Captain Morgan

Tristan's got a little Captain in him! Here he is posing in some dead sexy waders for the upcoming "Toddlers 2009" calendar (the diaper edition). He's been wearing these boots to daycare everyday. The sitter says he is destined to work at the chicken plant, but I'm thinking more along the lines of professional wrestler or Coyote Ugly bouncer.

Am I Blue?

Julius got a recycled paper factory kit for Christmas and we spent part of tonight making paper with dryer lint and used gift wrap. It's not all it's cracked up to be and I'm considering writing a stern letter to Bill Nye the Science Guy. Howerver with some modifications we made it work and these are a few of the sheets waiting around drying.

Tristan Talks to YouTube

I found this adorable video on a blog I follow.

I was playing it for Tristan who loves anything with animals. Watch the video below and then scroll down for the rest of the story.



The whole time the video was running and the guy was asking "Do you want to go for a walk" Tristan was sitting on my lap with a huge smile on his face saying "yeah!" Sometimes he'd nod yes, sometimes he'd say "yeah, gock!" (yeah, walk!) then he kept saying "ride ride ride ride" about 800 times. Every time the video ended he'd say "more". We watched it a dozen times til I began to feel sorry for him since he obviously didn't understand that he was NOT actually being invited to go on an excursion with these juicy little morsels.

RRP Story on CNN

Someone sent me this nice article about RRP and a great speech language pathologist who helped this boy get his voice back. Such great news! (Julius's speech quality is not as severe as the young gentleman's in this video. Julius only sounds more like someone who has a very bad cold.)

Julius Eats Sour Candy

Here is the first in a series of Public Service Announcements that Julius is making. He's considering his options about starting his own show. We're still kicking around a few ideas.

Another View

This is from a corner office and we have a wrap around view. So many interesting things to look at.

My View

I am in a meeting in Little Rock. This is the view from the room I'm in. I could stay here all day (except that I'm really hungry).

Donuts

Tristan loves powdered donuts. His mouth loves them, his nose loves them. We have donut everywhere! Next time I will put down a tarp. We need a dog just for doing some pre-cleaning. Whoa... I hope Martha Stewart does not read my blog.

Cowboy Tristan

Tristan rides his stick horse around the kitchen. He wants a cowboy hat, he says.

Ooh, Squishy!

There is some really cool stuff at the doctor's office!

Waiting for Shots

Tristan and I are at the doctor waiting for shots. He has moved much of the furniture around and is now jumping on the ottomans and couches yelling, "Bup!" (jump)

Typically this is not behavior I condone, but figure if the doctor is gonna keep me waiting with a two year old maniac then they get what they deserve.

Daredevil Cowboy

Tristan is one crazy cowboy!

Sitting. Waiting.

I'm sitting in the car while my mom buys a storage building. As I look at this little house shell I think how strange the price is compared to other things. This is a 600+ sq ft house (dried in) for less than $13,000.

Compare that with a car or a year in college or a foreign adoption.

A whole house!

Rotary Ukraine

Sitting in a Rotary club meeting listening to a talk about Ukraine. Interesting stuff! (No really!)

Stink Mask

When going to the bathroom, it's always a good idea to wear a mask for your personal protection.

Painter's Helper

Julius helps Dad paint the new pantry cupboard.

Concert

There is a concert at our house tonight! Here is a clip from Julius Live in Concert.

Daddy Tortures Tristan

Rob bathes the kids while I'm out at the Chamber of Commerce meeting. This was my status report.

Hiding from Mommy

The boys were hiding from me this morning behind the curtains in the bedroom.. I could hear Julius whispering, "Tristan be quiet so we can trick Mommy!"

Little do they know the trick will be on them when I show their girlfriends this blog!

Fundraising Fashion Show

I'm at a fundraising fashion show. Crazy!

Crazy

Julius likes to act crazy for the camera. He does a fine job at it.

Boys in Hats, Take 2

Okay, they are still, but now we need still AND SMILING.

Boys in Hats, Take 1

Trying to get these boys to pose for a picture is like asking a fly to sit still so you can swat it.

What Happened to My Design?

In case anyone is wondering, apparently there was a snafu with the design I was using and now it's no longer available, so I had to go get a new one. Waah. I sure loved that other one.

The 50th Time

Tristan watches the Spirit movie for what I'm sure is the 50th time. He watches it every morning and every night and cries if he doesn't get to see it. I wouldn't say hell is a Disney movie running non-stop but it's also not anywhere near heaven either!

Eating Cake

Tristan doesn't like to be dirty. Eating cake with his hands was freaking him out and he pretty much gave up after this pictures taken.

Love Presents!

One of the presents Tristan got was a stuffed Pooh and Tigger (Super Sleuth versions) since he really likes watching the Sleuths on TV. Big HUG for Pooh!

Personal Cake

This is Tristan's personal cake he can dig his hands into. This should be fun!

Excavator Cake

This was from a recipe out of Family Fun magazine. You can find it online at their web site. They have a bazillion other cool ideas, too!

Happy Birthday Tristan

Just finished getting Tristan's special birthday cake.

Happy

How can this not make you feel happy all over?

Happy Anniversary!

We're at the Japanese steakhouse celebrating our 8th anniversary.

Finding Their Groove

The boys were running amok and Rob insisted they calm down. A moment later Julius was spotted in the lotus pose, eyes closed, meditating. He reported that if one is very quiet one can feel the earth spin.

Julius said he would teach Rob how to feel the earth spin. (I can see this as a pickup line he uses later in life.) Meditation class commenced with even Tristan joining in.

Julius said, "This is what hippies do." Rob asked how he knew and Julius said, "I just know."

Hmm...

Happy Hour

After going through Sonic drive-thru and ending up paying $8.19 for four drinks (two large, two small), I decided we were no longer buying drinks at Sonic unless it is Happy Hour.  We do love Happy Hour, though!  Tristan loves it, too.  He got his first brain freeze during this episode and kept saying, "owie... owie.... owwwieeee...."

Trick or Treat!

I was desperately trying to get the boys to pose for a nice picture on the front steps.  This was the best I could do before Tristan ran off.  Julius would not pose seriously for anything.  Here he is dressed as Indiana Jones except without the whip (ironically the whip was the whole reason he wanted the outfit and then he refused to bring it with him). I couldn't find a khaki shirt anywhere so ended up taking a white dress shirt and dying it with boiled coffee grounds.  Not bad, I say!

We got great compliments on the porch.  You can't tell it here, but it looks very cool with cobwebs and spiders and our cool lights.  We had creepy music going and after dark we turned on the fog machine which swirled mysteriously around the jack-o-lanterns.

I'm looking forward to next year already!

Count Tristula

I had a very hard time getting a picture of him that showed the entire outfit, but here he is dressed up as a vampire, only you can't see how cool the cape really was.  Quite the handsome little bloodsucker!

Mighty Hunter

Julius, the mighty hunter, stalks his prey!

En Garde!

Back when I had my first child I used to go berzerk if anyone picked up a stick and started waving it around. Before I could stop myself I'd hear myself yelling about how you can put your eye out with those things.

Boy have times changed with a second kid. Here they are fighting with their makeshift swords. This morning I turned around to look at Tristan in the back seat and he was sucking on a huge piece of gravel from the driveway. He'd been hiding it in a little cubby of the car seat. Last night he was eating Burt's Bees powder and thought it was just hilarious. He also likes to drink bathtub water (which I try to tell him is "dirty bottom water" so he won't like it which just makes him laugh).

Why do boys like to do gross and dangerous things?

Tristan Disguised

Tristan disguised as a Little Middle Eastern Girl.

State Fair

We made a trip to the State Fair last week. Here are a few shots. Those three boys I live with are WILD THINGS!

In the Woods

The crickets are chirping, the birds are singing. This is where I'm currently working. The forest is my office. (A forest with a picnic table!)

Laundry Guy

Tristan helps Dad do the laundry. Rob hands him the clothes from the washer and Tristan stuffs them into the dryer.

Feet Up and We're Mobile

Rob and I are coming back from a parents' day out . Aah. Thanks Mimi! (But boy is it hard to drive with my feet up like this.)

Boys in a Boat

Two sailors head out to the open sea. Who knows what grand adventures await?

Just Chillin'

Tristan hangs out on the couch watching Signing Time. Thirty seconds after this picture was snapped the bowl of sliced fresh pears he has ended up dumped all over the couch and his favorite blanket while he cheered, "Yaaaaaay!"