Overheard: Edition Police Equipment

I was going to post something else today, but then this happened.

Andrew and Coleman are enjoying a morning in their pajamas playing policemen. They are each wearing holsters with pistols. Andrew has also added a flashlight and a toy radio to his belt. I was putting on my makeup and they came in the bathroom to ask me this:

A: "Mommy. Do you know where a bunker is?"

M: "A bunker?" Trying to think of where in this house they could pretend to be in a bunker.

A: "Yeah. You know. Like I take it out of here (his belt) and bunk someone on the head with it."

He was asking about a billy club.

"Anything You Can Do. . .

I Better Get to Do Too!" That could be Jon Jon's theme song. He seems particularly determined to catch up with his two big brothers. No matter what they are doing, he wants to do it too. If someone is running around without a shirt, be ready to take his off too. He has already started asking for holsters to be put on his tiny hips, rainboots on his feet, and fireman hats on his head. He wants to eat what they eat, say what they say, and do what they do.

One afternoon last week, we had a big thunderstorm towards the beginning of naptime. It woke everyone up. It was way too early to be up and about, but I knew no one was going back to sleep. So I sent the big boys upstairs to get their sleeping bags and a pillow. They came down and we spread them out in the living room and I turned on a movie.

When Jonathan saw the sleeping bags, he started stomping his feet and pointing and squealing at them. Since we don't have a sleeping bag for him yet, I had to improvise and fast. I got his little quilt and pillow and spread them out on the floor. I showed him how to lay down and he was instantly happy.

Even Though He Wasn't Invited

There is a funmny story in the Bell family about Gigi and Papack's wedding. When Meredith was little she was looking at a picture of the wedding and asked where we (Paige and herself) were. When Gigi told her we weren't there, Meredith's eyes filled with tears and she pitifully said, "You mean we weren't invited?"

One day last week Andrew disappeared to his room for a bit. I went to find him and he quickly covered up something he was working on and asked me to leave the room and not peek. So I did. He emerged shortly thereafter and asked me and Brent to go to our room and close our eyes. So we did. He came in and presented us with this.


It's a picture of us on our wedding day. With flowers and everything. He did a great job, especially for someone who wasn't there and wasn't "invited."

We're celebrating 15 today, and couldn't be happier about it.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

When summer arrived this year, there was no mistaking it! We have had a really hot start to our June. It's really even too hot to play outside after naps, so we are using our little pool and soaker hose to cool off and run off some energy. The first afternoon I pulled them out, I didn't tell the boys before they laid down. When they got up, I told them to get on their swimsuits. They were super confused when I told them we weren't going to the pool. Once they were changed, we grabbed some bomb pops and headed downstairs. They loved our outdoor fun! Jonathan had never eaten a popsicle before, but he managed pretty well. Here are the pictures from our afternoon.

Memorial Day

Our neighborhood had a bar-b-que and pool party for Memorial Day. We invited Gigi and Papack to spend the day with us since it was also the anniversary of my 29th birthday. We all had a fun day. Here are the pictures.

The pool got pretty crowded, so we were very glad to have Papack there to help with all the yahoos.
Jim N Nick's catered and boy was it good!



Jonathan was very happily sitting is his stroller, eating his lunch and wiggling to the music, when he spied the cupcake on my plate. He began a squeal-and-point fest until we realized what he was pointing at and handed over the cupcake. The pictures don't do it justice. He had icing all over his chest and tummy and there were crumbs everywhere. He had to make a very unhappy pit stop at the showers before we came home.



After a nice nap, he got up and wanted Papack to read him one of his favorite books.

That night Brent cooked steaks, potatoes, salad and Sister Schubert's for my birthday celebration. We had a German chocolate cake from Green's for dessert. I could tell you it wasn't very good, but the lightning that would hit would certainly burn down the house.

It was a great start to the summer! (I don't know how it started, but now I cannot get the underlining to stop.)

National Donut Day 2011

Last Friday was National Donut Day, so we made our pilgrimage to Buford our favorite donut place. When we made the picture outside, instead of saying, "CHEESE!" Coleman said, "KRISPY KREEEEEEEME!"




Jonathan got his very first original glazed that morning.

It was a big hit!

Season Finale

Our first tee ball season ended the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. We had a game Friday night and one scheduled for Saturday at noon. Our party was planned for immediately following our Saturday game. However, Friday night we found out our Saturday opponents had to forfeit because they only had four players in town. So we just upped the party an hour and had some big fun!

Here are the Clippers eating pizza. Coleman was thrilled to get to eat with the team.


One of the moms made a cute cupcake cake for the boys.

After they ate, Mitch called each player up and said a few words as he gave them their trophy. He made the kindest remarks about Andrew. Mitch chose an awesome trophy for the team. I was expecting a little brass thing, but he selected a pewter tee ball player hitting the ball off the tee. Andrew loved it.


Andrew and Coach Mitch. Talk about someone setting the bar high. If we have coaches in the future that come close to Mitch we will be very happy.


So after we made the team pictures, the boys played a fun game, five on five. The older brothers and sisters in attendance played too. Mitch played catcher and Brent and Matt played in the field. You can see Brent in the middle of the pic below behind second base. They played "for real" making outs and keeping score. Two innings later we had some hot, tired, happy boys and daddies. It was so much fun.


Then Mitch sent his oldest son to his truck to get a surprise for the players. Reid came back with water balloons for the boys to throw at Mitch. He stood against the backstop and the players got to try and get him wet. They had a blast, but Mitch stayed dry. He told them to work on their throwing over the summer.

Cupcakes were the final part of our party.


What a great season we had! We can't wait for next year!