Mother's Day on the train

We spent Mother's Day on the Mountain Thunder train...a trip that goes from Cumberland, Maryland to Frostburg, Maryland. This was a lot of fun!

Here are Ben and Danny waiting to board:

Here's the train waiting to leave (those of you who know me well, just know that in my mind, I was at Platform 9 3/4 ready to go to Hogwarts):



Mommy and Ben on the train:


Danny and Suenamaw:


There was an open car where you could stand and take pictures and look out the open window:


The view from the open car of the engine in the distance:


Closer-up view with the beautiful mountains in the background:


Ben, Daddy and Danny at Frostburg (this began Danny's difficult hour or so where he was first put-off by the noise of the engine and then was mad and indignant about EVERYTHING else):


The engine pulls onto a turnstile and they turn it around for the return trip:


Back on the train after lunch...headed back to Cumberland:


Back in Cumberland at the station:

Corinne's a contortionist and Danny's Mother's Day Celebration

So, Corinne's a contortionist.

At our last ultrasound, here is what she was doing:


Yeah, that's her leg going straight up over her head. See the long bone passing right in front of her profile? I know babies are flexible, but honestly, that's pretty impressive.

Danny's pre-school class invited all the mothers to school on Thursday for a celebration. They read a story called, "Five Minutes Peace" about a mom who can't enjoy a private bath because the three children keep bothering her. Here's a picture of me in the bathtub, drawn by Danny:


Apparently I was pretty dirty, because the bubbles are BLACK! I also couldn't help noticing that I have a big round belly.

Here is a questionnaire that each kid filled in about his/her mother. Mrs. Kellar read each one aloud and we all waited with great anticipation for what would be said about us (you might have to click on the image to be able to read it):



I'm pretty excited that I am perceived as being 14 years old. Some of the moms' favorite things to do were laundry and ironing. Clearly, I have my priorities (as most of you know)...forget the cleaning and housework...let's eat and play!

And here are some beautiful handprints with a lovely poem for all of us moms.


Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Movie of Ben

Here's a little movie of Ben from today. He's pretty funny!





I love it so much when they really start talking!

100 days

Oooh...I just looked over there at the floating embryo and saw that there are only 100 days left until Corinne is born. August 10 cannot get here fast enough.

Ben-isms

Here are some things Ben says on a daily basis:

*When he is asked to do something he doesn't want to do, like clean up the puzzles he dumps all over the floor or put his milk back in the refrigerator: "I don't want me to!"
*At least 75 times per day he wants to know what I'm doing..."Are doing?" I have taken to coming up with creative answers. Sometimes I'm solving the world hunger crisis, sometimes I'm flying to the moon, sometimes I'm picking and grinning.
*At least 50 times per day he wants to know where all members of the family are..."Where's Daddy? or Mommy? or Danny? or Suenamaw?" He asks this even if these people are standing directly in front of him.
*"I have turn". I hear this almost every time Danny tries to play with any toy in the house. Ben is very jealous and demanding.
*When he wants to sit on the couch with me or have some M&Ms or one of a host a zillion other things, he says, "I too".
*TMI here...my belly button is herniated big time. Ben lifts my shirts to look at it and says, "Belly...weird".
*He loves the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but he calls it "Oh so high". When he wants to hear this song, he says, "Sing it for me, oh so high, for me". Lots of his demands sentences end with "for me".
*As of late, from dawn till dusk, he begs, "I go outside". Man oh man, he is all boy. He wants to play in the dirt, he wants to get wet with the hose, he wants to kick balls down the street. On Saturday, he got wet in the hose, then picked up handfulls of dirt and smeared them in his hair.
*He also says, "I love you too". This melts my heart!

Here are recent pictures we got taken.

So sweet!

Love this one:


Precious Danny:


Ben is so adorable:

Here are some shots that didn't exactly turn out as we'd hoped.

What is Ben's smile?


Ben trying to escape:

Again:

Little too short to pull this one off...but I love the ornery look:

Foreshadowing?

I called home this morning to remind Danny that today is April Fools' Day and to play a joke on Suenamaw (the classic, "there's a bug on your head" joke). I told him to take the phone with him so I could hear him do it. Here's how it went:

Danny: Suenamaw, I have an April Fools' Joke for you.
Suenamaw: OK, what is it?
Danny: There's a bug on your hair.
Suenamaw: Where?
Danny: April Fools!

Kind of lost some of the surprise factor with that interpretaion. I think they call that "foreshadowing" in literature/the theatre.

And, unfortunately, I can't do my usual April Fools' joke on Kevin this year: "I have something to tell you...I'm pregnant." Because I actually am this year.

Anyone playing some good jokes this year?

Here's a great one a teacher friend played on her husband one year: They were trying to sell their house and she called hubby from school to tell him that a "Mr. Lyon" called about buying the house and to call him back at such-and-such number. The number was actually the Pittsburgh Zoo, so when hubby called and said, "Could I speak to Mr. Lyon?", the person answering the phone said, "Would you like to talk to Mr. Tiger and Mr. Elephant too?" Awesome!

Have a great day!