FIVE!!!!!

 I can't believe that my big boy is actually five years old!  

I know this is a couple weeks late, but I wanted to share some of the silly things that this silly boy says that keeps me laughing.  

 

 (Heading home from the hospital)

 "I want to be green.  Like a green man."

"These petunias (dandelions) are about to hatch!" (bloom?)

"I love the Valentines of my head."

"Our new house will be across the water on the glove." (Globe?)

"God said: Don't sneak in the bathroom.  That's what he said."

"My teacher lives somewhere."

 (One year old)

He calls pepperoni pizza "Macaroni Cheese Pizza."

"I need to mix the colors to make it more polite."

"Mama, are you growing down?"

When I showed H the hospital where he was born, he asked "Do you need to go to the hospital and lay down?"

 (Two years old)

When we started his sight words, we got to "on." He said "Aaah, Nnnn.  O. N.  Spells SKATE!"

"Tis the season to be Charlie." 

(Tis the season to be jolly.  (From Jingle Bells))

"When I eat peaches they go into my tummy and it turns them into hot chocolate.  And then they make rainbows!"

"I had a good day today, but I can't remember if I got mad or not."

 (Three years old)

"I love my elbows"

"You know how I can make my things bigger?  I can make my eyes really big!"

Me: "H, you ate your salad very well."

H: "I know, I'm very brave."

"I'd be really made if someone putched (punched) me in the face."

"I know glitter, it smarkles!"

"If you poop on someone, it would not be nice." 

(Four years old)

C: "Who boke dis?" (Who broke this?)

H:  "Maybe Big Foot."

"I know the flag of kamerika."  (America)

"Mama, put your lid on.  It's cold outside!" (The hood on my jacket.)

"I'm bored of this supper."

(Five years old)

Me:  "Some things dig for bones."

H:  "Like dogs?"

"Archaeologists dig for bones too."

"Are them dogs too?"

"No, they are people who study bones."

"And then do they eat them?"

"It's straight behead!" (straight ahead)

"do you want to be a brick for Halloween?"

"Wake me up when it's Spring."

 There are so many more funny things he says that I could add, but I will leave that for now. 
I do love my sweet five year old.  He is silly, he loves to make his brother laugh, he loves to snuggle and watch shows, he loves God, he is a good helper, he is curious about how things work, he loves art, he is strong willed and determined, but has a big heart and loves his family and friends.  

I love this boy and can't wait to see where he goes in his life!

Weekend Snapshots

 Some serious snack time coloring outside. 

 Working on Kiwi Crate projects outside on a beautiful afternoon.  Evelyn came and joined us for one of the projects.  They were making 'stained glass' panels.  

Doing some thumbprint art (Thank you Mary Ann!)  She gave him this awesome kit with stamp pads, markers, a pad of paper and step by step instructions.  He was able to do these ones all by himself with absolutely no help from me! I was impressed!  A snail, flower, butterfly and a red cupcake on a plate. 

 Lunchables on the porch with Evelyn.

 Glow sticks and bubbles in the bath.  Happy boys! 

We finished the weekend off with a little after bath pajama ride in the bike trailer.  I think we all really enjoyed the weekend!  I'm ready for another!

Another visit to Black Bayou

On Saturday morning, H requested that we go to the "docks with all the signs."  It took me a second, but I figured out that he meant that he wanted to go to Black Bayou.  So, away we went!  I feel like I do a new post about it every time we go, but each time it is just such a special experience.  

We always send a silly selfie or picture to SweetHart when we go.  She loves it there as much as we do, if not more!

 Looking out over the water.   Love these two!  

They were very enthralled with a dead fish floating in the water.  C kept saying "fish won't bite me."  He's so nervous of these unknown creatures!  I guess its just typical boy to be interested in something dead.   Oh well!

We also always have to check out the bird viewing place, even though there are never any birds to view.

C instructed me to take a picture of him.

There is one little mud/dirt spot that always has some tracks in it.  We have to check it out.  H always says they are fox prints.  I'm thinking raccoon?

 Every visit ends in a few minutes rocking on the porch.  

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Mardi Gras

 At the mall, they had a children's parade.  So we had to go!  I found some Mardi Gras shirts that I had made the boys two years ago, and although a little snug, they still fit!  

 Brothers!  Half loving on C, half using him as an armrest.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

They were both enjoying getting beads and candy from the paraders.  C was a little nervous of the costumes, but did okay, even better when he saw his teacher from church.  It was all over for him when the big Chik-fil-a cow came by.  Huge cow costume!!!  He started crying, and trying to climb up me to get away.  Poor guy!  After the cow left, he kept looking around for him and telling me "Cow go outside and be cold.  Cow go away!"

After the parade, we saw some friends, ate lunch and rode the merry go round.  C was still a little shocked from seeing the cow, so he just sat on the bench with me.  Fun morning!

FIVE!!!!!!

 I cannot believe that H is five (5 5 5 5 5!!!!)  I can't fathom how five years in this sweet boys life have gone so quickly.  They have been some of the hardest but most rewarding years of my life, and I hope that he has had a great beginning to his little life! 

Because he goes to school about 20 minutes away from where we live, we decided to have his "party" at school.  He requested cupcakes with green "sparkles" (sprinkles) on it, Cheetos and grapes.  We brought snacks, favors for everyone, and I gave a little music lesson/activity (H wanted us to bring our basket of instruments, so we did and I gave a little lesson, the kids loved it.) H was so happy to share with his classmates, show his instruments, and pass out favor bags.  It happened to be on our last snow day that week, so it was good timing for me!

 On his actual birthday, we sang Happy Birthday and lit a candle at every meal.  He loved it every time.  After each time, C would say "its my birthday too!" 

H also said several times that day: "because it's my birthday, I want to...." For the most part, we would do whatever it was he wanted!

He got a new bike (it's time to phase out the balance bike.  He has the balancing part down pat, but the pedaling is a whole new concept that is going to take some time.), a small catapult building set, a new DVD, and a couple of other little things.

 We had a very small family party for him at Yellow Park.  He requested the same thing again!  Cupcakes with green sparkles, Cheetos and fruit.  

 Such a nice, peaceful little party at a place the boys love!  After singing Happy Birthday yet again, and eating our snacks, there was plenty of time to play!

Playing catch with PawPaw

 We did some swinging, exploring, climbing, sliding, digging, and more!

I think it is safe to say that H had a good birthday!

Valentines Day

 What a fun holiday Valentines Day was this year!

The boys were excited making Valentines for their classmates and special ones for friends and family.  H brought Valentines to his buddies that had a cute little Valentines ruler and a Valentine that said "You Rule."  C brought stickers and a Valentine that said "Stuck on you."  They were happy to receive Valentines from their classmates, candy, stickers and more! According to C, all of his Valentines were from "My Chesska" (Miss Jessica, his teacher). 

They were also able to go choose a beanie baby and balloon from the office for the day.

 Pink suckers!

 A cute book with sight words that SweetHart sent him.

 Happy Valentines Day!

 We made ILY hands for friends and family.  

The boys painted paper, and then I cut their hands out.  

 We made the painting last year, at a time that I needed a visual reminder of what Love IS, not what it wasn't.  I used the Silhouette to cut out the words and the boys finger-painted over it.  This year after we moved, I added the words from 1Cor. 13 on the wall.  This is one of my favorite decorations in the house!

Love bugs!

These were the funnest to make, and a perfect craft/activity for a two and four year old! 

Can you tell who made what?

Weather!

I still can't quite grasp how we can go from a beautiful day like this:

(They drew "The Big Furry Friend"

To this!  Rain/sleet/hail and freezing temperatures led to ice everywhere!!!

 I sent the boys out with hammers to whack away at the ice.  There was a good half inch to an inch of ice on the roof, my car, the ground...

They did some slipping and sliding and loved it!

 C kept trying to eat the icicles or ice chunks.  Not sure how healthy that is, but he must have liked it. 

 Slip-sliding and playing hide and seek around the V tree.  The boys must have had frozen fingers under their gloves, but nobody was complaining.  I did have them bundled up with two pairs of socks, and two jackets.

 H loved finding the biggest chunks of ice that he could and smashing them to pieces on the ground.  "Hi-ya!"  He also made it his mission to get all of the icicles and as much of the ice as he could off of the car.  

 The next morning, with the sun shining through the ice coating on everything was so beautiful!

Chuck E Cheese

H has been seeing the commercials on TV for Chuck E. Cheese and has been asking to go.  

One of his buddies from school had a birthday party there and H was so excited!  All of the games, the novelty of putting tokens in and getting tickets, was all too wonderful!

Sorry for the blurry photo, but he never stopped moving!  He liked all of the games, the ball games that were way too old for him, the car rides, the arcade style games, he thought they all were great!

Throwing balls into the hippos mouth. 

 C did NOT like Chuck E. Cheese!  He was okay with it until he saw That Mouse!  He is sort of nervous of costumes anyway, but especially if it is an adult in a huge full size costume.  He would not let me put him down the entire time, and started crying and saying "No mouse!" everytime the mouse came by.   During the show, he was trying to climb on top of my head and started sweating and shaking!  Poor guy!  I started feeling like a cruel mother to expose him to something so scary. 

 After the birthday performance by the mouse, C was able to calm down enough to eat a little cookie cake. 

H, enjoying a car ride.  C, suffering through it.  

After we got home, H immediately started asking when we can go again. And C is still (now almost two weeks later) saying "I don't like that mouse." and "Mouse go outside.  There's no mouse here!"  

What a day!

Wouldn't change a thing

Some days are so busy and intense with two little boys who are gaining independence, and figuring out who they want to be.  Two boys who have all of the sudden started to fight a little more (about EVERYTHING!!! They fight about who Tatum belongs to, who gets to sit in Mama's lap first, who gets to throw a scrap of trash away, and the list goes on.   (Any suggestions for working through this?))

But even with all of that, I wouldn't change a thing.  

I'm just a little bit more glad when everyone is finally asleep on those days! 

(The boys even tucked Tatum in with his blanket on top and his "phone." (C calls his bone his "phone)

Inclement Weather

We have had several "Inclement Weather" days over the last month. Cold, cold, days!  Although most of the time the days have turned out to be fairly nice!  Days good for visiting family and going to story time at the library.  

All of that time stuck inside because it is so cold outside has also led to two little boys (and their Mama) having to really use their imagination!

Here are some snapshots of some of the ways we filled our days on our inclement weather days. 

Helmets are necessary for high impact book reading!

 C in a "puppy doggy" costume playing with Tatum and two of his toy doggies.

 "Gargles" in the bathtub.

(We've also had glow sticks and bubbles in the tub on these cold days)

 Spider boys!

(Finally got C into the costume.  They were both supposed to be spider-man for Halloween, but C wouldn't wear it then. ) 

 We had fun playing "jail."  The tent made a good jail, except that the bandits kept escaping!

 The boys helped me with some household chores, putting silverwear and towels away.

They get thumbs up for effort!

 Super heroes charging down the hall and launching themselves onto the bed.  H runs up to me and says "I'm Super H!  What do you need?"  He is a good helper at those times.

 A trip to the grocery store.  The boys told the man that pushed the buggy out "Thank you for the train ride!"  Lunchables are perfect for a picnic inside on a cold day.

 H drew a cute picture of our little family on the chalkboard on the hallway wall.  I think we're pretty cute!  

One of our snow day favorites was night time hide and seek,  

H said it's called "Hide and Seek Duck Goose."  We have two little lanterns, then turned off all the lights in the house and I hid the lanterns.  They had sooo much fun searching for the lanterns.  H was so sweet to help C find his too.  

These boys can push my buttons (a lot!) but I do love them, and we have a lot of hilarious fun together!