Joseph - little boy blue

There are no words...
just go ahead and drool all you want!

Saying Good-bye to an old friend

Because Hewy is "Hewy" we have always kind of had the duck theme with him. He has stuffed toy ducks and rubber ducks and blankets with ducks... His rubber duck collection is quite large and he has many novelty type ducks - Indian ducks, Santa ducks, vampire ducks, etc. This one, Daddy bought for Hewy when he was one month old when he (Alec) had to go away for a law/work related thing in New York. The Statue of Liberty duck is one of his favorites - but she has finally given in to the tub toy cancer - mold. I told him a few weeks ago that she was sick and that we were going to have to throw her away soon. Proudly and thoughtfully he put her on the side of tub and there she has stayed. He never put her in the tub again. But last night when he got in the tub he said "Mom she's still here." I asked, "Are you ready to throw her away?" and he said "Yes." So we took a final picture and he threw her away.



She was loved.

brother love

Sometimes there just isn't enough time in the day for everyone to hold the little guy as much as they would like too. But we try and give everyone a chance at least once in the day.

Hospital Bling

I have never had so many hospital bracelets before. It drove me slightly nutty! Baby Joseph had one on each leg and one on his wrist. This hospital was serious about tags! My four from left to right were: the nursery tag that said Joseph was mine; the bright red NKDA bracelet (No Known Drug Allergies); the I have blood banked at this hospital bracelet and the code to find it if they needed it; and finally the bracelet that said who I was, who my doctor was and my birthday.



The first time Alec gave me meds at home I said "Dixie Dunn, 7-2-5-7-5, no known drug allergies" because that is what the nurses either looked for or asked when they gave me medications. He laughed.

Joseph's Home

He didn't mind being strapped into the car seat.

Daddy had the honors.

Warmly greeted at home by his brothers.

Momma Love

Proof . . .



that I do exist after the baby's birth.

The New Big Brother

Hewy moved up in our family with this new addition and now has the title "big brother." He is making the transition slowly but well. He loves Joseph but he also wants to be held and rocked and snuggled just like a baby. He looks pretty happy about it in these pictures.

Joseph gifts

Our newest baby is so thoughtful! Joseph had gifts waiting at the hospital for each of his brothers on his BIRTHday! He understood that his brothers would be excited for his arrival but they might also feel displaced or uninvolved with all the attention he was bound to receive. What a considerate boy!



Each bag contained a Lego Star Wars mini set, Star Wars action figure, a book that was perfect for it's new owner, 3D sidewalk chalk, Kool-Aid packets and a beanie baby stuffed pet. I can't believe just how well that new brother knew his brothers' favorite things!
What a thoughtful boy!
(I bet he gets his thoughtfulness from his Mother!)

a few more pix

I should go to sleep... but these are cute too and needed to be posted!


he's blond

the family

my five boys!

adoration!!!!

Joseph Dalton Dunn

Here he is!!!!

The Birthday Grandmama and Joseph!

Two big brothers and new baby brother

Newly born!

remember to check

our homeschool blog too - I am starting to post things there too.
Happy Squirrels Love to Learn

Children's Museum

Lisa took the boys to the San Antonio Children's Museum this week.

Which way is up?

Daddy and Hewy were having fun walking on the ceiling the other night. Once Alec got him up, H-y would scream and say 'Put me down!' and then as soon as he was down he would say 'do it again!'

Monkey in the Middle

Any random night at our house - this is something you can expect to see. Now, you have to understand, I grew up in a house where you didn't throw balls inside! Alec grew up in a house where you threw, hit, kicked, bounced and what-ever-else-you-can-do-to-a-ball in the house. We try and meet in the middle. I love the drama of it, the Hewy whines that he isn't getting the ball, the pretend-I-am-hurt flop by Liam at the end. Too funny. Too real. Too our wonderful happy life.

The Trumpet

Do you know the story? The story from Alec's youth that all he ever wanted to do was play professional baseball and be a trumpet player? His parents wouldn't let him take trumpet lessons until he took piano for a year - which he dutifully did. And then he started trumpet - which he still likes, but lets just say it doesn't surface too often. Not a lot of opportunities to play the trumpet. Noble started asking yesterday to 'see' it, which we all knew meant, 'play' it - not really 'see' it.

'The Trumpet' had not been 'seen' or 'played' in so long, no one really knew where it was. When I suggested to Alec that perhaps it was in the extra closet in Hewy's room he seemed doubtful. But that is where it was.

So these videos are not going to be music to your ears. Watch and listen if you dare. I posted them for the kids - who are pretty proud of themselves.

I like Noble's smile at the end.





Hewy Surprised us all with his first blow - not recorded here. He may have outdone all the boys. You hear on the clip he gets frustrated because he forgot how to do it, but when I remind him, he gets a pretty good blow out!



Alec takes a few tries to get the dust out of the trumpet and his lungs, but he shapes up (for not playing at all for a few years) Also, you can see Hewy putting his head right into the trumpet, he says "it tickles!"

Do you laugh 300 times a day?

H. was sitting with me at the table today and I had my camera. We had a great little conversation between the two of us and I took time to notice how much his face changed as we talked. I read somewhere recently (Probably one of the many Parenting magazines that I have given up reading as a parent in general, but have read every copy in the doctors office the last nine months) that children laugh over 300 times a day and that the average adult only laughs 15 times day. It really made me stop and pay attention to my kids and myself. Do they really laugh that often - and I don't even notice? 300 times seems like a lot of laughter! And 15 times a day for adults, do I even laugh that much? Anyway, that's what led to this collage of pictures of H.



What would we think of another adult that had that many (and more) facial changes in the course of a five minute conversation? We would think they were crazy! The joy of being three.

And as I type, there is laughter streaming from upstairs. All three of them.
Perhaps they really do laugh 300 times a day and I for whatever worldly reason have learned to tune it out, ignore it or in some cases 'calm them down' for that sake of being civil. Something to think about.

Rhino beetle

I debated whether to put this here or on the homeschool blog.
This one won.


The boys came in yesterday to tell me that a "cockroach" that was "this big" (holding their hands about five inches apart) was dead upside down in the garage. I said "GOOD!" But when Alec got home and he went to take care of said discovery - it wasn't a Cockroach at all, it is a Rhino Beetle.

This is a cool discovery for a homeschool family.
1) we are studying insects and bugs this year
2) we are also studying the Taxonomic Classification System for Animals

This Rhino Beetle showing up in our garage turned into a great lesson!
We learned that Rhino Beetles can carry 850 times its weight making it the strongest animal by size in the world. If Noble could carry 850 times his weight he could carry 97,770 pounds! We also learned that some people (in other countries) keep them for pets and/or use them in "fights" (think chicken or dog fights). If you want to know more about Rhino Beetles click here.

The Three Unknowns

Otherwise known as:
1) Not Me
2) I Don't Know
and
3) Someone else

Noble had the job of wiping the table off the other day. I wish that this was not such a monumental task, but really, it doesn't happen everyday. He proceeded to tell me that there was something really stuck on the table. This has been the case before, so I said to get a nylon scraper and scrape it off after it had soaked with some water on it for a little. He returned to tell me that elbow grease was not getting it off and that he had looked close and discovered that it was something 'stuck into' the table. I didn't believe him.

But sure enough.



It appears to be a leg of a staple.
That somehow was stapled into my table and then broke off from the rest of the staple.

This is the hole left behind.

No one has any idea how it happened, when it happened or who did it.
My beautiful table is still beautiful, just four year old, well used family of five beautiful.

My Boys

A friend just sent me this picture today.
It is Noble and Liam on their first day of Cub Scout Camp in June.



We received several reports from the chaperone's this year about our sweet, charming, considerate, well mannered boys. This one is my favorite however, because it's a picture! I have been told that Noble took Liam under his wing and showed him the ropes of Cub Camp. I had also been told that they walked around holding hands. Not ashamed of their affection or love for each other. Shooting guns and bows and arrows, building with saws and hammers, swimming and diving in the pool - and holding your brothers hand, what could be better to a young boy? I am sincerely grateful that my boys love one another and that they are best friends.

overwhelmed with Love

The gifts for this baby, me and our family just keep rolling in! I have been so touched by peoples gifts! This blanket is just super soft and it's big enough (almost) for me! It's from a Sister from church. Someone gave me a gift certificate to go get a pedicure this week too!
I am feeling very overwhelmed with all this Love and Attention!