Nathan's new word...

Nathanael, our quiet and observant child in the bunch...is developing his personality. We aren't sure where he got his new word from, but we do know that he is now using it as a formal part of his vocabulary.

Nathan has added a new word to his vocabulary... "actually."

I was cutting potatoes the other day to go with our dinner. Nathanael got so excited about it. "Look, apples." I told him, "No, they're potatoes." The conversation continued:

"No, Mommy, actually they're apples." Nathan was quite insistent.
"No, Nathan, they are actually potatoes."
"Actually," he said with a devious smile, "they're apples."

This went on for quite some time. Until finally he got bored and walked off to sit on, or I mean sit with the dog.

Happenings....

There is plenty of news...

Having kids puts some interesting experiences into your path. Perfect example - the song "Row, row, row your boat" was never really amusing until the four year old and two year old are sitting in the second row of the van - singing it at the top of their lungs. Each has their own tempo, and Nathan wasn't quite singing the correct words - it came out as "Row, row, row your butt, row it down the sheep."

Now...I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean, but needless to say I got a tremendous laugh out it, as did Cody, well, at least for the first few minutes. As the volume increased, my two little Placido Domingos became more insistent in their wording, until finally, all you heard from them both was "Row, Row...."


My two little hooligans.

Meanwhile, we finally setup a drum kit that was given to us, for Cody. We'll see what he does with it. Right now, he's got half an hour to play after the little ones wake from naptime to bang away...which he does. And he has also discovered, interestingly enough, that his bass drum, when struck hard enough, will knock items off of this shelves. Go figure that???!!!???

I have joined the gym recently and have been working out for an hour pretty much everyday except on Tuesdays (when I'm at work at Duke) and Sundays. Usually, 1/2 hour on the elliptical trainer and then 1/2 hour weight lifting - particularly working on upper strength. Mondays are usually our busiest days around here - and today was no exception. By noon, I had taught Cody his harder subjects, worked out at the gym, ground flour, made bread, made tortillas, washed three load of clothes, cleaned my dresser, and made everyone lunch. I was tired....

Speaking of tired....yes, Padme continues to grow. Right now, she's about 18 lbs. She was 2 lbs. when we first got her. Her training is going a lot better now - her attention span is just better in general, but she LOVES new people in her environment. Between the excited dog routine and the outdoor "racing a bullet" routine - the terrier in her really shines. She is mostly patient with the boys, and I often find her underneath one of them, ummm wrapped in a blanket. I don't know what they are trying to do to her, but Cody and I are usually pretty quick to save her from Nathan and Andrew's devious plans.