Move over, Martha!

Martha Stewart has nothing on me. Momma has mad skills, I tell you! As you know, we bought a coffee table the other day. Immediately, it became the boys' play area. I'd wince over and over throughout the day as the boys climbed on it, Ben drooled on it, trains scratched along top of it, etc. It became pretty clear that our coffee table would be destroyed in, oh, about a week. I got online to try to find some way to protect our table. At first, I thought about buying those false tops that people put on their dining room tables. Then I looked at the price...that's a no go!

So here's my solution.

I had some heavy duty plastic around for covering the dining room table seats. (My chairs are currently very disgusting! That's another story.) I laid that out on the table. Over that, I put a table cloth that is moisture resistant. The cloth is actually velcroed to the underside of the table. While Mark and I were watching a movie, I had the added enjoyment of sewing velcro tabs on the cloth.

The concept is, the cloth stays on almost all the time. It can be washed which is nice. When company comes over, the cloth can be taken off, and we avoid looking like the parents from My Big, Fat Greek Wedding!

This whole experience has taught me something. Are you ready for this nugget of wisdom? Here goes:

I need a new rug that matches my couch and coffee table.

Craigslist, here I come.

BTW, Jordyn has been sleeping almost the entire day. I know to savor this moment. The next one might not come around again for a looooong time!

Pure exhaustion...

We met up with the cousins yesterday at McDonalds. Nathan was a little confused because he wanted to know whose birthday it was. Apparently, you can only go to McDonalds playland if one of the cousins is having a birthday. Jordyn was a dream the whole time. Both times we have been there recently, Jordyn has slept almost the entire time. That's the magic of McDonalds' noisy ambiance.

Anyway, as I predicted, Ben fell asleep immediately in the van. That always makes for a difficult transition into the house. I got Ben to walk down the sidewalk a couple feet, and then he was done!

Ben laid himself down on the sidewalk, popped his thumb in his mouth and determined to finish his nap right there. So, I carried a very exhausted boy up to his bed. Five minutes later, Ben appeared downstairs. That's why I hate it when my boys fall asleep in the car. They refuse to sleep when they get home!

Nathan's doctor visit...

So at what age does a mom quit posting stats on her "baby"? My kiddos will be 16 years old begging me not to post their weight, height and percentiles. :) Nathan continues to be the "top of his class" on weight and height. He was a real trooper for the appointment which included getting an eye test, peeing in a cup and *yikes* getting a Hepatitis A shot.

(I forgot my camera, so these high quality pics are from my phone.)

Nathan and Ben thought Dr. O was a real hoot. Dr. O asked Nathan to give him a high 5. When Nathan did, Dr. O. acted like Nathan had super powers by rolling across the room and hitting the wall. Ben immediately had to get in on the act. Then the boys didn't want to leave the doctor alone. :)

It is the opinion of Dr. O. that Nathan will not be a long time bed wetter. That's WONDERFUL news. He said that almost always a kid who is going to be a bed wetter will wet the bed every night. Since Nathan is dry most nights, he should be dry within a year. Far be it from me to be upset with Nathan if he was a long-term wetter. I made mom endure bed wetting until I was in the 4th grade. Hopefully none of my kids get the gene from me!

Well, Jordyn is screaming at the top of her lungs right now. Mark agreed to hold her while I blogged. I can't stand it any more, so I'm done blogging. Good night!

Me? Addicted to craiglist?

Nah! :)

Bought something else off craiglist today. It's a coffee table that the lady supposedly paid $700 for. I'm not so sure she really paid that much, but I'm pretty sure we got a good deal on it. Plus, it's like new.

This is the picture from the ad.

You know it couldn't possibly be a picture taken by me because:

1. A neat freak like me would always keep the top of the coffee table totally clean.

2. McDonalds food never enters our dwelling. We only eat "healthful" food.

3. Laptop? I have children to take care of. I NEVER get on the Internet.

I kid, I kid!

Geesh, the girls in this family!

Caryn started the tradition. She cried constantly for Janine and Pat until they switched her to soy milk. Next girl on the Roth side was Weslea, and she upped the ante. Angie and Bill spent months with their vacuum cleaner running at night since it was the only thing that calmed Weslea. (This worked until the motor blew. After that, they discovered sound machines.) Well, we have a sound machine...somewhere! The boys are rather enamored with it, and I'm not sure where the thing has disappeared to. That is why I'm sitting here blogging with the vacuum cleaner running. Mark is holding our girl who has been lulled to sleep by the not so calming to mamma roar of the machine. This is the most running time that thing has ever gotten. We all know it isn't used to clean! All my kiddos have been fussy babies, but I think Jordyn is finishing us with a bang. Today was particularly bad. After dealing with her constant crying, in a moment of craziness, I packed all the kids in the van and headed to Target. Why deal with a crying baby at home when I could do it in a much more stressful, public environment? But, here's my thinking...there's 15 minutes to Target and 15 minutes back adding up to 30 minutes of quiet Jordyn. For some reason, a running vehicle has magical soothing abilities. Plus, there's chocolate at Target a.k.a. "medicine for momma". I paid for my madness all throughout the store, though, as I dealt with two boys who didn't want to stay in the cart and one girl who didn't want to stay in her car seat. And, of course, I ran into someone I know from church who got to witness me in all my frazzled glory. Is it 3 months that they come out of this? I cannot remember!

Please God, make me a bird so I can fly far, far away from here! :)

Birthday date with the foot doctor...

So some of you think visiting the foot doctor isn't the most exciting thing to do on my birthday? I actually called last week and found out the doctor was only in Rittman on Mondays. That didn't really lend me any choice but to go on my birthday. Looks like my doctor and I will be seeing each other quite often as I have to go every week for at least the next 2 months. I guess that's what I get for procrastinating taking care of these lovely plantars warts for the last couple years! Hey, I talk about everything else on this blog...why not warts. They're a lovely addition, don't you think?

So my birthday was like any other day. It's just not so exciting getting older. I'm the big 33. At least I'm not as old as my sisters. :)

We went to Red Lobster tonight. Nathan's first vote was for Olive Garden, but I talked him into RL because of the "mobsters" (aka lobsters). The boys know that if they eat a good dinner, we'll let them see the lobsters. Our waitress took the lobster out of the tank and went to show Ben. He practically climbed onto my head and screamed! He wanted nothing to do with it. I guess they're okay in the tank, but outside the tank, watch out! BTW, both boys decided they liked crab meat tonight. Mark is just so grateful that I'm developing their taste buds to want expensive food!

So what's my big gift? Well, Mark, with no prompting from me, suggested that I buy a lens. I started researching lenses like crazy. My biggest desire was to have a lens that worked well in low light and made that lovely "bokeh" (fuzzy background) that shows up in good photographer's backgrounds. (I rarely manage that with the cheap lens that came with my camera.) I finally chose my lens and ordered it from Amazon. (free shipping and no sales tax) Sadly, I might have to wait up to 2 months for it to come in. Most people on the site mentioned that Amazon warns of a 2 month wait, but it usually comes much sooner. I hope so, because I'm anxious to try out the lens. Hope I made a good choice!

What I was really hoping I'd get for my birthday was Adobe CS3 from Pioneer Woman, but, sadly, I did not win it. I was feeling so lucky too! I have a feeling I'd use it more than the woman who won it, but I'm not bitter. Okay, I'm lying...I'm bitter. :)

My birthday is officially over, so this old lady is heading to bed. G'night all!

Remember the days, Angie?

Angie and I were in the same typing class. We used to compete against each other and John Sebastyen to gain the coveted "fastest typist in the class" honor. (There was no prize...we're just fiercely competitive.) Well, Angie...here's your challenge. I typed 95 wpm on my first try. Can you beat it on your first try? (I'm pretty sure she can.) 95 words

Speed test

Storms are a-brewin'

Anyone else getting hail at their house? There have been reports of golf-ball sized hail in some parts...ours were less impressive - maybe the size of gobstoppers?
We've had a lazy weekend. Nathan talked me into letting him make finger puppets yesterday. Guess he's the only motivated one around here.
Jordyn has been fussing all day making it hard to get anything done. We're trying to get the house clean since Mark's parents are coming over tonight to eat Marlboro Man Sandwiches. A couple months ago, I made the sandwiches and Mark invited Dale over. We've received quite a few hints from Dale since then, so we decided to make them tonight. Yet another healthy addition to our diet.

Anyway, Mark just left with Jordyn to do some shopping with the idea that I would keep cleaning. Instead, what am I doing? Blogging, of course. My priorities are a little skewed sometimes. Go check out this post at Pioneer Woman. It cracks me up as it basically describes something I would do to avoid boring housekeeping duties!

Well, I can't stay on the computer forever but, before I leave....you all knew this was coming! Drum roll please.....

The Jumperoo!

Mark made Jordyn be the earliest baby yet to be in the jumperoo. As you can see, it doesn't quite thrill her, but she's not crying!

6/19/08

So what does one do for the oh-so-monumental 9th year of their marriage? 1. Forget it's my anniversary until my husband greets me with a "Happy Anniversary" in the morning. Yah, that's right. Mark remembered. I didn't. 2. Drag the very reluctant kids out of bed (at 9:30, mind you) to go to garage sales with promises that we'll look for the ever elusive Thomas ride on train. (Kind of hoping it remains elusive...what else would I bribe Nathan with if we actually bought the thing?) 3. Find a few cute clothes for Jordyn. Probably would have found more if I had attempted to get the boys up by 7. (No thank you...I think I'll pass.) 4. Eat out at a Chinese buffet with my sisters. Yum! 5. Do a little more garage sale-ing in which I ended up sitting in the van feeding the baby while my sisters scoped out whether there were any deals left. 6. Hang out at the Riley's giving Nathan and Ben a little time to play in the dirt. 7. Give the boys their bath while Mark mows the lawn. 8. Try to figure out what to have for dinner. (It's 8 p.m. by this time.) Call the pizza place, decide it's too expensive--so I make my own pizza and burn the bottom of the crust. 9. Shove the pizza in my mouth as Jordyn cries in the living room. Hurry in to comfort her. 10. Put the boys in bed. 11. Watch Juno, which I enjoyed. Mark claimed it took 2 hours of his life that he would never get back. BTW, Ben has joined us by this time. 12. Keep comforting a crying Jordyn. Watch Mark fall asleep on the couch. 13. Take Ben back to bed. (Try to wake Mark to get him to go up to bed also. Mark is comatose by this time and stays on the couch.) 14. Deal with a fussy baby. 15. Finally get to sleep, oh, around 1 or so. And there you have it...just another day in paradise! :) Hey, I have 3 beautiful children, a wonderful husband and some days are just that way...I think it's called normal.

Follow-up doctor's visit

12 days old

7 1/2 weeks old

My! How quickly they change!

(Go here to see Nathan and Ben's changes.)

Jordyn is now 11 lbs. 12 oz. - 23". She's 95th percentile for height; 75th for weight. I thought that was rather big until I looked back on Ben's weight. He weighed in at 12 lbs. 15 oz. for his second check-up! I think the most shocking thing to think about was that Jolene was (I think) 11 lbs. 8 oz. when she was BORN! (Correct me if I'm wrong LL.) That makes Jordyn only 4 oz. more now at 7 weeks! Yikes, LL. I feel for you!

Ben also had his check-up. He weighed in at 31 lbs. 14 oz. (somewhere in the 75th to 90th percentile) and 34 1/2 inches (same percentile). The doctors always reassure me that my kiddos are proportional (height/weight).

You can just barely see Nathan to the right of this picture. He played doctor's helper by making funny faces at Ben. It worked. Ben was a very good boy for the doctor and enjoyed all the efforts by Nathan.

After the doctor's appointment, I headed over to mom and dad's house so that Nathan could go to a movie (Kung Fu Panda) with his cousins. When Angie first asked if I wanted to go to Kung Fu Panda, I thought we were going to a Chinese buffet. :) I stayed at mom's with Ben and Jordyn. Jordyn slept the entire time as long as I held her! She then started to get super grouchy. I couldn't figure out what was wrong since she had just eaten. Angie then pointed out that Jordyn had just gotten shots, and she probably needed Tylenol. Oops! Bad mistake on my part, as I totally forgot to bring any. I paid for it dearly when we got home. Jordyn screamed for probably a full hour until the Tylenol could kick in. You can be sure that I won't forget a dose again!

Here's Jordyn after the Tylenol worked its magic:

(BTW, Angie, I implemented the no flash technique on this picture!)

Jordyn seems so angelic...it's hard to believe that she was driving me to insanity just a few minutes before this.

Benny's travails...

Nathan came down yesterday morning without Ben (which is rare). Usually Ben is the first one up. I could hear Ben crying up in his room. I asked Nathan what Ben was crying about. "Oh, he's just freaking out," was his response. Strange choice of words, but I just figured Ben was having another temper tantrum. So, I finished feeding Jordyn, changed her diaper, got her settled in the swing and then went up to check on Ben. Ben was "freaking out" because he was stuck between the bed and the wall. I tried to pull him out, but he was in there tight! I had to summon my mommy panic and move the bunk bed. By that point, he had quite a red mark on his leg. Guess I better not ignore his crying anymore. I also had a talk with Nathan about how if this happens again, he might want to let me know that his brother is stuck!

Nathan's advice...

Yesterday I had a migraine for most of the morning. I basically was laying on the living room floor with Jordyn, praying that everyone would just be good and leave me alone. Overall, the boys were really good. Nathan, of course, wanted me to get up and play with him. I kept reminding him that mommy has a headache. (Nathan calls it a headik.) After hearing this one too many times, Nathan looked at me and said, "Mommy, you have a headik because you need to exercise more. If you exercise, you won't get headiks." (Mr. Smarty-Pants!) I wanted to explain to him that I got headaches a-plenty back when I was in the best shape of my life, but beings my head was pounding at the moment I just agreed with him. I think the kids need to lay off on the Sesame Street and all their healthy living advice. :)

Rough day...

Ben started crying earlier today. He and Nathan were playing upstairs, and I rushed up to find Nathan with a huge flashlight in his hands and Ben with blood pouring out of his mouth, down his belly and into his diaper. All I could think was that Nathan clocked him one with the flashlight. Frantically, I searched Ben's mouth, trying to find the source of the blood and hoping there wasn't a missing tooth. Turns out, Nathan didn't hit Ben with the flashlight. I think Ben fell and bit his tongue! Ouch!

Ben and Nathan have been big sleepers lately. They slept in until 10:30 today which meant that Ben didn't go down for a nap until close to 4. I didn't want Ben to sleep the night away, so I tried to wake him up gently. Let me tell you, Ben wakes up when Ben wants to wake up. Any earlier and this is what you get:

Ben's classic temper tantrum stance...

Notice the drool in this picture...

I guess Ben didn't appreciate my laughing and taking pictures of his agony...

Usually Ben is a laid back kid, but watch out for those mood swings!

I made it myself!

I was checking out some very cute backgrounds at: http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ If anyone was looking at my blog last night, they probably saw it change backgrounds a hundred times. I loved the borders they had, but I wanted white in the middle, and just couldn't find one that fit the bill. I then noticed they had a section that explained how to make your own template. It was a bit of a pain, but I finally figured it out. Now, I'll probably keep making a million of these because it's so addictive! :)

So here's our update: We got our "heavy" involved (i.e. dad). With his influence, Mark was able to buy the Corolla for the price in the ad! I'm so glad this is over. I actually got to drive it home last night, and it was so nice to see the gauge reading 28 mpg rather than 18 mpg, which is what mine reads most of the time. With Mark's highway driving, he should start getting 35 mpg and over!

Per LL's request, here's a picture of a car like Mark's. I haven't actually taken a picture of his car. It's pretty basic. As Mark says, "It's a car!"

Mark's out 4 wheelin' right now, and I'm at home all by myself. (Enter violin music....)

Dealerships just don't work out for me...

On Polar Express, one of the kids says several times, "Christmas just doesn't work out for me." We're starting to think that same thing about dealerships. I'll give a more detailed story later, but our experience today involved Mark preparing to buy a 2009 Toyota Corolla, only to leave the dealership because they wouldn't honor their sales ad price. We've dealt with 4 dealerships during our marriage, and 2 out of the 4 were disappointing to say the least. Anyway, I'll share details when I have more time. Oh, you've probably already figured this one out, but we've sold our Explorer. Yay!

My little old man.

You all know how serious and verbal my Nathan is. We often have some very interesting conversations. Like the one today: N: God lives in people's hearts. Me: Yes, he does. They ask Him to come into their hearts and forgive their sins, and he lives in their hearts. You're right. N: God is VERY BIG! (Holding out hands for effect.) Me: Uh huh (said distractedly as I try to get something done during the precious moments Jordyn is asleep) N: When I get older and have a job, I'm going to buy myself a big new heart so God can live in it. He's listening, but I don't think he comprehends it quite yet! :)

Milestones...

First, some lovely poetry:

Ode to the Binky

Giver of time

Sanity saver

Ender of crying

Content baby maker

Now stay in her mouth!!!

Wow, my prose is outstanding.

This photo documents two milestones in Jordyn's life. Today was the first time Jordyn noticed the toys on the swing. She actually looked up for awhile and stared at them going round. (This is one monumental milestone, I know!)

Jordyn is also starting to smile. Gas? Maybe. But it sure is cute! Especially that single dimple that shows up on her left cheek.

But here's the most important milestone: Jordyn took a binky for me today! Normally, when I try to give her a binky, I am returned with a pathetic gagging sound and sad little eyes that seem to ask, "Why are you doing this, mommy?" In a moment of desperation, I tried the binky out once again today, and surprise! She didn't gag. I then started our ritual: Walk around with a slight bouncing motion while patting Jordyn's butt until she drifted off to sleep. I then put Jordyn in the swing and set off to fix dinner.

As I mushed the meatloaf together in the bowl, I started "fantasizing" about how my life would be from now on. Fussy Jordyn? No problem. Pop that binky in her mouth and immediately content baby. By the time I plopped the meatloaf into the oven ten minutes later, I was on to dreaming about my days in the hammock with a very contented baby sucking on a binky, while my two boys played contentedly in the yard. (By the way, this daydream included a beautiful privacy fence surrounding the yard.)

It would have kept going that way, except...you guessed it...Jordyn started crying. Not wanting to face up to the fact that a binky may not have solved all my problems, I convinced myself that Jordyn must be hungry. (When in actuality I'm just a big human binky.) The human binky theory that I have so tried to avoid was immediately confirmed as milk LITERALLY started coming through Jordyn's nose as she was eating. Yah, I don't think the girl is hungry. She has so much milk it's coming out of every possible opening!

So what has the binky done for me? Apparently it has just added one more condition to the "I'll stop crying" contract that we seem to have. Instead of: walk around, pat my butt and never put me down, it's now: walk around, pat my butt, never put me down AND give me a binky.

Heaven help me!

Major bonus points!

Mark called me today wanting to know what kind of mulch I wanted for the house. (Not that I have any knowledge about mulch and what kind I want.) I totally forgot about it. When I came home, he had already left for an Indians game. Prodding three kids to get into the house (2 of which wanted to stay outside) must make a person blind, because it wasn't until I talked to Mark on the phone that he clued me in that not only did he get mulch, but it was all put in place around the house. YAY!

In about 2 B.C. (ie. 2 years before children), I had gone all out on landscaping around our house. When we bought the house, the only "landscaping" was bushes in grass. I dug out a design, mulched, bought more bushes and had all kinds of plants. The neighbors all commented that we were making them look bad. It really was looking good. Little did the neighbors know that it would never get touched again. Once Nathan came along, I just didn't have time or energy for it. So now, we are once again down to just bushes in mulch, and that's just fine! Upkeeping things is not my cup of tea.

Thanks, Mark! I love it!

The simple things...

We enjoyed one more visit at the Riley's house before Uncle Al and Aunt Sally headed home for the great state of Oklahoma. On Saturday, Mark offered to take the boys over to his parents while he and Dale planted the garden. When the Plattners were out visiting, the kids spent almost the entire time playing in the dirt that had been plowed in preparation for the garden. It was kind of a sad day to see the dirt go...it kept the boys so happy.

Well, it didn't go unnoticed by grandpa. He reserved a corner of the garden just for playing. Mark went on to dig a little trench, and that's all it took. The boys played in that section the entire day. Mark mentioned that he wished he had the camera to catch them in their sheer bliss of enjoying the dirt. Not wanting to miss a second chance, Mark snapped quite a few shots tonight.

I'm sure my siblings would attest that dirt does not hold the same thrill to them as it does to my boys. When I think of dirt, I think of weeding the garden, hot sun overhead, and pure fear of being stung by a bee at any moment. (Any memories coming back from our childhood?) My boys, on the other hand, think this is the epitome of good times.

You may be wondering why there is dirt largely in the vicinity of these two boys' mouths. I think they eat it...I honestly do. I've even seen evidence in Ben's diapers. You really don't need to know that, but I hate to disappoint!
Doesn't this guy know better?

The night was cut short when a storm hurried its way in. It looked VERY ominous, but didn't turn out to be much of anything. Just super windy and extremely dark skies. Poor Sally got hit full on in the eyes with a bunch of dirt. She was pretty miserable for the rest of the evening.

It wasn't all bad, though. We got to enjoy Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings. Yum! They're SO good, and yet SO very baaaad! Go make them! You'll know what I mean. (recipe)

Chillin' out at the Brinker's

Hey, Angie. Grandma Judy isn't the ONLY one with the pool. :)

Uncle Al and Aunt Sally are out visiting, so we had a family get-together at the Brinker's house yesterday.

Nathan enjoyed getting in the pool.

Ben wanted nothing to do with it!

Cousin Jenna helped Nathan stay afloat....

while Jordyn endured the heat with Grandpa Dale...

...and Uncle Darrel provided the entertainment.

Nathan is already talking about his next trip to see the Brinkers.

Nothing is sacred on this blog...

You know I like to bother Danielle with my gross stories. (basically anything that has to do with poop)

I've also been known to talk about boogers, puke and whatever else comes to mind.

I thought I would be able to grace you with a picture of a "butt fish" (ask Uncle Darrel about that one), but I wasn't quick enough on the draw.

Instead, I'm going to share with you a very disturbing image.

It may pain you to look at it.

You'll never be the same again.

Here we go...

YEE-OUCH!

Inspiration from Wyatt

Mark was going to try to give Nathan a mohawk, just like Wyatt had. Nathan was not going along with the game plan. He told me, "I don't want a mohawk. That looks silly." Since Ben does not have the power of words, he became Mark's guinea pig.

The thumb kind of ruins the "tough" look.

Lodi Park

If you saw Angie's recent blog of the kids at the park, these pictures should look familiar. Today we tagged along with Angie and enjoyed the Lodi creek.

Ben didn't last too long. He actually went under in a deeper area of the creek, totally giving his mother a scare. Kent saved the day by pulling him up until I could run over to him. After that, Ben no longer had an interest in the creek.

Nathan, however, was in his element.

There's nothing more exciting in "Nathan World" than getting to move rocks around.

Lori's daughter, Courtney, hung out with Caryn.

Weston took a tumble and jumped up like nothing happened. Tough kid!

After Ben's close call, he hung out in the playground. Lori made my momma job easy since she held Jordyn almost the entire time.

Weston and Craig joined us for awhile.

Here, Ben is having a little protest. I wanted him to come back to the sit-down area. Obviously, Ben wanted no part of that!

When we got home, Mark decided to give the boys a haircut. My specific words to him were, "Give them a buzz but don't make them bald!"

That was Mark's intention, but I guess he just couldn't stop. Now our kids are bald. (but cute nonetheless)

Now we're at Grandma Shari's visiting with Aunt Sally and Uncle Al. It was a great day!

Look at what you missed, grandma!

I can never really hide it when we sneak over to Grandma Shari's house when she's not there. No matter how hard I try, I'm unable to hide:

1. A couple pops missing from the fridge.
2. The blown up pool drying in the garage (which was brand new in the box when grandma left the house this morning).
3. The two wet towels now gracing grandma's laundry room floor.
4. The fact that the once full bag of Twizzlers was close to empty by the time we left.

Grandma might think she knows what we were up to, but little does she know the real deal!



Until now...
Since swimming wasn't on my agenda, and I didn't have swim diapers....My next plan was to put Ben in underwear. He kept the underwear on for 2.5 seconds, and then naked boy appeared. (Nathan followed suit soon after.) When do boys start feeling shy about being naked? Or, a better question, do boys EVER feel shy about being naked?

Don't worry...Jordyn and I kept our clothes on!

Selective hearing...

Nathan defined selective hearing very well a few minutes ago. He has been in the habit of saying, "What?" everytime I talk to him. Usually I haven't even finished saying what I wanted to say. So today I was in the bathroom, and Nathan was in the living room. I yelled out, "Nathan, it's time for a bath!" "What?" "Bath time!" "What?" "JUST GET IN HERE!" "What did you want, mom?" "I was telling you it's time for a bath." "Oh, I thought you were saying it was bed time so I couldn't hear you. But since you were saying it is bath time, I can hear you now." OH BROTHER!

Box Car Boogie

For Ben's birthday, I bought a DVD set that features loads of train songs on it. I always try to sing to it only to have Nathan scold, "This is a boy song, not a GIRL song!"

I asked him, "Well, what makes it a girl song?" Apparantly, it has to be sung by a girl to be a girl song. Since none of the songs on the DVD are sung by a girl, Nathan has it in his head that I'm not allowed to sing any of them.

Until today....

As Nathan was singing along with "Box Car Boogie", he suddenly stopped and said, "HEY! This is a GIRL song!"

Huh? It's sung by a guy. How did I get the honor?

Mark started chuckling and whispered, "Listen to him singing."

Lo and behold, what was Nathan singing? Do you have a theory?


He was singing "Box Car Booby". :)

It's all so clear now!

Lakeshore Steamers

On Saturday, the boys and I were watching WVIZ, and a show came on showing train rides in Cuyahoga. (which we intend to do someday) After that show, they had another one that showed miniature trains that you could ride on in Kirtland, Ohio. The park loans out the land to a private train group, and they in turn have several times a year that the public is invited out to ride the trains for free. I decided to check out their website and was surprised to find that their next public event was the next day. We decided to go check it out.When we got there, we were a little dismayed to see how many cars were in the parking lot. On top of that, they were only open 1 - 3, and we didn't get there until close to 2. I was a little worried that we wouldn't get a chance to ride.
Fortunately, the lines were rather short and moved very quickly. Jordyn immediately decided she was hungry, so I had to leave the group to feed her. It was kind of fortunate for someone that I did, because, when I got back to the van, I noticed the vehicle parked in front of us had its lights on. About the time Jordyn was done, the family had loaded into their vehicle to find that their battery was dead. I was able to give them a jump and then head back to the lines. By that time, Nathan, Ben, Shari and Mark had already ridden twice!
With me coming back, it made for a larger group. The lady was trying to find a train that we all could ride. She came up to me and pointed out the train above, and asked whether I felt we could fit on that one since it was narrower. I looked over and saw the car that Mark is sitting on in the picture. I thought all the cars had seats going across. I figured it would be no problem. What she meant was whether I could fit in the middle car which had seats going across inside. Talk about a moment of panic...how embarrassing would it be if I couldn't fit? Luckily, I fit fine and we took the third ride. When we got off, we planned on going home, but the line was still open. I bowed out, but the rest of the family got on for a fourth ride!
Here they are on the last ride of the day. What an awesome deal. The rides were each about 10 minutes long and wound around on tracks that criss-crossed and went over bridges in the woods. It was really pretty. We weren't allowed to take pictures while on the train. (They probably had too many people drop cameras in the past and didn't want to deal with stopping the train.) I do know that Shari cheated and used her little Canon Elph to steal a few shots. Maybe she'll blog them???

It was a great day. As you can figure, Nathan loved it. We'll be visiting the steamer location in Medina next. We heard the tracks weren't as good, but it sure is a lot closer!