Riley loves him

Grant is most definitely loved by all, but Riley has an extra special love for this kid. He only calls him by his full name, Grant Hayden 'Ellic'. He stood on a chair and watched him in his bouncy seat for a very long spell yesterday evening and then wanted to hold him. It was not okay if I held him. They are spending the day together so hopefully Aunt Michelle finds him as helpful today!

This is how we roll!

 

The weekend

I told the boys about 12 hours to soon that we were going to stay in a hotel over the weekend. Riley told us about every fifteen minutes leading up to our departure that he was 'ready to go to hotel!' Brody was just ready to get in the car and watch Peter Pan while we drove south.  It's rare I drive on family outings, so a car full of sleeping people made for some nice drive time, complete with my choice of music!   

 

Most important part to them, they got to swim! 

Horribly blurry, but Brody had no fear when jumping in.  Riley and Eli were a little more clingy! 

I believe Riley could quite possibly be a difficult student for his swim instructor this summer... 

Riley is ready to go to a hotel again.  In fact, he has asked constantly since we arrived home if we can go again!

 

Brody

A few words about Brody:

• Brody has started skipping nap time on days he doesn't go to school.  The picture on top was a school day he skipped his rest and cried part of the way home and then fell asleep (complete with drool).  Some days no nap equals a long evening and other days it doesn't phase him.  
• He definitely likes to be a helper.  This particular evening he wanted to chop up strawberries for everyone.  He did a great job with his butter knife and cutting board and was definitely proud of his work.
• He is my shadow.  Whatever I do, he likes to help me for awhile at least.  We have worked our way through the flower beds, which resulted in me touching more worms than I have in a lifetime.  We have built natural habitats for them and he names them.  The only name I remember is Wormie though.  I am always just working hard to keep them out of his pockets and out of the house.  
• He is riding a bike with training wheels.  I don't think he needs them after conquering the balance bike last year, but for now he has them.
• He crossed the street by himself a couple weeks ago to visit our neighbor with Ms. Mahnke.   She fed him a popsicle and played in the rocks with him so I believe she might have sealed the deal on their friendship for a lifetime.  
• He still enjoys school and has worked through several different units and is working hard at mastering his letter and number writing skills. They have talked about the devil at school and anytime Riley misbehaves or doesn't listen, Brody informs us that Riley is following the devil.  
• B is looking forward to summer so he can SWIM!  He showed us his skills this weekend and amazingly hadn't forgot much of what he had learned last summer. 

bowling

Riley has asked to go bowling since Brody went with his school back in January.  We promised to take him once he was potty trained.  As of Thursday, Miss Julie gave him her seal of potty training approval and starting Monday he gets to play in the special toy room and play in the yard instead of just playing on the deck.  Woo-Hoo – no more diapers!  With the Ellis’ visiting this weekend, it worked out well to take the clan of potty trained kids bowling. 

I think Kurt decided that after loading/unloading four kids this evening that two kids is just the right number for us.  I will admit, crawling in and out of the third row to buckle/unbuckle two kids was kind of exhausting. 

YAY for being potty trained!! 

Crewe turned ONE!

Grant is here!!

The perfect day.

What perfect weather we had today! 

Riley started his day with a fever, but a morning nap and meds has seemed to fix him, hopefully? 

Speaking of Mr. Riley..

• this past week he took an interest in actually driving the gator.  He always wanted to ride, but never wanted to drive.  That all changed though and now he doesn’t think Brody should ever have a chance to drive.  With the help of Noah “Hide, Riley figured out how to throw it into high and reverse. 
• Good Friday, we FINALLY took his beloved PAC - E (PAC-E = paci) away.  It was past time…way past time actually.  We are all tired, but he doesn’t ask for one anymore and threw the remaining few away on Saturday all by himself. 
• Last Saturday, I was ready to auction him off.  We had a horrible morning of potty training…HORRIBLE.  It ended with a pile of poo on his bedroom floor.  We put him down for his rest and the break from each other helped things improve slightly the rest of the day.  Side Note: I think he was retaliating after losing his PAC-E. 
• This weekend the kid rocked the whole potty training thing and I do believe he is so very close to officially trained.  Woo-Hoo!  Now, we must apologize to our neighbors though.  Riley isn’t shy about dropping his pants anywhere to pee while he is outside.  So, next weekend we will work on at least going to the south side of the yard.   
• Now that he wears undies everyday, he refuses to wear anything but jeans.  Drawstring/elastic waist pants would be so much easier to get up and down on his own, but I don’t argue with him about it because he willingly gets dressed in the morning if his jeans are out and ready. 
• His current favorite things to eat are strawberry cereal bars, raspberries, strawberries, peanut butter & jelly and salad with ranch dressing.  Swedish fish jelly beans are his favorite special treat for successful potty training events. 
• He can’t wait to go to school this fall with Eli.  He knows he can’t go until he is potty trained so he has been working towards that goal.  He told us he has to go to school with Eli because he loves Eli.  Can’t argue with that. 
• He gets excited to go to Miss Julie’s now because he is the teacher.  He is teaching the boys that are just a bit younger than him the ins and outs of potty training or at least that is what he tells us.  Noah ‘Hide, Briar and Atticus are in for some enlightening lessons for sure.
• He has hit a growth spurt lately because he could wear 24 month pants most of the winter and now needs 2T and 3T to go around his waist and for the length. 

So a whole lot of randoms about that kid.  And now I better get some rest so I am ready for his fever to spike up again or for his nightly pilgrimage from his bed to our bed.  Thankfully, each night it gets closer and closer to morning before he kicks his way in between us.  Hopefully one more week post-PAC-E will get him back to sleeping in his own bed all night again.  Until next time…

Easter 2013

Coloring eggs was a hit this year.  Brody was mesmerized that one of the eggs magically had his name on it! 

Mini Snowman that their mama started to build.

Mega-snowman that their daddy built.

Snow Day

Monday, the boys and I had an unexpected day at home together thanks to the snow. Brody requested oatmeal raisin cookies, wish granted. We finished baking those just in time to feed Kurt, Grampy and Davestorm after they cleared snow. We ventured out into the snow briefly, but short stuff Riley could barely manage in his snow pants and Brody got stuck in a drift and had to be pulled out by super hero Davestorm. We picnicked on the living room floor and watched a cartoon...big deal because we do not typically eat anywhere but a table and never watch tv when we are eating. 

I like pristine snow.  Once they started plowing the drive and our footprints littered the yard, I was ready for it to melt away!
Woody and Jesse 'mooched'

Some serious painting!

Brody-ody painted water and soil, I believe.  I remember there were sharks in the water that ate fish.

They chose to take a rest together in Riley’s bed.  Brody was just going to close his eyes for a minute.   He skipped naps all weekend so I believe he was officially worn out.  I accomplished so much while they rested.  I am positive that before we had kids I was horribly unproductive with free time.  Now it’s a self-imposed challenge to see just how much I can accomplish in a small amount of time.   It was a jam-packed day and by bed time everyone was worn out and ready to rest.   And that is what I call a success.

What a difference a day makes!

Nephew #4

Meet Grant Hayden!  He was born on March 21st and weighed in at 9 pounds 5 ounces.  On Friday, the boys and I got to meet Grant.  We are still practicing saying his name, but I think everyone agrees that he is a keeper. 

Welcome to World, Grant!

Eli’s Birthday Party

We are behind, but on March 1st, Master Eli turned THREE!  Little Einstein’s is his favorite show so his mama threw him a musical party and even sent recorders home with all the boys.  Oh and check out his Red Rocket shirt that Katy made! The day after his birthday party, Eli and Riley were registered for pre-school.  Riley just needs to master this potty training thing and they will be off to school together this fall. 

shaking up their supper

Practice makes perfect

Welcome to the gun show!

Working guys.

Working in the dungeon with their dad is the biggest treat for these two.  They have endless tools to use, their own personal vice, which is ideal to smash the pieces of brick they gather and simple wide open spaces to just explore. 

I prefer to steer clear of the dungeon and they can’t get enough!

Good morning!!

singing in the tub.

Proof that Brody really does learn songs at school. He sings them often enough that Riley has even learned them.  Now if we can just convince him to sing at church too.