Boys, boys…

Now that Boo is getting bigger, and a little steadier, there is nothing the boys like more than to wrestle…

Maybe I’m just “being a girl”, but I foresee a lot of bruises, boo-boo’s and bandaids in my future…

Photos – Boys in the Park

This is a re-do – decided to do slide shows rather than long, scrolling posts. Saves much finger-work ;-).

Anyhow, didn’t know how to re-do the photos without re-posting, so there you have it. Ok. As you were.

Aaahhh, those sweet boys!

I miss GIRLS…

I miss my girls.

I need a break from being jumped on, complained to, talked at, bossed around, COMPLETELY NOT LISTENED TO, pulled at, yanked on, cried to, demanded from, hit in the head with swords and generally just life-sucked from the 3 boys that live here! Far too much testosterone some days.

(WHY must one – or both – of them always be sitting on me?!)

With the girls… Ahhhh. So civilized. I can sit. And relax. And my nails get re-painted. And I get caught up on the lastest from Gossip Girl, or In Style. And I am talked TO. And – ohmygosh – HEARD (or so they lead me to believe, which is good enough for me).

I need me some girl-time, before the pony tail gets completely ripped from my head. (WHY must boys pull girls hair???) (and don’t say it’s because they like me…).

Is it Friday yet??

Rain, rain, you can stay (but only while we play today)

Who knew two little boys could have so much fun in the rain? Well, I suppose they ARE little boys…

Feeding the pigeons (and those nasty seagulls) at Granville Island is one of the boys favorite things to do, it’s just that Momma prefers to do it when it’s nice and hot and sunny outside. And I have a jumbo latte in hand. And a dry chair.

But, today I had to pick up my FRENCH CASSOULET’S at Oyama Sausage (see Things I LOVE). I ordered it a few months ago as they come out only once a year, so I’m pretty excited to eat it up. We also bought a mini-baguette from Terra Breads (do the pigeons appreciate a fresh baked french baguette vs day old stale whatever?! I highly doubt it, greedy gooses), and tossed it to the birds.

Tt was doing all the feeding, while Boo just wanted to chase “Buh”s all over, and of course run through every puddle twice. Or more.

Ahhhh, a wet, rainy Vancouver day is not wasted on us this time!

Hard to imagine they both left in tears, isn’t it… Tt got bit on the finger by an especially greedy goose (actually a pigeon, I just like saying “goose”), so we had to go NOW, much to Boo’s anger and dismay. Ah, well, it was time – Boo was soaking wet and covered in bird crap anyhow. Nasty gooses.

Looks like both boys got over their tears. Naps cure all sorts of ills.

Boys + their Weapons…

My two youngest are BOYS. And they are soooo different than the GIRLS. We had the girly-girl, with all her cute little Polly Pockets and Princesses, and we had the sporty-spice with her rough-n-tough attitude and worn out sneakers. We crafted, we chatted, we baked, we giggled (a lot!). I can’t even describe how many thousands of miles (or kilometers) away that is from “the little boy”.

Don’t get me wrong, Tt and Boo are SWEET! Tt has actually teared up at an emotional movie the other day (OHMYGOSH how sweet is THAT!?!?). Boo is a little snuggle that I could just squish with kisses over and over. But boys have layers. They may have fewer layers than girls, but they have ’em. Inside is the mushy-soft “I really love you, Momma” huggie layer; then comes the regular just hangin’ out layer; then there’s the crazy insane laughter layer (or was that the “too much sugar” layer?); the competitive/sporty layer, and last the crusty outer layer that most Mom’s would just love to throw out with the trash – the WAR layer.

Now, let me preface by saying I take MUCH responsibility for this in Tt, and as a result, Boo. We basically have 4 “adults” in our house, and can’t/don’t always monitor what is being shown on our TV when the boys are around. Tt is in LOVE with Star Wars and has seen all six movies many times (unfortunately, so have I…). Fighting. Guns. Weapons. Wars.

But even without that, I wonder how unavoidable it really is. Teenage Mutant Turtles – fighting. Kung Fu Panda – fighting. Video Games – FIGHT-ing! Watching hockey – fighting. Water guns – fighting. Learning about Medieval times – Knights – fighting. Even in our schoolwork! I-ya.

I actually don’t mind it – boys will be boys. A generation ago it was Cops and Robbers. Cowboys and Indians. Good guys have to chase someone – what, are they just going to hang out and have tea?? Bad guys don’t do tea.

The problem really only comes when trying to kung fu a little brother. Or shoot down a grampa going in for a hug. We try to have rules, like “no shooting at real, live people” or “no karate chopping your little brother” or “don’t kill your sister, please”. Otherwise, it’s every man, woman and child for himself.

It amazes me how much of an art warfare can be. He has the duck and tuck – James Bond style (and no, I have not shown him the movie) (yet) – in and around garbage bins. He has about 40 different sounds for weapons of all kinds from sword swishes to canon blast. He can take ANY toy – even a fluffy bunny – and make it into a weapon with his crazy imagination.

And of course, the little brother being so influenced by the older, Boo has already mastered the handling of a (plastic) sword and the light-saber. (They battle – it’s super-cute!).

So, being the ever-eager, just-starting-out homeschooling mom that I am (!), we’re taking HIS interest and making into a LESSON! We’ve been taking his new-found love of Knights to introduce the Medieval era. We visited the Colloseum this summer (Gladiators) and started to talk about Ancient Rome. A week or two ago I started telling him about a war between Britian/France. I’m going to teach him about the Samuri next, by way of their unique weapons. At this point, I think he’d learn just about anything I introduced if it was associated with a cool weapon. And I don’t think he’d ever forget it.

Boys. Aren’t they just so precious??

How to Cut a 1-yr olds Hair

It’s been tricky with this one. He does NOT like to sit, forget about sit when I want him to and then play with his hair for 20 minutes. He waves and flinches and fusses. Sudden movements and super sharp hair scissors do NOT mix…

Fortunately he’s only needed about 2 haircuts so far, but for his third I decided to try a new tactic.

The Sleeping Monster. First you need to get him to nap on top of a towel…

And if I move slooooowww, and try to keep the hair off his face…

Then ever so carefully turn him over. (mental note for next time – wait 10 minutes to make sure he’s back asleep…)
Oh, this must tickle. Somewhere in his dream he’s being tickled.

Ok – as you were!
I’ll bet he wakes up itchy.

Yep – that’s an “I’m awake and ITCHY – what the HECK?!?” kind of face.

Oooh, well. I’ll touch it up next nap.