Happy 100 Day!!

For those of you (all of you) who don't know... today was 100 Day at Riley's school! Meaning, it was the 100th day of school. The school makes a huge deal of this, and it's part of the curriculum, counting to 100 by 5s, 10s, etc. The kids all bring in ziploc baggies with 100 things inside, etc. - and there are snacks and activities. Anyway, it sounded like a real fun day and Riley came off the bus this afternoon and enthusiastically greeted me with "HAPPY 100 DAY!!"

Here are some other photos as well taken in the last week. Click on them to be taken to the album and view them larger if you'd like. Enjoy. :)

One small step for (little) man...

Well, not so much a step... but crawling! Liam started the basics of army/commando crawling a week or so ago... and he hasn't looked back! He can now cover a decent amount of area in a little time. It's funny to see him coming peeking around the corner looking for you. He seems genuinely pleased with himself that he can now control some of his world. Watching your kids reach milestones certainly never gets old. From the day they first hold their head up, to first smile, to first grin... just pure bliss and awe.

One other thing that all kids seem to do is have they day where they discover CHEERIOS!! Liam has just begun his love affair with them and loves picking them up in his two little fingers and maneuvering them towards his mouth. So cute. Except for when they manage to fall on the floor and surround the high chair. That? Not so cute. Ah well. All par for the course.

Photos to come soon!

Soitenly!!

So my three boys have been called "My Three Sons", "The Three Musketeers", "The Conza Trifecta" (okay, I made that one up...) but here's what the new one should be - "The Three Stooges." Not just because they're all funny, but because Liam IS Curly! He is decidedly bald, occasionally spins on the floor, and last night - I kid you not- started making a sound that was awfully like that "nyock nyock nyock nyock" noise that Curly makes.

I suppose Elliot would be Moe.

And Riley? Does Riley EVER fit any classification?

Anyway, that's my little Curly for you. But seriously, if he starts doing that nifty Curly finger snapping fist pounding gesture/trick, I'm getting the kid an agent.

Liam's first highchair experience out to lunch with Nana and Pa!

Ain't it the truth!

For all you moms out there, I bet you'll agree with this little portion of a mommy interview that I just read...

Q: You know you’re a mother when (fill in the blank)?
A: Let's see, there's the first time you clean off your child's face with your own spit. There's those days when you dress up the baby in his fanciest coordinating outfit complete with useless little shoes and a bib that says something witty, then you throw an old maternity sweater over the jeans you've been wearing for 2 weeks and go to meet a friend without brushing your hair. Or there's the morning when you go to move the car holding a set of plastic rainbow keys.

Guilty as charged!!

I am woman...

I am SORE. :(

Well, the same hand I was using to pat myself on the back yesterday is now being used to rub myself on the back. Turns out I'm not the superwoman I thought I was, I'm woefully out of shape and now I'm hurtin'! Oh well. It's a good hurt. Kinda.

Before I forget - congrats to Tara and Alan on their new minivan! We knew you'd come over to the dark side eventually. Mwahahahahaha.

I am woman...

hear me ROAR!

If you live in this area, you know that today is a TOTAL bonus day weatherwise. It's currently 59 and SUNNY!! I just went and got the mail in a t-shirt. Hallelujah! I needed a day like this so bad.

Anyway, not one to waste a beautiful day and currently non-frozen ground, I grabbed me up a shovel and started digging in the backyard. (Liam was napping and the kids were right in the playroom looking out on me with the screen door open for all you safety nuts) We are having our septic tank cleaned tomorrow and they said it would cost $75/ft. to dig and find the lid for the tank. I didn't actually KNOW where the tank was located, but read a few good clues online... and after doing a little sleuthing, a digging I went. Found the tank itself right away, but it took a couple feet of clearing to actually find the lid, and then clear all around that. As I was digging, Casey was outside with me, and I started smelling something on the odoriferous side. I promptly scolded Casey, "you stinky doggie, I must've stepped in one of your deposits." He gave me sad eyes and sulked away. And then it dawned on me... I'm digging up my SEPTIC lid, not taking a tour through the botanical gardens. I apologized to the Case.

At any rate, 1 hour and some wicked muddy boots later, I have a hole in my yard and an exposed septic lid! All they'll have to do tomorrow is pry that baby off and let the septic vacuum rip. Something tells me I might have to light a few candles inside...

My observant son...

Two nights ago at the dinner table:

R - "Mom, why do you always have so much food on your dinner plate?"

*Silence*

Mom thinks to herself - "maybe I should start asking myself the same question."

Say WHAT?

So Elliot went today for part 1 of some evaluations to see if he qualifies for speech therapy. (Which it looks like he will) But today was the mandatory psychological evaluation which covers cognitive ability, behavioral analysis... all that fun stuff. Some of Elliot's responses had me cracking up on the inside, so much so that I started jotting a couple down. Here are the highlights.

Questions are all what the teacher asked, responses are all Elliot's.

What are shoes made of? -"Plastic."
What do you have to put on a letter before you send it? - "E." What else? "L."
What does polite mean? - "When you get happy."
What does swing mean? -"When you swing on a swing."
Can you name the seasons for me? - "Basketball." (I loved this one, I was waiting for him to say Football season next - a boy after my own heart)
Name the part of your body you walk on. - "Shoes."
Name the thing you plug in to clean the house. -"Broom."
What do you call it when you use your mouth to make music? - "Guitar."
What do you wear to keep your hands warm? - "A blanket."
What do you put on your finger if you cut it? - "Scissors."
What's something you chew that makes bubbles? - "A bubble wand."

Now, funny as some of those might be, they actually show that his language processing isn't totally up to par, he's only hearing parts of the sentence, and that's what he's basing his answer on. The majority of things he was tested on he did fabulously well with... but this was the one area he needed improvement with. And his articulation was without a doubt poor, the evaluator needed to ask him to repeat himself many times, and had to have me "translate" quite a bit.

All in all, it was a fine experience, and Elliot loved the idea of being in a preschool - the evaluation was held in Riley's old preschool. I guess in his mind he was actually attending class, and he then proceeded to fabricate all sorts of stuff to Riley about what he did "at school" and things that his school had that Riley's didn't. Riley bought it all, and started getting a bit jealous, finally blurting out "Yeah well what's 50+50?" Elliot replied that he didn't know and Riley smiled smugly.

At any rate, Elliot's now crying that his stomach hurts so I'm going to run. Will post more later.

Kids say the darndest things...

Just heard this... just what EVERY mother wants to hear...

R - "Mom, I have water gas. I have to go in my room to change."

Sigh. Something tells me I have laundry headed my way.

A dog's life...

What can I say, this dog knows how to relax!! He's got retirement written all over him.

My weird kids...

Yes, I love my weird kids. I love my 4 year old boy who pretends to be a girl dog, complete with socks over his hands for paws, and eating out of bowls on the floor. I love my 5 year old son whose new favorite show is "Homework Hotline" on PBS - a live show geared towards middle school aged kids for math help. Riley is obsessed with learning about how to multiply fractions and how to figure out probability. When the show is over he grabs a stack of paper and starts writing down his own "equations." I think I might get him a 1st or 2nd grade math book and try and start teaching him some basics since he's so interested.

Riley just got his 2nd quarter report card and he's doing great! To quote his teacher "Riley is a star." But then again, we already knew that. ;o)

Ahahaha!

I think I've mentioned before how much I love the site www.icanhascheezburger.com - here's one from today. For all of you cat lovers, you know this is how it goes!

A few REAL photos...

Took these on my real camera as opposed to my dinky camera phone. Maybe someday Riley will learn how to smile for the camera without making his face look wonky... Anyway, enjoy! (And can you tell I love stripes?)

Three's company!

Our new dog "Martha" complete with his/her dog food (Kashi) and water bowl. Sigh.