Like Father, Like Son

Phil Must Pay For This

And by "this" I mean this:

Yesterday morning looked like early spring.  No snow, warm-ish temps.  Yesterday afternoon it began to snow.  The forecast was for 3 to 5 inches.  Then it was for 4 to 6.  The snow came down very fast, very thick, and in HUGE snowflakes.  At one point, I opened the front door to check on the snow and I could barely see across the yard to the cul-de-sac because of how thickly the snow was falling.

By all reports the roads became completely impassable and stayed that way.  This morning isn't much better, according to the news.

And that 4 to 6 inches?  Became 8 to 10.  The official tally is 8.4 inches; we smashed the record for this date that went back to 1929 and saw 3.0 inches of snowfall.  Out here in the 'burbs we're looking at somewhere around 9 or 10 inches.

Phil was not only wrong, he must have been hallucinating on LSD.

This morning I have to start digging us out and Scot can't help me.  I haven't mentioned this here but he had surgery last week on his wrist and he's still in a very large bandage.  He can't shovel snow.  What's more, his post-op follow up appointment is today and he can't miss it because he has to get that very large bandage removed.  I have to find a way to juggle the kids this morning so I can go out and dig out the driveway enough for him to get to his appointment.

The icing on this little pile of  cow chips is that Jamie had me up multiple times last night - the last of which was at 5:30 am.  I was never able to get back to sleep after that.  So, I'm tired, I'm cranky, I'm stuck in the house with two kids with cabin fever and a husband who is one-handed for the 5th day running.

Send me Phil's pelt.  I will fashion a hat from it that I will wear as a jaunty chapeau as I swill myself into insensibility.

UPDATE:  I measured while I was shoveling this morning.

8.5 inches of snow does not equal an early spring, Phil.  Not hardly.  I think you need a new job.

Wordless Wednesday: Cocoa-Mocha Frosting Makes A Great Goatee

Liam Quips

Earlier this afternoon we learned that Liam loves us more than pasta.  Over dinner, Scot asked him whether or not he loved us more than Star Wars.

He considered this for a moment.

"Mmm.  No." he said.

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Also over dinner, we were commenting on how well Liam was eating and Scot told him he was an awesome kid.  "Liam, you are awesome swimming in awesomesauce."

"Well, I do like to swim," Liam replied.

That Pretty Much Sums It Up

Liam brought this home from school today:

I'm glad to know we rate above pasta.

A Family Portrait

Liam came home from school last week with a note in his backpack about a project his class was participating in.  This project required that each child send in a picture of their family.  I knew that this could pose a problem.

The problem is that I'm usually the one behind the camera so I'm almost never in photos.  Scot avoids being in pictures like they are a form of torture.  So, most of our pictures are of the kids.  I started digging around in my photo archives looking for something of the four of us together.

I found two.  That's it.  TWO.  One was from when Jamie was just 3 months old.  Liam was FOUR.  A two year old picture was not going to cut it.  The other was from Liam's preschool graduation.  He was 5.  When Liam heard that this was the best I had, he was unimpressed.  He wanted something from when he was six - understandable given that he just passed that birthday.

So, we made an effort to get a photo.  And, we got lucky - in two clicks of the camera we got this:

Of course, Jamie isn't looking at the camera but this is no surprise whatsoever.  I didn't imagine that would be possible to get a decent picture of all four of us easily.  Since he's not actively screaming as though tortured, I figured it was the closest we were going to get and sent it on in.

Because I can, more pictures:

Look Ma!  No snot!

Rawr!

Yellow Belt!

Liam tested for his yellow belt this afternoon.  He passed with flying colors and now I must play proud parent and show him off.

Here he is doing his pattern:

What is amazing to me about this pattern is that he had it memorized correctly about 6 classes after earning his second yellow stripe.  If I had still had a mind like a steel trap, I would be so much happier.

Getting his new belt from Master Cohen

A very proud Spud

He did a fabulous job.  I could hear his voice well above the others when he was reciting the tenets of Tae Kwon-Do (Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self Control, Indomitable Spirit, and Modesty) as well as the Student Oath.  He clearly knows all he should to be a yellow belt.

Next stop:  Green stripe!

Hodgepodge

1.  I have to apologize for the lack of blog posting.  There are lots of reasons but mostly it has to do with illness and the horrible depths of winter.  It seems like we manage to get over one nasty virus only to catch another one.  It's getting tiresome to say the least.

2.  Last week Jamie decided to pop with another mystery virus complete with mystery fever.  After 3 days of trying to figure out his problem with no luck, we took him to the doctor.  Double ear infection.  I think he's getting close to needing ear tubes.  This is the second infection he's had in 6 weeks and it's certainly not his first time on the ear infection merry-go-round.  We'll have to talk with the pediatrician at his checkup but if this keeps going?  Tube city.

3.  In related news, Augmentin sucks.  It may kill the infection but it also makes for diapers that I really don't want to spend the time describing.  Those nasty diapers, in turn, gave Jamie a case of diaper rash like you wouldn't believe.  His whole butt was cherry red and he was hopping mad as a result.  I decided enough was enough, called the pediatrician, and asked that Jamie be put on a different medication.  He is a much happier camper now.

4.  In dealing with Mr. Shedding Virus, I seem to have caught his cold.  It was inevitable, I suppose, since he was coughing on me and I was short on sleep.  I've had worse but this one is sticking around and driving me nuts.  I'd really like to see the back side of it sooner rather than later.

5.  Phil the Groundhog failed to see his shadow last week.  If his prediction holds true and we get an early spring, I will travel on over to Punxsutawny and plant a big fat kiss on Phil's lips.  On the other hand, if he fails me and this winter hangs on until April, his caretakers are going to want to put him in some kind of anonymous protection program because I will hunt his furry ass down.  I'm sure my father would loan me his varmint rifle.

6.  I want a new camera so badly I can taste it.  Our point-and-shoot is really beginning to piss me off and the pictures I have from Liam's birthday are so crappy as to exacerbate my ire.  However, we have more important things to be spending our money on so I will go on dreaming.

The Birthday Celebration (A Very Picture Heavy Post)

To say that Liam's birthday party was a success would be an understatement.  That kid had a haul of presents so large it was embarrassing.  Wowsers.

In any case, he celebrated turning 6 in style.

Yes, we got the kid a plush tauntaun sleeping bag.  He was so excited.  We gave it to him on Wednesday (his actual birthday) and saved the rest of his gifts for his party on Saturday.

The picture of a happy Spud.

The fabric on the inside of the sleeping bag.  Yes, those are tauntaun guts.

In preparation for his birthday party, Liam helped me decorate his cupcakes.

Yes, I did put the apron on backwards, sorry for the backwards "Star Wars"

It was a very Star Wars birthday.

R2-D2 Play-Doh set

 Lego Star Wars Ship of some kind.  That horrible face he's making is because he doesn't want to take a picture.

Lego Slave I - Boba Fett's Ship 

He got lots more stuff but there are just way too many pictures - most of them bad - to share every gift he got.  After presents I made dinner and we had a very nice meal together.  And then it was time for cupcakes and singing.

My pictures of us singing to him and him blowing out the candle are utter shite so I can't put them up.  I need a new camera in the worst way.

In any case, he had a great day, loved all his gifts (even the clothes!), and was very happy his Oma and Puppa were here to celebrate with him.

Ruminations On Year Five

I knew that five was going to be a big year for Liam.  I knew that it would involve big milestones like starting school.  But there are other things I didn't anticipate.

The first big event for Liam was graduating from pre-school.  It was a big moment for him and he had looked forward to it for months.  Why?  Boredom.  He was bored out of his mind by the end of pre-school and so ready to be done.  So, after graduation he quit going and had a real summer vacation for the first time.

We did all kinds of things - swim lessons, play dates, museum trips, playing in the yard.  He took day trips with his Granddad and played with the neighbor kids.  I hope summers are always so much fun for him.

And then, in the middle of June, he said to me "Mommy, I want to play soccer."

Well.  That came from nowhere.  We'd been offering for a year or two and he kept telling us no.  We didn't want to push and felt that it had to be his decision.  Then, one day, he was interested.  It turned out that he had to wait until fall to play but we promised him he could.

And so we became soccer parents and he learned about team sports.

A few days after proclaiming his need to play soccer, he told me he wanted to take lessons in karate.  This was another activity that we'd offered him and he had turned us down.  Again, we felt that if he was to enjoy it, it had to be his decision.  Again, he just up and changed his mind.

I set about finding a school and we found Young Brothers Tae Kwon-Do.  He fell in love with it from the very first class I took him to and he is racing through belt levels at a pace that it is hard to believe.  Next week he takes his next belt test to earn his yellow belt.  It is a fabulous outlet for his seemingly boundless energy.

At the end of summer, Liam started kindergarten - the biggest change to his life yet.  He took it all in stride and settled into the routines of school.  He loves it.  He's excited to go to school every day, he loves his teacher, he has made friends, he comes home and tells me he had a good day every single day.  Academically he is doing well, too.  I hope he always retains his love of learning.

Liam didn't just expand his horizons in the metaphorical fashion this year, either.  He did it in the physical way, too.  My slow-growing, never-put-on-weight, barely-on-the-growth-charts kiddo finally grew!  At the beginning of year five he was 36 lbs and 40 inches tall.  He was skinny and small for his age.  He'd been that way almost since the time he turned one.  It just seemed to be who he was and as long as he was growing at all, our pediatrician wasn't worried.  We were told that for a kid like Liam, gaining 2 pounds in a year was doing well.

As of now, Liam is 42 pounds and 43.5 inches tall.  He has put on 6 pounds and 3.5 inches in a year's time - this is nearly miraculous growth for him.  He is still small for his age and on the low end of the growth charts but he's finally starting to really sprout.  You can't count his ribs from 30 paces anymore and from all the sit ups at TKD, he's beginning to develop a kiddie six-pack.

In all, Liam has gotten more independent in the last year and is beginning to spread his wings in the wider world.  I hope he flies.

Riddle Me This

How did he go from this:

to this:

so damn fast?

Tomorrow he will be six.  The day after that he'll be off to college and by the end of the week he'll be getting married.  Tempus fugit.