Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas season with family, friends, food and fun!  We are in Gainesville spending some time with my parents and brothers.  It has been a fun visit, filled with music and presents and the pitter patter of tiny little feet in giant combat boots.  

Landis just took his evening bath with Uncle Caleb.  It was a very loud, splashy and fun bath.  Uncle Josh is practicing his piano.  He is getting to be a very talented pianist.  Caleb wants to make sure that everyone knows that he is both a talented pianist AND drum player.  The 2 big uncles are out and about.  John has seamlessly rejoined Paul's busy social life.  Goat is, unfortunately, working on his truck.  The ball bearings went out as we were driving up.  We were able to make it under our own steam, but Goat has had to spend most of the day replacing the bearings.  All 4 of his brothers-in-law have helped him throughout the day.  They were kind of cute, all crowded underneath the truck.  Awww, male bonding!  

The Benton uncles are using this visit to make sure we are raising their nephew right - as a Gator fan!  Paul dressed Landis up in his Gator Gear, and Landis has learned good Gator Chomp technique.  Maybe one day he will be able to attend a game with his uncles.  

We will be heading home later today or early tomorrow.  I don't know what Landis is going to do in our boring house after spending so much fun time in Gainesville!  We are looking forward to spending some time with Aaron Scott while he is still on his school break and seeing Goat's parents, (who are in Arizona visiting his Grandmother) his siblings, and all of our friends.   

Awww

Landis just treated his uncle Josh to the cutest rendition of "Hickory Dickory Dock." It went something like this:

Mouse cwimb cwock.
Mouse cwimb up!
Mouse cwimb down!
Mouse cwimb cwock.

I'm adding a video of Landis singing for his uncles.  This was a few days later, but the same song.  

I am so proud of my brilliant step-son

Hooray for Aaron Scott, science fair champion of the 3rd grade! He is such an amazing kid!

If you've ever happened to encounter a mother in the presence of an adorable baby, you may have witnessed the ridiculous, cooing, nonsensical language that comes naturally to many women and is almost universally loved by babies. It's hard not to coo and wax lyrical about each tiny feature when faced with an adorable little face, and the fact that it is rewarded with sweet toothless smiles only reinforces the behavior.

Unfortunately, while Landis has grown from a tiny infant to a tall and very verbal toddler, I have not yet stopped cooing over each of his adorable features, especially his very blue eyes. As Landis was hard at work building a train track, I kept talking about his big blue eyes, and just how cute they are, and how nice it was that he had gotten blue eyes just like Daddy. I thought that he wasn't really listening, but he got up, ran across the room and tugged on Goat's pants. Goat turned around, and Landis said, "Daddy, thank you for my eyes."

We just about fell over laughing at that one, but I think I'm going to have to stop telling Landi how cute he is quite so often. I don't want to raise a vain little boy - even if he is the cutest toddler in the world!

There is nothing cuter than a toddler learning to speak. Landis' latest little quirk is this: When the sun goes down in the evening, he requests that I "turn the dark off" instead of turning the lights on.

Landis is cracking me up lately with his quirky little mannerisms and figures of speech. He is such a funny talking boy!

He is always curious about our destination whether we travel by car, bike, or walk. He announces our arrival with a cheerful "Made it! We made it!" C'mon Landis, it's not that scary riding with your Monnie. You don't have to act so relieved.

His new favorite phrase is "I don't like it." I'm hoping this isn't his favorite for too long, but it's a definite improvement from "NO!" It's sometimes quite funny. Tonight at dinner, he had his first taste of brussel sprouts. We went to the grocery store earlier this afternoon and he helped me put the brussel sprouts in the produce bag, counting as we went. I told him we would eat them for dinner, and played up how yummy they are. However, his reaction was what you might expect from a 2 year old. He took a bite, chewed once or twice and deposited it directly back on his plate. His commentary: "No more. I don't like it!" He had the most serious look on his face, and it was all we could do not to laugh. Other times it's not quite so endearing, as the phrase seems to accompany all of his temper tantrums and fits.

He's recently learned the word "something." When he has a mystery object in his mouth, he's learned that answering "something" to our queries about the nature of the object elicits quite the entertaining response, even if he's only chewing a grape or a piece of cheese. One evening recently he came up to me, pulled on his left earlobe and announced that he had "put something in ear." Goat and I rushed about, finding a flashlight, shining it down his ear canal trying to get a glipse of "something" and debating whether we should take him to the ER to have "something" extracted. He finally confessed, to our relief, that "something" was the tip of his pointer finger. Little stinker!

One of the interesting things about venturing out in public with a potty training, verbal child is the inevitable conversations in public bathrooms. Landis has learned that a proper conversation has 2 sides, and waits politely for a response after he makes a statement. If a response is not forthcoming, he assumes he wasn't heard the first time and repeats his statement louder. So, there are 2 possible types of bathroom conversations. Either we carry on a 2 sided conversation about our various bodily functions, or Landis carries on a 1 sided conversation at an increasingly loud volume. I usually choose option 1 - it's better that the conversation only carries to the adjoining stalls!

It's so much fun watching my little boy grow and learn, and there is never a single dull moment!

Velociraptor Shoes

Thanks Uncle Paul! I love my new shoes!













I'm even faster than usual in my velociraptor shoes.















And I can put them on and take them off all by myself!

Check out the bottom of the shoes. These are going to leave the coolest footprints next time I go to the beach!

Clotheslines

We put up two clotheslines on the porch a month or so ago. I have never had so much fun doing laundry! I throw a load laundry in the washing machine just before bedtime. In the morning, when Landis wakes up, we head out to the porch. Our washing machine is in the garage on the way, and I grab the clothes, and put in another load to wash if needed. Landis rides his trike around the porch and back yard, runs around in the grass or plays in his little "playgrounds" - he has 2 little play sets with slides, a swing a steering wheel, and walls and ladders to climb. While he plays, I throw the clothes on the lines. Most of the clothes find a spot on one of the 2 lines, and smaller items (the 4 pairs of undepants my little potty training boy goes through in a day, napkins, kitchen rags, etc.) go on the little drying rack. This only takes 10 minutes at the most, so I have plenty of time afterward to join Landis in his play.

We usually go on our walk after hanging the laundry, then into the house for the rest of the morning. After lunch, Landis takes his nap, then we head back out to the porch to fold the load. Landis enjoys the play time and gets some energy out, which makes the afternoon much more pleasant for both of us. It's so much nicer to do laundry outdoors, with Landis running and playing, than indoors with him boucing off the walls. I highly recommend line drying to anyone with an energetic 2 year old - and just about anybody else!

Happy Birthday to Landis!!

Landis is 2!! Hooray! I can hardly believe it - the time just flew by. He is my big running, jumping, playing, singing, story telling, laughing, joke telling, temper tantruming, imagining, sweet, silly independent boy. Happy Birthday Landis!!

Night Launch!

We had the chance to watch the shuttle Endeavor launch tonight from the Indian River. It was amazing! For a few minutes, it was as bright as day, and then, slowly, the sky faded back to darkness.

The launch was several miles away from the boat, and we could see the shuttle before we could hear it. I always find myself straining to hear the first rumblings of the shuttle. It's strange to see such an incredible sight in silence, even if only for the first few seconds.

We enjoyed spending time with Goat's parents, his sister Laurel and her boyfriend Jason, and family friend Tommy. As always, Landis was thrilled to go for a boat ride. He was also thrilled with the launch, and kept telling us about it. "Shuttle fast! Shuttle bright! Shuttle loud!"

Here is Landis, helping his Papa steer the boat. He is looking more and more like Aaron Scott. Their mouths are different, but otherwise I would have a hard time telling the difference between pictures of the 2 boys at the same age.

Grandpa Duggan's Birthday Bash

We are headed out the door to watch the Endeavor launch, so no time for a long post, but I thought I would put up some pictures from my Grandpa's birthday party last weekend. It was so nice to see my Grandma and Aunts Karen and Connie and cousins Shawn, Kristen, Rachel and Aiden from NY, who we hadn't seen in way too long! Landis had such a great time playing with his uncles and cousins!
Here is Landis sitting on Caleb's lap, ready to go down the slide. Josh is behind them, and Shawn and Kristen are crossing the bridge to join the fun.

Landis had a great time practicing his rock climbing skills with his spotter, Josh. Maybe he will follow in the steps of John and Paul and become a rock climbing teacher at Chosatonga some summer.




Landis and I went to Sea World with Aunt Connie, Rachel and Aiden. The kids were so amazed to see the giant orcas, as well as all of the other marine creatures.




All of that fun playing tired Landis out. Here he is, getting a quick snuggle in with Uncle Josh before nap time.


Unfortunately, my camera batteries only lasted for 2 days, but Paul has promised to email me pictures from his and my Mom's cameras, so I will post more pictures then!

Arggh!

See this sweet, adorable child? Don't let looks fool you. He's trouble!

I left the living room for 2 minutes to put some laundry in Landis' dresser and he pulled a chair over and climbed up to the cabinet to grab a full container of raisins and dump it on the floor. The container was just large enough that the entire dining room floor is covered in raisins. He is my little whirlwind boy, and the reason my house looks like it was hit by a tornado!

Oh well, I had to sweep anyways... And he is such a fun, sweet kid. I wouldn't change him if I could!

Cute Ludwig Brothers

I couldn't resist putting up a few of the cute pictures from last weekend. Aaron Scott and Landis had a great time playing together in the back of Daddy's truck. They were playing some sort of game trading acorns back and forth, and happy as can be in the sweltering hot bed of the truck. Silly boys!

Then, we stopped by the grocery store, but Aaron Scott had forgotten his shoes. Fortunately, Goat had an extra pair! Aaron Scott looks quite silly in his Daddy's shoes, but he had a great time walking through the store and seeing people's reaction to an 8 year old wearing giant shoes!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Watch it now!

Things I Love

About my almost 2 year old!

I love the way he gets my attention, putting his hands on either side of my face and turning my face towards him. "C'mon, Monny!"

I love the ridiculous reasons he has temper tantrums. "Monny, make it rain more!!!!" I love that he thinks I control the weather.

I love his pronunciations - blankink (blanket), genckle (gentle), puter (computer), oop'it (open it), and so many more.

I love how much he loves going outdoors. We usually go on walks in the morning, and the first thing I hear after breakfast is "Very long walk today, Monny!"

I love that he's still at the stage where a kiss and a snuggle can make everything OK.

I love how excited he gets about seeing his grandparents, aunt and uncles, brother and friends.

I love the way he forms his sentences. "Trucks! Trucks drive. Trucks drive in road. Trucks drive in road FAST!"

I love how imaginative he is. He tells me stories and asks me to tell them, looks for dinosaurs under bushes and pretends he is a birdie and can fly.

I love how independent he is getting, and I love hearing "Landi do it!" all day long.

I love how excited he gets when Daddy comes home from work. He loves his Daddy so much!

I just love my little boy!!

Go Bake Some No-Knead Bread!

It's delicious, and so, so easy!

It's about a 20 hour process, but requires only 15 or 20 minutes of hands on time. The recipe can be found here. I modified it by using 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour and it turned out great!

The whole wheat flour gives it a yummy nutty flavor, and the long initial rise gives it just a hint of sourdough. I don't have a dutch oven or casserole with a lid to bake it in, so i've been using the insert from my crockpot, which is a little bit too big. I think the loaf would end up a lot taller and more evenly shaped in a smaller pan.

Give it a try and let me know how your bread turns out! It really is the easiest bread recipe I've ever tried, with the least hands on time and the smallest amount of flour dusted over the surfaces in my kitchen. :)

Landis just got the most appropriate saying for an almost 2 year old in his fortune cookie.

"Your emotions are right on the surface, but that's okay."

So true!

Awww!

Landis just woke up from his nap in the best mood.  We snuggled in the rocking chair for a minute, and he curled up in my arms.  I gave him kisses and tickled him and told him "Monny loves you!"  After a minute, he looked up at me with a satisfied grin and said "My Monny loves me!"  

Face Paint + Attempted Mohawk =

Ridiculousness.











What am I going to do with those crazy uncles?

We're in Gainesville..

And just look what those crazy Benton uncles have done. Poor Landis! He is covered in temporary tattoos. He ran to the back of the house to play with Aaron Scott and the uncles, and ran out a few minutes later looking like this.

Foolishly, I let him go play again, thinking they had done their worst. Now his face is painted in a greenish brown color! I guess he is ready for some recon missions now. I'll have to watch him like a hawk or he will be crawling on his belly through some high grass. If I lose sight of him, I may not be able to find him.


We are headed to the Ichetucknee River for some tubing in a few minutes. Landis will stay behind to have some quality Nonnie time, but Aaron Scott and the uncles and I will have a great time tubing in the cold, cold water.

Recipes

We have been trying some new recipes over the last few days and found a few that are too yummy not to share!


Soft Pretzels These are perfect - soft and salty and sweet. We've tried topping them with salt and with cinnamon sugar, and both are very good. Landis loves them as a snack, and I could eat them all day long!

Onion Chutney We made onion chutney quesadillas, and I think I'm officially addicted! The chutney is both sweet and fruity from the apple cider vinegar and brown sugar and pleasantly spicy because of the chile and coriander. It's good enough to just eat plain, and it will transform a sandwich from a boring lunch item to the high point of the afternoon.

"Pop Up" or German Pancakes We (mostly Goat) have been looking for a good German Pancake recipe for months. Goat's Dad used to make these for breakfast years ago, but somehow the recipe got lost along the way. These are exactly the way Goat remembers them! They are rich because of the eggs, but puff up when you cook them so they are not too dense. We ate them with lemon juice and powdered sugar and they were delicious!

PSA

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I Love These Boys

So, So much!

Aaron Scott, Landis and I had such a wonderful weekend. We picked Aaron Scott up from school on Friday and ran a few errands. Then we headed back to the house and went for a bike ride. We rode around the neighborhood for a bit and then explored a grassy path that runs along the creek. After a while, we went back to the house, Goat got home from work and we headed to his parents' house. They boys and I went swimming there. Aaron Scott had his shark mask, gloves and fins and had a great time pretending to be a shark. Landis has lost all of his fear of the water, which on the one hand is great, but makes me worry. He jumped in and "swam" towards me when I was playing with Aaron Scott and not looking, and when I scooped him up after a second or 2 looked really proud of himself. It turned out fine, but it worries me that he thinks he can swim when he can't.

We ate dinner and then watched a Harry Potter movie with the beloved "AmmaPapa"* and then headed home and put the exhausted boys to bed.

Saturday, Goat had to work again. :( We woke up in the morning and went on a 2 mile nature walk with the Ludwig grandparents. It was fun! We saw lots of neat animals - an armadillo, several different kinds of turtles swimming in the creek, fish, a tortoise walking next to the path very slowly, and lots of insects. Aaron Scott and his Papa had a great time communicating by walkie talkie when we took separate forks in the trail.

After the nature walk, we brought Goat lunch at work and walked next door to check out the rock gym. It is really expensive! I was thinking it might be a fun thing to do every once in a while, but it would cost our family more than $70 to get in for the day. Yikes!

The boys and I went home, Landis napped and Aaron Scott played on the computer for a little while. Then we went on another bike ride. Unfortunately, Aaron Scott took a tumble and scraped his knee. We went back to the house to wash it off and get a band aid, and then he was ready to bike some more. We rode for a little while longer, then went home and packed up to go to the beach.

Aaron Scott is such a social kid! We hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes when he found another boy about his age and they started playing. Landis really wanted to play with them, but he just kept getting in the way of their games, so I took him a little ways down the beach and we played in the surf together. After a while, we walked back to where Aaron Scott and his new friend were digging in the sand. Landis figured out a game he could play with the big boys - tag! He chased them up and down the beach. It was too cute! Then, Aaron Scott and his friend headed out into the waves, about waist deep. Landis really wanted to go out with them, so I walked out near them, but after a few minutes of Landis trying to dive into the ocean, we headed a little bit closer to shore. He really wants to do everything his big brother does! The boys played for a while longer, but the sun was setting and their faces were starting to turn the same shade of blue as their eyes, so we headed home.

As we were getting the boys to bed, Aaron Scott made the funniest comment. I control the thermostat during the day and keep the house on the warm side, but as soon as Goat comes home from work, he keeps it much cooler. Aaron Scott said that it had been too cold the night before and asked for an extra blanket. He said, "Your house is like the desert. Hot during the day and freezing at night!" He is the funniest kid. We are so lucky to have such wonderful boys!



*Grandma and Papa Ludwig. Landis says both of their names as all one word. He loves going to "AmmaPapa's House!"

Dinosaur Hunting

Landis and I went on a nature walk in a nearby park yesterday. As we walked along, we saw and heard several kinds of birds, a variety of insects, including some lovely butterflies, squirrels, frogs and some very large spiders. As we neared the end of the 1/2 mile trail, I listed all of the animals we had seen and asked Landis what his favorite one was. His answer came quickly: "Dinosaurs!"

"Where did you see the dinosaurs?" I asked.

He lifted up a frond of one of the small palmetto palms that was growing beside the path, put his finger to his lip and whispered, "Shhh! Dinosaurs hide."

He is one fun boy with a very active imagination!

When Johnny Comes Marching Home

John is back from Iraq! Hurrah! Hurrah!!

We drove up to NC on Wednesday and joined my parents and brothers at a beautiful old farmhouse near Camp Lejeune. We headed to the base on Thursday to see John and his fellow Marines as they returned. It was so exciting! First, giant trucks drove by and unloaded their gear. We waited for another 1/2 hour or so until the Marines pulled up in 3 huge buses. We were trying to see which bus John was on when he snuck up behind us. We were all so excited to see him! We helped him get his gear back to his room, he took a quick shower and we went out to Texas Steakhouse for dinner.

Friday, John had to be on base for most of the day, so we went to Hammocks Beach State Park, where we took a ferry out to beautiful Bear Island. After a short (for most of us - Landis wanted to walk so it was a slow trip for us) walk to the other side of the island, we reached the beach. It was so beautiful. The whole island is a state park so there are no high rise condos and hotels, only a small visitor's center with bathrooms and picnic tables and a few primitive camping sites. Everyone had a great time splashing and playing in the water, especially Landis. We ate a picnic lunch, swam for a little while longer, then headed back on the ferry. We picked John up around dinner time and ate dinner with Commander and Mrs. O'Byrne, old family friends. (Commander O'Byrne's grandparents lived next door to my dad's grandparents, and his grandmother was my godmother.) John was a little apprehensive about eating in the Officer's Club, but he made it through all right.

Saturday, we met up with some other old friends, the Bidgoods. They lived in Gainesville when John, Paul and I were younger and then moved to NC. We had a great time with them. Their youngest daughter, Grace, who is a few years younger than Paul, and her boyfriend Luke were there. Grace is a competitive juggler, and she is amazing! Landis was mesmerised by the sight of her juggling 4, then 5, then 6 clubs. We hung out at the beach and pool for most of the day, had yet another picnic lunch (yum!) and ate dinner with them at a local Italian restaurant.

Sunday it was time to head home. After hugs all around (John managed to give me a hug without touching me. It was heartwarming.) we piled into the car and headed home. We managed to be driving through the states where gas prices were most affected by Hurricane Ike, and as we drove further and further, gas prices climbed higher and higher. In the course of about 8 hours, we saw prices go up about $1 and the lines at gas stations get longer and longer. When we got to Florida, which had not been affected as much as Georgia and the Carolinas, I was actually glad to see gas being sold for $3.60/gallon.

It was really great to see John after so long, and we are looking forward to seeing him again towards the end of the month when he has some leave and is planning to head down to Florida.

Landis had decided that, now that he is a big boy, he should pick out his own clothes. I pull out 2 or 3 shirts and 2 or 3 pants and he picks the ones he likes. He usually does a great job of coordinating shirt and pants, and ends up looking pretty cute. But as we all know, no outfit is complete without accessories. Check out this hat - it really makes the outfit! He picked it out and put it on while I was getting my shoes.

The water has receded enough that we can drive, so I am taking my silly, stir crazy boy and getting out of here!

Fay Adventures, Continued.

The rain let up for a few minutes, so we took a walk to the street that runs perpendicular to ours. The picures were mostly taken from the sidewalk in front of the house 3 houses away from ours.


A view of the street, looking down away from our house towards the entrance to the neighborhood.


I walked 2 houses further away from ours to take this picture.


Landis thinks he should always be able to swim in the street!


Splash!


Goat, Landis and some neighbors. One of the neighbors pictured moved into the neighborhood when it was first created in the early '70s. He says he's only seen flooding like this once before, about 10 years ago.

More Fay Pics

The view from our front yard.