Totally Outnumbered

It's 8pm and these are the scenes from my living room - 2 adult males with a cold beer, 2 energetic boys and a 'monkey in the middle' Trooper playing football. I feel so out of place. Jenny - how many more years until you move in?

Alex & Tanner oppposite Jim & Brian

Jim was doing most of the throwing and coaching...while Brian stayed alert for the return tosses that were a bit wild.

Tanner ends up grabbing this one...but good try at a deflection Troop!

All giggles...some for Trooper, some for the joy of Alex actually catching it...slap happy little dudes who didn't take a nap today.

Maybe Dad can wear them out with this game?

By the way - the soundtrack to this would be belly laughs from all males, and howling from Trooper. It was absolutely hilarious. Beating the heat by playing inside on a hot Saturday evening.

Signs of Summer

Summer treats in the 'fort'.

A favorite sensory experience - dumping water buckets! (Tanner)

Alex is big enough now for the water slide! Minimum height 44inches...Alex officially measures in by lifeguard staff at 44.5inches. Woohoo!!

Happy Alex!

Future Major Leaguer (Tanner)!

Mommy's helpers planting flowers.

Alex is my monkey boy!

Fun with friends at the lake

It's All About the Dough

Alex has an adorably sweet fascination with money right now. If he finds a wallet or purse within his reach, he's immediately searching for currency of any sort. Each morning when Stacy arrives he starts his very funny, very innocent inquisition:

Stacy - you have any dowaws (dollars)? (No says Stacy)
Stacy - you have any cash? (No laughs Stacy)
Stacy - you have any money? (No says Stacy...now we're both laughing)

One day last week Alex snatched my wallet and found receipts. This was a new word for him, and it seems to be equally intriguing as 'cash' now. He's added a fourth question to Stacy's daily inquisition:

Stacy - you have any receipts?

Today at the grocery store he yelled at Jim anxiously in the checkout 'Don't forget your receipt Daddy!'. Caught Jim off guard since I'd forgotten to tell him about the new addition to his money fascination.

Last Monday we were one our way to the library and I made an unannounced side stop at the bank. As I'm pulling in through the bank parking lot, Tanner says 'Mom, what are we doing, this isn't the library!'. Alex responds very matter-of-factly:

"Tannaw, we are going to rob the bank. Mommy needs some cash."

Where the heck did he pick up the phrase 'rob the bank'? Seriously!

So, my 5 year old is all about the dough (I don't think I'll add that word to his expanding currency vocabulary however). He doesn't know how to spend it or what it's for...he's just very hyperfocused on it. It's odd...and absolutely hysterical. Maybe I'm raising a little accountant or an economist...or a bank robber ;)

Summer is Here!

We love calendars in the Wooden house. Of course we would...numbers...the repitition of the days of the week...it's all fairly predictable (except the whole 30 days vs. 31 days...or an occassional 29 days). Perfect example: Alex had a $20 bill I took from him yesterday, to which he quickly responded in a sing-song nanny-nanny-boo-boo voice 'But I still have my calendar!'. Yes Alex - you win - I have the $20 and you still have your calendar. Life is good.

So - summer is here. It's now June, and Tanner says June, July and August is the summertime. We don't mark summer by the last day of school or the official start of summer later this month or the first trip to the beach. The calendar page turned to June, so now it's summer. It's 77 degrees today so I'm going to take them to the pool (luckily it's heated) and go out for ice cream. We'll live up the big overnight change in seasons, and I'll post a few pictures later of the launch of our Summer 2008.

Soccer Mom? No Way!

I've decided it's time to introduce the world of organized sports to Alex & Tanner Wooden. Scary, I know. So, here's my plan of attack:

1. Join a gym with specific youth sports programs. Done in March. Boys absolutely love going. Being familiar with their physical surroundings for almost two months, hopefully they will be able to listen a little better and focus.

2. Divide and conquer. Enroll them in separate classes. That means double the classes/lessons/practices, but much more manageable for me to attend and re-direct them.

3. Ok - double the classes/lessons/practices? Divide and conquer again. Split shifts with Stacy (our nanny).

4. Send a brief note to each instructor prior to the start of classes (this week) advising them of the boys unique personalities and our intention to be present and actively involved to minimize disruption/re-direct.

5. Avoid any sport for which I have no interest or tolerance. That strikes soccer, tennis, golf, and hockey from the record. I know everyone loves soccer - and I even coached a middle school boys team for a few years. I can't stand it though.

6. Start with individual sports this session, then move into team sports that I can pre-coach. That means we'll start with swimming and gymnastics, and Coach Mom will try to make hoopsters out of them over the next 6 weeks. Right now we're working on 'bounce pass' and 'dribble, dribble, shoot!'. Counting by twos every time they score is rather fascinating thus far...so at least I've found a hook! (And by hook I mean 'something to peak their interest', not a 'hook shot'. Never did get that one down myself.)

7. Expect disaster, and be thrilled with anything better.

I'll keep you posted (and by posted I mean 'updated'...haven't worked on 'posting up' yet either with my little hoopsters...though that should be fun!).

Michigan Weather

Michigan's dramatic weather swings are confusing for adults...and even more so for my little guys. Seriously - I put away their boots in early April and the very same week had to go out and buy summer clothes. The next week we had to search out sandals. A slight diversion here - but I have to comment that finding 2 of the same size shoe is a real pain. Not just same size - but same shoe. I learned a few years back to get identical shoes or they end up fighting over the same favorite pair inevitably. Okay - so back to the real story - we went from snow/cold to summer like temperatures practically overnight.

Ironically, Friday was beach day at school. The dudes wore their swimsuits to school and it was sunny and 80 degrees outside. In fact, it was 80 degrees still at 8 o'clock last night! We've been playing with squirt guns, riding bikes, wearing sun screen - basically living outside for the past week or so. I did put my foot down when they wanted to haul out the sprinkler last week - it is only April after all!

So - fast forward 12 hours from 8pm last night when it was 80 degrees - to a high of 50 today. We had left the windows open last night and woke up FREEZING! Tanner started crying 'Oh no, summer is over and now it's winter again! We're never going to go camping now!'. I quickly assured him that summer wasn't even here yet and there would be plenty of time for camping.

Poor little buddy...mother nature is laughing down at us...and Tanner is crying. Michigan weather is so senseless and unpredictable, which just doesn't settle well with a little guy who likes predictability.

So, I think I'm going to put woodtv.com on his favorites on the computer and show him how to get to the weather forecast. That should help. Mother Nature will be off the hook...but I'm putting a lot of faith in the weatherman!

Toddlers No More

The birthday countdown is on! I can hug and squeeze my four year olds for one more day...and then they officially move from toddlerhood to little boyhood. Big 5 year olds...hard to believe.

Then again...the past few months they've been more and more independent...and more and more grown up. While the boys countdown to their birthday party tomorrow afternoon, I'll do a blog countdown of the Top 5 Reasons you know they are 'All Boy'. I'll update this post over the next 24 hours (because taking an hour to do it all now just isn't going to happen given their energy level).

Reason #5 - The fellas are sleeping in bunk beds! Totally a big boy move (especially for Alex who sleeps on the top bunk). As long as we're on the topic, my apologies to Brian who sleeps directly below them on the lower level of the house. The early morning jumps from the ladder and giggling I know is brutal for you!





Reason #4 - Watching football with Daddy and Uncle Brian on Sunday nights. Okay - watching football might be secondary to the number watching (i.e. jersey numbers, SPORTS TICKER at bottom of screen)...but it's still a 'big boy show' nonetheless. And let me tell you - they are all about categorizing things as 'a big boy show' or 'big boy thing to do' vs. a 'baby show' or 'baby thing to do'. Love it...Jim and I quickly classified all annoying shows as 'baby shows'...bye-bye Barney, Teletubbies, Doodlebops, Boobah!







Reason #3 - Garage Golf. One morning this winter I rolled over at 6:45am, noticed the lights were on and the boys were silent. Bad combo. I shook Jim awake and we started looking for them. After a trip down and back upstairs without finding them, my heart started to race. Then I felt the draft of cold air - and noted the door to the garage was open. Jim and I race out to the garage to find the little dude in PJs, a coat, bare feet and golf clubs in hand. They happily announced 'Look, we're playing golf! There is no snow in the garage!'. Jim's worried look turn to pure pride...I quickly jab him with my elbow as if to remind him that there are so many things wrong with this picture (no shoes...they left the house without an adult...they are swinging clubs in our garage with the cars parked in it!). Yes...this is big boy type of trouble.


Reason #2 - Growing Independence.

• They read to me as much as I read to them.
• They take the initiative to brush their teeth after lunch without even being asked.
• Diving in pools and swimming - no life jackets!
• Getting their own drinks (even if that sometime means drinking apple juice straight from the bottle...which is yet another sign they are getting big).
• Washing hands after going potty without being reminded.
• Knowing how to operate the DVD player, CD player, iPod, computer, Tivo, and microwave.
• Mastering the concept of time (clocks & calendars)

Reason #1 - Take a look!