Lovely Boys

I figured I'd write something that happened today that epitomizes the daily silly things that boys do.

These things are rather random and unconnected, but I'll tell you anyway. :0) I am generally random and unconnected on a regular basis....so I am unbothered by this. :0)

Nathan now has two tadpoles in his room, swimming in a tank.
He found them while at Jacob's soccer game, while he was wandering though the fields and decided a look into a nearby large puddle of water. He collected them in an empty water bottle--(what else?)--and brought them home, even though I told him they would most probably die. I said they NEEDED their "home". That their natural habitat would be best for them. Then Nathan said he would be soooo sad if he couldn't have tadpoles as pets. He wanted to watch them grow! Guilt reared its ugly head... who was I to tell a young boy to squelch this natural curiousity of watching the amazing growth cycle of frogs in action?? Isn't this what boys did?? Wasn't this science? And, I reasoned with myself, they could maybe swim around in our pond out in the backyard, and make other froggy friends as they grew. AND- I didn't have to look at them if I didn't want to, because OF COURSE they would live outside. Well....we brought them home, and I looked on the internet to find out what these little guys needed to live. Apparently, tadpoles are rather fragile. They need tadpole food....all I needed to do was wash lettuce, and lay each leaf flat on a tray, and freeze it, and then chop it up into little tadpole portions....and not feed them too much, but also not give them too little! What?! I definitely had better uses of my time. Also- they need clean water. They wouldn't survive too long if swimming in their own filth. (Who cleans out puddles and ponds, I'd like to know??)
Nathan was not satisfied with dumping them in our pond. He couldn't see them grow, he said, because our pond is too murky, and gross. I then lectured him again about how we shouldn't have brought them home, how I didn't want tadpoles at our house in the first place, etc. etc. We settled on a big bucket of water, that contained their yucky water they came in, along with some regular water from the hose. ( I read later that tap water could kill them.....BTW.) The bucket sat on our deck for a week and a half. Nathan forgot about them after about a day.....and I decided they MUST have died after about three to four days without food and because we doused them with tap water.....according to the internet research I did.) Well--no such luck. Nathan came running into the house today with a huge grin on his face. His friend Brent had a tadpole "tank"....he could transfer his tadpoles into the tank, and he could watch them better. Brent had this empty tank, because his tadpoles died. (hmmmmm.....)
I said gently to Nathan that his tadpoles most likely died too....(they couldn't still be alive, could they??) Nathan went out to the deck with Brent, concerned but not completely worried. I waited for him to re-enter the house with a frown. NOPE. The darn things were still alive and swimming! Oh brother...
so the two boys transferred the squiggly things into the the tank, fed them some "tadpole food" that Brent also brought, and they now sit INSIDE my house, like pets! UGH. Just what I wanted. Nathan, of course, is overjoyed.

Now to my next shorter story.
Jacob. Oh, Jacob. He is a boy of many characters and sounds, and he likes to sing. Alot. Mostly he sings songs he is listening to on his IPod, or on the computer, or radio, etc. This morning, though....I heard him singing an old "army" diddy. You know the one-- "I don't know, but I've been told....." (I think that is an army thing, anyway). It is one of those songs that one person sings and then everyone (a troop?) echos. Anyway-Jake is singing this one to himself while wandering around the house. Singing for himself, to himself. I don't think he thought anyone was listening. I could hear him though. :0) So, he starts singing...."I don't know, but I've been told......(then he pauses, and slowly sings the next part)....Nathan smells like poop...(lovely, huh?).....(pause)......that's old! (Then I heard him chuckle to himself. Like he was proud of his songwriting abilities.) I know I should have been yelling at him for his disgusting and not very nice lyrics. But, I laughed to myself, too. It was more because I realized that Jake just amused himself....and was laughing at himself. And that he didn't think anyone even heard him. I always think the times when kids think they are alone and by themselves, and then do something odd or weird.... and react (or don't react) are just funny to observe. This time, even though he was a being a typical boy saying "poop" and insulting his brother at the same time, I still found myself giggling. Because I could. He didn't see me. And Nate didn't hear it, so no feelings were hurt. And Jake had a moment when he entertained himself, and was able to just enjoy his own company. Whatever. Okay.....so maybe it wasn't as funny as I thought. :0)

No boy stories about Ben today. Except maybe that he came in the door today after sleeping at a friend's house and announced. "Wow- I smell bad." Then he drank a pop. Then he crushed the can. Then he said, "Wow. I smell bad." Again. Then, thankfully, he took a shower. :0)

Life is Hard

That is all I can say right now. That-- and it stinks when the ones you love, hurt.

bor-ing!

My blog is boring....is it not? I have decided what we need here is some good ole pictures occasionally! The problem with that, is I still have not learned how to post my pics here. I know, I know......what is with me? Just learn already! It can't be that difficult!

Of course, I need to take the pictures, first. I did take a few pictures yesterday of Matt taking apart the back seats of our van, preparing it to pick up a large piece of furniture we bought for our foyer/entry hall. What we didn't count on was the furniture width measured exactly two inches wider than the van floor (where the tires were). Bummer. We had to put everything back in the van again, and come up with a new plan. (We will need to rent a truck from Lowes, I believe.) We did vacuum the van floor first, though. So, I guess something good came out of it.

I also took a couple of pictures of some flowers we have growing in our yard. What I have discovered is that whoever did the landscaping did a nice job of planting variety, but the flowers grow in waves. Meaning at the beginning of the summer we had beautiful deep purple flowers growing completely around our front bush, and had sweet smelling lilacs growing along our front walk. Sadly, they are no longer around.......but new flowers have popped up, keeping things interesting. We have a colorful grouping on our side lawn around a tree right now (what I took pictures of)....bright hot pink lovelies (have no idea what they really are), some cheery yellow little sweeties (seeing a pattern here?), pink echinacea and some deep red lilies (I know these, believe it or not!). Finally, there are other buds of something ready to burst open in a few days I think. I took pictures, because who knows how long I will enjoy these babies before they disappear, too! Anyway, it would be nice if I could post the pics, so you can enjoy some bright cheeriness, too..... I will see if Matt can help me with that task.

It is raining outside right now. We have been having a lot of scattered showers. Nothing big. My petunias in my hanging baskets need water, so this is good. The cool breeze the rain is bringing is nice, too. :0)

I love summer!

I have to say....I love the laid back days of summer. No rushing to get out the door--(of course, this will only last until Ben has to go to summer school in July...UGH....how is it that I get punished for the lack of discipline in my son's life??)--taking it easy in the morning is pure bliss. I have also had a little more time to actually reflect, and think, and daydream...all things I love to do, but felt there was little time for while I was working. (Except for the thinking I would be doing to create lesson plans and such).

This past weekend, we had Matt's brother, Brian, and his girlfriend, Kelly, stay with us. Kelly loves to cook, and made us a wonderful dinner on Sunday night--Bruschetta and Chicken Alfredo. It was very yummy, and she did everything from scratch--which I hardly know how to do. (Doesn't Alfredo Sauce just come out of a jar???) ANYWAY- my lack of cooking abilities, got me thinking about how my poor husband has suffered all these years with basic dishes, or having to fork over the money at a restaurant. So sad. Last night, while surfing the web, I decided to look up "food blogs".....I still don't know what made me type in that search for google, but I am glad I did.

I found a wonderful, very enjoyable blog to read--with beautiful pictures, giving step-by-step tutorials on delicious (though very fattening) recipes. I actually feel inspired! This happens very rarely in my life when it comes to cooking.....so this blog must be something special. You should go check it out--but first, I should explain that this blog contains much more than food pictures/recipes.....this is just a part of this woman's blog. She also is a photographer, a mom of four kids, and a woman living on a working ranch. "Ree" is a great writer, too. I have thoroughly enjoyed her humor, insight, truthfulness, and quirky way of describing just about anything. On her site, she has links to different areas of focus--food, daily life, photography, home and garden, etc. It is a bit Martha Stewart-y, but without the pretense. She keeps things real. Let me share the site address, so you can get over there and enjoy what I have enjoyed reading....

www.thepioneerwoman.com

Seriously....go check it out. There is a lot to explore.

While I love these laid back days......and I would prefer sitting in my p.j.'s drinking tea and keeping my feet up much longer than I have already... I really should go get myself ready for the day!! It is 10:25, and I haven't done a thing yet! (Other than surf the web, eat breakfast (that is a loose term for 3 Chips Ahoy cookies, and tea), and make sure Nathan and his buddy who slept over were fed...) So, it is time to hop in the shower and plan my day. I think will start by figuring out what we should eat for dinner tonight. Maybe I should try one of the pioneer woman recipes.....