Winter Wonderland

and... we have winter.

The gumdrops are gone.

The boys and I made a gingerbread house last week. They were told it was absolutely not for eating.

Apparently the temptation was too strong for a particular little boy in our home, as a few days ago I came downstairs to find him licking the row of gumdrops atop the roof. After I threatened to move it out of reach, he promised it wouldn't happen again.

I guess I'm surprised it lasted this long.


My guilty little Hansel...

Noah's Paradise

No one enjoyed our Thanksgiving at "the shack" more than Noah. Here's a look at our little rugged mountain-man in the making:





(Hunting for arrowheads down by the river... Noah quickly switched to looking for acorn-caps, a much more fruitful search.)

I hate hot dogs.

(thanks for the beautiful pics Cindy!)

Few things are more disgusting to me than the smell of raw hot dogs. I can barely stand to touch the things, for fear of the lingering stench. However, like most little boys, ours love them and due to a "kid party" being held at the house, I gave in and bought a jumbo, family pack of them. After the party, I put the remaining hot dogs in a zip-lock bag and shoved it back in the fridge.

A few days later,when it was time to throw them out, (since I definitely wouldn't be making them again) I grabbed the bag from the fridge. While holding it, I stopped to rearrange the shelf. Malcolm was, as usual, underfoot at the time. From the corner of my eye, I saw him flinch at something. I looked down to see him actually lapping at a steady stream of something falling from the air right into his mouth, face, and hair...
leaking, raw HOT DOG JUICE.

It took all the mother-love I possess to pick up my sweet little Malcolm, now covered in nasty, nasty hot dog juice. By the time I got him to the sink, it was already forming crusty spikes in his hair and he was still trying to lick whatever remained on his face. My poor, poor, disgusting angel baby.

Rebel without a cause

This doesn't bode well:

Calvin:... and Daddy will go to heaven, and Mommy will go to heaven, and I'll go to heaven, and you'll go to heaven.

Noah: I don't want to go to heaven. I just want to go play with you in the basement.

Cubes of love

Calvin is a die hard red fan, as in the color. He doesn't understand why it's not everyone's favorite color, but he's trying to.

Calvin: Dad, your favorite color is blue, right?
Dad: Yes.
(Calvin thinking)
Calvin: How many more cubes of love does red need to win?

Biter Biscuit

A rite of passage in our home:




Malcolm has now experienced the joy, and incredible mess, of a biter biscuit. mmm.

Happy Halloween.

Noah was up too late last night partying at the primary's trunk-or-treat AND he had no nap today...
(Yes, these are the same costumes as last year but the boys wanted it that way. promise.)

It's a race, of course.

I arrived at Calvin's school yesterday morning just ahead of the bus. Seeing this, Calvin immediately demanded that I hurry and unbuckle him. Once freed, and with no goodbyes, he set off on a very brisk walk to the sidewalk.

I noticed him take a sideways glance at the three children getting off the bus, then all of a sudden he bolted into a sprint. He wasn't the only one. Right behind him was a cute little girl with pink bows and dark curls running faster than I would have guessed possible. As she started to catch up, my polite little boy stiff-armed her and upped his speed even more.

Noah, apparently watching as well, started calling from the window, "Go, Calvin, go!!" The sweet nun who was supposed to accompany them didn't even bother calling out, as they were too far ahead. Calvin managed to reach the door first and, with a single fist-pump, walked inside. I couldn't figure out what I had missed that started this.

When I picked Calvin up from school later that day, I asked him what happened this morning. His only reply, "I beat Emma".

to remember:

(pen just stopped writing)
Noah: Mom, this pen just ran out of crayon gas.

(after a soccer game to a girl on the opposing team)
Calvin: Hi. We dominated you.
Me: Calvin, you shouldn't say that.
Calvin: But mom, we dominated her off.

(yelling to a passing car while riding his bike)
Calvin: Excuse me! EXCUSE ME!
-Driver then stops, rolls down window-
Calvin: Excuse me, please don't crush me.

(in the car, out running errands)
Calvin: Mom, do you not know many things?
Me: Well, I know some things.
Calvn: Ok, good. Tell me them, I need to know everything you know.

(another backseat conversation overheard)
Calvin: I have a great idea, Noah. You can be my padawan. I'll be your master.
Noah: Ok, Calvin.
Calvin: No, no. You say "ok. MASTER"
Noah: Ok, Master.
Calvin: Good job, padawan.

Knoebles with the Stews'

Our good friends, the Stewarts, came to visit for the weekend. They have three boys as well, so needless to say, it was non-stop playtime for our little guys.

(safety first)

We visited Knoebles, the local amusement park. Thanks to their incredibly lax safety rules, all of the boys- even the two year old- were allowed to drive the go-carts and go on pretty much any ride they wanted... heaven for thrill-seeking little boys.

A big month for little Malcolm:

crawling.

teething (x2).

eating.

Little one, please slow down.

ps- yes, occasionally we clothe the poor child.

A little sensitive...

While it's true, little boys are mainly made up of snips and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails; there is also a very sweet, sensitive side to them... that seems to come out mainly when daddy isn't around:

Today I made the mistake of letting Calvin watch Charlotte's Web. As the movie ended, he came up from the basement sobbing. Alarmed at first, all I could make out in between tears was something about his "heart hurting". Eventually, he was able to explain that Charlotte died, and it just "hurt his heart so much", it took him-seriously- twenty minutes and a chocolate brownie to get over it... please, no one mention this movie around him.



Little Noah is a sweet mix of sensitivity and stubbornness. He adores Malcolm, and cannot bear to see him crying. Yesterday, I pulled up to a friend's house to drop him off for a playdate, which he'd been excited about all day. Malcolm was crying in the car, and I had planned to just leave him there while I quickly ran Noah to the door. Noah threw an absolute fit. He dropped to the ground and refused to go near his friend's house until I picked up Malcolm and got him to stop crying. Seeing that his little brother was happy once again, he quickly waved goodbye and sprinted away.

DAY of school

As you may be able to tell from the lighting here, Calvin awoke bright and very early for the first day of kindergarten (Daddy was still home to take the picture).

I woke him up the following morning, saying it was time for school. With a confused look on his face, he asked, "Again?"

bright futures

Calvin: "When I grow up, I'm going to be a donut baker."

Noah: "And I'm gonna be a banana maker."

A Bedtime Story, by Calvin

"Once upon a time there were three boys named Calvin, Noah, and Malcolm. They were in the forest when all of a sudden a bear attacked them. So, they all got out their bows and their arrows and they shot that bear. Then they had a meat party. Then their mom said it was time to go home. The end."

Noah: "Calvin, that was awesome."

what fear looks like

The day before I officially started in residency we made it over to the area theme park and enjoyed some remaining freedom. The whole day Calvin had been talking about riding on the "log fume". We finally made it right before the park closed.

Calvin's expression didn't change for about 20 minutes afterwards. His quote coming off the ride was, "Dad, I don't ever want to do that again. We were falling through the air!" Those six dollars spent on the photo should more than pay off in blackmail in 15 years.

the best baby in the world, at 3 months

Seriously. Malcolm is my little angel child, I couldn't ask for a better baby.

"slip slide"

The best way to bruise your belly... I can't tell, are they enjoying themselves?

Noah, lately