Return of the Dirt Magnet.

We've had some great rain here over the last few days, but its meant the boys, especially Caleb, have been cooped up inside the house a little more then usual. Today was the day they had to be released, as the boy-energy inside the house was reaching unsafe levels.

Preparing for the worst, they were all packed up into old clothes and boots. This time it took Caleb five minutes to reach the point of no return. He's slipping.

Oh look mama, i've got some dirt on my hand.

Amazingly, he didn't cry at all when he fell flat on his face in a puddle. He just had a bit of a taste of the water dripping into his mouth, then resumed the business of exploring the world around him.

I could hear my washing machine groaning inside the house.

Do you think I'll need to give him a bath? Or can I just get away with a change of clothes, a quick swipe of a washer, and then the carpet will take care of the rest when he's wrestling his brothers?

Contrary to what you may have thought from the last couple of posts, there are 3 other boys living in our house. Isaac got in on the act too, but he's not as close to the ground as he used to be. He won't need a bath. Yet.

Jacob always stays clean no matter what he plays in. Here he is amongst the oats which we really carefully grew around the compost pile. This was after he played in the mud. He's the total opposite to Caleb. He's a dirt resistor.

Jeremy's the smart one. He stayed in the house.

I don't know how much longer my washing machine can take it.

After putting the boys outside to play this morning I went back inside to get their hats. I was gone for no more then, say, 3 minutes when I returned to find this:

In case you didn't get it the first time, here he is again a few minutes later:

There must be some kind of record I can claim - it took Caleb no more then 3 minutes to cover himself from head to toe in dirt. What is it with boys and dirt? Growing up with three sisters, I can't remember a time any of us got this dirty. Even my tomboy sister, who loved getting dirty, chewing bones and wanted to be a daddy when she grew up (but that's another story) didn't get this dirty. Of course it may also have to do with the fact that we grew up in England, where the grass was a wee bit greener then it is out here. We also didn't have a pile of dirt sitting in the back yard just asking to be climbed up and slid on (which, incase you're wondering, is the topsoil for our future lawn).

A few minutes later he was off and running amongst the burrs, attracting more dust with each step:

Surely there must be a limit to the amount of dust the clothes can hold. Maybe I should give the washing machine a break and try the Dyson.

Ahh, my little Dirt Magnet. What is it they say? A little dirt never hurt. I wouldn't have you any other way. :)

ps: it's not a black eye, just more dirt.

:)

Slowly getting back to a new normal

We're on the tail end of being in moving mode - it's been about a month, but we've been chaotically busy with more then just moving. More on those happenings in future posts, but for now here are some pot shots of our new normal...

Caleb had the first shower in the new house:

The lounge Lego room:

Making cookies on the kitchen counter:

The walk-in pantry and it's most frequent visitor:

First brekky after moving in:

Getting ready for the first dark sleep in the new house:

Guess what?

We're moving.

:)

Birthdays

The boys chose and decorated a cake for my birthday. PVT assembled the actual cake, but the boys did all the decorating by themselves, including all the icing. PVT is the cake decorator in our house, as evidenced here and here, so it seems they're following in his footsteps! If only I can figure out how to get them really excited about cooking dinner, they can do that each night too!

Update and Sewing

We've been away for a couple of weeks, here's the report and some other tidbits:

• we went on a fantastic Lake Dinner Cruise for my dad's 60th
• we took the boys up the 'rocket' tower in Canberra (Telstra Tower). Isaac was a bit worried it was going to take off.
• we bought a Dyson vaacuum cleaner (I've been coveting one for a while so this is exciting news)
• four out of six of us got sick. It could have been the swine flu?!?!
• we scraped and then painted the ceiling of a bedroom, whilst sick
• the boys spent hours collecting snails
• we were able to meet up with 2 friends who live far far away, seeing both for a very brief period of time (but definately worth it!)
• Isaac has learnt to write his name
• Caleb is learning to run and is becoming book-obsessed
• Jem is probably going to end up in the Guiness Book of Records for building then breaking up then building the same Lego Kit over and over again
• Jacob has begun adding numbers in the down-the-page format, which takes me back to my childhood.
• PVT is building the steps up to the verandah at our new house

The boys made some cards for my dad for his 60th birthday, using basic sewing. They turned out pretty cool:

Jacob's:

Jeremy's:

Isaac's: