just beachy

So how was your weekend? Mine was filled with work, work, and more work. I did manage to squeeze in a short trip up to Barb and Kevin's cottage for a cookout, which was a really nice diversion from all of the work. Luckily, the boys don't have nearly as much in the way of work (does putting away their laundry to earn their allowance even count?) so they got to spend the whole day Saturday at Grandma and Grandpa's cottage, visiting with cousins Hunter, Destiney, Ryan, Rylee, and Reese, and heading to the beach for what turned out to be a very steamy afternoon. After the beach, the cousins decided to play an impromptu game of kickball, which may have been a little confusing for the three-year-olds, but everyone still had fun. Both boys were covered in dirt and giant swelling bug bites (despite copious applications of foul-smelling spray--those are some tenacious mosquitoes!) by the time we left, but they're already asking when they can do it again.

amish acres

Max was home for the day on Friday, Bethany was winding down her summer break, and I had a few hours between work shifts -- what better to do with our time than head to the Amish Acres Festival in nearby Nappanee? We checked out plenty of homemade crafts and furniture, had an extraordinarily overpriced lunch under a crowded tent with hundreds of strangers crammed in cheek-by-jowl, and I spent ten minutes I wish I could forget trying to encourage Max to use the port-a-potty. On the way out, we were looking for some kind of toy to get for the boys, and we ran across a booth with handcrafted name puzzles by a guy named Dave. What caught my eye to go in there in the first place was that one of the display puzzles was a "Max" puzzle. Upon closer inspection, there was also a "Liam" puzzle already made and for sale. I thought that was pretty amazing. I remember being a kid and looking at key chains or coffee mugs or those goofy license-plate things proclaiming this to be "So-and-So's Room," and I don't think we EVER found a "Bethany" one and a "Holli" one (or even a "Holly") at the same time! So of course, the boys are now the proud new owners (thanks, Aunt Bethany!) of puzzles with their names. The only semi-disappointment was that I looked all around the booth, hoping to find a puzzle already made with one of the boy names we like, a sign from above that we're supposed to pick that name. (Can you imagine me trying to explain that one to Mike? "Honey, look, they had a 'Beauregard' and I bought it. There's no turning back now!") But no such luck.

Before we left Amish country, we stopped at Rentown Variety Store, which has an interesting mix of Amish-produced meats, cheeses, and breads ... and random non-Amish things (everything from pop tarts to pizza cutters) ... all kind of mixed up together. I found it far more interesting than the Amish Acres Festival, and lucky for us, it's open all year round. I think Mike will enjoy shopping there, too, once we exhaust the 20 pounds of cheese and the apple butter that I bought this time!

deep river water park

As a reward for successfully finishing swimming lessons this summer, the boys got to take a trip yesterday with Bethany, Klaudia, and Loni to Deep River Water Park. From the reports (and the pictures), they had a great time, although Max had a little trouble keeping warm (notice how he's got his arms clenched up in every picture). What lucky boys, and what a great thing to do at the end of Liam's very last summer as a preschooler!

klaudia had a birthday...

...and Max was thrilled. Really.

more than meets the eye/liam in disguise

Liam's friend down the alley was nice enough to let Liam try on his Optimus Prime mask the other day. I can already see what his Halloween costume will be...

ferris wheel etc.

After all of the excitement they had at our little county fair, the boys decided they wanted to go on a grown-up ride, so we headed off one day to take them to Navy Pier to ride the big Ferris wheel. All four of us wanted to go on the ride (although in Mike's case, "wanted" may be a debatable term -- I don't think he enjoyed it so much), so I was a little worried when I saw a sign that said you couldn't ride if you were pregnant. At about seven months now, there is NO hiding this pregnancy. But Mike figured, correctly as it turned out, that the people working there really wouldn't care as long as I didn't point it out to them. So on we went. The boys were not scared of the heights at all, and were fascinated looking out the window at the skyline and the lake. They had a wonderful time ... and then our seven minutes were over. Seemed like an awfully long drive just to go on one ride, so Mike took them on the carousel and we walked around the pier for a while and had some Dippin' Dots, and then it was time to go.








On the way back home, we stopped at Kent and Popi's house for a visit and some time in the pool, which was also a big hit with the boys. There were tons of cousins there to play with, and plenty of adults around, so we all got to relax and enjoy some good food and conversation. And after all of that, we even managed to get to Best Buy to get the new computer with minutes to spare before they closed! A very full day, but awfully fun, especially watching the boys check out the city after a long time away. Max, especially, was impressed, but he was so little the last time we were downtown that I doubt he remembers any of it.

i know, i know

Definitely not enough posting lately. In my defense, we just got a new computer (yay!!) so I've been spending most of my time archiving and copying things from the old computer so we can put it away until we're ready to install it upstairs for the boys to use (how lucky are they?). We've had the old computer for seven years, so you can imagine how much stuff there is to go through. Hopefully in the next couple of days I'll be finished and can get my office back into shape so I can think again. The current setup is just a little too far over the edge into chaos for me to be comfortable.

On the plus side, I'm so excited that suddenly the blogging thing seems to have really taken off for my family! I started a blog for the extended family last year, as a way for us all to keep up with each other, and in the past week, people other than me have started posting to it. Today's post is all about Klaudia's birthday, which is a source of excitement and confusion for the boys. They're very excited that today is her birthday, but very confused as to why we have to wait "ages" (Liam's term) until her party on Sunday. I think they'll find the waiting to be worthwhile, especially since they'll get to go out to the barn and see the NINE new Great Dane puppies Klaudia's dog Lilly had earlier this week!

5

It's hard to believe that five years ago today, Mike and I were sitting in the hospital, waiting around all day for Liam to make his appearance. And then, around 7:30 that night, he finally did (and what a relief it was!). We continue to be enriched and amazed by this adorable, stubborn, sweet, loving, argumentative person in our lives, and are grateful to have him around every day. This year, he'll celebrate some really big changes in his life (new school, new brother, etc.), but today, we're celebrating him. Happy birthday, Liam!

slip-sliding away

Loni's out of town for the week, so my cousin Brady kindly agreed to come over yesterday and watch the boys while I worked. He brought along some bubble wands and a slip-n-slide, which has instantly earned him hero status with the boys. After dinner, they blew bubbles, slip-slid, got ice cream from the ice cream truck, played wiffle ball, and rode their bikes for almost three hours. When it was time to return Brady to his family, the boys were oh-so-sad (there were tears! there was yelling!) but they calmed down pretty quickly when they realized that Brady would be back again Thursday evening for more fun and games.

lessons learned

This weekend we took a little road trip to scenic Wheaton, Illinois to visit with our good friends Mark and Katie (and the boys' good friends Linus and Leo). Mike and Mark headed to Wisconsin to see a concert, and Katie and I banded together to wrangle the four boys for the weekend. We had a lovely visit, and the boys all played nicely together. For me, one of the big bonuses was that the boys got to spend the night and two days in a house with a newborn, so now they have a slightly better idea of what to expect when our baby comes.

Liam, especially, really got into the act, learning how to give baby Leo his pacifier ("Just hold it by his mouth, Mom, don't shove the whole thing in at once!"). He also learned that babies sleep a lot, and that they poop quite frequently, and that they're really fun when they smile. Both boys got to hold Leo (under careful supervision) and marvel over his tiny features, and it made them very excited to be able to hold their new brother soon.


All this, and yet, when Mike got back late Sunday morning and we asked Liam to tell him everything he'd learned about babies, Liam got this look of wide-eyed amazement and immediately shouted out, "Babies drink milk from their mommies' BOOBS!"

So this is what life is like with two boys, and I can hardly imagine the level of bodily function fascination we're going to encounter with three of them running around!

so far behind

It's been all work for me lately, but all play for the boys. We've (actually, mostly "they've") done so many fun things lately that it's hard to catch up. We saw Loni graduate from high school (during which the boys were surprisingly good, thanks no doubt to an emergency supply of Teddy Grahams provided by Bethany) and had a blast at her open house (where there was an inflatable bouncy slide for the kids and plenty of euchre for the adults). The boys have had a bunch of field trips for school (yesterday, they went to the local library to present Ronald McDonald himself with a boatload -- literally -- of pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House) and have been lucky enough to take a few family field trips as well. Last weekend, Mike took took them to the zoo, and they came back with plenty of excited stories to tell me, along with a few disappointments about animals they missed seeing. Max, in particular, was upset because he didn't see any "lepers" at the zoo. Then yesterday, Bethany and Klaudia took two very lucky boys to see "Up" in 3D. Liam was mesmerized the whole time and gave it two very enthusiastic thumbs up, while Max enjoyed the movie but wasn't a big fan of the glasses. Today, we had a nice visit with cousins Kelsey, Emma, Jimmy, and Gracie while Max was home for his "special day" with Mike. Check out the pictures below to get a glimpse of what we've been up to.

Congrats, Loni!

Mike and Bethany give Klaudia some euchre tips...

He doesn't actually know how to read the zoo map yet.
Pretty convincing, though, isn't he?

another graduation

Last night, the boys and I headed for the hot, muggy (but not as hot as our car, whose A/C has functioned only intermittently since we drove through some high water last year!) school gym to watch Klaudia graduate from sixth grade. The ceremony was surprisingly lengthy, and the boys did well for about the first 10 or 15 minutes, after which they perspired unhappily and asked repeatedly if it was over yet. Fun stuff.



But they perked up when it was Klaudia's turn to go up and get her diploma, and soon after that, they got to head back down the bleachers and roam more freely. Piggyback rides were the order of the day, as you can see. The funny part was, on the way back home, all the boys could talk about was how much "fun" they'd had during the graduation. Memory fades fast at that age, I guess.



Or maybe it doesn't. We got home pretty late last night, and Max surprised us all by pooping in the potty for the first time ever (he's been doing great with potty training, but this is a real milestone). We had promised him that he could pick out a special toy the first time, so I'm taking him to the store tonight. But Liam surprised me by remembering that he got a trip to a museum by reaching his potty-training goals, and insisted that Max should get the same deal. I really can't believe he remembered -- it was more than a year ago!

the graduate

Last night, the boys had their spring concert at school, along with Liam's preschool graduation. They both did really well during the program, and sang their little hearts out. I may post video later, depending on how big the videos ended up being. Unfortunately, they were placed at opposite ends of the stage from each other, so it was hard to get them both doing their thing. The concert was definitely a success, and the boys loved having most of a row there just to see them (me, my mom and dad, Loni, and Bethany, who got to see them in concert for the first time). It was a real treat. Once they finished singing, the graduates donned their little mortarboards and had their names called to get their diplomas. Each kid also got a little photo album from the teachers with pictures of them during their time at the school. Liam's was wonderful! It was so sweet to see so many pictures of him (most of which were new to us) from the past two years.

Because of a prior engagement, Grandpa Okie couldn't join us, but after the program, we went to his favorite local eatery: Ponderosa. The boys and I had never been there before, so it was fun to go someplace new. I enjoyed my steak, and the boys were big fans of the ice cream bar. Once he was finished eating, Liam got a little impatient waiting for the adults to finish, but I solved that problem by handing him my camera, and he happily spent the rest of the time taking pictures out the window of the Walgreens and McDonalds next door. Funny kid.

busy bees

Life has been a little hectic here at Circus Forticus HQ lately. Work has been busy, which is great, but leaves little time for other things (like, oh, celebrating Mother's Day, for example). But we're all doing well.

Max is working diligently on potty training and is in his second week of wearing underwear all day. He's currently in a standoff with his teachers at school, wherein he refuses to use the bathroom all day long. By the time he gets home, he's ready to explode. We're trying various treat- and reward-based programs to get him used to using the facilities at school and at home.

Liam is still loving soccer. We just got his soccer pictures back yesterday, and they look wonderful! I'll have to scan one in to share with you all. We also went to Klaudia's gymnastics practice last week, and now Liam can't stop practicing somersaults (or, I guess I should say "forward rolls"). I'm counting my blessings -- he saw her on the uneven bars, so I'm lucky he's not trying to emulate that!

We had a busy weekend. Saturday we drove to Chicagoland to give Mike's mom her Mother's Day gift and to go to a party for our good friends Mark and Katie. It was a very late night, especially for Mike, who stayed up afterward to watch the Hawks win a playoff game. I got to go to brunch with my mom, Bethany, and Laura Sunday morning, which was delicious, but probably an unfortunate choice because I had to go home afterward and work, when all I wanted to do was nap. Late in the afternoon, we headed back to my mom's house for a cookout, and then came back home so I could work some more (deadline was this morning, so thankfully I'm finished with that project!).

Oh, and for anyone who's wondering, baby seems fine, too. We had our ultrasound last week, and all parts are accounted for. Unfortunately, the tech couldn't tell us the baby's gender, so it looks like we'll be waiting a while to figure that out.

So that's us lately. Sorry the posting has been light, but between work and kids, it's all I can do to grab some sleep each night!