Bunk Beds: Round 2

Squeezing two growing boys into one small bedroom is a challenge. Ever since becoming roommates, Kaleb and Aaron have had their beds unbunked. It's worked well, but it was time for a change. We had some concerns--would we snuggle less with them in bunk beds? Would Aaron's wiggles bother Kaleb? What do we do with all of the things under their beds? Would each boy miss having his own "corner" of the bedroom?

With our concerns at the front of my mind, I never anticipated how WONDERFUL it would all turn out! They giggle in their bunk beds. Kaleb reads books in his top bunk--my most exciting victory by far. Aaron calls his bottom bunk his cave, and he spends time writing in his notebook while in his "cave." I bought some under-bed storage bins and a cube drawer shelf unit to solve our storage needs. The room feels much more spacious and enjoyable to be in. This was just the boost our boys needed to refresh their relationship.

Before the beds were bunked, this was about the space the boys had to play in. Here they are playing football with Aaron's helmets on their Eagles football field. Aaron is being silly, just like usual!

They are really loving their bunk beds!

Aaron writing in his "cave" during one of our recent snow days.

Who knew that bunking the beds would turn Kaleb into a reader? :)

Once upon a time Braylen was in the top bunk and Kaleb was in the bottom bunk. Those are special memories for them and for us as their parents. Now it's time to make some more brother memories with Kaleb in the top bunk and Aaron in the bottom bunk. Brothers & bunk beds. Two of my favorite things this month. :)

Extreme February

It's hard to believe it now, but Braylen wanted to wear shorts this past Sunday. It was 63 degrees, so why not? Tonight we are in the path of a big snow storm. No school tomorrow, and maybe not on Friday either. What a week. I would welcome the snow if it didn't make Derek's job harder. I decided long ago that since I can't do anything about that, what I CAN do is try to make things fun at home. So tonight the boys and I had a movie night with the Dukes of Hazzard and bowls of ice cream. Tomorrow we will have monkey bread for breakfast and fill our day with games, movies, and playing in the snow of course. :) Maybe Derek will be able to join in on some of our fun. I hope so!

Now for a little bit of catch-up...
A few weeks ago we had our 100th day of school. Braylen and Kaleb didn't do anything special in school that day, but my little Aaron did. :) His assignment was to bring in 100 of something...legos, froot loops, rocks, beads...whatever he wanted. Right away he told me he wanted to bring in 100 rubber bands. And he wanted to tie them together to make a sling shot. What a fun idea, and it's so like Aaron to think of it!

Aaron stood on one end of our yard with his sling-shot...

...while Derek stood at the other end!

When they stood in the street they stretched those rubber bands the width of 2 houses and yards! On the count of 3 they let go and those rubber bands came together quicker than my eyes could see. Aaron also did this with his brothers in the house. It brought MUCH entertainment to our boys for about a week. It was a huge hit at school as well. Aaron's teacher let him take it outside to show his classmates how it works. He liked that a lot. :)

Braylen traveled with his youth group to a conference called Dare2Share earlier this month. He texted me a couple of times that weekend, and called from the hotel before going to bed. I loved hearing from him while he was away. :) He had lots of fun, experienced corporate worship with hundreds of his peers, and learned more about what it means to share his faith. He also enjoyed his city experience of walking everywhere!

Remember those valentine cookies I made for my boys? I forgot to mention I had a helper. :)

Aaron loves working with dough.

I already know what my next post will be, but for now--funnies!

Kaleb's version of workman's compensation: "workman's com-nen-station." No matter how many times I tried to correct him, he kept saying it his way. :)

Another deep thought from Aaron: "I'm glad my tummy doesn't have taste buds. I think of that a lot."

One day I told Aaron how cute his dimples are. He didn't really like that. Later that day I was trying to remember something I had forgotten, and Aaron said, "You were probably going to talk about my dentures again!" :)

While I made tomato soup Aaron asked, "What IS that? Is that watermelon soup?" I told him it was tomato, to which he replied, "That's even more disgusting!"

Last week Aaron got in the car after school and repeated the same phrase over and over, and he did it again at home. This is it: "Jump, jump, wiggle your rump, and walk it out like Granny." I have no idea why he had that in his head all day but it drove me nuts! Thank you Ice Age movies! :)

And that is all I have for tonight!

Forever Valentines

I think I love Valentine's Day more every year. This year was especially special for me since the kids didn't have school today or tomorrow. Ahhh, it's so nice to sleep in...and wake up to my 8 year old staring at me just inches from my face. :)

This year I went with a book theme for my 3 little-and-not-so-little-anymore valentines. For Braylen: a Fox Trot comic book. For Kaleb: a book filled with true stories of zoo animal escapes. For Aaron: the newest "I Survived" book.

Since Aaron was up first, he opened his valentine first!

Derek treated me to a DQ gift card. Oh, yummy! I gave him two new shirts and fixed dinner for just the two of us tonight. Thank you so much Grandma, for having our boys over to your house for a very tasty valentine's day dinner! They had a great time, and so did Derek and I!

To our family not in town with us, here is your valentine from our family.

I

heart

U

Did you get it? I love (heart) you! We sure do love you--Grammy and Grampy, our two boy cousins, aunts and uncles, and Great Grandma too! If only you could have seen what went on behind-the-scenes. Getting these three boys in formation--especially one grumpy one and one very wiggly one--was not easy! While I was editing pictures, Kaleb called me downstairs to show me something he made for me. Here it is...

I like how he color-coded the blocks. Very sweet, and very Kaleb. Aaron helped me make a double batch of heart sugar cookies. It feels like it took the entire day. :) We delivered a plate to Derek at work, and shared some with Grandma and our cousins here in town. It is a labor of love I like to do for my 4 boys every Valentine's Day. Braylen played with Aaron for a bit while Kaleb went to a friend's house this afternoon. We really did have a great day together. I am so very blessed.

2/14/2013

One thing I'm missing from this day is a picture with my forever valentine, my husband! We never thought to have our picture taken. I guess that's what happens when you spend 19 (and counting!) Valentine's Days together.

Thank you Grammy and Grampy for the AWESOME Valentine's package that came today! You really do know how to treat your grandsons well. I love you!

 

What a great day. :)

Middle

Today is the middle of the week. "The Middle" tv show is on tonight--one of my faves, I admit. My middle son is at a delightful age right now. More on that to come. We are currently in the middle of winter, but blessed with spring-like weather. I am always in the middle of a good book. Add up all of these things--and I have a title for this post. :)

First things first. Braylen has been so good about saving his mowing money. So when his iPod dock bit the dust and he asked if he could buy himself a new one, it was a no-brainer! He did his own research, called the store to see if his chosen stereo was in stock, made sure it was on sale, and asked Dad to take him there to make his purchase. Woohoo! He is enjoying his new stereo very much, and we are very happy for him. :) In no time at all he will be buying a stereo for his first car...or buying a car...yikes!

Moving on to Kaleb, our middle. He is such a character these days! He makes funny faces, funny phrases, and funny (realistic) impersonations. I just love this age on him. He's a mature 5th grader, and yet--he uses his imagination to play with Aaron. He cuddles with me on the couch during movie nights. He looks up to his big brother and leads his little brother so well. He's just a delight to my soul!

One thing he made very clear to me the other night? He absolutely despises carrots in his salad. I've always known they were not his favorite. As our pickiest eater, he is happy with meatloaf or a hamburger. Anything else is questionable. Still, I didn't expect such a strong reaction to his carrots. He finished them, but it was not easy!

After I took this picture, Kaleb said I caught him in one of his moments!

Aaron is persistent as ever these days. Once he thinks of something he'd like to do, he will ask me about it all day long. Maybe even all week long. I hope God uses that for good someday, because in the moment it can be extremely draining! One activity he's been begging me to do with him was make shaped crayons. When we found an open Saturday afternoon--I said yes.

We tried making this airplane shaped crayon several times. Sadly, it leaked no matter what I tried. Thankfully we had much greater success with heart, shamrock, and cactus shaped crayons. My favorite part of this process was the preparation. Aaron and I sat together and sorted through hundreds of crayons. All 3 boys spent many hours coloring with those crayons--many times I joined in too. How fun to put the crayons to use once again. Notice, dear Derek, that they are called crayons, not colors!!!!!!! :)

Finally--remember in my last post I talked about Ginger getting into something she shouldn't have? Well, our gamble of treating her ourselves paid off. She is just fine, no harm done. Thankfully Derek came home at lunchtime that day, or else things might not have turned out so well. She found a small box of used shotgun shells on a shelf, knocked it down to the floor, and proceeded to chew them up. We were mainly worried about lead poisoning and gunpowder poisoning. Between Derek's efforts at lunch and my efforts after school, we were able to get it out of her stomach and make sure we got it all. Lovely, I know. Now she is back to chewing on what she's supposed to chew on. I treated her to some sweet potato chew bones this week. Good girl, Ginger. :)

And that's all I have for today!

1 Week

One thing Braylen says throughout the week, no matter the day, is that the week is going by so fast. I wish it wouldn't. Because one fast week quickly turns into two, three, four...and I am left wondering where the last month went. I wonder if I was intentional with my time. I wonder if I made the most of these moments with my husband and my kids. I wonder if I plowed through my days just to reach the end of the week.

This post is for me to remember what 1 week of our lives looks like in this season we're living in.

Every morning I drag myself out of bed...that is no exaggeration. I stumble in the shower and about halfway through I can tell Braylen is up. My water isn't quite as hot and the water spray is more of a trickle. Time to face the day. :) Most days I am in the kitchen when Braylen comes to the table, but every now and then he beats me to it. He is so good about getting up, showering, and getting ready for school. He does it all on his own. I start making lunches for Kaleb and Aaron and realize it's past the time they should be getting up. Braylen is out the door and walking to school (or to the neighbor's house for a ride) before his brothers are done eating breakfast.

We finally make it into the van to go to school. Kaleb is usually frustrated with Aaron's slow pace, worried he will have to catch up with his classmates in the hall and miss out on sitting in the gym before school starts. I have a myriad of questions running through my mind: Did I give Aaron his pills? Did he use the bathroom? Is today library day? Does Kaleb need his recorder? It's cold today--did Aaron bring his hat? Do we have money in the lunch account? I should quiz them on their spelling words since they have tests today, and on and on and on!

At school drop-off they are power-walking up the sidewalk before I can get the minivan door closed. Whew, we made it through another morning. On my way home I drive down a hill and have a great view of the sunrise this time of year. Sometimes after a busy morning, it soothes my frayed nerves. Ginger is waiting for me to feed her when I get home. Bedrooms and the boys' bathroom look like a tornado blew through, so I restore some sense of order there. Then it's finally my turn to eat breakfast and drink my coffee that Derek prepares for me every morning. :)

Depending on the day of the week, I might have Bible study. I might be going grocery shopping. I am most likely paying bills and checking our library accounts. Of course there's always dishes, laundry, and vacuuming to do. Since I am still doing the 30 day shred exercise video I leave some time for that. Lunchtime comes and goes and after what feels like hardly any time at all, I am back at the school picking up Kaleb and Aaron. Today I didn't do any of those things--I spent the entire day with a friend and it was wonderful! :) I did pick up my boys, of course.

After school it's a feeding frenzy in the kitchen. There's usually whining and fighting--mostly when I tell them to do homework and practice piano. Sometimes there isn't. And since Ginger ate some things she wasn't supposed to today, I induced vomiting for her when I got home. That was fun--okay, it wasn't fun at all--but a necessary evil. Some (most) people would have called the vet but I took a chance and handled it myself. She seems fine tonight.

At supper this week Derek's been asking the boys how God smiled up them today, or how did God bless them today. One of Kaleb's responses was, "Math was easy for me today." Braylen told us he helped his teacher. Aaron said, "I picked up the iPods from the work room." Hmm. He will take every opportunity to get his hands on an electronic device!

Some evenings we have things to do. Church events and meetings, mostly. None of my boys wanted to play basketball this winter, so we don't have any games to go to. Piano lessons are after school one day a week. Kaleb is almost done with his 2.5 year commitment to lessons. Soon Aaron will be our only one taking lessons.

Before we know it we are getting ready for bed. Most nights there are conflicts in the bathroom. Really, I never knew 3 boys would have a hard time sharing a bathroom. 3 girls maybe, but 3 boys? Aaron always wants to snuggle. Sometimes we read books. Most nights we just listen to Hank the Cow Dog on CD while Derek and I try not to fall asleep. Kaleb likes to read with his book light, but it must be quiet for him to read. Sharing a room with Aaron doesn't leave Kaleb with much (if any) quiet time.  Braylen tells us about 7th grade and all the crazy things that happen in middle school. He makes me laugh, every time. And then he says, "This week sure is going by fast!"

And that brings me full circle with this post. :)