Bedtime Wiggles

So, Matt has a new way to help Darren get his wiggles out just before bed..... Watch the short (less than 15 sec.) video clip to see. Toward the end, watch for Joseph's little foot - he steps on Matt's head just before climbing on him! What a great Dad! Good times!

"Cold" Sunday

Having spent the last 3 winters in interior Alaska, we got accustomed to the cold and the cold weather policy they had there for church. Temps -29 and warmer meant all 3 hours of church. Once the temperature reached -30 and colder, we had sacrament meeting only (the full first hour). So, you can imagine our surprise when we went to church here in Florida, but then were sent home right after the passing of the sacrament (no speakers) because of the "cold" weather and the furnace not working properly (only part of the building had heat). We were SHOCKED!!

For Florida, it's been pretty cold, 40's during the day, around 30 at night. Cool, but still warmer than what we've been accustomed to. Today, the inside of the church was just a bit cooler than room temperature, but I didn't think it was too bad. I wore a thin, lightweight skirt with no coat, and was not uncomfortable. No one else in my family wore a coat either, and were just fine, though many people around us not only brought coats, but kept them on! Our family has obviously not fully acclimated to Florida weather!

Anyway, because church was cancelled, we had a little extra time on our hands. So we spent it playing hide and seek, reading, looking at baby pictures (Darren learned about an umbilical cord today after asking if Daddy made Joseph's belly button), talking to some of our family, taking naps, tickling the boys, singing songs, etc. It was nice to spend some time together as a family, and I was lucky and even got a couple pictures of today's events.

Matt seroiusly got stuck down there "hiding" from the boys! It was pretty funny, and took a great deal of effort to pull him out! He was wedged in there so tight, moving the couch would have been the easier option!

Darren has to do everything his Daddy does, exactly how Daddy does it!

My Own Mormon Ad

Have you ever seen one of those Homefront Mormon Ads? Well, tonight I feel like I walked into one at my own house! For those who don't know what I'm talking about, click on this for an example:
http://http//www.youtube.com/profile?user=MormonMessages#p/u/62/kPmSyOlv5D4

Darren has recently developed a fear of the dark, and the traditional night lights are not a safe option at this point in time. Joseph unplugs them, sucks on the prongs 'til they're good and slobbery, and then tries to plug it back in. Uh... NOOOO!!! So, for Joseph's safety, Darren's security, and Mom and Dad's sanity, we found a fun, SAFE, creative, educational answer. Perfect!! It's a Twilight Turtle. It's a stuffed turtle w/ a hard shell that lights up and projects stars (with actual constellations) and a moon onto the wall in 3 different colors.
Anyway, tonight Matt put Darren to bed, while I got Joseph to sleep. My sweet, tired, little Joseph fell asleep in my arms. As I carried him upstairs to his bed, the bedroom door was closed and all was quiet (a little unusual). I didn't think anything of it though, and as I approached the door, I turned the knob oh so quietly, so I wouldn't disturb the silence and wake the baby. When I opened the door, I was "greeted" with Matt and Darren laying on their backs on the floor in the middle of the room with the light off, and Twilight Turtle on their bellies, turned on. As I laid Joseph in his crib, and tucked him in, I was keenly aware of two sets of eyeballs staring at me. When I turned around, both Matt and Darren gave me a look that seemed to say both: "Oops! We were caught!" and "How could you dare interrupt our Father/Son time!" I smiled to myself as I quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind me. I knew that they were creating a great memory together.

Christmas Train

The boys and I experienced a first today! We made a graham cracker Christmas train! My ONLY experience with anything like this before was (one time - a long time ago) attempting to make a gingerbread house, but the frosting was too soft, and everything kept caving in. Not successful at all. So, I had no idea how this was going to go together and if it would even work.

I found a frosting recipe online, looked at a couple pics of gingerbread trains, and went to work with my graham crackers! D had very definite opinions about the wheels, smokestack, engine light, and other mechanical things on/about the train, but for the most part, coulda cared less about how it was decorated. J was all about sampling the candy!

Here is the naked train, with an excited, happy boy!

Front view of the finished product!

The engine! D is super excited about that smoke stack - he built it! He also insisted on putting a "roof' over the 3 wheels. (looks like wheel wells) And adding train track, the arm connecting the wheels, etc. He did a pretty good job!

The coal car - filled with M&Ms. I prefer how it looked decorated, but before filling the car. Wrong candy choice for inside - shoulda done plain old chocolate chips!

The logging car.

The caboose! The back is open, so the gumdrops serve as a railing. D wanted to put one of his cars in there - surprise, surprise!

Happy boy and finished product! I'm glad that it worked, and that both boys are still pretty excited about it! We had a good time.

Keep Us Laughing

Darren is such a fun, loving, spontaneous kid with a great desire to choose the right! He brings so much life and adventure to our family, and I just wanted to share a few recent highlights of things he says/does.

His day typically starts with he and Joseph giggling at each other - I have NO idea who wakes up who, but Darren takes it upon himself to make Joseph laugh every morning, and it works quite well. Honestly, sometimes I delay going to get them because I love hearing them have such a good time with each other and I hate to interrupt.

Today, we had 2 stores to go to. At the first one, while I briefly turned to look at something, Darren decided he would try to do a sommersault out of the cart. It didn't go so well! He has a giant goose egg on his forehead to prove it, too. I didn't have to tell him to sit down anymore, though.

The commissary was next on our list. I learned today, that the shelves there do not actually sit on the ground. There is about 4" of "crawl space" underneath them. Darren accidentally dropped his favorite car, and it was such an amazing car, that when it hit the ground, the wheels were still turning, and it drove ALL the way under the shelves. I'm sure I made quite the sight lying on my belly in a crowded store with my hand under the shelf (It was gross). Unfortunately, I couldn't reach it. Darren insisted on trying to get it - so then it was his turn to lay on the floor, only he let his face touch the ground, too. EWWW! Of course, he couldn't reach it either, so we ventured over to the cleaning isle and grabbed a broom. When we got back, I once again found myself on the floor - only this time the broom did the "dirty" work! And work, it did! Out drove that little car, and Darren looked so happy and relieved, it was worth it. The broom was returned to it's place, unscathed.

Being the day before Thanksgiving, the Commissary was quite crowded with people gathering last minute items for their feast. When a section of an aisle was impassable, Darren would blurt out, "Excuse Me!" before I had a chance to. People saw his adorable, smiling little face, and gladly moved their carts for him! Then, while I was grabbing an item from the shelf (with no one in front of us- though the store was still crowded), he farted. Once again he blurted out (quite loudly) "Excuse Me!" But then he added (still loud) "That was MY bum!!"

One of my favorite parts of the day is when he wakes up from his nap. He quietly and slowly creeps his way down the stairs in search for Mom. As soon as he sees me, his still sleepy looking face quickly becomes alive with a huge smile, and runs into my arms for a great big hug and kiss! Then he curls up on my lap for some Mommy/Son snuggle and chat time. I LOVE that, and will be so sad when he outgrows the need for a nap.

Tonight, while he was playing with his toys, he suddenly looked up at me and said: "Mommy, I want to be baptized." I told him that was great, and I was proud of his desire, and that he could be baptized when he was 8. Then he said again: "I want to be baptized. Jesus was baptized. I want to be like Jesus." What a special boy.

Now back to the fun..... These next couple things didn't happen today, but it's been within the last couple of weeks. One day while we were out as a family, we were stopped at a red light. 2 motorcycles stopped in the lane next to us. They were obviously buddies, and Darren admired them. Then, talking to the motorcycles, he said, "Ready? On your mark, Get set... GO!!" Just as he said "Go" the light turned green, the bikers revved their engines, and took off! He was thrilled!

Another day at the store, he had been eating a cookie. An elderly lady came up to us, and asked Darren if he had eaten a cookie (there was still evidence on the corners of his mouth). He responded with "Yep! I ate it Allllllllll Gone! ...... Now it's going to come out my bum!" The poor lady looked shocked, and didn't know how to respond. I explained that he had been learning about what happens to his food when he eats it. It was all I could do to keep from laughing hysterically!

About a month ago, Darren tried to follow his Daddy into the bathroom, but Daddy was too quick and shut and locked the door. Darren remained by the door. Here's the dialogue that followed:

Darren: Daddy, what 'cha doin' in there?

Dad: I'm going potty.

Darren: Are you going poop on the potty?

Dad: Maybe. Maybe not.

Darren: You can do it, Daddy!

A loud fart is heard from within....

Darren (clapping his hands): Hooray, Daddy! You did it! You went poop on the potty! Hooray!

I absolutely LOVE this kid! He keeps us in stitches all the time!

Free Adventures!

I love hearing about local fun stuff to take my kids to. I love it even more when it's FREE!! Today we hit jack-pot! We found a "Family Fall Festival" where EVERYTHING was free! It was great! We all had a good time. There were businesses that set up tables and passed out candy and fliers (of course) and there were all kinds of things for kids to do - much of it geared toward small children. PERFECT!! Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera with me. Fortunately, I have a cell phone w/ a camera! Here are some pics of our adventures:

D got to hold a very pretty bird. He LOVED it!

He loved it even more when it climbed on his head! He held sooo still, and just let that bird get comfortable!
Both boys got to enjoy going on a pony ride! This is J's first time on a horse, and he did really well!

Another angle with the pony!

There were ALL KINDS of bouncy houses, castles, slides, obstacle courses, etc. I've never seen so many in one location before! Here's J peeking out of one!

D happily jumping!

J attempting to jump!

There was even a cute, mini little "train." The boys loved it!

Another angle of the train.

Two very happy boys, though only one would look at the camera (phone)!

There was also a guy making balloon animals for the kids (J got a monkey, D got a rocket), face painting, karaoke, a horse drawn trailer ride, free food (that line was WAY too long to attempt getting anything though), candy, a fire truck, ambulance, police car to explore, etc. I'm so glad the boys got to create some fun memories today! They were pretty worn out, but it was so worth it!

Halloween Festivities

Our halloween this year has been quite a bit different than in previous years. This is largely due to the climate and the kids' ages. After being in Alaska, where there is snow on the ground and temps below freezing, being able to go to a pumpkin patch in shorts, and SWEATING wearing a tshirt and jeans trick-or-treating is quite a shock, and seemed very odd to me. But, we had a great halloween season. Here are some pics to help tell the tale.

On a spontaneous trip to the zoo, we discovered that it was all decorated! It was fun!

The boys and I went to a pumpkin patch this year to get our pumpkins. They both loved it!

Still at the pumpkin patch. D's friend and her mom came with us!

The boys and their friends at the playgroup halloween party!

This is the pumpkin D selected from the pumpkin patch - it has warts! He picked out the face pieces and put them in! He was very proud of it!

This is J's pumpkin. He picked it out himself. He also helped put the stickers on it and broke the stem off! Ooops!

Our costumes have a bit of a story this year..... D picked out the theme for our family. He was quite insistent on being a....

BULLDOZER!

Then we thought J would be absolutely adorable as a construction cone, with Matt and I as flaggers. Unfortunately, the bulldozer turned out to be too wide to fit through doorways (all parties automatically ruled out), too heavy/akward for a 3 year old to carry, and a bit on the fragile side to be carrying through the neighborhood. So, we took a couple pictures with it, and had to explain to a very sad D why he wouldn't get to wear his bulldozer. Matt felt HORRIBLE, since he's the one who made it. D wore Daddy's construction worker costume instead, and Daddy didn't dress up afterall.

J's cone turned out to be quite a hit wherever we went! It was pretty fun, inexpensive, and easy to make as well (my kind of costume!).

The boys had 2 opportunities to go trick-or-treating this year. Friday night, we had a trunk-or-treat at church, and we all had a great time. Then, on halloween, the boys experienced "real" trick-or-treating for the first time! For previous years (in Alaska) we went to an INSIDE halloween party at church, and called it good!

Here are the boys, just as we're headed out to go trick-or-treating!

We had a lot of fun with halloween this year, but, when I'm honest, I'm glad it's over!