I think I might have a little dweeb on my hands.  On one of our trips to New York last fall, Silas ran out of underwear, so we ran to the Dollar Store and all they had was white undies - a size or two too big for him.  I thought he would throw a fit because there weren't characters on them like his usual undies.  Nope, he loved them.  Proudly pulled them up to about his armpits and pranced around in his "whitie tighties" as he called them. And just to verify the dweebie-ness...he tucks his jacket into his pants.

He asked me yesterday if he could wear "short sleeved pants" to school since it was warm out :)  He's such a cute little goober!

A Quickie Update

I keep trying to find time to sit down and do a proper update but that just isn't going to happen...so I'll have to make do with some quickies updates as I can sneak some time in.

Yesterday I slogged around feeling rather bummed out.  Grandpa J's cabin has sold and the closing was yesterday afternoon. While I suppose there should be some relief that it's sold, I'm not feeling it. I just feel sad about it. I have a zillion pictures and memories of my kids running around there - feeding animals, gobbling at the turkeys, petting goats and cows. I'm sad for them, I'm sad for all of us that we won't be back there again.

I also was thinking a lot about Ella's birthday coming up and how we would normally be getting all excited for her party and a visit from the NY Youngers. It's very tough to get excited this year knowing it will be different from now on.
When we were in NY for a visit last March for spring break, I remember watching Jim as we were out at the falls.  His physical appearance had changed so drastically in the few months since we had last seen him.  The chemo and pain had really aged him. It was difficult to see him frail and in pain. I kept thinking that this is what it would be like if Justin and I were his age and he was 80. It was like catching a glimpse into a future that will never happen. 

Silas asked my dad if angels are naked in heaven (because the stone angel statue on their porch is just wearing wings ;) so he wanted to know if Grandpa was naked in heaven too. He still wants to know why Grandpa can't come back.

One a lighter note, Silas has also been rotten as heck.
Last night he bit Ella in the hand when they were playing.  Totally out of nowhere.  Left a pretty good indent and looked like he almost broke the skin.  When I asked him WHY??? he said that he was trying to talk and Ella's hand got in his way. Uh huh...
As we were getting teeth brushed before bed he was very wound up and bouncing off the walls:

me - stop acting like a maniac

Si - it's not me, it's God making me act like a maniac

me - why would God make you act like a maniac?

Si -he has a remote control and does it!

He then proceeds to try to give me a wedgie.  Strange kid.

More Silas

We're all in the van together, and admiring the new patches on Ella's Girl Scout vest.
"What's your Troop number Ella?"
Silas innocently pipes in - "666"
Justin and I cracked up - if the shoe fits...


A recent Facebook post::
I love how Si's story changes when Ella yells that "Silas hit me!" - it quickly goes from "No I didn't, no I didn't" to "I did it gently!!

He's been in trouble constantly lately, but cracking us up when he's not driving us over the edge!

Not Impressed

It's pretty bad when you can't even impress a 4 year old with your exercise abilities...

Silas:  Mama, what are you doing?
Me: Trying to do sit-ups
Silas: Well....you're a little bad at it.
(Oh yeah??)...
Me (between gasps for breath):  Hey Si, did you know that Santa is taking some time off and there won't be a Chrismas this year?

Today Was Picture Day...

Let's hope he found a SMILE at school....

The Death of Me....

We all know Silas...we know he's rotten...we know he says whatever he thinks - which most 3 year olds do. The problem is: WHAT HE THINKS!

I get this email today from Kelly:

"has Silas been talking about seeing people naked lately? or some discussion about him seeing (or not seeing) people naked?...it's all he's talked about the last few days"

Well, I can tell you he isn't seeing much in the way of naked around here. And I'd imagine not at Kelly's. And he wouldn't see naked at my parents if his life depended on it...so...

me: "well, he has been asking a lot if (so and so) will laugh if they see him naked. but we haven't had any naked talks...or rather...talks about nakedness"

kelly: "he asked the same thing to (little girl S) - if you see me naked will you laugh?"

me: "maybe he's channeling Mason's thoughts?? seems much more like a 14 year old would think." UGH!!!!!

So, we did have the nakedness talk to Si when he got home. It's not polite to ask about nakedness, talk to anyone about nakedness, ask anyone if they want to get naked...ask if they want to see you naked. Nothing. No naked talk.

Okay. all is fine and dandy until after dinner. Then I take Mason's phone because he is slacking on this homework. I look to see that he's been on Myxer (is that bad?) and I see that some of the ring tone names are really raunchy.
"Mason I don't really want you on this site. The stuff is raunchy."
Mas: "huh, what, why not, what's bad??"

I read down a few of the songs: sex this, bonk that, Boats and Hoes, yada yada..

when up pipes Si: "Boats and Hoes mama, that rhymes - BOATS AND HOES RHYME!"

Well...
1. NO they don't rhyme
2. How can I discipline (him or Mas) when I'm laughing my butt off?
and
3. Is he going to go to school tomorrow saying that "boats and hoes" rhyme and talk about being naked? Can a 3 year old get kicked out of preschool??

Some Random Updates

If tonight is any indication of how weepy I'm going to be about Mason starting high school in less than 2 weeks, then I am in big trouble! Tonight was the parent orientation night at Bradley. Not even 5 minutes into the principal's presentation, he said "raise your hand if this is your first child going into high school" - that was all I needed to get all teary-eyed for the rest of the night. I'm scared, excited, nervous...and I'm not even the one going to high school. I think it's going to be a great year...brand new school, loved the principal and the teachers that are part of Mason's Freshman teaching team, I am excited to see what types of activities he gets involved in, Friday night football games, dances, sports, maybe some student council...fun!

Ella has been funny this week - she made her bed by herself one day over the weekend, and now she refuses to get under the covers to sleep in it. She doesn't want to mess it up so she sleeps on top of her quilt and covers up with another blanket.
I was very proud of her this week. She has started riding her bike on the sidewalk. She learned how to ride with no training wheels last summer, but only when we go up to the school where there is more space. Last night I put her on the side walk and she was nervous and wobbly for the first 10 minutes and then she was screaming up and down the sidewalk, as fast as can be.



Silas still continues on his rotten, rotten, rotten streak. And we just can't seem to beat it out of him. I think it might be time for a new strategy...but no idea what that might be. Obstinate is definitely the word to describe him right now. We keep reminding ourselves that Ella was very stubborn and tough to deal with at this age, so hopefully Si will grow out of it too!

Cleo and Zoe are becoming best buddies. Well, not really buddies yet, but they are tolerating each other very well and manage to ignore each other mostly. This picture below is the first day that they were starting to get close to one another. Zoe was really wanting none of it but Cleo would come over and casually hang out by her and try to get noticed.

This video is cute - Cleo might have a Silas streak of rotten in her...

She loves to sleep in the baby doll stroller

Cleo has been a prefect fit for the family. She is so laid back, she just hangs out, plays, lets the kids carry her around...we're so happy to have her!

Justin has been VERY hard at work. JCS (his business) has started to take off and he's getting some great referrals. And a very sore back!

Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Duh hanging out in the "family room" addition
Quite a significant project!

And I have been very busy with work, the kids, trying to get some photography practice in and just keeping up with all that needs to be done in life. I have discovered that I need 2/3rds caffeinated coffee to operate at maximum efficiency. Half-caf was not getting the job done, full-caf leaves me jittery and on edge.

Our garden is a shambles right now but the sunflowers are beautiful!

We're looking forward to a fun weekend of birthday parties and going to the new Clippers stadium for the first time! I've heard it is fantastic. We'll have to work some swimming in too - looks like temps in the 90's.

So there you have it - some random updates!

Only Silas...

Last night we were all in the van, Silas and Ella are in their car seats with their drink cups.
Silas says "I've got boogies on my cup"
"Gross!" Ella and I both yell.
"Did you get it off?" I ask him.
"No" - and I notice he's about to take a drink.
"STOP!" I tell him as I hand him a tissue.
Upon closer inspection I realize that the "boogies" are really just pulp from the lemonade that he's drinking (Thank God) but the fact that HE thinks it's boogies and is still going to take a drink...GROSS!

And last night he was also running around saying "Knock Knock, it's party o'clock!" Something that (I swear!) Justin and I don't go around saying... not even on Fridays. No clue where he heard this.

First the Ears...

and 10 years from now, she'll probably ask to get her belly button, nose or eyebrow pierced...but hopefully not all three!

Sunday we took the kids to the mall so that Ella could get her ears pierced! We went to Claire's. They did both ears at the same time. Ella was a VERY brave girl. I could tell that it hurt and that she was trying very hard not to cry.



We had to wait for a little bit, so Silas had to amuse himself...does he look more like Dexter from Dexter's Lab or Drew Carey?

I think a little more like Drew...

Ella has been doing a great job of reminding me that we need to clean her ears 3 times a day and then she turns her earrings. She is taking the responsibility very seriously.




Silas, on the other hand, is taking his responsibility to be ROTTEN very seriously. I know that he's gotten his hiney spanked at least 10 times in the last week. He's totally not listening, doing the opposite of what we say and wants to do everything "by myself!". But man, he's cute and cuddly....