It's Remarkable Really

I just went to ILookLikeYou.com where you can upload a photo of yourself and they will find your twin. I snapped a picture of the laptop's webcam and they matched me with the person who looks most like me.
And ohmygosh I can barely tell us apart.


LOL!

Hoping They Get That From Me

I play the piano. Sort of.
I took lessons for 8 years anyway and I still like to plink away on it. Piano was never something that came naturally to me - I definitely had to work at it, but I AM glad that my parents made me take lessons all those years and that I still have the ability to read music.
The piano is oftentimes a source of headaches in our household, because the boys will frequently bang on it. Bang their toys on it, slam their hands down on it, do anything they can to make the most wretched noises come from that instrument as they possibly can. Usually during Tyler's nap.
But yesterday....YESTERDAY, Owen actually sat down at the piano, gently placed his fingers on the keys and played Mozart. Just kidding.
But that would've been cool.
But he DID gently place his fingers on the keys, "break" his wrists softly down and press the keys with each finger (occasionally making a harmony or two) and "played" the piano. And i thought to myself, "gosh, I hope he can play the piano like I did"

Now, playing a musical instrument isn't exactly a character trait that I hope my child(ren) gain from me, but it was a nice intro into today's topic, don't you agree? :)

After Steve and I discussed last week the things that we hope our children DON'T learn from us, which I subsequently blogged about (great comments from readers, thank you by the way), we also discussed the things that we hope our kids DO gain from us. What are our best qualities, the things that we hope they "inherit" from us - naturally or from our gentle guidance.

There are many things I hope our boys pick up from Steve...and many things that I see glimpses of even now: AJ's gentle spirit and nurturing side is a trait I see in my spouse, Owen's cautiousness and well-thought out decisions remind me of Steve-o. We also frequently laugh at how Owen takes so long to wake up in the mornings and is such a grump in the process - like his daddy, but oops...I guess we're talking about the good things about us that they inherit.

I hope our boys learn from Steve his questioning mind, his restless spirituality, his personable character. I hope they see his constant wrestle with God and know that it's okay to ask questions, it's okay to be real, that life is a constant journey. I hope they pick up his ability to relate to almost anyone, to befriend any person, to love all people. Steve is (usually) calm and levelheaded in a fight, quick to realize when he's in the wrong, and rational along the journey - I hope they notice these qualities when we disagree and adopt them as their own. He is a good dad, invested in his children's lives and sacrificial of his time and own desires just to be with them. I know they will realize this more and more as they grow older and will be good fathers themselves because of it.

These are just a few of the many things I hope our boys learn from their father. I wrote them down because I know Steve wouldn't have written them himself.

What do you hope your children learn from YOU? From your spouse?

Toot your own horn, brag on your spouse, let's hear what things you want them to learn from you. Can't wait to hear it.....

For the Cousins....

After laughing loudly over the apparently hilarious (???) video of Robby and Johnny goofing off with the camera, O and A were inspired to make their own.
Little boys are weird.
This one's for you, Robby and Johnathan.

He Keeps Me Busy....

...just like his brothers do. Why would I think that he would be any different from the other two?? Maybe it's just boys in general, but I could swear that MY boys get into more things that the average kid. :)
I trust that MAYBE God will one day bless me with a lovely and demure female child, who likes to color quietly and look at books all day while listening to Mozart.
But then again, that's not as fun, is it??

Buckle Up! - an Aydenism

On our way to the grocery store a few hours ago, I sat in the back next to AJ.

AJ, looking over at me: Mama! You hafta buckle your seatbelt.

Me: oh yeah! You're right (I buckled it up)

AJ: Because if you don't (whispering) the PO-LICE will come get you.

Me: (whispering) And what will they do to me?

AJ: (still whispering) They'll take you to the dentist

Me: Oh, right.

I Hope They're NOT Like Me.....

Everyone carries with them remnants of their parents due to their upbringing. And I'm not just talking about those moments when you realize in horror that I sound exactly like my mother. Through our observations as children and adolescents -- about our parents' marriage, conflict resolution, communication, parenting styles, values, ethics, etc -- without ever knowing it, our parents taught us volumes through their actions and attitudes about a myriad of things. Good, bad, or indifferent.....these "lessons" are now a part of who WE are, and the consequences can be fabulous......or not.

Think your spouse is great at conflict resolution? Wonder how she stays so calm and collected and rational during a fight? Maybe it's because her parents modeled an excellent form of communication and healthy resolution for her to learn from and thus, it's the only way she knows. Ever wonder why your husband is infuriated when you say you'll be there at 5:00 and you show up 7 minutes late?? Maybe it's because his mom/dad made promises about being somewhere and consistently broke those promises, arriving late, or never at all.

These are just examples, but I find it interesting - the residual effects (good or bad) that our parents pass on to us. I often times find myself wondering: "why does that make me so mad?" or "why does that (seemingly small thing) hurt me so deeply?" and after thinking about it, can say - "oh yeah...because when I was growing up, ___fill in the blank____"

About a week ago, Steve and I were sitting at the table after dinner and we started talking about the character traits that we hope our children will NOT gain from us. We all like to observe the things in our children that ARE like us - it's great to have pieces of you living on in the next generation.
"Oh, he has your eyes"
"He's an artist just like you"
"I hope she plays basketball like I did"

But what about things like:
"I hope she has a better respect for authority than I do"
"I hope he's more driven than I am"
"I don't want him to struggle with addiction like I do"
"I hope he respects his wife more than I do"
"I hope he has a better control over his anger than I do"

It's a good thing to think about, because it requires action on our part. Number one on that second list there?? That was one of mine (Note I said ONE).
For a number of reasons, I generally don't have a lot of respect for authority figures. But what happens when Owen comes home from school feeling like his teacher was unfair to him. And what if she was?? Do I express outrage over the unfairness, confirm his suspicions, verbally "bash" her, vow to make things right and avenge my poor child?? Or do I insist that Owen respect his teacher and her authority, and then speak with her privately about the matter? What lessons will I teach my son about respect and authority through my own lack of it??

Hubby and I came up with several things - things we don't want them to learn from ourselves, things we don't want them to learn from the other. It was interesting to hear the things that Steve thought about ME, from his perspective, because some of them hadn't even crossed my mind. And I could see the surprise on his face when he asked me "what do you hope they don't learn from ME?" because I could tell that the first thing that popped out of my mouth hadn't even crossed his mind.

WARNING: REQUEST FOR HONESTY AND "REAL-NESS" COMING:

Care to share?? What do you hope your child(ren) - current or future - DON'T learn from you?? What flaws do YOU need to work on so that your kids won't adopt them from you? Or, if you're kids are grown (or older), what things do you wish they hadn't already learned?
Don't be afraid to be honest - we are ying and yang - nobody's perfect and we all know that there's bad to balance your good - tell us so that maybe other's can learn from you, and respect you for your humanity.

I'd like to hear your opinions, but even if you don't want to delve your darkest character flaws, think about it - discuss with your partner - work for change so you can be a better parent. That's what's most important anyway.

Food for thought on a Friday morning. :)

Tomorrow or Sunday we'll talk about the flip side of it - the good things about you that you hope your children become. :)

Allegories Anyone?

I'm feeling in a Chronicles of Narnia mood this morning. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE that series of novels...and the subsequent movies??
I have?? About 35 times? Oh, okay then.


"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." --Mr. Beaver to the Pevensie Children - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight.
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more.
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death.
And when he shakes his mane, it will be spring again. (LWW)

˜You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve" said Aslan.
"And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor in earth."

"Every day you grow you will find Me bigger" - Aslan to Lucy in Prince Caspian

All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
The final words of The Chronicles of Narnia.

Steve - 1, Tammi - 0

Have you ever had a showdown with your spouse.....without them ever knowing about it??

I've been having one with Steve for the past 3 weeks.
Over cleaning our bathroom.

I clean the bathrooms. Save for the occassional, "someone's coming over, go clean the bathroom really quick" - bathroom responsibilites are "my job". Not to say that Steve doesn't do gross jobs around here too....he cleans out the fridge every couple of days, regularly does the dishes, and takes care of the cat litter ("his job"). But a few weeks ago, I got to thinking: Dang it, why am I always the one to clean the nasty bathrooms?? Coming from a household with 4 boys in it...you can imagine the state of our bathrooms. I figured that since my trips to the bathroom are rather...er..."neat and tidy" (i.e. do NOT entail pee sprayed on any portion of the walls, or any portion of the outside, rim, seat or bottom of the toilet) that's it's a little unjust that I should be the one diligently scrubbing pee from the toilets on a regular basis.

Thus, the showdown.

I said to myself, "self, let's see how long the bathroom goes before Steve-0 is so repulsed by it that he cleans it himself". I WILL admit, that in the process, I've realized how much I myself contribute to the bathroom mess....there's quite a few long hairs on the bathroom counter, and various beauty products on the countertop, clothes on the floor, etc. But when it comes to actual FILTH...well. WELL.
It's really, really GROSS.
What is it about men that they are content to live in filth?? It's been 3 weeks. There are whiskers (from his razor) on the counter, hair on the sink (me), toothpaste crusted on the sink, dirt on the floor, pee on the underside of the sink (steve and boys), streaks on the inside of the toilet (just from not being cleaned), the contents of under the sink strewn on the floor -tampons, extra toilet paper, cotton balls, (Tyler keeping busy) etc. etc. I considered taking a photo but the thought of looking at it up close and personal made me throw up in my mouth a little.

So....in the showdown (that he didn't know about), he won.

I'm cleaning the bathroom today.


Tell me I'm not the only passive-aggressive spouse who does things like this.

It's Addicting I Tell Ya

I swiped this pic off of Cassie's Facebook account, for all the blogosphere to see.
It all began with Casey, who roped Lisa and I into trying out a yoga class.
10 Downward Dogs and 8 Pigeon Poses later, and we had Steve-o, Clint, Amy, and Cassie at their first yoga class.

You should give it a try!

Good times, good times.....

:)

Wicked

I've commented to Steve on several occasions that I find it remarkable that AJ has never broken any bones, to which he shushes me- lest I jinx him.

Truth is, I actually think it's testament to his athleticism that he hasn't ever broken a bone. I truly have never see a kid with as much body awareness, great motor skills, and natural athleticism as AJ. And not just as a 4 year old....as a 10 month old walker, an 18 month old who could skip, a 1 year old who would climb on the back of the couch and launch himself onto the coffee table (and land on his feet every time), as a 2 year old who would jump off the top of the swing sets, etc. etc. etc....You get the idea.

In the past I've had to allay people's concerns as little AJ climbed in and out of the shopping cart, stood on the arm of the sofa, tried to climb a jungle gym by himself when he was a mere 12 months old. Gave a knowing smile as older ladies gasped at his antics or impulsively stuck out a hand to "catch" him as he crawled about playground apparatus like a spider monkey.
Some may see it as carelessness, negligence even, but over time you start to know your child...know his limitations, know his abilities, know his physical boundaries. Owen's are not the same as AJ's. Tyler's will be different as well. But when it comes down to it, AJ can handle himself physically in just about any situation. And when he can't, he knows it and asks for help.

This morning I walked into our bedroom too see him doing this. I know this probably makes my mom cringe in horror, or my father-in-law comment about how he could "break his neck". :) Any "normal" person might find this concerning and tell him to get down immediately. But this is typical AJ, and he's physically capable, and not in any danger of toppling furniture or breaking anything of value, so I let him have some fun for a bit. And I vidoetaped it.

Check him out (and ignore our dirty bedroom):



Wonder what he's saying at the end there?


"THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!"

LOL

Yes, I Am

...posting mundane videos of my children. However, considering that ALL of our family live at least 3 hours away from Albany, this is for them. So if you don't care to watch, that's cool....just know that I'm not gushing because oh my gosh AJ reading this book is the cutest thing ever but more so because our family will want to see him. So there.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is a Nowack family favorite and has been read many, MANY times. Recently, we purchased The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog just so we don't have to read about that blasted pigeon trying to hijack that stupid bus anymore. Because the hotdog gig is SO much better. If you have kids and don't have this book, you MUST go buy it immediately. It really is quite amusing. Authored by Mo Willems, one of my personal favs...oh, and he also wrote Knuffle Bunny which is quite possibly even better than DLTPDTB (Don't let the...) mainly because the illustrations are genius...pure genius and as a photographer I find them inspiring. I am not kidding.

Here is AJ, reading Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus:



And then it was Owen's turn, who wanted to read More Spaghetti I Say! which is actually one of my old books...published in 1977, it's cute too, although owen hasn't read the book in about 2 weeks and was a little fuzzy on the particulars.



And then MY turn (so said Prince Owen and Prince AJ). They chose for me: If You're Happy & You Know It. Nevermind the horrid excuse for singing...sounds like someone stepped on a cat. Anyway.....



And in case you're wondering....I'm not sure why Owen doesn't have any pants on.

Enjoy.

:) Later.

Summer Fun

We went swimming a lot over the weekend, so I finally had an opportunity to take pictures of the boys in their new swim shorts, which I ordered online from Mini Boden. If you sign up for their e-newsletter, you'll get offers for discounts, coupon codes and occasionally free shipping (helpful since they're located in London). Anyway, I think the shorts are adorable and they look so cute in them -- they're very....European. And short. LOL :)






Tyler didn't get anything from Boden so I think he was feeling a little put out.



I also fell in love with this towel hoody because I knew it would look great with AJ's blue eyes and I think I was right. I think it will get a lot of use..coming out of the pool or at the beach.

(click any to enlarge)

I liked it in black and white too...


And this one was my favorite....

Have a great Monday!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad, and to my wonderful husband (who is an amazing father to our 3 boys), and to all the other dad's out there! Hope your day is special!

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope. ~Bill Cosby

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You're tearing up the grass." "We're not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We're raising boys." ~Harmon Killebrew


He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it. ~Clarence Budington Kelland

Tag, I'm It!

The Rules:
1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

THE QUESTIONS:

What were you doing five years ago?
Let's see...2003. Owen would've been 7 months old, which means we would've been living Ohio. Steve was working at his first ever teaching job and I was coaching my first ever volleyball team. Photography, vegetarianism, organic food, and recycling were not yet a part of my vocabulary.
Oh yes, and right about this time 5 years ago (it might even be to the exact week) I miscarried a baby, so I was probably feeling pretty devastated.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
My day is almost over now, but 5 things I wanted to do today were:

1. Put in an order for a canvas for Tyler's room (going to do that in a few minutes)

2. Meet with a guy at Darton about some stuff for this thing that I might be doing (check!)

3. Go to Yoga with Casey (check!)

4. Be irritated that Casey likes to sit in the front row of the Yoga class and that he made me sit by him directly in front of TWO mirrors where I was forced to get an up close and personal view of my huge derrière contorting into odd positions for an hour. Never again. (check!)

5. Take pictures of the boys in their new (adorable/fashionable/European) swimtrunks. (dang! didn't get to it. Maybe tomorrow)

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. Chips and fresh homemade Pico

2. Dry Ramen Noodles (weird but delish)

3. Berries. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries. I love me some berries.

4. Hummus & Pita Chips (or celery)

5. Ice Cream (yum!)

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay for all the various therapies that the doctor says Owen needs.

2. Get us and all our friends and family out of debt/pay off mortgages/pay off bills, etc.

3. Buy a big house and fill it with people who need homes - foster kids, teenage moms, poor college students, etc.

4. Adopt a child from Russia or Romania (something I've always wanted to do)

5. Travel with my husband and family (and bring Erica with us to be the au pair)

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Biting my nails

2. Being sarcastic

3. Speaking before Thinking

4. Swearing

5. Leaving my clothes on the floor of the bedroom/bathroom

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Michigan

2. Florida

3. Ohio

4. Georgia

5. Indiana (born there)

What are five jobs you’ve had?
hoo boy. That's a post in and of itself.

1. Newspaper Delivery-person

2. Nurse's Aid (i.e.: wiper of geriatric butt)

3. Phone Operator

4. Social Worker

5. Bakery Assistant

I Tag:
Vanessa, Clint, and AmyLynn

Boy's Got Rhythm

Ever since he was big enough to sit up, Tyler would start bouncing and head-bopping whenever he would hear music.
The other day I tried to get some video of him dancing but of course, as soon as I pulled out the camera he crawled away, completely uninterested.

Later, I had him in his highchair eating lunch while I did the dishes and was listening to the Forest Gump Soundtrack and he started to do a little bit of his signature jive. Not as lively as usual (I'll keep trying) but a little taste of the T-man's funky groove.
Check it out....

A Bit of Miscellany

Am I talking about my kids too much lately?? Well, I don't care. Because here's a few things I have to say.

First of all....

where did this kid COME from? I mean, come ON - have you seen his eyes?? They are a piercing blue. Not to mention his fair skin and very blond hair (although that's starting to darken up). Coming from two parents with brown eyes and a mother with olive-toned skin...well, he's an anomaly I guess.
Click to enlarge and check out his baby blues...to which I have done NO photo enhancing, save for a slight curves adjustment and to sharpen for web. Which I know means nothing to most of you, but...well, just in case.
You can even see the bits of food around his mouth from the PB&J he just ate.




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And HIM.
Well, it's Mister Personality himself.
He keeps things lively around here.

(click to enlarge)

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And speaking of him, he just happened to have his first ever dentist appointment today. A cleaning and he did a GREAT job....check him out. And if you live in Albany and need a good dentist, head over to Dr. Larry Perkins and his staff because they did such a great job and were excellent with Owen, showing him all the tools and letting him ride the chair up and down and letting him play with "Mr. Thirsty" (the water sucker thingy).

Ahh...the indignities of good oral hygiene.

Bright 'n Shiny!

Later peeps.

Vegetarianism anyone??

For several months now, I've seriously considered becoming a vegetarian.
Does anyone out there have any experience? I'm not sure where I would start...and I'm worried that it would be difficult to plan meals sans meat and I do occassionally love me a good burger (but infrequently enough that I could probably give it up - but forever?)
I guess in general, I'm just afraid that it would be a whole lot more work...having to plan meals for the fam (or a special meal for me) that wouldn't contain meat of any kind.
Anybody out there done it? Is it hard? Got any pointers?
I think I might need to go to the bookstore and pick up THIS.

Bobble Heads

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. Believe it or not, he's doing exactly what I want him to do in this picture. I took a set of photos this afternoon, with a specific fun and funky collage of the 3 boys to put on the living room wall in mind - which I am planning on redoing this summer because it is sorely in need of updating. Oh yes I will. I WILL!

So here's Owen, doing exactly what I wanted him to do. This is just one of some very expressive photos taken in a 30 second period.


One of AJ, along the same lines, only he insisted on holding on to those damn zucchini. And then he carried them around the house for the next 30 minutes, repeatedly asking me, "WHAT do you call them mama?" "OOochini?" "zoocheenis?" while I patiently said it over and over again, with slow and deliberate pronunciation: "zoo. kee. knee"
And then he says dismissively, "I think it's just squash"


And one of the little man, who is currently sick with a hacking cough. Think I'll probably take him to the doctor tomorrow so he can get fixed. Because turning away from the camera because he's hacking up a lung is just not something that I can deal with for much longer. And the doctor needs to be made aware.



Later.

First Fruits

We've just had zucchini/squash start popping up in the garden and I had grand schemes of a teachable moment with the boys while "harvesting" the first few squash, but those ideals were quickly squelched by reality and crabby boys.
I DID force them to take a picture because I was rather impressed with our superb (and LARGE!) zucchini but if you only knew the threats, pouting, and hollering that were going on just seconds before this photo.... (click to enlarge)

What's Up with Us

H2O Week One Update:
Well, we've got the first week of the H2O challenge under our belts and honestly, it hasn't been all that hard. Not noticing any differences in the way that I feel, but there has to be some benefits to drinking water and cutting back on all the crap we normally drink.
My biggest struggle is in the mornings - I typically wipe drool from my mouth as I walk past the coffee maker and this afternoon as I was picking out cereal in Publix I was overcome with the glorious scent of fresh-ground coffee in the same aisle. I was overcome with the urge to sniff and lick the coffee dispensers but I resisted.
Steve is also most tempted in the mornings, as he is an orange juice whore. Yesterday morning I poured the boys some orange juice for their breakfast and left the container sitting out on the counter. Steve-o denounced me a "devil temptress" for leaving it sitting out in his sight where he pined for it for about half and hour.
But so far...no cheats and no slips.

Now we're going to try and start eating better. Not some sort of freaky-deaky diet or something, but more of a "lifestyle change". Less red meats (no biggie for me, but Steve-o turns caveman when it comes to red meats), less sweets, more greens, smaller portions, etc. etc.

------
Thursday, we're going to Atlanta for the weekend. Steve-o is teaching some basketball clinic at Rabun Gap so we're all going, and having a mini-vacation. I'm hoping we'll hit the aquarium, and I told Owen that we would go downtown to "the city" and ride the "train"(tram system) that he saw when we were there last week for his doctor appointment. I'd also like to go to Ikea and then stop by a couple of antique stores that we drove by when we were there last month to see TheLion King (but had no time to stop). I'm not really an antiques kind of girl, but when we drove by last month I looked longingly at all these funky cool chairs that would make for great photo props that were just sitting out on sidewalks waiting for me to buy them. Alas! No time to stop and no room to bring home, but maybe if I'm lucky, there'll be one left somewhere over there that would suit my needs! There's a chance, right?
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We took Owen to see a child behavior specialist in Atlanta last week where he was (finally) diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder - or to put it simply, mild autism. It's not as scary as it sounds, and to be quite honest, we're glad to have a "label" for him so that we can know how to help him succeed in school, relationships, and life in general. This is an answer that we have been searching for for quite some time and we're glad to finally know something, anything, so that we can move forward. More on that later.
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Cooper just came downstairs and was sitting at my feet when it occurred to me that he had been in the litter box eating cat poop. What is up with that??! Blegh.
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That's it for us.
What's up with you??