Why oh why do we bother to buy toys?

Recently, we acquired a very large box and it has been the center piece of Ross and Owen's play time ever since. I don't know why anyone buys toys, all kids really need is a big old box!

Here is the box.



Ross decided it should be modeled after the Rust Bucket. For anyone who doesn't have a little boy, the Rust Bucket is the name of the RV that Ben 10 rides around in. It had to have a door on the side and a few windows. The boys and I have been adding our own decorations with crayons. Owen loves scribbling on it, but today I noticed he has been coloring on the french doors too. Hummmm....

As you can see Owen has a room full of stuff, so does Ross, but in the end, they would rather play in the box.


P.S. In a previous blog I mentioned that I had moved Owen's room around to isolate his furniture so he can't use the changing table as a climbing platform and to keep him from pulling down the quilt on the wall. You can see what I meant better in these pictures.

More pictures of the Jordan Family

Back at the end of July, I posted the official Jordan Family portraits. I thought y'all might like to see the behind the scenes pictures of all of us waiting to have our pictures made.

The kids played with Lego's, Jason played with Owen and the rest of us waited.










But don't we all look nice!

Troop 22 Goes to the Tunnel

At the end of July, Ross' Cub Scout Troop took a tour of the Wallace Tunnel and the Alabama Department of Transportation Office in Mobile.

Our first stop was the Live Feed Command Center where they watch the traffic flowing on the Interstate, Bay Way, Causeway and Tunnels from nearly Mississippi to Florida.


Here is a link to the live video if you want to see for yourself: Mobile Traffic

Apparently this is the best job in the whole department. It think it would be fun to watch people come and go.

After Mr. Bob answered a ton of questions, we went down into the tunnels underneath the Tunnel.



We climbed down a bunch of steep stairs.


I tried to get a picture of how deep below ground we were. We were underneath the river too.

They had big fans blowing air into the tunnels. It nearly knocked to boys off their feet.


Troop 22 and Family - Elyse, Maureen, Ari, Ethan, Dylan, Ross, Zane, Mr. Bob, Gloria and me.

After the tour, we took the boys to the Square for a picnic and to feed the squirrels.



Look at all these fat little guys, I counted 13 at least in this picture.



Ross, Dylan and Ethan in front of the fountain.

I love the square, my college sweetheart and I had a great day feeding peanuts to fat little squirrel one spring break. I love to sit and look at the trees and watch to people go by.
We had a great time at the tunnels! I am glad Cub Scouts is starting up again.

I don't want to go to sleep!

It is rare that Owen actually wants to take a nap. Usually a bit of fussing and throwing is involved.

When I went to check on him earlier this week, this is what I found. Besides the usual toys on the floor, notice that he chucked out his sippy cup and pillow.


And for some reason he loves to sleep with a blanket over his head.



I have had to move his bed away from the outside wall, because he pulls down the wall hanging. I also had to move the changing table out into the middle of the room because he was climbing on it so that he could climb onto the bookshelf.

Sighh.....

Not exactly Emily Post

Well, Owen hasn't grasped the concept of table manners yet and likes to put his foot/feet on the table. Instead of teaching in better, what do Ross and Jason do, they encourage him. Oh well, let's just call it father/son bonding. I decided I would rather take a picture for my blog than get upset. What a bunch of nuts!

What's Up Doc!

Owen loves to pull stuff out of the produce drawers in the fridge. I guess he can't reach any higher yet. This is what he came up with yesterday, and started to eat! He has really strong teeth and he knows how to use them.

Harris has a Pirate Party (whoops, thought I posted this one...)

In May our cousin Harris (see previous posts) turned one. To celebrate, his mother, Danielle, threw a pirate party with all the trimmings.

She had a pirate ship atop a sea of cupcakes.

All the kids got pirate cherchiefs, mustaches and tatoos.

There were two pools and a slip and slide.

Ross and Owen had a blast with Harris and our friends and family.

Happy Birthday Harris, rrrrrrrrr....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chocolate, Vanilla or Powder Fresh?

On Wednesday, I made what I am afraid is the first of many calls to Poison Control on behalf of Owen.

I was tidying up Owen's room when he came in carrying my deodorant. He was also making a very funny face like something tasted bad. It took me about a second to realize he had taken a bite out of my deodorant.


You can clearly see four teeth marks.

I tried to get the piece out of his mouth, but he bit me and swallowed it.

I called Poison Control to see if I was on my way to the Emergency Room. Apparently deodorant is the snack of choice among toddlers because the lady on the phone didn't even have to look it up, she said to watch him for an hour but that he should be fine. I did, he was.

You would think that would be the grossest thing Owen ate all day, but you would be wrong.

Three hours later at the Bruno's, Owen found a big blue piece of candy someone else had left in the cart! I looked up from the Pharmacy window to see rivers of dark blue drool flowing down Owen's face, hands and clothes.

I even tasted it to be sure it was candy, because I am a brave and selfless mom. Shudder, yuck!

The kids and I were supposed to meet Jason to go to the Bass Pro Shop that night. However, I had had enough so, I took Ross to McDonald's, and Owen home for a bath. No surprise, Owen went to bed a little early that night.

Sigh............

Oh, I forgot to mention that earlier this month I caught Owen applying Jason's deodorant to his hair, it took 3 washes to get that out because the water just slid right off his hair. :)

A word of warning about Twilight...

While I stand behind my recommendation for the Twilight books, I should caution you Moms and Dads that I personally don't believe these are books for "young adults" ie teenagers.

I guess some teenagers already know enough, but I do not want Ross to read them until he is much older. While they are not graphic and spotlight waiting till marriage, they are very specific about the kind of passion and physical urges that are part of intense attractions and relationships.

I think the books will give ideas to and peak the curiosity of anyone who has never been in a physical relationship.

I suppose by today's standards this is mild stuff, but I don't think it is good for youth, especially the 3rd and 4th books.

Holy cow it is good stuff, but only if you are already married.

So while Book 1 isn't too bad, I urge you to read all four books first and make up your own mind.

Twilight, you have to read them!

My favorite cousin Danielle introduced me to the best books ever, the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Even better than Harry Potter if are a grown-up girl.

You really have to give them a try. The first three are Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse. I just finished the 4th book Breaking Dawn. These books leave me mouth-opened and teary eyed. They are about an unlikely romance between a mortal girl and a vampire boy, with a love struck werewolf to complicate things.

Here is a link to her website: Twilight

And the movie version of the first book, Twilight the Movie, comes out in November. Danielle and I are very excited to see it. If you read them let me know so we can talk about it!

Little hands that touch everything...

Lately Owen has made it is mission in life to plunder my desk drawer at every opportunity. Last week he pulled out a silver permanent maker and drew all over himself. He has dumped out my big box of paper clips a number of times and has been found playing with scissors, pencils, the hole punch and scotch tape on several occasions.

I did manage to get a few pictures of his face after he applied a black sharpie to his eyelid.




A guess we will just say that Owen is curious and persistent. Yep, we will stick with that!

It's Too Late, They Have Him!

Owen wants to be just like his Daddy and big brother Ross. He wants to do everything they do, especially play video games.

Owen has a fit when Ross plays the Wii and he can't. So, to bring peace to the house, Jason dug up a broken controller that looks just like Ross' for Owen to play with. Now whenever Ross plays Lego Star Wars, Owen sits on the couch and plays too. It is really cute, Owen is very serious, he moves all the buttons and watches the action very intently.






If anyone is planning to write me a comment about the evils of letting children play video games, don't bother, I have my own file on Lego Star Wars and I have already accepted that this is what my boys (all 3) like to do. Just ask Papaw, you can't make an inside boy want to be an outside boy. I think Owen will be more of an outside boy, but first he has to learn not to run into traffic.

4th Grade, I Can't Believe It!

Here is Ross ready to start the 4th grade.

Owen is very excited, about the lunch box.

Yes I am still blogging!

Okay so it is really late, 12:45 am. I need to go to bed. I am up so late because I took a nap this afternoon, which feels so good, but messes up my internal clock.

I have been look at other blogs for the last hour instead of attending to mine. So I just wanted to assure you all that I am still blogging, keep checking for new posts. Owen takes 2 naps a day, so I will try to use a couple of those naps to get caught up. As of late we just haven't had much blogworthy stuff.

Today in Church, Owen attempted to see how many pews he could throw his toys over while still hitting people in the head, distance vs aim. Well, so far, he can still hit the bulls-eye 2 pews away. Not bad for 16 months.

Seriously, soon no one will sit near us in Church.

Life with Owen will never be dull. He is a sweet boy afterall so you just can't be mad at him. What a nut!

Our Trip to Houston (one last update)

Two weekends ago, the boys and I went to Houston to see my sister and her family. Ross was so excited because we went on a plane. It was his 3rd plane trip, but the first he could remember. It was Owen's first plane ride too, and likely to be his last for quite some time!
We had a great time in Houston with Herkerma and Co and we love their new house!

Here is Ross waiting at the airport and our plane.

I was really surprised that the airport had such a great play area for kids.

Owen thought this was the vacation.

Ross hamming it up.

Flying at last! Ross was particularly impressed by the in-flight soda and peanuts.

Owen was very good on the plane ride to Houston, he slept through the whole thing.

The view from Ross' window.

Ross' picture of me.
We waited for Herkerma to pick us up in the most amazing little lobby with this beautiful wall mosaic. I couldn't resist taking pictures. There were also metal fish and other critters embedded in the floor to match the wall. I think it is a shame that so few people will ever see it and even less will really look at it.








As much as Ross loved the flight, the descent was a little bumpy and stomach twisting. I really thought Ross was going to lose his in-flight snack. I introduced him to the airsick bag. Here he is waiting for his stomach to calm down.

Our first day in Houston, we hung out at Herkerma's house, ate spaghetti and walked to the park around the corner. Here are some random pictures of the kids and the house.
I love the big back porch!






On Friday, we went swimming and had dinner at the swim club. Here are Mary P. and the boys.


Here are the kids goofing off on the play ground, what a bunch of hams!






P.S. Owen learned to go up and down a slide all by himself, even the big twisted ones. Sigh...like I wasn't already wondering how I was going to keep the little daredevil alive.
Friday night, Herkerma took us to see the Theater Under the Stars (TUTS) production of Disney's When You Wish. It was an amazing collection of Disney songs grouped into a series of themes. The props and costumes were very simple but very cool. We had the best time. A big thanks to Mary P. for staying home with the babies.
On Saturday, Herkerma and I took our motley crew to the big park (the one with the zoo) to ride the little train and play on the big hill. I will confess that mostly I wanted to ride the train, I love it and could ride it over and over again. Perhaps I am a closet mini-train enthusiast, but I loved it.


This was Weezy and Owen's first times on the little train.

What a beautiful family, especially Herkerma, sigh, she is always so pretty even without trying.
Here is my little family.

Ross chillin' on the train, he has done this before.

Some pictures of the train and the park:



This is the open air theater where we watched the show Friday night.


After the train ride, we decided to take the kids to the fountain to picnic and play. They loved it!










Ross insisted we take a picture of this duck, because he had never seen a red-headed duck before. :)

After the park, we had a fun Saturday afternoon hanging around the house. Sunday was just playing at home with the kids too, until all too soon, we had to pack up and go back to the airport.
We nearly missed our flight because the plane was parked at a gate way, way out in the middle of no where! But we made it.
I didn't take pictures because Owen was a total wiggly terror on the plane. He was awake the whole trip, but tired and wired up and not happy to be sitting in my lap. He amused himself for a while by looking out the window and pulling down the shade.

Needless to say, I was very glad to get back to Mobile and be in my own home again. We had fun with Herkerma and miss her, but home is good too.
We are looking forward to our next visit with Aunt Herkermatastic and Co. Thank you Herkerma!

P.S. My sister reminded me that I failed to mention Vietnamese Judy. There is this woman who does nails at the nail shop by my sister's house who looks very, very much like our mother, only asian. It is more than a little wierd. Also, her name is Ann. I couldn't get a picture without being a stalker. But still, very strange, Judy is everywhere!