Friday, March 31, 2006

Bad Habits

Bryce has started this horrible thing. When I am busy doing something he will open the front door and pee on the porch. He does not even walk out of the house, he stands in the doorway and pees. This morning we had some errands to run. I asked Bryce if he was ready to go. He said yes, but he needed to potty first. "Well, go potty." I told him. "In the potty?" he asked confused. "Yes in the potty!"

Where else would I want him to go potty? He is so silly!

Smart Kid

Caleb was asked this weekend what he would do if he found a magic genie bottle. After he and his Aunt discuss where they would have to go to find a magic genie bottle, Caleb thought for about 2 seconds and had his first wish.
"I would wish for a money machine."
"What would you do with it?"
"Make money and buy all the RC cars that I want."
Daddy gets in on the conversation here.
"If you give me the money machine I could get you all the RC cars you want!"
"Even a four-wheeler one?"
"You give me a money machine and I will buy you your own four - wheeler!"
Caleb got really excited. I guess he forgot about the coversation about where they would have to go to find a magic genie bottle! I don't think we got to wish 2 and 3, wish 1 was just too exciting!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Isaac got a shirt from his cousin that looks like a mechanics shirt. It is navy blue, button up. The left side says Mechanic and the right side has some badges on it. He loves this shirt. He wore it to school today and was very proud of it. When I picked him up this afternoon he said "Mommy I have badges!" I don't know where he heard badges, but it was cute. It has been really funny, because he has been wearing his new sunglasses! I will have to get some pictures of him in it and post them. It was quite a site!!

HARD HEADED BRYCE!

Bryce has been beating himself up lately. I guess he is growing or something because he has gotten really clumsy. His forehead finally healed, except for a small scar. Then last weekend he fell and hit his cheek on his toy box. He has a bruise under his eye and down. Right after he did that he fell and hit something at the corner of the same eye.

Around when he turned 2, he went through a phase where when he got mad, he would beat his head on the hardest thing he could find. He always had bruises on his forehead and it got to the point where I took him to the dr. I told the doctor that I knew there was nothing he could do, other than put him in a helmet, but that I wanted it put in his chart that he is doing this so that if anyone tried to call Child Protective Services, it was reported. The dr said he would put it in there, but that he would never let anyone take the kids because he knows I wouldn't hurt them. That is about the only good thing about seeing the dr as often as we do!! He knows us well!

The point of that story is...I think maybe I need to talk to the dr again!! I don't know what I am going to do with that boy. This all just proofs how hard headed he is!! Just like his DADDY!

Report Card Time

Caleb came home with his report card yesterday. He is so hard on himself! His lowest grade was a 95. He apologized to me for not making a 100. I told him it was okay and that as long as he did his best that was all I wanted. He said he was sorry anyway and that next time he would try to make a 200. I explained that 100 was the highest grade. I then pointed out that he did make a 100 in Spelling. I don't know why he thinks he has to be perfect at everything, but that is the way he is, I guess.

Saturday, March 25, 2006

It's 9 e'clock Somewhere

When you ask Bryce what time it is, he gives the same answer everytime. "Bryce what time is it?" "9 e'clock." It has been 9 e'clock, all day for the last several days!

Friday, March 24, 2006

"There Is Blood On My Leg"

Bryce has entered the "band-aid"phase. He is constantly walking around saying he needs a bandaid because his leg is bleeding. IT IS A VEIN! Everyday we have to explain and he just does not get it!

Monday, March 20, 2006

I am in the kitchen listening to the three boys play hide and seek.
"1,3,4 ready or not here I come" with his hands covering his face - but not his eyes, Bryce counts while his brothers hide. He finds them and we start over "1,2,3,4,5 ready or not here I come." Of course he watched where they hid, so he knows right where to go.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 here I come." It is Isaac's turn to count. He giggles wildly as he searches for his brothers, who scare him when he accidently finds them.

"1 blah blah blah, 20. Ready or not here I come." Caleb's turn, but he flys through the numbers so fast that you can't understand what he says.

Isaac has taken to a new method. He counts while walking around the house watching his brothers hide.

It is funny becasue they never count to the same number. Sometimes it is 5, sometimes it is 8, sometimes 14, etc. I love the rules children make for their games!!

HELP?

Caleb just asked me what April Fool's was. I told him it was a day where people play jokes on each other. He said he was only allowed to tell jokes outside before school. I said well, but, on this day people play pranks on each other (yeah my foot tasted good!!). Luckily, he did not push that any further! He started telling me jokes instead. I have all the pranks that were played on me and that I played on my family that I wanted to tell him, but I don't think he needs the encouragement!!

Why are clown fish smart?
Because they swim in schools!

What do you call a rabbit that tells jokes?
A funny bunny!

What did the zero say to the eight?
Nice belt

And his personal favorite:
What do ducks eat for lunch?
Soup and quakers

"And for a funnier joke -
What do ducks eat for lunch?
soup and quaker crackers!" from Caleb

Funny!!

Caleb believes he only needs to shower on Sundays. When he gets up in the morning and we tell him to get in the shower, he always says "It is not Sunday!" You would think that after all of this time, he would quit making this arguement, but if you know Caleb, you know he ALWAYS has to argue, even when he knows he is wrong!!

I made a cake last night. I was sticking a toothpick in the cake to see if it was done, and Bryce was walking into the kitchen and saw me. He yells "NO!" I asked what was wrong. "You ruining cake! You put holes in it."

Then we were all back in our bedroom. I heard Bryce in the kitchen getting into some candy and called him back to where we all were. He came running to the bedroom with his hands folded in front of him saying "I being have, I being have, I being have!" over and over. I am not sure who he was trying to convince more - us or him!

Then he fell and bit his tongue. He bit is BAD - lots of blood! We had a washcloth on it for a while. He kept looking at the blood and finally said, "Mommy, I need a bandaid!"

Our Weekend - Sunday

We got up Sunday morning and I made breakfast - bacon (sprinkled with pepper and brown sugar and baked) and eggs. Then I started cleaning house. Caleb came up and asked if he could help me - WOW, have to take advantage of that! We all spent the morning working hard and got the house cleaned up. When we got done cleaning, we ate lunch and then laid down for some naps!

When we got up from naps, Caleb started playing on his Nintendo, and Isaac on the computer. I was expecting to have to sit with Isaac and do everything for him (that is how he normally "plays" on the computer). Instead, I got the game on and went to take care of something. When I came back, he was playing the game by himself. We have never been able to get him to understand how to use the mouse, no matter how much we explained it, he just did not have the motor skills. This just shows how far he has come in the last 6 months. We found a kids keyboard and mouse online that is smaller for little hands. We looked to see if we could find this one that looked really good on ebay - and we did. Where we had originally seen it is was about $23 for each (keyboard and mouse). We found them on ebay - brand new - starting at $4.99 for them together. I love ebay!!! So we bid on it, but we have to wait 6 days to see if we win!!

Paul came home from his camping trip at about 3:30 or so. He said he had a great time, the rain pretty much held off until they were sleeping. They hung huge tarps over camp, so it stayed pretty dry. He sayed as soon as he left Friday, he felt really bad leaving me home with the kids (didn't bring him home though!!:))!

After he got cleaned up and got the SMELL of camping for 3 days off, we went grocery shopping. We got the boys each a package of Pop Rocks candy (I think that is what it is called). When we got home and got groceries put away I poured some in Bryce's mouth. He did not know what to do! He was quite surprised when his mouth started popping.

All in all we had a pretty good weekend. Now lets see how spring break fares!!

Our Weekend - Saturday

Saturday we spent a couple of hours doing soccer. This was not fun because it was cold and damp - like I already posted - and Bryce has bronchitis and did not want to leave on a hat or sit in my lap under a blanket. So, I spend the entire time fighting him, and not much time watching the game.

I did see Caleb almost make a goal, but the ball bounced off the goalies stomach. Because of his shot though, a teammate made a goal (so he at least had an assist)! I am not to impressed with his team this season. His coach has never coached before and does not know anything about the game. She went to sign up her nephew and they told her he could play if she coached (that is what she says). Her idea of coaching is saying variations of "good job" over and over. While I think positive encouagement is important, I believe teaching the game is also important. Caleb is very discouraged because everything has changed this season. They are on a bigger field, they have refs, and they actually have rules. Caleb is used to getting to just run up and down the field, and he says it is hard on the big field.

We came home from the last game and took naps, and we were just lazy the rest of the day - watching movies, playing games, etc. We had the perfect nasty weather for that!!

Saturday, March 18, 2006

The last Saturday before Spring and it is COLD! Our high is - well we will be lucky if we hit 50 degrees. Of course we have soccer today - rain or shine. We had soccer this morning for Isaac. It was cold, but he did good. I took my camera, but unfortunately the batteries were dead in it, so I got no pictures.

Caleb plays this afternoon. He is not acting very good today, so we will see how things go!

Paul is out camping, probably freezing to death. He HATES cold weather. He would rather it be 110 outside than 75. He is crazy - 75-80 is pretty perfect!! He is out, though, playing in the woods, caves, etc, probably in the rain. I hope you are having fun!!

Blog Problems

This is a test post. For four days now I have been having problems with my blog, along with lots of other bloggers apparantly! Hopefully all can read this and all is working again.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Boys and Their Toys

Sadly, I think the older they get, the worse it gets. This is about my oldest, Paul (aka my husband). Paul is going camping this weekend with some friends. I agreed to this before finding out that he was going to spend most of this week out of town for work, but knowing that Spring Break starts for the kids.

So his trip for work was supposed to be Tuesday-Thursday, but he got home about 11 last night instead. He went to work today after having breakfast with us. At lunch, Bryce and I went in and went to the sport store to find a chair to take with him. When I was leaving after lunch I asked Paul if he would be home before soccer started. He said probably not, because he had some long meeting this afternoon. I said okay, just come to the soccer field and get Caleb and Bryce on your way home.

I talked to him at about 4:50 this afternoon, right before I left for soccer. When we were hanging up, I reminded him to come get the boys. He said okay and hung up. Little did I know, he was leaving to go to another sport store with one of the guys he is going with this weekend - but this store is the opposite direction from home!

At about 5:45, I started getting a little irritated because he had not shown up at the soccer field. I was getting more and more frustrated when finally at 6:20, he shows up. He came up, grinning, because he knew he was in trouble. I asked where he had been and he said it was a long story. Here it is:

Bill talked me into going to Gander Mountain with him. We left in plenty of time to be here by 5:30. On the way home though, I ran out of gas on the side of the interstate. Basically, I had to sit on the side of the road until a guy in a Jeep pulled over and asked if I needed help. He took me to get gas and brought me back to my Jeep. (Luckily the Jeepers are a tight knit community!!)

I asked him why, if he was done early, he did not come home so I did not have to take all of the kids. He says he did not lie about going because I did not specifically ask if he was going - like I am supposed to know to ask that. Isn't that still a lie of omission? And isn't a lie a lie?

I say that is what he gets!! If I am nice enough to let him go out for a weekend when our weekends are so crazy with all of the kids activities, then he could have helped me out! Dishonesty has its consequences - and apparantly his consequence today was being stuck on the side of the interstate during rush hour!

I had to post this, because the last thing he said to me this morning was "I have to get gas, I am completely empty." If I were to ever run out of gas, I would never hear the end of it from him! That road goes two ways!!

I love you sweetie!!! Have fun this weekend - I am sure it will be a weekend I never let you forget!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

TALK

Bryce and his "girlfriend" were asking me to read "The Backyardigans" book this evening. I got the book and sat on the couch with them, but they would not stop talking. Since they were ignoring me, I just started moving my lips and flipping the pages acting like I was reading. Bryce watched me, confused, for a few minutes. Then he stood on the couch, put one hand on each cheek and turned my face to him. In the most serious tone he looked me in the eyes and said "talk." I tried to keep a serious face and continued moving my lips. It then turned into a game. The whole time though, Annalise (his girlfriend - they have a love/hate relationship!!) was staring at me and moving her lips like I was.

I am not sure who entertained who more. I think the two two year olds may have been the most exhausting entertainment!!!!

Saturday, March 11, 2006

By the way...

I was not complaining about the weather - it is GREAT!!

Cute

It is easy to forget in the middle of March to take sunscreen when you go out to play. Of course, we are not used to it being 87 degrees (that was at noon) in the middle of March either. So, when you spend the morning watching soccer and the rest of the day at the park, you tend to get sunburned (we all got sunburned - except Caleb).

When I was tucking the boys in tonight, I told Caleb goodnight as I was walking out. "Goodnight," he says back, "I hope your sunburn comes off tonight."

First Rule of Bike Riding...

NEVER RIDE CLOSE TO YOUR LITTLE BROTHERS!!! Especially when you have not been 2-wheeling it for very long and you are riding down a steep hill!!
Example of what happens when you do not follow this rule:

















We went to the park today after soccer to play golf, fly airplanes, ride bikes, etc. Caleb and Bryce disappeared and I told them to come back. Caleb was trying to "round-up" Bryce and make him go to me (I guess that is what he was doing). I heard this awful thud (and I was pretty far away). It was Bryce's head hitting the concrete sidewalk. When he stood up, he walked in circles. I went running, thinking that his head making that sound on concrete could not be good!!

I was worried for a few minutes, he was kinda acting funny and it looked like his head was dented in. He has a very slim head (there is not fat between his skin and his skull so you can see every curve in his bones) and the way it knotted up, the middle did not swell, but it did around it so it looked dented in.














Needless to say, everything seems to be fine. Mommy finished her freak out moment, Bryce finished his and all is well. Just don't let him look in a mirror. He re-freaks out everytime he does!!

Soccer Game #2





Caleb on the bench












Caleb - end of game












Isaac with the ball - YEAH!!!







Isaac taking the ball from his girlfriend
(Alyssa) - her brother and Caleb played basketball together and they always played (and she has kissed him at one of the practices!!)



















So today was game number 2. Unfortunately they both had their games at the same time!! Caleb's teaming was missing 2 players so he played just about the entire game (they only had 5 there and they play 4 at a time). When I got down to him with the camera was the one quarter he sat out. We have lots of soccer pics of him though and many more games to go. He played well, except for the few times he stopped to pick a weed (or whatever) from the field!

Isaac did really well. He finally got to kick the ball some. Paul overheard Isaac's coach talking to the other teams coach (but coach did not know Paul was there). "See that little kid, number one, out there?" asked our coach. "Yeah," says the other coach, "he is pretty good." "I know and he just turned four!"
It made me feel good when Paul told me that, because I know it is not just me being biased when I say he is good. There is nothing like a coach bragging about your child, especially when he does not even know the parents hear him.

As time consuming as it is, and even though it gets old, I REALLY enjoy the boys and their sports (shhh - don't tell anyone). It makes me proud to watch them get out there and try and see their self-esteem get boosted when they do well.

My Hero

This afternoon, Paul was in washing his face. Caleb thought he was shaving. After they talked back in forth about what Paul was doing, Caleb was walking out and said "I wish I was just like you Daddy, but I am too scared." "Why are you scared?" I asked. "Becasue he does scary stuff that is brave, but it is scary and I wish I could be like that."

AHHHHH!!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Conversation with Isaac

This conversation took place when I picked Isaac up this afternoon from school.

"Ashley's not my girlfriend"
"Why not?"
"She mad at me, she silly."
"Oh"
"I have a new girlfriend."
"What is her name."
"Gracie, but she is not my girlfriend."

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Funny

Here are some funny things the boys said this weekend - they were full of it!!

Isaac: "My britches are dirty!" (we don't call them britches we say pants.)

Caleb: "what is an mirish?" (I was wearing a shirt that said "Kiss Me I'm Irish." I guess it was not spaced out enough!!)

On the way home from the park today: "I want to go to Liquor for Less." (the boys were all trying to get us to stop for lunch). "What is liquor, Caleb?" "I don't know but I want some!!" What am I going to do with him??

Bryce: First off, he has started the "whats that?" phase. Well, he asked about a bench and I told him it was a bench. Now everytime he sees one he says "Look Mommy a bench." Unfortunately, it does not sound like bench (and fish does not sound like fish!). So, for anyone that was in Hobby Lobby Friday and heard a little kid saying "Look Mommy a bi**h!" And then heard a mother loudly announce "Yes, I see the BENCH!!" Please excuse his lack of pronunciation! It seems like everyother word out of his mouth this weekend, especially out in public, was either bench or fish!!

On the way home, Bryce was talking non-stop. Paul said playfully "I think it is time for you to hush." "Nuhuh, not me, it is Isaac's turn!!" You must know, though, that Isaac was not talking!! It was all Bryce and Caleb.

Where do they come up with this stuff????

More Weekend Photos


Already taking after Daddy - working on the Jeep.














"Let me get a closer look under here."















Isaac


















Isaac




















Isaac

















Caleb















Bryce














Bryce














Bryce



















Bryce




Bryce

Stress-Free Day


Don't feed the monkeys - no matter how much they pout!!















Daddy and Bryce going down the slide


















Pile up on the slide


















Question: How many kids are in this photo?


Answer: 4
















Caleb and Daddy














Time for a walk















My four boys!! A bunch of goofs!











We decided that we needed a stress-free fun family day today. It was a beautiful day so we decided to goSeveral playgrounds later, we decided to head out. We took lots of pictures though! to the park for the day and it was great. We took the boys Jeep, Caleb's bike, all of the airplanes, and my golf clubs. We went to a soccer field and Isaac and Bryce drove the Jeep all over the place. Daddy and Caleb flew planes and Caleb rode his bike (he is very good at the "two-wheeler" now). I spent all most the entire time hitting golf balls. After at least an hour, it started raining a little bit. We got everything loaded up and got in the car and it stopped raining. So we decided to go play on the playground for a little while. After at least an hour there, we moved to another playground.

Caleb's First Soccer Game






(of the season) This is a different type of team for Caleb. He missed last season, and a lot changed! He is on a bigger field with a referee and there are actually rules now. Unfortunately, his coach does not know anything about soccer. She was kinda forced into coaching. They have only practiced once and don't really know what they are doing yet.

The team they played against has a military seargant as a coach (or that is what it sounded like anyway!). He was running up and down the sidelines screaming at the kids the entire game! WOW! It was interesting! Enjoy the pictures!

Isaac's First Soccer Game






Well, Isaac finallygot to play his first soccer game. He was so excited and had so much fun! It is so neat to watch him out there enjoying himself! It was funny though. You can tell he is the middle child!! The entire time he was out there running up and down the field, he kept turning and watching Daddy and I. He has only had 2 practices though and he is playing with a bunch of kids that have played before! FYI: He is jersey #1. Enjoy the photos!!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Strong - Willed Child

What am I going to do with this child?? It seems as though we go through phases with Caleb and his behavior. Lately, he is in his strong-willed-will-not-budge phase. I feel like I talk to him and he hears absolutely nothing I hear. I feel like I am a broken record continuously repeating myself to him. He has quite an attitude on him, too. A lot of the problem is he knows how smart he is, so he will not listen to what anyone says. If he tells you the sky is green and you try to correct him, he will argue with you (even though he knows it is not green).

Paul keeps saying that he gets his stubborness from me - but lets be real - the boy was doomed. If only one of the kids ends up stubborn then we are lucky. Stubborness goes way back - ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FAMILY!! To be honest though, knowing this does not make things any easier now.

More Doctors

Isaac went and saw the neurologist on Monday. I was concerned with how he would react after the EEG, but he took Curious George with him, and he was brave. When we got up to neurology at the hospital, he was holding my hand and looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I not scared anymore!" It was so cute. Everything came back fine and all looks good!

Lights On, Lights Off

This morning it is partly cloudy. It is so nice out that I have all the windows open letting some fresh air in! All morning though Bryce has been talking about the lights going on and off. We sat down to eat lunch together, and I finally figured out what he was talking about. When the sun went behind the clouds he would say the light went off and when the sun came out he would say the light is on. I explained it was the sun and the sun provided light and warmth, but he is 2. We will see how much he understood at some point. The only response I got was "light on!"