Flanagan Clan

Today Oma came over bearing wonderful gifts from Germany and Austria. Patrick received a new pair of lederhosen, complete with shirt and hat, Sammy received a teeshirt, and Ethan got a funny little hat that makes him look like Gandolf! The boys also received a lot of yummy candy, I was given two pretty scarves, and we also received a special Sacher Torte from Vienna, Austria!

Patrick showing off his new red lederhosen (it came with a shirt, but we didn’t put it on him!)

Proud to be German! He even has German chocolate smudged on his face!

Sammy got a Munchen shirt. Very appropriate, considering he’s a little Munch ;o).

Ethan’s Gandolf hat! He likes it!

The back of the Gandolf hat… haha!

Sammy can say Dee Dee now! He also says “Da” when he means “yes”. No, we are not teaching him Russian… most of the words he says contain the “Daaaa” sound in them, including his word for “Mama”!

The really funny thing about this video is that the first time I played it to Sammy, he was saying everything totally in sync with what he was saying in the video. It was incredibly hilarious!!!

Yesterday we went over to the Whaley’s to hang out with Kjerste, Leanne, Baby Kaiya and Baby Philip. While we were there, Ethan and Kaiya had some playtime on a blanket, and Kaiya demonstrated to Ethan her rolling techniques. Well, Ethan must have been taking notes, because today he rolled over… twice!!! What happened was I put him on his tummy for a little bit of tummy time, which he hates, and he promptly rolled back onto his back. I got really excited and starting clapping, which startled him and made him cry. So, I picked him up and held him for a moment before placing him on his tummy again, and he rolled over again. Thank you for teaching Ethan how to roll, little Kaiya!  Just don’t teach him how to crawl or walk… we’re not quite ready for three mobile children just yet… ;o).

My cousin, Amy, recently wrote a blog post about CAADD (Child Activated Attention Deficit Disorder), and gave the signs of manifestation. I have to admit that I suffer very strongly from this ailment. On most days I feel like I’m running around like a chicken with it’s head chopped off, going from one thing to the next without actually fully finishing any one task. Here’s a little poem I found last year around Mother’s Day, which really sums up my day. And people say being a housewife is a piece of cake…

If you give a Mom a muffin,
She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She’ll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan dinner for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She will look for her cookbook (101 Things to Make With a Pound of Hamburger).
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She’ll smell something funny.
She’ll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring.
Her four year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee on Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.

And chances are……
If she has a cup of coffee……
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it

Author: Kathy Fictorie

Today we went to the Puyallup Spring Fair as a family. This was actually the first time that Sammy or Ethan got the chance to go to the Fair, and Sammy had a blast. Ethan just slept the entire time, which I personally was thankful for because the weather was actually not that great. When we arrived it was cold and rainy, so we went to see the animals and the exhibits. And then it cleared up for a while, so Patrick was able to go on some rides. He did NOT want to go on the carousel though… he threw a fit when we even mentioned the possibility!!! He had a great memory… the last time we were at the fair, he was terrified of it! After that, we got a Cow Chip cookie and some scones and were on the way out to pick up teriyaki at our favorite teriyaki place in the valley, when we noticed that the pig races were about to begin. So we stayed and watched that for a while. When it started it was drizzling pretty hard, but the sun came out right at the very end. As soon as we left it started raining again, and a little later after that it started hailing, so I’m glad we had left when we had!!!

Patrick thought the cows were pretty cool

Sammy’s favorite part were the baby chicks and the baby ducklings. They were soooo cute!!!

The boys with Daddy in the petting area

Sammy petting a gentle, soft sheep

Sammy loved the baby lambs

Patrick got to go on the truck ride

He also went on a canoe ride with a GIRL! We asked Sammy if he wanted to go on this one, but he didn’t seem interested, and we were worried that he’d get scared if we put him on the boat. He seemed very content just to watch, so don’t worry, we didn’t exclude Sammy from the rides on purpose!!!

Ethan didn’t get any pictures while he was at the Fair because he was bundled up tightly and sleeping the whole time, but he sure gave us a lot of giggles and smiles when we came home. And Big Brother Patrick even covered him up so he wouldn’t be cold :o).