Ahhh, So Sweet...

This greeted me in my email courtesy of my sweet husband.

Stephen is pretty good humored about letting me do whatever I want, as long as it's feasible, but that doesn't mean he's not gonna tease me...especially about my blog habits. He says it's only a matter of time before we hear something from the pulpit about blogging. I say it counts as socializing since the Mommy's don't manage to get out of the house, talk to to grown-ups, or hang out with friends anymore.

He's threatened to commandeer my blog a couple times so he could put on an embarrassing picture or something. If he ever it does it should be pretty interesting...he's such a guy! There have been a couple times he's taken a picture then sent it to me titled, "for your blog". Unfortunately, those are usually the embarrassing pictures when my hair's all messed up or one of the kids exploded all over me, or I spilled something all over myself, etc...yeah not going to put those on.

Back-to-School Picnic

I give up on getting things in the right order...and I can't manage to get my cursor above the picture. Oh well, here it all is.

I love the contrast between Stephen and Lincoln's skin tones. Lincoln was super happy this night for some reason, he was a show stealer.

Gabriel's school had a fun back to school picnic. Part of the reason I chose the school and program that he's in was because of the family focus that the district has. There are so many fun family friendly activities throughout the year. I'm excited to go to them.

We lost Garrett, like real lost, not just lost sight of him for a minute. We were freaked out. He was in a bright yellow shirt yet we still couldn't spot him. I headed one way and Stephen headed back to the parking lot. Just as he got there he found him with another dad bringing him back down to the picnic area. Later Stephen said, "I guess that's what a prompting feels like. I just felt like I needed to get back to the parking lot...I thought I was going to see someone taking him." Heart stopping scary time. Garrett was scared too, but is still hard to keep track of in public. I hope he'll stay closer without something horrible happening. Pizza made everything better.

Grandpa Joe called so Stephen put his ear "cockroach" on Gabriel's ear so they could talk. Funny boy. He was pretty excited about pizza too. It has soy in it so he's only allowed to have it when he's in a place to work off all the excess energy, then go to bed and sleep off any remaining effects from it.

Gabriel encouraging Lincoln in his efforts to sit all by himself....he's close.

There were some cute booths set up for the kids to go and "visit" other places around the world. Poor Lincoln assumed the "along for the ride position".

Australia:
Gabriel LOVED the sack races. He informed me that it was a tie. I'll let him see the pictures later when he's older to see the actual results.

"Hawaii"
The kids made little fruit, marshmallow, and candy bracelets. The funny thing was that the candy was Mexican candy with chili in it. The next day was pretty funny when he tried to eat it. Not even a full minute into it he came running in and said he was all done....looking really hopeful that I would let him spit it out. I obviously let him and then he attacked the sink to get a drink.
Hilarious.

New York:
He watched a couple other kids bob for apples then decided to do it himself. I was really surprised because he's never been a fan of water in his face. He dove right in. He beamed with pride when he actually got an apple. He was hungry and got even more excited when I told him he got to eat it too.

So much excitement....what's left to do but fall sound asleep. He has his 6 month appointment tomorrow I'm curious to see if he's hit 20 pounds yet and will need to be moved to the convertible seat. Those legs of his are sure hanging off the end now.

After a Loooong Day

Monday was a really long day full of craziness! Gabriel came home so over stimulated he was just flat out naughty. I put him in the back yard to play and decompress for a while. Next thing I know he comes running in because Lola (our noisy little Chihuahua) is running down the road. I asked how and why she got out. He said, "She squeezed under the fence." Noticing the shovel in his hand I asked if he'd hit her with it. He said, "Well, she wouldn't stop barking."

I called her back to the house safe and sound. A car had driven by in the meantime, I'm glad she didn't get hit. I went back to the yard and called him in. His first question, "Did you call Dad?" "No" "Are you going to call Dad?" "Yep" "Oh, (looks down sadly) ok."

I put him in his room for a chill out. We found him under his bed sound asleep a little while later. The nap did the trick he was happy for the rest of the evening.

Surprise Visitor

Stephen's dad has been coming up for some eye appointments the last couple of weeks. He's a major home body, so anytime we can get him up here it's pretty exciting. He'd get here about mid-morning and Garrett thought he was in heaven! Here he's showing Grandpa the great swing set in the back yard. (Stephen found this swing set on Craigslist for FREE, it had wood that had broken in a storm. He fixed all the broken pieces and ta dah we have great entertainment for the boys.) Grandpa finished his appointments about the time Gabriel got home from school and then he got to have fun for a little while with Grandpa. I didn't tell them that he was coming because it was so much fun to watch them look out the window when he drove up and realize who was here.

These are some well loved kids!

Free Day at the Zoo!

You have to pretend this is at the end. As we were looking at the last animal I looked down and Lincoln had had enough. He was sound asleep. I'm sure the heat had something to do with it too.

I love how our little zoo creates so many shady places to get some relief from the sun as you enjoy the animals.

The big boys love this turtle shell. They play in it every time we go to the zoo. Gabriel was in kindergarten so just Garrett got to enjoy it this time.

My monkey boy with the little monkey in training.

I love the look on his face here. I'm not sure what caught his attention, but it sure made a cute picture.

I'm excited to see the new elephant enclosure when it's finished. Garrett looked in and said, "Hey, that one don't have none horns on his mouth." So, we learned about tusks.

I feel like I'm surrounded by animals all the time....maybe I should have been sitting there instead.

They both seemed a little mesmerized by the tranquil fish.

After seeing the fish Garrett asked to go back and see them again for the rest of the day.

My little hatchling.

I thought this was a great place for some fun pictures.

Thanks Melanie for including this on your list of fun family activities, the boys had a great time!

1 year anniversary

We've just passed the one year mark on having not much more than trickle income. I swing wildly between ticked off and furious about it and feeling so overwhelmingly blessed that we've been able to pull off survival, keeping our house, and keeping Gabriel fed with his darn expensive soy free food, with very little. I've had my stress level raising again lately, and that makes mommy pretty cranky and impatient. A couple days ago was one of those days that I felt overwhelmingly blessed.

These are great! Gabriel is pretty excited, he said, "oh, I like those!" Then he saw the football picture and said, "Hey I play football on the field!" I would love to see what he calls "playing" football since he's never played or really seen it on TV.

We are truly touched. We have been and continue to be blessed in so many ways. It's the little blessings that come right when they are needed, in such unexpected ways that culminate into a great big blessing over time.

Thank you.

Sitting Like a Big Boy

I had him in the bouncy seat while I was cleaning up the kitchen. I looked over to check on him and found this. He'd pulled himself up and was happy as a clam sitting like the big boys. He was very pleased with himself. He's so close to crawling and sitting by himself. He can't wait to join in all the "fun" around here. He sat there happy for a long time, then started chewing on his toes when he got bored.

Fall is in the air...

The boys found the hat box while I was nursing. I found Gabriel in the backyard in Stephen's old hat. He looked up and said, "Do I look like a soldier?" Somehow in his mind this is the kind of hat that soldiers wear, I'm still wondering what he saw to have come up with this interpretation. That water gun is one that Stephen won back in high school. It's an amazing one....that was recalled and taken off the market because it was so powerful and could cause injuries. It's loved by all and will be a sad, sad day when it breaks.

Not to be outdone by his brother Garrett picked his own hat. It's a hat from when I was a little girl and had lots of pink on it. He was so cute running around in that hat and only a pull-up. Gabriel informed me that Garrett was a lady because of the kind of hat he had on.


I was a little concerned about them overheating when I came back in and the news said the current temp on our side of town was 106 degrees. These boys are crazy!

When I went in to check on them, as I was going to bed later, I had to take these crazy hats off their sweaty heads.

WOO-HOO!

He did it!
A whole day with NO time outs. He did tell me he got warnings, but no timeouts. I told him I was proud that he made good choices after he got a warning and that he did such a good job participating all day. It's really a feat for him because had he been at home for all those hours he would've gotten at least a couple timeouts. I'm doing my happy dance.

GOOD WORK MY GABRIEL!

EEEEK!!

It's kinda a blurry picture because I snapped it with my phone. He got super mad today about a poopy diaper as I walked over to get him he pushed up on those knees...twice. EEK! If he manages to do that while he's not mad and paying attention to what he's doing we're gonna be in big trouble. He's such a curious little guy and is developing a fast grab with those little hands.

Time to lock the house down again.

Lincoln

You may be wondering how our Little Lincoln is handling all the excitement of school...well not to be left out, he spends time with his own books learning the ways of the world. After so much mental stimulation...or trying to survive the vigorous loving his brothers give him...he had to catch a nap. I'm secretly jealous of such naps.


Notice the little red scratch on his head? I asked what happened to him and Gabriel immediately said Garrett did it followed with an, "I think". I asked if he actually saw Garrett do it and he said no BUT it was probably and ant. I explained that ants don't scratch they bite. So then he explained that it was really probably a scratching bug that did it and then flew away. I still don't know what happened.

He really likes this jumpy thing. The other day I came in and he was scrunched down like this, so I picked him back up and got him settled again...

Just to find him scrunched back down. He fussed when I tried to pick him back up so I left him. He just hung out like this for nearly 45 minutes.

When he's content he's really content. When he's mad he's really mad. He's finally getting around to growing some hair and really enjoys the mornings that are big brother free. He can roll and squirm all over the floor with no danger of getting smooshed. He's starting to pull up his hips when he's on his tummy. As soon as he actually makes it to his knees once, he'll be off and running...or crawling I guess. His smile is so infectious. He'll just sit and watch someone out of the corner of his eye, waiting for them to look over then he throws them the hugest smile EVER! I love it. It almost seems like he smiles with his whole face, you can't help but smile back at him. I love to snuggle him under my chin, although he doesn't do that very often now. He's like Garrett, just wants to be put in bed and left alone when it's time to sleep. Sometime I'll share some of the special experiences I've had associated with this little guy. His big brothers love him SO much! They often call him Little Linky (or Wittle Winky by Garrett) it's cute. He's recently learned how to rock himself in his infant carrier. I was at a wedding reception over the weekend and he rocked himself the entire time I was there, especially when the fast dance music came on. My mom looked over and thought I was rocking him. He gets his little legs going and rocks bigger and bigger...it keeps him very entertained.

It's so much fun to see how each kid is so different and has so much to contribute to a family in their own way. It's true that your heart just keeps growing bigger and bigger to make room to love each new addition.

Big Kid School

Gabriel picked out this super hero shirt to wear on the first day of school because of the the glitter on it...that's my boy. I let him do all the picking within in his size; he wanted a couple size 10 shirts that were huge. I was stressed that I wasn't going to be able to go "back to school" shopping with him. I'd always planned on getting a few things, to augment his hand me downs, that were special for just him. I teeter on the edge of depression and furious anger these days about the financially slow time we're in right now, especially when I have to forgo plans I've had for many years. We were able to pull it off courtesy of my mom. It was frustrating to have to mooch for it, but at least all Gabriel knew was that we were out, just the two of us, getting some special stuff just for him. Watching a 5 year old boy shop is hilarious. I'm not very good at picking clothes he would like, and now I'm grateful he's old enough to go pick out things he likes all by himself. I look forward to, someday when times are better, being able to turn him loose in a store and just watching him in action...so entertaining.

Here he is by the sign in front of his new school. He kept dancing around and wouldn't hold still for the picture. I told him to be still and he said, "I can't the ants are going to eeeaaattt me." I promised to take it really fast if he was still. This is what we got. The full picture turned out well....I don't want the school name online though. I will say I got him in the most fantastic program ever! I'm so happy we were able to get him in here.

At the orientation before school started the kids made these while the parents were given all the information they needed. When he told me all about making it he didn't know the name for pipe cleaner so he started describing it as the long, bendy, fuzzy sticks. He's pretty good at describing things so you can figure out what he's talking about. Random side note: The camera we were using on this day is not very good. It has facial recognition but it never seems to work right. However, when I took a picture of a picture it found his face and right away. I wished it worked that well on real live people.


Here he is with his teacher. Isn't she a cute young thing? Her classroom is fantastic! He did really well on the first day. By the second day he was already in trouble. I'd hoped to get at least a week out of him before we had to start addressing behavior issues. Oh well, it's not to be. On the second day, about half way through, he stopped participating and refused to join in again for the rest of the day. I was worried that would happen in an all day setting. Half day would be ideal for him, but that's not the world we're in anymore, so he's going to have to adjust. We had a good talk about it and he did much better today; his teacher said that he only needed one reminder. I told him I was so happy that he made good choices and only needed one reminder to keep making good choices, and that I was proud of him. He looked up so excited and said, "Yeah I only had one time out today!" He was so pleased with himself for only having one timeout. My mouth said, "Wow, it sounds like you're making much better choices and controlling your body better. Good job, thank you so much!" My mind was thinking, "Are you kidding me?? It's only the third day of school and you've already had a negative report to a parent and a timeout. What the heck?!?!" What's a mom to do? I rubbed his fuzzy head, gave him a kiss and we headed home. He was so excited to see his brothers...it was sweet. Garrett excitedly said, "I want to go to kindergarten too!" Gabriel responded, "You have to have two more birthdays then you'll be old enough." He was right on. The math comprehension this kid has is crazy...it's definitely NOT from his Momma...he really understands addition and subtraction concepts (working in numbers under 5 or so). I'm glad that it seems to be a subject that he understands and will come easy to him; it'll be a nice time for he and his Dad to spend time together because by second grade it'll be over my head. {:-D

I didn't cry on his first day (why is this underlined? I can't get rid of it...Oh well, who cares) He's been enough of a handfull that many of these big life transitions have been easier. His first time to the nursery at church...not hard to leave him. His first time going off to pre-school all by himself...not hard to send him off (except his big brown nervous eyes did tug on my heart strings a little). His first day at kindergarten...not hard to have him go. I DO worry about the social skills kinks, but that's not something to cry about...just something to fix. I am a little weirded out that I have a kid old enough for school though.

We love ya Gabriel, good luck in this new adventure! You're a smart kid and have so much going on in that head of yours I know you'll do great!

Pre-school

Well, he's not completely potty trained, but his pre-school teacher let him come anyway. We've found a fantastic teacher and I was blessed she's so willing to let him come. Academically this kid is SO ready for learning in a structured setting; and I would never be able to be consistent enough for him to succeed. I hope peer pressure will work to get him over the hump. So far he's been dry when I've picked him up. He loves it and asks to go everyday even though class is only two days a week. He loves graduating from "Baby Garrett" to "Little Garrett the Big Boy."

Ahhh, Quiet Time

Ready for Battle
(with my vacuum crevice tool, of course)

We've been having a rough go of things with this little man lately. I've been tearing my hair out, and still am at an absolute loss as to how to stop some of the behaviors coming out of this kid. Despite it all he can still make me smile.

He came running out of quiet time this afternoon looking like this and announcing,
"We're playing lamanites!"
There are no Nephites around here, which is ok since I'm raising a bunch of little lamanites. They love the story of Samuel the Lamanite and make the generalization from that one story. Let's hope Samuel's the role model they choose to follow. On Sundays when we put in one of the Living Scriptures movies they always ask, "Is there any killing?" You'd think we were letting them watch horrible stuff all the time...we don't. They watched the story of King Noah a couple of weeks ago Garrett asked about killing and Gabriel answered, "YES, the bad guys have to get killed."

"Sword Holder"
(stretching the already stretched neck even more)

*Note to Nanny: After I told Gabriel that he can't stretch the neck on his shirt out; he asked if Nanny could make a Lamanite costume with a sword holder. I ruined all his fun right after the picture when I made him take his shirt off so it didn't get any worse.*

Weird

Gabriel is at Nanny's for his last hoo-rah before school starts tomorrow, Garrett is at pre-school because he's "a big boy now that stays dry"...that leaves me at home in the quiet with sleeping Lincoln. It's kinda weird what shall I do?? The laundry. No, the dishes. No, put everything away. No, clean that nasty bathroom the boys use. No, I must.... Oh, the list goes on, but then I realized I must pace myself. I'll get this quiet twice a week for 2 whole weeks before I'm back to work. I just might get this place pulled together after all. Although, the success of getting it pulled together all depends on how the evenings go when everyone is home. I sit back in amazement at how fast kids can create messes. They really do seem to have some kind of extra talent...oh, grandparenthood is gonna be so much fun. I know my parents are laughing at me; I'm just waiting for my turn. {;-D

Seriously?!??

Our little Garrett gives very sweet prayers. It doesn't matter what kind of crazy noisy he's been making, when he starts praying he switches to his "sweet" voice. It's very quiet so unless he's on your lap or really close you can't hear much. Last night it was his turn for night prayers. He crawled up on Stephen's lap and began. I was close enough I could actually hear what he was saying. It was a very thankful night; I love these kind of nights and waiting to see all the funny things he expresses thanks for. He gave his thanks for some toys and pinecones and clothes and and lots of cute things. He ended by saying, "and thank you for weenies so we can go pee pee in the potty and go to pre-school." I fought cracking up till I looked up and saw Stephen silently laughing too. Oh, my little Garrett we just love you. Could it be so?? Has he seen the potty training light?? He's been pretty darn dry for the last few days. I hope with the help he'll get from his sweet prayer that maybe just maybe I'll have two potty trained boys soon.

Trial Run...

Looks sweet huh?? The Lord created sleeping babies to help parents endure to the end.

Gabriel and Stephen put up his glow-in-the-dark solar system last night. Both boys thought it was, "so amazing", and "fantastic", and "so cool". Gabriel kept singing "Jupiter de dupiter". Garrett wanted to "sweep" (sleep) in Gabriel's room so he could see the night light planets. We figured we'd give it a try and see what happened. We've had them separate until this point for several reasons. Among the reasons are quiet time isn't quiet if they're together play/fighting, Garrett is a 5 am kinda kid and Gabriel is an 8 am kinda kid, and chill outs from each other don't work if they're in the same room as the sibling they're annoyed at. Soon, I'll be waking Lincoln up with my thrashing at night. It's ironic that the kids go from waking me up at night to me waking them up. Lincoln is 5 months now and at about 6 months is when they don't sleep well in our room anymore. I knew the time was coming that we'd have to put the big boys together in a room....I've been dreading it.

So this is how our trial run went.

9:00 pm (we were running an hour late) Finally get them in beds. Give VERY clear directions to each that the first one awake MUST leave the room quietly WITHOUT waking the other.
9:10 pm Gabriel comes running out saying Garrett needs to go potty. This is only a ploy because Garrett has no intention on using the potty....ever. I hope the MTC has a big changing table. He did come up with a little squirt of pee.
9:30 pm Finally get them both back to bed after peeing....and the darn clean up that always follows. Seriously, their Dad can aim what's wrong with them? I think they need a Father/Son aiming talk.
9:45 pm Gabriel is back out saying Garrett has to pee again...yeah right. Each steals a pillow from the couch and run back to the room...I tuck them back in.
10:00 pm They come running out "afraid".... and have to go potty again. They have 4 night lights plus all the glowing planets; they can see just fine and are not afraid of anything, except accidently going to sleep.
10:15 pm Stephen returns from dropping off some stuff for side work he's picked up this week. "They asleep?" "I doubt it, but at least I don't see or hear them anymore."
10:20 pm Listen to the funny boy conversation about Mt. Everest, picking which planet they will live on, and Gabriel's assurance that he will take care of Garrett in the dark.
11:00 pm It's been quiet for long enough I can go to bed....go in to re-cover with blankets and find them in the same bed. I would have left them together, but they both thrash like their Momma and Garrett always manages to get himself wedged into little spaces. The mattress is a little off the wall so we had to move Garrett back to his mattress on the floor.

Ahhhh, restfull slumber...ha just kidding. Lincoln has major allergies and is so congested he can't sleep well or eat well either. I was up 3 times, for a pretty extended time with him. I'm not sure why but several other times I shot wide awake to check on him. There was no noise or anything, it was just BAM and I was awake. I don't know why. Between the heat, Lincoln's restless or not sleeping, and weird pain I keep getting, night is really becoming a time I dread everyday. Yet, I'm soooo tired...

5:00 AM Yelling and scuffling from down the hall. Garrett is awake and trying to wake up a super cranky Gabriel. Stephen flies out of bed (I was tending to Lincoln again) gets Garrett to the family room to change him. Night is over...way too early...and we've come to the conclusion that they'll stay apart till the bitter end.

9:15 am Both back in separate rooms, after a cracky breakfast, and a cranky flooding the house bath, for their quiet time before church. Garrett's asleep again and I hope Gabriel gets that way. I'm praying it'll sweeten their moods before it's time to go to church.

Gabriel starts school on Thursday. I'd planned on combining them at the first of September after we've been able to settle into our new routine. Gabriel is in all day kindergarten, so Garrett's nap wouldn't be disturbed during the day. Now I know it's the night routine I need to worry about. I sure hope we all survive this and that Stephen can get his plans for supplementing our income in place, which will allow us the hope of getting into a bigger house eventually. These little yahoos need S P A C E.