Meatballs

I gave my best years to the restaurant trade so that my kids could answer this to the preschool questionnaire?

Ah well. They are Good Viking Boys, after all.

Ponyo and Totoro

When you get sick of Nick Jr. and All That is the Marvel of Pixar and Disney, try these:

Ponyo

and My Neighbor Totoro.

Ponyo was the boys' first theater movie, and they were totally caught up in it, despite the somewhat odd little plot and characters. We recently rented Totoro, and they loved it just as much. The animation is old school, but gorgeous. The backgrounds are masterful; the imaginary characters are weird and just scary enough to keep the pre-schoolers on their toes; and the human characters have real life problems and flaws.

Both films were made by Hayao Miyazaki, who also makes more grown up animated film like Spirited Away (Oscar for Best Animated Feature, 2002) and Howl's Moving Castle. I'm looking forward to watching those with the boys in a few years. Disney is involved in the US versions. They have the rights to distribution or something, but they didn't mess with anything, so they're all original, except for the English dubbing.

PS: Voice of the mom in Ponyo = Tina Fey. How's that for cred?

I'm all for a good Toy Story or Nemo, don't get me wrong. But these 2 films are on a different scale of awesome. Check them out.

We're Back!

The View from Here.

Portland Autumn 2010

(So far beating the hell out of Portland Summer 2010)

Been gone a while. I'll admit it. Facebook took over my photo posting needs. But we'll try this again with a slightly new twist. Plenty about The Boys, of course, but some other fun things, too. Projects, food, recommendations. Blog stuff And here are photos from today to catch us up on what 18 months looks like in the growth of a preschool boy.

*SUCCESS!

Yes! We were potty trained for approximately one hour.

It was totally worth it to wear our underpants.

*Photo taken in March. Haven't worn the underpants since. Heavy sigh.

R.C. Belt and Sons Construction, Inc.

Grandma's visit

Happy boys. Happy grandma.

Grandma knit them cozy sweaters. Sean still requests "I want to wear the sweater Grandma made me!"

What a mess.

This morning I was reading the paper and there was a picture of Michael Jackson in all his splendour: black sunglasses; huge, red, lipsticked mouth; hair in his face; lots of sequins.

Sean said, "Mommy, what's that?"

I said, "Mmmm...What do you think it is?"

He looked and thought for a bit and said, "I think it's a funny mommy." But he wasn't laughing.

If Iron Butterfly Made a Christmas Album...

Open letter to the lady with the pink hair and the guy with the giant nose ring.

Dear Giant Nose Ring Guy and Pink Hair Lady,
I apologize for my son, Sean. Sort of.
See, since he's not a 19th century toreador, his experience with giant (1/4" thick and black) nose rings is limited. So, when you joined us in that elevator...well, lets face it, there wasn't much else to look at for a 3-year old.
And when he said, "Mommy. What's that in his nose?" he meant it in a "Cool accessory, dude!" kind of way, I'm almost positive.
And when I, as his mother, (who was almost cool, at best, in her day) said, "Whose nose?" I was totally kidding and trying to get you to smile. So, by not smiling, I can only assume that you were a. deaf, b. stoned, or c. insulted. If it's c, then you are even more hilarious than Sean.
Pink Hair Lady at the library who flashed us a huge smile when Sean said, "Mommy! That lady has FUNNY PINK HAIR!" Thank you. You rule.
Sincerely,
Proud Mother of Sean

Clo-oser...

Coconuts

Today, Luke woke up crying from his nap. He keeps having a nightmare that he's "little." I tried to calm him down and suggested we go downstairs and watch "Chikka Chikka Boom Boom." It's one of their favorite books and we have the DVD version too. It's actually just a catchy rhyme about an alphabet climbing a palm tree.

Anyway, Luke was trying to see the bright side of life, and he said, "Chikka Chikka Boom Boom is my best friend."

Sean had just woken up too and he looked at Luke for a minute - concerned - and said, "But, Luke, it doesn't have a face. It only has coconuts!"

We're getting closer...

No More Bedtime Seuss

The boys read books to themselves in bed while Cliff and I read and sit in our rocking chairs. Tonight I brought up "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" for Luke. It's full of Seussian nonsense characters.
Luke (whispering and half sitting up to peer at me through the crib bars): "Mommy! Mommy! Whats that?"
So I haul my petard out of the chair and reluctantly indulge him in his postponement of slumber, "What?"
"That!" He whispers, pointing at a crazy Seuss character who looks sad.
"It's a...creature."
*pause*
"Yeah. What kind of creature, Mommy?"
"It's a...yellow creature."
*pause*
"Yeah. What that yellow creature called, Mommy?"
He could see my shoulders shaking and he grinned a little from behind his pakpak.

Grass hats!

We made strips of green and drew things on them that are in the grass: bugs, dirt, poop. Then we cut grass fringe and made hats. Super cool. We wore them all morning.

Sean's worms are orange and go sideways. Luke's worms go vertically and have heads and eyes. The markers were scented, which explains Sean's face...

I suggested a ladybug and Luke drew his first one! What a boy!

Different styles...

Luke drew these all by himself - nobody was even in the room!

Sean is too cool to be impressed.

Fingerpainting!

Ready...! (Cheers!)

Set...!

GO!

Sean REALLY got into it!

This is going to take longer than I thought...

The plan: Buy super cool irresistable underpants to entice the boys to start using the "teapot." The reality: Walk in on this little scenario:

Buckaroos.

Wonderful Leslie put together the world's greatest cowboy outfits for the boys' birthday. Genuine Santa Fe red felt hats, vintage cowboy shirts, beaded belts and hand sewn vests with sheriff badges. The first hats were too small due to their GIANT HEADS, but she exchanged them for Size L's and the boys became dudes.

Sean back
Sean front

Luke front

Luke back

Christmas Dinner At Gill and Chris and William' House

What it takes to get two 3-year old boys ready to leave the house on Christmas night.

Edna and her Snow Friend greeted us.

Merry Christmas!

Nothing says Happy Holidays like lobbing stuff at your dog with a catapult.

Clint and Jenn bring the Cool to Christmas.

Mrs. Fun.

Christmas Morning 2008

(Better late than never...)

Luke asked for "a el-o-phant!" from Santa!

Super cool track from Dad.

Sean asked for the special red "chakka chakka choo choo train" from Santa.

Daddy got wine from Clint, who always knows what to get...

Clint brought awesome tractors for his brothers.

and they helped him open his present from us.

Merry Christmas!