Let's Mooove

Yesterday Kaleb came in the house very frustrated. He stood in the kitchen and said, "I want to move." I asked him why in the world he'd want to move. He said, "I want to move to another block. Then Sarah, Chloe, and Kelsey wouldn't bother me anymore." You see, a few weeks ago our boys and their friend Matthew played with cap guns and a toy archery set, scaring the neighbor girls. The girls loved playing with the boys so much, they ask the boys to play the guns game all the time. Kaleb is fed up with it, because he just wants to play soccer with the boys! I told him to nicely tell the girls he doesn't want to play that game. He said, "I did, and all they do is stand in Sarah's yard and keep shouting at us to play with them. Over and over and over..." Kaleb rolled his eyes so much I'm surprised they didn't roll away.

We had hamburgers for supper. Every time Aaron put the burger up to his face, Derek would moo without opening his mouth. He had Aaron believing that his burger was mooing. Poor kid! Kaleb asked why his burger wasn't mooing. Derek said his was a quiet moo from a baby cow so it was harder to hear. Oh boy, I just sat there and tried to keep a straight face. Braylen's used to some of his daddy's silliness, so he didn't fall for the mooing burger trick. :)

Teapot's Travels

While on the phone this afternoon, Aaron asked me if he could play with the "bell" on the fireplace mantle. It's really a miniature teapot from a friend of mine. Last Saturday she had a friendship tea at her house and she gave each of us these cute little teapots as gifts. Being distracted and all, I let him play with the teapot. After a few more minutes of chatting on the phone, I saw what Aaron was doing with my teapot. He found his red monster truck and brought it upstairs. He put a matchbox car in the truck's toolbox, and put my dainty little teapot in the truck's bed with a gum wrapper beside it. Chomping away on his gum and making monster truck noises, Aaron was giving my ceramic teapot the ride of its' life! This must be how Aaron and I can have tea parties.

Today Aaron asked me if he could pick a dandelion and put it in a water of cup. The funniest thing is that he doesn't even realize he's switching his words around. I have dozens of beautiful yellow flowers in cups on my kitchen counter. Who says I never get any flowers?

Wonderful, Fantastic & Glorious

Braylen had a great day yesterday, and in his prayer last night he thanked God for the "wonderful, fantastic, glorious day!" These past few days have been fun for me too. Thursday evening was one of those nights where everyone gets along and plays well together, with no help from me. Derek was at drum practice, and as I was cleaning up after supper, Kaleb and Aaron invented a new game. They stood at our front door, ran as fast as they could, and when they got to the kitchen's wood floor they slid on their knees to see who could slide the farthest. They took turns and cheered each other on and shouted things like, "World record, Mom!" Braylen, who was reading a book on the couch, decided he was missing out on all the fun. He joined in and moved our table and chairs, getting ready for some serious sliding. I had 2 rules: they had to wear play pants with holes, and their pants could not have zippers at the ankles. Other than that I just let them slide away! If only every rainy day could go as well as that one did.

Aaron's always been one to switch his words around, and his latest thing to say is, "I'll pick out it" instead of "I'll pick it out." When he's done at the supper table he says, "Can I be exhausted?" instead of excused. He has trouble saying the "r" sound at the end of a word, so at our house we "vacuum the floe," "go to the stoe," and "have some moe." He keeps us laughing with his little word mix-ups.

Friday night we went to a Go Fish concert. It was so fun to see the kids have fun! Kaleb was still and quiet at first, and when I asked him if something was wrong he said, "No Mommy, I'm just amazed!" This concert was geared for kids, and they had plenty of humor and wit for the adults too. All 3 boys were dancing in the aisle by the time the night was over. I'd say we had a "snazzy" time. :)

Birthday Boy

We all had a fun time celebrating Aaron's 4th birthday this past weekend! He is so proud to be 4. After many different cake ideas, he finally settled on having a cake that looked like a big donut with sprinkles. We had fun making it together. Aaron beamed with pride all day, and I think I might have too. I've learned over the years that my child's birthday is a milestone for him AND for me. To see my baby turn 4, and remember so clearly when my oldest was 4...it always blows me away how fast time goes by. Aaron's favorite gifts this year are his Lightning McQueen hat and crocs, camera, red soccer ball, and Hotwheels bicycle game. Today when someone asked me how old my kids are, I was able to say 8, 6, and 4 for the first time. It was fun for me to say that. :)

Now for some little funnies before I sign off. Yesterday on the way to Braylen's soccer game, all was nice and quiet in the van. (a rare thing) Anyway, Aaron asked, "Mommy, are we Indians?" Braylen, who is studying our state's history in school, then launched into a 2nd-grade explanation of who Indians are. Wow, I can only imagine what Aaron must think an Indian is after his big brother's description! Red-skinned people who used every part of a buffalo and whose homes were taken away. As Braylen described what the white men did to the Indians, Aaron examined his arms and hands and said, "White?" I interrupted Braylen at this point and explained the whole skin color concept to Aaron in terms he could understand. (Jesus Loves the Little Children) Then all of a sudden I heard something I'm used to hearing in the minivan. "Go faster Mommy!" Ah, I was relieved to move from Indians to speeding downhill. And then the soccer field was in sight and we watched Braylen win his first game this season! After the game as we walked across the field, Aaron said "You made us proud Braylen!" I sure love to see them get along. I think I'm going to like this age.

Spring in Our Yard

Recently a friend of mine posted beautiful backyard spring pictures on her blog. Pretty cherry blossoms, her first rose of spring, and a lemon tree with lemons ready for picking. Sigh. Here is what spring looks like in my yard, with 4 more inches of the fluffy white stuff expected today.

During our spring break vacation, I mentioned that we spent an afternoon at Chuck E. Cheese. The kids still talk about that, and how much fun they had. In fact, the other night in the van, Kaleb and Braylen were having a nice little talk about how they learned to drive at Chuck E. Cheese. They were dead serious! Daddy commented that lots of people must learn to drive at Chuck E. Cheese, and he sees them every day in his line of work as a policeman. :)

Aaron is counting down the days until his birthday. Come to think of it, snow was falling on the day he was born in 2004. Just not 4 inches. Anyway, while attempting to count how many days that are left before the big day, Aaron named the days of the week. There's today, he said, and then he said we need to get through China, and then through tomorrow and another tomorrow... We were in Walmart and I told him I was sure we didn't have to go to China in order to get to his birthday. :) He meant Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, and somehow that came out as China and tomorrow. :)

furniture /middle son/ tuesday

Tonight Derek put a humidifier in Aaron's room since he is a bit stuffed up. After a few minutes, he came out of his room and said, "The furniture is too loud." Derek followed him into his room to investigate. Aaron kept repeating that phrase. Then he added, "I can't hear my CD." He was telling us his humidifier was too loud! :) Funny choice of words. So Derek turned up the volume on the CD player, and he hasn't come out since.

All week long Kaleb has been pushing Aaron's buttons, or "dancing on his last nerve" as I like to put it. Those two have been at it! Kaleb even visited Mommy's principal's office and had to write, "I will not flick Aaron's ear." Oh the pain and agony! When Kaleb acts like this, we think he's venting his middle child syndrome. That usually means he needs some attention.
So Daddy took him out for breakfast this morning. He also put gas in the minivan after soccer last night with Kaleb while the other boys stayed buckled up. Little things to us, but it makes a big difference for Kaleb.

Something that happened a while ago but I want to type it out so I won't forget it. My hair stylist has an unusual name. Her name is Tuesday. One evening I was driving with Braylen and I saw Tuesday in the car behind me. I said to Braylen, "Look behind us. That's the lady who cuts my hair." He said, "Is that Tomorrow?" Tuesday/Tomorrow...they both start with T and have to do with the days of the week! :)

gladness glasses

Today Aaron spent the day at Grandma's house while I drove Pam to her doctor appointments. I even got to see my newest niece and hold her in the NICU! When Grandma was teaching Analise her Awana verse for tonight, Aaron wanted to learn it too. Grandma read it out loud: "Sing to the Lord with gladness." Aaron said, "Sing to the Lord with glasses." Grandma sure laughed as she shared that with me tonight!

The other night while putting Aaron to bed, he asked me why his eyelashes were so long. He wanted me to cut them. I told him I can't do that; instead, they will fall out and new ones will grow. He asked me where they fall out! Then he said, "My eyelashes fall out and new ones grow, just like some animals' horns fall off and new ones grow! Hey, my eyelashes, animals' horns--same thing!" A few months ago we read a book about reindeer shedding their antlers and growing new ones. He must have been thinking about that. :)