First day of summer!!

A great first day of break: a morning playdate, first little league practice, a trip to the library, fun with friends at the pool and swim team practice.  

Before the day had even begun, I overheard the boys talking about how excited they were to have so much more time to spend together.  (That's one way to make your mama smile!)

I was pretty sure by afternoon the novelty would have worn off but so far, they really do seem to be enjoying each other.  Check back in a week!  :)

And how fun was it to take FOUR readers to the library!  The younger ones had their books picked out within the first 7 minutes and immediately got to reading while their older brothers took a little longer to find just the right balance of graphic novels, sports fiction and classic lit! 

Happy Halloween!

Drew and Liam declared it the "best Halloween ever!" Great weather, great friends...a great night!!

Brad had lots of help carving the pumpkins!! (Notice the soul patch!!)




Ready to hit the streets...



Aarr, matey....trick or treat!

Abracadabra...poof!

Liam was doing a magic show for me tonight before bed. This consists of me sitting on the floor in his room while he stands in front of me with two items in his hands. Then he says, "Close your eyes," and while I do that, he sets one of the items on the floor behind his legs. Then he stands up straight and says, "Open your eyes," and when I do he presents the one item where there had been two. I then make a big production about where the other item went and he gives me a sly grin and says, "Magic!" Then we do the whole thing in reverse, going from one item back to two. And then we repeat...four or five or twelve times.

So tonight we were probably on repetition number 4 or so, having used various toys and other items around his room. In this particular round he was using two little plastic slinkies. I shut my eyes, he put it behind his leg, I opened my eyes, he presented the lone slinky, I carried on, he grinned and said,"Magic!" I was then instructed to shut my eyes again. Just as Liam was about to bend over and turn to pick up the slinky so it could "reappear," I heard said slinky roll across the floor and saw (because I was now peeking) it land behind the hamper. Oblivious to what had just occurred, he continued to bend down and pick it up from where he had left it. And then... "WHOA!!! MOMMA!!! IT'S REALLY MAGIC!!" I opened my eyes, trying so hard not to laugh -- Liam's eyes were as big as saucers. He looked all around and then said, breathlessly, "The other times I was tricking you. I said it was magic but I really just set it down behind my leg. But this time, it's really GONE! It IS magic!!"

He never did discover what happened. He went to bed totally convinced he'd somehow pulled off the real thing this time!

Especially for Aunt Jessica!!

So I walked past the boys' bedroom door early this morning and heard quiet talking. I peeked in just enough to see that Liam had crawled up into the top bunk with Drew. Here's the conversation I overheard as I stood in the hall:

Drew: Well, does your baby cry a lot after he eats?
Liam: Oh, yes!
Drew: That means you're not burping him enough. You need to go 'top top bottom bottom middle middle, top top bottom bottom middle middle..."
Liam (accompanied by patting noises): Top top bottom bottom middle middle, top top bottom bottom middle middle.
Drew: You're learning how to be a daddy. See now, when you grow up you'll know how to be a good daddy.
Liam: Yep!
Drew: Is your baby tired now? Does he need a nap?
Liam: Oh no, he's not tired!
(Quiet murmuring I couldn't understand and then...)
Liam (singing): Good night, little smurf...sleep tight, little smurf..

And that's when I realized the "baby" they were taking care of was the stuffed 'Papa Smurf' Liam just got from his aunt this weekend!

Missing something??

Job Description

Overheard while driving Drew and a school friend home after a playdate:

Friend (whose dad is a pastor at 2 country churches): I go to two churches! Sometimes I go to H..... but most of the time I got to B.......
Drew: Well, my mom's the worship leader at our church.
Friend: What's that mean?
Drew: She's the one that sings the loudest.

Liam Logic

1) Liam: Mom, I think I know why Oscar the Grouch is so grouchy all the time.
Me: Really...why?
Liam: Because he lives in a trash can!!!
Huh. 40 years of Sesame Street and it never occurred to anyone that maybe he just didn't like living in that trash can.

2) After seeing several PBS shows talking about dinosaur bones and showing dinosaur skeletons in museums, Liam says to me, "There sure must be a lot of dinosaurs walking around without their bones!!"

3) Yesterday Liam was anxious to pick up his brother from school but it was only 2:30.
Liam: Can't we just go get him now?
Me: No, it's not time yet. It's only 2:30.
Liam: But I want to pick him up now.
Me: Well, there's nothing I can do about that -- I can't change the time.
Liam: Well, I can! (And off he went to change the clock.)
Problem solved!!

In other news, it's official: Liam has an imaginary friend. His name is Joey and he comes complete with a baby brother named Del and a dog named Deke! We started hearing about Joey a while ago but it took us a while to figure out that he was Liam's imaginary friend. Now we hear stories about Joey pretty much every day. He leads quite an exciting life, let me me tell you! But that'll have to be another post....

How You Know Your Husband Has Been Watching TV With Your Children

So Liam and I are walking across the Luther campus and we see a nice-looking man in a suit.

Liam says, "He looks like he's on TV."

"What?" I ask, a little confused.

"He looks like he's on TV," he repeats.

"Oh.." I respond, thinking he's picturing a news anchor or something.

"Yeah, he looks like Michael," Liam continues.

"Michael?" I ask, racking my brain for a Disney or PBS show character named Michael (who wears a three-piece suit, no less!). Coming up empty, I ask, "Who's Michael?"

"Oh, Michael's an office worker," says Liam, confidently, "He works in an office."

He smiles up at me ever so sweetly, but it's too late -- I'm already dialing his dad on the cell phone.

Trick or Treat!!

Well, much has happened in Chamberlain-land since last I blogged (June!) but we'll save that for another post.

Today, it's time for the annual Halloween post (which, as things are going, may well turn into the annual post, period!). This year we were thrilled to have our dear friends Grant and Anna with us for the day. While Anna was napping, the boys carved pumpkins.







After supper, we traded in four mild-mannered children for this:




(That's Optimus Prime, Sir Grant the Knight, Tinkerbell and Liam the Lion, in case you're wondering.)

It was a great night for trick-or-treating, and the kids (and grown-ups) had a blast together!!

Syttende Mai

Future Defense Attorney, Perhaps

Today Drew did something to exasperate Liam, and Liam hit him. (Hmmm, I could probably say that sentence every other day.) At the end of Liam's time out, I asked him why he was in a timeout.

"Because Drew kicked my truck!" was his immediate response.

"No, Liam, why are YOU in time out?" I pressed.

"Because Drew did....and Drew....and then Drew....and he frustrated me!"

"So, what did YOU do, Liam?" I asked, gently.

"I got a timeout."

Oh, the injustice.

Glubs, Katiebugs and Wiggly Readers

I've been keeping a list of the funny 2-yr-old way Liam says certain things that I don't want to forget.

Here's a couple just from today:

(asking about when his birthday is) "When will my birthday be ready?"

(talking about his best friend) "Anna's my SO MUCH friend!"


Some of my other favorites:

gloves (and mittens, actually) = "glubs"

ladybugs = "katiebugs" (I refuse to correct this one, b/c I just love it so and want it to last forever! So shh--don't wreck it! Of course, this is how teenage boys (BRAD) end up still thinking puppies are called "buppies" and a sip of pop is a "zip!")

pretend = "tember" as in, "I tember I baby Cheetah, Mommy. You tember you the Mommy Cheetah!"

hill = "hilp"
kleenex = "pleenex"
McDonalds = "Picdonald's"

And finally, Liam's first knock-knock joke (told consistently, over and over and over and...):

Liam: Knock, Knock
You: Who's there?
Liam: Orange
You: Orange who?
Liam: People!!! (followed - always - by gales of uproarious laughter)


When Drew was two, I didn't have a blog, so I've forgotten most of his funny little sayings. I do remember one, however:

The summer Drew was two, he referred to the Whippy Dip (local ice cream shop) as the "Lip Lip." The neighbors thought that was hilarious and promptly began referring to the Whippy Dip as the Lip Lip from that point forward. The following summer, when Drew was an oh, so mature 3 years old, the neighbor kids asked him if he'd been to the "Lip Lip" yet. He looked at them with total disdain and answered in a perfectly condescending tone, "It's not the Lip Lip. It's the Lippy Dip." Get it right, people.


Of course, at almost six, he's not beyond having his own funny sayings:

My favorites:

weekly reader = "wiggly" reader (again, just can't bear to correct him!)
Mars = Marv's

And one of the all-time best:

Drew: Mom, is Great-Papa one of my anbrothers?
Me: Your what?
Drew: You know...anbrothers? The people that go before you?
Me (after a moment of deep thought): Oh, you mean ancestors?
Drew: Yeah! Ancestors!
Me: Yes, he is.
Drew (after a moment of deep thought and then a burst of laughter): OH! I thought it was ansisters --- and anbrothers!!

File Under: Things My Children Will No Longer Say in 10 Years

#1:
Drew had field day at school yesterday and I went to help out. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time going from station to station playing games. I was in charge of a group of 7: Drew and 6 of his classmates. About half way through, Drew flashed me a dreamy smile and then said, "Only one person on my team is lucky enough to have his MOM as the leader! And it's ME!!!"

#2:
I was goofing around with Liam yesterday and said, "Liam, I have a surprise for you!"
He glanced over at me and asked, "What?"
"You'll never guess," I continued.
His eyes widened now, "What?!!"
"I love you!" I responded, a little afraid that he'd now be disappointed.
No worries. He immediately threw up his hands in the air and shouted, "YIPPEE!!!"

Who says you don't get paid to be a stay-at-home mom??

Apocalyptic Personality Test

Yesterday I worked, and after picking up Drew from school, we headed over to my dear friend's house to pick up Liam. As Steph and I talked, the boys and her two kids played in the backyard. We weren't really paying attention to what they were playing except that it involved working in the "garden" and then running to a nearby tent to take shelter. As their playtime drew to a close, we tuned in just in time to take in this:

Drew, safely taking refuge in the tent with Steph's two kids, shouts desperately, "LIAM!!! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!"

Liam, calmly hoeing in the garden, looks up at the sky, shrugs his shoulders and returns to his work, saying, "It's not even raining!"

And that, my friends, says it all.

We are the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything...

Drew and his good friend playing this afternoon:

























Of course, little brother had to get in on the action as well!














Arr, Matey!

A Great Mom's Day

It was a perfect Mother's Day:

Church
Culver's (with my very own dish of ice cream!)
Nap
Kite-flying
and Gifts!

Brad took the boys to Wal-mart and let them loose (figuratively, that is) with one question: What does Mommy like to do?

Here's what they came up with:

Yarn (Luther blue, of course!)
Flowers (fake, b/c Mommy can't keep anything alive)
Diet Mountain Dew (no explanation necessary)
Chocolate (ditto)
Corn on the Cob skewers (b/c I like to cook?!?)
A Magazine (b/c I like to read -- and they picked the finest of literature, as you can see!)

Absolute treasures!!! (the gifts and the givers!)

Safety first!

This is how Liam ran around all afternoon. I guess, given his penchant for adventure, we should be glad he's protected!!

He did eventually find his way onto the bike that usually goes with helmet-wearing. All systems were go...if only he could reach the pedals.

March Madness comes to Decorah

Warming up before the game

He shoots...he scores!!!

Don't even THINK about taking this ball away from me!

Did it go in?

Just look at that defense!

Oh, to get my hands on that ball!!!

Liam finally gets his chance!

We all had a great time at Drew's Biddy Basketball game. Drew was right in there, dribbling and shooting the ball -- just having a great time. Of course, it was pure torture for Liam, but he was very good about waiting until the game was over to get his chance to play.

After Drew's team had had their snack, Liam had gotten a chance to play a little and the next teams were lining up to do their "warm ups," we gathered our things and started to head for the door. Suddenly we realized Liam wasn't with us. We looked down on the gym floor, and there right in the middle of a line of red-shirted 5- and 6-year olds was Liam, patiently waiting for his turn at the net, like he was just another member of the team (he was wearing red, after all!). Before we could grab him, he found himself at the front of the line, took the ball, shot and scored.

We did manage to snatch him out of there before one of the coaches recruited him.

Blame it on the tooth fairy

This is Drew.



This is Drew with a very loose tooth.



This is Drew after he lost his first tooth!!!




And now, for the rest of the story.

Drew was actually home sick the day he lost his tooth. Of course we made a big deal of putting his tooth (in a baggie) under his pillow for the tooth fairy.

(A little back story here. A friend of his had already told him her parents put the money under her pillow, so he was not only sick, but also highly skeptical. I told him we certainly were not giving him any money, so his only hope was for the tooth fairy to come through.)

So, morning came and Drew slept in until after 9am. The rest of us were downstairs in the kitchen when he came in, all feverish and red-cheeked, hair standing on end, big scowl on his face and slapped the baggie with his tooth still in it on the counter.

"This is all there was!" He said, and walked away.

Yeah, the tooth fairy FORGOT to come. I know. Worst parents ever. Just give us the medal right now and be done with it.

In a matter of about 20 seconds, we exchanged horrified looks over his head, stifled our laughter at the dramatic scene that had just unfolded before us and then -- in a moment of brilliance only a mother's guilt could produce -- I offered this:

"You know, Drew, you are pretty sick. I bet the tooth fairy didn't dare come while you were sick, because she has to go from house to house and she wouldn't want to get any of the other children sick." (And we wonder why he's a germaphobe!)

He didn't respond.

Later that day we were playing the Allowance Game and Drew landed on a square that says "Lose a tooth. Receive $1." Drew looked at me and said, "Why can't MY parents give me a dollar for my tooth?!!" I reiterated our position -- either the tooth fairy comes through or you're out of luck. He just scowled at me.

So, that night we put Drew to bed and then realized the tooth was still on the kitchen counter. I went up to his room and suggested we give it another try. He responded by saying he was still sick so the tooth fairy would probably not come. His Bestemor had suggested putting the tooth in a glass of water beside his bed (I'm not sure where this came from, we never did that growing up!) so I reminded him of her idea and mentioned that maybe if we just put the glass on his window sill the tooth fairy wouldn't have to get close to him and therefore wouldn't have to worry about carrying his germs to the other children. He went for it.

The tooth fairy came. And left not one, but two dollars. (Late fee? Interest? Or are we now stuck giving him $2 for every tooth?)

Strangely enough, I think the whole situation convinced him the tooth fairy is, in fact, real. I mean, how else do you explain it?

The love affair continues...