The Great Mohawk Incident

Dagon finally got the courage to cut his hair short like his brother.  As Erin cut his hair, it naturally took shape into a faux mohawk.  Dagon was quite impressed with this turn of events and left the salon sporting his new "do".  It was so cute, I had to get a shot...not a good one, but a shot.  I would have taken more had I known what the future would bring.

Fast forward a week later.  It's a Friday night.  Everyone is showered and coiffed for our weekly Los Reyes rendezvous with friends, salsa and that annoying Mariachi music.   I am driving, I stop at a red light, I look in the rearview mirror to see if Dagon has dozed off.  My brain cannot reconcile what my eyes see.  I turn around to get a better look and what do I see?  Dagon, scalped!  Have Indians (Native Americans for you PC people) entered my house and scalped my child?   I'm shocked and screaming "what happened to your hair"?  Daddy, who had put the kid in the car, hadn't noticed this painful sight.  I ask again, what has happened to your hair.  Dagon seems to be unaffected by this issue and offers no explanation.  An awful, sick feeling stuck with me the rest of the evening.  When we got home, I found the evidence.  Dagon had taken his craft scissors and just cut off the Mohawk, down to the scalp.  This was very easy due to the stiff gel that was in his usually cotton-candy like hair.  I gathered the little stiff, blond spikes and placed some lovingly in a little ziploc, to be used for embarrassment purposes one day in the future.  Here is the painful sight...

The next few weeks were spent explaining what happened and hearing 90% of people relay their own self-inflicted haircutting adventures.  Dagon got very upset with me whenever I told the story.  I think he was quite regretful.    The recovery will take awhile but hopefully he will be back to normal by Christmas!

Summer School

Most kids just can't wait to get out of school for the summer.  We can't wait to get in!  Summer offers a multitude of wonderful learning possibilities and we take full advantage.  Since Daddy is very busy in the Summer months, Mommy and Boys have lots of time for field trips!  Our most favorite destination...Camp Mamaw/Papoo.  Unit Study #1- A hike to the creek to see Papoo's new bridge.  I spent many Summers playing in the creek and want my boys to have the same wonderful memories as I do.  Upon arrival, the bridge, although impressive, is not nearly as enticing as the water.  Outfitted with wading boots, the boys jump right in.  The first object was to get to the big rock. 

Dagon, of course, is the first to get this accomplished.  But Seager was not far behind. 

Next objective was to find a lizard.  Papoo, our creek guide, was enlisted to help in the search. 

The elusive creek lizard proved to be a difficult find, but...Seager was quite surprised to find a "baby lobster".  Crawfish were very easy to spot and our fearless guide let the boys see one up close. 

Strangely enough, neither boy was interested in holding the little critter.  We did eventually find that lizard and a satisfied Seager went to do some fishing while Dagon rearranged every rock he could pick up.  This is my favorite shot with Seager on the bridge and Dagon being Dagon.  Unit Study #2 - Gardening with Mamaw.  I also spent many hours as a kid in the garden.  While I didn't have nearly as much fun hoeing weeds as playing in the creek, I did always enjoy all the fresh vegetables that were the result.  Mamaw enlisted some helpers to pick a few things for dinner.  And what summer camp would be complete without a swim!  Dagon, having gained the strength he needed, became a fish and swims like a pro.  Not as fast as Seager yet, but he keeps trying.  Unit Study #3 - Fishin'!  Teach a kid to fish and you'll spend your afternoon baiting hooks and getting hooks out of bushes.  Seager is actually a pretty good caster, but Dagon is lacking in patience.  We were successful in the end!  Many thanks to Aunt Lori on this day of learning! 

Unit Study #4 - Disaster preparedness.  With all the rain and flooding, we performed drills in the event of rising water...

I have no idea what Dagon is preparing for. 

School is also about friends!  Our fellow homeschoolers, Challaghan and Rory,

invited us to their Grandma's pool.  Since it was just the boys, both Moms and Grandma, clothing was optional (for the boys) and Seager took advantage.

    Dagon chose to be modestly fearless. 

So, while everyone else is paying Summer rates at the beach with the rest of the Southeast, we go to Summer School.  No crowds, just lots of schoolwork disguised as fun.  And, I hope, lots of wonderful memories.

FIVE has arrived

After patiently waiting the six weeks after his brother's birthday, which to a kid seems like six months, Seager finally got his celebration.  A whole week's worth!  On Sunday, we welcomed the family in for some cake, presents and fantastic pig, compliments of Big Daddy the BBQ man.  He fired up the smoker at 6:00 a.m. so we could enjoy the freshly cooked meat that afternoon.  It's sooo good right off the smoker!

A serious Seager was soon ready to begin 

and was assisted by his wing man...

He got some soccer stuff...

Then broke out the big guns!  He and his wing man love to play dress up.  Favorites include Superheroes, Firefighters and now Cowboys! 

Next up, Tuesday the actual Birth Day.  What a great day to start T-ball!  Unfortunately, the weather was just awful and once again I made the mistake of saying I could help if needed.  Yep, helping coach again.  Mamaw was in attendance and took great pleasure in informing me how funny it was to see me out there running the bases with all the five year olds.  Ha Ha Ha.  I can still run and I do know the basics of baseball.  Seager was very impressed with the catchers mask and promptly volunteered to be catcher.  This was the only picture I got and I was dodging raindrops to get this one. 

According to Mamaw, who stayed over at 3 year old t-ball, Dagon was unimpressed and refused to "play ball".  Honestly, I don't blame him.  It was cold and raining and who wouldn't rather cuddle with their Mamaw than stand around in that kind of environment waiting for your turn?  Tomorrow is round two, 40 degrees with the possibility of snow flurries.  Not gonna happen.  We will not even go to the park under those conditions.  I do have my limits and besides, this is supposed to be fun.  So, our venture into sports has been hampered by torrential rains and now global warming.  Is it a sign?

So anyway, back to the celebration.  Wednesday brings a gathering of Seager's friends at the "jumpy place".  As you can tell by the sweaty hair and flushed faces, this activity was a huge success! No cake, no singing, just run, jump, run and jump some more!

Thursday was spent shopping for outfits for a long overdue photo session.  Why can you never find what you are looking for when you need it.  Anyway, we got the job done and Friday afternoon was spent at the photography studio.  You will just have to wait to see those but I will give you a hint; it involved some cute fuzzy participants.  I haven't seen the final results yet, but I think they will be great!

And the final climax to the frenzied week...20 adults and children at Los Reyes for the final fiesta!  Now keep in mind, this was a party for the adults as well as the children.  I only photographed the children because my brain was mush by that time.  It was adults and adult beverages.  I'm sure you can picture that in your mind.

Seager, Dagon & Sydney on the party deck pretending to be firefighters with a vacuum hose. 

The kiddos preparing for the lighting of the cake.  They were a bit concerned at the amount of cake they would receive,

but I did have cupcakes for everyone else.  Seager was thrilled to have his own little cake... but I will have to say that in the future he will have to be wary.  You better watch out Seager, never walk away from a cake or a girl!  It would seem that your wingman might steal your cake and perhaps even your date when you're not looking! 

So, that concludes the arrival of FIVE.  The question seems to be why we have so many parties.  And I say, well why not?  You are only a little kid once and it's a good excuse to do fun things, eat cake, and do all of that with the people you love.  How is that bad?  Except for the fact that Mommy is exhausted beyond the point of a quick recuperation.  Hence the post several days later.  2009 Birthday Season officially closed.

Now you can also understand why my last two Friday posts have been MIA.  Believe me, it's not from lack of material, just lack of extra time and most importantly, energy.  

Until Friday, or sooner perhaps, see ya!

Good for a Laugh

This will perhaps be the most outrageous WTF post to date.  Forget all this wealth envy - which I think is just getting ridiculous.  Forget stupid people who fall skiing and choose to send the paramedics away and subsequently die - duh.  Forget the fact that President TelePrompTer didn't realize for over 20 seconds that he was reading the wrong speech and thanked himself for "being there".  Ooo, Ooo, I know!  Let's make our brave Armed Service men and women pay for their own medical bills after getting blown up defending us all.....nope, forget that.  How about the one where the two women get knocked up, each carrying the other woman's child, but to keep it "normal" they used the same sperm donor...nah.  This is more weird than even that. 

So with that set-up I shall reveal the insanity.  You sure you can handle it?  Wait...Wait...As of today, around noonish, I am officially a Soccer Mom.  Good God in Heaven how could this happen you ask?

Those that know me well, know this might just tilt the Earth's axis and cause REAL global warming.  But wait, it gets better...I'm also an assistant coach.  WTF?  This happened even though I absolutely, positively screamed a disclaimer that I knew virtually NOTHING about soccer.  I even have a bright yellow shirt with "COACH" on the back.  Quit your laughing!  I can hear you all the way over here!  Of course, Big Daddy has taken great pleasure in referring to me as Coach this evening.

Just for the record, this is Homeschool Soccer.  We homeschoolers have our kids participate for exercise and social skills and as a bonus they get to learn to play soccer.  It is very laid back, all run by volunteers and the kids have a blast.  Just once per week, at 1:00 in the afternoon.  No night games, practices, crazy sport deranged parents and no 8:00 a.m. Saturday mornings.

So there.  Seager and Dagon were so excited to get new soccer balls and Seager even got special socks.  He was so proud.  Of course, I took pictures!

If you find yourself still stunned, get this, t-ball starts on the 31st.  Just in time for Seager's big birthday celebration.  So I guess you could say that the "ban" on sporty things for the boys has been lifted.  I do reserve the right, however, to forever ban football.  I have no intentions of ever changing that one.  The times they are a changin' (in more ways than I would like.)

We also have big news for Big Daddy!  He got himself a Blackberry and is slowly learning all it can do for him during his busy day.  He loves it so far!

So there, I'm expecting some heckling and teasing.  Go ahead, bring it on.

Happy Spring to you all!  Pollen, Yea!

The Littlest Maxwell Celebrates

Three years ago today at 8:14 p.m., we welcomed our sweet Dagon into the family and we haven't been the same since!  To acknowledge this most special event, we have spent our weekend celebrating with friends and family.  I have received numerous kisses and hugs from the birthday boy stating that he had a wonderful birthday.  Pictures?????  Of course!

We begin, as always, at Los Reyes for the initial celebration.  It was a big event with several friends and Mamaw in attendance. 

Dagon gets some extra help from big brother... 

and a toy inspection from Mya and some other helpers!  After a good dose of pure sugar...

Dagon ended his evening getting scanned by his new robot! 

Fast forward to the big day...Dagon gets a visit from his Papoo, Aunt Katrina, Aunt Lori, his cousins Brooklyn and Josh, and Mamaw (still in attendance).  Big Daddy smoked some pig on Saturday and we enjoyed BBQ sandwiches for lunch.  Then it was time for the big event!

 

Woo Hoo...I'm gonna get my wish this year!

He received a new computer school keyboard and software, phonics schoolbooks, a hot potato and no birthday is complete for a little boy without the cheesy plastic laser gun and sword that lights up and makes lots of noise.  Notice Seager eyeballing those and planning his cosmic takeover of the weaponry!

And of course, the last dose of pure sugar!  Sadly, poor Dagon is destined for a lifetime of birthday pictures with a pink face.  It's just too hard to pass up all the half price Valentine Cupcakes! 

Happy Birthday Dagon from your very frugal parents, family and cherished friends!

and from us to all of you...

Happy Valentine's Day!

we really enjoyed the cupcakes and candy you didn't buy!

 

Back to Reality...

It's over!  The insanity is over.  Unfortunately, the post-Christmas elves have failed to show up and pack away all this festive stuff.  Guess I'll have to do it again.  No complaints here though, we just spent 5 days at Mexico Beach with pretty decent weather.  Joe and I both wrapped up 2008 with a massage on the beach, some great seafood and the boys swam, ran on the beach and swam some more.  We rang in the new year with great friends and high hopes.  It's always good to end one year and start a new one on a beachy note! 

Speaking of beachy... we hope you enjoyed the Christmas card.  What you don't know is how many pictures it takes to get one or two that are "acceptable", or if you get lucky, you have so many good shots that there are lots of left-overs.  Aunt Lori has compiled the extras into a slide show for you all.  As usual, her talents are amazing and we appreciate all her efforts... Enjoy!

Thank you to all who sent us cards, pictures and 2008 update letters!  It's so exciting to hear of the wonderful accomplishments and milestones from all of you!  I had to add several names to the list this year and didn't delete any!  Guess that's pretty lucky to have had a year where you added friends and didn't lose anyone you care about.

We had a fun Christmas but didn't take many pictures.  We just enjoyed it without the pressure of capturing every second on some sort of digital format.  There were a couple of hysterical moments at Mamaw's on Christmas Eve, pictures were taken.  It was a Muslim Moment for sure and if I get those shots I will be sure to share them.  It was one of those moments that the picture is worth more than a thousand virgins words!

Since it is now 2009, I guess it's time to rev up the resolutions.  Since I did so well last year, I am under extreme pressure to be just as successful this year.  I hope to lose some pounds and inches but  I know this will involve a good bit of movement on my part.  There is only so much food you can eliminate and since that hasn't seemed to work, my only option is to get moving.  This is going to be tough and I'd like to get'r done before May...double tough.  Any words of encouragement or suggestions for a magic diet pill would be welcome.

Well, so far the 2009 blog is crap.  As I read back what I've just written, it's...well crap.  There's no humor or clever stories.  Sorry.  I'll try to do better next time.  My mind seems to be boggled up with all the things I want to do, need to do and have to do.  I think my first task will be putting those in the proper order... have to do, need to do and want to do.  I guess I better make a list and get busy. 

I hope you all had a safe and Happy New Year and here's hoping for a 2009 that is better than expected and more than we wish for.  Good Luck with that!

Skeletor & the Reluctant Tootsie Roll

Seager is a traditional kind of guy.  For such an important holiday, he likes to stay with the classic look.  Dagon, on the other hand, when asked what he wanted to be, he responded ...candy.  I'm not sure if that is what he wanted to "be" or what he wanted to "get", he was never specific either way.  I took him at his word and made it happen.

 

Since he is in the throes of a very annoying "terrible two-ness" he was quite reluctant to wear his costume and was the most unpalatable tootsie roll you would ever want to encounter.  It does make for hilarious pictures; lucky me!  It has now become tradition for this holiday to last a good 7 days, at least.  We always start the weekend prior at our local shopping mall for daytime trick or treating.  These are the shots from that. 

    

Next comes Story Time at the Library.  All the kids were invited to wear their costumes to our weekly story time and participate in a costume parade throughout the library.  We arrive there to find all these adorable, cute kids.  Princesses, Fairies, Lions, Blues Clues, Bob the Builder, etc.  As we enter, we hear all the "oh how cute, a tootsie roll" comments.  Seager struts in looking scary as hell - I was so proud!  It could have only been more dramatic had he been Lucifer himself walking in there with fire coming from his fingertips.  Thank God no kids went screaming from the room in sheer terror and in search of a government sponsored counselor to make it all better. 

Shortly thereafter, a shocking turn of events, a very cute witch walks in.  It seemed as if Seager and his star-crossed soul mate had finally ended up in the same room.  Unfortunately, she was having some of Dagon's issues and was not happy with herself at all and this is as close as they got.

Dagon spent the whole event clinging to my legs, I have no idea why. 

I thought the boys might enjoy carving a pumpkin this year.  Luckily, Wally World had marked them down to $2.50.  Deal!  Fast forward to Mommy cutting open the top and Seager peering inside...it went something like this..."EEWWWW"!  Their eagerness to help faded in a matter of two minutes with the final statement coming from Seager..."That pumpkin stinks, I think it's rotten!" and they both promptly left the room.  So I created a masterpiece, solo.

 

Finally the big night arrives and after a brief tootsie roll meltdown, we succeeded in getting dressed and out the door for the evening.   The tootsie roll finally smiled.  Hooray!

I didn't attempt to get pictures in the dark with kids running from house to house.  It was cute, just take my word for it. 

After the whirlwind evening we arrive back home just in time for Big Daddy to prepare for his evening out with his partner in frivolity.  The boys showed them how to prepare themselves...

and they caught on fast!  Just two "Wild and Crazy Guys!"  No further words are needed.  You get the picture.                                

So, that's it.   Thanks for joining us for our favorite holiday!  I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  Be sure to brush.