Cluttered Desks and Ideas: Birthday/4th of July/Anniversary Pictures...

So here's some of the latest pictures to grace my blog:

Yes, he's more than a little impish here - if you note the rolls of TP in the background, that's because we had to remove them from the bathroom.

Matthias likes to dash in there while I'm in the kitchen, and then either clog the toilet with the TP, or roll it out for the cat to play with.

This is his, "I know I'm a little devil, but you love me anyway" look.

At least we managed to get all the chalk vacuumed up from the couch. He had broken one of his blue sidewalk chalk pieces and had it on his jeans earlier then ran and rubbed his tush all over the couch. Joy.

Here's one of the rare shots of me with Matthias. I hate pictures of me, and this one is no exception, but I figured it was time I put my ugly mug up here again.

Don't mind the bangs, I hacked them off because they were bugging the crap outta me. I'm planning on actually getting a proper haircut sometime this month.

Seriously.

Here Matthias has just realized that Mom has the camera. Therefore it is of the utmost importance that he immediately crawl up my legs to get as close to the camera as possible.

Preferably sticking his fingers all over the lens.

If you'll notice, part of his shirt is a little blurred. That's a spot I missed on the lens from the LAST time he caught up with it.

Here's the first picture from the party we had on Saturday.

From left to right:

Søren P. (glasses & beard)

Sarah (Søren's daughter who is 1 year older than Matthias)

Matthias - he's in his Thomas PJ's because they were long enough to tuck down into his shoes to keep the sunlight off the burns on his leg.

Marlena (in the black tights) - she's the wife of Søren R, who is sitting with his back to me in the foreground. He was also blowing bubbles for Matthias and Sarah, and they thought it was WONDERFUL.

Here's a closeup of the two kids enjoying the bubbles.

You'll note that Matthias is now taller than Sarah.

The little rainbow pinwheel in the background (over Matthias' head) was the anniversary gift from Søren and Marlena.

We grilled dogs and burgers and I made more pulled pork that day. I also made some potato & egg salad which apparently came out ok. I wouldn't know, I hate that shit.

Here's another shot of the awesome bubbles and the two cute kids!

Tired Matthias.

Well, tired and feverish from the run-in with the Hogweed.

We called the Dr and he sent a prescription to the local pharmacy for penicillin, but Matthias wasn't having any of it - complete fit anytime it came near him.

We called back and had them give him a different type of antibiotic - one that doesn't taste like death warmed up with a side of bullcrap.

This was Matthias the next morning.

Aww.

You can see some MAJOR tan lines on that boy!

This picture was taken today; he got to water all the plants in the yard with his little watering can.

Hopefully some of them have learned how to swim, because Matthias was very, VERY thorough with his watering.

You can see a little bit of the work we've done in the garden with the mulch and whatnot.

We need to buy a few more plants, but I want to keep the weeding down to a minimum as well as the cost - I hate spending money to improve someone else's property.

Call me silly, I know...

I ask for a smile, I get a grimace.

To be fair, he's doing the 'scrunchmyfaceupuntilitlookslike I'vebeensuckingonalemon' smile thingy that most kids do at his age.

Here's an 'action' shot of him watering the plants.

What you don't see in this shot is the puddle he's standing in after using about a gallon of water on that little crock there.

If you remember, each time I'm back in the US, I look for a suitable substitute for what's called rugbrød. It's a type of bread that's really only found in northern Germany and Scandinavia.

This is rugbrød. It's a little square piece of really, REALLY dark bread which is full of seeds and kernels of wheat, rye and other whole grains.

One slice of this each day and you could pass Elvis through your colon. Sideways.

This is also the 'base' for most of the smørrebrød (smothered bread) that Danes eat. They'll put pickled mackerel, curry salad and an egg on it and just yum yum. (YUCK!)

Matthias LOVES his rugbrød - with mackerel and curry salad. Yeah, you can tell he's part Danish...

Here's a new shot of the sores on his leg. The blisters have all popped, and there's not as much redness left around the areas where the sap touched him.

We keep a large surgical band-aid on the biggest area of redness at the back of his calf, and a regular band-aid just above his ankle.

All that from flowering plant sap and sunlight. Nasty plant, hogweed.

Must...keep...Matthias....awake...for....dinner....

After coming in from watering the plants and running around outside while I had dinner in the oven, Matthias started to crash on the couch from exhaustion.

We try our best to tucker him out as much as possible WITHOUT him falling asleep on the couch - because if he sneaks in a nap he'll be awake until 9pm that night, which throws off our 'our time' in the evenings.