The difference between 7 and 4

Noah: Jack, guess which superhero I am…

Jack: Uh, I don't know.

Noah: He's a DC Comics hero.

Jack: What's DC?

Noah: It's the people who make some of the characters. You know, like Spiderman is Marvel?

Jack: [blank stare]

Noah: Okay, here's another hint, he's the leader of Robin.

Jack: Robin!

Noah: No, he's the *leader* of Robin. Not the *answer* is Robin.

Jack: You mean Robin?

Noah: Uhhhhh! Okay, he has a foe named Joker.

Jack: What does "foe" mean?

Noah: "Foe" means someone who's bad and versus the good guy. {Can he verb the word "versus"?}

Jack: Oh, Joker!

Noah: No, his *foe* is Joker. Not the *answer* is Joker!

Jack: It's Joker!

Noah: Come on, Jack, he's the leader of Robin, he has a foe named Joker, and he's active at night.

Jack: You mean Robin's active at night? Or Joker's active at night.

Noah: Jack, his name starts with Bat and ends with Man.

Jack: Ummm….Joker!

Noah: No, it's Cat Woman, come on! {He's obviously inherited his daddy's sarcasm!}

Jack: Oh, Cat Woman! That's what I thought!

Noah: Uhhhhh! Jack, it's not Cat Woman. Is she the leader of Robin? No. He has pointy ears like this…boom!

Jack: Cat Woman!

Noah: HE, Jack, HE has pointy ears! Cat Woman is a SHE, not a HE! Here, I'll show you this action figure that looks like him…[holds up Batman figure] See?

Jack: OH, you mean Batman?!

Noah: Yes! You got it right, Jack! Great job!

Boys in the Floor

Could this baby be any happier?

Oh, the things you learn when you're #4 with 2 older brothers...he's an early reader ;) I think he's learning about "Amazing Snakes" here...
Smalling Boy v6.8, v4.0, v0.5

The cutest boys ever...7-8-08

...if not cuter.

Anger Management 7-7-08

This post is pretty straightforward...

Jack throws a fit:

Noah throws a fit:

Madeline's smart enough to act right when the camera's close by!

Yep, it's been an interesting summer!

My boys

My happy-ness (aka Noah) loves him some "electricity" (he means electronics), especially computer games. When he was in preschool, I was on the computer one time and he said, "Can you go to my place?" I had no idea what he was talking about, so he explained, "You know, www-dot-smalling-dot-com-slash-Noah". There is no such thing, but he was internet-savvy enough to know the formula anyway. Now that we have fast access, he gets to play games at pbskids-dot-org sometimes. Here he is concentrating very hard solving a mystery with Ruff Ruffman.

Although he loves his "electricity", Noah is also quite the reader, which of course makes mommy happy :) He really picked up reading quickly in Kindergarten and now is a pretty fast reader. He cracks me up because he reads most words very well, but just like his Uncle Philip used to do, he gets going so fast that when he comes to the occasional word he does not recognize, he looks at the first letter and then makes something up that starts with that letter and moves on. Although he needs to work on getting the new words right, it does bode well for his future reading abilities, because Uncle Philip is an extremely fast reader and LOVES reading. I'm so proud of my soon-to-be-first-grader!! (Please excuse the creepy looking, bare-chested "Adam"!)

My wacky Jack is wearing a shirt Noah made in preschool with his class's handprints. I thought this was a sweet and rare moment for him when he was (a) STILL, and (b) SEATED. Let's all take some deep breaths and enjoy this moment of silence...

Then there's this little Wookie:

We've finally found this blanket that works well for swaddling such a big, strong baby. I still can't figure out who he looks like. Apparently he's a good mix of all of us because no one can quite decide who he resembles most. Whoever he looks like, we just think he's the cutest thing we've ever seen!

*photos from Sunday, June 29, 2008*

Creepy Crawlies

We've hit the creepy crawly jackpot this spring. We brought the baby carrier/carseat home from Memaw and Grandaddy's garage and it was full of caterpillars! Noah is in little boy heaven. I especially like the one on the left, with the turquoise color. Noah names all of his caterpillars "Callie"...you know, like "callipillar"? Jack names his "Carl". I think we have the same 4 or 5 caterpillars that are discovered and then returned to the grass day after day.

And speaking of creepy crawlies, Noah caught three "houseflies" today with his bare hands. We're so proud.

Sailors, aliens, and siblings...oh my!

Jared was obviously not thrilled with this not-so-masculine outfit, but Jack kept reminding me that he looked "berry handsome". And he would not take off the hat!

He even kept the hat on when I changed his clothes!

"Wook, I a awien!" (alien) He gets so tickled because we act scared when he does this, that he can't really look all that scary...

...or maybe he can look scary...this picture is a little creepy!

The boys have been very sweet to each other lately. Well, in between the scuffling and the yelling. But aren't they precious?? Anytime I mention the baby, they get all sweet and lovey and say things like, "I'm a good big brother, right?" They sure are! (when they want to be)

I asked for a sweet picture of these two, which is normally no problem, but they thought it would be cuter to pretend to be fighting. I love it!

Boys

Sometimes they do this...(if they're upright, we consider it hugging and not fighting)

They usually carry these... And then other times, they find a piece of paper on the floor, wad it up, stick it under their arm and suck their thumb...
(Okay, for the record, only Jack does that!)

Playground Buddies

Monkeys in a tree

Could these brothers be cuter?? It's moments like this that I get excited about another BOY. And then I remember what life is USUALLY like! They annoy each other, but then they just have a good knock-down, drag-out and it's done. Jack is about to catch up with Noah size-wise (we're praying for a growth spurt for Noah-boy!) and is also just naturally more agressive. There are days when all I hear all day long is "Mom, Jack's trying to hurt me", which means anything from "Jack is SAYING he's going to hit me" to "Jack came within 10 feet of me and *I* interpret that to be aggression". Noah plays the victim well. I feel like I spend lots of my time investigating "potential" incidences. Usually, after a long day of worrying, Noah's fears come to nothing. Sometimes, though, his predictions come true, and Captain Jack DOES attack (usually with a hanger, used as his "hook"), Noah tackles him to the ground, Jack realizes he is NOT yet the alpha male, and things return to calm. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I just stripped 'em down and let 'em have it out first thing in the morning so we could side-step the whole "wanna fight?" scenario. Am I ready for MORE of this???

By the way, thank you for your prayers for me and our family. Please keep them coming. Things are going well and this little buddy won't give me a break from the kicking...a constant reassurance that he's in there doing fine, so I'm grateful for that. I try to keep the blog positive (for the most part) because it would be so easy to just vent here and dig myself into self-pity. I guess positive self-centeredness (as if my kids are the only cute ones in the world) is better than negative self-centeredness. Maybe I should work on focusing on others altogether...but not today. I have so much to be thankful for and find that when I reflect on that, and rejoice in the many blessings in my life, including Ruby's short little life, and this new little life, too, I feel less self-pity. And that is ALWAYS a good thing. Really, you have no idea how much your prayers lift us and keep us going. It's almost like God knew what He was doing when He told us to bear one another's burdens! Praise Him!

Home for the holiDAY

We're out of school today for MLK Day and it was perfect timing. Maddy woke up at 6 this morning, sick from both ends, if you know what I mean. So, she gets the couch in the living room. She wouldn't get on it until I had made it up like a bed...sheets covering everything, including pillows, and a quilt. She made it for several hours without incident, even drinking some lemonade Gatorade. Then I suggested a few saltines and she talked me into goldfish instead. I should have known better. Five minutes later, she was back at square one. Still holding down Gatorade, though, so we'll just stick to that for a while. She's being good about it...She hasn't been whiny or complaining. Guess she doesn't feel good enough for that. Poor baby!

So the boys have been relegated to the "downstairs" (it's the original one-car garage that was converted to a den/mudroom/playroom...it's down 2 1/2 steps from the kitchen, but when we moved here the kids started calling it the downstairs, so that's what it is) with its one recliner. They made do as they settled in to watch "Curious George" together with their pirate sheet and shared pillow.

This lasted all of about 5 minutes, because Noah (can't you see the mischief in his eye) wouldn't stay in one position. Little Jack just wanted to suck his thumb and be good, but soon got caught up in the action and it was a full-out rough-and-tumble wrestling match. And we're in for MORE of this?? Prayers (and monetary donations toward my mental health care) are appreciated.

Pink Princess

The great Maddy's room makeover is finally complete...well, until we have to move the crib in there in a few months, once he outgrows the bassinet/pack-n-play/carseat/boppy (our babies have slept in lots of things--WHATEVER works!). But here are the pictures. I took the first two, she took the rest. She also took lots of other hilarious close-ups of random things in her room...and of herself sneezing, coughing, and some nostril shots...she cracks me up! But she wouldn't let me post those...

Dani made the bedding and curtains...

*"Over the Moon" pink toile coverlet, toile pillow sham trimmed in pink/green stripe, pink/green stripe bedskirt, plus throw pillows sewn by Maddy; curtains in white w/green polkadots, trimmed with toile, cording in pink/green stripe* The wardrobe in the 2nd picture was Jared's grandmother's. His parents had it stripped and refinished a few years ago for us.

Maddy's "Ba.rbie" house...we already had this but cleaned it up and found cute wooden dollhouse furniture at Ta.rget...cheaper than a Ba.rbie Dream House...and hopefully will last longer!

Madeline's doll corner...Sam.antha meets Kathleen McKenzie...they get along well!
The boys did not get a makeover (maybe when baby brother moves in eventually!), but for now they were excited about the pirate sheets I found at Ros.s Dres.s for Less for $7.99! (yes, for FULL size sheets!)Jack got Mag.tastiks for Christmas (thanks, Willow!) and he made this "Minja Wight Saver" (ninja light saber). He can't pick it up or it falls apart (because he won't settle for it being 4 sticks long, which would hold together; he wants it exactly this height), but he will build it and then stand holding it as long as someone else is in the room to talk to. He looks like a little old man with his cane...especially with the slightly nutty (ok, REALLY nutty) grin he's sporting...
Noah was proud of the "weights" he built out of the Mag.tastiks...not sure how he even knows what weights are, since he's certainly never heard his parents mention them, much less use them! Probably from Tom & Jerry...the kid is a walking cartoon! And proud of how strong he is. I asked how much they weighed and he said, "TEN pounds!" like that was unbelievably heavy. He also said he could do, "like, one hundred and five" curls, which he proceeded to demonstrate...until he got bored counting. Anyone else with a kindergartener...does yours make everything "one hundred" and something? Noah does and I remember Madeline doing it too. That's just still the largest number he can think of, I guess, but it's amusing to me. Of course, I'm easily amused...
Madeline documented almost everything in her room...for insurance purposes, I'm sure! :-)