Clara Heaven

When we went to the beach last month, we went with our friends Doug, Shelly and Ava and THEIR friends the Butlers. We didn't know the Butlers before the trip, but we have so much trust in Doug and Shelly, we were willing to share a house with these strangers. As we figured, they are awesome folks. They have four preschoolers ranging in age from almost-5 down to... I don't remember... six months old maybe?

They're all sweet kids, but Clara Helen - their only girl, a few months older than Will - made quite an impression on our "nice red-headed boy". First of all, he promptly renamed her "Clara Heaven". Secondly, when he asked to share her crayons, she (being the well-trained second oldest of four) said "SHU-URE!" I'm not sure how to convey the intonation via blog, but if you smile really big and make sure the word has two nice Southern syllables, you've got the idea.

Now if Will asks me something at home and I say, "Sure," he corrects me: "No, say 'SHU-URE!'"

"Will, who says 'sure' like that?"

Little shy smile. "Clara Heaven."

I think the boy has a soft spot for sweet little Southern girls.

A Rare Joint Appearance

Yet Another Anecdote

I'm glad to hear some others out there appreciate Will's commentary. Here's another recent conversation:

Mom: This is the last book. (We have a big announcement about the last book each night to prepare Will for my upcoming departure from his bed.)

Will: I don't want that to be the last book. I'm going to find you another one. I want the one about Andy. (This is a book called Andy's Pirate Ship. It's a Spot-The-Difference book where you try to figure out what Andy's taken from each room. It's very difficult, even for grownups, but Will loves the story and ESPECIALLY that the little boy is named Andy.)

...[Much searching and disheveling of the already-chaotic room ensues]...

Will: But I can't find it. The trick-or-treaters came up to my room and took it away.

Mom: What???

Will [matter-of-factly]: On Halloween the trick-or-treaters came up to my room. They didn't have any books and they said let's take some books... they said let's take JUST A TINY BIT OF BOOKS from this nice red-headed boy.

Soph Rocks The Ponyta... er, Angel Wings

Another Will Anecdote

Will is helping me unload the dishwasher. This is particularly thrilling for him because he is getting to handle knives! Each knife he puts away is accompanied by play-by-play commentary: "I have a big sharp knife," then, "I put the big sharp knife in the drawer."

Sophie, my little instigator, notes that Will is having a good time and must intervene. She takes a fork from the silverware caddy.

Will confiscates the fork and, remarkably, hands her a spoon as a replacement unprompted. "I gave her a spoon" he tells me.

"Yes, because you are such a good big brother to her. You are so nice."

"Yes, I had to take the fork away because I was afraid she was going to poke a hole in her forehead."

Ahead Of Schedule And Under Budget!

Southlake is now complete!

We've now owned the Southlake house for just under three months, and we will be listing it for sale this week. To recap, we're posting some before and after pictures below. Here's what about $25,000 and a few weekends with my husband can get you...

In addition to what you see here, we also added an additional bath and installed central heat and air.

Bath Time With Sophie

I'm posting these just to share the cuteness. I can't think of any meaningful stories to go along with these.

(Sophie DOES blow kisses sometimes, but in the last picture I'm pretty sure she's doing an Indian chant instead.)

Kids Will Be Kids

Here are a couple of random pictures I thought were cute. Will dances after his bath...

While Sophie finds a seat in the fridge and wishes for scissors...

That's Just The Way The World Was Made

We are in the days of "Why?" and "How?" and "Why not?" with Will. It can be exasperating but sometimes rewarding. I try to give reasonable and accurate answers, but I am usually reduced to some trivance like, "That's just the way it is." I can tell that others who interact with Will on a regular basis (Andy, Emily, etc.) are in the same boat.

About a week ago, Will decided that it is time to stop wearing Pull-ups to bed. I support this in theory, but in practice it's a lot more work for me right now. (We've since abandoned the idea for the moment and will try again in a few weeks.) His first night was successful. The second night we weren't so lucky. So at 4 AM I was upstairs stripping and re-sheeting Will's bed. (Later I found a beach hat in the bed wrapped under the sheets I'd put on at 4 AM. Whoops. It might be time to organize the closet.) I laid down with him to settle him back down after the upheaval.

Will: Why isn't my music on?

Mom: It went off.

Will: Some person came in and turned it off.

Mom [kind of creeped out that he would think this and say it so matter-of-factly]: No, it just goes off after it's finished playing all the music.

Will: Why?

Mom: It just does.

Will [resigned]: Yes, because that's just the way the world was made. That's just the way God made it. And the people. And the men. And the ladies. And the boys and the babies.

Mom: Yes. Let's be quiet now, OK?

Will: I want you to turn my music on. I'm ready for you to go.

Mom [thinking YIPPEE!!! and feeling like she's just won Powerball]: OK. Good night!

Beach Birthday Bash

Although I did a pretty terrible job of documenting it, Will had a great 3rd birthday at the beach. We played in the pool, in the sand and at the beach house and went out for ice cream. The irony is that there were no less than five other kids helping celebrate, but somehow I managed to selfishly capture no one except my own little brood on film.

Will also had a special Home Depot/Lowe's themed cake, complete with awesome tool-shaped candles which were courtesy of Doug Carey. He also had orange (Home Depot)-iced cookies on sticks, courtesy of Shelly. (We love you, Doug and Shelly!)






Will's gifts included a desktop fan, walkie-talkies, a teeball set, new markers and a coloring book. He also got a warm-up suit, new Spidey undies, a new Muppets book and a check (!) from family.