Saturday, December 29, 2007

hop on pop




divide and conquer



It's just been this kind of week. The boys have been off schedule and taking it out mostly on each other, which really amounts to taking it out on us. So today, we hatched a plan: divide and conquer. Mike and Max hung out at home, then went together to the hardware store and grocery store. Meanwhile, Liam and I drove to Merrillville to take care of some post-Christmas errands at the mall.

First stop: Borders, where we hung out in the children's department and read a few books together before doing some gift-card shopping (thanks, Janis!). Next, it was on to Carson's to do an exchange. Then across the street to Old Navy, where we used a gift card Mike got LAST Christmas to buy the boys a couple of new blanket sleepers. Through it all, we had a blast. Liam was charming and polite to everyone we met, said please and thank you, and was exceptionally sweet to me. No freak-outs or meltdowns, no back talk or attitude. It was really nice!

After shopping, we went to Chipotle for lunch, a rare treat since we don't have one nearby. Liam got a cheese quesadilla and a lemonade. To my knowledge, it was the first time he's ever had lemonade, and he spent most of the lunch telling me how great it was. His quesadilla was pronounced both yummy and delicious. After lunch, we got back in the car to head back home. Liam fell asleep right away and I got to enjoy This American Life on NPR. We got home to find Mike watching football and relaxing while Max napped upstairs. It was too bad we didn't get to have a family morning, but it seems like there were fewer headaches all the way around this way.

Well, fewer morning headaches anyway. The boys were reunited this afternoon, and right away commenced bickering and have yet to stop...

snow crew

After a long Friday for all of us (the boys at school, Mike at work, me on a job interview), the boys and I got home to discover a nice layer of icy slush on the ground. We busted out the snow shovels and got to work. For the next 15 minutes, I shoveled a path from the house to the garage, and over the parts of the deck we need to reach, while the boys shoveled random areas of the deck. Once we got inside, we learned a critical lesson: The boys need thicker gloves if they're going to be out shoveling snow regularly.



Wednesday, December 26, 2007

riding lesson


Today has been unseasonably warm(ish) and sunny, so Mike took the boys outside to let them ride their bikes. It was a first for each of them -- Liam got his new bike for Christmas, while Max inherited Liam's trike. Both boys were thrilled with the chance to get to ride and play outside for a while; there hasn't been too much of that with the cold, snowy weather. We're supposed to get more snow this weekend, so I'm glad we got outside while we could!



christmas part five: greenhouse

The relaxation and quiet we had at home Christmas morning couldn't have been further removed from the noise and chaos that was Christmas afternoon at my grandparents' house. Let's see, there was Gram and Grandpa; Grandpa's sister Rita; 21 children and children-in-law; 39 grandchildren, grandchildren-in-law, and girlfriends/boyfriends of grandchildren; and 3 great-grandchildren. By my count, that's 66 people. Yikes! It was quite a celebration, which ended early for us when Liam had a meltdown because he wasn't allowed to play the piano or play with cousin Jimmy's robot. We hated to leave early, but once we got home we just sat still and took a little time to let the silence settle in. This was our last Christmas celebration for a while, at least until Mike's parents come on Sunday, and we're looking forward to getting back into a routine and starting a new year!



christmas celebration four: home

At last, Christmas morning! The boys came down in the morning excited to see that Santa had been here, eaten his cookies, deposited presents, and left (they're still a little scared of Santa, so they were glad he was no longer on the premises). Their excitement soon waned in the face of the overwhelming task of opening all the gifts. Halfway through, Liam told me that he wanted to go take a nap! Still, we had a nice relaxing family morning, and the boys were very pleased, especially with the flashlights and calculators they found in their stockings (best $4 I ever spent!).



christmas celebration three: grandma annie

We spent Christmas Eve hanging out and baking cookies for Santa, then headed over to Grandma Annie's for dinner and gifts. The boys had a great time turning around a pole and playing with big cars and trucks from my dad's childhood. The gift exchange itself was a little more raucous, and ended with a giant wrapping-paper fight. Woo hoo!




Monday, December 24, 2007

christmas celebration two: minkerfarm

(Second in an ongoing series.)

Sunday night we celebrated an early Christmas with my immediate family: Mom, Dad, Bethany, Joe, Klaudia, James, and Avalon. Happily, J's girlfriend, Ashley, was also able to join us. We had a delicious family dinner with a roast, ham, and all kinds of fixins. Liam particularly enjoyed the deviled eggs -- he must have gobbled down five of them! After dinner, we repaired to the living room, where Klaudia the elf passed out gifts. I love the way my family opens gifts: starting with one end of the age spectrum, each person opens a gift while the others watch. There are hoots, catcalls, and sometimes groans, but the process allows everyone to take the time to savor their gifts, and also to see the reaction of those you've given gifts to. We all got a ton of great gifts, and plenty of family time. The boys' favorites: hoodies from Bethany and an inflatible Diego ball pit from my parents. Oh, and walkie talkies, also from my parents. Sadly, the boys haven't quite gotten the hang of pushing the button while they talk, which leads them to be, as Liam would say, frus-ter-ated. Everyone also got new pajamas (the boys model below). Our least favorite: the Diego ball pit. That was really sneaky, Mom and Dad!







Sunday, December 23, 2007

christmas celebration one: johnny and erin

(The first in a series of Christmas reports from circus forticus)

Saturday afternoon Johnny and Erin drove in to celebrate Christmas with us. The weather was unseasonably warm, and all that snow we had melted completely, which turned out to be perfect because it made things more comfortable when Johnny, Erin, and Liam took J&E's new dog, Jackie, for a couple of walks (with a stop at the playground that warmed Liam's little heart). Pizza was eaten, gifts were exchanged, and we all had a great visit. The boys even agreed to pose for a nice picture with their aunt and uncle! I'm not sure what's changed with them that they're not so camera-shy anymore, but I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts.





haircut!


Liam, Max, and I got into the holiday spirit by heading over to Serenity Salon to get haircuts. The boys were pretty good -- mostly they enjoyed the lollipops they got after the successful cuts.

Friday, December 21, 2007

it may be hard to tell

...but Liam is actually hugging his brother here, not trying to strangle him. It's a thin line, though.

brave...or foolish?

The parents invited me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday, so I decided to give the boys another chance at behaving in a restaurant. I can report that we had mixed results. They were much better overall than the complete meltdown at Pizza Hut a couple of weeks ago, but still not perfect. Max was upset because Liam had a coffee cup to drink his milk from, while Max had a sippy cup. I asked the server for another empty coffee cup (a request that seemed to confound her) but it was a long time coming. Meanwhile, Max got hold of the large styrofoam cup of milk on the table (who brings a jumbo size when you order milk for a child? really?) and tried to drink it. He missed, and poured the milk all over himself. The crisis was averted when the server finally brought another coffee cup.

Liam, meanwhile, was pretty good overall. The restaurant was a Chinese buffet, and he enjoyed being able to pick out his own food. Then my mom took him to get some dessert, and he got upset when she wouldn't let him weild a large serving spoon by himself. I heard him screaming from the table, and ran over and took him into the bathroom for a stern talking-to, after which he was better again. They didn't want to leave (I'm sure they saw bedtime in their future) but went with the promise that they'll get to see Yam, Papaw, and Loni again tonight. Whew!

Here are a few pictures from dinner. Liam is continuing his newfound love of mugging for the camera (this time: wink!), while Loni embraces her longtime BFF (also mugging for the camera).




Thursday, December 20, 2007

click

The boys gave me a great birthday gift this morning: actually posing for pictures so I could try out my new camera! Check it out -- they're even standing together voluntarily in one shot. It's like a birthday miracle.





Wednesday, December 19, 2007

boys do cute things

After their bubble-wrap workout, the boys were tired, so they decided to lay down on the floor with their personalized (thanks, Mom!) winter throw blankets. Then they migrated up to the couch, and did more cute things. It was a good night for taking pictures.



a few of my favorite things, by max


1. bubble wrap
2. my dump truck
3. my movie (The Great Muppet Caper on VHS)
4. orange backpack (when I can pry it away from Liam)
5. Elmo construction truck (ditto getting it away from Liam)
6. Magna Doodle (under orange backpack)
7. Elmo-and-Zoe cup with water or milk (trust me, it's in there)
8. night night blanket (not pictured)