Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Great Grandmom's 90th birthday

Brian's grandmother turned 90 this weekend and we went to celebrate!
At the festivities.
We all wore nametags that a woman at the front table wrote for us. She had little hearing, so Addie's name was written as "Attie" first and then crossed out and written correctly. That made me laugh.
Addie, Graham and Ben were a three-headed monster
4 generations of Nouries. It's also the first time all of Brian's siblings, their children and Brian's parents are in the same picture!! The little boy in the black is not one of us, but he was running around like a nut and jumped in.

Ben wasn't scared of her this time, which was nice.

Delaware State Fair & Addie and Ben's first "real" concert

Sunday marked Addie and Ben's first trip to the Delaware State Fair. There was a steal on tickets on Friday only for Sunday's Brad Paisley concert, so we figured "why not?" Timing it just so perfectly, about 30 minutes before we left our house the sky turned black and we had a major storm. When the power went out, we thought that was a good time to leave, hoping the storm headed north and wouldn't impact our trip. Little did we know. It followed us the whole way and actually got worse further south. We ended up sitting in the car for 45 minutes or so waiting til the lightning bolts stopped hitting the ground. Once it was over though, there wasn't another drop of rain.
The thing that I like most about the fair is the ability to interact with all of the 4H clubs and see the livestock they are showing. Addie and Ben liked it too. The camera lens was foggy from the temperature change. They are in front of huge pigs.
They got to "walk" a goat too. The girl who owns him took one look at Addie and said, "with a smile like that, you should show him at fairs."
I LOVE Addie's expression here. Last year when just Brian and I went to the fair, I held these little fellas (well, ok, not them actually- I probably ate the ones I held last year) and knew Addie and Ben would love to too.
Addie got brave and was comfortable picking them up by herself. She's actually kissing this one.
Cutie pie Ben was so loving and gentle, which isn't a surprise at all.
It wouldn't be a fair without stopping for some horribly gross, delicious food...
We actually opted for snow-cones and lemonade! Here's my little cowgirl just being her sweet self.
And then it was time for the concert. It was muggy as all get out. The kids entertained themselves through the opening acts with taking pictures like the one above and going to the bathroom (poor Brian had to take them each separately at least 3 times!)

They also did this to entertain themselves. Thank God for cell phones that can get OnDemand videos!
We ended up staying for about 6 of Brad Paisley's songs and then they were spent. Oh well. It was a good first adventure. I think it was the stuffy seats and not moving around, because as soon as we were walking out they were awake and roaring to go.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I love my kids

I love my kids, which I'm sure doesn't come as a surprise to any of you out there. They just make me laugh and smile. The things that come out of their mouths are priceless. I wish we had cameras that chronicled everything they say, because I never remember half of it.
This weekend we had a bat fiasco, as in a winged, fuzzy, black flying bat in our house. It is a long story of how we got it out, but eventually about 12 hours after discovering batty, he was out on the front porch. We haven't really mentioned it at all since then, except to recount the story for everyone the next day.
Last night when I came home from work, there's a heart paper on the back door and it says, "You might see a surprise at the laundry people that's just waiting for you. And it might be something pretty shining down at your and you won't know what it is til you sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.' Love the Mystery Person" So of course I come inside and am greeted by Addie and Ben who stare at me with eager eyes. I dutifully sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and then I wait for my shining thing. They are giggling with anticipation as they tell me to walk into the foyer. Onkteb was there just nodding his head, letting me know to go with it. So I get into the foyer, facing the front door when Addie pops out of the way, to show me a paper bat they have made and stuck on the front door. I jumped back, dramatically freaked out, as they had hoped. It just made me laugh so hard, that they were trying to trick me into walking into another bat in the house, albeit a paper one.
Ben had also written me a note that said, "I love you. I love your skin. I love you forever. Ben" Very sweet.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Don't scorn a 5 year old

I'm sure this will win me "Mommy of the Century" points, but oh well. Last night Addie and I were watching the Bachelorette together (I know, I know, I know. I've not watched seasons past, but got sucked in by the lunch chatter at work each Tuesday. Sigh. I digress.). Last night's episode chronicled how one of the final three men decided that he actually was in love with his old girlfriend, whom he visited to profess his love to, and then had to fly to Tahiti (tough, I know) to break the Bachelorette's heart. Addie was very concerned about how upset she was going to be, and didn't want her to cry. Once Frank started telling Ali that he loved another, it was over. Addie said with 100% conviction, "I would take all the pictures of him and cut his head out. Then I'd write 'worst person in the world' on them." In those few seconds it took her to say that, I got a glimmer of my 5 year old being 14 years old. Let me just warn those boys now, it's not going to be pretty.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Ben's dislike

We were watching America's Got Talent this week (which even though Addie made it to the executive producers in the live audition in Philadelphia they never showed her) and the act called "Future Funk" was on. It's a hip hopping duo of a 10 year old boy and a 5 year old boy dancing. They are really cute. Ben came in mid-performance and promptly announced, "I don't like him." I asked who he was talking about and he replied, "I don't like that one who's hair looks like a cupcake." The 5 year old has a borderline afro. Imagine if Ben had been alive in the 70s when cupcake hairdos were everywhere! He would have been royally unhappy.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Super heroes

Benjamin was in need of some new "Big Daddy" underwear aka boxer briefs. So I bought some Spiderman boxer briefs at the store, which I knew he happened to already have two of the exact same pair at home....but he likes them so I figured he'd like them more if he had more.

This morning when he wakes up I give him one pair to put on. He questions why they are the same as the others. I explain that's the only super hero ones they had at the store. He then questioned if perhaps it wouldn't have been a good idea to go to a different store. Fair enough.

Ben then proceeds to tell me that maybe if he drew me a picture of Batman, I'd remember/know what he looked like and therefore would perhaps make the proper purchase next time. I agreed that sounded like a fantastic plan.

So he sat down and drew this: (details are below)



Obviously he started with the wings, then the face (smiling of course) and the little bat ears. Then he drew the legs. Then he ran in to show me that he added a flag and a heart to the bottom right side. I asked him to write his name, which he promptly did backwards, nonetheless. Then I asked if he wanted to write Batman on it, so I knew for sure what I was looking for and he thought that made a whole lot of sense. We sounded it out and he wrote it. At this point Ben shares with me "Oh I forgot the bats!" and he proceeds to draw bats in each of Batman's wings, "so he can go like this 'choom choom' (crossing his arms across his body and then quickly pulling them apart making that sound of course) to all of the bad guys." I was impressed with it all and eager to follow through with purchasing a pair of Batman underwear that look like his drawing.

Then Addie woke up and he was so excited to show her. He said, "It's Batman" and she looked at it for a millisecond and responded, "it looks like a bear." He figured that she needed to be included in his amazing replication and he wrote her name on the bottom (he's such an includer). The things between Batman/bear and the flag, I think, are people. I heard some discussion about the little one being where a mouse could live, which would make me think there were holes, but then Ben wanted me to guess which one he was...so I'm not totally sure.

So, if you happen to be out at a store and wander through the little boys underwear section and see boxer briefs with Batman on them, make sure you have this picture with you to ensure you they are the right ones. I know I will!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Just the usual

We're busy enjoying the summer weather, spending time together outside and just living life.
Each day more jewels come out of their mouths, just like they've always been there. Recently Addie said to me, "It's funny, I like princesses and yet, I've never had a princess birthday." Things that make you go hmmmm, right?

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Time waiting for fireworks+Aunt Kim's creativity=


Glow-stick outfits. Ben had to be in on the fun....


Addie ended the night like this...

A full blown glow stick shirt, with sleeves!!

Monday, July 5, 2010

Butterfly release

The butterflies got to enjoy their Independence Day!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Blutterfly whisperers

I have pictures to go along with this post, but they are not accessible to me at the moment and I don't want to forget any of this, so bear with me please.
All five blutterflies (as Addie pronounces it) are flying around the mesh garden now. We'll probably release them tomorrow or on the 4th of July.
Last night when I got home from work, Addie and Ben were playing outside and excitedly told me to come out back because there was a beautiful blutterfly out there. Indeed, perched on the deflated brightly colored water slide was a pretty butterfly. She seemed very comfortable just flittering about. I told Addie and Ben that if they sat still on the waterslide, maybe she would come near them. Off and on for 10 minutes or so they hopped as gently (ie, not) as possible on the heaps of vinyl, inching closer and closer to her. Eventually Ben stuck his hand out and she walked up to it! Another point she landed on Addie's back. Then she landed on Ben's shoulder. Every once in a while she would fly away, but came back quickly to the kids on the water slide.
As we were getting ready to leave soon, I told them to go inside and get thier bathing suits on, etc. Then I nonchalantly commented "She must know you guys have butterflies inside and take good care of them, that's why she's comfortable around you. You're butterfly whisperers." Addie listened to my assessment and as serious as possible said, "Well she probably went to high school with them when they were all caterpillars." So apparently the high school cliques of caterpillars are making a pact to come hang out at Nourie World once they've sprung from chrysalises.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Soooo Addie

This was filmed on my Mac Photo Booth, with the music from itunes. I love how she starts out serious to hit the words and then is all about being her typical goofball self! By the way, the song is Defying Gravity from Wicked (and Glee).