Ball Game!

f

We took the boys to a baseball game for our last hoo-rah before school began.

Buy a coke? check

Cotton candy? check

Watch some game? check

Get to yell, "Swing batter batter batter!" check

Get to yell, "You're outta here!" check

Get to ride Daddy's shoulders? check

Funtimes!

Birthdays

We celebrated Mom and Dad's birthdays last month. Love the Corona signs? I promise we didn't take the kids to a bar.

I think the kids are as excited about someone else's birthday as if it was their own. Love it.

Brother Time

Some pictures from when Jordan got to visit before going to Japan. Miss you!

My Little Scientist

Okay, so I'm warning you right now. I wrote this earlier tonight, but I felt like it didn't read right. So I saved it and showered and came back to it. Then I realized what the problem is: it's a bit snotty, braggy parent-ish. But I didn't change it. So you've been warned...I got a bit braggy in this post.

I've been teased about being a scientist-parent. I might tell Case something like, "Oh, that toy won't fit inside that truck." Case rarely will take me (or somebody else) at their word - probably because most times when he voices disbelief I tell him, "Try it. See if it works." He will usually figure it out on his own. I suspect that a lot of parents do this so I didn't think much about these exchanges even after being called a scientist-parent.

Maybe those encouragements to figure things out though led to an event tonight.

While in the bath, Case was submerging his big, plastic, red cup into the water. You know where you put the cup upside-down into the water? He would force air into the cup and then cause bubbles to shoot up out of the bathwater. Much to his delight, some of these bubbles were huge. He was getting really good at it. I asked Case if the purple cup (identical except in color) would do the same thing. He tried it, and was excited when it worked at making bubbles, too. Then I asked him if the little cup (I pointed to the cup that has little holes in it) would make bubbles too. He tried it, but of course, it wouldn't since the air doesn't get trapped inside the cup. I asked him why he thought it didn't work.

He replied, "Because it's smaller."

I said, "Well, it has little holes in it. The air doesn't get trapped so you can't make bubbles." I knew that was probably too technical for him, but all was not lost.

Case says, "Let me try my little cup that doesn't have any holes."

I stopped in my tracks. He was testing a hypothesis! Was it the cup size or the presence of holes that determines if bubbles can form? Not to fear - Case was going to figure it out!

He found his little cup without holes and submerged it upside-down. He made bubbles! He was surprised and excited to discover something new.

I was surprised and excited that my little 3-year-old can figure out a way to test something. It warmed my heart.

I also made a mental note to reply next time I hear a college student complain that they can't figure out how to test a hypothesis with: "My 3-yr-old can test a hypothesis. I hope you can."

First (Real) Haircut

Poor second child. I'm finally posting pictures of L Child's first (real)* haircut. I'm just a month late. He did awesome. No screaming or crying. And he sure looked cute. A month later, his hair is already grown out, but it looks better than it did before the haircut**. It's growing out nicely and evenly.

*I say real because my parents and I trimmed the back twice, but we weren't talented enough to do trim it all over. So we just prevented the mullet. Which is pretty good in my book.

**I called Liam's old hair the "Old Man Hair" - uneven-and-comb-over-do-but-the-old-man-doesn't-want-to-cut-it-because-he's-balding-in-spots-hair. That's why we gave in and cut it.

Things I've Heard...

...now that school is back in session. I miss statements like these during the summer:

1. "I love doing calculus! That calculus problem made my day."

2. "You have some weird people in your department."

I responded, "I know. I went to grad school in chemistry." I'm used to it.

3. "The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation...probably my favorite equation of all time."

At which I thought, Do I need a favorite equation? Maybe I'm not a real scientist without one.

Memorable Moments from My First Week Back

School started back this week. If you saw some of my Facebook statuses this week, you probably know some of what's on my list.

1. With Mom and Dad, I took the boys to an Acappella concert Monday night. My favorite parts were when (1) Case looked up from my lap and exclaims, "They're singing about Jesus!" and (2) Liam was feeling the beat with a fast-paced song...well, that's probably putting it lightly.

2. Having to teach Tuesday to a new class of students with a giant cut-bump on my forehead that resembled a HUGE zit. It was still slightly open so I couldn't cover it with make-up (sorry for the gross image). It looked worse with a bandaid. I took a poll in the office and decided not to tell my students. I just ignored it and pretended it wasn't there while I taught about Earth Science.

It was hard to ignore when people would talk to me while looking at my forehead.

3. Casen's been singing this song by Tim McGraw, "1, 2, 3 like a bird I sing 'cause you've given me the most beautiful set of wings." He likes to change the words to songs. I've heard these two lyrics as well: "1, 2, 3 like a bird I sing, thank you God for Liam" and "1, 2, 3 like a bird I sing, Casen's got to pee."

4. L Child started saying Mama regularly. That kid has called me Dada forever, but would laugh when I would ask him to say Mama. I knew he could say Mama. At times, he would say it when I wasn't around (someone would tell me) or if he was looking for me (even then it was rare and he acted like it was an accident he even said it). It's been a back-to-school present I guess 'cause he calls me by my name now. It's nice to hear "Mama!" several times a day now.

5. After a few more tries, both boys actually fell asleep together in Casen's bed on Wednesday night. So cute.

6. I have a really great schedule. I have only one class a day (three days a week) and two classes a day twice a week. Fridays are very nice - I can leave for the afternoon or stay and get caught up with work. Very nice.

7. It's a pchem year again, but this time I've taught it once before. The prep shouldn't about kill me this time.

8. I'm pretty sure I turn into a 3 Stooges character whenever I have to unlock the office door with my hands full. While juggling books, notes, and a laptop, I tried to unlock and open the office door. I dropped my pen while swinging open the door. Of course, the pen got wedged underneath the door and then got stuck. So while I yanked on the door, a poor student tried to get the pen un-stuck. Oh, and I'm wearing 3-inch-heels so I'm trying not to fall over. All the while, we have an audience trying to get into the office.

9. My office is already a mess. I cleaned it the Sunday night before school started. My colleagues are not surprised I'm sure.

10. I got to go see some fam this weekend before things get too crazy with work. Great time with some of the kiddos!

Bedtime Sprint

Now that Liam is getting older, both boys are playing more together. They talk to each other (though I have no idea what they are actually saying usually). They laugh together. And yes, they fight, but for the time being, not a whole lot. They are brothers that love each other.

Sigh. (Wiping tears from my eyes)

So now you know why I was crazy enough to let them "try" to sleep in the same bed. I had been thinking about how it might be difficult to transition L Child from his crib to a toddler bed. Maybe it would be easier if sometimes he slept with C. I mentioned it to Josh that maybe we should try it some Friday night. He suggested it might be a good idea to try it now. The boys LOVED the idea. So why not? Right?

After several minutes of maniacal laughing coming from Casen's room where two little boys were tucked in together it got a little calm. Josh and I started to watch something on TV relaxing and enjoying the moment.

All of a sudden, Wild Man Liam sprints into the living room laughing hysterically and bounds into the boys' Lightning McQueen tent which is next to the couch.

After I stopped laughing and could control myself (Josh was still laughing), I got Liam and rocked him and put him in his crib.

Casen needed some comfort. He was upset. Not because Liam was in his own bed. Nope, my little rule-follower was upset that Liam had gotten out of bed when it was time to go to sleep.

Maybe C will be the voice of reason when he and L child are 18 and 16.

Cruise 101

Josh and I got to take our tenth anniversary trip this past week. We had a blast!

I never had a desire to go on a cruise, but when Josh and I started checking prices for a trip away together, the cruise made sense. We couldn't beat the price so we decided to go for it. I had second thoughts when we first boarded the ship. The first day was a bit boring. Once we got going though, there was plenty of things for us to do on the ship, and we had fun in Mexico.

Some things I learned on our first cruise...

1. As much as I needed (and enjoyed) a break from the kids, I'm glad we spent some special time together before departing on our separate vacations. By the third night away, I was ready for some Skype time with the kids.



2. Traveling to the port was half the fun (at least on the way there). We took the scenic route stopping to take pictures. We started a great book. We even went to a late movie once we got to the hotel like the old days of dating.



3. Take lots of pictures. I think this trip produced the most pictures we have of ourselves in a long time.



4. The relaxed boat schedule was just what we needed. Our lives are so busy, especially during the school year - it was good for us to just relax and not really have anywhere we needed to be most of the time. Not to mention the fact that we were pretty much "unplugged" the entire trip. I didn't use my cell phone and laptop for 5 days. And lived.


5. Don't bring so much. I've always been an awful packer. I bring everything I *might* need which translates into waaaay too many clothes. I should've brought less everyday clothes and more swimsuits. Thanks to my cousin Becky, I had plenty of dresses on the cruise to dress up in at night (and some for just the day - just because!).


6. I probably wouldn't bring kids on a cruise. Well, let me clarify. I definitely wouldn't bring little ones on a cruise. I think it would be difficult to keep them away from the edge of the boat. Most of the parents of small kids that I saw didn't look like they were on vacation. Once the kids were older and wouldn't jump off the ship, I still think a cruise like this wouldn't be for them. A disney cruise probably would be more appropriate; pretty sure kids were bored on our ship.



7. We ported in two spots - Progresso and Cozumel. Progresso was pretty undeveloped with a beach that had cold water. I'm glad we had opted to take a Mayan Ruins tour there. A bonus was that some of our friends from dinner ended up being on our tour bus so we got to hang together at the Ruins and meet up with some other friends once we got to the beach.





8. I loved Cozumel. I probably would do another cruise, but I would prefer to just go back to Cozumel and stay in a resort there. We only had about 8 hours in Cozumel so I would love to go back and experience more. Josh and I haven't done a lot of traveling so Cozumel was a good spot for us to have our own adventure instead of signing up for a scheduled excursion. Renting a scooter was a blast...even though it was a bit scary driving on the highway there on it and when we got a flat on the edge of town...the beach was the best I've been to ever (I've been to a couple in California, one in Florida, and several off the coast of Texas in the Gulf)....and exploring the shops around town was fun despite the heat.




9. Meeting people was fun...even for an introvert like myself. We had assigned seating every night for dinner. I'm glad we had such a great group of people we ate with every night. Good conversation and new friends - wasn't counting on that on this trip.*


10. Coming home to the kids was awesome. There was much celebrating.

*I should clarify: I didn't think I'd have good conversation with anyone else besides my husband.

Good For the Soul

Spending time with friends is such a blessing....especially when cheesecake is involved.

Liam's Heavens

Liam discovered one of his Heavens in Branson (Casen enjoyed it as well): the Ball Factory. A 3-story huge building where you can throw balls, launch them from giant shooting machines, or even suck them up with a ginormous vacuum. He didn't want to ever leave.




This past Sunday, I think Liam was in heaven in the nursery. We were visiting another church where Josh was doing a parenting seminar. I went to check on Liam during our afternoon break. I walk into the room to see Liam standing surrounded by three teenage girls. They would give him a toy. He would look at it, play with it for a minute, throw it down, and automatically get handed another toy...or a cheerio. Whatever he preferred. When he wasn't getting waited on, he got held and carried around by some little 50-lb girl. Needless to say, he loved his three-to-one attention.

One of the Best Things To Do in Branson

We got to Ride the Ducks while we were in Branson. Josh recently blogged about how having kids changes vacation, but we can still have fun by seeing it through their eyes. Ride the Ducks was one of those things that I probably would've rated just "OK", but through the eyes of a child - it was great!

First, who wouldn't want to ride in a car that turns into a boat?!?

And you get to blow duck calls! Really loud!





Finally, YOU GET TO DRIVE THE BOAT IF YOU'RE A KID!!!

Branson Lessons #2 & 3

It is not possible to go somewhere without having to go to Wal-Mart at least once.




Who gets to push Liam the King around in his stroller is definitely worth fighting over.