Hi!

Cupcake Time!

Alright, I will admit it.  This first try was a complete parent fail. 

We waited for Dad to get home from work so we could celebrate together.  Usually not a problem as Ev is typically hitting his 20th wind at 9pm.  Not today however.  He was tired and wanted nothing to do with cupcakes and singing.

Yep.  Complete fail.  

Husband whisked him up to bed and the rest of the boys got a cupcake.

Next day, take two.  

And yes, he is wearing the same outfit.  Apparently when Dad put him down, he thought the kid was too tired for the whole bedtime routine.  Probably correct.  Anyway, no judging. 

Much happier boy today.

He knows how to blow on his hot food to cool it down and he tried so hard to blow out his candles but eventually he needed help.  Maybe next year, kid.

Sugar high...

After his sugar high, he opened his presents.  

He loved the cards and the clothes.  However, his favorites were the pictures sent by his birth grandma of his first family.  He looked at them and we talked about who everyone in the pictures were.  

I was grateful for the pictures as well.

His roots are just as important as his branches and we try to honor all parts of his tree.  He is very lucky to be loved by so many.

***

This night I got him a bottle.  He drank it and then brought it to me.  "More?" I asked using sign language.  He started to sign 'more' back to me, but then he said, "I night-night."

Well!

For a kid who has given me hell most night times since we moved, this was a refreshing sign of maturity.   

Happy Birthday!

Birthday Boy

Pool Time

Basketball in the pool.  His favorite thing to do if you can get him in the water. 

Ev did not last long in the water.  He is still not a huge fan of the pool.  But he does love pushing people in the pool and the boys obliged by getting 'pushed' in over and over again.

He went back in for another short stint but eventually called time out.  He loves shooting people with water guns but gets tired of the pool quickly. 

I changed him into dry clothes and then he spent the next while playing with water guns.  Like shooting fish in a barrel... 

Baby No More

This is one of the last pictures I took before Ev turned 2.  I cannot believe how much he has grown.

Park Day - Again

Minions

Grandma brought minion tic tacs for all the boys on Sunday.  Oh happy day! 

Park Day

Beginning to Fall Under the Spell of Books...

Fort City

James and the Recent Trip

Movie Time

Uh...I think I ordered the large...

Denny's with Dad

Dad has been gone a lot and the boys needed some Dad time.  So he took the two youngest to Denny's

Me thinks you need a haircut, kid...

He did enjoy his chocolate milk though.  And he didn't throw any food this time.  

Crayons?  Yes.  

Food?  No.  

Progress.

And this kid loved his Shirley Temple.  

They walked there and back to get some extra time with Dad.  

These are the memories...

Child Drivers

Don't worry!  I am sure it is perfectly safe to let a two year old behind the wheel...without a seatbelt...

Pull Out the Strait Jacket. It's Official. I've Lost My Mind.

*Repost from Writing Blog

I felt good about releasing Emberlin.

Good, in between panic attacks anyway.

But, then I started to feel guilty.  Who launches a three volume novel that is over 100,000 words at people they call friends and family?

Me.  Apparently.

So I decided to turn into a publishing monster and release one of my novellas.  It is only 18,000 words and has a handful of characters to keep track of.  Just in case someone doesn't want to spend the next four years reading one book.  You can try Domino instead of Emberlin.

Here is a brief synopsis:

Domino, a Novella

After exchanging love letters with the shy bartender, through her new friend, Amaryllis, Ashley follows her friend's advice and marries him.

James married the girl that his mother asked him to, for the sake of a legal issue.

Too bad they married each other, both under mistaken understandings. And, to make matters more complicated, the person who orchestrated the union, has mysteriously disappeared.

Will Ashley and James come together to unravel hurt feelings, confusion, and the legal wrangling that comes with divorce?

A special shout out to my readers for this project: Emily, Heidi, Chelsea, and Abe.

And an extra special shout out to Chelsea Romney who has always encouraged me (for good or bad - it's your call) in my writing.  She has read more versions and more manuscripts than anyone, even my husband.  

Even if these fail miserably and I never publish again, I am grateful to Chelsea and all my other readers for putting up with my quirky tendency to force ms's on them.  You are the best!  

Boys and Furniture

I am so glad that I bought a new ottoman and sofa for the library...furniture that wasn't covered in kid goo of indeterminate origin.

Silly me.

I have four sons.  How could I forget that little detail?

I caught Ev showing broken pretzel pieces in between couch cushions.  Lovely.

And all the boys use the storage ottoman as a ball pit.  To jump in, to roll into, to hide in during hide and seek. 

Sigh. 

Why does he look like he is waiting for a harem?  

Evidence of Ev jumping on the couch.  Even better.  Let's try to break those springs as soon as possible boys. 

And jumping back across the bridge into the pit.  

Well...it was lovely furniture while it lasted.

Kid's Club

Riley goes to a kid's club twice a week.  This last week was an under the sea theme.  

He made a jellyfish in a bottle and then he made this - his own mini ocean with animals.

So creative!

We love the kid's club!

He even sleeps with it.  And it looks like his other animals, mostly sharks, have killed him.  

Beanie Baby