The Making of a Christmas Photo (part 2)

That is right - all of these photos for one good one! I noticed while posting these that this is also a good way to see the many expressions of Bryce!

The Making of a Christmas Photo

This is a silent hint of what it is like to get one simple picture for a Christmas card:

The Firetruck

Dennis (aka Bryce) thought he was a firetruck tonight. Paul started a fire in the fireplace. Our fireplace is gas started. Paul turned on the gas and lit the four or five holes in the pipe the gas comes out of. Bryce went up and started blowing on it. Paul says "You will never blow those out, no matter how hard you try. See, watch." He then turns and (much to his surprise) blows them out. We all start laughing at him, and then Dennis goes back to blowing at it. Paul put a log on and it started burning. Then it was Dennis continually blowing on it. I told Dennis there was a fire and we needed a firetruck(his obsession). He started spitting on the fire (apparantly HE was the firetruck). He found that when he spits on it the fire crackles, and a whole new game began!!!

New Buddies

The boys and I have a game where when I see their belly buttons I ask what they are and then, of course, I have to tickle them. Bryce was lifting his shirt earlier and I asked "What is that?" "My belly buddy." "Belly buddy?" I asked. "Yeah, belly buddy." Now he is walking around saying his belly is his buddy!!

For those of you who did not get the last post - I was referring to Dennis the Menace. Although it is not on TV anymore, I believe Bryce watches him somehow because he manages to get in as much or more trouble than Dennis the Menace ever did!! This is what I will now call him!

What Is Your Name

Because this morning was the first time Bryce ever answered the question "What is your name?" correctly, I have been asking him throughout the day. Sometimes he says "name" and sometimes he says "Bry". He would not answer me a few minutes ago so I asked him if his name was Dennis. He said "Yeah, name Dennis." I just asked him again what his name was and he said Dennis. It is really a much more fitting name than the one he has. He even has the blond hair!!!

Hey Cutie!

This morning while grocery shopping a lady said "Hi cutie" to Bryce. Bryce quietly replies "That not my name." The lady starts laughing and asked what his name is and he sweetly replies "Bry" It was really sweet.

Everytime Isaac and Bryce sees a police officer they call them police hoppers. Now they have everyone in the house calling them police hoppers.

Ruined Surprises

Paul went after work today and got one of his Christmas presents, an RC airplane. He brought it home and I took it from him and told him he could not have it until Christmas. He whined and complained, of course. Caleb came in and I told him to look at Daddy's Christmas present. He starts whispering, "I know what it is, it is a RC plane." I started laughing. I said "yes it is a plane." Caleb got mad and said "Mom, now Daddy knows what it is!" Okay, Paul was standing there, heard everything! I told Caleb that Daddy had already seen it, since he went and bought it!!

My Campe Food

Caleb wrote this story at school for Papa. "I didn't know how to spell Papa so I used Grandpa instead, but he is still Papa." So Papa, this story is for you!!

My Campe Food
by: Caleb

I Like to eat at camp with my Granpoul. we eat HotDogs and pancaks and mantin treats. The mantin treats are mantin bars. everyone loves them. we have fun. we like to eat thats are feverit.

Now for those of you who don't get that, let me write it how he read it. I like to eat at camp with my Grandpa. We eat hotdog and pancakes and mountain treats. The mountain treats are mountain bars. Everyone loves them. We have fun. We like to eat, that is our favorite.

More Party Pics

Ahoy Matey!

Well, Caleb had his birthday party on Saturday. It was a pirate theme, and turned out pretty well. We only had 3 other 7 year olds come over, but also had their siblings. Caleb was shy at first and would not come out. Then he came out and went overboard showing off! Things finally leveled off, and the kids seemed to have fun. We started with them just playing while we cooked hot dogs and hamburgers.

After we ate, we played some Pin the Patch on the Pirate. Paul drew the pirate by himself. He did a great job!

Then we ate cake. I made a strawberry yogurt cake, that Caleb asks for every year, and a Pirate Ship cake.

Then we opened presents. He got some nice presents. He got a Rock Crawling Jeep from us, some Magic Tree House books, a RC 4 wheeler, an army helicopter, Furby, some stamps and art supplies (hopefully I did not forget anything). After he opened presents they played Chicken Limbo (that was one of his presents). That was pretty interesting to see!! Then they went out and played with the RC cars, and ran around outside. We had some activities to do, but it was too wild to get to do them. They left with treasure boxes full of pirate booty (treasure).

Brag on Isaac

Yesterday when we were sitting at Caleb's school waiting on it to get out, Isaac sang his ABC's and counted to 10 by himself. For some this seems like no big deal, but if you knew what we had been through, you would understand! I am so proud of him!

Prophet Furby

Caleb got a Furby for his birthday. We had to exchange the one he actually got because apparently if Furby gets dropped he quits working (we assume that is what happened - he did not work when we got him). He had a black one which is the one he has wanted then we went and found this one. They are pretty cute, actually!

Well, the other night I told Paul I thought the batteries might need to be changed. I asked if Furby would forget everything he had learned when you change the batteries. Caleb overheard the conversation and asked "Are all of his teachings in there?" Paul and I just died laughing and said "yes, Prophet Furby carries his teachings in his batteries!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB

Today is Caleb's birthday! I have heard about this day since a year ago. He has been counting down everyday, which is good math practice (positive spin on the annoyance of hearing it everyday). He got up this morning and I kept calling him to come in so I could give him his birthday "kiss" (aka birthday spanking). Actually he gets both. He finally came in my room and stood in the doorway and sadly replied, "I changed my mind, I don't want to have a birthday." "Why not?" I asked quizzically. "Because I like being six and I don't want to be seven." Let me remind you that for the last several months if anyone calls him a 6 year old he says to call him 7, because he is close enough to 7. I thought you were supposed to be excited about your birthday until you were "older" (that is a relative term). He left very mopey this morning, I hope he snaps out of it before his party on Saturday! There will be pictures of the party posted this weekend.

Caleb and His Girlfriends

Caleb went to a friends house after church on Sunday. I guess he got tired of playing so he went to help his friends sister clean her room. She gave him some candy, I guess for helping. He came home and was sitting in a chair staring at the candy and in a daze says "I became really good friends with Jake's sister today!" SHE IS 5 YEARS OLDER!! This is also added to the 4 or 5 girlfriends he already has (at least the others are his age)!

"Of course I'd like to be the ideal mother. But I'm to busy raising children." - Bill Keane

Aunt Quack Quack

I was IMing my sister this morning. Her name is Heather, but Bryce calls her Heder. I was trying to get him to say Aunt Heather, he smiles and says Aunt Quack quack, and then starts giggling and runs off. We love you Aunt Quack Quack!!!

Land of Make Believe

Okay, maybe it is not that he is beginning to think he is a firetruck, I think he just lives in the Land of Make Believe. We went and picked up Isaac from preschool to take him to therapy. We were leaving the preschool and Bryce shouts "Oh no!" I turn around quickly thinking something terrible has happened. I asked him what the problem was and he replys with a very sad look on his face "the firetruck is broken, the firetruck is broken." After a sigh of relief I play along. "It is? What is wrong with it?" "No water!" he says looking like he is going to burst into tears. I asked him if he can fix the problem and make it work again. He smiles ear to ear and says "Yeah, I fix!" Hope there is not a fire in Make Believe any time soon!

I Firetruck

I think Bryce is really starting to believe he is a firetruck and fireman. When I ask Bryce to hold my hand when we are out, he always responds with "No, I firetruck!" or "No, I fireman!" More and more when Paul and I ask him to do something this is the response we get. I always just laugh and tell him that when he becomes a firetruck or fireman he does not have to hold my hand anymore. He usually giggles and says okay.

Jail Police

Last night on the way to church, Caleb was telling Isaac what to do if he wanted to see a police officer. I am not even sure why he was telling Isaac this, I never heard anything about a police officer being said, and I never saw one, but he likes to hear himself talk (he will tell you that) so he makes things up often.

Caleb: Isaac, do you want to see a police officer?
Isaac: Yeah!
Caleb: Okay, well all you have to do is go steal something or do something bad, but you have to make sure someone is watching you. When they see you stealing, they will call the police officer and he will take you to jail. You have to go to jail to see the jail police you know.

It almost scares me some of the conversations that child comes up with!!

Chores

The boys have chores they have to do everyday (things like cleaning their rooms, taking care of their animals, setting the table, etc.). I went into the kitchen a few minutes ago and Caleb was washing their cups from snack. He was pouring soap into the cup and then using a dish rag to clean them. He said he wanted to surprise me by doing a chore he was not told to do. Then he smiles and says "I may be small, but I can still clean good!"

Is it unfair to use that against him when he does not want to clean?

Calmness?

When Isaac started going to preschool, the first couple of weeks I did not know what to do. Bryce did not want to play with me, if I went and tried to play with him, he would collect his toys and go to the other side of the room. Boy is he making up for that in a big way!! He now does not want to play. He instead spends the whole day getting into trouble the way a 2 year old does. If I take my eyes off him for more than a few seconds there will be salt all over the table or marker all of the wall and television. If he sees me cleaning one room, he goes to another room and destroys it. Do they ever find that happy medium? I seem to run around more now than I did when Isaac was home, but there is no argueing now. I guess he figured since no other kids are around (and Mommy won't do), he will cause enough mischief for all of them!

Chief Bryce

Here is our little fireman!!

Male, Female or Email?

Caleb asked me what a card with his picture on it was for. I was explaining that the company that does the school pictures sends a card with the kids photo on it. On the back is a place to fill in their info (height, weight, birthmarks, etc.) so that if they ever end up missing, you can give the card to the police and all of the information is there. I asked Caleb "Are you a male or female?" "Email." Caleb replied. "Female?" I asked. "No, email" he said stubbornly. I am so glad he knows everything!!

Star Light, Star Bright

Caleb has started the Star light, star bright... thing last night. Last night when he did it he asked for a horse. Tonight on the way home from church this was his wish: "Wishing star, God, I wish there would be no more hurricanes." I asked if he had talked about the hurricanes at church tonight. He said no, he just thought it was a better wish than wishing for pets or toys when there were more important things to take care of.

Halloween

Well, this is the first year we have actually had an active halloween. Usually Paul is out of town and I do not want to take all the kids by myself so we dress up and hand out candy while we watch movies and eat popcorn. This year we did a lot though, and the boys loved it. We started out with Boo at the Zoo. We went with some friends and the boys really seemed to like it, although I was not to impressed!! That was last Thursday.

On Monday we went to Kidsfest. It was supposed to be outside and there was supposed to be carnival games, bouncy houses, pony rides, etc. Instead since it had not rained in over 30 days, Mother Nature decided it was time to let loose. It started pouring at about 1:30 in the afternoon, and lasted the rest of the day. They moved Kidsfest into a gym, so they were not able to do everything they had planned. I think for a last minute move, though they did a great job. Caleb and Isaac spent the night playing on the bouncy houses, until right before it was time to go and then they hit some games (which is where you get the candy!). Bryce spent quite a while dancing to Radio Disney (Scooter from Radio Disney was the DJ). When I finally got him away from that he did all of the carnival games. They all seemed to have a good time and were exhausted by the time we left.

We did not get home very late, but we had no trick or treaters all night. Last year our neighborhood was so full that the people who lived here could not get up and down the streets. This year - no one. I did not think the rain would keep people in, but it did.

You're Fired

We were out running errands last weekend, and when we were getting back in the car from somewhere, Paul forgot to fasten Isaac's seatbelt. Paul got in the drivers seat and Caleb said "Your going to get fired from being Daddy if you don't do your job and do Isaac's seatbelt." I asked Caleb if he was going to be the one to fire him and he said "no the police will!" Who knew it was that easy to get fired from being a parent?

Bad Blogger

I have failed my blogger duties. Things have been pretty crazy around here, but I am going to try to catch up here! Last week Paul had to go to Petsmart after dinner one night. When we were done Paul took me to Starbucks to get some coffee. I sat out in the car with the kids and he went in to get it. We were sitting there for a few minutes and Caleb asked why we were at Starbucks. I said Daddy was getting me coffee. He looked at me, very confused, and said "Why are you getting coffee when it is dark. You are only supposed to drink it when it is really cold and you are reading the paper and in your robe." See how our children are already so good at stereotyping!!!

Whoop Ass

We were at a sporting goods store this weekend looking at kayaks. We were in the home decor type area when Caleb found a line of products from the brand Whoop Ass. Standing in the middle of the store, Caleb keeps repeating "What is whoop ass?" Boy did we get some looks! This is one of those times that I wish Caleb was not such a good reader!!

Santa Caleb

We spent the weekend looking at kayaks for Paul. When we came home Saturday afternoon, Caleb saw Paul looking at kayaks online. He told Paul that he could ask Santa Claus to bring him a kayak. This was the conversation that took place:

"Santa can't bring me a kayak, it won't fit in his bag - besides he does not deliver to adults"

"Great, I guess I will have to get you a kayak with my wallet. I guess I shouldn't have wasted my dollar on video games."

"You can't afford a kayak. You need about a thousand one dollar bills."

"Well, when my tooth falls out I will save my money for your kayak."

My question - how much money is Caleb expecting the tooth fairy to bring him???

Air Show Pictures

Last weekend we also went to the airshow, but I never blogged it so here you go! The boys had a lot of fun. It took us an hour after we got on the air force base to get to parking. There were a lot of planes flying over us while we were in line to get in. It really kept the boys entertained! Isaac was not happy with the loud planes going over head when we were in the car. When we were out and walking he did not mind it though. I think it was just that he could not see what was making the noise when we were in the car so it was scarier.

The boys enjoyed walking through the planes. They were amazed at how big they were. They don't look that big in the sky! They loved watching the planes make designs with smoke though. Caleb's favorite part was the "rocket truck." It shot flames from behind and on top and it went up to 370 mph. The truck raced an airplane, and Caleb thought it was awesome. The truck makes a lot of smoke though! Double click on the pictures to see the planes!

Bryce's New Friend

Well, Bryce has gotten a new friend since Isaac started school. He does not know what to do without a playmate so he made one. He has always loved Bear. Sleeps with him, plays with him, carries him around. Well, now he feeds him, takes him to use the potty (Bear uses the potty), clothes him, etc. It is sad and cute all at once. This is a great friendship for me though - no fighting or screaming, and Bear is the cleanest friend I have ever met. He doesn't get food everywhere, he doesn't leave toys laying around - IT IS GREAT!!

Busy Weekend

Paul got home Saturday (who knows how long for!!!). We had a busy weekend, trying to let the boys have some fun with Daddy while they can. We went to the fair Saturday, and the boys had lots of fun!! We went and saw all of the different animals and ride some rides and ate some "fair food." The boys really enjoyed being out doing something! We took lots of pictures of course!! The boys got to hold some rabbits and ducklings - they thought that was awesome! The little
ducklings were so cute. They had a house with a slide surrounded by water.

Isaac's First Day of Preschool

Well, Isaac woke up all excited about "big boy school" this morning. He was ready to walk out the door as soon as he was dressed - he did not care if anyone else was ready. Daddy called him this morning to wish him good luck and Isaac was excited about that too. When we got there, he was not so excited. He got nervous because of all of the people that were there. I introduced him to another little boy named Kyle, that was also nervous and did not want to let go of Mom. When I would ask if I could leave, he would tell me no. Finally, I took him to his teacher and gave him a hug and kiss. When I finally got Bryce pulled away from the cars he had taken over, I turned around and Isaac had a big smile on his face and was playing with the other kids. I thought "Oh boy, no fighting!" and then reality hit...Bryce threw the fit. He wanted to stay and play too, especially since they had cars (and there happened to be a firetruck in the bunch of cars). I took him out to the car with him throwing a huge temper tantrum!! I am proud of Isaac and how well he took his first day. He is growing up too fast!

Swiper No Swiping

Isaac fell and scraped his knee last night while we were outside playing. After he got out of the bath he asked for a bandaid. He asked for a Curious George bandaid on both knees. This morning when he got up he pulled up his pajama legs to show me his bandaids. Before he knew what was going on Bryce pulled off both bandaids and ran with them. Isaac got pretty mad about his bandaids being ripped off, and Bryce, well, he just ran away laughing!

COME HOME

The boys called Daddy last night (he is still in Texas City) - they have not talked to him in a while. Bryce talked to him first and told him all about the trucks he was playing with, and about falling down an scraping his knee. Isaac talked to him and told him "I miss you all the time" and told him about starting "big boy school". Caleb gets the phone and starts talking non stop - as always!! He asked Paul to come home and go to his field trip with him. He said that after the field trip he could go back if he needed too. When he was done talking and I got the phone back Caleb whispers "I am trying to find a reason for Daddy to come home for a little while!" I thought that was so sweet!

Getting Along

Caleb has never really gotten along with Isaac, SO, it is really nice to hear the way he has been with him lately. When Caleb found out that Isaac was going to "big boy school" Caleb sat down with him and told him all about it, and how much fun it is. Isaac is starting to get nervous and he is back and forth on whether he wants to go. This morning he was not wanting to go, and Caleb says very sweetly "Isaac, listen. I have been to that type of school, and you are going to love it. You get to color all the time and play outside and all kinds of cool things. Besides, just remember that my school is right behind yours. Maybe when you are outside playing you will see me." Isaac said "okay." and is back to being excited about going. Now, I have told Isaac all of this, but I guess it is different coming from your big brother who is in school!! I was so proud of Caleb for not making it scarier for him!

Excuse Me?

Caleb was standing next to me reading my last post and he burped in my ear. I gave him "the look" and he says "what." I said "you burped what do you say?" He says "I did not burp, a bubble popped in my throat", and never did say excuse me!! Apparantly he needs to work on manners!

Slow Eater

Bryce has decided that he is going to take his time eating now. Yesterday at lunch I gave him a peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and cheeto twisters. It took him over an hour to eat one sandwich and a handful of chips. This morning for breakfast he had a poptart and a half and a small cup of strawberry/banana smoothie. It took him over an hour to eat that. I guess he has just learned to savor the taste?

Isaac starts preschool on Monday. For the past week and a half, first thing out of his mouth everyday is "do I have big boy school today." I am glad he is so excited and I hope he remains that way. He went to the dr Thursday about his delays. They did bloodwork, which came back great, and they are going to do an MRI of his brain. They are also sending him to a Developmental Clinic at the Childrens hospital. I hear from his therapist that there is usually a six month waiting list for that though.