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.

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.

The love affair continues...

Yeah, we're just so proud!

So, Drew was working on some math problems tonight and Liam wanted to get in on the action so I was helping him with his letters. This is how it went:

Me (after writing an L on his paper): Liam, what's that letter?
Liam: L!!!
Me: Right, L for Liam. (Wrote an O on the paper) What's that, Liam?
Liam: O!!!
Me: Good. Now what's this? (Wrote an M)
Liam: McDonald's!!!

Something about Halloween...

Clearly, there's something about that Halloween picture. The same thing happened last year -- I post the requisite Halloween picture and then promptly ignore my blog until sometime into the next calendar year. Last year it was the end of January -- this year we're into March (and let's be real...if not for my brother's nagging comments the mummy and the clown would still be gracing the top of this page even now!)

The sad thing is, my children have been providing enough blog material for about 10 blogging moms lately. And 5 years from now (or tomorrow) I'm going to kick myself for not having recorded this stuff somewhere.

So...for posterity, for the sake of moving past Halloween, and to make my brother happy --- a picture and a story:

For the past week or so, Liam has become very attached to a certain Twins baseball cap handed down to him from his brother. And by attached, I mean literally, physically attached...at all times.

The other morning when I went to get Liam out of bed, this is what I found:



Funnier yet, earlier that morning I heard him fussing and went in to fix his covers and tell him it wasn't time to get up yet. Though he wasn't even fully awake, his little arm popped out of the covers and groped around in the dark until it landed on his cap. Then he sat up, popped the cap on his head, shifted it back and forth until it was on just right, and laid back down to sleep.

I think he's been hanging out with his uncle Kevin too much!

A perfect fall day

A little bit of work....


...and a whole lot of fun!

What'd you expect me to say?

So, Liam's a little under the weather. I thought he felt warm tonight, so I talked Brad into pinning him down while I went at him with that horrible rectal thermometer.

As soon as the dirty deed was done and it was clear he did indeed have a fever, I tried to get at the nature of the illness by asking, "Liam, does something hurt?"

"Yes," he answered, with a whimper.

"What hurts, sweetheart?" I asked, in my most sympathetic mommy voice.

Still whimpering, he replied, "My butt."

Brad and I laughed so hard, eventually even Liam started to giggle.

Look out, there's a two year old in the house!

Liam turned two today, the whole family came to celebrate with us, and there were no tantrums! (BTW, no one was worried about the two-year-old having a tantrum--it was mom who has a history of losing it at 2 year b-day parties!)


Perhaps the best moment of the day was when Liam opened a package of balls for his new ball pit (thanks, Papa and Nana...I think) and instantly 175 balls were flying through the air! He was in heaven!

Summer in Iowa

It just doesn't get much better than this!

Liam's Birthday Bash

Well, in the interest of equal press, I figured I better get some pictures up of Liam's birthday party.

We didn't manage to get both families together this time, so this is the Chamberlain version -- the Torkelson edition will be held at a date yet to be determined. (I'm a little afraid it won't happen until Thanksgiving weekend, but whatever -- he's one, give him cake and he'll be happy!)

It was an absolutely beautiful day and we were so excited to able to eat out on the deck (something we've never been able to do for Drew's birthday as it's inevitably the hottest day of July).



Our excitement was somewhat short-lived-- midway through our meal we were swarmed by bees and had to move inside.

Nevertheless, a great time was had by all!


Liam got lots of "help" opening his presents...and playing with his presents, too, actually! Such is the fate of the deuce.

He didn't have to share his cake, though!

"I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing!"

We took Liam out for a little birthday (pan)cake this morning. He definitely knows how to celebrate!

Happy Birthday!

William George Chamberlain
9am on September 20, 2006











William George Chamberlain
9am on September 20, 2007









Happy Birthday, Bean!

Catching Up

Hi, my name is Julie and it's been over a month since my last post. Oh wait. That's what you say at AA meetings...or is it confession?

Well, anyway, due to a great 10 day vacation up north, and then a not-so great two weeks of sickness (first Drew, then me) and then the ensuing aftermath--including 9 loads of laundry in one weekend--it has been a very long time since I've blogged.

Ok, so the fact that we got real cable (hello, HGTV!) factored in there somewhere, too.

I refuse, however, to make this blog a source of guilt--I have enough of those in my life--so this is the last time I'm going to make excuses for time between posts. It is what it is.

So...a few things that have happened since last I blogged. Here are the highlights:

1. Liam started walking. Really walking. And, man, is he fast!

2. Drew started back to preschool. He was so excited--and he's grown up so much even since last spring. He is having a great time reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

3. We found out my brother and his wife are expecting! Hooray -- I'm going to be an aunt! Now I get to be the one that says, "Oh, just let him stay up a little later -- and give him another cookie while you're at it!!"

That's all for now...stay tuned for a cute kid story tomorrow!

Simple Pleasures: Closet Update and Liam's Latest

I finished both boys' closets today and it felt so great that I kept going and did the bathroom closet, too.

Both boys pretty much have all their clothes in their dressers, so the closets quickly become a dumping grounds for things they've outgrown. It didn't take as long as I thought to go through everything and get it sorted back into sizes and packed away. The challenge was keeping Liam distracted long enough for me to fold and pack faster than he could unfold and throw across the floor! We just got a big bag of hand-me-downs for Drew (a rarity these days) so it was fun to go through that -- a bunch of really cute shirts from Gap and Old Navy that will be perfect for fall.

I just can't tell you how much I love a newly-organized closet!

In other news, Liam just turned 9 months. We've been convincing ourselves for a while that when he says "mamamama" and "dadadadada" he, of course, means us, his beloved parents. But today, for sure he said "mamamama" every time he wanted me. One time he even patted me on the arm and said, "mamama!" Then, as if asking for his dad, he got kind of pouty and said, "dadada?" That's our boy genius!