Things I've Found in Gavin's Bed this last week...

1.  An apple with one bite taken out of it

2.  One of Cooper's dog bones

3.  Superman cape

4.  12 different hot wheels cars

5.  Diego DVD and case (Note: the dvd was not in the case)

6.  Spiderman lunchbox

7.  3 Crayons

8.  1 piece of sidewalk chalk

Apparently Gavin does everything imaginable in his bed...except sleep!

That Sounds Familiar

Today I had to sub in Caedon's preschool class.  As the other teacher was leading circle, she read a story called, The 3 Little Rigs.  Basically, it was the story of the 3 little pigs, but instead of pigs, the characters were little trucks that built their own garages and then the big, mean wrecking ball came to smash them.  After the story, some kids were asking questions about the story.  Caedon looked lost in thought and suddenly blurted out, "That story reminds me of the 3 little pigs!  It seems familiar!"  

As the discussion continued, Caedon asked, "But where is the Mommy and Daddy trucks?"  His teacher replied, "Well, the little trucks went off on their own to build their own houses just like you'll all live on your own when you grow up."  Caedon quickly responded, "No!  I'm going to live with my mommy and daddy forever even when I'm big!"

Boy Humor

I knew when I had 2 boys so close in age that eventually I would be subjected to that inevitable boy humor.  You know, the laughter at all bodily functions and telling jokes about stinky stuff.  I had no idea that it started so young!  I assumed I had until the pre-teen years, at least.  Not so.  I am knee deep in "potty talk," passing gas, burping and telling jokes.  The latest joke that Gavin keeps repeating goes like this, "Why did the chicken cross the road?  Because he had to go POOP!"  This is followed by uncontrolled laughter for several minutes.  He even had to call Grandpa Rick to tell him this great joke.  It's going to be a long road to college.  Aislynn and I will have to team up against the stinky talk!  At least I'm not the only female in the house anymore.  Don't even get me started on the name calling.  Who knew that adding a "poopy" to any insult made it 10 times as insulting??  Help!!

Yes, We are still alive!!

Dan reminded me this morning that I have a blog and that I haven't updated in over 2 weeks.  So sorry friends and family.  The last few weeks have been a whirlwind.  I hosted baby showers for two very close friends, ran the Orientation for preschool, the boys had their first week of preschool, I suffered from a very painful kidney infection and we all had colds.  Breathe.  

So, I will try to keep things more up to date from now on.  On a funny side note, my kids are always mispronouncing words.  Here's the latest one from Caedon.  After hiking up to the top of Multnomah Falls yesterday with Daddy while I was busy with a baby shower, Caedon told me all about the climb.  "Well, mom, I got a little nervous because some parts of the hill-ll (yes he pronounces the ll twice) were very Steve."  I replied, "They were very steve???"  "Yep.  Some parts were steever than other parts." he said.  "Oh, the hills were steep?" I questioned.  "Yeah, mom.  They were steve."

Apparently, I Need to Watch More Cooking Shows

Caedon and Gavin have figured out what the Golden Arches are.  Now, every time we pass a McDonalds, they start talking about how hungry they are, how they can't wait until we get home to eat, how there is a restaurant right over there with good boy food.  

We've been having several conversations with the boys about junk food.  We've said that while it is ok to eat junk food on occasion, we can't eat it all the time because it will make our bodies sick and unhealthy.  They seem to get the concept, although it is not their favorite topic  as it limits their intake of the things they see as essential to their survival, things like fruit snacks, candy, chocolate milk, etc.

Yesterday, as we were driving to Dan's work to do the kid swap (I had to go to an evening work meeting), we passed a McDonalds and Caedon immediately launched into the spiel about how hungry he was, how he couldn't wait any longer to eat...you get the picture.  "Caedon, I already made dinner for you guys at home.  You are going to eat with Daddy when you get home."  I reminded him (he had been talking about how good the food in the crockpot smelled all afternoon).  "Awwwwhhhhh Mooooooommmmm!" he whined, "McDonalds is a better cook than you!!"  

The Family Bed

Dan and I have never been fans of the "family bed."  We don't even like to touch each other when we're sleeping...we need our space!  Plus, I'm pretty positive that if my husband can sleep through the kids crying out at night or my constant moans and groans when I was pregnant and had to turn over, then he could sleep through rolling over onto one of our kids in the night.  So, no family bed for us in the traditional sense, however, this is a common scene in our bed early in the morning (long before the rest of the world wakes up).   Aislynn wakes up and comes into our bed to eat.  Right about the time she finishes and I lay her between us, the boys wander in. Inevitably, Gavin always asks, "What ya doin?"  They climb in and try to elbow their way in between us and practically on top of their sister.  We all manage to rest happily for about a minute and a half.  Then, the boys' "Ninja instinct" kicks in and they start moving around, kicking each other, standing up and falling down with loud shrieks when they bounce back up.  Finally, Dan and I can't take it and we're forced to get up to officially start the day.  I'd love to hear how others start their day each morning.  Leave a comment and let me know!!

Secret Agents

I have figured out how to get my boys to do all those pesky things that they don't like to stop playing to do (clean up, get dressed, take bath, etc.)!! What is it? Why, turn it into a game, of course.

Dan has been gone for the last couple nights running in the insane Hood to Coast relay so I've been chugging along with all 3 kids by myself. Last night, as bathtime approached, the boys were busy playing a game of Superhero (which is really just a game of "Let's be as rowdy as possible until someone gets hurt or mom loses her mind). I knew that my request to start getting ready for bath and bedtime would be met with the inevitable screaming and gnashing of teeth (just kidding on the teeth...but just barely). So, I decided to use my many years of education and experience as an early childhood educator and turn the chores into a game.

"Secret Agents Hawk and Hawk, I have a very important mission for you." I whispered. They were instantly intrigued. "The bad guys are coming and we need to clean up all the evidence that we've been here. Quick, let's clean up all of our spy gear!" I continued. The family room was free from toys and clutter faster than I've ever seen before. "Are you ready for your next mission?" I questioned. "Yes!!!" they screamed and then Gavin continued, "Betause we are the special Setret Agents and we have a MISSION." (Imagine his arms waving wildly in big circles as he overemphasized the word Mission).

"Ok...now we need to go get in the bathtub and get cleaned up so the bad guys don't smell us when they come in." Off they ran to their room. After the bath, they needed to get their "Secret Agent Super Suits" on (you know...the ones that can turn invisible at any sign of trouble aka their PJs). Then came the all important brushing of the teeth to make sure that they didn't give away their location with their stinky breath. Next they needed to take their "Super Power Tablets" aka gummy vitamins. You get the drift. Of course, we had to whisper the whole time so the bad guys wouldn't hear us which also had the added side effect of not waking Aislynn!!

Here's the beauty of the whole situation. We didn't have one meltdown. I didn't hear "But, I don't want to ______" the during the entire evening. And, I had a blast playing with them. If only my Mommy brain would remember to make fun out of the small things more often!