Scientists say...

Driving Alex to Spanish School today, he was lecturing to me about various things, and sprinkled into his arguments many times was "scientists say..." He has found a source of authority, and it's not his parents.
- Josh

Still a little kid, except when he's not

Alex and I are watching Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (target audience: 9 year old girls). Spirit is being taken away by the bad guys as he watches an eagle soaring longingly.
Alex: Why is there an eagle there? What's that eagle doing?
Me: Well, they're trying to show you that Spirit is wishing he could be free like the eagle.
Alex: He wants to FLY? He wants to be a PEGASUS?

Contrast with this dialogue later the same night, tucking in and being sappy:
Me: Alex, you made my life so happy when you were born.
Alex: Uh, okay, mom. That's kinda weird.

In sickness and in health

Happy St. Patrick's Day! My grandma says I'm not to forget my Irish heritage. I wonder if that means she wants to pay for us to take another trip to Ireland...probably not. I guess I'll just wear green and have some Lucky Charms with Guinness.

The kids had a touch of the flu and Molly had an ear infection, but they are on the rebound. Hooray for antibiotics!

Today's bon mot is in honor of the NCAA tournament and is from me, oh the great wit.
Josh: I'll say this for Duke, they never lose to cupcakes.
Me: I lose to cupcakes. I lose to cupcakes all the time. Especially chocolate ones. mmmmmm chocolate....

More pictures

Here's the pictures!

Big news from Aunt Chelcy and Fred! They got engaged in Italy -- hooray! As places to get engaged go, not too shabby. And a dialogue with Alex about the wedding.
Alex: Is Nana Kathy married yet?
Me: Yes, she's married to Papa Dennis.
Alex: Who's Papa Dennis married to?

Jon Stewart joke about the cost of Iraq ($2,083 per American)

I just thought this was funny, and sad. You didn't want to *just* read about us, did you?

"Don't think of it as $2,000 you don't have right now. Think of it as $200,000 your grandchildren don't have."

Okay, I'll put more pictures of the kids up now.

Beautiful Day

Our saucer magnolia stays in bloom for about an hour and a half, so we took advantage of it and the lovely day. We will miss our nice landscaping.

Some Alex Things I Don't Want to Forget

• When Alex was a baby and he cried, if you picked him up and patted his back, he would pat your back too.
• The first summer we spent with Alex at the beach he was 11 1/2 months old. Every chance he got, he would go into and hide in the storage space underneath the TV.
  
• One of Alex's first intelligible words was lawnmower, which he pronounced kind of like "mao mao". He had a $.50 plastic lawnmower from the thrift shop which he spent approximately 10,000 hours playing with.
• In his earlier conversational days, he referred to himself as Alou and often spoke in either a deliberately low voice or a falsetto. If he did not want to do something you asked, he would put on a very tough-sounding voice and say, "Alou not want to do dat right now."
• After Alex fell off the steps at the purple house and broke his arm, he sang the ABC song on the way to the hospital.
  
• At his third birthday party at Forest Hills Park, he peed outside.
• When Alex accidentally dropped a flashlight on Molly's head, he cried and told me he didn't mean to hurt her because he loved her so much. He has always been a very sweet big brother, well at least since Molly was born.

Daddy is funny and his glasses are yummy

 

Alex Sayings

1) This requires having seen the outtakes for Toy Story 2, which I am sure you all have. The prospector, Stinky Pete, is hanging out in his box with two Barbies.
ALEX: "I like that old guy with the axe in Toy Story 2. I like him because he has two pretty toys in the box with him."

2) "Christobal and me and G were looking under that white thing in our class for spiders. We knew there were spiders under there because it's really yucky. And we didn't see any spiders. So the spiders that we didn't see....they were INVISIBLE!"

Two Boyers Equals Treasure...

I am so proud of Aunt Chelcy! If two Boyers are a treasure, I figure adding Alex and Molly must be nirvana.

http://sils.unc.edu/news/releases/2006/03_jfkgrant.htm

We Think We Might Have a House if Nothing Falls Through!

Well, our beloved bungalow on Shawnee Street, Durham, has been under contract for several weeks now, so we've been looking for our next house with increasing worry. We have reached an agreement with some sellers in a neighborhood called Quail Hollow in North Raleigh. If all goes well, this will be our next house. We are very, very excited and are looking forward to hopefully moving in at the end of April. Four bedrooms and two and a half baths, unimaginable luxury. Unfortunately the killer play set is going with the sellers, but we will have fun picking out our own play set.

Mommy is Lucky Two Things

Alex says I'm "lucky two things." One, I've never had a flat tire. Two, I have "two very sweet children."

The Dao of Alou

ALEX’S IMAGINATION

Alex: When I breathe, I can see smoke.
Me: Yep, that's because it's cold outside.
Alex: HOH! HOH! (breathing) Release the dragon!!! HOH! HOH! Release the dragon!!!

SMART ALEC(X)

Me: Hey Alex, what's your favorite thing about school?
Alex: Not being there.

Josh: Did you flush?
Alex: Did you hear that loud sound, that "flush" sound? That was me flushing.

ALEX ON LIFE, THE UNIVERSE, AND EVERYTHING

How did God do all that, did He have a machine or something?
How does God fly -- wings or a cape?
I love you to Pluto and back!
Mars and Venus can cuddle with Earth...Jupiter and Saturn can cuddle each other too...
It'd be hard for that mamma whale to pick which boob to give her baby in that dark water.

ALEX ON HEALTH FOOD

 Me:  "Alex, please don't lick the frozen chicken nuggets."
Alex:  "Actually, the licked ones are good for you."

I’m hungry for a toy! 

ALEX ON WHAT TO GET DADDY FOR HIS BIRTHDAY

A toy for me. [Discussion of how it is Daddy’s birthday and the gift should be something Daddy would like.] Okay, how about I pick out a toy that I think Daddy would like and then I could play with it?

Kid Evaluations

Molly had her six month checkup and it turned out she had ear infections in both ears. Her stats are: 15 lbs. 10 oz (45%ile); height 25 3/4 (55%ile), and head circumference 43.5 cm (75%ile). Go big-headed baby!

Alex also got sized up today. Here are his comments from his report card: "This lovely boy is doing a very good job as a result of all his effort. He is great in math and enjoys learning and sharing with others. He uses a lot of Spanish and speaks a lot even at times when he is not supposed to. I know you can do it! Good work!"