Having A Bad Day?

Our Luke isn't exactly known for being subtle!

Ethan's 3rd Birthday

(August 26, 2004 --just hours old!)

On Sunday our Ethan turned 3! He really is changing into such a big boy--all the baby fat is gone from his cheeks and he says such grown up things to me, like "Oh Sure, Mom!" This year was especially fun to celebrate because Ethan fully understood what having a birthday meant--he even sang every word of Happy Birthday, including his own name, right along with the rest of us. We couldn't ask for a sweeter, more entertaining, boy to have in our family.

The scooter was a hit (thank goodness for the 2 training wheels in the back!).

It's more fun to hit your little brother in the eye with your party favor.

Ethan realizes that he gets an entire giant-sized piece of cake to himself, even though he was too excited to eat his dinner. Life is good on your birthday (he only eats the frosting anyway).

For those of you with budding performers, you must try this toy--the Fisher-Price Star Station. Hook it up to your TV and your kid can sing into a microphone and see themselves on the TV screen. It is so funny to watch our kids watch themselves--they love it!Finally--I won't have to endlessly pitch a baseball--this Tee can do it for me!

Aunt Danielle knows all about Ethan's obsession with Charlie Brown. He was pretty happy to see a Snoopy pop-up book .Luke didn't quite understand why he couldn't open presents too (even Ethan asked us where Lukey's presents were!). He won't have to wait long. In 4 short weeks it will be Luke's turn!

Happy 100 To Me!

This is my 100th blog post. I realize that the traditional way to mark this is the "100 things about me" list, but I just can't bring myself to do it (and, let's be honest, if any of you have been reading this blog for the last 100 entries then you already know more about me and my family than you ever wanted to know).

Instead, I decided the perfect way to mark the 100th milestone, is to finally join the 100 Day Challenge, and invite you all to do the same. This challenge was created by my fabulously creative (and seriously motivated) friend Amy & her husband Brian. You can read all about it on her blog here, or on Brian's blog, which is solely dedicated to this challenge, here. The idea came about after their five year-old son had his 100th day of school party and brought home his school journal entry explaining that just 100 days ago he didn't know how to read, write, or do math, and now he could. Their thought was that if this kind of progress was possible for a kindergarten student, then what could each one of us accomplish if we truly dedicated ourselves to reaching a goal, any goal, during a 100 day period?

At first I felt overwhelmed about picking a realistic goal that I could stick to. However, I have felt inspired by watching many of my friends who are now about halfway through their 100 days and what they have accomplished. If some of them are able to give up sugar, learn Italian, or write a book in 100 hundred days, then surely I can do something as well. So, for the next 100 days I will make an effort to read aloud to Ethan AND Luke everyday. This is something I do with Ethan nearly everyday, but has been more difficult to do with Luke, as the best quiet time for reading in our house is when he's asleep. I think if I make it a conscious goal for the next 100 days then both boys will receive more personal attention from me and it will cut down on some of the TV in our routine. (Plus, I get the best cuddles from Ethan when we're reading a book together). I will report back on December 1st to let you know how it went!

If any of you are up for a challenge, I'd love to hear what you will do over the next 100 days with me!

Blogger Benefits

I have been in an exercise rut. My long-standing walking routine has been stalled due to two toddlers who would rather ride tricycles than sit in a stroller, and I was on the fence about making a gym membership commitment. Then, two weeks ago I confessed on the blog that I was a former swimmer and suddenly I had an invitation from two friends who have been swimming laps in the mornings at our community swim club. After dusting off the goggles and swim cap, I lugged my tired body out of bed at 6:30 and went. It felt fantastic! I calculated that it had been nearly four years since I'd worked out in a pool, so my butterfly stroking was pretty weak, but otherwise I felt right at home. I even took the boys shopping to pick out a new kickboard for myself, which Ethan calls "mommy's skateboard" because he likes to scoot around the floor on it.

So, if any of you out there are still needing a reason to start your own blog (as if a free place to post photos and shamelessly brag about your kids isn't enough), I can now say that blogging is good for your health.

Bollard Family Picture Outakes

Yesterday evening we may have attempted the impossible: getting 14 people dressed, groomed, positioned and smiling for a family picture. It was a beautiful night at Aliso Beach Park, so maybe the professional photographer was able to work a miracle for the large group shot. After she was done we just took some small group and candids that are posted below:

Will's brother Ben, his wife Heidi, and thier 3 month old Teddy.

Will's brother Joe, his wife Tori, and thier 8 month old Max.

Grandma & Grandpa Bollard w/ their Grandsons (notice Luke is DONE getting photographed by now).

Do This!

A group of friends and I are doing a children's book exchange--because we all love getting mail and could use some new variety in our collections. On Monday we were lucky enough to receive this book courtesy of Jakson & Beth. Not only is it completely hilarious (a spider learns emergency drills for potential vacuum attacks!), but it also came on a day when I REALLY wanted to avoid Ethan's characteristic "there's no mail for you" melt-down (see previous posts). And, if we decide we want more from the insect world, we can get Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Fly. Thank you Beth for a great pick--I wouldn't expect anything less of a former teacher.

I'll get my selection in the mail to the next lucky recipient shortly!

Cousins!

The next generation of Bollard Boys (l to r): Luke, Max, Ethan & Teddy swimming in Grandma & Grandpa's jacuzzi.

On Friday we will attempt to get all four of these boys to smile at the same time, or even just look in the same direction, along with the 10 adults that go with them.

Wish us luck.

Ugh . . .

I'm tired and cranky this morning because:

Last night I chased around the whole neighborhood after two little boys on these:

Then I stayed up way to late reading this:

At midnight Ethan decided he needed another cup of this:

At 4:45 Luke woke from some sort of nightmare, then decided he wanted to stay awake and kick me for another 2 hours:
The day can only go up from here.

Blogger Potpourri

Here's a little mix of all kinds of thoughts & happenings around the Bollard household (because I don't think any one of them justifies their own post, and I have nothing else exciting to write, sorry!):

• Does anyone's kid love junk mail as much as mine? Walking to the mailbox is treacherous business these days because if there isn't some sort of toy catalog, car dealership ad, or free sample stickers for Ethan much wailing and gnashing of teeth ensues. How I long for December when the big fat Toys R US catalog comes. It could keep him busy for at least an hour, maybe two.

• Behold: the fruits of my gardening labors! This beauty was the first ripe tomato off of my tomato plant. We sliced it up, sprinkled some salt and pepper and dipped the slices in Balsamic vinegar--delicious! We have since had a whole crop of tomatoes, but only about half of them have made it to our table since the other half either get used as baseballs by Luke or are infested by worms (how do I get rid of these?--help please, any gardening experts out there!)

• While I was doing dishes the other day, Luke managed to drag his highchair into the living room, dump it over (giving my rug a nice dusting of dried up rice and green peas) and then throw it across the room, sending several metal bolts flying. So, we are no longer a two highchair family. Here's Ethan modeling his two favorite activities after reading the junk mail: making cookies and eating cookies in his new booster seat.
  

• It's haircut time again for my boys. What's your vote--short and spikey (see picture below) or the usual soft and shaggy do?

• For those of you who remember my post about my father-in-law's involvement in the Dog Chapman case, I am happy to report that last Thursday a Mexican judge ruled to free the Dog.

Okay, all out of blogging time for today . . .

Lake Powell

Well, for those of you who I talked with prior to this vacation, I am happy to report that both of my non-water-safe toddlers survived five days on the Lake Pleasure at Lake Powell without drowning, falling off the boat, getting bit by a rattlesnake, or carbon monoxide poisoning-- whew! And, I think they had a lot of fun in spite of my constant policing.

With 33 people from the Bollard & Calder families on two houseboats, we also had a lot of good family bonding time.






One of the boys favorite things to do was wake up each morning and fish off the back of the houseboat. Ethan got a little over anxious reeling in a fish and it smacked him in the face! We told him the fish "kissed him." Good thing it was a little blue gill and not one of the big, nasty carp that would swim up to the surface and eat whole chunks of bread we were trying to feed some ducks with!
With his Dad away in trial, Will got the responsibility of being our Captain. He did a good job driving the boat despite some technical difficulties.
Of course the best part of going to Lake Powell is the water sports. I was happy to discover that I could still get up on skis after a five year break. The banana boat was a big hit with my teenage cousins once Will & Sam showed them how to jump between the banana and a tube (which Ethan correctly summed up by saying, "They is crazy!).
Our silly boys, surrounded by the most sand & inflatable toys I've ever seen for two little boys!
Luke discovered sunglasses (at least long enough to snap this picture anyway).