O-F-F Spells Off

Carter came out of the spare room the other day and said, "O-F-F says off. I saw that on your treadmill." I was very impressed. Nobody told him that word says off he figured it out on his own. He read the word. He can recognize his name and a few other words, but this one he actually read! Later we grabbed dinner out, and he wrote it on his place mat. Again, he knows how to write all his letters, but this was the first word he wrote all on his own! Not something from a worksheet that he copied, or something he was prompted to write letter by letter. He just did it! My baby is getting so big. I guess Pre-School is paying off (no pun intended)!

Learning to Ride a Bike

Last Friday was a beautiful sunny day and we were all out front playing. Some of the "bigger kids" in the neighborhood were riding their bikes up and down our street. Carter noticed that their bikes were like his but without training wheels. Gregg told Carter that we could take his off and teach him to ride like the big kids if he wanted. Carter is not a daring child and opted not to do it. No big surprise there. The next morning we were surprised, however, when Carter brought it up on his own. Apparently in the night he decided he'd like to try it. Unfortunately our beautiful sunny day was now a freezing foggy morning. We bundled up and walked down to the park. Gregg thought that the grass and dirt of the baseball field would be a better training ground that the asphalt in front of our house. I concurred.

One last shot with the training wheels.

A few practice runs with Daddy holding on to him.

Then...he did it (briefly)!

Kyle wanted to try.

He could have probably done it if only he could reach the pedals better.

After a few more runs we went home. Carter didn't want to fall anymore, Kyle was mad that he only has a tricycle, and Cammie had been cold and screaming for 20 minutes. At least Carter was able to do it a few times. Now we can practice more on nice days and hopefully he'll be a pro this summer!

Happy Birthday Babe

Gregg's Birthday was last weekend. We didn't do much. He had the weekend off so we mostly just hung out at home and played with the kids. Carter and I secretly got a birthday cake from the bakery the day before and hid it in the outside fridge. Carter tried so hard to keep it a secret, but before dinner daddy told him to be good or he wouldn't get dessert and Carter accidentally let it slip. You can't really blame him. A big chocolate cake in the fridge is a really big secret for a 4 year old to keep, even for just 24 hours.

You can see how excited they were about it!

The boys wanted a turn blowing out the candles so I re-lit a few for them.

Kyle practically licked his plate clean.
You'd think we never give the boys anything sweet by the way they sucked it down.

The cake was obviously the highlight of the day! We had dinner with friends the next night to celebrate and that was nice. All in all a nice Birthday weekend.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Rub a Dub Dub, Three Kids in the Tub!

Last night I had all three of my kids in the tub together. This is not a common occurrence because, well lets face it, 3 kids is a lot for one little tub. The boys like bathing with their sister because she LOVES the bath so much. (In fact she gets very, very mad if she hears the water running but doesn't get to be the one bathing.) She is so much fun to watch and play with. She squeals, and screams, and splashes, and laughs. She normally gets her own bath, but last night I opted for the quicker, One Bath for Everyone option. My sweet little Cameron is kind of a bully in the tub. She's not use to having to share the toys and kept taking everything away from her brothers. At one point Kyle turned his back to her so that he wouldn't have to give up what was in his hand. They looked so silly squished together in the tub. Not wanting to leave the kids alone to go get the camera, I grabbed my always handy cell phone and started snapping pictures. In hindsight I should have had Gregg grab the camera for me because they're pretty blurry, but at least I got some shots of the action.

Not a lot of room for playing, but nobody seemed to mind.

Action shot: Carter with bubbles in his eyes, Kyle trying to drink the bath water, and Cammie happy as always!
Rub-a-Dub-Chub! Look at her little arm rolls!

I said, "Kyle, make a funny face."
This is what I got:

I had a really cute picture of Kyle here, but Blogger didn't like it I guess because It wouldn't let me put it up!?

Carter doing his ever popular "scary face"...

...and my little angle hogging all the loofahs. Gotta love her!

More Sudsy Pictures

For Christmas the boys got special colored, foaming bath soap (thanks Auntie Allie.) Since I was doing a bath post I thought I'd put up some of the sillier pictures I've taken of them using it.

"Cheese?"

El Diablo!

(I know it looks like Carter's always grabbing his crotch, but I tell him to cover himself up. Nobody wants a "wiener shot" and I never know if I'm going to want to use something on the blog.)

Kyle rubbed it on his shoulders and chest and said, "Look Mommy I made a shirt!"

I'm really going to have to start keeping my camera closer during bath time, cell phone pictures are convenient but SO blurry.

Things I Love, Hate and Know for Sure

I know that Hate is a strong word, but I can safely say these are the things I Hate!

I hate...

... the way the bottom of the milk carton always leaves that ugly residue on the shelf in my fridge.

... doing laundry. There are way to many steps, from sorting and checking the pockets of the my little boys pants for "treasures", to ironing and hanging. Although I'd have to say the worst part of doing laundry is that it's NEVER ending! I'm more into instant gratification cleaning.

...going to the dentist. I'd say that's pretty self explanatory.

The things I love (the short list).

I love...

...apple scented candles. Yep just love 'em.

...Snuggling with my 2 year old. I love laying face to face on his bed with his little arm draped over my neck and wrapped around the back of my head. He runs his fingers through my hair and I do the same to him, and for a few minutes in time he is quiet, (which is rare.)

...my husbands cooking. Yes he makes a mess, and yes it bad for my figure, but boy is it GOOD!

...having a gas fireplace. It's so easy, flip the switch and boom - beauty and warmth!

...watching my baby girl and her Daddy. It's really one of my favorite things to watch. He scoops her up in his arms and she squeals and gets this look on her face as if to say, "I'm Daddy's favorite little princess!"

There aren't many things in this life that I know for sure, but these are some that I have come to know recently.

I know for sure...

...that I have the best kids ever! ;-)

...that no matter how hard I work to avoid it, there will always be more laundry to do.

...that I'm not perfect, I will never be perfect, and I just need to let it go. I'm still working on it. So often I think we (especially us women) start to feel like everything has to be in order, the kids have to be perfect, the house has to be perfect, we have to look perfect, we have to throw the perfect birthday party, and have to have the perfect family picture on the perfect Christmas card. When in reality we are just setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment. So one day if you get a Christmas card from me that includes a picture of my 4 year old picking his nose, you'll know that I have successfully let it go!

Here's to Letting it Go in the New Year!

Christmas Day 2010

...yep, Santa was here!

Christmas was wonderful this year! Believe it or not Gregg and I were actually the first ones up. We have Cammie to thank for that. Most mornings she wakes up around 6am for a bottle and upon finishing it goes promptly back to sleep. Christmas morning was no exception. After that Gregg and I lay in bed waiting to hear two little boys looking for signs of Santa, but we never heard a thing. By 7am we were ready to get up, kids or no kids. Carter came wandering out about a half an hour later. Who knows how long Kyle would have slept (of course the day we want him to get up). Gregg finally decided to go get him so that we could open some gifts. The boys did so good. They are both so easy, they aren't picky and love anything they get. They both like to make sure they know who the gift is from before they open it so that we can tell them thank you later. They weren't wild and crazy but they were excited which was fun. Cammie slept through the whole thing. It was actually nice not to have to keep an eye on her, keep all the wrapping paper scraps off the floor, etc., and instead be able to focus on the boys. We let the boys open her stuff too, so when she woke up she had a nice little pile of toys ready to play with. The rest of the day was relaxing. We sat around, snuggled, and played with the kids and all of their new stuff all day. Perfect!

The pre-kid Christmas morning scene.

Carter and the new scooter that Santa brought him.


Kyle clapping as Daddy helps open a new toy.

My baby with her new babies!

Carter got an Mp3 player from Auntie Allie.

He didn't turn it off for 3 days! He's such a ham!

All of my Boys playing with the new Lego's.

The boys love the Playdough they got, and so does Mom.

They stay busy for hours!

As this holiday season comes to an end and another year begins I feel very blessed. I have a wonderful husband who works hard to provide for our family so that I can stay home with our babies. We have three beautiful, healthy, awesome kids that we adore. We have a wonderful extended family, and great friends. We hope that the New Year bring good health and happiness to all of you!