Deedo walks into the room where I was reading to the other boys.
“Mom, want to hear some classical music?”
Plops himself on the floor. Whips off his sock. Stretches a rubber band around his big toe and starts strumming.
the name game
7 FebSo it turns out the boys have a gift for coming up with baby names.
Boy names:
Lawnmower, Frisbeehead, Paint-on-the-nose, Step-on-the-cake, Garlic-in-the-ear, Jelly, Waterbottlejuicypie, Monks, Marcel, Scrumdiddlyum, Bullrider, and Ghost.
My personal fave has got to be Waterbottlejuicypie (who needs a middle name when you’ve got that as your first name; might need a bodyguard, though), but I am also partial to the run of Native American names there in the middle, especially Garlic-in-the-ear, because who doesn’t like a good garlic clove in the ear every now and then.
Also, I told them, picture yourself talking with your baby brother – what would you call him? That’s when they came up with Ghost.
And for the girl names, I said, Think of the most beautiful girl names you can, because a baby sister is a treasure, and this is what they came up with.
Girl names:
Julia, Abby, Maisie, Scrumptious, Cutie Rose, Sweetie Pie, Daisy, Gingerbread, Winnie, Millie, and Who.
I loved hearing what they thought was “beautiful.” Little boys are the sweetest.
Sharks also threw Fabulous out there, but then he decided against it. Too…flashy, maybe? They thought Who was hilarious because if someone asked what your name was and you said Who, they would say You! and you would say Who! and they would say You!!!! and you would say WHO!!!! and you get it.
(It kinda reminds me of Knock Knock, Who’s There, Banana, Banana Who? Knock Knock, Who’s There, Banana, Banana Who? …also known as The Most Annoying Joke Ever but Somehow The Only One The Kids Ever Remember.)
They were so proud of their list. It was the first thing they wanted to tell Chet when he called tonight.
DPP 9 [dots]
9 Dec
Even though I read about this idea oh, maybe 2 years ago, I didn’t give it a shot until our trip. But now I will go so far as to say that putting dots on the boys’ socks and underwear was one of my best decisions ever. The oldest gets one dot, the second born gets two, and so on. That way when we pass the clothes down, all I have to do is add a dot and it becomes little brother’s.
With all boys and all close in age, this has been a serious time saver. And it helps my mom and Chet when they get the boys dressed – it is obvious whose underoos are whose. Plus the boys know how many dots their clothes have so most of the time, they can find them all by themselves! Win!
DPP 6, 7, 8 [miner, shiner, and a nice pic]
9 Dec
Does he not look like a miner from back in the day? Or maybe we should call this “Antebellum Era Chet.” (This was really from Day 5 but I edited it on Day 6 so whatever.)
This little buddy ran into his brother’s head and gave himself a pretty decent black eye.
And aren’t these some fine looking men? Sharks and Chet look so much alike, which I realize now that I can see Chet’s face.
(And yes, I realize I am kind of not really following the DPP rules. Blargh. I’ll try to get back on track tomorrow.)
DPP 5 [cheese]
7 Dec
One-year old + lateral lisp + “say cheese!”= THIS picture.
(and…check out my clean shaven hubs!!)
DPP 4 [advent calendar]
4 Dec
I got crafty a few years ago and made this advent calendar. We were given the tree thing last year (I think it originally had tiny hanging picture frames that we got rid of) and it works perfectly. The boxes are small matchboxes covered with origami paper. I attached string and a bead to each box to hang it, then wrote the date on each box. Inside each box is a paper with a Scripture reference and a hymn or carol for each day of advent. The boys alternate finding the right box and opening it. All in all, it’s pretty simple but it works for us.
(even though today is the first day we’ve used it.)
DPP 3 [brother love]
4 Dec
I had a little time with just Deeds and Fin and they wanted me to take pictures of them hugging. I am always ok with hugging.
DPP 2: Gimme s’more
4 Dec
When we left, my mom promised the boys that she would have a Welcome Home cake ready for them when we returned. And then she made the fatal mistake of asking them what kind of cake they wanted. (I’ve done that before.)
They decided on a S’mores Cake.
And Mom made it happen with these fantastic cupcakes.
DPP 1: Beardie Weirdie
4 DecMajor fail at blogging our trip. And we are back now. So there’s no hope of redeeming myself.
To get back into the swing of things, here’s an attempt at the December Photo Project.
Day 1: The Beard
He’s looking for part-time work at the moment so the beard has got to go (says Chet.)
I am a fan of the beard so I am not convinced. Companies hire people with beards, right? You know that equal opportunities thing, surely that includes those who look like lumberjacks?
the wood between the worlds 
