Mohawks and Mullets

Before

Nathan told me that Caleb was getting a mullet, but I figured that he has hyper-mullet-sensitivity. I didn't want to give Caleb his first haircut until he had enough to put in his baby book. Then last week a little girl at the park said he had a mullet so I had to act.

I don't think Caleb particularly enjoyed the haircut. He was pretty wiggley. But he did like the fruit snacks (his first whole package) I gave him as a distraction.

After

Caleb was thrilled as usual for the 'afterbath'. What a good lookin' kid. The haircut turned out pretty cute in the end. The days of mullets and mohawks are history!

Sleep Tight

I thought you might get a kick out of Liam's eclectic bedtime favorites. Yes, we live in California and the temperatures have hit near the 100 degree mark this week--And yes, Liam is wearing his winter hat and mittens. He loves them and wears them even if he is sweaty. He also has his "suitcase"--my scripture case. He loves carrying anything around that has a handle. (But for those of you who thought, "Wow, what a spiritual giant at such a young age!"--he really does like "reading" the scriptures. Yesterday in the car he took them out and turned to the pictures and read to me about the temple (he was talking about visiting Grandma's temple) and told me about all of the maps. Liam doesn't have much room in his bed to sleep because not only does he keep a big dragon and bear stuffed animal with him, but he also has a big Star Wars gunship with him. Lookin' Good Liam!

Daddy's Clones

For Father's Day I took some new pics of the boys for Nathan to put up at work. The pictures aren't perfect, but this totally unbiased mom sure thinks the boys are adorable. They are growing up so fast. Every day I look at them and wonder when they got so big.

They were so excited for Father's Day. On Saturday night we sent Nathan to the Terminator show while we made him Father's Day cookies. They got up early on Sunday to help make Daddy breakfast. Daniel and Liam made Nathan a whole stack of pictures to hang up at work. They also picked out some Hostess treats and socks (socks may sound boring but it was actually Nathan's request). Liam and I found a card that was Star Wars. It had Darth Vader on the outside and it says, "Across the centuries and the galaxies, one question has plagued mankind--'Why?' And dads have the answer...." You open it to hear Darth Vader say through heavy breathing, "I am your father." It was funny and the boys keep opening and closing the card to hear Darth Vader.

Nathan's love of Star Wars has definitely rubbed off on his boys. Actually I call them his clones. (And not just because they all got their Daddy's nice brown eyes.) The boys love to play Star Wars spaceships with Nathan. (For those who are familiar with Star Wars--sometimes we also have Clone Wars). They love to do so many things that they see Nathan doing. They love Hot Wheels and GI Joe (more of Daddy's addictions). All of them love to sing along in the car to Nathan's music. Mostly recently they ask for Weezer, and Alter Bridge. They've also liked Jason Mraz and Rascal Flatts. One evening in the car we let each of them pick a song. When it was my turn I chose Harry Connick Jr. Daniel stuck his fingers in his ears and closed his eyes and begged for "Daddy's music" again. His pained expression was actually quite funny. Not only do the boys love to sing along to Daddy's music, but they are also drummers like Daddy. They all air drum in the car. At home they drum while Nathan does the drums on Guitar Hero. Each night when Nathan gets home, the boys follow him out to the back yard to check on the garden. They are all very proud of their plants. Nathan has them help do the watering. When they find a ripe strawberry, squash, tomato, or even a new open flower they can't wait to show it to Daddy when he gets home. They like to watch outside for Nathan to drive up. They also like to tease him by standing against the door when he tries to open it. Then Nathan roars and growls at them until they are too scared of the monster to keep their post at the door. They love for Daddy come in and chase them around and tickle them. Even Caleb is already very aware of his Daddy. Just yesterday as Nathan left for work Caleb got upset. I saw him crawl over to the front door and put his head on the floor. He called to him through the gap underneath the door. He even hit the door a few times to try to get him back. It was very clear to see he wanted his Daddy. Nathan is such a good Daddy. The boys think he is their own personal jungle gym. They crawl all over him and ask him to help them do flips. I'm not sure who has more fun, Nathan or the boys! The boys love it when Nathan spends a Saturday or Sunday afternoon building a new train track for them. (He makes them very complex with bridges, tunnels and the round-about. Going over and under and connecting and splitting tracks.) I like to say that I have 4 boys. As the saying goes like Father like son. I feel so blessed that Nathan is the father of my boys. A few weeks ago, before Daniel started his "kindercamp" program, Nathan talked to the boys about priesthood blessings. Then he offered to give Daniel a special father's blessing before school started. Daniel said he would like one. Then after Daniel's blessing, Liam also asked for one. It was so sweet. It was a reminder of what these boys have the capacity to become. (Daniel has gone to kindercamp without any problem. And much of his anxiety that we worried about has totally disappeared. The next week in nursery they talked about the priesthood and Liam shared with them that his Daddy gave him a blessing. It obviously made an impression.)

As any of you with children know, having an involved father is greatest gift you could give a mother. I too watch the clock to see how much longer till Nathan will come home. I love my boys, but I really appreciate the break and a moment to myself to get things done while they all do the backyard rounds when Nathan returns. I love that I can talk to Nathan about what to do to help the boys when I'm stuck. I love him for honoring his priesthood and being so willing to share it with us. I love him for being patient with me and not complaining about the state of the house or the dinner. I love him for allowing me to be a stay-at-home mom with my little guys. Nathan is one of the hardest workers I know. He leaves for work at 6:30 or 7 and doesn't often get home until 6:30 or later each night. I love to talk to Nathan about the gospel. He understands so much that I don't. He has such a great knowledge of the scriptures. I am constantly badgering him with questions like, "where is that scripture that says something about....?" I am so lucky to be married to Nathan. We are coming up on 11 years in just a week or so! Thank you for all you do Nathan. I love you!

Sisters, Supermom and Sunshine in Sacramento

Last week my two little sisters (Andrea and Emily) drove out with their 3 kids and my mom to visit us. What a fun-filled chaotic week. The great thing about my family is that you can do everything or nothing and still have a great time. All of the cousins had so much fun together. The first day they did a lot of chalk coloring outside, riding bikes, waving to the garbageman (a favorite pastime my boys introduced to their cousins), playing on the swing set, eating plums, and going to the hotel to swim in the cool pool and warm up in the hot tub.

On Wednesday we all dressed in orange (easier to keep track of our kiddos) and went to 6 Flags. It was perfect weather. Our kids' favorite amusements were the animal shows. Caleb and his 20 mo. cousin, Jonas, seemed especially into the pirate, seal, and sea otter show. We all thought the shark tunnel was really amazing. Emily's kiddos, Conner and Mikayla were totally into the thrill of the roller coaster. Since roller coasters do two of Daniel's biggest "no nos", going fast, and going up high, we separated for a little while and had fun at the killer whale and dolphin show. While we were watching the cougars, someone came by and taunted them with a nearly life-size leopard stuffed animal. The cougars went crazy and were trying to bite at the fence and run around looking for a way out. My boys loved it. Caleb was on Nate's shoulders and kept whacking him on the head and shrieking in delight. Liam said his favorite ride was the jumping frogs and the swings. (I rode it with him and I thought they were fun too). Grandma was heaven sent (as usual). She was the extra set of arms and legs that we needed to keep up with our rascals, and much of the time was a designated photographer, stroller controller, and babysitter (watching the babies that were still too small to ride the rides). It was a really fun day but why does 6 Flags close at 6 PM in a warm sunny place like CA? Honestly, the kids might only have lasted one more hour before they all had to sleep walk to the car--but one more hour would have been fun. I guess that's a good sign. We all left tired, but with smiles on our faces.

After driving back to our home we had pizza and celebrated Caleb's first birthday. His brothers and cousins would have been more than willing to show him what he was supposed to do with a chocolate poky puppy cake. Instead, he preferred to try and stay clean--weird. I guess he must have been too worn out by all of the fun at the park.

On Thursday we enjoyed a laid back morning playing at home. Then we picnicked at Livermore Park. It is so fun! There is a big built-in waterfall for the kids to play under and the water is circulated down into a little stream with a drain at the bottom. The kids spent hours floating things down the stream (anything from boats to flip flops), chasing each other with buckets of water or squirt guns, sitting and splashing, and running under the waterfall. Livermore Park is one of our family favorites and it was so fun to share it with our cousins. On the way home we stopped for some ice cream while Andrea and Emily hit the outlets to do a little shopping. For dinner we all went to the Spaghetti Factory. The kids were rowdy, but considering how hard we'd been playing I think they all did pretty well. We did joke that the bus boys were all drawing straws for who had to clean up after our mob left. (It was probably good for his sanity that Nathan had to work late and had us just pick something up for him!

)

Friday, we went to Old Sacramento. We had to go to the candy shop that lets you eats candy for free while you are in their store (you only pay for what you take out with you). Then we checked out the train tracks and the river boat, took lots of pictures, and ended up at the Train Museum. All of the cousins loved climbing aboard the big trains. One of the engineers was especially kind to take pictures with our group. We sang "Choo Choo" (the song we all learned from Supermom and have now taught to our kids) to him for his trouble. He smiled--but I wonder if his hearing aid was turned down!?? Caleb's birthday presents got opened that night--not really by him, but who could blame 2 five-year-olds and 2 three-year-olds for wanting to help! Grandma and Grandpa got him a flip the flap Bible board book (very cute-a great one to bring to church), little boats that will be perfect for our next outing to Livermore park, a ball popping spinny toy that makes Caleb giggle, a new outfit and a little soft stable with animals from IKEA. Caleb instantly loved the animals, but the three-piece stable took two of us an hour to figure out (laugh if you want, but I'm convinced instructions from IKEA are meant to be a big joke on the consumer). Now Caleb loves trying to crawl inside with the animals--he manages to get his head in the door but so far he can't get the rest in. All of the cousins got PEZ treats and Star Wars action figures from Grandma. Along with shirts from the train museum. Wow! What a load. We are so spoiled.

At the end of the week I realized that there were 6 kids here, just like when I was growing up. Somehow, my mom managed to keep all 6 of her crazy bunch alive (and amazingly happy most of the time) without all the extra hands that we had here. She is Supermom and now Super Grandma. I'm so glad that Super Dad (Grandpa) let her come play with us. I love my sisters so much. I watch them and learn how to be a better mom and person. I am so glad they thought I'd be worth the trip...or at least my cute kids or at least CA is! (I know it's not a fun car ride with little kids.) The only things that might have made it even more fun would be for Heather (my older sister, now living in Germany) to join us and for the dads to take the kids for a day. Maybe next time! As Daniel and Liam waved bye from the fence, they turned to me and said, "Mommy we miss our cousins." (The cousins had only driven as far as our next door neighbors' at that point.) They also wanted to know when we could drive to the mountains to go to Grandma's house. What a week! Let's do it again soon.