Art

I like to let the kids paint and do fun crafts. but then we end up with all kinds of junk that they have made. Isaac painted these animals about a year ago, and has had them on his book shelf since. We decided to take a picture of them so that he could remember them forever, and then we threw them away! Yay.

Isaac is a funny kid and is obsessed with rainbows. He likes to rainbow write and color/paint everything in rainbow colors. Just last week he informed us that he would like a rainbow colored car.

Three's a Crowd

I guess we are going to need a bigger chair.

Roman and Isaac like to sit in the big recliner together. Recently Aaron has decided he wants to sit with his big brothers. Actually, he wants to do everything with his big brothers.

Never mind the horrible blue and red mouths. They had just had their ring pops from Easter.

Independent Baby

Ugh, the pics aren't rotating :P Grr.


Anyway. Just last month, Aaron decided that he wanted to start feeding himself. It wasn't pretty, but I was excited about the prospect of very soon not having to feed any one else, and being able to eat my own dinner for the first time in years!

The last picture, in the white shirt is actually the first picture chronologically. It's my favorite, too. He is eating applesauce, and actually has it in his hair!

The middle picture he decided that he also

wanted to drink out of a regular cup. That

goal is still a ways off, but yes, the red did come out of his shirt.

The first picture, actually the most recent one, is of my baby sitting at the table like a big boy. He decided that he wanted to eat at the table, even though he could barely see over it. You may not be able to tell, but he is getting much better at getting the food in his mouth. And I have gotten much smarter, and started taking his shirt off when he eats :)

And even when he does make a mess, he will ask for a nah-kin and clean it up himself :)

I love my little man. (But I do hope we survive these terrible twos, which started right on schedule at 19 months!!!)

Disneyland Surprise

I talked Ben into going to Disneyland with our friends, the Sharps. The Sharps were going with their cousins who were visiting, so I knew we wouldn't hang out together the whole day, but I used it as an excuse to get Ben to agree :)

We didn't tell the boys that we were going, because I didn't want to hear them ask EVERY day if we were going. I was going to tell them the night before, but then I thought that they might not be able to get a good sleep, being too excited. So I decided to just keep it a surprise.

The day before we were going to go, my grandma called, as she often does. She just likes to check on us and see when I'll be bringing the kids by for a visit. My grandparents will be 80 this year, and they are so amazing. They still take the kids for over nights, and to fun places. I had a crazy idea, and asked her if she would take the baby over night and keep him while we were at Disneyland. He doesn't enjoy it as much as the boys, and he does slow us down a bit. She said yes, and that she would love to.

So Monday night, I took the boys over to grandma's to visit, and left the baby. That made me wonder if the boys would catch on. I mean, why would the baby spend the night by himself? I just told Isaac that maybe he and I could do something fun tomorrow while Roman was at school.

We got home, ate dinner, and took baths. I told the boys to pick out cute shirts for "Cute Shirt Day" the following day. Funny thing is, they both picked out Disney character shirts!

As hard as I tried, they still got to bed a little late. But at least they didn't have the anticipation of a day at Disneyland to keep them up all night :)

The next morning I woke up early, made muffins for breakfast and packed lunches and snacks. (One of the conditions of going to Disneyland was that we couldn't spend money... well aside from gas and parking).

Max and his cousins came over at about 6 am and loaded into the van. Ben and I hurried and woke and dressed the boys. We finally told them that

we were going to Disneyland with the Sharps. As we were leaving, I asked if that was a good surprise, and they said "no". They said it wasn't a surprise. I said "Did you know you were going to Disneyland when you went to sleep last night?" They said "no". But I think that because we didn't jump out and scare them by yelling "Surprise!!" that it wasn't a surprise :)

The day was great. We went on most everything that the kids wanted, and Roman even tried Thunder Mountain. He didn't like it, but I'm glad he tried it :)

For Christmas two years ago, Dana had gotten Isaac a kids size camel pack back pack. It got packed in a random box when we moved, but I finally dug it out for Disneyland. He looked so cute in it, and liked having his own water all day long. He did share, but he was the boss of it :)

We finally caught up with the Sharps after 6 and went on a few last rides together. He started heading to the cars a little after 8. The boys were all tired and falling apart. I had brought a stroller, which was empty most of the day, but came in handy for that last walk. Roman was so tired that he fell asleep in the piggy back position on Ben's back.

When I realized that we wouldn't be home until late, I called my mom to pick up the baby and take him home to sleep in his own bed. Then she snoozed on the couch until we got home just after ten.

Dreams Do Come True!

Last December, Ben was doing yard work in the front, with the 3 boys running all around him. A guy came over and asked if Ben knew anything about the house next door that was for rent. Ben didn't know anything about it or the Open House that was supposed to be going on. The guy, Walter, noticed the (pathetic) food storage in our garage and the young dad with 3 small boys close in age, and asked Ben if we were Mormon. Well, yes we are :) Turns out that Walter is also a member, and he was house hunting for his family that was still in AZ. His family which consists of 3 BOYS! They chatted a bit, about what, I don't know, Ben is not good with details, and then I guess someone showed up so that Walter could look at the house.

I had been running errands or doing something for RS. So when I got home and Ben told me the story, I pressed for more info. Did you tell him how much we love the ward? how much we love the school? how great the neighborhood is? No.

The next Sunday we rushed to the first open pew and sat down as the meeting started. The guy in front of us turned around to Ben, and said that they had signed the lease and would be our new neighbors. After Sacrament, Walt introduced himself and showed me pics on his phone of his three boys. Max, 8, Ian, 6and Van, 3.

As the holidays came and went, I was excited to meet Walt's wife and kids... but then I started to worry. What if she didn't like me?!? Walt had mentioned in Sunday School that LeaAnn came from a family with ELEVEN kids, and they all love each other and get a long great. I started thinking she was "one of those". The perfect mom who holds it together and does it all with a smile.

The Sharps moved in over New Years and we invited them to the park that Saturday. Max was sick, so Walt stayed home with him, and LeaAnn took the other two to the park. It was great. The boys played together, and LeaAnn and I had a lot in common. Right away, we had sucked her into our babysitting co-op and dinner swap group.

I love having them next door, and am trying to convince them to buy that house!! LeaAnn and I have started working out together and are making plans on how to keep our kids busy this summer so that they don't drive us crazy :) Not to mention the times we invaded to use their bathroom when ours were out of commission!

Everyone should have a friend living right next door :)

The Simple Things

I just got back from a walk with two of the cutest boys in the entire world. We had gone next door for some eggs, and noticed the day was just too beautiful to stay inside. So I asked Isaac if he wanted to go for a walk.

A few houses down, he decided to start reading the numbers off the curbs. He has been practicing his numbers a lot lately. He likes to read the 1-800 numbers off the tv during my day time shows. As he was reading, the baby would point at the side walk and try to say something really important too. At one point, Isaac asked what the blue dots on the road were for, and pointed to them. The baby pointed across the street and squinted as if he was looking at something new and exciting. Later Isaac adjusted his strap on his shoe, so the baby stopped in his tracks, got a concerned look on his face, bent down and patted his strap on his shoe. Hilarious.

I'm so grateful that I am able to stay home with my boys and enjoy the simple things that make me smile. I love them all and couldn't imagine life with out them.