My crazy adorable boys...

This post will be a bit of a mind dump...so sorry.

I keep jotting down little things about the boys that I want to remember, so now is the time to share.

We recently had parent teacher conferences for Dylan. It is always fun to meet with his teacher Mrs. Mohney. We really like her and I know she is a big part of the reason Dylan LOVES school. He has learned so much this year. I love that he is learning to read and write. I love his little notes that he writes to me - with his cute misspelled words. I love to listen to him read books. I can't believe the things he can read. Mrs. Mohney said that he is pleasure to have in class. He is a great example to the other kids and is at the top of the class in reading and writing. What a smartie pants!

One thing that Dylan is behind the other kids in the class on is loosing teeth. He hates that he is now the only kid in the class that hasn't lost a tooth. This picture was to show off his mouth full of teeth since he has a loose tooth and figures it will fall out any day. This was over a week ago and still no progress. He has tried asking Dad to pull it out, but the daddy dentist felt it wasn't ready quite yet. Then Dylan asked me last night if I could get some tweezers and pull it out. Haha. Not sure tweezers would do the job, but I assured him it would fall out soon enough. It just wasn't quite ready. I'm sure there will be a party when it happens. What a silly milestone!

After parent teacher conferences, we went to the library for the book fair. Dylan had been telling me all about a Dinosaur book he had seen there that he REALLY wanted to buy. (He still plans to be a Paleontologist when he grows up). He kept begging me for it so I told him we'd go look at it when we went to parent teacher conferences. We found the book, but it was around $10 so we thought about it for a while as we looked at other books. I kept trying to talk him into cheaper books, but he was in love and there was no changing his mind. I caved...but, I told him that he would have to earn it. I told him that I needed him to be my helper and do more chores than normal. He agreed and we went to pay for it. Since I was low on cash, I told the cashier I was happy they took credit cards.

As she was running the card, Dylan says to me, "Do I still have to do chores to earn the book?"

Me - "Of course! Why would that change?"

Dylan - "Well, why do I have to do chores to pay you back when you used your credit card?"

Hmmm, apparently a credit card is that fun tool I get to use instead of money. We had a good chat after we left about how credit cards work and that I still have to pay for everything I buy using a credit card, but it all just comes on one bill together that I pay one time a month. I think he understood...at least he told me he did.

He has spent so much time absorbed in this new book. He told me he needed something to mark the pages of his favorite Dinosaurs, so I cut a sticky note into strips so he could stick them to the pages. After a while he asked if he could cut a few more himself. When he was done he came to show me his book. I really think he has every page marked. I tried to explain to him that if he has every page marked, it is pretty much the same as not having any pages marked. He responded with, "But they are all so cool and I want to remember all of them!" Dad did talk him into spreading out the bookmarks rather than having them all clumped on the left so he could find the pages easier. He did that, but there are so many that he still has a huge clump of them on the left. Here's his favorite book:

He loves to watch the dinosaur documentaries on netflix and is constantly telling me about the neat things he has learned. His latest thing is to go outside and look for dinosaur bones. He needed a paint brush to brush away the dirt. I found him a small one (as seen in the picture below), but I need to go get him one similar in size to what they use in the documentaries he sees.

Dylan digging for dinosaur bones

I love Dylan's enthusiasm and his love of learning. He is such a sweetheart and a great big brother, most of the time. He and Easton fight like crazy, but they can't stand to be a part when they are separated. It could drive a mother crazy!

Easton is getting so big! He keeps up so well with Dylan and his friends that I often forget that he is still only three and I need to not expect the same of him as I do of his six year old brother. He is wearing the clothes that Dylan was wearing only a year ago. He is so tall and built like a brick!

He still has the habit of biting his fingernails. He does it even more when he is tired. A few days ago we were at the drive through at the bank. As I was waiting for the deposit to be finished, I see Easton biting his fingernails, so I tell him to stop. He does, and then so innocently says to me, "I want you to turn around." I just had to giggle since I knew the second I did he would promptly start biting his fingernails. It's a loosing battle!

Easton is always giving me big 'Easton hugs' and kisses. He is so affectionate and tells me all the time how much he loves me. Well, except for his latest fits when he tells me he hates me when he gets in trouble. A few days ago he was on the kick of saying "I don't want a mom and a dad. I only want brothers." So sad. Luckily a few minutes later he is snuggling up to me and telling me how much he loves me.

I am now in the Primary Presidency in our ward, and Easton is a sunbeam. He has the hardest time staying in his chair when I am doing sharing time right in front of him. Last Sunday as I was doing sharing time, he jumped up out of his chair, hugged my legs, and pointed his puckered up lips at me. How can you not kiss such a sweet little face back? Luckily that was all he needed and went straight back to his seat. So distracting, but oh so darling!

Yesterday Easton had his friend Jaylie over to play after preschool. I heard him say "I have to go pee" and run to the bathroom. So I walk in there to help him snap his pants up after he is done. When I walk in, he is pulling up his pants, but I hadn't heard him go pee, and the toilet lid is down. As I look at him, he has his classic smile/smirk that only shows up when he has done something that he knows he shouldn't have. So I look at his pants wondering if he had peed his pants. Nope. Then I see a sideways glance towards the garbage can. Yes...he did. He had peed in the garbage can. Why? I'm still trying to figure that one out. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the garbage was a bit out of reach, so there were little puddles all over the tile and the wall had been thoroughly sprayed. I was so mad! So while Jaylie read books in his room, he got to sit in time-out for a good long while as mom cleaned up the mess and cooled down. What is it with his crazy ideas? After our big heart to heart, he better NEVER try that one again!

Along the same lines, this morning he was 'doing his business' upstairs as I was cleaning the bathroom downstairs. All of the sudden I hear him freaking out. I couldn't figure out why he would be so upset as he is going to the bathroom. He is yelling "I want dad, not mom!" (maybe I didn't handle the last bathroom mishap so well). So Tim goes in to check it out and I wander upstairs to see what happened. Apparently he dropped his toy car in the toilet and made a mess trying to get it out. Luckily I was dismissed and dad got to handle it without me even having to see it. I'm sure that car is now cleaner that it was when it came out of the box the day we bought it! Please tell me these potty things don't come in threes!

Easton is so excited for his 4th birthday. He asks me almost daily if today is his birthday. I usually respond with, "No, not until summertime." Which he'll then respond with, "Is it summer yet?"

Last but not least is Gavin. He is growing up so fast! In the last month, his speaking has just taken off. It started with little words, but he is now saying sentences. I love it! Communication is wonderful!

One of his first "conversations" with me that surprised me at his understand went like this:

Mom: "Do you have a poopie diaper?"

Gavin: "No"

Mom: (I guess I better rephrase this) "Do you have poop on your bum?"

Gavin: "No"

Mom: "Then why do you stink?"

Gavin: "Toot!"

He was right! Mr. Stinky had just tooted and I loved that he could tell me that!

When Gavin is ready to go outside he will put his own clothes on. He tries his hardest to get his snow pants on, but he is very good at putting his beanie on and his boots. He won't let himself be left out of the fun!

He loves to help clean up by putting toys in their bins. That is usually followed by him promptly dumping them out, but I guess it is a start. He loves to peel clementine oranges by himself. One of his favorite phrases is "I will! I will!" If you try to do something for him that he wants to do himself, he starts chanting that! He loves to help empty the dishwasher which makes me move much faster to complete the job - trying to avoid him setting the clean dishes on the kitchen floor. What a helper!

Another one of his favorite phrases is "I oh ahnt do" (translation: "I don't want to!") This is said with his lips big and pursed out.

All day long, attached to every conversation I have with Gavin, he follows it up with, "Why, Mommy, Why?....Why, Mommy, Why?" in his cute little voice. I think it has become habit more than anything now. He is cute when he finally gets the answer he wants to hear and says his little "Okay".

I'm very much looking forward to daylight savings time. This little stinker has his internal alarm clock set to the early five o'clock hour. Not sure how to change it, so hopefully with the time change things will shift to the six o'clock hour!

Gavin is picking up on the habits of his older brothers. Whenever we are headed up the stairs, he will go as fast as he can as he is giggling and saying "Ah beat choo" (translation: I beat you!)

I'll often hear pounding of sorts coming from the living room or the likes - knowing it is the entertainment center or something similar being beat on rather than a drum. I'll yell in, "Boys, stop banging on that!" and I'll hear Gavin's reply, "Nah me!" (translation: It's not me!) Then the other boys pipe up, "It was Gavin!" He has learned the boys canned responses quickly!

He is finally going to nursery at church on his own. That was a long transition! He has done great now for about the last month and it is so awesome! Keep it up, Buddy!

I love to watch Gavin run! We were on the way home from meeting Dylan at the bus stop after school.

Cute brothers holding hands walking to the bus stop

I love these adorable boys of mine. They keep me running, but I feel lucky. I may have to remind myself of that at times (when I'm ready to pull my hair out), but I wouldn't have life be any other way!

January Recap

Look at this cute boy! Just after coming back from Utah, all the boys really needed haircuts! Tim was cutting Gavin's hair and I came in the room to see how things were going. He asked Gavin if he wanted mommy to finish the haircut, so I grabbed the clippers. Tim had missed a spot in the front, so I took a swipe right in front, not realizing what guard was on. It was the one for his sides, so it was WAY too short for the top. Oops. We had to give Gavin a buzz to even it out. Made for an easy haircut, but he looked so different! I guess the lesson should be to ALWAYS understand the situation before diving in.

 In January we finally got the official sign up at Tim's dental practice. It turned out really nice!

We have a lot of blurry pictures in January when the boys were really wanting to take turns taking pictures. Dylan took this pictures of me, Easton and Gavin.

The boys playing peek-a-boo on the stairs.

All in all very few pictures of January...but nothing out of the norm really happened either. Just loving our day to day life!

Happy Valentine's Day

Dylan and Easton were VERY excited for Valentine's day this year. For their class parties, they were supposed to bring Valentine's to pass out to their classes. I figured we'd go pick a cute box of them out from the store, write some names on them and be done. NOPE. I guess I should have known better. There is no way my crafty boy, Dylan, would have gone for a card he didn't get to make. So...a hunting we did go. Good thing I'd just barely joined Pinterest!

We happened across these cute Jolly Lollies and Dylan loved it. We made mustache suckers for the boys and lips suckers for the girls. We attached a little tag to them for them to write the names on. We had to make a few extra, of course, so that they could try them out too. They turned out really fun.

Today Dylan's class is also celebrating the 100th day of school. They will be having a big 100th day celebration along with their Valentine party. As part of their homework, they were supposed to make a 100th day hat - with 100 pieces of 'something' attached to it. This would help them practice counting to 100 too. Dylan chose 100 pieces of pipe cleaners, and this was the end result. Turned out fun!

Babysitters

We rarely get a babysitter, but it is sure nice to have a date night when we do! This weekend we had a successful date - especially based on our last one. I came home to a good report from Amy, and sleeping kids. Yea!


Just so I don't forget, I wanted to document a recent babysitter experience. We had planned to go to dinner with some of our friends and then play games at their house. I decided to try out a new babysitter since going through my list of girls turned out to be a list of busy girls for the weekend. No one was available. So I called a really sweet girl from our ward that lives nice and close. I was excited. She was super quiet and shy, but I figured things would be fine.


We went to dinner, which was so lovely since I wasn't having to worry about keeping kids in line! Then we stopped by the dental office to give them a little tour since they hadn't seen it with all of Tim's renovations, and then drove to their house to play games. After we had been there a few minutes, I realized I had left my phone in the car. Even though it had been a long time since a babysitter had called me when we were out, I figured I better make myself available just in case. After going to the car to get my phone, I found I had missed three calls. Oops. As I was checking to see who called, it rang again..."Home". Uh oh. So I answer and once the baby sitter responds, it sounds like she is crying. She tells me the boys aren't going to bed for her, so I tell her I'll be there in a few minutes. By now it is 8:15 and the boys are typically in bed by 7:30. When I walk in the house, all three boys are up. I thought for sure at least Gavin would be in bed. The baby sitter comes down the stairs in tears. I.FELT.HORRIBLE. I quickly got the boys to bed - after giving Dylan and Easton a lecture. Easton was clueless/careless to it all, but Dylan was heartbroken. He is always SUCH a good helper to our babysitters so I guess I should have figured out all of the details with the babysitter, but she was upset. Once the boys were in bed, she told me that it was Gavin and Easton that she was having a hard time with. Not Dylan. So, the next morning I was sure to apologize to Dylan and thank him for being the good helper that he always is with a babysitter. Luckily he is very forgiving. I felt bad...I seemed to have all sorts of that this time.


Anyway, once the boys were in bed, and the baby sitter was fine. She said she was good with staying while I went back out. After getting home from playing games, she said the boys had stayed in bed, so there were no more problems. Phew! Everyone survived, but even though she is a sweet girl, we won't be calling her again. I doubt she'd say yes anyway. Haha.

We'll chalk this up to hopefully the first AND LAST time the boys have pushed a babysitter to tears!

Girlfriends

I have such fun girlfriends! We try to get together a few times a year and I love being able to spend time with them. We got together at Emmie's house this year and had fun chatting, snacking and swapping presents. Unfortunately we were missing a few of the group. Hopefully everyone can make it next time! I love these ladies!!

Christmas Day

It's sad when you realize after the moment that you failed to capture it on film. That's basically what happened with Christmas day and our vacation to Utah that whole next week. I really have very few pictures of our Christmas festivities. Oops. Better luck next year! I guess I did catch a good portion of Christmas morning with the video camera, but I'm not good at running the video camera and our regular camera at the same time...and that's not really Tim's thing. Oh well. So here are the few shots I have:

I've been wanting to make Stocking's for our family for far too long. This was finally the year that it happened...well, mostly happened. I didn't make mind yet and now that the holidays are over I've lost the bug. Hopefully the bug will hit me again and I can finish mine up. Everyone picked their own fabric (except for Gavin). Tim's is the far left, then Dylan, Easton and Gavin.

The boys were soooo excited for Christmas. What kid isn't? I was so excited for them!

I loved watching them open their presents and they were so sweet with every one of them. They were so gracious and thankful and so adorable. Loved it!

Santa delivered and brought Easton his Captain Crunch he asked for - along with a few more surprises.

One of Dylan's presents was a tool kit. It came with a tool belt, and a bunch of real tools - none of those plastic hammers. He has loved hammering nails and trying to build stuff.

Tim agreed that it was so great to be home on Christmas morning. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. We had church that afternoon at 1:30, so we were able to play and have fun that morning. After church, I spent the majority of my time getting us ready to head to Utah the next day, but the boys played hard and had fun.

The next day we left for Utah just after the boys woke up. Our families are so great. They waited to have family parties until we were there, so it was really like Christmas lasted an extra week. I loved that! Christmas always comes and goes so fast, so it was nice to let it last a little bit longer.

Twas the night before Christmas

Christmas Eve - the boys all dressed in their PJ's they just opened

This was our very first Christmas where we were actually home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I was tired of trying to pack Christmas around just to haul it back again. It was time to start our own traditions with kids old enough to get involved in it all. Tim wasn't completely sold on the idea, but he supported me in the plan and I'm so glad he did. It turned out so great!

I was most sad about missing out on the family celebrations leading up to Christmas. I figured we might feel pretty bored or lonely on Christmas Eve. Luckily, we have made some amazing friends here and they were staying home for Christmas too. The kids get along so well and we love hanging out with them! We decided to join forces and plan a fun Christmas Eve celebration. It was so much fun preparing for it and then the night was fabulous. There were four families that all got together. We prepared a fabulous dinner of Prime Rib, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, shrimp, appetizers, salads, drinks, desserts....and I'm sure I forgot other yummy things. It was so good!

After our feast, we helped the kids act out the nativity scene. I took a video of it all, so this is the only snapshot I have. Aren't they cute?

Then the kids did a little gift exchange. They had drawn names and bought a little gift for each other. They loved it. Then they all opened their Christmas Eve pajamas - luckily all four families have that same tradition so it worked out well.

It was such a fun night. I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with other families to keep things fun and exciting. After we had all played hard, we took our tired troops home to get ready for Santa to pay us a visit. We set out a plate of goodies - homemade by our neighbors that they had dropped by. Lucky for Santa since I'm not sure what he would have had as a snack otherwise.

The boys were very tired and fell asleep quickly!

Dominos

One of the few natural smiles I've caught of Easton on camera for quite some time. He's so dang cute!

Another one of my cuties - Dylan. The boys had fun creating with Dominos.

A Visit to see Santa

After we had the boys pictures taken, we treated them to a visit to see Santa. After all, they needed to deliver their Christmas wish list.

Excuse the scanned photo again - they took this for us there at his little cabin. Gavin was not about to leave mom or dad, so dad got to be a part of the shot.

 Dylan and Gavin waiting patiently to see Santa. We're next...

 Easton and Dylan teasing each other.

Dylan asked Santa for Trio's - they are like Legos. Easton surprised us all by asking Santa for Captain Crunch.

Say Cheese

We were LONG overdue on getting updated pictures of the boys - it had been over a year. Our little town is lacking in photo studios, but we finally got them taken.

Please excuse the scanned in pictures. Dylan is great to cooperate with pictures. Easton did a good job too, but we had a very hard time coaxing a natural smile out of him. Gavin was not interested in cooperating at all. I'm shocked that we got any pictures of him. I did not want to have to go through the whole ordeal again, so we tried everything. The thing that finally worked is that Tim and I took turns sitting with a big black sheet over us while we held Gavin, but the next trick was getting his binky away from him so we could see his face. It really was nothing short of a miracle that we got a few shots of him where he actually looks really cute. What stinker! Hopefully he grows out of this super duper attachment phase soon!

Perfect for a Christmas Card...

This was the winning picture for our Christmas cards this year. A last minute thought the evening of Thanksgiving. I just had to share a few pictures of Easton's great faces. Don't you just love the NATURAL smiles?