Busy day of making treats and crafts

I signed the boys up to attend a holiday nature crafts event today. I had planned to drop Ted and Harry off but maybe stay with Nate for a little while. It was really busy and loud so I was glad I didn't just drop Ted and Harry off. The college students who helped at each of the tables did a great job with the kids. Nate loved all the crafts. They painted some paper for cards, made some ornaments from trees, made elves out of pine cones, and made cards using crayons and glitter. I should take pictures tomorrow of each of them with their stuff.

Afterwards, we went to Subway for lunch. Ted talked to me a bit about his friend, J, who is a girl. He said he has a crush on her and might even marry her when they're older. I asked him if she felt the same way about him but he's not sure. They promised to be best friends 'til the end, though. Ted told me that he doesn't think it's going to be hard finding a girl to marry. There's another girl that he also likes so if J moves away he might marry her. I hate to think about girls breaking his heart but I have a feeling that's going to happen in a few years. I hope he starts to understand that marriage is a bit more complicated than just finding someone before his heart is broken.

Sewing is dangerous

A few months ago, I tried washing the sheer curtain in the bathroom since it was so dusty. I thought maybe it'd be ok if I put it on gentle cycle--nope, it came out of the washer completely shredded. So, I bought some material to make a new curtain. It's supposedly washable fabric but I won't be taking that chance in a while. Anyway, I needed to sew along the top. I had put it off long enough so while I thought Bob had the boys entertained, I took out the sewing machine. I started sewing and Nate came into the dining room. He told me I was going to hurt myself. I told him that I was being careful and I'd be fine. I was almost to the end (luckily) and Nate was under the table "helping" me sew by pushing the pedal.

I guess I should have listened to him. Sewing is dangerous when your 2 yr old is still awake. :)

More Oct snow pictures

Snow in October!

He's a crafty one...

I bought marshmallows yesterday so we could make Rice Krispie treats soon. I knew I should hide them out of sight but I didn't. They were just in the pantry so Ted and Harry saw them this morning and were excited they were in there. Nate, of course, then decided he wanted them for breakfast. I told him no and put them up high. Not long after that, Nate was getting a chair for Ted so he could get the marshmallows down. That boy is just too smart.

Uh oh, he's too smart

I went to Target yesterday with Nate and when it's just the two of us I usually let him walk with me. He was, of course, trying to do his own shopping and I had to take extra things out of the cart. When we were waiting to check out, he was trying to get M&M's and Hotwheels cars. I told him those weren't on our list. He looked up at me and responded, "on my list." Ted and Harry would just get mad but accept it if I told them it wasn't on the list. I managed to get out of there without the extra stuff this time...but I guess I'm going to have to come up with a new plan.

1st week of school

Ted started 2nd grade and Harry started Kindergarten. Ted has the same teacher as last year and was excited to go back. Harry was so excited I thought he might burst. Ted went 3 days this first week and he also had soccer practice one night. Harry only went one day since they did a staggered start for Kindergarten. He also had one soccer practice and he enjoyed it. Nate gave Harry a hug and kiss before school--so sweet!

Rough start this morning

Ted and Harry both had swimming lessons this week. Ted also has baseball on Monday and Friday nights. We had storms on Monday so the game was cancelled. We had a picnic through the Fit Families program last night and so I took all 3 boys by myself since Bob had to work late. We had a great time eating free bbq, playing kickball, basketball, and with scooters. It was a busy day and we ended up getting home later than normal and so that delayed bedtime a little. Nate woke up at 4:30 this morning. When I went to get him, Ted and Harry's door was locked but they had the light on. I told them to get back to bed and turn out the light. Ted wanted to read and since I wasn't in a mood to argue with him, I told him he could read in his bed until he fell asleep. He has a flashlight for that. I got Nate and took him back to bed. He was ready for the day at 6, though. Harry had gone back to bed and slept until almost 9 I think. Ted, on the other hand, stayed up and read the whole time. While I was putting Nate down for his nap, Ted fell asleep on the couch. I was so glad he made it easy on me. I took a nap too so we could make it through the rest of the day.

I got out the slip n slide for the boys tonight since it was warmer again. The neighbor boys played on it too. They had a great time on it.

Sweet thoughts from Nate before bed

Nate has been talking more and more. He's really putting words together and expressing his thoughts. The last couple nights while getting him to sleep, he's told me something about his day. He said, "fun Daddy" and I asked if he had fun with Daddy playing cars. He said yes. He's also been talking about me wiping out on the bike last week. My front tire went off the bike path and when I tried to correct it, I went down. Nate and Harry were in the trailer so they got to watch me fall but they stayed upright at least. Nate told me, "Mommy, fall down. ground." He's mentioned it a couple nights so it must have made an impression.

Ted's daycamp experience

Ted had daycamp with Cub scouts this week. Bob and I couldn't go so Ted went all 3 days by himself. He was with his friends so he did great. I think he was more nervous when he went to the zoo field trip at school. He had a great time and seemed to enjoy the archery, softball, and BB guns. I'm hoping someone got pictures but I haven't seen any yet.

More pictures from Sunday

Nate is doing so well with the regular swings. His brothers pushed him for a bit today and he loved that he was swinging higher.

Our Sunday

It was a nice warm day today so after church we decided to get out the Slip n Slide. Harry had gotten it for his birthday. Nate didn't want to miss out so his nap got delayed a bit. Our backyard isn't very big so the boys couldn't really run much to slide on it well enough. They seemed to enjoy it anyway.

Nate insisted on having lunch outside today.

We briefly lost Nate this afternoon too. The three boys were in the backyard and I was inside taking care of a couple of things but checking on them frequently. Bob went out to get the slip n slide set up. Nate was not in the yard then so Bob thought he was in the house with me. I looked out and saw Bob, Ted, and Harry setting up the slip n slide but didn't see Nate. I went out to check on him and he wasn't in the backyard. I went to the front but couldn't see him and I was calling his name. It wasn't long before I heard his voice. He had crossed the street and was going into our neighbor's backyard. He figured out the lock on their gate yesterday (although I'm not sure if it was completely closed when he went in today). He was halfway in their yard before I caught up to him. That boy is too smart for his own good!

Trying to catch up...

It's been a long time since I've posted anything--how does the time go so quickly? We're almost done with another school year but I don't think things will slow down too much right away. Ted just finished soccer yesterday and starts baseball practice tomorrow. Harry learned how to read last week and loves to read the BOB books. He's really excited about using his new skill. Nate has learned colors and some shapes and just loves to play and run around outside all day. He has an opinion about everything.

Expect some back posts as I sort through pictures to share. ;)

Brothers snuggling

I came down the stairs to see Ted and Nate sitting on the couch together watching tv. They were happy to pose for the camera.

Ted's party

Bob and I decided we'd only have a party out somewhere for the boys every other year. Ted and Harry had their parties at Chuck E. Cheese last year so this year they each get a small party at home. Ted had 4 friends over for a party: Ben, Dan, Caden, and Alyssa. We really lucked out this year and had warmer weather than normal. We had a scavenger hunt where the kids got a picture to put together and then found that spot. They got goody bags and filled them along the way. It was nice to see all of them working together and participating. The last thing was marshmallow shooters to put together. Once they were together, we went back outside to shoot marshmallows. The kids all liked them. We had a target to shoot at instead of each other but there were still a few marshmallows aimed at other people. After that, we went back inside for cake and a snack and then Ted opened presents. Ben and Dan had to leave then so the other kids all played more in the basement. We ordered pizza and that was a little late arriving so the party lasted longer than we originally planned. The kids were having fun, though, so it worked out fine. The kids also played the Wii for a bit.

Happy 7th Birthday, Ted!

Ted had a good birthday today. It was also the 100th day of school. His 100's project was 100 Hot Wheels. He put them in a couple gallon size ziploc bags. They were really heavy but that's what he wanted to do. I can't really argue with him when he's decided on something.

I made his cake last night and really tried to mess it up. I was in a little bit of a rush, especially since I had worked during the day and couldn't do it while Nate was napping. I had a couple tubes of icing in with my cake decorating stuff. I grabbed a red tube and thought it was icing. I didn't realize it until a bunch squirted out at once that the tube was actually food coloring. Oops--time to make lemonade. I made the frosting red and then wrote in white. It worked out ok.

Ted chose Taco Del Mar for dinner.

sledding in the front yard

Today was one of those weird weather days that I love in Colorado. It's been really nice so there isn't any snow in the backyard but then there was a little left in the front. Harry and Nate and I played out back for a bit and blew bubbles. Then, we went in the front and I got Nate's new sled out. We haven't had a lot of snow this winter to use it and I'm expecting it to be gone after today. There's just enough of a slant so the boys could slide down...and then I didn't have far to walk it back up for them.

A hit this Christmas

Ted and Harry got toy razors with foaming soap and shampoo from us. Ted got Transformers and Harry got Thomas the tank engine. We went to Target yesterday and found a Cars set so we got that also so all 3 boys would have one. Nate loved sharing with Harry so he was happy to have his own tonight. Harry wanted the Cars one. Nate loves Thomas so he was happy to have that one.

They grow up so fast!

Dec. 4, 2007

Jan. 2, 2009

We had a playdate at a new play place called Bloomba this morning. We met a friend and her mom there for 1 1/2 hours. I had taken the boys on Monday afternoon this week and they all had a fun time. We had the place to ourselves for over an hour then so it was great to try it out that way. I purchased a membership for a month since that seemed like the better deal for us. Bloomba has a lot of fun toys and seems geared toward the 18 mos-5 yrs crowd so I'm sure we'll go a couple more times while Ted is at school. Ted has a great time there but I think he'll be outgrowing it soon.

After Nate's nap, we went outside for a while since it was relatively warm today. All 3 boys and I played Ring Around the Rosie and Nate loved it. He's at such a fun age for that and wanted to do it again and again. Then he wanted to swing. I'm amazed at how much he has grown in the last year. You can see the comparison between shortly after receiving the swing and today.