Lawyer Mama

Hollis Can Ride a Bike!

Pardon the gushing, but I'm so excited about Hollis's latest accomplishment.  We've taken his training wheels off and my 5 year old is riding a bike!

H&H Hit the Botanical Gardens

T and I took the boys to the botanical gardens this weekend so I could attempt some photos of the boys.  I say "attempt" because, while the boys are older and a bit more cooperative these days, whether or not they'll pose for more than a photo or two is really hit or miss.

I had an ulterior motive for this trip.  I wanted to try out a new photo video technique.  I gave T my iPhone and had him take video of the boys while I was setting up their shots.  This is interspersed throughout the slideshow.  When you see a film clip, the shot immediately following it was the ultimate result.

I think it makes the video have much more impact and it gives you a small glimpse into the world of my boys.  I can't wait to start trying this out with my LightHearted Photography clients!  Enjoy!

Team WhyMommy's Virtual Science Fair

I've posted before about Susan aka WhyMommy from Toddler Planet.  Susan is a mom to two little boys, about the same ages as H&H.  She's also a scientist and an awesome writer.  Oh, and she kicked cancer's ass a few years ago.

Unfortunately, Susan's back in surgery.  Once again, she has tons of bloggy support.  In fact, Jean from Stimeyland came up with a great way to let Susan know that we're thinking about her.  Not by talking about cancer, but by teaching our kids about science.

While I've fallen off of the blogosphere radar for awhile now, I had to participate in this.  I hope she'll read all of our posts in a few days and realize how many people are thinking about her and, most importantly, following her example.

For our "science project" we planted a garden!  This is a big thing for me.  Despite the fact that I'm married to a guy who grew up on a farm, we've never attempted to keep anything green, aside from a few hardy houseplants, alive.  In the interests of full disclosure, I must admit that we currently only have 1 remaining houseplant.  All the others have fallen victim to our benign neglect or the careless cruelty of our cats.

The Garden

T did all the heavy lifting and constructed our garden boxes: 

Hollis helped a bit!

 
The boys "helped" T load the boxes with soil:

 

We planted peas, green beans, squash, cucumbers, onions, lettuce, broccoli, peas, corn, watermelon, tomatoes, sunflowers and peppers.  Of course, they wouldn't all fit in our two raised garden boxes, so we also cleared out some ground near a fence for the corn and sunflowers.  We also used some garden boxes up on our patio for the overflow.

 

After we planted two weeks ago, the boys asked me every. single. day. if their veggies were done yet.  And every day, they came out and helped us water the garden.

And now, they can see the results of their labor:

 
 

(Holden checks out the cucumbers.)

(I think the boys were most impressed with the green beans!)

 

The boys still haven't lost their enthusiasm for helping out and we're going to milk that for all it's worth!

The boys now understand a bit more about how and why things grow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll decide that vegetables they grew themselves are definitely worth eating.  As for me, I think about Susan every time I look out at the garden and send her a big virtual hug.

Don't forget to go read the rest of the Team WhyMommy Virtual Science Fair posts.

All of these photos were taken on my iPhone.  Just in case you were wondering.

Two Type-A Parents = Ultracompetitive 5 Year Old

Today we went to a birthday party for a friend at Motorworld in Virginia Beach.  We had gorgeous weather and the kids had a great time.  However, at the kids' go kart track, we discovered that we may have created a monster.

T and I are, admittedly, a little competitive.  About pretty much everything.  So why does it come as a surprise to discover that Hollis doesn't fall far from the tree?

Here, Hollis is trying to overtake his brother:

Hollis ended up bumping his brother out of the way, Mario Kart style.  Here he is after he passed Holden:

But I think this last photo says it all:

I think we're in trouble.

Do Elf Ears Run in the Family?

Hollis's ears stick out a bit, just like his father's. Our very observant 3 year old has now noticed. At dinner tonight he declared that, "Hollis has elf ears!" When Hollis protested, Holden stood up, pointed us to a photo of Hollis and said, "See? Elf ears!"

We were not successful in holding back the laughter, although we did assure Hollis that elf ears are much more pointy. 

Goats: A Lawyer Mama Family History

Earlier this week, Hollis's class took a trip to a local "farm" with a small petting zoo, hayrides and lots of pumpkins.  All the other kids in Hollis's class immediately swarmed the chickens.  Not Hollis, he had to visit the goats.  You see, Hollis has long had a fascination with goats.  It all started at T's uncle's Nebraska farm in the Summer of 2007:

You see, Hollis discovered at the age of 2 that he is the Pied Piper of Goats.  When Hollis walks, goats follow.

The love affair continued.  Here's Hollis with goats last year:

And then earlier this week:

So far, Hollis's love affair with goats seems to be as deep seated and lasting as his vacuum cleaner obsession.  (Update: he now has his very own Dustbuster and is quite handy with it.  He only gets upset when we ask him to suck up the cat litter around the cats litter box.  Who can blame him?)  As long as Hollis limits his love for The Goat to soulful eye gazing and hugs, we're good.

"What about Holden?" you ask.  Well, Holden isn't obsessed with goats.  He is a goat.

And Holden is apparently into sheep.  Sigh....  The barnyard animal tradition continues.

Love Song for Hollis on His Fifth Birthday

Excerpts from Love Song for a Baby by Marion Dane Bauer.  Because this time, my words just weren't enough.

Before the first stars blazed in your sky, before the sun ever kissed you, before you cried your first cry, we loved you.

You had tiny hands with perfect nails and fingers like the petals of a flower.  And yes, we loved you.

 

Your laughter was the sun. Your smile, the moon.  Even your burps were bells, since we loved you.

We clapped with you, we danced with you, we dried your tears and soothed your fears.

 

We tossed you high, we kept you dry.  Can you guess why?  We loved you.

 

You burst upon our world like a comet, like birdsong in the silver silence of dawn, and how could we help but love you?

 

We'd dreamed a baby, we'd wanted a baby, we'd planned for a baby,

 

we'd waited and waited and waited for a baby,

 

until finally, there was you.

And oh, how we love you.

 

Happy Birthday, Little Man.

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

A Boy and His Dog

Well, it's actually two boys and their dog, but "a boy and his dog" just sounds better, don't you think?

We got Buddy a few days ago.  We've been talking about getting the boys a dog for awhile now in a very abstract sort of way.  But after the break-in, I decided it was time to make it a reality.  Of course, up until the bitter end Holden was insisting that he didn't want a dog, he wanted a sheep and then a hamster.  But now that Buddy is here, he's gotten on board with the whole dog thing.

I promise I'll post some video soon because it is just too darn cute when Buddy goes galloping after Hollis or Holden on his stumpy little legs with his ears flopping around.

My Four Year Old Now Speaks in Bullet Points....

This morning in the car, Big H told me that Little H was "trying to rip me in half."  When I expressed skepticism, he replied with the following bullet points, complete with numbers:

1. When I tried to hug him, he bited me.
2. When  I tried to give him a kiss, he kicked me in the tushie.
3. When I was trying to play with him, he punched me right in the eye.
4. I don't think he likes me.

     7.  He's not really my brother.

And yes, those are the numbers he used.

For the record, Holden did not deny charges 1 through 4.  I took care of 7 on my own.

Herding Cats or Coaching T-Ball. Same thing, right?

We interrupt this DRAMA zone for a little update on the kidlets.

This evening when we asked Hollis to do something, he turned to us and said, in a perfect imitation of my slightly sarcastic tone, "That's really not necessary right now."  I could practically hear myself saying that to H&H!

What with Hollis's sarcastic rejoinders and the ability to write his own name, I've sort of forgotten that he's only been on this planet for 4 years.  Then I had a nice reminder this morning that those 4 year olds haven't yet learned all that stuff we take for granted.  Like what bases mean in baseball.

Today was H1's first t-ball practice.  Man, are they CUTE at this age!  But boy does their coach have a lot of patience. 

The first thing the coach had the t-ball kidlets do, was learn how to catch a ground ball with their gloves.  Or hands.  Or whatever.  So, of course, I had to whip out the camera to document the moment:

At least she had the attention of three of them.  But the girl in pink then headed off to the other side of the gym to play basketball and I think the girl between her and Elvis really had to pee.

After that, she let them try out the different positions and get in a little batting practice. 

For some reason Hollis instinctively adopted some attitude when batting, and turned his hat around.  My little rebel.

The first time someone hit the ball and started running, everyone in the "field" just stood there.  When the coach yelled out "GET THE BALL!" the runner detoured from his route to first base and retrieved his own ball.  He got quite a laugh from the fans in the stands, guaranteeing that his trick will be repeated.  You're welcome, coach!

The second time someone hit the ball (along the first base line), everyone went after it.  Including the short stop, the second base man, and Hollis at third base.  The resulting toddler scrum reminds us that we have to be ultra-specific with the pre-school set.

I'm not sure if anyone actually got the ball, but someone definitely has to go to the bathroom again.

After that, the coach had the kidlets run the bases because for some reason not everyone seemed to get that you actually had to touch the bases and that you had to run to all of them and not, say, start at second base. *cough*Hollis*cough

The one and only time H1 rounded first base.  Every other time he went straight for second base and then brought it home after jumping neatly over third base.

Well, we all know that organized sports for toddlers is an oxymoron.  Besides, it's not really about baseball.  It's all about the snacks.