Snipits

Lucas: Well, if you couldn't tell, Lucas is obsessed - OBSESSED - with animals. Partially due to an Animal Atlas movie I bought him a while back, and partially because of his favorite show ever, Wild Kratts on PBS. He is officially smarter than me at 4 years and 10 months of age. He can name practically every animal at the zoo. When Lisa took him to the zoo in ABQ, he would follow the map and make sure to hit every single animal. One day when I went with them I was impressed when he taught me all about the klipspringer and about 20 other animals, too. He can tell you the name of the animals, from which continent they reside, as well as if they are an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore.
Ever since we got back from ABQ we've been playing animal games where he acts out all the different animals at the zoo and I am visiting the zoo. It can go on for hours.... really. We made some cool charts of animals using a sticker book Lisa bought him.
He's reading like a champ. And he comprehends what he is reading, too. He impresses me daily. He is currently enjoying Amelia Bedelia and some other fun books. I currently enjoy hearing him yell things like, "Mom, what does S-H-U-T-T-E-R-S spell?"
The other day Ben took Lucas to the library, when they got there they realized Lucas didn't have any shoes. Yep, my kid was wandering around shoeless in the library. Nice.
The next day we forgot his shoes when we went to church, so Ben had to head home. Then last week I went to an audition and forgot his shoes. Ben met me there to watch the kids and took him to HEB and bought him $1 flip flops. They now stay in the car. I think I'll put his crocs in the car because he can actually walk in those.
Lucas has a genuine thirst for knowledge. If we would let him, he would sit on the computer all day looking different things up on Google. He loves it - he's so curious. Which may be a bit annoying at times, but it's also the reason he learns so much.
Funny stuff he says:
"I hope the seeds are having a good time!" re: the recently planted seeds in the garden.
"Mom, if I had four stomachs I would have one fore pizza, one for hot dogs, one for hamburgers and one for ice cream." The poor Proboscis monkey has 4 stomachs, you know.
Ben tried to get Lucas to check out a Pinnocchio DVD from the library, "No, I want this mammal movie instead."

Evan: Holy cuteness! Evan is walking like a champ now days. He's got curves in all the right places and makes some other babies his age feel like light weights. Evan is also very curious and loves to get into things to investigate. He loves playing outside... especially in my plants, where he can make a most glorious mess. Evan talks more than Lucas did at this age. He mimics a lot of things we say. The day we left for ABQ, he said "Bye, Dada" as Ben was leaving. It was awesome.
Evan is so happy and sweet most of the time. He loves to chase a ball around the tile floor or open and close doors... and open and close and open and close.
Occasionally he will say thank you or I love you. But he says uh-oh, and no, no, no, no a lot - like every time he's doing something naughty.

Ben: This guy has been so incredibly busy lately. He's been working his bum off at work, and doing freelance at home. He's also working on his bike rack sculpture. Working with the city is a pain. Its been three years almost... Hopefully he will finish soon. He's got to work with engineers, sculptors, and more city people. He also needs to ask for more $$. At this rate he won't take any of it home, but at least there will be a piece of Ben artwork downtown forever.
Last weekend we sent Ben, Chris, and Clay on a trip to the "man spa" for Fathers Day. They pelted each other with paintballs for 5 hours. Ben came home the most colorful of the boys - outside his clothes and inside. He has the most amazing bruises. And a huge gash on his knee because I sent him in holy jeans. Oops.

Me: Let's see... I started running again in February. I try to go about three times a week now. It helps that I bought this incredibly cute pair of running shoes. I got them at Marshall's for only $30! And cute shoes make you run faster, you know.
I've had a few fun jobs this year. You might see my hands in something for Dell, you might see my whole self in a brochure for kid's insulin. I'll let you know if I ever see either of them. I just found out today I booked another job for Dell - it was the audition last week, where I forgot Lucas's shoes. I had totally forgotten about it because the audition was so annoying - lots of waiting and it was hot. But, I'm glad the effort was worth it.
Usually you'll find me around the house pretending I'm at the zoo, changing diapers, or cooking something awesome... or mediocre. Love my boys.