My Three Sons

Cookie Making Fun

2011-12-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Ben really wanted to help me make some Christmas cookies last week, so I made the dough and let him roll it out.

He preferred to use his hands, which made me glad I had him wash them before we started.

At one point it didn't really matter how clean his hands were, because he kept shoving them into his mouth. Then I found myself trying to remember just how hot the cookies would have to bake to kill bacteria. I was pretty sure we were safe, and I wasn't planning on handing this batch out to the neighbors, so I let him freely partake of the best part of cookie making.

He was very thankful, and we made some nice cookies.

The next day after they had cooled it was time to decorate them.

Ben was nice enough to let his brothers participate, but he did stake his claim to the multi-colored sprinkles.

Andy insisted on wearing a shirt with a collar for the big event. What you can't see are the athletic shorts that complete the ensemble. By-the-way, there are cookies under all that icing and all those sprinkles.

Jonah was more casual with his dress and more conservative with his decorating.

Ben took a bite out of each cookie he decorated.

Hey, wait a minute! There were two cookies on that plate. Where's the other one?

Yummy, yummy in my tummy.

Legoland

2011-12-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

We went to Legoland, and it was awesome! Mom got cheap tickets through the homeschool group. We were just three of about 400 kids. It was like a private field trip just for home schoolers.

Max was there. This is the biggest we've ever seen him:

There were lots of fun rides, and we were tall enough for just about all of them:

Well, Ben wasn't, but there was plenty of stuff his size, too:

Mom went on this one with us. I'm pretty sure I heard her scream:

It seemed like everything was made out of Legos:

Even some of the people. At first Ben was a little scared of this guy, but he got pretty chummy with him after a few minutes:

I had no idea Legos were so strong... or sharp. Ouch!

Ya, pretty sharp:

The absolute coolest thing in the park--where we spent most of our time--was this place where we got to build cars and race them on tracks. We must have raced about a thousand times. I'm pretty sure we won every time, too:

Mom liked this. It was a bunch of miniature cities built with Legos. We were like giants:

It was a fun trip, and it gave us all kinds of ideas for how to use Legos. Now, if only Santa would bring us about a million more boxes of them.

Andy's Jumpin' Birthday Party

2011-12-06T11:00:00.001-08:00

This kid just turned seven:

In case you don't recognize him--you know, because he's in disguise and all--here he is front and center, posing with his friends in front of the bounce house we rented for his party:
Andy typically gets a much simpler party than Jonah just because it falls around the holidays. This year we were determined to give him a great party, because he's such a great kid. We surprised him with a bounce house in the front yard.

It was a big hit. Everyone was fighting to get in:

Just how long will kids jump before they get bored, you might ask? We may never know. After six hours of jump time, we shut the party down while they were still springing along... in the dark... and the rain.

Other opportunities for fun included the ever-popular piñata, which we had to hang from our neighbor's tree because we don't have anything but palms in ours:
Ben thoroughly enjoyed whacking it with the same bat we always tell him not to hit with:
Here we are walking back to our house after the kids filled up their goody bags with candy:

And here's Ben after being busted for stealing some other kid's bag:

Good thing he wasn't still carrying the bat.

Then there were presents:

And cake:
And, of course, face painting:
Which also drew a crowd:
Andy said he had a great time. When I asked him what his favorite part was, he said he loved the bounce house, and the cake and presents were great, but he mostly liked hanging out with his friends.

Happy birthday, big boy!

Halloween

2011-12-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

I promised a couple grandmas that I would send Halloween pictures, so I'm going to play a little game of catch up before moving on to more current events. Allow me to take you back to mid October and pumpkin carving:

Jonah was the only one willing to touch the stuff until the other kids saw that it was safe. After they warmed up to it, it ended up all over the back porch and yard. I had to scrub it off the screen door and, at last count, I had thirty-two pumpkin vines sprouting up in the back lawn.
Here they are with the finished products:
Jonah chose this pattern... and I carved it.
Andy chose this pattern... and I carved it:
It didn't matter which pattern Ben chose because his pumpkin was so hard I couldn't carve it. Instead, I had to nail holes in it just to be able to squeeze some Mr. Potato Head pieces into it:
When did Halloween become so much work for Mom? Oh well, Ben was thrilled with his new toy, and that made it worth the effort:
Later in the month the kids dressed up and we headed over to the Hendersons' for some trick-or-treating:
Jonah was a spy:
Andy was a storm trooper:
and Ben was a magician. He made candy disappear:
I painted a jack-o-lantern on Maria's belly, much like the one Benay painted on me when I was pregnant with Andy--only smaller:
Here's baby Kevin's first Halloween costume:
Ben especially liked it:
John and I never got around to putting together costumes for ourselves, but Maria had some from last year that fit us perfectly:
This may be the first year I've ever been trick-or-treating with a fully-costumed group of this size. It was a lot of fun:
As we headed out, Ben insisted on staying with baby Kevin:
It was a beautiful evening, and the kids came back with pumpkins filled to the brim. What more could a kid want?

Jonah's 10th

2011-10-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

We are officially parents of a double digiter. Jonah was thrilled to have his tenth birthday party at a beach park with these great kiddos:

I was glad I didn't plan a lot of games because they kept themselves pretty busy. Their first activity was to climb up this concrete water fountain to swing on low hanging palm fronds. The moms all stood nearby commenting on how dangerous it looked as we snapped photos of our daring children:
Then the kids' favorite celebrity, their homeschool athletics coach, showed up for a cameo appearance. He brought Jonah a baseball autographed by a famous player and even gave the brothers a little something:
He broke out his bow and arrow and gave each kid a shot at a bag of charcoal. Who needs a piñata?
Then it was cake time. Jonah requested chocolate this year for the first time ever. For those of you who know him, you know lemon has always been his favorite. I believe my influence is finally taking hold.
He got a lot of cool boy gifts from his friends, including things that shoot, things that go, and things that make a mess:
Then we headed over to the beach for the main attraction:
Uh oh!
It was very windy but felt great:
No sea lice in here:
And the wind made for perfect waves:
Woo hoo! what a party!

The Lizard Whisperer

2011-08-21T11:56:00.001-07:00

Jonah has become something of a reptile specialist lately. Not only has he been catching with his bare hands some very aggressive lizards in our neighborhood, but he has also been taming them. Here is one of his recent catches--a reformed thrasher and biter:

All the boys take great delight in trapping the lizards' food so Jonah can feed it to them by hand:
They don't hesitate to take advantage of the fact that Jonah can put these little critters on their backs for several minutes at a time. Here they have Fred sunning himself on the beach with an ice cold Coke in his hand.
While his girlfriend Wilma enjoys the quiet solitude her own hot tub affords:

Live animals are a real crowd pleaser when it comes to play time. But don't worry, Jonah is extremely gentle with them and doesn't let anyone handle them who isn't just as careful. Here they are on the set of a recent photo shoot where the kids put together the following story:

Frank was carpooling on his way to work when, suddenly, he felt a little sick:

Mabel took her spot behind the wheel, only to realize she would have to drive to the hospital instead of the office. Frank's condition was getting worse:

It's a good thing Mabel works out because, by the time they reached the parking lot, Frank was so weak, she had to carry him into the building:

It's also a good thing Mabel is a doctor because she had to perform emergency surgery on Frank:

Now Frank is back at home in the comfort of his own athletic sock bed and recovering nicely:

We hope you have enjoyed our little diversion from reality. You may just see more of Jonah's gift with animals combined with his clever imagination very soon.

Grandma's Visit

2011-06-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

We're blessed enough to have two Grandmas - one from Texas and one from Colorado. We used to call the former Naked Grandma because she liked to strip us down when we were babies and let us run around naked. Now we call her Texas Grandma because Mom says the other doesn't seem like a fitting name for a six and a nine year old to use.

She just spent a week with us and we had a great time. She even helped us with our chores. For example, she cleaned the glass doors while we... well, we did other stuff.

Then we rewarded her by taking her to the beach and by just being our wonderful-grandson selves.

Thanks for visiting, Grandma. We miss you already.

This Chicken's a Little Dry

2011-06-13T18:48:00.000-07:00

I'm just going to warn you that if you have a weak stomach this may not be for you. It's about a recent homeschool project that, while helpful and memorable, was by far the most disgusting activity we've ever done. The boys and I spent the last three months mummifying a chicken after we read about the ancient Egyptians doing the same to their deceased. We started with a store-bought, whole chicken. Then we cleaned it and packed it in salt in a large Ziploc. I'll spare you the nastiness of raw chicken photos but let me just say it was nauseating to take that thing out of the bag every few days to repack it with fresh salt. When I told the boys that people used to have to do this with their loved ones' bodies, Andy exclaimed, "You mean they put them in bags!"

After the chicken was essentially dehydrated and half its original size, we removed it from the bag and shook off all the salt. The boys chose spices to mix with olive oil, which we used to massage into the bird so it wouldn't smell so offensive. It actually worked.

Here they are with the chicken on the driveway trying to decide who's going to touch it first:

Jonah drew the short straw and Andy almost threw up just watching him pick it up:

See, I told you the fragrant oil worked. Don't they look like they're having fun and breathing freely?

Then came the best part - wrapping the delightful specimen in glue-soaked cloth:

They finally both really got into it and wrapped the bird up tight. Jonah kept insisting he needed more "toilet paper" but eventually learned the word "gauze".

Then, because it hasn't rained much at all for weeks, we set it on the driveway to dry and forgot about it. Then it rained and rained and rained. Oops. Again, I'll spare you those photos. Suffice it to say that you should be happy my boys aren't planning on becoming undertakers.

Our Little Graduate

2011-05-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Andy graduated homeschool kindergarten on Saturday.

As we rehearsed and memorized for the ceremony, a quote from one of our favorite cartoons, The Incredibles, came to mind: "They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity". Yes, it's kind of funny to dress up a six year old in a cap and gown for an event he may or may not remember by this time next year. It may also not be any great feat for a child his age to know addition and subtraction or to read on a first grade level, but we are very proud of him and look for opportunities to celebrate this wonderful child.

So, without further ado, please join me with the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance" playing in your head while you view these photos of Andy graduating with other homeschoolers at a local church:

The Proud Big Brother

The Proud (of himself) Little Brother

Waiting for the Ceremony with a Bunch of Yucky Girls

Saying the Pledge of Allegiance

Receiving his Diploma

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the part of the ceremony where we recognized and promoted the siblings into their respective grades. Jonah was promoted to the fourth grade. Again, no big deal, right? This is a kid we were told was autistic and may not ever learn to read or write. If you saw the Mother's Day card he made by himself for me you know that is not the case. So we're aware of how much we have to celebrate and were thankful for this forum to publicly acknowledge the gifts God has given us in our children.

Ben on His Tricycle

2011-05-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

The only thing cuter than a naked baby? A naked baby on a tricycle.

Disney World

2011-05-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

When we got out of bed Dad told us we were going to the doctor. He even said we might have to get a shot. When he saw how nervous we were, he pretended to call the doctor who said what we need is three days at Disney World. Woohoo!

We beat the heat by spending the first half of each day in the pool at the hotel:

Then we went to Disney:

It was a blast even though a few of the the lines were kind of long.

Being there at night was beautiful and we were wiped out by the end of each day. What a great trip!

Andy Rides a Bike

2011-05-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

It dawned on me that Andy probably didn't need his training wheels anymore. We took them off and he was free wheeling in about twenty minutes. Ben, however, did not appreciate all the attention aimed at his big brother.

The Boys Are Back in Town

2011-04-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I think two years is long enough to go between posts so I've decided to pick this thing back up. I'm aware that those who read my blog Brazilian Jewells are not necessarily interested in reading about my kid's loose tooth or latest school project so this page is dedicated to those of you who are.

Here's a picture I took of the boys last week at the park.

Now that you're up to date on how much they've grown, I'll start filling you in on what they're doing as well.

Andy's Early Birthday Celebration

2009-11-13T11:02:00.001-08:00

Andy will turn five at the end of the month but we decided to celebrate early while we're still here in Brazil with his friends. He wanted a Spiderman party, so a Spiderman party it was:

He had a pool party in November - something that probably won't happen next year:
Dad grilled up some deliciousness while the menfolk milled around the churrasqueira (Brazilian-barbecue oven):

Judging by the expressions, he's gotten pretty good at it:

Andy opened some presents:And played some games:
While Ben wondered when he was going to get a turn. Not for about four months, Little Man:

Then Andy disappeared and Spider-Man joined the fun for a group photo:
All in all it was a great day and a birthday to remember, not just because of the food and fun, but also because it will be the last birthday Andy celebrates with this Portuguese-speaking bunch... for a while, at least.

Jonah Turns Eight

2009-10-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Jonah's eighth birthday with a party at our house.

The first item on the agenda was cool hair styles for the three amigos:

It was an experiment with egg whites. Jonah, Andy, and their best friend Irvaine all sported the spikes until they hit the pool a bit later in the day:

Here's the birthday crew:

The theme was Ben 10 again. Jonah L-O-V-E-S Ben 10, as do most of the other little boys around here. I'll be interested to see how popular the cartoon is in the States. Since we got rid of TV, our boys have to rely on videos and comic books of their favorite super hero.One of our guests, while reaching out to hand a card to Jonah, quickly pulled it back when she saw the "Ben 10" table decoration. She whispered to her mother, "You wrote happy eighth birthday on the card to Jonah but it's BEN who's turning TEN. How embarrassing!" I had to laugh, and I assured her they had it right the first time. In case you haven't guessed, they also don't have TV.

Dad grilled up some tasty treats:

And the big kids talked and ate together:

While the little kids enjoyed the pool:

And the even littler kids enjoyed poking each other with sticky fingers:

Then there was this:

And presents:

It's going to be sad to say goodbye to good friends but we are blessed to have made so many memories while we were here.

This may be the last pool party Jonah ever has because it's much colder in October north of the equator. I'm sure he has no idea how much he'll cherish these memories, but he will be blessed by them forever.

Andy at Capoeira Practice

2009-09-09T07:49:00.001-07:00

The kids are learning capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines martial arts with dance). Here's a short video of Andy during a recent practice.

A Look Into the Future

2009-09-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

My upcoming homeschool student was very interested in writing class today.

Teeth

2009-09-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

The New Kid in Town

2009-03-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

This is our new brother Ben. He was born on March 3 and he's about two weeks old in this picture. Mom had to be induced a couple weeks early because of some crazy itching she was having.

Dad was trying to explain to us that we were about to have a new baby in the house. He wanted to prepare us, so he said, "Today is Friday and on Tuesday Mommy's going into the hospital to have the baby." Andy was so happy. I was too.

I said, "Dad, are you kidding me? Today is really Friday? Do you know what this means?"

"Yes, I do," he said with a big smile on his face. "Only a few more days."

"No," I yelled with glee, "Star Wars is on TV tonight!"

The Prayer of a Righteous Kid Availeth Much

2009-02-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

A few days ago we came home and the electricity was out. We couldn't open the electric gate to drive the car in. Mom and Dad didn't have a key to the other door either. We were stuck in the street and couldn't get into our house. We have an electric fence around the top of our wall to keep out robbers and Dad says it's very dangerous. But since the electricity was off, he said he could climb over the wall and try to pry open the electric gate from the inside. He backed the car up to the wall and climbed on top. We were very worried that we were never going to see our toys again but Mom said we should pray that God would turn on the electricity. We both talked to God and said, "Please turn on the electricity so we can open the gate. Please let us into our house. Amen." Just when we said "Amen" Dad came crashing down onto the car with a yell. God did turn it back on and Dad got shocked real bad. His hand was even bleeding. He asked us to please tell him before the next time we were going to pray for something that might kill him. We thought it was pretty cool that God answered our prayers and that Dad was OK.

Doughy Play

2008-10-07T12:27:00.000-07:00

While Mom and Jonah have homeschooling lessons, she tries to keep me occupied with something fun and quiet. She's reminds me over and over to put the lid back on the Play Doh, but sometimes I forget. We don't have to worry about it drying out, though. Instead, it gets wetter and wetter until we get this doughy mess.

The Fall of Fort Paper Mache

2008-09-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

We gathered together about 100 milk boxes ('cause that what milk comes in here) to make a paper mache fort. We mixed some flour and water and the ever-important salt to keep it from growing mildew. We covered the first wall with saturated newspaper strips then waited for it to dry. Then we waited some more... and some more... and some more... and...

a week later it still wasn't dry. Our art project turned into a science project. Mom said that was OK because we learned something very valuable. We learned that salt absorbs water and, since there's lots of water in the air around here, traditional flour-water-salt paper mache never dries. If anyone has a suggestion for a non-mildew making, non-water absorbing paper mache recipe, we would like to try again.

Our Dog, Peanut

2008-07-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

We adopted this puppy from a cave. He lived in a great big hole his mommy had dug into the side of a hill by our house. You may remember the puppies that were born in the bat house. Well, they moved into a sandy cavern and, when they got big enough to wander out on their own, we brought this one home.

All the others moved away but Peanut's mom still comes to visit him.

Teddy Pain

2008-06-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

This is our new pet. It's a tarantula. We found it in the basement, but please don't tell Grandma or she may not come back to Brazil to live with us. Her room is down there.

Andy wanted to name him Teddy and I wanted to name him Pain so we settled on Teddy Pain. Mom says he's a small tarantula and that if we feed him we could watch him grow. He loves to eat and it's fun to watch him attack. We found a bee that mom says is the biggest one she's ever seen. We threw him in there and watched the two do battle for two days straight. In the end, Teddy Pain won.

You gotta love that spider!

Mommy's Little Production Assistant

2008-05-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have become the photo and video lady at church. Andy insisted on wearing a tie and carrying the tripod during my last assignment.

Mom's Bed Has Monsters

2008-05-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Mom got attacked by a spider in her bed. She got five bites but they all healed OK. The bats like to hang out in her room too but Dad stapled some screens on the windows so they don't come around much any more. Lizards still patrol the walls at night but she's OK with that because they eat the mosquitos that find their way into the one window we haven't been able to close off. Dad says Mom has been a real trooper through it all but yesterday we think she met her match.

Andy got up real early and went to hang out with Mom and Dad in bed. Then I woke up and went to join them. I put my knee up on the bed to crawl in and discovered that something else had beat me to it. This was climbing up the sheet that was hanging down onto the floor:

In case you'd like a better look ('cause we sure got one), here it is:

Mom was less that happy and encouraged us to beat it to a pulp with the flyswatter.

Life out here can be sometimes exciting and sometimes disturbing but it's never ever boring.

New Life at the Bat House

2008-05-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

We like to walk to this vacant house just up the hill and shoot at the bats that hang out there with our slingshots.

A few days ago, after clearing the place out of the little black fruit-eaters, we discovered something new in the garage.

One of the many local street dogs had turned the place into a nursery for her six puppies.

Mom told us not to touch her since we didn't know if she would bite. Instead, we slid a bowl of water and some dog biscuits to her two days in a row. On the third day, she came into our yard looking for her meal. Dad's not super happy about that but we think the puppies are great!

Pet For a Day

2008-04-28T09:48:00.000-07:00

It came down to a behemoth roach, a fledgling bird that landed on Dad in bed, and this harmless baby gecko. Thankfully, the lizard won the contest and became pet for the day. Jonah wore him like a tattoo for the better part of the morning then released him back into the wild (our back yard) so that he can grow and return another day to climb our bedroom walls, eating his fill of mosquitos.

Pineapple Gardener

2008-04-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

This is Grandma, planting a pineapple:

She's actually re-planting a pineapple, because the roaming cows came along last night and dug up what she had planted a couple weeks ago. It already had roots and everything. At least they had the decency to leave some fertilizer behind.

Fruity Cereal

2008-04-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

Dad thought this looked like a taste of home, so he brought it home for us. Can you say knock off? Funny thing is, we never did eat Froot Loops in the States, but there is something that just tastes American about this stuff. It's our favorite breakfast comfort food here.

(Since the taking of this picture, we have found Kellogg's Froot Loops at the grocery store. For just under six dollars a box it's a real bargain.)

Bat Killers

2008-04-05T04:26:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken just days after we moved into our new house. There was a bat living in Grandma's room and she sent us in to get it out. We chased it around and swung this baton and this flyswatter at it. Dad finally made contact with the flyswatter.

We carried it out into the yard on the baton and gave it an improper burial.
We publish these photos as a memorial and an apology to the flying mice. We know now that they are our friends and the eaters of many insects.

Not Our Dog

2008-03-29T07:06:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of dogs in the neighborhood. This one comes around every day. Dad says he's not our dog. He likes us a lot. We like to pet him. A couple days ago when Dad was gone, we fed him. He liked that a lot. We also learned that he likes to catch Cheetos in the air. When Dad heard about that he reminded us that he's not our dog. Yesterday when Dad was out again, we had the dog in. He's a real good dog. Too bad he's not ours. I wonder if his daddy told him that we're not his.

Branch Bug

2008-03-27T06:51:00.000-07:00

If they call this kind of insect a "stick bug" in the States, I think I would call the Brazilian version a "branch bug".

Toad-ally Cool!

2008-03-25T15:43:00.000-07:00

I couldn't fit this one in my pocket.

Our Superman Pool

2008-03-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

This is the best part of our new house. Mom and Dad thought it was funny to have a built-in pool this little, but we saw it and knew immediately that this superhero pool was built just for us.

The Fish That Didn't Get Away

2008-02-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

We went fishing with Grandma on her boyfriend Bill's property. Here's Bill harvesting our cane poles:

Grandma stood by to help in case a big fish tried to pull us into the water. (We can only hope she intended to help us and not the fish):Andy handled this one just fine:Jonah had to work for his catch though:

It was worth it in the end, don't you think?:

We would say one of the highlights of the day was riding on this four-wheeler, but Mom insists the highlight is that none of us was maimed:

What a blast!

High Aspirations

2008-02-06T09:16:00.000-08:00

We were driving home one evening recently and passed several restaurants when Jonah announced that he wanted to be a "restaurant guy" when he grows up. He said he wants to sell food to people. I said I thought that was a fine idea and that I would certainly buy food at his restaurant (especially if he stops picking his nose by then). A few minutes passed, then Andy chimed in with, "I want to be Spiderman when I grow up." Not wanting to be outdone, Jonah said, "I think I want to be Batman instead." Several more minutes passed before Andy decidedly pronounced, "I am going to be the Lord."

Halloween in Colorado

2007-11-13T07:05:00.000-08:00

This year we celebrated Halloween in Colorado. Here's some of our family on Dad's side (Uncle Dean, Aunt Nettie, Cousin Amanda, Cousin Joanna, Cousin Jarrettt, Grandma, and us with Mom and Dad):

We got to meet our new cousin Adam. He's cute, but he doesn't do much. We tried to teach him how to write on the walls and pull the cat's tail and other fun stuff like that, but he wasn't interested. Oh well, maybe next time.And we met Adam's Daddy, Anthony. We warmed up to him pretty quickly.

Uncle Dean and Aunt Nettie bought us some bikes to ride around the neighborhood: Finally, someone who understands our needs.For Halloween, Mom and Dad each carved a jack-o-lantern. Then we went to a carnival at the local church. We were Mr. Incredible and "Darf Mater" or "Dark Vader" (depending on which of us you ask).Adam was a pirate, but not a very scary one. He just kept eating his sword.
We played lots of games, and they gave out lots of candy.
The chicken catapult was one of our favorite attractions.The train ride was great too. This won our vote for best costume: We had a great time and didn't want it to end. We think the feeling was mutual, because here's what Adam had to say when we told him we were leaving:

Fishing with Uncle Mikey

2007-11-12T05:44:00.000-08:00

Uncle Mikey came to town. (That was last month, but Mom is just now getting around to telling you about it.)

Anyway, we went fishing. . . in Greece.Actually, we went fishing at one of the city parks. They call Nashville the "Athens of the south".

Here's us with Uncle Mikey. He's not in the Witness Protection Program or anything; Mom just didn't get a photo of his face. We fished and fished.

But here's all we caught:And that was enough to make us happy.

Wall Climber

2007-10-22T18:42:00.001-07:00

Give this kid a little sugar and watch him go. Maybe I'll send him up the chimney to clean out the soot.

Jonah's Birthday Party

2007-10-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

Today is Jonah's birthday, but we celebrated on Saturday. Can you guess how old he is? I would have made just chocolate cupcakes but Jonah doesn't like chocolate. Is there such a thing as maternity testing to be sure he wasn't switched at birth? Oh, did I write that out loud?

I was inspired to make art on this foil-covered window screen when I found myself with forty-eight cupcakes and no other platter large enough to hold them. Nobody knows it was an old screen from the basement. Well, they do now, but foil seals bad stuff in as much as it does good stuff. No worries.

Jonah was pretty happy when his friends started showing up. Maybe it's because they were sooo cute.

Here's the whole birthday crew, minus a couple camera-shy munchkins:

Jonah was very excited to open his presents.
Despite appearances, it wasn't a theme party. A few of the kids just wanted to be ready to protect us in the event of criminal activity during the festivities. Thankfully, there was none.

Then came the piñata. All the kids gave it a whack. Andy tried to bust it open. Then Spiderman gave it his best shot:

And when it seemed no one was going to crack the soccer ball, Dad stepped in. Let the sugar comas commence! Ah, look at all the baby-unfriendly candy.

Good times.

The Jolly Goblin

2007-10-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Paw Paw brought a box full of gourds by our house to make a jolly goblin. Andy chose this one for the nose: Paw Paw was on knife duty.We stuck all the features into the holes like a Mr. Potato Head.It was all very silly - just like we like it.Here's our jolly goblin:And here's our thanks to Paw Paw:

Cupcake Makers

2007-10-04T14:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Dad's birthday, so we made him some cupcakes. They were chocolate on chocolate with some chocolate sprinkles. Mom says you can never have too much chocolate.

We frosted them ever-so-delicately then ate them with relish - not the pickle kind.They turned out delicious and beautiful. Can you spot Andy's work of art?

Feeding the Ducks

2007-09-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

We went to the park the other day to feed the ducks. You can see here that they seemed quite happy to see us. They came flying across the pond for our crumbs of bread.

A couple of them went right for the morsels in Jonah's hand, which spawned a discussion about whether or not geese have teeth.

So we went to the less threatening side of birdville to visit the ducklings.

These babies, poor things, didn't know enough to be afraid of my boys.

Here, my little men are contemplating what to do with them:

Thankfully, Andy decided that walking like a duck would be entertainment enough, so he waddled after them toward the pond.

I think Andy's going to make a great missionary. See how he makes himself all things to all people...and fowl?
He didn't even mind kneeling in the duck poop. What a well-rounded kid.

Soccer Game

2007-09-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jonah played his first soccer game of the season today. Here are the little munchkins warming up before the game. Jonah's coach is the lady in pink. He's on the blue team this week. The shirts are reversible and the two teams practice and play each other every week. It's a church league. Andy practiced his karate kid, I mean his kick, just off the sideline.The league is more concerned with sportsmanship than competition. Jonah's working on his sportsmanship but has pretty much mastered the competition thing, as can be seen here where he shoves Little Yellow out of the way to kick a goal... AGAINST HIS OWN TEAM! Luckily, the goalie is pretty good and saves Jonah from himself.Jonah likes to play goalie too. See how he owns the space?Here comes the ball... Here it comes... He got it!Then he looks to make sure we saw it.And just in case anyone missed that, here's another block on a kid kicking... AGAINST HIS OWN TEAM! Good save, Jonah!
And another look from the blocker.Yes, we saw it and we are proud.

Finally, the play of Jonah's career so far and our money-making shot, should he go pro.

Don't worry, he didn't actually kick the little girl in the teeth, but he did take it to her, didn't he? So what if half of the league are girls and the other half are boys smaller than him? It's good for his self-esteem. OK, so it's good for his parents' self-esteem too. We're proud of our boy. What's wrong with that?

My Children, the Snake Hunters

2007-09-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

After we moved in last fall, we quickly discovered that our yard was doubling as Club Med for a garden snake population. Though harmless, I wasn't fond of coming upon them by surprise each day as I gardened. Besides, we're not talking about the little six-inch snakes that couldn't even fit your pinky in their mouths. No, these guys grow closer to three feet and could easily eat my thumb. They would hang out in the yard, sunning themselves, without a care in the world. Until we moved in, that is.

Here is a brazen little couple last spring, coming up out of the parking garage, headed for the spa. They never made it. That's right, we killed them. Then we taught our children to kill them.We killed twenty-four of them before it got so hot, the survivors decided to disappear into the ground to repopulate for cooler weather. Well, it's been cooling off a bit lately and we saw number twenty-five yesterday. My kids didn't miss a beat.

Here they are discovering the first intruder of the season.
Here they are holding it down. Notice how Jonah switched weapons halfway through the slaughter.
Oh, that must have been so he could secure it better while Andy beat the crud out of it.
Bye-bye number twenty-five. And don't send me hate mail or negative comments either. I was a vegetarian for ten years which probably saved some cows, so I believe I've earned the right to kill a few snakes. Besides, we sort of live in the city and my boys need some kind of masculine outlet.

What Jonah's Getting for Christmas

2007-09-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Jonah lost another tooth. This makes four. He didn't just lose it; it happened two weeks from this coming Sunday, but I couldn't take the picture the day of. He was a bit traumatized. He was jumping on the bed and knocked it out on the dismount. It was slightly loose already, but only slightly. There was blood and lots of screaming... Oh, the screaming.

Here he looks all cute with his toothless grin, but that's only because I asked him to smile nicely. This is how he preferred to pose, and it's about how he looked just before he knocked that tooth out.

Our Best Texas Buddies

2007-08-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

We want you to meet our friends who live in Texas.

This is JD. He's 11 and he made this really cool fort for his army men. His mom wasn't real keen on my mom's suggestion that melting them would be fun. He gave us a bag of army men to bring home. Now Mom's rummaging for shoe boxes and popsicle sticks to make a log cabin for them. The matches have been hidden.This is Hannah Beth. She's 7. Andy LOVES her. He can't even say "Annabeff" without growing a smile.

Here's a rare moment when Cade (the youngest at 3 years old) and Andy played together. Usually it's Jonah and Cade who run around like a couple of wild animals. Andy's usually too busy hugging Hannah Beth.

Their cousin, Aubrey, came over one day and this trio founded The Club of Toothless Wonders.

Oh, and here's a picture of one of the two baths the Jewell kids took on the whole Texas trip. Mom figured that spending part of every day in Grandma's chlorinated pool should serve the purpose.

Postcard From Texas

2007-08-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

Here's something fun we did in Texas:

This turtle came into Grandma's yard while we were swimming in her pool. Jonah was brave enough to pick it up

but Andy only wanted to touch its shell.

The turtle only came out to run away after we were far off. Whoever said turtles move slowly never saw this guy escape. You can see his portrait on Mom's photo blog.

Home School Physical Education

2007-08-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Look who's swimming to Grandma without a life jacket! While most of America's youth started school this month, we were hanging out at Grandma's pool in Texas. I'd say it was time well spent.

Sunflower Harvest

2007-08-08T11:20:00.001-07:00

We planted some sunflowers in the spring. I especially took a liking to this one because the bigger it grew, the more personality it took on. By the time it got big enough to droop over like this, I thought it looked just like someone taking a shower. Can't you see him leaning into the tile wall, letting the warm water run over his face to wake up for work in the morning? When I brought him a cup of coffee is when I knew I had taken my floral romance too far. So I had to kill him. Then I let the kids pick all the seeds out of his big head.
And if that wasn't enough, we spread them on a baking sheet, lightly salted them, and browned them in the oven.

Toothless Wonder

2007-08-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Finally!

The going rate for a tooth in mint condition is apparently $3.00. What a generous tooth fairy! It worked out well because Jonah has three jars: one marked "save", one marked "give", and one marked "spend". He was able to evenly divide his crisp new bills into their little glass houses. I have a feeling that Washington is going to break out of his "spend" house the next time we go to the thrift store.

Snaggletooth

2007-08-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, Snaggletooth, your tooth is loose
And makes you look so funny.
Let's pull it out and hide it
Under your pillow for some money.

Adventures in Paper Mache

2007-07-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

We decided to get our hands dirty with paper mache this week. I wish I could offer you some great recipe for it, but we just mix flour and water until it's like runny oatmeal. Then we pour in a bit of salt, because I read once that salt keeps it from turning into a science project. We covered an inflated balloon with saturated newspaper strips (Andy's favorite part). After it dried overnight, I popped the balloon and cut out the mask shapes. The kids painted (Jonah's favorite part). Here are the finished products. Jonah's had these suits since he was about three. Looks like it's about time to trade in the Spiderman knickers for a bigger size.Nice. Don't you think?

Jonah traced over some pencil lines I drew for the web on Spidey's face. He did a good job, but I must admit, you're looking at the reason I've never considered permanent eyeliner.

A Visit From Our Cousin

2007-07-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is our cousin Joanna. She came to visit us from Colorado.

We went to the park to run and play and wear ourselves out.

Some of us did wear out.

and others of us... not so much.

Stop, Drop, and Roll

2007-07-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

We went with a group of kids from our neighborhood to the local firehouse.

This is Fireman Jimmy. He showed us how they bandage busted heads.

No more monkeys jumpin' on the bed.

They showed us the truck.

We got to tour the firehouse.

They turned out all the lights and showed us what it's like when they get a call in the middle of the night. The alarm goes off, the lights come on, and the doors swing open. Mom said they could just keep some kids around to get the same effect.

We even got to spray the hose.

It was great, and we want to be firemen when we grow up (if that happens in a few days; any longer and we'll probably change our minds).

Centennial Park

2007-07-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went downtown to the Centennial Park fountains and had ourselves a big time.

Is it just me, or does Andy seem to be wearing larger swim trunks than Jonah?

Playschool

2007-07-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

We go to playschool twice a week to give Mom a break. We're not sure from what, but she says she needs it.
Here we are at the front door, just itchin' to go inside. "C'mon, Mom, take the picture already!"

We take Andy to his class first.

Then Jonah.

Then Mom gets her hair and nails done at a posh salon while servant girls feed her grapes and chocolate. Then she wakes up from her nap and comes to pick us up.

Hey, You, Out There!

2007-07-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

Do us a favor and click on "comments" down there and tell us what you think about our blog.

What Little Boys are Made of

2007-07-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

This little worm lost his freedom in March.

I introduced the kids to the joy of worm collecting while I was gardening one fine spring day, and they took it to the next level. I heard the screen door slam shut after they had amassed a fortune of the little dirt miners in a bowl. Of course, I followed them inside to see what fate they had planned for their captives and arrived just in time to hear the ding of the microwave. That's right, they cooked them. When I asked what they were doing, Andy answered matter-of-factly, "Makin' pasketti."

An Angel in My Bed

2007-07-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

Look what showed up in my bed this morning. And that's after screaming at me in the middle of the night to sleep with him in his bed. Oh, I lose much sleep over this one. But just look at him. Isn't he sweet? I don't mind so much after all.

The Saga of the Fish

2007-07-06T18:31:00.000-07:00

A few months ago our neighbors gave us their old fish tank. We set it up and went out to buy fish the same day (our first mistake). Jonah and Andy each picked out his own $3.00 goldfish. They used to be 99 cents when I was a kid. These pet stores have guarantees on fish now. I didn't mind paying the extra $2.01 for the guarantee because... they died and I knew they would. You never put fish in a tank you just set up that day. We were just so excited for the kids to have their very own pets.

In the car I let them each hold a bag. Jonah had the fish and Andy had the snails. We figured snails would help keep the glass clean. We were trying to come up with names for the fish but only had one of the snails named by the time we got home. "Chip" is what we came up with. I'll let you guess what happened to lead us to that one. Doesn't matter because... Chip died and so did his buddy. Apparently if you're going to buy snails to keep the glass clean you better not clean the glass yourself or they'll starve to death. Lesson learned.

That fateful day that the fish died happened to be a day we had something planned for the morning. Good thing. I figured we could get the kids all dressed and ready to usher out the door without a thought for the fish. No such luck. The first thing they both did was run to the tank and ask where the fish were. They pressed me and so I cracked. "They died. I'm sorry. We can get new ones today." There was no crying, just one question. "Where are they?" Again they pressed and again I cracked. "They're in my purse in a baggy." (Remember the guarantee at the pet store? Well, you have to produce the dead bodies for an exchange.) They insisted on seeing them, but you guessed that. I pulled their lifeless little bodies out for the viewing. Still, no crying. Instead, both of my sensitive little cherubs laughed. They had a great time squishing the fish in the bag. I only allowed that long enough to get my things together to leave the house then we went to exchange the fish.

Now we have all new fish. Here's one:

and the other:

and the other:

Actually, there are ten of these but they all look exactly alike. I don't care if that does sound prejudice. It's a fact. Oh, and there's a catfish and two new snails. We found out that they sell algae pellets for the snails, which kind of defeats their whole purpose - to keep the glass clean. Now I am feeding the cleaning ladies and they're not even cleaning. Jonah and Andy like to drop in the algae tablets and watch all the fish go after them. That's right, everybody wants in on the algae tablet action. By the time the snails get to them, they are usually pretty sparse if they are at all. Good luck, my little employees.

Here they are just after the pellet hit the rocks. See all the fish? See the snails? My point exactly. We still don't have names for the goldfish, but they've probably been around long enough that it's safe to name them. I'll keep you posted on that. Let us know if you have any ideas.

The Man Face

2007-07-05T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is what Jonah calls his "man face". Lighten up out there, people. I don't want my kid growing up thinking this is what adulthood is all about.

Here's Andy trying to make the face. For goodness sake, you would think John and I walk around with a snarl on our face all day. Where do they get this?

Spider Brothers

2007-07-02T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here we are in our Spiderman t-shirts, looking like the angels we are. We never fight or yell or run screaming towards each other with swords.