Sunday morning at the pond

I took the boys and Joey fishing today. We had a really nice time until Chris fell in. The water is only a foot deep there, but he was leaning in to grab a water spider and fell in face first. He came up drenched from head to toe.

He initially vowed never to go fishing again, but admitted that he was having fun up until he fell in. We had some hot chocolate with lunch when we got home. That seemed to make everything better.

The Texas Eppleys

Reading with Mimi
Originally uploaded by mandy&john

Mimi and Granddaddy have arrived for a couple days. Nothing special planned, just a couple days of visiting. Chris has already shown off all his birthday presents and is now at the park with them while his brother naps and I get some work done.

Squishing through the snow

IMG_3107
Originally uploaded by mandy&john

Last year the first snow was in October, but you still can't call this a late snow. There are leaves left on trees and some are even green.

When the boys woke up, we brought them to the window and showed them the snow. Alex said: "I want my raincoat!' They were outside in the snow until I dragged them in for breakfast almost an hour later.

After school Chris was collecting the last bits of snow and making snowballs. He didn't want Alex to destroy them, so he locked Alex in the fenced part of the yard anf built his collection outside of the fence. He wasn't too mean, though. He would put a snowball under the fence for Alex whenever he asked for one.

When I brought them in for lunch. Chris put his last snowball in the freezer.

Chris is wearing the same snowsuit and boots as last year. I just found them in the attic last night. The new gear is on order at REI, so he has to squeeze into these for now. Thei prompted Chris to say, "I love it when my boots squish me, but not when my friends do."

Crazy weekend

Alex at Liam's birthday
Originally uploaded by mandy&john

In addition to Chris' 4th birthday party on Saturday, we also spent Saturday evening at his school's fall festival and a few hours Sunday at a cousin's birthday. For two out of three, we showed up without costumes to a costume party.

Chris' party was a success. We invited everyone out to Tangerini's farm for a hay ride and pumpkin painting. A few of his classmates came from about 45 minutes away. One of the bonuses was the indoor (partially) hay-bale maze. We outfitted the guests (and a few other children who just happened to be vising the farm at the same time) with flashlights and they disappeared into the hay for about 30 minutes. Hay is an amazing insulator and it was quiet for most of that time except the few seconds it took the pack of kids to emerge at one entrance and disappear into the other.

This picture of Alex is from Liam's birthday after the piñata. Alex dove into the candy scrum and picked out all the Dum-Dums he could find. He got us to open them all; then he held them all in one hand for the rest of the day.

After two days of candy, birthday cake, and a dessert heavy pot-luck, we were wiped out on Sunday and spent the evening watching the Pats and/or the Sandlot.

Bee in trouble

Bee in trouble
Originally uploaded by mandy&john

The other morning, we found a bee caught in a spider web. The spider, maybe a tenth the size of the bee, was attempting to apply more silk to the bee without getting too close. It had managed to get one wing and the stinger pretty well covered, but was still keeping its distance. I guess it figured it could wait the bee out.

After I took this picture, I sat down to work on the patio with the boys chasing imaginary butterflies with the nets they got for Easter. Soon, though, I could hear Chris explaining the situation to his brother. "Alex, the bee is caught in the spider web. Alex, the spider is going to eat the bee."

That was soon followed by, "Daddy! Alex caught a bee!"

"Oh?" I said barely looking up from my laptop. "With his net?"

"No! Hand!"

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me that Chris has been stung 8 times in the last 2 years while his brother will go grab a bee and get nothing.

"I Eat"

As I ate dinner with the boys the other night, without John, I was trying to make conversation.

Mandy: "Chris, it looks like Baby Alex is enjoying his dinner, don't you think?"
Chris: "Alex is not a baby. Alex, are you a baby?"
Alex: "No."
Chris: "Alex, are you a little boy?"
Alex: "No."
Chris (quizzically): "Then what are you, Alex?"
Alex: "I eat!"

True enough.

Baby Chicks

Eggs
Originally uploaded by mandy&john

More from Silver Spruce...

Chris came home weeks ago explaining that they had an incubator at school, then a few days later, that there were eggs in the incubator. At the Mother's Day Tea I got to see the eggs, and Chris stole the camera to take this picture of them. Today when I picked him up he was more excited than normal. Most of the chicks hatched last night, but one of them waited for his class today. He said Miss Diane called him over to see the baby chick "using his egg tooth" to climb out of the egg, and then how it walked, jumped and rubbed against the other chicks. Pretty exciting for a little guy - I'm pretty sure I've never seen a chick egg hatch myself!