birthday wasps

A few weeks ago Lisa and I had a joint birthday party. Everything went really well. People were enjoying the appetizers, the burgers were cooked to perfection. A few people were eating outside in the Spring weather. All of a sudden the back door opens and everyone who was outside rushed back in. The wasps had attacked. They were crawling around on the side of the house and people. A few hitched a ride into the house, and were later hunted down and brutally murdered with shoes. A few people got stung, one being Violet Lemmon (19 months old) who got stung twice on her neck. Poor baby. She handled it like a champ though. Some anti-sting medication and a couple skittles and she was happy as a Lemmon.

A few days later I found another wasp who had escaped the death hunt. He left me alone and I left him alone, until he was crawling around on the floor today and I smushed him. Ever since the party Doug has been on a quest to kill the wasps. We haven't found any nests and aren't sure what type of wasp we're dealing with. Doug saved the one I killed to compare with pictures online. So far, the wasps have kept us from using our grill, but they don't keep us inside during the day.

And Matthew's latest desire is to ride his John Deere tractor down the porch steps. He was especially persistent about it today. It takes a lot of energy to keep this little guy alive.

buying bows and helping orphans

Cool idea, and since we're having a girl, who will need bows, I thought I'd share.


Check out the blog, and read how you can buy hair bows to support sarah's covenant homes in India.

taking his time

So Matthew's a little behind verbally right now. And honestly, I'm not concerned. I know he understands me, and he's picking up sign language quickly now. We taught him to sign for milk when he wants something to drink. But his usual way of letting us know he's thirsty is to stand in front of the fridge pulling on the freezer drawer making as much noise as possible. Another reason I'm OK with the delay is once kids start talking, it isn't long before they start talking back. I have enough patience right now to say "no" to Matthew and then to discipline him appropriately when he doesn't obey. But I know it's going to rile up my flesh when I hear him say "NO!" back to me in his angry toddler voice. And some of the toddler behavior is there, just without the talking. But I am looking forward to some things. I imagine Doug and I will enjoy listening to him, even more than we do now. And the funny stories that will result, like the one below...

Did He Just Say That?

February 24, 2009 by oliviaengstrom

Another edition….

During the last month, we potty trained GTB (yay!). Its been an adventure to say the least, but one of the most priceless moments came as he was sitting on the porcelain bowl at the outlet mall. Out of nowhere his eyes welled up with tears.

OTown: “What’s wrong?”

GTB (crying): “I’m hurting Nemo!”

That’s right, “I’m hurting Nemo.” Remember the scene in Finding Nemo when Nemo jumps into the toilet?

OTown: “Its okay GTB. Nemo’s fine because all drains lead to the….”

GTB: “OCEAN!!!”

for more funny GTB stories click here

ice cream

some videos for your enjoyment







and five minutes later...



So the story is Mom A, Lisa and Amy took Matthew for Doug and I on Friday night. Doug and I went to Meredith's birthday party where we participated in square dancing with live callers, that Aaron found on google. After cake I came home and slept great. Meanwhile, Matthew went to bed around 8pm. He woke up at 11pm and didn't go back to sleep until 4:30am. Could it have anything to do with the loads of ice cream those three fed him? He was up again at 9am and they brought him home. He went down at his usual nap time (12:30/1pm) and slept for FIVE hours. And then he still went to bed at his normal time and slept through the night. So, sugar=late night with baby.