What We Dunn

New Web Address!

2015-06-07T14:29:00.002-07:00

Hello, fans of What We Dunn! After 8 years of blogging, over 200 pages of writing and photos, and three children brought into the world, we finally bought our own domain name. Our new web address is whatwedunn.com.

Ta Da!

http://whatwedunn.com/

If you want new posts to come to your inbox, you will have to subscribe to the blog.

It is still a work in progress, so please pardon our dust as we figure out how to make the new blog as plain-looking yet hilariously poignant as the original.

See you online, A'me

This is paradise

2015-05-28T20:36:00.001-07:00

To help with aim.

Blueberries in his ears.

Trav is front row, far right

Snap circuits

I put the 3-year old water table out today and Trav said, "this is paradise!"

Musical Legos

2015-05-17T21:32:00.001-07:00

https://youtu.be/t-uPZi5pih4

Travis the Magnificent!

2015-05-15T20:44:00.001-07:00

http://youtu.be/fCfcrI0ZyBA

Elliot the Magnificent!

2015-05-15T20:01:00.001-07:00

http://youtu.be/0-yBdf2p4cE

Guest blogger

2015-05-10T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, and welcome to What We Dunn. I'm Fletcher Dunn, and I'll be your host for today, filling in for A'me, who is on vacation and will be back Monday.

So far we have managed to not starve, lacerate, or poison ourselves. Alltogether, a pretty successful weekend!

The big event of the day was Trav's tee ball game. Here's a pretty epic swing (alas, a miss).

Eventually (thanks in no small part to an oversize parental influence I'm sure) he got to first base.

He hurt his leg in some way, as you can see, but that wound has since healed once it was discovered that we were going to the playground.

But I'm getting ahead of myself! So anyway, in tee ball, that same basic thing happens about 20 times (10 for each time), and that's what you call an inning. Except for the last batter, they empty the bases and everybody on base runs home.

Despite the spectacle of athleticism on on the field, Elliot chose to entertain himself elsewhere.

And I spent the whole time trying to figure out how to get this guy a drink, without a sippy cup, since I had forgotten them. He kept trying to put his mouth around the whole top of the gatorade.

He also walked around a out. And whined because he was hot a thirsty, but I choose not to document that bit.

One thing I did choose to document, however, was our manifest studliness, via this selfie:

After the game, we spent some time on the playground.

Here is an animated GIF of an adorable boy:

This morning we had pancakes. So far there has been only one meltdown, owing to unmet expectations vis-a-vis syrup distribution.

We went to church, and the boys are playing a sortof pokemon-like video game called Nino Kuni; they don't seem to realize that are spending the entire time READING AND DOING MATH.

And I am sure everybody will be thrilled to know that last night I reached level 98 in Bloodborne (40 Arcane!) and cleared several Pthumerean chalise dungeons.

That's it for this edition of What We Dunn. This has been Fletcher Dunn; A'me will be back next time.

A Good Review!

2015-05-04T18:26:00.002-07:00

For what it's worth: it's hard to get feedback about your kids. We get a lot of negative feedback about Elliot, regarding his behavior. I largely ignore it and don't seek it out. Today I got two different kinds of feedback, which was interesting. The first was from his teacher at school asking if Elliot had taken his medication this morning. She has no sort of plan in place to address his behaviors, even though I've given her ideas, he's on a 504 plan, and she supposedly has a background in special ed.

The second was from the substitute teacher at church (not written directly to me). I had told her to have me paged if he didn't behave, because he was not on his ADHD medication and he had already had a largely inattentive weekend. Anyway, we get good reviews about his behavior so rarely that I had to post this one.

From classroom teacher, who depends solely on medication for behavior management:
Elliot is having a very difficult morning. Just wondering if he took his medication this morning or if there is something that could be the cause. He is being very silly, perseverating on things(can’t move on or let something go), very talkative and loud, lots of talk outs and some of the behaviors I have been seeing.

From the substitute at church:

It was a good plan, working with his mother, and telling Elliot that you would call his Mom. At the start when he was disruptive, I quietly took his hand, looked in his eyes and told him he would have to sit with Mr. Davis if he wouldn't behave. He settled down just like the other kids do when that is the expectation. He was more behaved than several of the others who have a few wiggles as well. I was quite proud of him, and noticed how helpful he was with kids learning their verses, he liked that. I look forward to seeing Elliot in the future. I DO believe God has an amazing plan for his life, and that we have been given a trust to help him on his journey to get to know, love and serve the God who created him, redeemed him and provided all that is needed for a relationship with him. "To Him who is able to keep us and present us faultless before His throne, the only wise God, be all glory and honor and praise. Amen. Jude

Go Red Sox!

2015-05-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

Playing around

2015-04-26T18:11:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we hung out at a park. These guys are so much fun. They are all good friends with each other too.

Poor Travis. I took a million photos of Elliot's ill-fated t-ball career. (He didn't finish the season.) Trav has had two games already and I've taken no photos of him in his uniform. But here he was practicing today, in fine form!

Note to Self

2015-04-22T06:45:00.001-07:00

Elliot wrote this note for himself, but I thought it was a good reminder for us all. I also appreciate the use of a proper colon by a 7-year-old.

Also last week he told me "It's really hard to find a person I want to marry."

Here are Trav and his friend Blake playing dead.

Stuart is 15 months and wearing pajamas that Travis wore at age 3.

Hawaii 2015

2015-04-12T20:05:00.001-07:00

My poor little refurbished iphone is on its last leg. All of my photos are blurry, but they are still cute! Here, you see the "pacifier chic" look. All the babies are wearing oversized sunglasses in Hawaii.

We see these fellows in Seattle, but never with shells on their backs!

We spent Easter in Hawaii. There was an Easter egg hunt that was truly run by video game programmers. First, you hunt for the eggs. Next, you trade your eggs in for prizes. But our kids liked the eggs and just kept them. They really liked the big, sparkly glitter eggs.

I told Elliot to remember that Easter is also the day we remember that Jesus rose from the grave. He said, "I remember that even when it's not Easter."

Stuart taste-tested everything at the party. His onesie says "Hangin' with my peeps."

This fellow is taking a break from all the vacationing to chillax and chomp some candy.

Georgia and Mitchell arrived, and all was right with the world.

Here's the view from the hotel. Not bad.

Here are some monkeys we found at the Maui Aquarium.

What's so interesting over here?

Movies!

This is our 0.5 mile hike to Dragon's Teeth. Beautiful!

We never quite saw the teeth, but we had a good time!

Three weary hikers.

This beach bum did NOT want to touch the sand. Made it much easier to keep track of him.

Life is good.

Hmmm... what's wrong with this picture?

This guy...

This was our breakfast scene every morning. We had everything from Loco Moco to waffles!

Stuart had a sweet helper who kept him in line.

Shove it in, son! This might be your last meal! You got a little more room in that cheek there.

Carni-VALVE

One of the locals kept us entertained while we waited at the airport.

Soundbridge

2015-03-23T16:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, because we weren't tired enough from the birthday party, we skipped church and went to the symphony instead. The Seattle Stmphony does a special show a few times a year where they have one musician come play kid songs, answer questions, and interact with the audience. It's called Soundbridge. We saw a French horn player. The big boys sat on bean bags at the front of the room while Stuart stuck his fingers into every hole and crevice at the back of the room. During the question time, Elliot asked the musician to play his highest and lowest notes. Then the musician played portions from Harry Potter, Frozen, and Star Wars. Everybody was happy.

Before and after the show, the kids got to play instruments in a separate room. They had fun and were well-behaved!

Real instruments on display.

Stuart "played" musical puzzle pieces.

Banging tubes together = music.

After the symphony, we walked to the waterfront to check out the new Ferris wheel. Travis wanted to ride it so he went up with Fletch.

Elliot was too scared, so he stayed with me and looked through a telescope. But of course, halfway through, he decided that he *did* want to ride. It was too late by then.

Stuart played "pick up my toy" until I was ready to pitch myself off the end of the pier.

It was a lovely weekend.

Creeper Battle!

2015-03-22T05:16:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Elliot's 7th birthday yesterday with a Lego Minecraft party. Here are some outtakes from the occasion. The kids made motorized creepers. Then they had creeper battles and creeped all over the room. Stuart creeped around trying to find sympathy for his teething problem. You can imagine that the engineering and brick-laying that took place was wonderful fun for all of the kids. After the class, we had chocolate cake and a piñata for the kids. "They" don't make Minecraft party supplies, so we had to buy a homemade piñata. The thing would not break! The kids had fun trying to get it open. Afterward, we took the gifts home to open them. Elliot and Travis put together about three lego sets. Heavenly!

The Space Habitat

2015-03-16T18:06:00.005-07:00

Elliot: We're playing a game where we separate the stufties into habitats. So far, we have forest, tundra, jungle, air, farm, African, Australian, arctic, underwater, and space.

Me: Who lives in space?

Elliot: Trav wanted to add Yoda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Travis: Jurassic forest fires are really rare.

The spy who turned 5

2015-03-07T18:00:00.001-08:00

Travis turned 5 years old today. Hard to believe! He woke up and opened presents from family. Then he had a "spy" party at Dizzy's Tumblebus, a gymnastics studio that is in an old school bus. Travis wanted a vanilla cake with vanilla icing and black letters (black is a spy color). He chose the cake recipe and helped make the cake and icing. The party was a success! Even the parents said they loved the cake! The boys broke open a TNT piñata, then said goodbye while wearing funny eye glasses. They looked so silly! We brought Trav's gifts from his friends home to open. Trav and Elliot played with the toys while Stuart slept off all the excitement. Travis appreciated all the phone calls, gifts, and attention he received today.

Too sunny!

Nonchalance.

Spies!

This is the sweetest boy.

Hello

2015-03-03T16:09:00.001-08:00

One sweet angel was sick today and slept for hours on the couch.

The other one I tried to keep quiet, but it was not easy to do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzYHA1bZt8M

Look who's walking!

2015-02-20T18:47:00.001-08:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYnCvYEFjCo

This big boy also got a haircut.

Trav said: Mom, which one of these Lego guys do you intend to be?

Here is Elliot's class at the Valentine's Day party.

Stuart is not just waking, he's also computing!

Fletch: This book is called The Hobbit.

Trav: The Hobbit's about bunnies.

A'me: Want some fresh pineapple?

Trav: Yes, but I want the part on the inside.

Elliot: I'm going to invent a robot that will change dirty diapers so that my wife won't have to.

(!!!)

Fletch: What math do we use to solve this equation?

Trav: Numbers!

Elliot: Queered is between creepy and weird.

Trav: The only kind of almonds I like are cashews.

Elliot: The day that I die and become one of God's angels is the day Pluto will orbit the sun one time after 248 years.

Go Seahawks!

2015-02-01T13:28:00.001-08:00

Here's Fletch carrying the 12th man on his shoulders!

Here we are at the big game! (Stuart is wearing the closest thing he had to a sports shirt, that also fit.)

I found the reason that I drink wine at the bottom of my wine glass. It's always a jolt to find non-food things in your food. It was flavored with love!

Here is Stuart with his baby friend Nolan. And Stuart's two favorite things to do: drive trucks and close doors.

Travis is climbing a rope in his gym class! Little monkey boy!

Science is happening in this photo.

Toddler Fracture

2015-01-13T12:43:00.001-08:00

I guess the day before I leave town wouldn't be complete without a toddler fracture! Wish Fletch luck, everyone!

Belated birthday

2015-01-12T15:31:00.001-08:00

Stuart's first birthday was the day we flew back home from Christmas break. We never got around to buying cupcakes and having a smash cake for him. So he took matters into his own hands. He found Elliot's leftover Nutella sandwich and ate that. Cheers!

Little elves

2014-12-05T17:50:00.001-08:00

Who wants this sweet smile in your stocking this year?

These poor children need more toys.

I caught this little elf redecorating the tree. We thought we were so smart by putting the tree up on a table.

Santa 'n Scouts

2014-12-03T15:22:00.001-08:00

Stuart met Santa today for the first time. The boys were great and wore their best Christmas colors. We got slurpees afterward and Stuart got a flu shot. It's the holiday season!

Here are the pics from our recent snow.

Here is Elliot with face paint at a Cub Scout meeting. He loves scouts, and Fletch signed up to be a pack leader!

Thankful

2014-11-27T16:36:00.001-08:00

We're so thankful for this guy.

And this guy.

And for Legos.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bird watching

2014-11-19T16:00:00.001-08:00

He said, "mom, I just want to take the day off and go bird watching. "

Googooplex

2014-11-07T19:10:00.000-08:00

Has everyone seen this skit from the TV show Portlandia? It captures the type of day I had with the kids.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEBCS006HvA

At one point, we stood at the end of the driveway for an hour, moving around to be in the presence of the sun's rays. I got some cute hammy photos out of the whole thing.

Here is a note that I found recently.

Here's a little Lego robot Elliot made.

Elliot also wants to know, at what point during the seven days it took for God to make the world, did the dinosaurs exist.

PSA: Trav wants everyone to be careful driving in the rain because earthworms are out, and you don't want to run over them. They are a friend to nature.

Elliot showed me a chest and said "mom inside this chest is a golden mmmmmmm." Say what? I didn't hear what you said.

"It's a golden mmmmmmm. I'm saying mmmmmm for the word that I'm not telling you."

The boys have a number that means infinity. It is googooplex. Go ahead and add it to your lexicon. Everyone will be using it soon. Examples are: I love you one googooplex! Well I love *you* a googooplex times a googooplex!

The word has many useful variations.