Dress-up Fun




We were blessed to attend a friend's 35th birthday celebration: a surprise masquerade! My big boys went as "fancy guys", and the little one declined his caterpillar costume (cold, too much cumulative time in the car over the past couple of days, hunger, and fatigue tanked the patience quotient for all of us). It was an awesome excuse for me to buy a dress which I can now wear to the Ren Faire!!

(My thanks to Heather for the photos!!)

Labels: boys, friends, photos, trips

- posted by Lenise @ 8:45 PM |

 
Not My Fault
It's not. I could name names, but let's just say that someone pointed me towards a fabulous book which has led to my whipping up FIVE batches of homemade bread in the last eight days. On top of that, someone else gave me leave to set up a blog for her wedding. Meantime, I've had oral surgery, spent an evening here and there working on my paying job, been hanging out with friends one weekend, family the next, and I gave in and joined facebook. I'm also contemplating starting a Mebane historic preservation community. 'Cuz I don't have enough to do...

One small warning: if you make babka, you have little choice but to proceed with meringues. I probably would have skipped the whole thing if I had known I'd end up getting out the mixer, but the meringues are fairly good, and I'm hopeful the babka will be even better. We'll find out tomorrow!! Homemade bread is changing my life (but not enhancing my sense of personal responsibility, obviously!)...

Labels: family, food, friends

- posted by Lenise @ 11:49 PM |

 
Spoilin' for a Fight
We had a tremendously fun weekend as some friends of ours came down for the weekend, causing other local friends to pay us visits as well! All in all, it was extremely amicable, considering there were four boys under the age of five in our house for the better part of three days. The most memorable altercation (to me, anyway) was between my two oldest, over nothing less than the proposition that: 1. the sky has a face and, 2. it is sad. This was a little cuter than the typical fight, but we regularly have to referee shouting matches between our literal son and our imaginative one, so it was hardly unexpected.

John and Isaac were downright absorbed by this toy. I have never seen anything like it. Thankfully, Jonah brought two (addition and division [he is three, but stands a good chance of scoring higher than I would on the SAT]), so the one fight we had over it was solved by locating the second one. Other than that, there was some Zingo played, some videos viewed, and even some cooperative Wii play. It's a shame it has been so cold, but we did just fine without the option of playing outside.

Now if Daniel and I could just get healthy!

Labels: boys, friends, play

- posted by Lenise @ 3:27 PM |

 
You Even Don't Bite Me!
So we had a very nice visit last weekend with our friends. Jonah astonished with his reading abilities and arcane trivia (do any of YOU know how many moons Jupiter has?), and the boys all played fairly well together, or at least in proximity. Isaac and Jay really enjoyed the attention from Uncle Josh and Aunt Cathy, even learning a couple of new songs ("Sing fire truck again!" says Isaac).

Jay remarked to Josh, "You are nice to me. You even don't bite me! 'At's 'cause you are even not a boy."

Said Josh (who's been accused of such on other occasions ;) ), in mock astonishment: "Then what am I?"

Jay answered matter-of-factly, "You are a Daddy. You are Jonah's daddy."

Duh!

Speaking of duh, I didn't get any photos of our guests =[ This seems to be a recurring theme.

Labels: baby talk, boys, friends

- posted by Gary @ 8:03 PM |

 
Back'ards
Jay continues to pick up language from various and sundry sources. The other week, he told Isaac, "You're driving back'ards, Isaac. Dat is gonna creep me out!" (from Cars). Jay likes to make a good joke, so, having noticed how entertained I was by this little gem, a few hours/days(?) later, when Isaac put on a baseball cap backwards, Jay came up with, "Your [sic] are wearing 'at hat back'ards Isaac. Dat is gonna creep me out!"

Then the other night, Jay said to Cathy, "You forgot to be kidding me!" and proudly appended, "Dat's from Gideon." (, Tuba Warrior: VeggieTales)

Labels: boys, friends

- posted by Gary @ 9:13 PM |

 
Salvation From the North
OK, maybe a bit melodramatic, but I am very grateful for our friends Cathy and Josh, who (with their two-year-old son) are braving the predicted winter storm to bring us the co-sleeper we borrowed for Isaac (and where Jay also slept once, when we were visiting for Cathy's baby shower). I had posted an ad on our employee bulletin board, asking for a cheap bassinet, but got only two responses, one wanting me to buy a Pack'n'Play for $35 (we've already got one), and the other offering me a free bassinet. I went to the other building on the arranged date, only to discover that my benefactress had forgotten to bring the bassinet. She offered to bring it by my building, but I didn't hear from her on the re-appointed day (this past Monday) and have accordingly given up. Good thing I didn't forego eating lunch with my usual crowd on that account!

Anyway, the co-sleeper is a better option than a bassinet, and if I need a nap place for baby downstairs, we can always set up the Pack'n'Play. Hopefully baby will be content to be very near us instead of actually in the double bed. If not, I'll just have to whine about queen-size beds a bit more insistently.

Labels: baby 3, friends, furniture

- posted by Gary @ 11:07 PM |

 
Catching Up






Toni's three with my boys












Toni, Ginny, and me (plus two!)














All the Lenfest progeny minus Sarah's guy













My puppies at home













My clean aquatic "aminals"
















Jay outside R.E. Lee Episcopal Church, Lexington

Labels: friends, photos, W and L

- posted by Lenise @ 7:27 PM |

 
Belated Wishes
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! Paul cooked us up a leg of lamb, some mashed potatoes and a nice spinach salad, all of which appealed to Jay (and rightly so!), but none of which Isaac would allow to pass his lips. [There's picky, and then there's Isaac. He turned down an apple turnover at breakfast yesterday and a blueberry waffle at breakfast today. What's even worse, he asks for these things before refusing to try them ("'Affle!" "Meat!" "Sawad!")]

We rewarded the pater familias for his hard work by running off to Virginia to visit some of my college friends. We did invite him along, but he opted to stay here and make some holiday bucks. The boys and I managed to make the trip alone, and had a very nice time visiting. Daddy was sorely missed, though.

It was totally disorienting driving down four-lane divided highways with no one in front and no one behind (and no one passing on the right...). I was explaining it to Paul tonight: I have become a reactive driver, and it was a totally different experience getting to set my own pace, choose my own lane, and relax a little bit behind the wheel. *Sigh* I really would love to move to Virginia (though not NOVA!!)

And now, I'm more than a little tired, and I've got to go to bed!!

Labels: boys, friends, traffic, trips

- posted by Gary @ 8:55 PM |

 
Life-saving Tip of the Week
It's happened to all of us. One stumbles into the bathroom early in the morning, anticipating a comforting shower to help her feel ready to face the day, only to discover that gremlins (or possibly small children) have pumped conditioner over half the bathtub. If you don't have time to break out the sponge and scrubbing bubbles (and even if you have the time, who has the energy?), how does one avoid breaking her arm or leg, or even her neck?

Throw a washcloth in the tub and scoot around on it as if it were cross-country skis. I only have one handy because our beloved CEP uses washcloths (unlike the senior members of this household), and I have gathered up our scattered washcloths from closets, drawers, and laundry baskets in various undisclosed locations over the years. What a blessing is CEP!!

Labels: friends, household hints, injury

- posted by Gary @ 7:23 PM |