Monday, July 27, 2009

My boys' futures

Ian has big plans for his future.

  • He wants a mohawk. It must be the tall, spiky kind.
  • He wants to be a 'Marshanary' (mercenary for those who don't speak Ianese). But not just any kind of mercenary. He wants to be the bad kind that kills people and doesn't get killed.
  • He wants to be rich.

  • He wants to go to heaven. He is conflicted a little. He wants to do things for the Lord, but isn't sure a 'marshanary' is the right thing to do.



Evan has plans, too. His are a little more simple. He wants to be Harry Potter. Anyone know where I can get his application for Hogwarts?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Wow, Ian is 5! (Technically, 5 years and 8 days, now)

Last Monday, July 6, 2009, my baby boy number 1 turned 5! I can't believe it.

We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese with his brother, Evan, and his friends, Brock, Battle, Brewer, Makenna, Ashlyn, and Ellie.

He loved the Chuck E. Cheese party and I highly recommend it to parents of 4-7 year olds!

Just some thoughts on my beautiful boy:

He made a grand entrance into this world (let me tell you the story sometime) and is still making grand entrances where ever he goes.

Ian is an interesting child.

His cousin Isaac is his 'best friend' and hero.

He is so loving and caring.

He is very smart and already loves to do math. He asks his dad to make him out 'pop quizzes' so he can test his knowledge.

He loves to play trivia. Of course the questions generally revolve around the Holy Grail, Abraham Lincoln, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones.

He is a typical big brother. He loves Evan sometimes and 'hates' him other times, but you say something bad or do something to Evan and see how quickly he jumps in to defend him.

He is very interested in history and wars. He especially likes to hear about the civil war and his great-great-great grandfather, George Washington Welch, who fought for the Confederacy. Shiloh is one of his favorite destinations.

He wants nothing to do with organized sports, but loves to swim and play on the swing set in the backyard. He loves to play spying games, war games, and pirate games. The swing set is his fort/ship/headquarters for most.

He is worried every night that he played too many 'gun games' during the day and asks if he did. He doesn't want to have bad dreams.

He now thinks kissing is gross.

He has beautiful brown eyes.

He is growing too tall (now at 44 inches). He is built solid and Coach Wes at church is always telling me that he can not wait to see what kind of football player Ian will be.

Most importantly, Ian loves God. He loves to tell the stories he learns from the Bible. He always wants to kill the devil and the bad guys because they do not love God.



What else could a mom ask?

Saturday, July 4, 2009

The Magic of Disney

It has been ages since I have blogged. Not sure why I have neglected it. It sure isn't because nothing is going on around here. Au Contraire!!!! So, thanks to a little nudging by a friend, I am back. Some of you may be glad. Others may be saying, "Does she think we really care?" LOL If you fall into category two, then I say you must or you wouldn't be reading this right now!

Since my last writing, we took our first family trip (along with our good friends Evan and Cindy) to the wonderful land of Mickey! I was a little hesitant at taking a 3 year old and a 4 year old, but soon realized that they are the target audience for Disney!

Depending upon which child you ask, it was either the most wonderful trip ever (Evan) or the worst trip ever (Ian). It is funny how I have one glass half-full child and one glass half-empty.

Anyway, Evan was so awed by everything he saw. He loved the rides and the shows. The bigger the ride, the better for Evan. He is a little dare devil. He cried when we didn't get a chance to get back to ride Splash Mountain, but I think Big Thunder Railroad made up for it a little. If he had been big enough, he would have ridden Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom! I think his absolute fave was the Test Track at Epcot. He giggled and squealed the whole time!!!

It really hit home with me and Kenneth the moment at Epcot when we first saw Daisy Duck. His face lit up and you could see that he had fallen in love for the first time (with many more to follow during the next few days). He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her and stood very proudly as we took her picture with him and got her autograph. This same scene unfolded many times during the trip with just a substitution of a different female Disney character. Evan was quiet the 'ladies man' with all the princesses and female characters. At the "A Dream Come True" Parade at Magic Kingdom, every princess blew Evan a kiss. Of course it didn't hurt his cute factor in the fact that he had insisted on wearing his Mickey T-shirt (it has Mickey's body, but Evan's head is the head for the body) and his Mickey Ears. One of the dancers in the parade came over and gave him her streamers and gave him a kiss on the check before she moved along the route. He was so excited. It was one of the cutest moments in his short 3 years. Then, that night at the "Spectromagic" Parade, he was thrilled when Cinderella blew him a kiss from her carriage on her float and then winked it him. As if that wasn't enough for our little Casanova, at the end of the parade Minnie Mouse noticed him standing (still in Mickey Ears, but now with the addition of giant Mickey Hands) there waving at her. She motioned to him that she loved his ears and also blew him a kiss. To him, he was the only one at that parade and every character was waving and communicating only with him. (Isn't Disney great at creating that feeling with everyone!) All Evan could talk about (and still talks about) from the trip is how Cinderella blew him kiss and winked at him and how Minnie loved his ears!

Ian was the opposite. He cried when we mentioned riding Splash Mountain. We made him ride Big Thunder (which he liked while riding but wouldn't admit to after the ride ended). He also says he hated the shows (I'll have to tell you about his experience at "It's Tough to be a Bug" with the black widows. Thanks, Cindy!!! LOL) and all the other rides EXCEPT the Buzz Lightyear Spin and the Peter Pan Ride. He is so funny. He didn't even like the characters at first. When we stood in line to meet Buzz and Woody (2 of his absolute favorites) he refused get close to them! It was crazy! He did warm up better after we met Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket. He finally decided he liked the characters when we saw Daisy at Epcot. His flirt factor came out when we ran into Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland. He hugged on them and was blushing so much as I made his picture. It was precious. When you ask him about the trip now, he still insists (publicly) that it was horrible and the worst experience of his life. (But privately, he asked when we are going back!)

All in all, it was the most wonderful trip we have taken as a family. I teared up as I looked back down Main Street at the castle after the fireworks as we were leaving on our last night there. I whispered to Kenneth as we fought the crowd toward the gate that I didn't want to leave. I personally can't wait to go back. I know now why people go back year after year. I know that each visit will be a new adventure as the boys grow older. I can't wait to experience through their eyes the wonder of it all again and again.

Thanks for sharing your dream with us, Walt!

Friday, April 17, 2009

The Zoo

At the zoo this on Tuesday:

Ian to the Storks:

Hi, I'm Ian. We are humans.

Slice of Cheese??

Recently, we have been having a problem with Evan and his anger issues.

The way that it generally manifest itself is through yelling and name calling and it is usually directed at me. His insults of choice have been "Idiot" or "Meanie-ac" (which I assume was supposed to be maniac but meanie applies as well).

The rod of correction has been liberally applied so now he is thinking twice before he calls me a name.

Now, after careful consideration by the 3 year old, his name of choice for me is "Slice of Cheese".

Not sure where that came from and not sure I like it, but it beats the others.

There is still the respect issue that we are working on. One battle at a time!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Are the judges ready?

The scene at our house this morning:

Evan walks into the kitchen, where I am, with his rifle, sabre, and little flag folded neatly and ready to lay on the front sideline.

Evan: Mom, I'm a guard boy. Can you get the music ready?

He puts on his glove and stands at attention as I put the CD in the player.

Evan: Mom, SAY IT!

Me: Say what?

Evan: Say, "Are the judges ready? Is the unit ready? Performing their show. Lawrence County High School Winter Guard you can take the floor in competition."

I say it then push play. Evan proceeds to perform his interpretation of Pages of My Letter by Keri Noble.

We may have retired, but I am afraid that my boys, in particular Evan, have not retired.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

It is going to get quieter aroud here...

Ian has officially decided to move to Aunt Susan's house. He is tired of me telling him no and thinks Susan makes a much better mom. According to him, she lets him do what he wants and is way cooler than I am. Plus, her house has an upstairs.

But, he does want me to pack his bag for him and drive him over.

I am sure this isn't the first time he will 'run away' to Aunt Susan. Thank goodness for good aunts who can spoil our kids in ways that we can't.

I remember another little boy who used to say the very same things to Susan about his Aunt Sally. Now we have come full circle.

Call me if you see a U-haul leaving my house being driven by a 4 year old!!!

BTW, Evan fired me yesterday, again. Guess I'm doing something right as a mom! :)