Parkersburg

Lisa has a link to some pictures of Parkersburg. I know there are some of you out there who would be interested to see. It is a link to a link, Pictures. I was just reading an article about a different tornado. The people got lost driving in their town. That is kind of hard to imagine, but when nothing is left but the roads it would be a little difficult to navigate.

New Bathroom

So we went shopping tonight. Really we just went to pick out a new tub. Instead we came home with a new toilet, shower curtain, the hardware for the bath, flooring, and paint ideas. I am super excited to get this done! This is the only room that we have done nothing with in the almost five years that we have lived here.

the shower curtain

the paint colors

Caeden's Rules

Caeden talks and asks questions all the time. So much so that it gets exhausting. Even when we are reading books. Yesterday we were reading about Dan's mighty mixer. We came to a picture of Dan and Caeden asked, "Is that Dan's mother's brother?"
Tonight during supper, this was his monologue.
When we move to the farm mommy, (We have no plans of moving) Daddy will be the farmer and you will be the mommy. Mommy can't drive the tractor but you can say you are a boy and then you can help us and you can be a farmer. If you say you are a boy, mommy. When we live on the farm Daddy can we get a horse cow? (Not sure what that is. Luckily he didn't give us time to answer.) I will get a horse and I can ride it into town when we drive in to get groceries. (I'm thinking that is not a bad idea with the price of gas. What is the price of oats at the moment?)
So funny that you can't wait for them to talk so that you know what is going on in that little head. Now that we know I just wish there was a puase button, or mute.

Memorial Day

Fun at the park. This park has a couple different playgrounds, one just Camlyn's size. He really had fun and tried to sneak back several times when it was time to go.

Stole Daddies hat. Our three favorite things...

Hot Dogs!

Strawberries

and peppers!

Summer is Here!

Bam, we just got dropped right into the middle of summer here. No messing around and no warnings, pull out the shorts and kiddie pools. Midnight last night my dear husband and I were rearranging furniture to get the fan untrapped. If it was up to me it would not have got done. "It won't come out until you move the bed more this way. The bed won't move anymore until the night stand is moved and it is stuck against the wall."

Seems my husband had it all figured out though, "Stop talking and come hold this." Guess what, we slept with a nice cool breeze last night.

Another Hunt

Just what is Caeden doing creeping around in the dark with a butterfly net and a salt shaker? Well he is hunting Robins of course. We spent Friday night and part of Saturday with Grandpa Jim and Grandma Jane. I think Grandma Jane got tired of the endless barrage of questions Caeden hurled her way. She tried a trick that her own daddy used on her when she was a little tot about Caeden's age. Only I think that it only prompted more questions.

You see, if you shake some salt on a robin's tail they will become tame and you can pet them. Just ask Great-Grandpa J. Towards the end of the afternoon today he was starting to get a little down about not catching one yet. "I'm never going to try to catch, ah ha there's another one." Zoooom

Muffin Man

Camlyn is crazy. He eats all the time. I am not even exaggerating at all! He spends all morning in the kitchen, asking for food, opening the refrigerator, or climbing up on the counter to get at the goods himself. Luckily he has not figured out how to open up the pantry door, yet.

So we made muffins the other day. The other kids all ran off to play when I stuck them in the oven. Camlyn, well.....

Yes, he did sit there the entire 20 minutes or so.

Brotherly Love

This afternoon we had quite the water works going on around here. Caeden threw a fit because he thought he wasn't going to get something that he thought he needed. He ended up not getting it because he threw the fit. When Caeden cries, the whole town knows about it. Poor little Camlyn in the middle of it all, did not understand what was wrong with Caeden but wanted to help. Camlyn tried to help, he tried to give Caeden a hug but was pushed away. He tried to pat his hair but was squealed at. Camlyn was not deterred. What is the one thing that helps Camlyn when he is sad? The Beashies. Camlyn climbed up the stairs, climbed on Caeden's bed and brought down Caeden's special pillow, which has lost all of it's stuffing and is now more of a blanket than a pillow. This melted Mommies heart and she started to cry. With all the silliness that comes with little boys, they really are sweet and special.

Friends

This weekend we traveled up to Stuartville for special meeting and to visit some special people that had traveled farther than we did. Fabio, the Brazilian, Richard the self-proclaimed half Brazilian, Rebecca and Fernando the Brazilians. The Brazilian crew plus Ida Mae and Elaine who both worked in Brazil.

Of course we had to travel a little farther North to visit a special restaurant that we had been to once before and have dreamed about ever since.

On the way home we stopped for a special treat and Camlyn wants to show you how good it was.You know it is not any good unless you get those extra germs rubbed in.

Walk With Us

This was our walk today, through the eyes of Caeden. I think he did a really good job.

Surprise

We had a wonderful surprise visit on Tuesday evening. Caeden was standing at the window watching the world go by. I was supposed to be leaving but was putting it off. It was worth it to be late when Caeden shouted out, "Sophia is here!" Jacob and Julia and the kids were in town to pick up a cow and they stopped in to say hi. It was so nice to see them again. Little Joshua was almost ready to take off and walk. Miss Sophia finally got her hug from Caeden, he didn't even put up a fuss.

Llama

It is looking a little sparse around here since Friday. Yes, it was a busy weekend and here I am pouting that I forgot the camera the entire time. I didn't get any of the wonderful pictures to showcase our time spent with family.

Some big news happened this weekend, we are getting a kitty! So maybe I won't have to say this anymore. "Stop acting like a kitty and talk to me." The kitty is only a week old so won't be around for awhile. Caeden did name the kitty on the way home. The full name is Llama Mama, but has been shortened to Llama.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day came a bit early at our house this year.


Caeden brought these beauties home from school.

Also a personal stylist was brought in to help me with my hair. He kept saying something about basketball hoops. Not sure what look he was trying to achieve here.

When Camlyn says hair, it comes out more like he-ay. We were going back and forth, he-ay, he-ay. He brought down the house by throwing in "Hey baby."

More Words

Alison's mom has informed me that they were "working on the moon and the sun," but she was getting them mixed up. Camlyn, I found out quite by accident has them down. I found this out by sharing a bowl of round tortilla chips. The whole ones were obviously all suns and the ones with a bite out of or broken were moons. I tried to get it on video, but now as soon as it comes out, "See, see."

The words do seem to be coming fast and furious now. He really is just sitting back and paying attention to everything. I am often surprised at what that little guy can put together. I was reading a Thomas the Train story to them the other day. Camlyn got up in the middle of the story and proceeded to dig around in the toys. He came back a bit later with, Thomas. "Same, same." He hasn't spit out any sentences yet, or questions, thank goodness. I'm not sure if I am ready for two boys asking questions. Something tells me Camlyn's questions might be a bit deeper than Caeden's. "Mommy, cars don't have hands right?"

Haircuts For Breakfast

Kind of scary but Camlyn is taking it like a trouper, munching on his breakfast. Juat in case you are wondering, he is the "hair man."

Blink Blink

Some of you may have noticed Caeden wink-king and blink-king lately, continuously. We decided to take him in to have it checked out; it has been happening for 3-4 weeks. We have had to reschedule his appointment 2 times already for various reasons and almost didn't make it today. Caeden's appointment was for 3:30 today but Alison's mom called at 3:15, at which time we are usually checking in or at least in the parking lot. "I'm sorry I am just leaving work." *Still fuming* Picture me with smoking rolling out my ears.
Anyway, this is about Caeden. His vision is excellent for his age, no problems there. Turns out he has a tic. The experts do not know why some people are more prone to them but it is kind of an emotional, stress related thing. They are 3 times more common in boys than girls. It should go away on its own and he does not need to be seen for it again unless he develops more, like shoulders or eyebrows raising.
Now that I think about it he has done something like this before, although we just thought he was emulating someone. Before he was clearing his throat. At least winking is quiet. Since we are to ingore it and not draw attention to it, this makes it quite a bit easier.

Tulip Time

Great Grandpa and Grandma live right in the midst of all the tulip madness. So each year we make the trek down for the 1.5 hour parade. Some of the highlights of the day...
Brothers

That head tilt.

What's coming Caeden? Here are some of the boy's favorite floats.

Some of the best sights were not even part of the parade!

My favorite part? There are two floats the future queen float and the future burgermeister (mayor?) float. The part I enjoyed? The little girls sat so quiet just waving at the crowd. The boys? They were using their hats for guns, bouncing in their seats, waving their arms and talking 100 MPH. All the general noise, confusion, and wonderful bedlam that comes naturally with little boys.

Ode to The Kitty

We have been missing a special friend lately. Once upon a time, last summer, a special friend walked into our backyard and stole our hearts. A little kitty came to play. He was so gentle with the boys but so playful. We gave him a little bowl of milk so maybe he would come back again sometime.
He did come back quite often, it seemed that he like to play with the boys too. I have never before seen a kitty that would play soccer. He would sit up in the tree and wait for Caeden to kick the ball. He would pounce on the ball and run up the tree. We even stopped leaving him the occasional treat, but he would still come to play.
One night the kitty was waiting outside when we woke up, he hadn't gone home that night. That was the last time that we saw our friend the kitty. His real family missed the kitty and they must keep him inside now. Every cat that the boys see, "Awww, there is our kitty Mommy." Maybe when the summer finally comes our friend will come back for a visit.