Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars!

Well, it turns out we have extremely talented little 3 year olds! Or at least they are talented in my eyes! We have been working on singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" lately and Cameron has picked up on it very quickly and sings it VERY LOUDLY and pretty close to being right in tune! He hits the notes he should and sounds adorable! But they have also learned that they are very good at arranging music! The words have been changed and it sounds more like "Like a diamond in the sky! And a moon! And stars! And the sun!" It is never sung quite the same each time, so it is very entertaining!

Daniel was showing me his imagination yesterday in the backyard! He was pretending that Thomas the Train was coming and he had to jump out of the way fast before it would get him! He did it many times and it was very, very cute to watch!

We cut the boys hair ourselves over the weekend! Daddy needed a hair cut, so we pulled out the clippers and Daniel suggested we do it outside! So outside we went! We decided that the boys could use a trim, and thought we would try it ourselves with Daddy's clippers! So we buzzed their hair with the 1/2" clipper! It took some convincing and the promise to take a trip to the store and buy a candy bar if they would sit and get their hair cut! Finally, Daniel hopped on my lap and Daddy buzzed his hair! He did a great job and listened when we told him which way to look! We were very proud! Then we talked Cameron into doing it and he did very well too! So we fulfilled our promise and hopped in the car and ran to Safeway to let them pick out a candybar! Cameron chose M&M's and Daniel chose a Heath Bar! That was fun and I think we will continue that through the summer!

1 week from today we head to the beach!!! YIPEE!!! I sooooo need the break and relaxation of time away! I'll be the one asking Bryan, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"!!! I can't forget to bring the movies for the car! My favorite is Monsters Inc!

Have a great day everyone! Stay cool!
Jen

Story time & 9 days to go!!!

Took the Chelatchie Prairie Railroad out to Moulton Falls!


LOVE THIS PIC!!!


Standing on the train together!


Grammy & Daniel!


Papa and Cammy!


Cammy, Papa, Daniel & Mommy ready to ride
the train!


How does Papa want to spend his 53rd Birthday?
Taking the boys to Red Robin! LOVE Cameron's
smile! ;-)


Sliding on our tummies on the slide!


Cameron was pushing Daniel in the swing!


Cameron loves the bubble machine!


Daniel holding a bug!


Papa showing a bug to the boys!


Papa took the bug and put it on a spider web
and they watched the spider wrap it up to eat
later! Thanks Papa for that "wonderful" lesson
in the circle of life....


Daniel enjoying putting these blocks together!

For all you Mommy's out there, you know that "wonderful, melt-your-heart, get a tear in your eye" feeling you get when something special happens with your children? I had that wonderful feeling and moment with my little Cammy man last night! It was time for bed and getting them changed and ready to sit down and read a book! Normally I read to the boys. Well, Cameron had a Thomas book and said "I read"! So I said, "OK! You read to me and brother!".

So we all sat on the rug in their room and Cameron proceeded to turn to the last page in the book and begin there! (Big smile on my face!) He started saying, "Gordon. James. Thomas. Percy.", and pointing to each of them. Turn the page. "That's snow!" Turn the page. "Uh Oh! Henry falling!" Turn the page. "That's Toby! Those are birds!" Turn the page. "That's Thomas! That's a cow!" I ask what a cow says and they both say "MOOO!" Turn the page. Skip a page. "More birdies! That's a polar express!" (Thomas has the snowplow on the front of his engine, which looks like the polar express train.) "Those are fish! That's a boat! That another boat!" So then we start over again (at the end of the book) and I begin asking him what other thing in the book are. If he is unsure, I say "That's a windmill!" His reply was, "That's a windmill! Right!" I had this huge smile and giggled! Every time I pointed something out he didn't know and then told him, he repeated and ended with "Right!", sounding like "Oh yea! Right! I knew that Mom!" (It's starting already!)

Daniel normally doesn't sit quietly and let Cameron do the talking. He usually jumps in and answers, but he sat quietly and was listening to Cammy tell us the story! It was so sweet and so wonderful to hear Cameron talking so much! He's always been the quieter one and didn't speak as well as Daniel because of his hearing issues, but since he got the tubes in his ears, it has made a huge difference! Now we just need him to have the confidence, like last night, to speak up and not let Daniel speak for him. I'm so very, very proud of him and how well he is doing! He warmed my heart and made me feel so wonderful watching him do so well!!! This is one of the many joys of being a Mommy! I LOVE IT!

So I think we have decided that we will not start the boys in Pre-School in September. We have been talking and decided that it would be better to start them next year when they are 4 and then a 2nd year of pre-school at 5 and then start Kindergarten at 6. Boys do not mature as quickly as girls emotionally, they are physically much smaller than children their age, they aren't close to being potty-trained and it will probably be better for them in the long-run when they are older. It's better to hold them back a little at this age, than when they are older. Financial reasons are another part of it, but not the main part. I am thinking that I will put my Early Childhood Education to good use and prepare a plan to work with them over the next year in a similar way they would be worked with in pre-school. My mom was also a pre-school teacher for many years, so I think between the two of us, we can come up with a plan. We have also decided that we will start putting them into other programs instead this next year, like swimming lessons and Community Ed programs.

Well, 9 more days until we go to the beach!!! I am so excited and can't wait! I need to get away and relax and enjoy some family time! I'm looking forward to the boys playing more on the beach and hopefully the ocean (it was chilly last time) and swimming in the pool together! My parents picked up these really cute body suits for them that have a flotation device in the body area to help them stay afloat on their own! We'll see how that goes, since last year they clung to us like glue!!! And Bryan and I have only 1 more month from today until our 10 year anniversary! L

We hope you are doing well and enjoy the attached pics from the last month or so!

Luv,
Jen

Finally asleep and life's a beach...in 16 days!

Well, it is 9:39PM and it is finally quiet in the boys room! They didn't take their nap today, which usually means early to bed! So I was rocking my tired little men in the living room about 7:45 and Daniel zonks out fast! Cameron is starting to close his eyes, so I have him walk to their room and carry Daniel to bed. Easy right? I wish! Daniel didn't blink an eye as I changed his diaper really quickly and Cammy asked to go potty. So he went potty, got a new diaper and climbed into bed. So he went to sleep, right? Yeah right! It is quiet for a few minutes, then the fun begins! Climbing out of bed and trying to leave the room, "Mommy....binki!", "I want a kiss!", getting out of bed again, talking to brother (who is sleeping), chatting to himself and his stuffed animals, trying to leave the room AGAIN!!!! I think I went in there 30 times to put him back to bed. I tried to bring him in the living room to rock again in the hopes he would go to sleep, but that didn't work! He wanted to PLAY! So back to bed he went! Then he got mad and started stuffing his binkis behind the bed so they fell to the floor and I couldn't get them! I'd get him a new binki and 5 minutes later I would hear "I want my binki!" and he stuffed it behind his bed again! So we have 1 binki left (from our stockpile) and I offer it to him. "NO BINKI!" So fine, I set it on his bed! He picks it up and chucks it across the room! So I pick it up and leave the room with the binki. What do I hear next...."MOMMY I WANT MY BINKI!!!" I ignore it for a few minutes, then I hear that he wakes up Daniel! So I attempt to get Daniel back to sleep and give Cameron the last binki just to get him to quiet down and go to sleep. He won't take it. I try one last time and he shoves it away. So I turn around and leave. "MOMMY I WANT MY BINKI!" I offer it to him one last time (yes I know I said that already) and he refuses! So I leave the room. "MOMMY I WANT MY BINKI!" I continued to leave the room and he continued to scream. So to make a long story.....well, not as long since I've already written half a book..... he finally took the binki (yes I caved, but I wanted Daniel to stay asleep). So he is finally asleep! Now I can head to bed, once I've finished typing this!

As you can see, there is a new background! We are heading to Long Beach on 23rd for 3 nights with my parents, grandparents and my sister and her boyfriend Dustin! We did this last year and stayed at a campground I grew up going to and we had a blast! They have a pool, a playground, and are just over the dunes from the ocean! I'm hoping and praying for nice weather, since it was overcast last year when we were there. I know we could use a good vacation and get away from the every day stresses of work and bills and everything else.

Well, it took me almost as long to write this blog post as it took to get Monkey #2 to go to sleep, so I should go to sleep too! Plus Bry should be home in a few from work. Just in time for me to go to sleep! Sleep tight everyone!

Jen