Sunshine in the Soul

Today was Daniel's 100th day of school party (I think the actual 100th day was last week). I had fun going in to help with some of the festivities. Daniel made us some matching 100 glasses and I think we both look spectacular in them. I totally scared Caleb, at first, when I came up to him with them on. Then he kept coming back close to me giggling nervously and when I'd reach out to him he'd collapse giggling and trying to hide and get away from me.

Once we got home we decided to take advantage of the break in the clouds and rain to go outside for a picnic of sandwiches and homemade smoothies. (I love freezing leftover fruit salad for smoothies!) We played in the front yard and ate some leftover snacks from school.

While we were outside the boys noticed each time the clouds covered up the sun. They yelled to the sun to come back out. I told Daniel to smile and ask the sun nicely. Sure enough, after a big Daniel smile, it appeared. I'm not surprised, my boys' smiles make everything warmer and brighter.

We watched a jet fly through the clouds and Daniel said he wished he could go through the clouds too. I told him he could if wanted to become a pilot. He answered that he would become a Japanese pilot and shoot down all the bad guys. What a crack up! Evidently, Daniel picks up a lot from the old plane and war shows on the history channel that Nathan loves to watch! Like father like son.

Caleb played ball in the front yard, played with the phone (sorry if he pranked you), and took advantage of Daniel's extra snacks. Liam made me a "cake" with mud, using a stick to spread it on a board. Delicious!
They are such sillies. This past week Liam has been talking about Chicken Little, but he can't get the name right. It always comes out Chicken Noodle. Those little moments are sunshine in my soul.

Caleb's Dingle-hopper and Other Caleb Conundrums

It's been a while since I've watched The Little Mermaid (my boys think it's just for girls), but Caleb picked up his fork during dinner a few nights ago (with food on it still) and started combing his hair with it--just like the dingle-hopper on the Little Mermaid. Very gross, but if he could comb it just right, it would stay a long time...once the food dried. I hope he doesn't do it at every meal, but it was good for a laugh or two.

Caleb is such a character! Here are a few more pics of all he's been up to:Caleb loves to vaccuum. This is definitely something I will encourage. He throws a fit when the vaccuum gets put away!I couldn't resist...What a cute 'bum-pkin'. All of my boys have tried climbing into the dryer. Lately, Caleb climbs in when I'm changing the batches. I guess they love any space that they fit into that their parents don't. Caleb and Liam are my chefs. They fight tooth and nail to stir or add ingredients. I hope they continue their interest in this area so that I might hand off this job some day. ( A mom can dream can't she?) Caleb wants to do everything he sees his brothers do. He won't sit in a booster seat and he doesn't want his food cut up. He wants to be a full fledged big boy like his two big brothers. Caleb loves to jump. He jumps on the couch, in the bath, or even jumps up in the air and lands on his bottom on the floor--ouch. He thinks it is great. Hopefully, no permanent damage. This picture looked to me like one at a studio with a backdrop, but really Caleb was sitting on one of our black kitchen chairs. What a handsome boy!Caleb loves his brothers and his brothers' stuff. He puts on Daniel's Star Wars helmet and tries to walk around, but sometimes it tips him over. I love the little legs under the huge head. Caleb is adorable which is a good thing, because lately he's learned to throw tempertantrums (during which he likes to throw things and hit things). Yikes. I guess we'll start timeouts.

Caleb looked so cute in the new outfit that Grandma Brady got him for Christmas! He hates getting dressed or undressed--unless the bath water is running, then he can't get undressed fast enough. He still loves drumming, playing the piano, playing trains, going outside, trying on everyone's shoes, and just recently taking pictures (and erasing them) with Liam's camera. We love you Caleb!

Redecorating the Kids' Bathroom

Actually, I could have titled this post 'Avoiding Housework', because honestly, that was perhaps my biggest motivation for it. But I've wanted to tear out the nasty orangish, peeling, vanity in the kids' bathroom since we moved in (coming up on 6 years ago). Instead, I settled for sanding down and repainting it black last week. I was really happy with how it turned out, although I'd still love to replace the sink. I also added a series of baby Caleb bath pictures (framed in black). And the words Splish Splash above the series of baby Daniel and Liam bath pictures. It's not perfect, but definitely an improvement. I think I might paint the outside of the frames of Daniel and Liam's pics black to tie them in...or I might possibly catch up the laundry!

What a Zoo!

This week Liam's preschool group went to the Folsom Zoo. It is just the right size for our little ones' attention spans. They got quite a show from the tigers, bears, and "BYU cougars", (Our boys don't know cougars without the BYU prefix.) who were all out running around. Last time Liam told me that the chickens were his favorite, but this time it was the bears. And this time, I'd totally have to agree. One bear was lounging all over a great big rock. It made me sleepy just looking at him. Another was out wandering around, looking like he'd just woken up. (Or maybe this is one tired Mom just self-projecting on the animals!) It was fun to be there with Liam and the girls from his preschool class. I love finding an excuse to put the house on hold long enough to sit back and enjoy Liam's smiles and laughs. His giggles are contagious.

A little side note: Today at church the primary was a bit of a zoo. Liam has been asking if we can sing Scripture Power for the past two weeks-his new primary favorite. (Every night he comes out of his room to tell us when Scripture Power starts on his CD.) So I promised that we'd sing it today. He gets so excited. He literally jumps up, holding his scriptures. Today he was giggling along with it. He had the time of his life! That is how everyone should feel about primary. It put a huge smile on my face to hear and see him, so overjoyed by the song. I feel so lucky to be in primary with all of the kids, but especially with two of my very own.

Funny Liam: Tonight Liam saw Daniel's owie that we had put a bandaid on, but additionally, we had used tape to help it stick (on his palm). Liam kept insisting to us, "I want an owie, I want an owie!" I don't think he's a massochist, but he does like bandaids and bandages.

Two Fwunt Teef

The Tooth Fairy visited our house again this Tuesday (January 26th). Daniel explains it this way. "My one tooth got lonely for his brother that had already gone out, so he decided to come out too." That was pretty good reasoning.

The night before it came out, Daniel was sure he would need to sleep, holding his tooth pillow up to his mouth, so the tooth could jump out into it. Crazy Kid!Now both of Daniel's bottom front teeth are missing! What a cute kid. Actually, Daniel admitted he wiggled this tooth out just before reading time at school. He forgot about it until we walked home. Daniel wasn't sure what the Tooth Fairy would do if the tooth was left in his school cubby, so we didn't chance it. We drove back over to the school to get it. At this rate the Tooth Fairy might be broke very soon and might need a loan from Daniel. Last night, Daniel discovered some new teeth already beginning to grow into the gap, so it doesn't look he'll have to start gumming his food. He'll just have to enjoy the gap while it lasts. It is perfect for sticking his lollipop stick through!

Christmas Eve, Where the Wild Things Are!

One of our Christmas Eve traditions is getting new pajamas. It is a fun way to anticipate Christmas day, and makes getting ready for bed on such an exciting night fun. This year Daniel got Star Wars pjs, Liam Transformers, and Caleb dinosaur pjs complete with footies (my fav). Once we got the boys into their jammies, the excitement of Christmas set them off. They all started dancing around the living room. It looked very similar to the "Wild Rumpus" in Where the Wild Things Are. I love my Wild Things.

We also finished our month of scripture stories and pictures about Christ. It is so neat to ask the boys about the pictures in the hall and hear all ab0ut them. I'm continually amazed at how much kids pick up on, even when we don't think they're really listening.

All Aboard for the Train Expo

Anyone who has been to our house knows that my boys are train enthusiasts. So on January 2nd we decided to take the boys to the Train Expo. They were so excited. They loved looking at all of the model trains. Daniel brought his camera and had fun taking pictures of trains going through tunnels, bug trolleys, and trying to get his perfect shot of the engines. Liam had fun with a loud train whistle. Caleb just kept pointing and saying "Choo Choo Choo Choo!" They all wanted to be held up high to see everything. I was amazed at all of the train stuff. There was even a booth of train fabrics that made me want to redo the boys' room into a train station. (But now that I'm home and thinking more clearly, that may have to wait until we move to a larger house! Wouldn't a train station playroom be fun?)

Daniel and Liam each used the money they earned, shoveling snow with Grandpa Bohman, to get a new car for the train they got at Christmas. Daniel chose a little red caboose. Liam chose a passenger car. These engineers had fun.