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.

I don't like you, Fay

We're flooded in! Pictures were taken from our living room window. Apparently our street is just slightly higher than the rest of the neighborhood, so we haven't gotten flooded yet, but the streets running perpendicular to ours are flooded starting less than 100 yards away, and are 4 + feet deep closer to the entrance of the neighborhood. Needless to say, we aren't going anywhere.

Landis is talking a lot these days, and it is fun to see what he comes up with. Yesterday, he spotted a pair of Daddy's sunglasses and played one of his favorite games. He put the glasses on himself, then on Daddy, then on Mommy, then back on his face, etc. A while later, he kept repeating a phrase. It took us a while to realize he was saying "Caylo, eyes, glasses." Apparently the sunglasses made him think of his Uncle Caylo (Caleb), who wears glasses.

This morning, he spent several minutes looking up at the fridge and repeating a phrase. I finally deciphered it. He was looking at a picture of his "Cousin 'Atrina." We saw Katriona, Brandon and Aunt Colleen at my parent's house last month when they came up for a visit. Landis was happy to see all of them, but was particularly taken with sweet Katriona, who played with him, convinced the grown ups and big boys to read books to both of them and was even willing to share the tire swing.

Goat came home for lunch, and after he left, Landis told me "Landis go work. Drive Daddy's truck. Buckle. Go Fast!" Apparently he thinks that if he gets a job we'll let him drive Daddy's truck. Sorry, kiddo, but your feet don't reach the pedals, and in this economy it's going to be even harder than usual for a 1 year old to find a job. I'm glad to hear you'd wear your seat belt, though!

Fay

Tropical Storm Fay is headed our way. So far, we're just experiencing typical Florida thunderstorm weather, but the wind is supposed to start picking up in later this afternoon. We spent yesterday evening bringing in items from the yard that could fly around in the wind, nailing down a loose shingle on the roof and making a last minute run to the store for batteries. We have lots of water and canned food in case the power goes out. Schools are closed today, so the 2nd day of 3rd grade will have to be postponed for Aaron Scott.



Update: The storm has reached us. I've posted a video of the view from our living room.

Landis is developing a great sense of humor. He is so funny! We have been working on teaching him to respond "Yes, Daddy" or "Yes, Mommy." Hewas getting into trouble earlier this afternoon and I told him to knock it off, and asked if he understood. He replied, "Yes, Daddy" then looked surprised when he realized the wrong name had come out. I asked him, "Am I your Daddy?" He paused for a minute, then grinned and said, "Yes, Daddy!" I then proceeded to ask him a series of questions - "I'm your Mommy, aren't I?" "Are you making a joke? " "Are you a silly baby?" - to which he continued to reply "Yes, Daddy." We were both cracking up.

I can't wait to see what funny things he comes up with next.

I'm starting the hundred push ups training program. Anyone want to join me? (Not you, John. We all know you could do about a million push ups in the blazing desert sun without breaking a sweat.) I'm out of shape and was only able to do 16 push ups today, but in 6 weeks I hope to be able to do 100 or more. I'll start week 1 tomorrow.



Aaron Scott, Landis and I went for a 6 mile bike ride yesterday and I realized just how out of shape I really am. It was hard to keep up with the quick and energetic Aaron Scott, and then he took a fall which scraped his hand and shook him up, so he ended up riding the last 1 1/2 miles or so in the bike trailer with Landis. It's hard work pulling 75 pounds worth of silly boys! I'm planning to join a gym that's about 2 1/2 miles away from our house, and I may bike there when the weather permits. After a few weeks I should be ready to challenge Aaron Scott to a race. :)

Happy Birthday to Aaron Scott!!

Aaron Scott, almost 6, at Goat's UF graduation.




Aaron Scott a few days ago.



Aaron Scott is 8 years old today! It's hard to believe that he is so old. He is looking forward to starting 3rd grade next Monday.

We picked him up for his birthday dinner. Like a good Ludwig, he chose to eat sushi, his favorite. The sushi was delicious! Now we are settling in for a fun evening of computer games!

Laundry

I love finding little things that are both cost effective and good for the health of my family and our planet, so I was very excited when I ran across these directions for homemade laundry soap. It's made from natural ingredients that are gentle on even soft baby skin and costs only a penny per load!

We're also planning to start line drying our laundry in order to hopefully negate the effects of an 8% rate increase that our power company put into effect this month. Electric dryers use about 6% of the electricity consumed in the average household. I'm planning to put the clothesline up between the garden and Landis' little playhouse. Hopefully, having to see it several times a week will motivate me to care for my sadly neglected garden again, even in the sweltering Florida summer heat, and Landis will certainly enjoy having more outdoor time!

A Recipe for Mischief

One mischievous toddler + 30 seconds of unsupervised time + an unlatched cabinet + a Crockpot = TROUBLE.

Really cute trouble!







Hmmm... I wonder what the proper cooking time is for Trouble Pumpkins? And how much of that hot sauce should we add to get just the right flavor?

In typical trouble pumpkin fashion, Landis has manged to fall off of and onto and slide across every piece of furniture in the house, the walls and the (tile) floor in the last week. Bumps and bruises abound, from his head to his toes.

He fell asleep one night in that cute little curled up, butt in the air position babies sometimes sleep in. Goat called me into the room and whispered, "Look at that cute baby. He looks like an Anne Geddes picture." I objected, pointing to all of the bruises and scrapes. Goat decided that he would make a great Anne Geddes picture - asleep in a boxing glove!



And, just for fun, here are some photos of Landis, covered in grease after "helping" his Daddy work on the truck. The truck is up and running!!!