piano recital

I just have photos from outside after my recital, these flowers were from a student of mine, who was so thoughtful to get them for me.
The day started roughly with me forgetting the tag on my shirt all the way into the pew in church... whoops... but it got much nicer with a lunch that had been prepared for us, and with a large crowd showing up for the recital. 62 people in all came, and all ten performers did well. we had some refreshments afterwards in the foyer, and everyone commented on how well the recital went. I was happy, because I've never planned and executed anything on my own.
So I'm feeling much more confident and actually looking forward to next years recital, knowing that it really ISN'T that hard!
and I got some great pics from my friend Sheila of Carson after the program!

easter egg hunt

we went on our first easter egg hunt in New Bedford with Sheila and her girls. The kids had a great time together, they always do!
Carson gathered a large number of eggs, and ended up winning a basket. he had a choice of motorcycles or squirt guns, and without even thinking about it he chose the guns. what IS it with boys and guns?? their favorite toys from christmas were their cap guns from Uncle Jon and Angela. even AFTER the caps were all used up. every few days I still hear "putchurHands UP!" and see twinkling eyes behind that irritating red plastic barrel.
Logan was more concerned about getting the eggs back where they came from at first, but caught on after a moment. He was much more impressed with the Easter bunny that he got to take pictures with later. he kept hugging the bunny gently and slowly placing his hand on bunny's nose. it was so funny. he was absolutely enthralled!

we love bath time in our house. I had my camera really close and couldn't help taking a few blackmail shots of the boys just for fun. They love the pictures now, and laughed at themselves being naked when they saw them on the screen, but I have a feeling that that day will pass soon enough.
these boys are growing up so quickly. its amazing really, how little tiny babies transform into toddlers, who then transform into boys and then eventually into adults... its crazy really. our creator really has an imagination!

Carson's prayer

"dear heavenly father, fank you for the beautiful day, and fank you for for being able to play outside. fank you for the sun and the moon, and for night time too. and fank you for making all of us, mommy and daddy and all of my family. fank you for our food.
Fank you for everything that you give to us and do for us. and fank you for making hell for all the bad people, and for making heaven for the good people."
*NOTE* none of this was taught to him by us, he just listens really well in church and thinks things through by himself a LOT! I almost didn't publish this... but wanted to remember it!

the white cable guy

We had another great conversation at breakfast this morning, with Carson wondering about why we will have moved three times in our life when we move again. (I don't even know why this is coming up because we have no plans to move anytime soon.)
Carson wanted to know if our cable guy will let us have a dog or a cat in our next house. I told him that the cable guy doesn't care if we do or don't. it will be up to us if we own our own house. we then talked about owning vs renting. Carson wanted to know who it was that fixed our TV last, I think that he thought that our landlord had come to fix it or something. he said that whoever fixed the TV doesn't want us to have any pets. That led to the question that comes up often enough for me to wonder why- "Mommy, what color is he?" "white" I told him. "but why does it matter to you what color his skin is? it doesn't make any difference about who he is at all."
"that's right." Carson said thoughtfully, "we all have white bones."

christmas

I'll have to upload the pics from my camera to add here.. I'm just too tired to do it. I've been back from a really nice trip back home for a few days now and am WIPED still. although the fact that its midnight and I'm still awake with no chance for sleep for a while yet may have something to do with the exhaustion that I am now experiencing. possibly it could also have been induced by a nice bubble bath- complements of my great girl Erin... Lush products are always a girls best relaxing friends.
Either way, I am now tired and find myself killing time until this football game is over and the (big) boys quiet down so I can go to sleep. Although I am starting to eye up the ear plugs that Logan bought for daddy for christmas for those afternoon naps that never are quite as restful as they should be- with all of the roughhousing that goes on in this place between my two littlest guys. *SIGH* will it always be this way in my house for years to come? should I forgo the shower and bubble bath, join the arsenal of guys in my living room, scarf down a few extra pieces of pizza and get into the game? not that I don't like football. I do like football... its just that I only like to watch one team because I know their players now. and they are having a great unbeaten historic season, so every game is a good one it seems. I just find myself wondering if life would be different if I had a little girl in this household with me. of course I don't want to have any more children at this point in life, so its all speculation. tired speculation. can one child make that much of a difference? could all the testosterone in this place be offset by one more body with some extra estrogen? it would still be a 4 to 2 ratio, and on nights like this the scale would be drastically one sided still. I suppose I should just have some more girl nights out.

my brain...

We made cookies together the other day, shortbreads and gingberbreads. Carson helped quite a lot, so he got to eat quite a few! after he got tired of helping and I had to go on to some pies the boys watched some TV, and I baked. for over two hours. When Carson came back into the kitchen I asked him how his day was going. he said it was going well. I said sorry for not spending very much time with him today.
He said: "that's okay mommy. sometimes I just don't want to spend lots of time with my family anyways."
I asked him what he likes to do when he doesn't want to be spending time with us.
"oh, anything really." he said. "lots of things like skateboarding, rollerskating, those kinds of things. when I do those things I don't really like to spend time with my family."

We were talking later, near dinner time, and Carson had been asking for more cookies. (which he was denied...) He got a funny look on his face and said:
"I don't know why, but my brain keeps making me miss my Nana. It does it all the time. My brain keeps making it happen." I told him that it wasn't really his brain, it was more his heart. "why does my heart make me miss my Nana?" he asked. I told him that it was because he loves his Nana. "I do love her a lot." he said.
"mommy," he continued, "my brain is making me want to eat junk food too. I want to eat things that are good for my body, but my brain really likes junk food and makes me want to eat it all the time. I always want to eat cookies and chocolate and everything. I don't know why my brain does that."

fav quouts Dec 07

Logan
"Wook at DAT!"
,
"mommy, your my BEST Fwend."

"daddy- you wanna piece-a-me?"

"Cahson, can't catch me!!"

"I peed a Dora and Boots." (wearing a Dora pullup and forgot to use the potty)

"I play baskaball, football touchdown, SEE YA! soccah..."

"its a beautiful day to go beach..." (mommy) "REaLLY?" "NOOH! silly..."

" lets pray. pray DADDY, pray Cahson, Nana, Papa, Daniel, Gwandma, Gwandpa, Mommy, Daddy, Daniel...Daddy, Asa, Natalie...."

"can we read SolomonJohn?"

CARSON:

"I wanna tell you a joke. actually TWO jokes.
I'd like three crabby patties with a drink and TWO STUPIDS!!"

"heres another one. I'm so funny I CRACK MYSELF UP!!"

"thanks mom. you're the best of the best."

"thanks auntie Natalie for the gift. Auntie Natalie? you know what would make me feel really really happy? even more happy than this? MORE PRESENTS."

"Logan, you are completely destructive. you destruct EVERYTHING."

"mom, when we move we can get a dog. lets get a new house this week."

one small trip in a blizzard...

Carson spent the past few days at his grandparent's in New Bedford, and I decided to go get him on Thursday morning. (I missed him!) the only thing was that the weather was calling for some snow, so I left in the morning. the snow started half way there, and by 11:30 cars were slowed down to 35 miles an hour in a 65 zone, and visibility was way down. it took Mom Mendes 2 hours to get to U Mass and back- which is usually a 15 minute round trip ... and by that time there was no attempting the trip home.
so we spent the night and made sugar cookies with Grandma after a good snowball fight with Sheila and her kids.

he's 4!!

or almost four... but Carson doesn't know the date so this early birthday party constitutes his "change in numbers" to his inquisitive little mind.
Today we had a discussion as to why it is we are having a birthday party for him, Daddy telling him that it is because we love him that we are doing something nice for him and throwing him a birthday party. we reminded him to be thankful for what he is getting and not to just expect things because its his birthday.
Carson said "but its my birthday. when you have a birthday you have a party."
we asked why and he answered:
"everybody is a number. some people are turning 0, some are turning 3 or 4, some are turning 8, 9, or 10... and when anybody turns to another number what you do is have a party. you have to have a party when you turn to another number. I'm turning 4. I need to turn 4. so I need to have a party to turn 4!"
So we had a great party, his grandparents were here, along with aunt Natalie (who bought a great cake again... he asked for the same one as Logan had, so he got a duplicate spiderman and was thrilled!) and Micah, Sheila and her kids were here, along with Cynthia and Francesca.
Carson got some awesome toys (thanks everyone!) and couldn't believe his eyes when he opened his SKATEBOARD. now this skateboard has been prayed for for the past 2 months solid- every single day. he found it in our closet and thought it was daddy's.. so when he opened it along with his helmet and knee pads, he kept saying "I'm so happy mom, I'm so happy with this!" and was so excited to go skateboarding with dad. we had to explain that the skateboard he found in our closet wasn't in fact dad's, it was his being hidden until his birthday. Once he wrapped his head around that one he laughed and told grandma that it was pretty funny that he thought it was his daddy's.
after a long day of cleaning up his toys and the table in anticipation of the presents that were to come after cake, he played with all the great car toys he got, and of course his skateboard, and then promptly fell asleep on grandma's lap for a good hour. :)

20 days till christmas!!

so it has been a fun week. Carson has decided he can do anything he believes that he can do- telling me that he's telling me the truth and will prove it to me if I'll just take him to the north pole to go skating. or just to an ice rink. that would work too.
he has decided that he likes to talk on the phone and just spent over an hour on the phone with my parents. BY HIMSELF. yeah. no kidding.
He's also been asking for a skateboard for a very long time, every day he prays for one, and he asks me every morning if we could just buy one so that we can go skateboarding together.
He went to my room to watch cartoons in my bed one cold morning while the heat was warming the place up... he saw his hotwheels skateboard peeking out of the closet... and then thought that it was dad's! he excitedly showed me the coolest thing that Daddy owns, pointing from afar and saying that it was amazing that it came with knee pads and everything. he said "Mom, I wish I had a cool skateboard just like daddy's. then we could go skateboarding TOGETHER."
apparently he hasn't put the fact that his birthday is a week away and that he's never seen daddy skateboard before in his life... hopefully he'll still be surprised.
Logan is potty training in full force- on his own! I'll help him onto the potty whenever I think of it, but whenever he has the urge to go now he just takes his little self over to the big potty and maneuvers himself onto it and does his business. I think that the draw for him is the toilet paper. we've gone through many many rolls in the past few days... :) we've had some talks though, and now he is using less. he also pretends to be blowing his nose every time I catch him with some in his hand as well. he says "I blow my nose." with a cheeky grin as he flushes it down.
We're also in learning mode with Carson, who is starting to sound out letters and putting them into words. he read the word "fun" and "ball" and "look" today, and spelled "cat" "bat" "rat" and "fat" the other day... all with only a little help from me! I was so proud of my little guy.
so now to get myself into holiday mode and finish up some shopping... or at least get some good ideas formulated ?...

what a day!

today was a nice stay at home day, nothing to be done really, just made some pies and have plans to go out with a friend for coffee tonight. The boys have been fairly well behaved today- with the exception of Logan's strong willed and destructive behavior... but that is just normal now. Logan clogged one toilet with paper today, and almost clogged a second, tore a leaf off my palm tree (which is my pride and joy...) broke multiple crayons into pieces, dumped out a basket of folded laundry, and stuck his hand into my freshly cooled blueberry pie.
but that's not what I'm writing about tonight. those things happen with most active two year olds (right?? tell me I'm not the only one...?)
Tonight at dinner I was sitting with Logan as he finished his vegetables while Carson and daddy were already in the midst of their nightly wrestling match. Logan was eating quickly so he could go join in, when -as usual- he got distracted with the fun he creates with that amazing little brain of his.
he held up a snap pea and said "FWEEZE! PUT CHA HANDS UP! FWEEZE!!"
I said "what are you gonna do?"
He looked at his pea pod and squeezed once, drew his eyebrows together and thought for a second. "Maybe its broken." he said quietly.

Carson also had a great day, today he learned how to spell CAT, HAT, BAT, and FAT.
I couldn't think of any other easily spelled "AT" words. he sounded each out, and even wrote FAT out on his own. I was so proud of him!
we also had a great discussion about policemen and when they put people in jail.
He wanted to know if people get arrested for stopping at green lights, or for driving when its a red light. I told him that they wouldn't get arrested for that, they'd probably just be told to pay attention, or be given a ticket.
Carson then wanted to know what kinds of things people get put in jail for.
We talked about people getting into trouble for stealing things, and people going to jail for killing other people, or for beating other people up, which is assault. Carson said quickly "well I guess the police aren't paying attention when I beat my brother up then, 'cause I've never gone to jail and I beat him up all the time."
I hugged my honest little brute and told him the virtues of wrestling for fun and warned him not to hurt his brother on purpose ever. he's still not sure if he should go to jail or not... but as I write this he's horsing around with daddy, and isn't too concerned about the police at all.

sketchy sculpting

This weekend we had our thanksgiving dinner together at Mom and Dad Mendes' house. The meal was amazing, as is now tradition- with Jeff's Italian meatballs and pasta, Rachael's turkey sausage stuffing, Natalie's creamy cheesey green bean casserole, Cynthia's twice baked potatoes and the best turkey I've ever eaten... Mom's BOMB-(layered chocolate cake, snickers bars, chocolate pudding, and whipped cream) and my homemade pies... and so much more that I don't have time to record...
We ate our feast, and spent a few hours enjoying being together, watching Rachael and Jeff's wedding video- which was awesome- and laughing together at all the funny parts- Daniel's crazy dance moves, Dad Mendes' dance moves... and then there was the play-do.
Carson and Francesca had been having a great time together, they love being around each other so much. they opened gifts from Rachael and Jeff, and one of the gifts was a set of play-do. Francesca decided to make a doughnut, and Carson -for whatever reason, or possibly for no reason at all- decided to make a snake. not any snake, actually, but a one-eyed snake. we all looked at each other for a second, and then burst out laughing. Francesca's dad points out that all snakes have two eyes, and if she ever meets one with less than two she should run. then he makes her a teddy bear out of play-do. our little artists kept on playing, and both ended up with great works of art. we ended up with cramps from laughing so hard.
*everyone in my household denies ever teaching my son about one-eyed snakes. this matter is still under investigation.

Logan is 2!!

Logan's birthday party went well, he had fun playing with his cousins and aunts and uncles that were here. he got lots of great toys and clothes, thanks everyone! and had the coolest cake ever. He kept showing everyone over to the table and saying "look! its spiderman! and look there- its spiderman!"
he is growing up so fast, its hard to remember when he was a bald baby that went to bed without crying... now he's got a full head of hair (almost!) and jumps the coop every time we put him down. He's such a handful, and such a joy at the same time- its hard to know whether to be stern or just laugh at his antics most days. generally we end up laughing whether we want to or not, our little Logan is growing into a clown- cracking a joke at every occasion that presents itself, making a face to see what the reaction to it will be, or copying the things he hears Daddy and uncle Dan say when they watch football - "see YA, its GONE, see ya, TOUCHDOWN! a football touchdown!"
sigh... I thought that this toddler stage would last for so long... and its already slipped away! I have two little boys now, who are quickly growing into smart big boys- how did this already happen?! I'm still looking forward to being done with diapers, but when he's old enough to be potty trained will he be too old to talk to his stuffed animals at night- calling his goofy doll mickey mouse and laughing when goofy acts offended... too old to be giving kisses freely to anyone who is close to his heart... too old to say "I love you too, mom" throughout the day when it hasn't even been said first... too old for that hug that is so tight and sweet it makes you tear up every time...
...maybe I'll keep the diapers just in case.

Carson and his 100th haircut...

okay so not quite, but this kids hair grows so fast he is always looking shaggy. I was waiting to have his aunt Natalie do it again, but we have both been busy lately, so it wasn't looking like it was going to be soon. The last straw was the other night when the kids were in the bathtub and Carson was laying on his back swinging his head back and forth in the water saying : "my hair is just like a mermaid!"
and indeed it was- long and flowing around his head like mermaid locks.
So we got out of the tub and cut a good inch and a half off it, probably more.
He is thrilled with it, and it'll do until Natalie touches it up for me. :)

bible school

tonight at dinner we had an in-depth story time with Carson. He thought Nate had been at Bible school this afternoon, when he was really taking a test at work. Carson then proceeded to tell a long tale of how he himself went to a bible school named Nastestavonies that was just for kids, drove himself, and had a great day playing football. Nathan had a long conversation questioning him about the intricacies of how the day went.
Nate said "you drove yourself there in the Jimmy?"
Carson: "yeah."
Nate: "well, you can't drive a car yet, so how did you get there?"
Carson: "well, I guess I was just joking. I walked."
Nate "well, you aren't allowed to cross the street by yourself, so how did you get there?"
Carson: "well, it was just on the same side of the street, I didn't have to cross it."
Nate: " where was it? "
Carson: " in East Bridgewater, on East Brockton Road."
Nate : "well, East Bridgewater is on the other side of the road, so how did you get there?"
Carson "well, a guy just drove me to the other side of the road."

Nate: "you know you aren't allowed to go with strangers don't you?"

Carson: "yeah, I don't remember how I got to the other side I guess."

Nate "so, how many kids were in your class?"
Carson: "eight, but there were nine downstairs."

Nate: " so you must have met some of the kids in your class, what were their names?"
Carson: "I only made one friend. just one."
Nate "what is your friends name?
Carson "Scott."
Nate "oh yeah? what is Scott like?"
Carson "he's brown."
Nate "what color hair does he have?"
Carson " black. " (looking up directly at Nathan's black hair as he speaks,)
Nate "what color eyes does he have?"
Carson " blue"

I asked "what color shirt was he wearing?"
Carson "green" as he looks at my green shirt, without missing a beat.
Nathan "what is Scott's last name?"
Carson "Bott.:
Nathan " Scott Bott?"
Carson " yeah. Scott Bott."

The conversation went on to reveal that the school had a lady teacher that he didn't know the name of, was white in color with nine legs that didn't have shoes, but sandals on their feet.
The legs purpose were to keep the school up when there were too many kids inside.
after telling Nathan that he could go and check for himself to see that this bible school really does exist on East Brockton street in East Bridgewater, and not backing down from his story for a good 10 minutes... Carson finally smiled and said "I'm just joking, there really isn't a bible school. I tricked you!"
by this time my cheek muscles were sore from the suppressed smiles and smothered laughter, and I was glad to have his charade over... as funny as it was. I'll never be surprised after this at how quick a child's mind can be, and how vivid their imagination. but then again, tomorrow is always a new day with new surprises!

visiting away

we're having a great time at my parent's house for the week, only a few days left before we head home. my little guys are loving all the attention, but lacking on some sleep time... we'll catch up back home. we've visited family in Enfield, which was great, church family in Milford, where the kids foot raced from one side of the sanctuary to the other- so cute having a lot of little ones together.
We spent the night with Patrick and April at their house, and the boys really enjoyed their dog, Cona. April took the day off to spend the day with us, and we had a great trip to Erin and Genes, Cathy's for lunch, Joanne's for a quick visit with little Michael.
We had some amazing dishes at sarah's place that night- I found out that I do like blue cheese, and that Carson doesn't like eggplant. Logan, being Logan, ate everything and loved it. However, when Sarah made a thai dish - a spin off butter chicken with rice... we found out how much Carson wasn't a fan. he sat for 30 minutes while we ate, and ate around 3 bites the entire time. We made a deal that he would go to bed and finish his food when he woke up, which he was really happy about. he woke up and spent the next two and a half hours holding rice in his cheeks, until I finally felt bad enough for him that I just took it away... he still only got half of it down. I told him that that wouldn't happen again- if he is given something he needs to eat it. he looked me in the eyes and said "okay mommy, but could you please never make that again?" so cute.
Logan has been entertaining, asking everyone if they know what he's thinking, and then saying "I'm finkin, go to the beach! with STICKERS." makes no sence at all, but he laughs as if he's said the funniest thing ever!
he's also taken to calling Jon Josh- he prays every night before he goes to sleep, prays for Mommy, Carson, Daddy, Nana, papa, Sewa (sarah) daniel, and JOSH. lol. so funny.
I've been enjoying having my dad around, he fixed various things that were wrong with my car, and even got new tires for it ! he's a great guy to have around.
mom has been spoiling us with turkey dinners, butter tarts and meatballs... its great. I miss home!!

"so why do you still call me 3??"

Carson has been wanting to grow up desperately so that he can join the big guys in football and basketball. One day after being told he couldn't play basketball with Daniel and Josh, he came to me more than a little frustrated.
"mom," he began with a frown on his face and determination in his voice,
"Every day I try so hard to be a big boy. I clean my room, I do my work. I eat my food and drink my water. And every day when I go to Ikea, they tell me at the playplace that I am getting so big, and getting to be a big boy. SO WHY DO YOU STILL CALL ME THREE???"
I tried hard not to laugh straight in his face, and explained that three years old lasts for an entire year which is a long time. I explained that he is almost four, and that he is getting to be very big and he is doing well with his chores. He wasn't satisfied.
He asked again why I was always going to call him three, and reminded me again that he was doing his best to grow up, and then proceeded to sit down at the piano and compose a song.
He played a few notes low, and then a few notes high. he started by singing about how the trees change, how the leaves change, about swimming in his pool, and now its too cold to do that too. He sang about how if he could change "something into something else" then he would be really big and grown up. He sang "I could let you play my tuba, yeah yeah, I could let you play my trombone, yeah yeah. but its really big, yeah yeah, and it has lots of buttons. You have to be strong to play it, yeah yeah"
he sang about the shows that he likes and dislikes on TV, and when he was finished, he got up and asked to go outside like nothing had happened.
he's my little minstrel I guess- with a good touch on the piano, and a great head for lyrics-and I still call him three.

the whole Mendes family

whack that thang!!