I'm pretty sure this is called "irony"

Today two boys who refused to drink out of bottles as infants pretended to be babies by drinking out of bottles. Yeah. (Oh, and who wants to guess why Jack's pajamas are on backwards?)

Balloons!

One of the few things that we know for sure that Jack likes is balloons. So, a couple of months ago I decided to try to learn to make balloon animals and creations so that I could do them at his approaching birthday party. I found a ton of how-to videos online and quickly had success making the basic hound dog (this picture is of my actual first attempt).

Justin got into it, too, and learned to do a bunch of animals himself. I now know how to make about 20 simple creations! It's actually quite easy and really fun. The other day my friend Petra gave me a how-to book and I added a few more to my repertoire, including the alien-eyeball hats sported here by my sons, and the SO easy octopus which was a huge hit. I also showed off my new-found skill at a recent MOMS Club "End-of-Summer Party," which has thus far been my only experience twisting balloons for kids other than my own. It was fairly amusing to me that out of the many choices I had laid out for them, 90% of the boys chose airplanes and 90% of the girls chose ladybugs. I hardly got to show off at all! Ah well, there will always be kids wanting balloon animals! I'm pretty sure I'll get another chance!

Handsome Jack

Sneaky

Alexander: Mommy, I want you to go check your E-mail.
Me: I don't need to check my E-mail.
Alexander: Aw, MOM! But I don't want anyone to see me when I'm doing something sneaky!

Dear Daddy,

Alexander just wrote this letter to his Daddy. Obviously he had help with the spelling, but chose what to write all on his own. Just in case you need a translation, it says:
"I LOVE YOU DADDY
I AM PLAYING ZELDA
I LOVE TO PLAY ZELDA
I WANT YOU TO COME HOME
WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO TO WORK
LOVE ALEXANDER"

Musical Beds

Last night:
7:30- Jack falls asleep on his own in his crib.
8:30- Alexander falls asleep on his own in his bed.
10:30- Jack wakes up crying. I get him and put him in my bed, where we both fall asleep.
12:30- Alexander comes in and gets in my bed. I get up to go to the bathroom. When I come back and look at the two boys stretched out across my bed, I decide to do something several people have suggested. I go sleep in Alexander's bed.
3:15- I hear Jack awake and find him on the stairs. He screams when I try to put him back in my bed, so I take him in Alexander's room and put him in the toddler bed I just got him from Freecycle. I get back in Alexander's bed.
5:00- Jack wakes up crying and gets in Alexander's bed with me.
8:00- We all wake up. This is very late for us! Jack spent part of the night in every bed in the house (well, except Uncle Tim's), so I think he is the winner of Musical Beds. I walk into my room and Alexander says, "Mommy, I'm still asleep."

Someone please tell me why I am SO bad at getting my kids to sleep in their own beds all night! I am just such a wuss in the middle of the night. :( Good thing I got a nap today! Thanks, Justin!

Keys Game

Saturday night we went to another great Keys game! The Keys lost, but we hardly noticed. Alexander was mostly excited to get his ice cream like last year, and to run the bases. Even Jack ran the bases this year. He was the smallest one that I saw! The most frightening part of the game was this Red Cross duck, Waddles. Really, I was scared.

Recipe Share

Since many of you were kind enough to share recipes with me during my recipe contest, I hope you will appreciate some shared recipes from me. I must warn you that I don't consider myself a great cook. However, I can follow a recipe. I got this particular recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/, but I made a few changes, and I am posting it with those changes. I made these Bacon Quiche Tarts for dinner tonight and they were delicious! I served them with corn on the cob, which may seem like a strange pairing, but it worked well for me and the boys! Both little guys really enjoyed these. I hope you do, too! (They are approximately 230 calories each; you have been forewarned.)

BACON QUICHE TARTS

INGREDIENTS
5 slices bacon
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 green onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) can refrigerated flaky biscuit dough

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Lightly grease 10 muffin cups.
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until crisp and evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
Place the cream cheese, milk, and eggs in a medium bowl, and beat until smooth with an electric mixer set on Low. Stir in Cheddar cheese, bacon, and green onion, and set aside.
Separate dough into 10 biscuits. Press into the bottom and sides of each muffin cup, forming 1/4 inch rims. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into each cup. (I had some filling left over and baked it without the biscuit crust in the remaining two muffins tin cups. Turned out wonderfully also.)
Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until filling is set and rims of the tarts are golden brown. Remove from pan, and serve warm.

Okay, one more

I think I missed the beginning of this conversation between Justin and Alexander. Or... he was just being really random.

Alexander: I want a lifesaver! ..... What's a lifesaver?
Justin: Do you mean a light saber?
Me: *giggles madly*

More World According to Xander

Yesterday at the pool:
Alexander: Mommy, I see cracks on your legs.
Me: Yes, those are called stretch marks. Thanks for noticing.

Today, seeing the news showing on a big TV at McDonald's:
Alexander: Mommy, this is a weird show.

World According to Alexander

Yesterday:
Alexander: Mommy, can I have some lunch before dinner?

This morning, as Justin and I were trying to encourage him before swim class:
Me: Daddy is not afraid to go underwater!
Alexander: Well, then maybe Daddy should take swim lessons!

The Opportunist

Alexander likes to take advantage when he's given the opportunity to learn the secrets of life's mysteries.

Today at swim class:
Instructor: Do you guys have any questions?
Alexander: I do! Why is there a trash can shaped like a bottle here?
Instructor: That's where we put bottles to be recycled. Do you have any questions about what we learned today?

Yesterday at the Lake Festival:
Firefighter: Do you have any questions?
Alexander: Yes. Why is the smiley face on my lollipop disappearing?
Me: It's all about the lollipop!
Firefighter: (Long pause) Uh... I meant to ask if you had any questions about the fire truck.

Notice how the swim instructor, experienced with children, didn't miss a beat when Alexander asked his random question. The young firefighter was a bit thrown by what he perceived to be a very quick change of subject.

The Quintessential Summer Day

Aside from being on vacation, having my husband home, or having something truly extraordinary happen (like winning the lottery?), today was just about the perfect summer day with my boys. Jack's taken to not napping, and that gives us a certain amount of newfound freedom. (I try to look at the bright side of things.)

We started out the day with Alexander's swim class. He has class every day for two weeks, and I think it will be really beneficial for him doing it that way. Also, there is only one other child in his class! So, he's doing wonderfully, getting plenty of one-on-one time from the instructor, and really enjoying himself so far. Jack and I have been entertaining ourselves poolside with goldfish and lift-the-flap books!

Next, home for lunch. Then, straight to our pool where we swam for a while, played on the playground for a while, and then swam some more. We spent a total of 4 hours there! That's what I call a nice, long summer day at the pool!

After some quiet time at home with a movie, we walked down to the lake for the Lakeside Festival in honor of National Night Out. There were regular balloons, a talented balloon twister (Alexander tested his abilities by asking for a snake), a moonbounce, pony rides, Famous Dave's BBQ, lollipops, paddleboats in the lake, fire trucks to explore, remote control cars, and more. And it was all free! We stayed until about 7:15, and Jack passed out in the stroller on the way home. That was quite a day for my little guy!