Asa

Asa likes to do Spiderman poses.
He asked me, "Mom, do I look like Spiderman?"
I said, "Yeah, Asa, you do."
So he held this pose so Joseph could take his picture. He really looked like a kid climbing out of a truck, but his hand and foot were strategically placed to look like he was clinging to the truck like Spiderman would.

Asa, more then Ezra, cares about what he wears. Often I will pick out an outfit for him and he will look at it and say, "Mom, that's not a super shirt. If I wear that shirt people will think I look stupid." We are talking about a plain shirt that says something simple like "surf kid." Instead he typically picks a batman or superman shirt. He also really likes a shirt with dinosaurs all over it, that personally, I don't like. But I don't tell him that.

I generally let him dress himself unless we are going somewhere that he needs to look nice. Now that it is getting warmer he wants to wear shorts, or as he calls them "short pants." Saturday I woke up from a nap and went outside to see what Joseph and the kids were doing. Joseph had been cutting down a few weed trees and dragging the branches out by the street, and boys were playing around in the branches. About the time I walked out Asa caught his leg on a branch and scraped it. Joseph and I went over to try and help him. While Joseph was holding him and consoling him, I noticed his "short pants" had snaps on the inside of the legs. He is almost 4 years old. They stop putting snaps on kid’s pants generally by the time they are wearing 2T.

So I said, "What are you wearing? Asa, where did you get those pants? They look like Marlow's."
"No they're not!" He was pretty mad about his scrape, and then his mom embarrasses him about wearing baby pants.
Dumb me I kept it going and said, "I think they are, honey."
Joseph jumped to Asa's defense, "No, they're not. It's fine. I don't think they are Marlow's."
I realized he was embarrassed and dropped the issue, but he was clearly wearing my daughter's khaki pants. Size 6-12 months. Long pants for her, but short pants for him. He is not a big kid but still I couldn't believe he made them fit.

Later, when I was helping him get ready for his bath, I unbuttoned the pants to take them off and noticed his belly had a red line around it from how tight they were.
"Were these pants a little too tight?" I asked, trying to be careful not to embarrass him, but also trying to see if he realized they were too small.
"Not to me." he answered.
I guess if he picks an outfit, it is super no matter what.

Camping is to go in your tent

The nice weather this past weekend has made me want to go camping. I can't wait for it to be nice all the time. The last camping trip we took was to Chester Frost Park. We went in November 2004 with the Cooleys. The weather was awesome --except for the rain we got that night and the next morning, but then it cleared up again and was gorgeous. And rain just makes it more of an adventure. The boys waded in the water and tried to feed the ducks -- or geese -- I guess that looks like a canadian goose.


Amber and I sat on the dock held babies and talked, while the dads took pictures. Here we are with Oliver, Marlow and Abel. Especially with the little guys, it is incredible how much they change in just the past few months. It is a bit sad to see them growing up but a lot of fun to see their personalities emerge and see who they are becoming.


I grew-up going camping for spring break with my family or during our summer vactions. I have always enjoyed camping, although I have to admit, I am most used to parking and pitching a tent because that is what we did as kids. Now that I have kids I know why my mom didn't try to backpack in with five kids. We will try that when they are a bit older and can handle a backpack. For now we will settle for pitching our tent next to our car, having electricity and a bathroom nearby. The funnest thing about camping now is watching our kids and seeing how much they love being outdoors.


We rarely got all four of the "big" boys in the same shot because they run around so much. Here they stopped for a moment to eat a snack. Joseph and Mark didn't make it in many photos either because they were the main photographers.


Throwing rocks was a big event. The object was to see who could get the biggest rock and make the biggest splash. My boys, and probably most kids, love to see things splash in water. Anytime they see water, whether it is a river or a puddle they try to throw something in it or spash it with their shoes. There is a book called "A Hole is to Dig: a First Book of First Definitions" by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. It is full of children's definitions of things like, "A face is something to have on the front of your head" also, "a face is so you can make faces." "hands are to hold" and also "a hand is to hold up when you want your turn." "A party is to say how-do-you-do and shake hands" and also "a party is to make little children happy." I'm not sure if it is in there or not, but there should be "Water is to splash," "big rocks are to make the biggest splash," and "Puddles are to jump in."


A parting rock throwing shot. The boys figured they would get the biggest splash if they threw their rocks off the dock, so they all found a rock and hauled it up there. I like Aiden's technique of holding it on his head.

My girls. This picture was taken by Alison DeMoss (In His Image). It was one that didn't make the final cut for the giant framed portraits, but I like it, so I've got a small print of it next to my desk at work.