Hot Summer Days and Home Runs

I'm not usually a summer person.  I like the mild seasons like Fall and Spring.  I have to admit, though, that I have welcomed the last few days of sunshine and temperatures in the upper 80's. 

This past Sunday we filled up the baby pool and slathered on sunscreen for some outdoor fun.

Around 6:30 that night, Ben asked if he could get back in the pool.  Usually at 6:30pm on on school night, we are headed full speed without brakes into our evening.  Dinner, bath for Tiny, shower for Ben, bottle for Tiny, bed for Tiny by 7:00 or 7:30, bed for Ben by 8:00 or 8:30.  BUT, this is the last week of school for Ben and I KNOW they aren't doing a darn thing.   On Monday and Tuesday of this week at school, Ben has watched Shark Tale, Dumbo and Little House on the Prairie, he's had a popcorn party and ice cream party.  When asked what else they did at school, he tells me they had "free time".  hmmm  

So I told Ben he could get back in the pool.  Oliver, who was bathed and dressed for bed (yes, he can still wear his Christmas jammies) was not at ALL happy about this.

Monday night, Rodney (one of Wade's parts reps) gave us tickets to the Naturals baseball game.

These games are so much fun!  If you haven't been to one, you MUST go.  It's a great ballpark and there's lots of entertainment!

We were going to be in the stands this time, so Oliver stayed at home with Auntie Erin.

Ben spotted the misters first thing.  

Rodney is just a super guy.  So nice!  

When we got there, Rodney handed Wade thirty ball park bucks.  

Those pay for anything and everything at the ballpark.  

SWEET!

Our menu that evening was hot dogs, cotton candy, regular candy, nachos (w/jalapenos of course), ice cream, Dr. Pepper and ice cold beer.  

Well, Rodney just kept handing Wade ball park bucks.  We'd spend some and then, BLAM, they would be replaced.

By the 9th inning,  we had $50 in unspent ball park bucks.  Ben wanted some more cotton candy and I said "YOU'RE OUTTA THERE"!  That was my baseball equivalent to "no, b/c I don't want you to vomit in the car".  

The bucks are only good for that game so.....Ben and I hit the gift shop.  

In the gift shop they sell all things Naturals, including baseball bats that the players have used in previous games.  Well, Ben  thought that was the coolest thing EVER, so he picked out a bat and a baseball cap and we used our ball park bucks to pay for them.  Pretty slick!

Yep, this is the kind of summer that I can handle!

Bedside Chats with Ben: Monday - Memorial Day

Ben said:

"Have you ever tried to whistle with raisins in our mouth?  It's really hard and, most of the time, they just go shooting out...patooey."

This concludes Bedside Chats with Ben.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii......and walking.

Ben has been saving all his pennies for a Wii.  We told him that if  he would save enough to pay for his share that we would match him.  I thought it would take forever b/c he says this about six times a day:

"Please, I'll use my own money."

  This is why he didn't start out with much money in his "piggy bank".  

We give him a small allowance every week and he can always make extra money for doing some things around the house, being "green" and keeping his fab grades. 

There were MANY times that he asked for something and was told it would have to come out of his own money.  Most of the time he would pass.  Sometimes it was a pretty tough decision, too, but 9 times out of 10 he would not pull money from his bank.  Then there would be times that he would really want something that we felt he really deserved and we would give him the choice of having that thing or having the money for that thing to add to the fund.  Sometimes he would choose to add the money to the fund, but sometimes (and I think this is  so cool about Ben) he  would choose the thing.  I think that's awesome b/c he recognizes that sometimes you just have to reward yourself.  

Love this kid.

We got the Wii.  Here's Ben boxing.  I get tired just watching.

And here's Ben showing Grandmother how to bowl.

And she takes her shot...

How much do you love to see that?  A Wii playing Grandmother!!!!!!!

Wade and I have some serious Wii competitions, too...it gets ugly.

Oliver is walking.  Everywhere.  It just happened over the course of a week.  One Monday, he was 90% crawling and 10% walking/holding on to furniture and then by the end of the week he was 10/90.  It's so funny to see him wobble around up on two feet.  Here's a video of his wandering.

I should also tell you that this video, along with all other future videos, will have Wii sounds in the background.  You will be listening to Super Mario Galaxy in this video....and Ben singing along.

I'm already working on the next blog.....see you soon!

Sneak Attack!

It's no secret that Ben is a HAM!  Maybe "ham" is a poor choice of words these days with Snoutbreak '09 being the top media story.  

But he's a funny kid, anyway.

I'll let the pictures make my point.

SNEAK ATTACK!!

And, no, I'm not trying to take credit for "Snoutbreak '09".   Jon Stewart said it.  

But I did come up with Baconfluenza.  

Others I like are Aporkalypse Now and Hamthrax.

But Baconfluenza is mine.  I said it!

Bedside Chats with Ben: Tuesday - April 28th

Ben

Is it wrong to stand on top of a building with a water balloon and throw it down in front of somebody walking by?

Me

Well, it wouldn't be very nice.

(big pause)

Ben

But is it wrong?

He got me.

I'm gonna get you, sucker!

Wade works with a girl named Lilia who decided that Oliver needed a Tootsie Pop.  

He loved it!

The reason that you don't see the sucker anymore is because it is stuck to the back of his head.

Eventually, he just flung the lollipop across the kitchen, it smashed to bits and that was that.

He was sticky from head to toe....literally.  He likes to grab his toes from across his high chair tray, so his toes were sticky, too.  His hair felt like straw it had so much sugar in it.  

I could have thrown Oliver in the air and he would have stuck to the ceiling.  

Sticky mess, but big fun!

Thanks, Lilia!

Bugs and Bunnies

I hope everyone had a nice Easter!

We did....sort of.

We had planned to go to Little Rock for Easter and weren't sure if we were going down on Friday or Saturday.  It just depended on Wade's work schedule.  Well, we made a last minute call to go on Saturday morning.....THANK GOODNESS!

Please enjoy our Easter timeline:

Friday 6:50 pm  Since we decided to wait until Saturday morning to go to Little Rock, I went with a couple of friends to see Slumdog Millionaire.  This is not at all important, I just want to mention it b/c if you haven't seen it, YOU MUST!

Friday 9:30 pm  I'm sick.  I mean yucky thought-I-had-food-poisoning sick.  I saw every hour between 9:30pm and 4:00am .  I'm so glad we waited to leave for Little Rock!

Saturday 1:00 am Ben is trashcan-by-the-bed sick.  Seriously, soooooo glad that we waited to go to Little Rock.

Ben and I had the exact same thing for dinner, by the way.  

And no, it wasn't my cooking....it was Zaxby's chicken.  

Saturday 11:30 am  We were puny but better.  It was out of our system, so around lunchtime we set out for Little Rock.

Saturday 3:30 pm  Easter eggs hunt at my aunt's house.  She does this every year and it's GREAT!  SO CUTE!!  Ben feels great and is excited to hunt eggs.  Oliver is just taking it all in.  I'm still feeling like I have been up all night, but I'm getting better all the time.  I'm actually getting a little hungry at this point which is great b/c there are LOADS of chocolate treats in that Easter basket.  Sweet!!

Saturday 6:00 pm  Dinner with Auntie and Bob.  The sickies are hungry, the healthy are hungry.  All is well.  The Easter Bunny even showed up!!

Saturday 8:00 pm  We dyed our Easter eggs.

Don't ask.  We're a little nutty at the Blackwood house.

Easter Sunday 2:00 am  Ben gets sick again.  

Hmmmmm.  Maybe this isn't food poisoning.  

Nothing like cleaning up after a sick kid in the middle of the night.

Easter Sunday 8:00 am  Ben is up and feeling good again.  Hooray!  It's over!!  

Time to hunt eggs again!

Easter Sunday 9:00 am  Breakfast.  Hot Cross Buns.  I feel great and I was STARVING!!!  Wade says that he doesn't really have an appetite.  Uh oh.  

Easter Sunday 10:00 am  Wade decides to go upstairs and rest a while.  

Ok, he never feels bad enough to go rest.  

Yeah, we're not going home today and Wade's not going to work tomorrow and Ben's going to miss school.  

At least Mom and Dad are feeling ok.

Easter Sunday 15 minutes later  Dad mentions that he doesn't fell well.  

What have I done?  We're like the rats that spread the Plague.

Easter Sunday 1:15 pm or so  We eat the wonderful Easter dinner that Mom made....minus Wade who is still sleeping upstairs.  He feels AWFUL!  I was still STARVING!!    

Easter Sunday 6:00 pm-ish  Dad still feels yucky.  Mom is good.  Wade finally comes downstairs and sits wrapped in a blanket in an armchair.  He looks pitiful.

Easter Sunday 8:00 pm  Ben goes to bed, but he's worried that he's going to get sick again in the middle of the night.  I tell him that he shouldn't worry and that he's done with that.  He was convinced....I wasn't.  I left the trashcan by his bed and crossed my fingers that he didn't puke in bed again!

Monday 7:30 am  Ben walks downstairs and announces, "No barfy!"  Wade is puny, Dad still feels gross and, now, so does Mom.  Super.

Monday 9:00 am  Time for the rats to head home.  I drive so that puny Wade can sleep.   

I think that Mom slept through Monday.  I know Dad said that they didn't eat that day.  I felt SOOOO BAD!!  We brought a stomach bug with us and spread it around.   

Ben missed school on Monday, Wade went in to work that afternoon and had a big dinner that night.  We were all glad to be better, except.....

Tuesday 6:00 am  Ben says his throat hurts.  I take a peek and it's not good.  Ben stays home again and I take him and Oliver (who has a pretty nasty cough at this point) to the doctor.  

Ben has strep and Oliver has bronchitis.  

GOOD GRIEF!