How to kill 10 minutes

All you need is a spray bottle and cold water....

Productive day

In the past 12 hours, Don and I have painted 2 walls -one of which is 2 stories high- and made (with my mom's help) new curtains for our dining area. The painting was begun and completed while the boys were napping. When they went to bed, we had 2 orange walls. Now they are a very neutral cream color. When they woke up they were mystified about the missing orange walls. "Where'd orange go?" We heard it all night and during dinner, too "Orange wall go?".



Tonight after the boys went to bed, Don and I finished the curtains (put the grommets on, finished the seams, etc) and hung the new curtain rod up. We now have two major things off our to do list. I finally feel like I can start concentrating on the boys bedroom and get their quilts started.

Dinner for SIX

Saturday evening Cathy and the boys came over for dinner. Usually we play over at Cathy's since her house is much larger and the boys have more space to play in, but it has been our turn for a long time now to have them over at our house. Soon after she got here, it was time to feed the boys some pizza and realized they are all old enough to hang out at their own "kid's table". All six of them sat down at the picnic table and ate their pizza. Not one child got up and moved around. They all sat nicely there until they were done eating. For the first time EVER, all three of us adults were able to sit down, eat and chat while the kids were eating. It was awesome!

After dinner the boys went in the living room to play. And surprise of all surprises, they played together! Some of them went to the cubby to read and others played a long game of touching Cathy's nose -but they all interacted with the other group of kids, not just their own brothers. Lots of giggling, running and hugging for the next hour or so before Cathy packed up the boys and left.

Jaxon, Wyatt and Lucas stood out on the front step of our house while Cathy's van was pulling away. All three were waving and yelling good bye to their friends. We all had such a fun night and can't wait to see what kind of fun we will have next time we play with our friends.

Day at the Park

The other day we had a play date at the park. My mom, Reagan, the boys and I met up with one of Mom's friends (Debbie) and Debbie's daughter in law (Annie) and grand daughter (Katie). It was a park we hadn't been to in a while and it was a huge wake up call to see the boys run all over it now! Little Reagan is a little younger than I remember the boys being the first time we went there, and it was so neat to see her trying to climb up the slide and crawl around like the boys did well over a year ago.

Here is a video of the boys pushing Rea around in her walker. Notice how they leave her so she can watch them play and not feel left out.


After a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples for the kids and crab salad and California rolls for the adults (and kids), the kids played a bit longer before it was time to go. Jaxon tries to be quite the negotiator when he is not done with things, so up his little pointer finger went when he told me he wanted to swing "one more time" before we left. Lucas and Wyatt were not thrilled about leaving, but once we got out of the gated area they all raced over to a huge soccer ball they spotted -lucky for me it was close to the parking lot.

Needless to say, naps were nice and quiet after playing outside all day. I am glad the weather is nice enough to do this more often now!

New things a-happening

Since the new big boys beds are sitting in our garage and I am getting the vibe that it is time NOW to potty train, we have decided to change the boys room. Currently, they are all crib tented up and their room is blacked out to preserve the sacred 3 hour nap time every day. But once they start potty training, I want them to be able to get up and out of their beds to go to the bathroom when needed.

My mom and I spent just about 3 hours at the fabric store yesterday picking out the fabrics for the boys bedding. Finally I decided on colors a bit more sedate than what they have now, but still fun and colorful. I am really excited to get started, and trying to forget there are a dozen other things that need to be done now, too (clean the garage, make the dining room curtains from the fabric we purchased last month, organize things for the MOM garage sale, etc) but this has to take priority because of the time crunch on potty training. I just feel like I am losing my window of opportunity if I don't jump on it now. There is an underlying fear that if I wait too long, the kids will start to not mind the dirty diapers and turn against me.

We have had a busy week, lots of running around and keeping busy. My favorite thing from this week has got to be the boys singing along in the car with the radio. Sometimes I turn the radio up pretty loud to drown out all the whining. Then I pretend to get really into the music, dancing in my seat and singing along with the music while telling the boys to dance. Jaxon totally gets into it. His little arms start waving all over the place (freaking Lucas out because he is afraid Jax will hit him with those wild arms) and Wyatt will shake his head all over, banging it into the car seat, but laughing like a wild man. Then they will sing the last word they heard. The other night it was "Groove is in the heart" and the three of them would sing the word "heart" out as long as she does in the chorus. Even after we were home, we were singing it and it was so loud and obnoxious that the dog started howling. I am sure the neighbors were wondering what the heck, but it was a good time for us. :)

Happy Birthday Pops!

All day Sunday (minus the 3 hour nap time) we spent at Nana and Pops house. Beginning with bringing Einstein Bagels over for breakfast and ending with a birthday dinner for my dad, it was a family packed day. Don and I snuck out to look at fabric for the boys room and stopped on a hunch at Circuit City to see if they happened to have any Wii's in stock. And they did!

Back at Nana and Pops house this evening, we were doing a celebration of Pop's birthday that passed a few days ago. After just celebrating little Leigha's birthday a couple weeks ago, the boys had a better understanding of birthday's, cake and singing and were very excited about celebrating Pop's with him.

All three of them kept saying "happy day, pops during dinner and again during desert. I bet Pop's never has felt so much love on his special day before! When it was time for cake, Wyatt tried to touch the candles and Jaxon had the biggest smile on his face during the singing. Luke was thrilled to help blow the candles out.

Tonight Aunt Leigha popped in to say hello. While she was here, we introduced the boys to playing baseball on the wii. They all have their own mii's Don and I made up for them while we were catching our breath :). They are baseball pros and Wyatt -being the gadget man he is- loved being allowed to play with the remote. They actually won their baseball game!

Now, I am off to go play some tennis with Don.

Harmonica Luke

Doodlebops!

Today we went to the Doodlebop show, courtesy of Don's work. They gave us what we thought were general admission tickets, but turned out to be box seats! We were pretty high up (making us a bit nervous with the boys being so close to the edge) but it was pretty nice.

The boys all really enjoyed themselves. We thought they would be too young to "get it", but they totally got it. Jaxon was dancing -bopping his little head around- and would clap and cheer when songs were over. Lucas would yell mid song "Go Dood-bops!" like a regular at the concert scene. Wyatt was a bit more contained, just bouncing his little legs or bopping his head side to side once in a while.

The boys started getting antsy during intermission, but we stuck it out probably an hour and fifteen minutes total before we thought the boys were about done. They couldn't stay still any more and we were still not feeling great about the 20 foot drop behind a little railing.

Afterwards we took them to the park to let them get the ants out of their pants and called it a day. It was a full one, for sure.

Tractor Time

These are the boys new toys!

We got quite the deal on FAO Swartz.com and with their additional 30% off for their Presidents day sale, the price was better than perfect!

The boys loved playing in their new tractors last night while the batteries were charging. They had no idea that the cars were actually supposed to move on their own, and they were thrilled pushing them around with all their might. Wyatt was quite the hoarder, putting any and all toys he could think of in his little trailer.

Tonight when Don got home we put the batteries in and let the boys try the tractors out again. First we had to teach them how to hold their foot down on the pedal, and then we had to teach them how to turn. And let's not forget stopping! It was a hilarious disaster, plenty of near misses and lots of curb hitting.

The boys seemed to have a good time trying the tractors out and Don and I got quite the workout chasing them around, trying to prevent them hitting each other or our neighbors cars. We are hoping we can take them to a nearby field this weekend and teach them to carry rock loads in their trailers. Yee HAW!

New Sheriff's in town

Don's parents got the boys little Sheriff badges for Christmas. The boys have just rediscovered them the other day and like to wear them for all of 3 minutes at a time. 10 times a day. They know the badges have their names on it, and who's badge is who's. My favorite part is that even though things will be impossible to find with Jax's name how we chose to spell it, Don's parents circumvented that by getting his name on it with little stickers. Works great, and all of them have their own sheriffs badge.

Thanks again Grandma Vicky and Poppa!

The new Cubby

A couple months ago (yikes!) Don and I started a project of sorts. We thought it would be neat to hollow out a little area under our stairs for the boys to play in. Now that it is 90% of the way done (we still need to install the quarter round) the boys love to hang out in it.

We put their little couches inside and a bucket of books. They will just turn the light on over head and start reading. Yesterday I glanced over and saw Lucas and Jaxon sitting on a little couch looking through a book together while. They were sharing the couch and a book. What a wondrous little room.

And from the movie a couple days back, you can see it is a great place for them to hide in as well!

Hugs

Even though Wyatt is looking down, I love this picture!

Here is a (longish) video of them playing yesterday. They love to watch Barney on the television and when his infamous song comes on, they'll give these huge hugs to each other. Don't be fooled, these are no ordinary hugs. Once everyone is hugging, they pull down in their own direction and try to pull the other two down. I am not sure if it is an alpha male thing, or a loving/playing thing, but it is funny to watch. I would have shortened it, but the last 30 seconds are the cutest!


Here is another taken after I made sure Jax's head was okay from the head bounce at the end of the last one. You can hear them sing bits of "twinkle twinkle" and if you take a look, you will no longer see the scab on Jax's forehead!



Times like this I look back and think about how worried I was when pregnant. How could Don and I possibly love them enough when there were three of them and only two of us? People would try to reassure me by saying they will also have the love of each other and I just didn't get it. However, just looking at them in these videos reinforces what those people meant. It is so easy to see how much they love each other and how secure they are because of one another. It does even out and it is a hoot to watch!

Lake Panguitch movies

I just downloaded a bunch of movies so here are a few from Lake Panguitch

Playground Pros

Yesterday I took the boys and met up with Cathy at a nearby park. According to my picture files, it has been a full year since the last time we went there and WOW what a difference.

The little babies that Don and I (with the help of my Mom, Michael and Cathryn) had to chase around and keep an eye on to be sure they wouldn't get hurt.... those toddlers are gone! In their place are three little boys who ruled the roost and knew exactly what they were doing.

Run around, but stay close to each other - check
Climb all the way to the top - check
Go down the biggest slides - check
Try to climb on the rope climber thingy - check
Jaxon give your Mom a heart attack by climbing on the metal climbing "wall" - check

And last but not least.....
Swing like big kids on the big kid swings

CHECK!

Incredible

Last November when we were in Texas visiting Don's family, my friend Cathy ordered my kids some sets of Disney PJ's at only $4 a pair. One of the sets were made to look like the Incredibles costume.

Today after their nap, the boys found one of the pjs, so Don thought we should rent the movie and have the boys wear their new pj's after their baths. They didn't care for the movie until the last half -but once they did start to enjoy it, they were very animated about it. Wyatt thought it was funny to stand next to me while I was sitting on the couch and stick his face in mine while repeating the parts he thought were hilarious.

Tonight after their baths they got to wear their new pj's and we could tell they thought they were so cool. Jaxon immediately tried to run fast like Dash and the poor guy hit himself on his crib. But no worries, he was back up in less than a minute and they all had a little wrestling time before lights were out for the night.

It is incredible (get it, incredible? hee hee) that the boys are old enough to actually watch a movie with Don and I. To have all of us sit and enjoy a movie together just seems beyond their age. They are such cool little guys.

Valentine's Day

We just got back from our Valentine's date plus three. We spent the evening at the District where we had a BBQ dinner followed by a horse ride and free chocolate. What could be better?

The boys are really cracking Don and I up with the things they say. They are conversing with us and it is great to hear the things their little minds come up with. Or the reasoning they have with their actions. Jaxon loves to say "hurry" or "hurry up" but in a very concerned way. Lucas is still big on telling us something is "right there" or "down there". The way he says it sounds very direct and knowing. Such a little man he is. Wyatt is talking more and clearer lately, but when I try to think of what he says., I just picture him laughing like a little imp. I will have to try harder to note what he is doing.


Two things to note:
First, Jaxon's big forehead boo-boo (the one he has had since MAY of last year!) is actually going away. No scab on it for about 5 days now, so we think it may actually be on it's way gone. I can't imagine how much longer he will be scarred there, but we are glad to at least be past the scabbing!

Second, today I tried on a couple pair of jeans that have been previously unwearable since my rear end is too large. TADA! They fit tonight! My calves are tight in them, but the rest of me fits just fine! Whoo hoo!

What a great Valentine's Day!

Snow Fun

This past weekend the boys had their first snow experience. Leigha and TJ invited all five of us up to TJ's family cabin up in Panguitch Lake. The whole experience was fantastic. From the scenic drive up there, the beautiful clean snow, pine trees everywhere and the weather hovering around 50 degrees out, we couldn't have asked for a better trip.



As soon as we got there we unpacked the boys brand new snow suits that finally came in the mail the day before -along with their new snow boots their Uncle Jeremy was nice enough to ship out all the way from Virginia. Lucas and Jaxon took right to the snow. They laughed and rode around on the sled while Wyatt seemed unsure of the whole idea. He looked so uncomfortable all wrapped up in his snow gear that we had a laugh thinking about how he looked like the little brother in "A Christmas Story".



The rest of our trip was lots of eating, some playing in the snow and then more of the same. Wyatt never grew fond of the snow (although we really wonder if he just hated being bundled up in the snow gear) always crying to be held when we were outside. He would tolerate the sled and actually had a really good time riding on the snowmobile for a minute with his Dad.



Luke couldn't get enough of the snow. He loved to walk in (or on) it and just had the mindset to conquer it. TJ and Don built a little tunnel through the snow and Lucas tried to crawl right through it, not even complaining when he was a little stuck. Once we showed him that he the snow was edible,he constantly was grabbing a handful to take a bite. Lucas took right to TJ this weekend and I think it is safe to say that TJ is Luke's new best friend.



Jaxon really liked sledding and playing in the snow with Leigha's dog. Every time I looked at Jaxon, he had a big smile on his face. Everything he saw or did just seemed to make him smile bigger and he never seemed to run out of energy the entire weekend. At one time he had gotten snow in the back of his snowsuit, but only a few minutes later he was no longer bothered by it and ready to play some more.



Some of the great memories made:
-The boys building garages, bridges and "Mi-Mouse house" with Jenga blocks
-Pulling the boys in the sled up and down the deserted road
-Don trying to show the boys how to make a snow man
-TJ "cleaning the floor" with all three of the boys
-Wyatt calling out to Leigha and running to her for kisses -over and over again
-Don and TJ trying to be a bobsled team on the front walkway
-My introduction to "Pants off Dance off" (has anyone else ever heard of this? OMgosh!)
-Sleeping in the same room as the boys and having them come into our bed when they woke up in the morning.



Thank you, Leigha and TJ for inviting us and making all five of us feel so welcome. We had such a great time.

On the upswing

Finally we are feeling better! Woo hoo! The worst of it today is just runny noses and coughing. Wyatt's abscess is going down with the help of the antibiotics, but we have one follow up appointment next week -just to be sure.

The past couple of days I have been taking the boys for a walk in a nearby vacant lot. It gets them the fresh air they desperately need and gives us a chance to stretch our legs. Lucas is so into analyzing the rocks. He loves to try to pick up huge ones (huge for him) and always exclaims "big hole!" regarding the little spot in the ground left by the big rocks.

Jaxon likes to climb to the top of these rock hills and slide down on his stomach or tushie. It makes me wince seeing their clothes get that kind of use, but they are having so much fun I don't want to stop them for that. Jaxon also like to wander off and when I call for him to come back to us -he is not so defiant to tell me no- but he shakes his head no with a big smile on his face.

Wyatt is a bit more laid back about it. I think in the next few days as he starts to feel a bit more normal, he will be up there trying to give me a heart attack in his own little way, too. Even today I could see he was ready to throw a rock and I yelled (because I was about 20 feet away) for him to put it down. For whatever reason he didn't and chucked it -hitting Jax's head which was only about 3 feet away. Poor Jax had quite the goose egg on his little head and got a bag of peas to soothe his owie once we got back home.

So thankfully, life is getting back to normal and I am so glad to see the boys playing like little boys again.

Abscess-tion

Seriously, the pediatrician is going to think we are stalking her. Today we had our 8th (?) appointment with her since 2008 rolled around -with one more scheduled for this Wednesday. Wyatt's ear infection not only kept living through his batch of antibiotics -it worsened and turned into an abscess on his tonsils. The poor guy got a healthy shot of antibiotics in his thigh. Hopefully the shot will give the new batch of antibiotics he starts tomorrow (with the steroids again) help in draining his abscess before Wednesday. On Wednesday we will see if his abscess has drained. If not, off to the ENT he goes and it will most likely mean going to the hospital and putting him under to drain it. All from an ear infection gone bad. Who knew?

Jaxon and Luke have begun coughing and Don still hasn't stopped coughing. He swears he is going to the Dr on Wednesday afternoon himself if he hasn't gotten better by then. Dare I say it aloud, but I am thankful the bug has passed me by so far. It is nasty nasty. It has definitely overstayed it's welcome and I am hoping we can kick it to the curb soon.

Guess who..

Jaxon went P.U. on the potty! He was so excited when he was done that we called Dadoo and Nana to tell them and he would just yell his accomplishment out on the phone! Little marshmellows were his reward and both brothers felt the need to try after seeing Jax get so much praise.

Good job, Jaxon! Mommy is so proud of you!