Week 7 ... Eliza turned 4!

February 12: So we had a little bit of an emergency on Saturday: Lincoln got his foot stuck in the bathroom stool that we had my cousin Trevor make for us.  We love this stool because it has saved me from having to break up any more fights at brushing teeth time.  But last week it was not Lincoln's favorite place as he was contemplating having to live with it for the rest of his life.  In all seriousness, it was STUCK!  Neil was working and there really isn't any way that I could get a hold of him, so I called over to my parent's house.  I just wanted someone to help me, walk me through different ideas because whenever I would get close to pulling it out, Lincoln would scream and just loose control.  So Dad said that he would come over...well, not only Dad, but Mom (who was told to get off of the phone because of an emergency), Chelsea and Christopher all came over.  We carried Lincoln out of the bathroom so that everyone could fit around him better and we went out to the kitchen.  Mom put some lubricating oil to help it slide out.  Still, it wasn't working and Lincoln just was starting to get really scared about having this appendage on his leg.  Finally, Christopher suggested that Lincoln lay down on his back and that we maneuver the stool instead of maneuvering Lincoln.  And that was the ticket!  His leg came right out.  After that was all said and done, the boys started teasing Brendan and Eliza and asking if they wanted a turn.  They were playing along and saying sure...and Lincoln was the traumatized one and was so worried for anyone else who would have to endure what he had just endured.  Even now, Lincoln is still scared of this picture.  We may have to hide it from him for awhile.

February 13: Sunday night games at our house.  Tonight we played Blockus and had fun along with Lincoln who had taken a late nap.  It seems more and more like he is taking late naps just so he can stay up later to party with us.

February 14: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!  It would appear that Neil wasn't too excited about my Valentine's kiss....hmmm....
And can I just say CUTE about these heart raviolis that I found at Costco.  Super easy, super yummy, supper CUTE!
Usually Brendan is really anti-kissing about anything, but today he gave me a Valentine card and a kisss and when we watched Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration for Family Night tonight he confessed that he could watch 2 true love kisses a day...but only 2.  Maybe he is coming around...   :)

February 15:  My favorite part of the day was listening to Neil work with the boys to put together an office chair.  He was so cute with them and they were just really excited to be able to work with their dad.  They love our growing collection of allen wrenches.

February 16:  Middle of the day, Brendan announces:  "Mom, I need to go and make a surprise for you.  Stay out of the kitchen.  I'll be right back."  A few minutes later he ran in and handed me this flower.  How cute is this!  WOW he just really made my day!  I love it when my kids do this!

February 17: OK, I loved walking into my closet this morning.  (Sorry, I would not be caught dead showing a before picture).  Chelsea came over last night and helped me pull everything out of my closet.  I tried on clothes all night for her.  If they didn't fit or if they were just really frumpy or if I hadn't worn them in a long time...we put them aside.  I have been wanting to do this for SO long.  If the clothes were acceptable, they were put back in the closet...in a very organized fashion.  I love the way it looks and functions.  Neil got home at 1:30 am and walked in on an almost cleared bed.  He was quite impressed, but stayed out of the way until it was all done.  He warned me that just because there was room in my closet, I didn't need to go out and buy more stuff to go in there.  Thanks honey...THANKS CHELSEA!

February 18:  Blake, Madison, and Trey Bedke (our cousins) and aunt Chelsea came and played at our house all day today.  We loved it!  Brendan has been obsessed with Star Wars as of late.  He is trying to understand how Anakin turns into Darth Vader.  We have explained  that he turned bad because of bad choices.  He is still trying to make sense of it...and sense of all of the buttons on the front of Darth's costume.   He asked Chelsea today: "So did those people switch him to bad?"  And she answered, "Yes."  And he asked, "like with a button?"

February 19: HAPPY BIRTHDAY #4 ELIZA!This little girl was grinning from ear to ear ALL DAY LONG on Saturday.  We took her out to PF Changs and she loved everything about it...especially the ice cream.  We talked about all of the things that she did when she was a baby and when she was one, two, and three.  Then we asked her what she wants to do when she is four.  She told us that she wants to try ballet.  Where that came from is unbeknown to us!

Here is her birthday cake.  She wanted a Sleeping Beauty birthday cake, so I tried my best.  I worked on it on Friday night and had it ready for her when she woke up on Saturday.  She beat me out to the kitchen and then came running back into my room with her eyes wide and said, "I love it, mom!"  If that didn't make my day, the hug that followed sure did.  Eliza gives the best hugs and this one included her legs wrapped around my waist.  Loved it.  Love her!

  

Brendan got her a CTR ring for her birthday.  Before this she didn't believe that she could make good choices because she didn't have a ring.  So now that she has one, we will be holding her to the good choices part.  We love Eliza and love that she makes us all smile so much. 

My Wild Child Eliza

So I just love my sweet Eliza. She can be such a silly girl sometimes...and sometimes wild, too! This month, I entered the contest at penscrappers.com again to try and win a Bamboo Craft. Can I have your vote again? Just click on the link below to see my wild Eliza and the cute layout that I put together. If you would like, leave a comment about my layout on the site, too.

Things I want to remember and am trying to forget.

First the things I would like to remember because they make me smile:
Last Thursday I had to take Brendan to the dentist for him to get some sealants in his molars to prevent cavities.  I hadn't prepped him that well this time to go to because last time he did so well (who wouldn't if you could just lay back in a chair and stare at a movie on the ceiling?)  So I just told him the morning of the appointment that we would be going to the dentist so that the dentist could make his teeth stronger.  His response was classic!
His eyes welled up with tears and his chin started to quiver as he choked up and asked, "But mom am I never going to be able to brush my teeth at night ever again?"  I just had to chuckle as I pulled him close to me and explained that he could continue to brush his teeth and that the dentist and mom and dad would really like it if he continued brushing his teeth.
Now something Brendan has asked me to try and forget:
Last night at dinner he asked me if yelling was a bad choice or a good choice.  I asked him what he thought it was and he said a bad choice.  I agreed and then he asked me "Well then why do you and dad yell every day?"  Ouch.  It really hurts when your kids call you out on something.  So I am trying to forget how to yell.  I really need to do better and usually I do pretty good at not yelling and speaking nicely to my children, but these past couple of days-I'll admit-have been pretty bad.  No tellin' why.  I can't even figure it out, but I have lost it one too many times for a while.  So Brendan and I made a deal.  I played his little game about trying to figure out if whining was a good choice or a bad choice and he guessed it was bad.  So if he can stop whining, I can stop yelling...wish me luck.
Next up:

Now we have instituted something new at our house.  We have been trying to hold regular Cleaning Parties!  A Party?  Yup.  We get our new timer out and set it for 15 minutes.  Then one of the kids get to choose an index card out of a bowl and figure out which room we get to go to.  We then make our way into that room and clean for 15 minutes.  We actually try to beat the timer.  When that 15 minutes is up, someone else gets to choose the next card and figure out which room we are headed to and we set the timer again and clean for only 15 minutes more.  I can usually get through 3 rooms with the kids and then they are distracted, but while they stay interested, they are so much help to me!  Even Lincoln.
One day I was just trying to tidy up quickly -not having declared that it was a Cleaning Party Day-and Brendan walks into the room.   He stops, looks at what I am doing and asks, "Hey mom, are you having a Cleaning Party without us?"
Loved it!
They soon had rags in their hands and were helping out...of course we had to get the timer out, though.  I have really enjoyed being able to work along side my kids.  They sure have made it fun and I appreciate all of their help and enthusiasm.
Next let's forget again:

I really don't know how she could be comfortable in this sleeping position, but when this girl crashes, she is gone.  More and more often she is crashing at about 5pm, sleeps until 7 or 8 and then wants to be awake until 1 or 2 in the morning!  I am trying to forget about how tired I am the next day after one of these crashes hits.  I really would like some help in this department because it really drives me crazy when she does this, but she is an absolute bear if I try to keep her awake...I know, I know, how could you ever be upset with a girl as pretty and cute as this?

Sleeping during the night has started to be quite the fiasco if you ask me.  3 days ago, all 5 of us ended up in the same bed in the morning.  Neil has promised a bigger bed after school is over.  That is what I look forward to these days.  Last night was better so maybe we are getting through this spat of sleepless nights.
Next something that the kids have remembered:

Now hopefully Neil will forgive be for posting such a flattering picture of him (one of the kids took it and it was the only one on the SD card that I have right now).  Last Friday I went out with girlfriends to a high school play.  One of the young women in our ward did an awesome job with her part!  But before I left, I made dinner for my cute family and then Neil said the blessing on the food.  Well, in the prayer he prayed that I would have a good time that night, but that I wouldn't be too crazy with my friends.  Well then I poured everyone a glass of water and Neil does this crazy thing where he pulls the pitcher of water way up high and then lets it fall into the cups.  The kids love it!  So that night, I tried to do it--and spilled some water and I said that I didn't need to be with friends in order to be crazy.  All of the kids thought I was crazy, though.
Well, days have passed and with Neil working in the ER right now he cannot be home for dinner and so I try and fly solo.  I tried to liven things up again the other night by pouring the water crazy...and spilled again.  Eliza said "Mom are you being too crazy again?"
It made me think of Neil and how much I miss all of the support and help that he is and that he has a way to always make things fun and helps us to laugh.  This is something that I really need to remember.  I love my husband!  I am proud of him for going to school so that he can spend more time with us in the future.
Next.

 

Lincoln is just so cute and at such a fun age.  He takes my mirror from me every morning when I do my hair...then I have to fight with him to get it back so that I can finish my hair.  Oh well.  This past weekend my baby became my toddler.  I finally broke down and gave him a hair cut.  The first haircut is always the hardest for me to give because it makes my babies grow up instantly.  But it was sorely needed and now he is just so cute.

I think that his favorite part of the haircut was being able to touch the clippers.  I wanted him to know that they wouldn't hurt him.  For the rest of the time all he wanted to do was touch them.  :)  But now he just looks so big and old and is ready to officially enter the nursery on Sunday!  YEAH!!!

He is just so cute...almost ready for school with a haircut like this.
And that about sums this catch-up post up.  Thanks to all of those faithful friends and family for reading all the way through this monstrous post.

Eliza Eliza Eliza...I love this girl!

I was washing the pots and pans today in the sink and Eliza came over to watch me and probably help out.  I had the biggest pot soaking in the sink and went to dump out the water so that I could finish washing it.  Eliza watched me pour out all of the water and said, "Wow Mom, that was a big dump!"

I just had to laugh.

Then we moved over to the stove and started to make dinner.  She was so excited to help with anything.  Her response was always "uh, sure mama."  I secretly love how she calls me mama.  It just makes my heart melt because it is as if she came up with it on her own and she is the only one who uses that term of endearment with me. 

My favorite part of the day was when she leaned over off of the ladder and just gave me the biggest hug.  I told her that I loved her to which she replied, "I love you too."  The hug came at just the right time and I was in the worst need of a hug.  Thanks Eliza!  She just made my day today.

It's Not Christmastime Anymore

Usually it takes about 10 to 15 minutes after we turn on the Primary music and turn out the lights for everyone to be out for the night.  Once everyone is out, I am a very happy camper.  :)
But the story is different when Eliza has had a nap during the day.  She just can't settle down and doesn't ever go to sleep.  I really try to make her stay in her room even though she isn't sleeping.  I tell her that she can read or look at books IN HER ROOM.  The key is getting her to stay in her room.  Usually she does a really good job with these rules and then goes to bed a couple of hours later.
The other night she came out of the room almost crying.  Something was really upsetting her.  She explained: "Mom, it isn't Christmastime anymore...."
and then I agree and say that it isn't, but is still trying to figure out why she is so upset.
"Well, those guys are singing Christmas songs."
At the end of the first Children's Songbook CD are a handful of Christmas songs because it makes it that far into the Songbook.  She ended up stopping the CD and starting it over because I guess that she just can't bearthe thought of listening to Christmas songs during the rest of the year.

Pink and Purple are now Magenta

Eliza was constantly saying (95 times a day) that her favorite colors were pink and purple.  She loves these colors so much and wants the whole world to be on track with what her favorite colors are.  We decided that we could mix it up and teach her about the color MAGENTA.
What is really funny is that she has stumped a few people with her knowledge of MAGENTA.  We were up in Spokane a couple of weeks ago and my cousins asked her what her favorite color was.  She answered very confidently: MAGENTA.  One of my cousins looked at me and asked What color is that?
So we had Eliza respond: Pink and purple mixed together.
We were beaming parents!  I just love how she pronounces it: magenta!

Thirsty Tired and Granola

One of my favorite little games to play with the kids goes like this:
"Mom, I'm thirsty."
"OK Thirsty---" or "I love you Thirsty"
They typically get a little bit upset and correct me by stating their own name.  They really don't like the game at all, but fall for it EVERY time.  That is probably why I keep egging them on!
Last night at the dinner table Eliza said that she was tired.  Neil chimed in and said, "OK Tired, eat your dinner and then---" and then Eliza cut him off by exclaiming that she wasn't Tired, but Eliza Ann Erickson!"  (Please believe us when we say that Eliza is not one to be messed with when she is tired.  I think she gets that defective gene from both mom and dad, but oh well.)
This morning I was pouring some granola cereal over some yogurt for Brendan and I didn't know if I had given him enough granola with the amount of yogurt so I said "tell me if you need more granola" and before I could even blink an eye he replied with "My name is not Granola, it is Brendan."  I guess he had just heard "tell me if you need more, Granola."
I guess Brendan is finally catching on to our little game  :)

Let's get Disney

This morning and for quite some time now Brendan, Eliza and Lincoln have loved getting Disney.  They will spin around in circles for minutes at a time and then resolve that they are Disney enough and be done.  Then they start spinning again and again just so they can get Disney. 
I think that it was Brendan that just came up with that and no matter how many times I have tried to correct him and let him know that it is dizzy and not Disney, he can't get it straight in his head.  Eliza does everything that Brendan does and Lincoln thinks he is 4 right along with them.  I love to be able to watch my kids playing nicely together.
Absolutely love it!

Best breakfast!

So I have been really tired lately and when I woke up to a really loud somebody knocking on my door, I ran out to get it.  Lincoln had been sleeping with me...and when I turned around from getting the door, this is what I saw!.  All three of them were eating sunchips that were left out from the night before (thanks Neil) and three kids totally zoned to morning cartoons.  Now I feel like a really good parent already today!  We'll have to see how the rest of the day plays out...it is bound to be definitely good based on the balanced and nutritious breakfast we all had!

A child's prayer...at our house

I hope that this post isn't sac-religious in anyway because I just think that it is absolutely adorable how my children say prayers.  Brendan and Eliza’s prayers usually follow this general flow:  “Heavenly Father, Bless Amber on her mission.  Help Brandon and Sara to have a baby.  Bless us to be strengthly (not misspelled) and healthy.  Bless that the prophet will be our leader.  Help us to be good on the Earth.  Help us to be happy and play nicely.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”  There is usually some variance to it, other than the first sentence before and, as of late, the first two sentences.  Most of that stuff they came up with on their own.  The cutest is when Brendan helps Eliza to say it.  Priceless.

I have to add in this little tidbit of a story.  When Grandma and Grandpa Bedke were here visiting us right before Steven and Jill's wedding, we were sitting around the table and getting ready to eat and Eliza was asked to say the prayer.  Brendan didn't want to help her this time so Neil was helping her.  The prayer was a bit longer than usual because Neil was helping and Brendan decided enough was enough...he had better intervene and help Eliza end this prayer.  So after Eliza repeated what Neil had said and before Neil could add anything, Brendan jumped in and said: In the name... and waited for Eliza to repeat it.  I thought that this was just too funny and I started to laugh.  I was trying to muffle it, but then I just started shaking because I was laughing so much.  Eliza being the bright child that she is and never letting anything get past her, noticed and got this really confused and almost hurt look on her face.  I opened my eyes to peek at her because she wasn't finishing the prayer.  She was just staring at me and then of course at Grandpa, too because then he started laughing.  Then she started crying.  Neil ended the prayer.  I tried to explain that I wasn't laughing at her and that I was just laughing at the fact that Brendan had butted in because it was taking so long for him.  But there was no convincing her of that.  I tried to say another prayer with her, but I really couldn't compose myself.  I hope that Heavenly Father had a sense of humor in that moment, because I just am still giggling about it. 

I have to redeem myself now because I want everyone to know that I am trying to teach about prayer to my kids.  We pray quite frequently to help us find things that are lost.  But Brendan reminded me the other night at Family Home Evening about a special prayer that he had said back in July.  If this four year old kid can remember something as far back as 6 months ago, maybe something is sticking.  When we were in Mammoth for the family reunion Brendan lost his shoes.  They were the only pair that we had brought with us besides his Sunday pair.  We really needed to find them.  So we went looking...and looking...and couldn't find them.  Then he and I knelt down in the living room of one of the condos and said a prayer to have Heavenly Father help him find his shoes.  Right after the prayer, we went and looked in the rooms again and we were able to find his shoes.  He put them on, we said a prayer of thanks, and then he went off playing again.  Grandma later told me that he walked into their condo and Ryan asked where he had been and he told Ryan that he had been looking for his shoes and that Heavenly Father was helping him and that he had then found them.  What a great kid!

I hope that my children will always turn to their Heavenly Father again and again throughout their lives.

Oh and one more thing.  Every night Eliza will fall asleep during the song A Child's Prayer.  I think it is one of her favorites!  I know that it is one of mine.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Does your family like cookies?  Well ours sure does and I think my favorite are peanut butter ones because Neil makes them with the kids and it is just too cute the way that they work together as a TEAM!  :)  Last Sunday the kids helped Neil make cookies because our friends the Flynns were coming over and we haven't seen them in a long time.  They moved just 30 minutes away, but we haven't gotten together to play games for forever it seems! So we were happy that they were coming and Neil wanted to make cookies.  All of the kids had to help him.  I think that this was Lincoln's first time making cookies with his Dad.  Neil set Lincoln up on the counter and taught him how to turn on the mixer when it was time to mix all of the ingredients together.  That little brother is such a quick learner!  After the cookies were done mixing and the beater was up in the air, he decided to turn on the mixer again and little bits of dough went everywhere...especially all over DAD!  :)
Well the next step in making peanut butter cookies is rolling them into balls and then pressing them with a fork.  A long time ago when Brendan was just learning how to make pb cookies with his dad, Neil started making squishing sound effects when he would press the cookies with the fork.  It started a tradition and Brendan and Eliza started in with the squishes without having to be prompted at all.  Lincoln hasn't quite figured out the squishing sound or even using a fork yet.  He just wanted in on the action of squishing and this is what we got:

Good thing the stove top was not on.  We don't regularly set our children on top of the stove, but in tight quarters here we just don't have enough counter space! 

Eliza's face is the face of a very pleasant 2 year old little girl.  We love her dearly!

Brendan stole the camera and took this last picture of the cookies baking in the oven.  He then came and told us what he had done.
The cookies were very tasty and I had 5+ too many!  Thanks Neil and kids for the yummy entertainment and delicious cookies!

Pause

I am excited for this new year!  I can't believe that 2010 is here already.  Sometimes I wish that I could take just a little while and pause everything that is going on around me.  Wouldn't that be great?  The kids think that they can pause just about anything.  Today Eliza put her chips on pause so that she could come and help clean up her toys.  They have paused their playdough and even put their robots on pause.  See what the pause button on our DVR has done to my children?  Neil just asked me about 2 minutes before midnight if I could pause everything...has he become corrupted, too?  Just kidding.  What would I do if we could pause for a moment and take a look around.  I think that this is going to be my resolution for this upcoming year.  I would like to pause more often and take a look at my life and count all of the many blessings that I have.  I am happier when I can see them and I can see them more clearly when I pause for even 3 seconds each day.  :)

We got some snow today...lots of it and the kids got to go out and play with their Dad.  Lincoln didn't know what to think but Brendan loved it.  He said "Wha-hoo" every time he slid down the hill.  He is just such a boy and I love it.  Eliza just ate snow off her gloves the whole time.  She didn't like the sled at all.  Doesn't she just look so cute with her purple hat on.  Pink and purple are her favorite colors.  :)

I loved the festivities tonight.  We played Candyland and Squiggly Worms with the kids and then drank sparkling cider at 12 midnight hoosier time (9pm PST).  We figure that the 2 older kids were born there and as far as Brendan is concerned we are moving back there after Dad is done with school.  And they were super tired even at 9!  They are just so cute!

We are sad that we have to take the tree down tomorrow.  The kids don't want to take any of the Nativities down either.  This has been a good Christmas and New Year season.  Can't wait to see what next year has in store for us...Neil's graduation!!!!!! The countdown has begun!

Another update from Neil

The kids were sick for the last few weeks.  It started with Lincoln, then Eliza, then Brendan.  I think that means that I am next.  Or I guess Traci is younger than me so maybe she is next.  I actually think that I might have started it.  It is quite possible that I brought it home with me from the clinic on my clothes or something and Lincoln picked it up.  But they are all doing better now.  

Nights are still tough because all of the kids are up at different times throughout the night.  Or at least that is what Julia tells me.  HaHaHa!  No I do help with the kids.  I try to help Eliza, but she just screams and gets mad if I try to do anything with her.  I don’t know what it is, but she does not want me at night.  We are cool during the day, but nada at night.  Which is fine with me, one more reason to wake Julia up to take care of it.  But Lincoln has become more of my responsibility.  At night he does better with me, because he knows that I have no baby chow!  So the only real option for him to do with me is to sleep.  Brendan fends for himself and comes and gets in our bed all by himself.  Both kids have been wearing underwear to bed and we just do a lot of laundry.  We found that Brendan used to keep his diaper dry at night, but we just kept him in a diaper.  Then he started to always be wet and it was expensive to go through so many pull-ups.  Now that we are trying to get him to keep dry, he cannot quite get back to his dry nights.  Eliza started out staying dry at night with potty training time, but started to do the same thing and so we decided to put her in underwear too to prevent her from getting in the bad habit of staying dry during the day and wetting at night.  Her and Brendan are about the same success rate.  About 50% of the time they wake up dry.  Therefore we are doing lots of laundry, but it is saving money on pull-ups.  It is awesome to only have one kid in diapers.  Lots of money savings. 

It sure was nice to have Grandma here with the kids and then to have Grandpa and Chad come and surprise us at 3 in the morning for Lincoln's birthday!  

And we are still enjoying Traci...the kids especially!

Some funny stories from the kids:  I caught Brendan and Eliza standing on the bathroom counter with the medicine cabinet open.  When I inquired as to what they were doing, Brendan replied and said, “We are playing Sid the science kid.”  

We played a game for family night.  It was taking way too long for all of us to make it to our “happy home” at the end of the board.  I started to alter the game pieces and cards to expedite the game.  Some cards said move forward 2-5 spaces and some said move back 1-3 spaces.  I was making them all positive.  It got down to Julia and I being the only two left to finish and we each had one or two spaces left.  Brendan and Eliza had gotten really into the game and were watching intently to see who was going to reach home next.  I flipped over the card for my turn and changed the piece to say that I had done something bad and that I had to move back 32 spaces.  Brendan, in disbelief, dropped his head into his open hands and just sat there shaking his head back and forth for about 20 seconds.  It was classic.  Traci and I were almost crying.  

Lately Julia came up with a sign to signal for the kids to be reverent.  She decided the sign the letter “R” which if you don’t know is crossing the index and middle fingers.  It works really well for both kids: for Brendan because he is a pleaser and wants to do right.  It usually gets Eliza to be quiet because she stops whatever she is doing and tries to mimic Julia by making the same sign.  She struggles with it for a little and that takes her attention away from whatever distracting thing she was doing.  Apparently making that sign in ASL means “where is the bathroom?”  

Lately whenever the kids hear the front door close they will ask “did Traci leave?”  They are so paranoid that she will leave and abandon them with their boring old parents again.  A few times Julia has answered jokingly that she did leave and Brendan and Eliza will respond, “but I love her” in the sweetest, nicest voice.  When I heard that it reminded me of, “but he likes it!” 

(Contributed by Neil)

Portland temple photo shoot

Some funny stories from the kids:  When Grandma and Traci took care of the kids while we were at the Portland Temple they were walking around the grounds and Brendan said, “we need a map.”  He was also the first one to see the temple from the freeway.  Out of the blue, not with us prompting him to look for it or a temple that he has ever been to before, he hollered our, “I see the temple.”  Right as we were passing the exit we were supposed to take.  I was impressed that he recognized it on his own as the house of the Lord.  He must have good parents.

Brendan also decided to be a cheeser when Traci started to take his picture.  He just started making all of these faces on his own:  

We are so appreciative to Grandma and Traci for watching the kiddos so that we could have an enjoyable time inside the temple.  

While playing back at home, Eliza took one of the tongues from the Mr. Potato Head dolls and said “Look a pink spitter.”  She is too young to understand that tongues are used for more than just spitting, right?  I mean, you can speak different languages with them, trill them, etc.

Funny kids.  Thanks Neil for the documentation!

Some funny kiddo quotes...well, just from Brendan

Brendan’s reply when I told Lincoln to take something out of his mouth.  “Dad, he just wants to smell what it looks like.”  One night at the dinner table when Brendan and I were having a typical disagreement and making our points known, Brendan said, “Dad, stop arguing with me!”  He turned the tables on that one.  

Brendan wants really bad to be SpiderMan for Halloween.  Eliza wants to be Jesse from Toy Story 2.  We have a Yoda costume for Lincoln.  We also have a princess Leah costume if Eliza wants to wear that.  

Grandma and Traci will be here for it so that will be fun.  We will see what we can come up with.

A Tribute to Adam

Last night at dinner we drank soda. We don't drink it or have it in our house very often so our kids think it is pretty cool. Anyway Neil was explaining to me that Brendan was adamant on drinking out of the can. Eliza didn't miss a beat and said: "and I am Meaghan and mom, you are Maria. Dad you can be Dan and Lincoln will be Samuel. Curious George can be Jacob." We love our friends the Estocks! (they have a little boy Brendan's age whose name is Adam)

Books...do you just read them?

In our house we do a lot of things with books besides just reading them.  Brendan likes to lay them on the ground and build roads with them.

I thought this whole patchwork of books was really kind of clever!

Eliza has been found after long moments of silence just enjoying a good book in her room.  I love it when this happens:

Lincoln likes to eat them.  Seriously.  We have this set of 12 board books that have made it through 2 kids just fine with minimal wear and tear...expected!  But with this kid he has destroyed them and devoured them.  Covers have been torn from them and then eaten.  I just don't know why he does this.

We just love BOOKS!  We can learn so many things from good books.  One of the kids favorite places to go is to the library.  They absolutely love all of the books that we bring home.  We read them over and over and over and we love them.  Some of our favorite books have been Fancy Nancy, Cecily G and the 9 Monkeys, Are you a Horse, and Giraffe and a Half (just to name a few)