go fly a kite!

Saturday was windy and a little chillier than it has been lately...perfect kite weather! We loaded up the boys and headed out to my mom's house, where she's been saving kites for Liam, Max, and Klaudia for a day just like this one. Liam quickly warmed up to the idea, while Max took a little bit longer to figure out how to fly the kite, but eventually, they did it. We spent a good hour outside, running around in the sun, and flying our Sesame Street kites. About halfway through, Loni and Klaudia came over with Klaudia's Hello Kitty kite. Loni thought it was great fun trying to crash-land the kite on Mike, who was not nearly as amused.

sneak attack

uncle map

Mike's brother Matt came this week to visit the Chicagoland area with his girlfriend, Kelly. Luckily, they were able to come and visit with us on Friday. The boys were very excited. Liam has been asking for "Uncle Map" and Gabriel to come to his birthday party (which he is suddenly obsessed with, even though it's too months away). Gabe wasn't able to make the trip this time, but the boys were still glad to see Matt. We got to show Matt and Kelly around the place (last time they visited was a year ago, when we had just moved in, and the house still looked like a circus puked on it), Mike took Matt and Kelly on a small tour of the town while they got dinner and I helped the boys practice riding their bikes. After we all stuffed ourselves with gyros, we went outside to play for a little while. It was windy, but still really fun. I'll try to post a video next, but for now, enjoy these pictures of both sets of brothers.

grandma's birthday

Last weekend, we headed to Johnny and Erin's house to celebrate Barb's birthday. We had great weather, and the boys took advantage of it by playing on the swing set and deck the whole time. We at lasagna, and then when it was time for cake and ice cream, Erin served the boys their ice cream with candles in the scoops so they could blow out candles too. All in all, it was a fun day with family.

The boys had something else to celebrate, too! Their grandma brought them a big box of nice wooden blocks that she's been saving since Mike and his brothers were little. They were a big hit at the party, and the boys have been playing with them every day since we brought them home. Thanks!

liam calls papaw

Liam: Papaw, can we come to your house and fly kites this weekend?

Papaw: I'm not sure, Liam. It might be raining, and it's not a good idea to fly kites in the rain.

L: But Papaw, the Weather Channel says it won't be raining. It's spring now, you know.

P: Well, we'll see. If it's not raining, you can come and fly kites.

L: But the Weather Channel says it won't rain!

P: Okay.

L: If it rains, then we won't fly kites. But I don't think it will, because I saw it on the Weather Channel.

[Note: He doesn't get his Weather Channel obsession from me, though he does come by it honestly. After Liam signed off, I took the phone and my dad understated, "Wow, he really likes the Weather Channel." Yeah, it's like his Bible.]

what a year!

We bought our house a year ago today and started this crazy Hoosier adventure. Can you believe it? On the outside, nothing has really changed (but we'll get to it); on the inside, almost everything is different. There's still one room we need to get to, but every other room has been painted. We've refinished wood, sanded floors, installed new molding, changed light fixtures, sewed curtains and pillows, installed cabinets, built shelving...basically, done everything we know how to do (and some things we didn't!) to make the place ours. And after a year, I would say that it definitely is.

It's really been a wild year. We've gotten jobs and lost them and gotten some more, and somehow we're managing to cobble it all together. It's been hard (especially the job part), but the one thing we're certain of is that this is a great place for the boys. They're happy here. They have a yard to play in. They can make friends now who will probably go to school with them until they graduate. And most of all, they can have the chance to really know their extended family. Last night, Loni came to watch the boys while I was working. When my parents came to pick her up, my mom went upstairs and surprised the boys with a late-night reading of The Cat in the Hat. Small things like that make the struggles of the last year worthwhile. So we'll keep going.

planting time

Ah, spring! It's a magical time when daddies and their sons can get together to sow the seeds for future harvests. (Insert deep, heartfelt sigh here.) Sunday evening, Mike and the boys did just that. They planted seeds for sunflowers, carrots, beans, watermelons, daisies, and a bunch of other things I can't remember. They started, of course, by putting the dirt into the seed container, and both boys were entranced. They added water. They patted soil. They dug holes, dropped in the seeds, patted more soil, and added more water. Max lost interest pretty quickly and went to play with some blocks instead, but Liam watched in rapt attention as Mike demonstrated each stage, then worked solemnly, with great concentration, to do it just right by himself. And then Max came back at the end to try to dig everything up again.

It's only been a few days now, but this morning Mike and the boys checked the seeds, and the daisies are already starting to sprout!

max goes a little wild with a blue marker

rainy day fun

In the last couple of weeks, we've had some very rainy days. Yeah, I know, April showers and all that. But the boys have started to look forward to rainy days so they can pull on their rain gear and go out to jump in the puddles.

old news

As Avalon said, I've been really busy. Really busy. It's great for the bank balance, not so great for the sanity, but we're hanging in there. I've got a lull tonight, so I thought I'd fill you all in on what we've been doing. Last weekend, after a month and a half of trying, Liam earned his 15th dry-night sticker, so off we went to claim his reward. First stop was the pancake breakfast at my dad's firehouse, where we happily filled our tummies. With his inside connection, Liam was lucky enough to get to go up the staircase to...well, whatever the firefighters keep up there. Beds? A communal kitchen where they cook pots of chili? I'm not sure.


After breakfast, Mike, Liam, and I went off to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, while Max spent the day hanging out with my parents (having his parents to himself for the day was part of Liam's reward). Once we got there (two and a half hours later!) we had a wonderful day. Liam rode on the carousel (a miracle considering the fear he developed at the fair last summer), drove cars, checked out dinosaurs, played Pac Man (yay!), and got to go down a slide from the second floor to the first floor -- among many other things. Here are some of the highlights:

guest blogger: avalon

Well, Holli has been very busy and, I am sick and tired of there being no new post on this blog! I am taking matters into my own hands! The nanny is in the house! I have decided to take over the blog as a small step in my huge plot of taking over the world..... haha just kidding, but I am helping with putting the boys to bed and things so Holli can get some work done in peace! So my first night on the job consisted of helping the boys brush their teeth, get on their PJ's, feed the fish, and of course story time! We after all that wonderful work was finished I placed the sweet little angels in bed so they could peacefully dream of sugar plum fairies.... or so i thought! I was very mistaken, I did not realize the many things that must go on in order for children to fall asleep! I finally fulfilled all tasks when Liam looked up at me and said; "you forgot that" and pointed to the big bird lamp! Oh, how could I forget? Not long after I returned downstairs it began to get quiet, for a little while anyway! Then I hear Liam from up stairs "I have to poop!" so I rushed up the stairs to the rescue! In all it was a fraction of what it could have been! It was actually quite entertaining!

and because i forgot to post them earlier...

Here's a selection of our Easter pictures:

first movie

Tonight we took the boys to see their first movie, Horton Hears a Who, at the rundown but still classic Rees Theater downtown. The movie was scheduled to start at 7:00, so we got there at 6:50 and went proceeded to the single screen...only to find that we were the only people in the place. Eventually, we were joined by about 10 other movie-goers. Guess everyone prefers the modern conveniences of our local big-box cineplex on the outskirts of town. We were a little worried because the boys were kind of jumpy after 15 minutes of waiting, but then the movie started, and they sat rapt in their seats the rest of the time.


Amazingly, they only showed one preview before the movie. Unfortunately, it was for one of the many Ice Age sequels, and featured a really scary dinosaur. That really got the whole thing off on the wrong foot for Liam. He sat quietly and watched, but his review after the movie was negative: "It was too loud and scary and long and I didn't like it!" There's some hope, though: He did say that he wants to see another movie sometime. Max, on the other hand, said that he liked the movie, but honestly he seemed more interested in his ice water and M&Ms. By the way, I have to add that the concessions were CHEAP: I got a bottle of water for the boys to split, a soda for myself, and a bag of M&Ms for $4. I seem to recall spending that much on a single soda the last time we went to the cineplex.

aunt bethany knows how to show the boys a good time

My dad's been digging holes and clearing brush around their field in preparation for spring (yay, spring!). Apparently, a local boy saw him out there burning some brush the other day and stopped to ask what he was doing. My dad's response: "I'm clearing this land so I can build six or seven spec homes out here."

"Really?!?"

"Nah, but you can tell people that if they start asking." That's good stuff! Anyway, Bethany earned the boys' undying devotion by taking them out during the Easter festivities to explore the big holes. I can think of only a few things that they boys like better than getting dirty playing outdoors.

presenting the circus forticus portrait studio

Last night I was playing with the settings of the camera -- yes, this was before I realized that the boys had already been there and done that! Liam and Max were enthralled with some quality children's programming (The Aristocats, which Liam got in his Easter basket) so I took the opportunity to test out the new setting on them. Yeah, I know, you've seen this technique already, but I'm still pretty excited about these pictures. It's a good thing that they were both wearing green, too!





Confidential to Avalon: I think I see this year's fair photo project shaping up. Heh!

forgive the time lapse

It's been a busy week! We had an action-packed Easter weekend and we haven't slowed down since. So here's a quick recap: Saturday, Mike and the boys headed to Michigan to visit with Barb and Kevin. Reports indicate that they had a wonderful time jumping (Max) and discovering the wonders of the automotive bungee cord (Liam), but Mike forgot to bring a camera, so I have no visual evidence. Guess we'll all just have to take his word for it.

Easter was fun! The boys were excited to see the wonderful things that the Easter Bunny had brought them (a new puzzle and new DVD each). Of course, they also got presents from B&K and a basket from my parents as well (with Melissa & Doug toolboxes!) The big family gathering (for 55) was at my mom's this year, and everyone had a wonderful time. We ate great food, visited, and watched the kids scurry around in the frenzy of the egg hunt.

And that's where things get interesting. Let me backtrack a couple of days to tell you about the time Mike caught the boys in our room, using my new camera. That's right, my precious birthday camera. When Mike took it away from them, the lens was a little smudged, but it seemed all right otherwise. Hah -- famous last words! When I uploaded pictures tonight, I found this little gem, which I definitely didn't take myself (I also definitely didn't authorize Max to sneak that much chocolate down his gullet!):


So, back to Easter. I didn't realize that Liam had changed all of the settings, so imagine my surprise when the first half of the pictures turned out to have funky coloring. Some of them turned out quite nicely! I guess I have to give the devious little guy some credit.





I'm especially fond of that last one with the mailbox. The coloration really shows off my mom's delicate paintwork. By comparison, the color pictures seemed almost dull:



In typical holiday fashion, the boys ate themselves silly. We kept taking their candy away, only to turn around and find that they'd conned a cousin into giving them more. A couple of times we had to pry Jolly Ranchers and jawbreakers out of their mouths. But really, if that's not the mark of a happy Easter in the mind of a little boy, what is?

peep show