3 Gilligans in need of a Professor

Last week Paul brought the boys home a treat from the library- the entire first season of Gilligan's Island on DVD. It was an instant hit, and they are now watching episodes every afternoon.(Just like I did when I was a kid). It's funny how they never grow old of Gilligan's same slapstick moves. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given their love of the 3 stooges. In watching them run around and play yesterday, I realize that I am blessed with 3 Gilligans, although Fuller is showing signs of becoming more and more like the professor. I can only hope the other two will follow suit. Also, I'm happy to report that Fuller thinks Maryann is way prettier than Ginger. I always new he had good taste!

Crazy boys in freezing cold water

"The best day ever!"

Yesterday we packed up the kids and the dog and headed to one of our favorite spots on the coast, Shipwreck beach. The kids were so excited! We stopped at Custard King in Astoria on our way there for yummy cheeseburgers and fresh cut fries. Then on to the beach for hours of fun. It was a perfect Oregon beach day; not too hot, not too cold, very little wind, and surprisingly uncrowded. The boys played in the freezing cold water, buried each other in the sand, and hunted for shells. They also liked exploring the remains of the shipwreck. We got a good laugh from Rowan who is terrified of swimming in our little public pool, but you have to hold him back from going too far out in the big ocean. On the way home we stopped back in at Custard King for the world's best ice cream, and everyone agreed it was a perfect day. That is, a perfect day with the minor exception of Buster throwing up in the car on the way home.


One of the neat things about the age Fuller is at, is that he likes to learn more about places he goes and things he sees. So, we got to do a little internet research when we got home to find out more about the ship on Shipwreck Beach. We found out that the ship was named the Peter Iredale. The ship wrecked in 1906, and was not terribly damaged, so they had originally planned to pull it back out to sea. However after just a few days on the beach it was so embedded in the sand that it had to be abandoned. We also found out that there were 27 people on board, including two stowaways.

Things that made me happy this morning

1. Rowan hugging me and saying that he loves me "the most".
2. Fuller turning around and waving to me when I dropped him off at school, even though his friends were there.
3. Grayson tearfully insisting I give him more food for his class canned food drive, "because the poor people are really hungry."

My other baby

My little guys pointed out today that I have been neglecting to mention Buster in my blog, poor dog, good thing he's not computer literate! Buster has become the biggest snuggle bug of all the boys. He loves to try and lay down right next to people and get his head wedged right under your chin.

Is homework getting harder...

...or did my brain quit working? Fuller brought home the following two math problems today for homework. They made my head hurt!

1. Eight children divided 32 apples. Kitty took 1 apple, Mary 2, Sherrie 3, and Caroline 4. Bob Smith took as many as his sister. Ken Brown took twice as many as his sister, Jim Jones 3 times as many as his sister, and Tom Robinson 4 times as many as his sister. What is the last name of each of the 4 girls?

2. At a math contest 20 problems were given. Each correct answer earned 5 points, and 2 points were deducted for each incorrect answer. Lenore answered all the problems, receiving a score of 72. How many correct answers did she have?

Are you smarter than a fourth grader? I'm beginning to think I'm not!

A beautiful day with happy kids

My guys...gotta love 'em

While they were at the aforementioned camp out, they met a guy who had made lots of these "kid- friendly weapons"(can there really be such a thing?) They are basically PVC pipe, foam pipe insulation and duct tape. My boys (all four of them) were super excited about these things. So excited in fact that they stopped at the hardware store on the way home to pick up the materials to make them. Either that or they thought I might not approve, so they better move ahead without my input. As you can see from the following video, they were a big hit, literally!

Father/son camp out

Last night Paul took all three boys on the church's annual Father/son camp out. They had an evening filled with s'mores, running around with friends, and staying up late in the tent . They report having had a good time, even though they got rained on a little, and didn't get the best night of sleep. One of the really neat things that they had on the camp out was a guy that carves bears out of tree stumps using a chain saw. They were very impressed!

A little too much excitement

My sweet little Grayson is so excited about going camping! He woke up at about 5 this morning and has been bouncing off the walls. However, his energy just ran out, and he is now sound asleep on the couch. Hopefully this little nap will mean Paul has a better night with him on the camp-out.

Business update

On the way home today Fuller reported that he has "taken his retirement money and left the cup business." He says he is thinking about getting into the candy business instead, since there is more money to be made there. Am I raising a genius or what?

My son the entreprenuer

Fuller came home from school yesterday and announced that he has a new business. He and four of his friends are now in the business of selling paper origami cups. Apparently there is an untapped market for these things in the fourth grade. He proceeded to show me a stack of large and another stack of small origami cups. The large ones are 5 cents the small ones are 2 cents. I asked him to show me how to make them, but he said he doesn't make them, he sells them. Then he showed me a piece of paper where he has made very orderly columns recording kids' names, how many large or small they want, and how much money they owe. He then proceeded to sell cups to both of his brothers, one of his neighborhood friends, and Paul. I guess I can quit worrying about a college fund, this kid is a natural at sales.

this is how Rowan likes to swim

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I just had to share this little gem that Grayson brought home for me from school. I am a little shocked that the only facts Grayson got right about me were my name and hair color, but the most surprising thing is that he drew me with a beard! Fuller also gave me a very nice card he made me at school. Rowan must have felt left out since he doesn't go to school yet, so he spent Saturday showering me with special gifts of rocks, sticks and scribbled on scraps of paper.










We had a busy weekend, with a nice Mother's Day brunch on Saturday with my parents and my brother Jim. Then we went plant shopping for the yard. I found 5 beautiful rhododendrons at a local grange plant sale, and Paul spent the rest of the afternoon planting them for me. This morning the boys snuggled in bed with me and we watched old episodes of "The Adams Family" and "Green Acres" while Paul made breakfast. After a nice time at church the boys are now out playing in the backyard, and I'm anxiously awaiting my favorite dinner, Balti butter chicken. YUM!

New Friends

One of my favorite things about little boys and summer is all the interesting creatures you get to meet. Today while we were out working in the yard Rowan made two new friends, Worm and Wormy. He was determined to keep them, but I convinced him that worms don't like to live inside. So, he has very gently placed them inside a Tonka truck for safe keeping. Hopefully they will like their sleeping accommodations for the night!

Success and Failure

Fuller and Grayson brought home their Spring progress reports. All pluses and positive comments, with the exception of Grayson needing to work on listening attentively (a common area for improvement with kindergarteners). They are now counting the days until summer vacation, only 24 school days left!

On another topic, we have pulled Rowan out of swimming lessons. After school yesterday I took him and Grayson swimming. He clung to me for dear life and was very teary for about 20 minutes, then he livened up and had some fun, and even let me move 3-4 feet away from him. He even protested that he wanted to stay in longer when it was time to leave. This morning when we were talking about what we were going to do today I mentioned that we had swimming lessons, and he had a total tearful breakdown and became very clingy. I told him everything was going to be alright, but throughout the day he would periodically tear up and tell me he didn't want to go swimming. We decided that he would gain more at this point from me just taking him swimming than he is from the lessons. So, my dreams of sitting and reading a magazine while the kids are all having lessons will have to wait until next year.

swimming lesson #2

Swimming lesson #2 went like this, louder more persistent screaming, and lots more tears. On the plus side, Rowan did stay in the water longer. On the way home Fuller complained "Rowan was yelling so loud I could hear him all the way underwater!"

Swimming lessons

Last Monday we started a new session of swimming lessons. Grayson and Fuller have taken lessons before, but this was something new for Rowan. He was super excited all week, and maintained it right up until his teacher tried to get him in the water. She gently picked him up and held him in the water for all of about 15 seconds. From all the way over in the bleachers we could hear him using his loudest growl and repeat "I want up". Once she put him back on the side he was quite content to sit and kick his feet in the water. Fuller and Grayson did a wonderful job in their lessons, and are already swimming just as good as last summer. On Wednesday, which was supposed to be day two of swimming lessons, there was a big lightning storm, so lessons were cancelled. Fuller and Grayson were very upset, but Rowan jumped up and yelled hooray! Hopefully this week will go better.

Welcome

After much indecision about whether or not I really want to be a "bloggermom", I have finally decided that this might be a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family I don't get to visit with too often. This will also help lighten some of my guilt for not sending people current photos of the boys. Hope you will enjoy visiting our site, and stop by often!