Heard around the house

Yesterday the boys were both sick and Aric had to stay home from school.  He choose Man vs. Wild as the show to lay on the couch to watch with Taylor curled up on daddy's lap in the chair.  Bear of course at some point in the show ate a disgustingly large bug to which daddy went "eeeeeeeeewwwwww" for the boys benefit. Aric proceeded to defend Bear by saying "he has to do what he does to SURVIVE!"  Taylor was shocked by this statement and said in his most parent-like voice "That is not good behavior!"

Last Year - April 2, 2012 The treasure hunt

Okay this is one of my favorites from last year. The pictures are not all that great but the story is to good to pass up. Last April my parents went to the coast, in the spirit of the piratitude that my family adores (my daughter has a pirate flag on her wall and several pirate chests she hides things in in her room) they bought some Spanish doubloons (tourist fake ones obviously not that the kids care or know) for them. However, in the dramatic flare that follows our family through life, instead of just giving the kids each their doubloons, dad bought a small treasure chest as well and filled it with the "treasure".

My mom and I distracted the kids when my parents came home and dad made the pass off to Travis who promptly took it out side to our unplanted garden and buried it in what was supposed to be a shallow hole (more on that later) placing to large wooden staves from his bow making supply in a large X on top of the buried treasure. After discovering the X the hunt began.

After they moved the X, they used their hands to clear away the debris that was on top of the dirt.

Next came the shovels, each of the boys took turns using the shovels to dig on their expedition. (Sydney was playing the big sister and letting the boys have fun as she video taped the whole thing.) 

 

Suddenly realizing that something is wrong and this is taking forever Travis decides he better help out in the digging before everyone freezes. (Notice the hole isn't just getting deeper but wider as well.)

 

Alright now Sydney, the expert in piratitude, is called in and the little hole has grown substantially. It has now become a full scale operation.

 

Last come my favorite picture, it's the moment when Travis realizes he has no freaking idea where he buried the treasure that was supposed to have been found in a matter of minutes and is now running on an hour. Some time later the boys got bored and cold and soon Travis and my dad were digging large wholes all over our garden looking for the stupid thing. It took sometime and a few beers, but eventually it was found. Of course by then it had become a mission for fun, but it did help get a huge section of my garden tilled up and makes for a good laugh now.

Last Year - January 28, 2012

Travis was manning the camera when he captured one of our favorite pictures of the boys.  You can't see their little faces, but you can see the bond they share just by looking at them. I really can't explain it any better than that. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and Travis and I think this one is worth so much more.

The last year

So I haven't been here in a while because I have been crocheting my fingers off (okay I still have my fingers but I have been crocheting alot!!!) and that has left little to know time for anything else. I have been looking through pictures from the last year in my spare time.  Since we have been leading a pretty solitary life I thought as I go through them I would post some of the pictures of the kids up here so you can watch them play there way through the year.

Last January we went on an adventure up Mill Creek with our kids and my nephew Ezra, had a fire, roasted hot dogs and marshmellows over a fire, threw rocks in the river, and in general just had fun as we froze our butts off.

Hope you all enjoyed these, and could see how much fun the kids had, even though all of their noses are red.

He's Taylor and he is Three

Been a way for a while and can't stay long now but I just had to share the latest bit of Taylor-ism.  I had to crack up when he was playing a video game and Travis started vacuuming the floor.  Taylor yells at his father, "Hey, stop that noise I can't hear!" The role reversal in this was just to priceless not to share. 

She's Syd the kid

Today we are expecting Stormy as company. He is more family than company, you know the kind that you don't scrub everything before they show up, but just kind of pick up a bit.

After the kids got home from school I told Sydney I wanted her to pick up the front room, that included the table, the floor, the couch, the coffee tables, the piano bench etc etc and ended the long list with "So that when daddy gets home he doesn't go nuts."

Sydney replied, "He's already nuts." I said I was going to tell on her to which she replied, "I'm just stating a fact. Mr. Coffey (her teacher) says it is important to tell the facts, and even you have to admit he's a bit nutty."

I can't wait to tell Travis, she will receive the biggest "getting" in her life.

Aric-ism or motto of the day, I am not sure which!?!

Last night the boys were playing a video game together. Aric yells, "Come on Taylor we must take the castle!!!" Taylor proceeds to ask, "Why?" Aric's response: "Because we are men!!!"

Now to Travis and I there was only one response to that aside from laughing, if you don't know what it is shame on you. If you know what it is shame on you. lol

Either was "Because we are men!!!" here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRdJ9lyr9-k&feature=player_detailpage

One big SISTER and two little BROTHERS

Do you know the problem with having a girl first? Besides the obvious of just not having any idea what to do with a boy when he comes as everything about the tiny little thing is different. While a girl knows that tip toeing while you spin makes you a ballerina, a boy instantly know the noise a car makes, that mud is a boys best friend, and if you can point it it must be a gun that goes bang. That adjustment takes many moms want to pull their hair out, but somehow you think it will get easier. Well let me tell you it doesn't/ 
I'm a little surprised that I wish that my boys were a little more boy like a times, but with an older sister that they worship everything she loves the love. Yup she has put them in dresses, painted their toe nails, put clips in their hair, etc... (all without permission and with a stern talking to after) but the boys don't care because Sydney loves them.  She wants to play baby dolls, or barbies, oh course if sissy wants to do it then it must be to cool to pass up.
Why am I ranting about this? Well it could be because I am laying down with my two boys for a bit of movie time so that Sydney can have some daddy time. What movie did my two little boys pick out?????

 

That's right I'm laying here watching a Tinkerbell movie with a 6 year old and a 3 year old BOY. Sometimes I think a little Dirty Harry might not hurt them at all. ;-)

I knew she was my daughter.

So Sydney and I finished the Hunger Games book.  There was a lot of tears and laughs, but we got through it.  The next day we went ahead and watched the movie.  We got through it without as many tears, although (SPOILER -if you haven't read or watched the movie skip to next paragraph) when Rue died there was quite a bit of sobbing.

At the end of it I had to ask if she liked to book (although edited as it was) or the movie better.  She instantly said the book. She said she liked the movie, but you got so much more of the story, understood so much more of the emotions and what the characters were going through in the book.

I knew she was my daughter!!!!

She's Syd the Kid

While reading to Sydney last night we were going through a pretty tough patch about someone we cared about dieing.   Well she is sitting on the edge of my bed hugging her pillow trying not to sob as she hugs her pillow and rocks back and forth. As the roughest patch ends she goes to wipe her eyes and suddenly all I see is her feet sticking straight up off the floor and no Sydney.  She was a little closer to the edge than she thought and when she went to wipe her eyes she lost her balance and over she went. It happened so fast I didn't have time to see anything other than her legs and feet sticking straight up from the floor. Naturally as a concerned and caring mother I burst out laughing. It's okay eventually I was able to ask if she was okay, and it turns out that she was fine. Just so in shook at what had happened when I peeked over the edge of the bed and looked down at her, her little confused face only sent me into harder laughter. Ah my Sydney, there are days I wonder who's daughter she is, then at moments like this I can proudly say, she is definitely mine.

She's Syd the kid

Yesterday we had the privelegde of having the CO come over to encourage us. After just a few minutes of time with Sydney and her above average responses and vocabulary he looked at her after about the third wow and said "How old are you?" Confused a little bit by her size versus her knowlege. Travis and I chuckled a little bit used to this and just let Sydney proudly say she was 11, which brought on another wow. 

I don't mean to pat ourselves on the back or anything here, but our daughter is super smart and we are super proud of her for it!!!!!

Aric's Dual Language Program

They have re-tested Aric and it  now shows that he is above average for his age group. The tutoring sessions have paid off and he is flying through things now.  I'm so proud of him.

Jan 7th at the kingdom Hall = PROUD PARENTS

Two stories to report from our morning at the meeting. Well not mine, Carla stayed at home with me as I was not doing well at all, but Travis and the kids were there.  Travis said the boys were being absolutely golden.  So he leaned down and started to tell Taylor how proud he was of him and Taylor turned and with a stern look said "SHUSH DADDY"!  How adorable is that. 

Then after meeting Sydney got sighed up for the ministry school. 

We are so proud of are spiritual little ones.

She's Syd the Kid

Nov 17, 2011

Taylor was strumming on Sydney’s Hannah Montana guitar.  It needs new batteries so it doesn't play music anymore, but it kind of twangs from the strings moving. Sydney says to him “Your song sounds like when a bird tries to sing, but has a bad cough.”

I'm Taylor and I am TWO!

So at two years old you don't always understand things. They don't have to be highly intelligent or complicated things and most of the time they aren't. Like the other day the kids were all running around in the back yard playing Marco Polo. Taylor didn't get the game explained to him other than Sydney would yell Marco and try to find them, so when they had all run away as Sydney turned in circles he turned in circles with her. When she was done and cried out MARCO he said "I'm right here!"

I'm Taylor and I am TWO!

I think the kids sometimes forget that just because they know a game doesn't mean that Taylor does. They were involved in a big game of Marco Polo and Taylor just didn't get it. He watched for a while before walking up to Sydney and when you yelled Marco he said "But I'm right here!"

I'm Taylor and I am TWO!

So Aric and Eza had ran into Aric/Taylor's bedroom and shut the door. Taylor did not think that was fair as he didn't want to be left out, but the door was being blocked by the boys so he couldn't let himself in. After throwing himself against, kicking it with his foot, banging on it with a shoe, and all manner of yelling at them to try to get them to open the door I heard him lower his voice and saying in a very serious voice:

"You let me in right now, or I will huff and puff and blow this door down. And then you will be sorry!"

Spring Fever, Cabin Fever, or just Fun In The Sun?

Nothing brings out the crazy like a nice warm sunny day after months of the winter blues. I love that first day of reasonably warm weather that you can run around and have fun. Maybe its because it's the first day you don't have to do jumping jacks to stay warm outside, or be huddled around a fire, or maybe it's just the need to let loose, but either way ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF IT as it only happens once a year.

As you can see from the pictures below, the kids took that command seriously as they let out their winter crazies. Even Jake the dog wasn't to be left out of the craziness as is seen by the fascinating face he is making as Aric and him run for joy.

My boys and I!

 The other day I had the need to get out of my house and so made an excursion although out into the back yard which the boys just loved. Luckily Grandma Carla was ready with the camera.

 Nothing is cuter than watching them playing by themselves. I love it when you have a yard full of kids and fun, but sometime the sweetest memories come out of just catching just the two of them being "best buds" as Aric would say.

After bath time the curled themselves up in Taylor's Toy Story Bed Spread when we turned around this is what we saw of them. Again mom gets props for grabbing a camera and getting such a great shot.

A Quest for fun!

So waking up this morning I felt better than I had for a while, so I convinced Travis to take us up Milk Creek and light a fire for us to roast marsh mellows and hot dogs. We load up and head off only to end up TRYING to enjoy ourselves as Aric, Ezra and Taylor found it very cold and were not interested in waiting around for Travis to get the wet materials lit and burning. Then Aric slipped into the water (nothing serious just his feet) and while trying to warm them by the fire he fell into it, (again not serious as Travis caught him by the back of his jacket and pulled him out before he really hit so no burn) I think if we heard "I want to go home" one more time Travis was going to go postal. That being said I did get some fun pictures. Check them out: