It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, not really. But a Christmas list from our resident 7 year old has appeared:

Thing I want for crismis.
gitoer.
wisl.
camra.
handcaf's.
videowoch.
woch.
selfon.
sord.
sheeld.
campeuter.
sckecher's.
mask.
gogl's.
sandl's.
lunchbox.
snowbord.
horsewisle.
wackytacy.


Have fun guessing what each item is. A rudimentary knowledge of "The Legend of Zelda" and "Diego" might be helpful...

PBJ-pecker and prayer request

Today at lunch, Liam asked me why there was a hole in his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I told him, "that happens sometimes." He answered, "maybe a peanut butter and jelly-pecker ate a hole in it!"

Now where the heck did THAT cuteness come from!?

In case you've not been following along at www.bowensheart.com (you can click on my title and it'll take you there) about sweet baby Bowen, here's the news in the nutshell. He was born on September 9th at 7:59 PM and is absolutely beautiful. He had his first surgery on his heart yesterday morning and the surgeon was very pleased. However, last night they needed to put him on life support. The team working on him thought he'd be strong enough to come off it this morning. I haven't heard as of yet how that went, but please feel free to keep checking his site. They've been very good about staying in touch.

Please be praying for strength for his little body and healing. Pray for strength and energy and peace for his parents, Matthew and Sarah. And please pray for his sisters, Emmy and Claire, who are both younger than Care Bear and can't always understand why their parents are so busy with the baby... thanks to all of you who have been praying! =)

Giggles

Damon is trying hard to giggle. It pops out unexpectedly the first few times you tickle him, and then he just gets mad. It really makes Liam laugh! We can't wait for Dada to hear it... so precious!

Before I forget, here is a funny Carrie conversation from yesterday. Liam was at his swimming lesson and she was reading her book out loud to me while I fed the baby. It got to the page where the little boy had colored on the walls. She read that page, something about the parent loving him even when he's bad, and I commented how SHE had done the same thing.

"Nuh UH!"
"Yes, you did. You colored on the wall before."
"No! I DREW on the wall. I've SKETCHED on the wall. I didn't COLOR on the wall... yet."


Not sure if that "yet" was deliberate or if it slipped out, but it sure made me keep the conversation in mind!

Gotta go. Kid laundry needs folded and judging from the sounds I'm hearing, there will soon be a diaper to change...

Have a great rest of the week! Happy over the hump day!

Makin' faces and getting clean

I love how he makes big smiles for his siblings. First he stares them down and then he just beams. Cracks them up every time!

Talkin' to Dada during his bath...

Fresh and clean. Look at those cheeks and chins! Hehehehe!

Flora and Fauna

Another kind of garden visitor:

Carrots that Care Bear picked, discovered were too small, and tried to re-bury so they could finish growing. Yes, you may snicker.

Paste tomatoes. Dada has made one batch of sauce already and it was yummy! Care Bear didn't like it, but we've devoured it 0=)

Raised bed gardens, part... um... I lost count

Labor Day weekend found us out in the gardens, cleaning up some of the dead stuff, pruning some of the live stuff, picking fresh stuff, you get the idea...

Foreman Damon supervised from his comfy chair:

Look how much taller the tomatoes got than Dada even!

Alas, the caterpillars headed up high too. See all the damage they did? =/ Smart little buggers!

Lookie what we found in the garden!

A sweetie Dee with a fang. Hehe!

A superhero-ish Liam posing from on high.

A pretty tomato, one of bazillions. Hard to tell if we've found more tomatoes or Heimlich caterpillars... they are VERY abundant!

Peppers that Mama Rita keeps eating ;D Hehe!

Preschool, week one.

I got Liam after preschool on Monday (his first day) and asked how his day was.

"Great! *pause* I'm done with school now."

=D


He woke up groggily on Friday morning and asked where we were going. I said, "you have preschool today." He answered, "YAY!" Hehe. He's so ready for this!

Q

What do you get when you combine the following random objects?

A stock pot lid
A long handled plastic spoon
Bicycle/rollerblading helmet, pads, and gloves
A pair of handcuffs

Think about it. I'll be back later with the answer!

Triathalon shirt explanation by Liam

Dada is wearing the shirt he got from his mini-triathalon. It has a maple leaf background and then figures running, biking, and swimming on top. Liam is commentating:

The leaf is the whole world. The running is Ohio. The biking is Pennsylvania. The swim is North Carolina. The leaf is the whole planet.

Yeah, not sure where all that came from, but it was profound enough to get written down! =)

Squeak!

Somebody LOVES bath time. He's started losing his hair, so he has the opposite of the bald man syndrome. He has dark hair way down low on the back of his head, that naked ring around the sides of his head and the back, and then curly dark hair on top.

And check out those chinny-chin-chins, and those huge, sparkly eyes. One of my favorite things about babies is their clear eyes. So beautiful.

The ladies at church have been glad to see him for the past wto weeks, but the staff at the Y were THRILLED to meet him last Monday. They said they'd waited all summer for him! =)

Do you see what Dee sees?

Something is hiding in this picture. Two somethings, actually. Do you see them?

Carrie found these beautiful caterpillars hangin' out in our mulch. Then Dada and I found millions (well, about 20) of the Heimlich kind in his tomato plants. They're getting smarter... they're hanging out way up high, laughing at us! Since some of the tomato plants are taller than us, he had to get out the Gorilla ladder and chase 'em down!

Early morning sky

This was the sky Friday morning at about 6:45. If you could combine the photos of with flash and without, you'd get what I actually saw. It was so neat to have the strip of sunshine by the houses and then the diagonal line of clouds...

Labor Day weekend, night one

3 of We5 slept out last night in the screened in tent. Yes, it's all still up from the Christmas party, including the icicle lights. Dada read a story about Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs to Carrie, Liam, Tino, and Gus. Then those guys slept out through the wind and rain while Damon and I stayed in. I peeked at them at about 5 AM and there was a bright, shiny, smiling moon above them with lots of clouds. They had a great time!

First day of preschool

Here's Liam, brushin' those pearly whites before his first day of preschool. He was so excited, and as I blog this on day 4, he is STILL so excited that he can hardly wait to get in the car. He always wants to leave for school as soon as Carrie gets on the bus. Waiting is hard when you're small.

He's always been my stop and smell the flowers kid, and this one got pollen up his nose, hehe. He's ready to blast off into preschool!

Brothers

Liam adores Damon, and I'm thinking the feeling is mutual. He just lights up whenever he sees his big brother! Some cute shots of them:

Things One, Two, and Three. And Horse.

Ack, must go. Tiny Tyrant is calling...

Handcuffs

So Carrie's had this loose tooth for forever. Today she gets off the bus after school, and her white tank top has marks all over it. I think it's chocolate at first, but then see her holding tissues in both hands and a huge gaping hole where her front tooth had been sticking straight out. Sooooooooo, tooth is under her pillow with a note to the tooth fairy asking for handcuffs.

Yes, you read that right. Handcuffs. Supposedly she wants them so she can be a policeman for Halloween. Handcuffs.

The marks on Sir Liam's forehead are from his yellow swimming goggles that he likes to wear around the house. I told him to smile and this is the pose I got. Hands are on hips even though you can't see them.

And here's Damon, looking a little bit apprehensive about the flashy box thing that is continually getting shoved in his face... especially when he's trying to have private time with Horse.