the birthday week is over...

After eight days of continuous celebration, Owen's birthday reign has come to an end. The "ganastics" party was a success - no injuries or tantrums to report. I think every kid slept well last night after an hour of nonstop jumping and tumbling - topped off of course with a sugar-induced cupcake coma. I'll post photos later.

As we went to dinner last night at Chessie's (a local place where we can eat in a train car), Owen asked "mom, am I till (still) the birthday boy?" The waitresses at Chessie's helped to end the festivities by giving him a scoop of ice cream with a candle. He was in hog heaven.

The photo is of Owen on the deck, smiling in pleasure having just launched his new Styrofoam airplane successfully across the yard and smashing it into a tree (as planned, of course). Oh to be three again.

how much is that doggy...

This is Owen's favorite towel. He always asks to wear it with the "hook" (hood) on so he can look like our dog Petey.

Chivalry is dead - thank goodness

To honor Owen's third birthday and Father's Day for Kevin and Terry, we took a trip to Medieval Times to celebrate (they had a "fathers get in free" and "kids free on their birthday" promotion, so I couldn't pass it up). Let's just say I'm glad some of us were free because we soon discovered it was not entertaining for all.

First, we took a tour of the Dungeon museum - a horrific collection of medieval torture devices. Mom and I discovered the larger percentage of them were meant for women who "spoke out of line" - or criticized their men. There was the breast pincher, iron masks meant to be bolted on permanently, and the ever romantic iron chastity belts - which could only be removed when, and if, your man returned from war. Owen kept asking what everything was meant to do, so we quickly made a beeline for the exit because I could think of no preschool answers for any of it.

Then, we made our way to the main event - a "feast" of tomato-ish soup, greasy chicken, hard bread and potatoes and (cheap) store bought apple pastries. All, of course, were served in metal bowls and plates with no utensils. An overly zealous mom next to me brought her own plastic utensils (which I secretly coveted).

During the feast, we were entertained by knights of the round, jousting and fighting on foot for the fair princess. The entertainment included a creepy wizard of sorts, betrayal, death, and an executioner with whips and other barbaric tools.

Thankfully, Owen was ready to go after fifteen minutes of horses and swords, so Kevin took him home just before the creep show of betrayal and execution began.

I know some of you are dearly impressed by the romanticism of it all, but I'm here to report I'm a lover of Levi's, a crew cut, women's rights
and Oneida.

yipppeee! He's three!

Happy Birthday to Owen!

Kwon Ton Do

That's what Owen calls Tae Kwon Do (I don't even know if I'm spelling it correctly myself). He started his first class today at the Park District. Let's just say kicking and punching came naturally for this class. The "yes sir" and "no sir," not so much.

It was a big day in the Ruff house - Owen officially learned to go ALL THE WAY potty by himself (this after six months of one diaper a day for "that"). He proudly announced his accomplishment by running into the dining room naked with a ready-to-wipe bottom (by even typing about such, I'm separating myself from the civilized world of my friends without children, I know). As a reward, he got to pick out Jibbetz for his Crocs - he choose a skateboard, skull and baseball. The skull already fell out somewhere today, which I can't say I'm too sad about.

Then, as his grand reward (I'm kidding), he got to go to the hospital lab to have his blood drawn as part of our yearly pilgrimage to the allergist. We are hoping to learn he's outgrown at least some part of his food allergies. However, something tells me we are destined to live with an arsenal of EpiPens for years to come. I'll post the results in coming weeks.

Big weekend here - Owen turns three and Kevin gets to throw a birthday party for Father's Day. Nice, I know. I'll post pictures of the big day next week sometime.

Owen almost three

I'm learning Photoshop Elements these days. Here's one of my first editing attempts.

all in the family

Per request of my oldest (but still younger) brother, I am providing an update of the entire Ruff house, rather than just our cutest member.

Kevin is putting more sweat equity into our home as I type. He's tearing down a fence that separates our yard from the neighbors. It so happens our neighbor Wes is the Martha Stewart of landscaping, so I think my husband is the smartest man in the world to take down the barrier and let the world wonder whether it's our green thumbs or Wes's that created the beautiful plantings. =) Of course, now this means we have to landscape to match his handiwork. We should buy stock in the Home Depot garden center.

Bryan, my younger (but not youngest) brother, is sleeping as I type - as most any 24 year old bachelor does on a Sunday. He's become a quick success at his new career as a personal banker for Chase bank. I continually remind him to remember who got him the job when he hits it big.

Owen will be three next week, though he's telling the world he's five. Our neighbor Ray (Owen's preschool idol) just turned five, so naturally he wants to be five and have all Spiderman gifts as well. I realized the other night how quickly he learns - as I put him to bed, I asked what song he'd like me to sing. His reply... "no song mom, but you can kratch my back if you want." Unable to pronounce a beginning "S" sound, this was his attempt at getting me to scratch his back. And not just for a minute - for what seems like hours.

And finally, I am just taking things slowly these days. The first fourteen weeks of pregnancy proved to be less than fun, so I'm hoping the next twenty six will be better! I just finished up a set of wedding invitations with my stationery business (www.ruffhousedesigns.com) and I'm looking for someone to take on my site updates. This is proving to be not so easy, as it's a fairly small job and most companies want to build an entire site for a large fee. SO, if any of you know an interested webby person, please let me know.

Okay, back to admiring the landscaping.

my "cheese" slide...

Leave it to an uncle to take Owen to Target and return with a certain disaster waiting to happen. The Slip N' Slide has been discovered. At first, Owen was unsure of what to do with the long "cheese" slide, as he calls it. Kevin then discovered he could sort of bowl him down in a Superman pose, successfully sliding him all the way to the pool at the end. "Again, again" became his new favorite phrase.

By the end of the day, our neighbor Ray (Owen's five year old idol) had joined in the action. Once Owen eyed Ray's running start and slide, it wasn't long before our soon-to-be three year old had mastered the slip n' slide.

Emergency room, here we come.