Wonderful little creatures

I love these boys.Look at them helping their mommy. They are all wearing helmets in solidarity. Atty has to wear one right now because of the drop attacks and the helmet that I ordered for him has yet to arrive. So he has been wearing a bike helmet and his brothers wear one right along with him. They don't really fully understand how awesome their support is yet but I do and it warms my heart. They are really becoming so caring with him and much more understanding. I knew they would in time. I took them all to the store to pick up Atty's prescription for the first time since the seizures started. I had been avoiding going places with all of them mostly just because other people get a little freaked out when Atty has seizures or the drop attacks or the tonic spasms. Probably because it's unexpected and out of the ordinary. I get sort of embarrassed having people stare at us when one of those things happens. And it's stressful trying to keep tabs on the other two while dealing with Atty. The whole thing has me a little over whelmed but I knew I just needed to jump in with both feet and get over it. And you know what? It all worked out beautifully. Team work the whole way. We even went to get fruit smoothies with a gift card someone gave me and the boys were so excited to have such an awesome unexpected treat. I was really proud of them and what they are becoming. It is so neat to watch them grow and become such caring, understanding, compassionate boys. Atty did not have any seizures or anything so I have yet to deal with that in a crowded place, but I feel more confidant every time we venture out together. I'm sure I was a sight with a baby on the back in her backpack carrier and a boy in my arms and two more in tow...but when they are so well behaved I don't care about the stares because all I feel is great love for my wonderful little creatures...I mean children.

Not a job for a hammer.

I was scolding Spike the other day for taking apart a piece of Strawberries jumper thingy (renamed by me) and I heard Bubu say "I'll fix it mom" then he turned to his brother and in all seriousness said "go get me a wrench". Ha! So Spike went off to get him a wrench and Bubu climbed under the jumper to investigate the problem. Spike came running back and handed Bubu a plastic hammer and Bubu said "NOT a Hammer, a wrench...I need nails for a hammer". The way he said it, all knowledgeable and sort of exasperated, was super funny. So Spike left again to find a wrench and Bubu sighed and said "Oh I'll help you" and went to show his little brother what a wrench looked like. They came back together, Bubu with appropriate tool in hand, and they were all set to fix baby sister's toy.

Bubu showed his brothers how to use the wrench...in detail...and they soaked in every word. He did get a little frustrated when the wrench didn't actually solve the problem. He needed a mothers help. So together we problem solved how to get the piece back on. Team "R" at it's best. When we were done he said "Yay team "R", great team work mom!" So cute.

He was super proud of himself for helping his baby sister and fixing her toy. I think he might be one of the best big brother's out there. Strawberry thinks so anyways (and so do I).

*

I am beginning to wonder how many things will be taken apart and put back together though in my house. They have already started in on a few things. At least the tools are plastic for now.

Bright Orange Treasures

So today we made an awesome discovery. While we were outside looking at the flower gardens and playing ~ eye spy me some spring time ~ I decided to take a gander at my very neglected garden boxes. Last year I sort of gave up on my garden when I got too big with the pregnancy to bend over properly. Lets just say when I stopped being able to see my toes no matter how hard I tried my garden fell apart. I never harvested the last crop of anything and I just stopped looking at it so I wouldn't feel so guilty. I went to some ones house a little while back and notice that they had harvested some carrots out of their garden in the middle of winter and I started thinking 'hey I never harvested all of my carrots out of my garden' I sort of thought that they must have gone mushy and I had given them up to the worms. But...they're not! They were just chillin there in the dirt all happy looking and bright orange and oh did they smell good. I love the smell of fresh from the garden veggies. Atty must too because he tried to take a bite of one of them dirt and all! Bleck. Call me picky but I'd rather wash them first. ;) We gathered them all up and carried them into the house so that I could make them all some...Carrot Juice! Bubu just couldn't get over his excitement at having found such an unbelievable treasure during the winter. He kept saying "Yummy they smell so good, can I try one mom?"

I just love their earthy goodness, and I have to admit I am bitten bad by the gardening bug now, come on spring I am so ready. So very, very done with the yucky cold grey days.

All shined up and ready to be juiced. It was such a fun unexpected project of sorts to do with the kids. Wasn't a planned part of our day but I was able to make it a learning experience and a fun thing to do together. They though it was so neat to watch the juicer do it's thing.

They were even more excited to try it! I used up all the carrots and they gulped it down.

I mostly made it for this guy because a wise family friend and naturopathic doctor told us a few things we could do to try and keep his liver clean and working well (because of all the meds, some of which are super hard on the liver) and one of those things was a little carrot juice every day. He really liked it, so that's a good thing. They all did. In the summer I should have some apples from the tree and more carrots in the garden and that will make for a super yummy drink. In the mean time I will go get us some organic carrots (and maybe some apples) from the store and make up some more juice for the little trooper and his brothers. Won't taste as good though. ;)

First people ever!

We love to scribble. Mommy loves it. She loves seeing us color.We use lots of different colors
and there's always some body art involved. Mommy doesn't always love that part.

It's so much fun really! Mommy saves every single one and she says we are amazing.

But my brother Bubu has discovered something different. He just discovered the world of drawing, controlling the pen to make circles and lines and....people! Imagination on paper. It was so exciting. Mommy almost cried. Bubu's first little people. He was so proud of himself, and he should be, it's a whole new world. Mommy says we are all growing up way to fast.

Bubu's very first people drawings. He said it was mommy and daddy. Use your imagination, that's what he did.

Reindeer!

"Bubu get down off that chair and close that window it's freezing outside!"

"But Daddy's getting a Reindeer!"

"What?"

"A Reindeer, Daddy's getting a Reindeer! I want to see the Reindeer!"

"What are you talking about..."

"A Reindeer!"

(Spike and Atty come racing.) "Yeah Reindeer, Reindeer"

"Bubu, Daddy said Rain Gear, he went out to the shop to grab his rain Gear."

"But I want to see a Reindeer"

"Well you will have to wait for Christmas then, if you're lucky you might spot one."

"Bubu, seriously get down off that chair, Christmas is still a little ways away."

(Although coming up fast isn't it!)

So...Praise the Lord, my hubby was grabbing his rain Gear because the Carpenters Hall finally called and he has a Job! We don't know how long, but this one sounds like it will at least last more then a week (which was all he got the last time they called). We have both been praying for something and we both got a little emotional this time around. Being that he has worked less then three months out of this whole year! So...Praise the Lord!! I'm doing the happy dance!

~Move your body~

You know what made my day today?

~

Putting on the Madagascar soundtrack and dancing with the kids while they showed me how to "Move it, move it". Their shrills of laughter, their silly dance moves, the pure joy they find in the movement of their bodies and the sound of the beat. It's so freeing and fun. I'm not sure who enjoys it more me or them.

~

"I want to move it, move it. I want to shake it, shake it"

~

You do NoT want to see me dance to that, trust me...but the kids on the other hand, they don't realize I have no sense of rhythm what so ever, they just think I'm being funny.

A house full of heroes!

Our little lady bug...so cute!

My super heroes and their little ladybug.Atty is not much for group photos, so I bribed him by telling him he could hold his baby sister. He was so proud, and he actually sat still! I will have to see if this will work for our family Christmas picture too.

Us girls can feel safe in a house full of super heroes! ;)

Buzz Light Year, to infinity and beyond! This boy has been cheesing it up for the camera lately. He will try to sneak his way into every picture I am taking! I have to admit it's driving me crazy, I mean he's cute and all but good grief!


This Spider man doesn't have time for smiles, he has crime to fight! Getting Spike to look at the camera now days is next to impossible and getting him to smile...forget it!


...But this adorable Batman does have time between jobs to flash his beautiful grin! Atty doesn't like to dress up in costumes. So instead of fighting him on it I got wise and just bought him some cute Batman PJ's and he wore them no problem. Much cheaper too! I made sure to put it on him a few times before hand as regular ol' pajamas so he didn't think anything of it.

I am a cat every year...no surprises. This year I only painted whiskers on my face and Bubu was a bit disappointed in me. I just didn't feel like washing it all off afterwards, I guess I am getting lame in my old age. ;) My adorable little lady bug stayed snugly in her Moby Wrap (which I Love! I've always used a sling before, wish I had known better.) The whole time we were trick or treating.

My boys on a mission. We had a lot of fun, the rain stopped just in time, and it wasn't to cold out. The boys were all so sweet and polite, it made a mother proud. Atty kept saying "thank you, your welcome" after someone would give him candy, or "Love you, bye". So funny. We made it for about an hour and then it was time to pack it in. My favorite part of the day was when we got home. Snuggled up together at the end of the day, watching Planet Earth and enjoying each others company. When I look around me and see all my children's beautiful faces and my husbands, my heart overflows. I love family time, the quiet (sort of) moments, just being together. Laughing, Loving and Living.

suggestions...

What should mommy do to get this baby out?

Bubu "Go for a car ride and shake it out" *Which shows he is always listening to what we are talking about...I don't even remember him being around when we were joking about going on a bouncy car ride.

Spike AKA Ragga muffin "Daddy" *We all got a good laugh out of this one.

Atty "OUT BABY!" *I am assuming he is wanting me to shout the baby out...ha, ha!

I will be trying all of these, in order, in the next few days... ;)

My boys

Messy faces and all. I love these boys.
They are going to be the best big brothers ever!
To one lucky little baby girl...

it's offical

So when your kids make up a game where they creep up to you until you give them the "look" because you are trying to clean the house and then they run away screaming..."monster, monster"....over and over again, that should tell you something right?

I think I have officially hit the grumpy pregnant mommy mark.

Colors in the rain.

Rainy day fun...sporting just raincoats and armed with chalk, my boys had a blast!*
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Cute, silly boys. I just love them and their curious adventurous personality's.

Letting them grow means being okay with strips and polk-a-dots, or something like that...

So I'm one for encouraging my children to do for themselves by teaching them self helping skill. I think it boosts their self esteem and helps with power struggles and such. Banden has been dressing himself for quite some time, mostly from his PJ drawer, but that works for me on most days. That being said I haven't really got around to encouraging the babies to dress themselves and some how they turned two and then some and I was still dressing them. It's just easier in a lot of ways, and there is always so much to do that I just got in the habit of dressing them and moving on to the next thing. I realized what I was doing last week when Spike made it blatantly obvious he was tired of my dressing him, actually he's been doing this for a while, but last week it got pretty bad. I was getting frustrated with him and scolding him and soon enough we had a power struggle on our hands. Then the light bulb went on and I realized I was short changing him so I have been making an effort to let him do it on his own for the most part. Atty on the other hand is older then Spike (by four months) but shows no interest in dressing himself, or being dressed for that matter. He is so frustrating to dress because he will be looking everywhere but at you, and trying to reach for other stuff and wiggle away, it's like trying to dress a big really strong infant. He doesn't care though because I am doing it for him, so I am hoping that him having to do it for himself will help. So that brings us to yesterday, I was washing the dishes and they got the playroom cleaned up before I was done, so I absent mindedly told them to get themselves ready to go outside. I wasn't expecting much mostly just hoping for a distraction until I was done. Bubu found his own shirt and got dressed right away, no surprises there. Then Spike found his own clothes and completely dressed himself...a bit of a surprise. PJ's just like his brother of course. Atty on the other hand...he looked for clothes, sort of, but well he still needs some encouragement. I was pleasantly surprised though, they are all getting so big! Bubu's signature PJ's look, usually he is a freak about matching but today he went the unconventional route. Good thing we aren't going anywhere!

Atty needed some help, but he managed the pants on his own for the most part. He's learning, I'm thinking pretty soon he will have it down.

Spike got dressed completely on his own, picked it all out and put it all on. First time ever. Shirt is inside out and backwards, but he did it and that was all that mattered.

The funny part was the boots, when we went outside they put their own boots on, oh my goodness! Here is Bubu's styling his new look.

...and Atty....

...and Spike...silly kids!

I don't know about you but it's hard for me to watch them grow sometimes and let go of the control. I know it's good for them and necessary, but it's still hard. It just means they are rapidly getting bigger. I still can't let them choose their own clothes when we are going places, because well PJ's at church just doesn't work for me, but I guess at home it's good practice right?

Wishers

Make a wish...
and blow.

Dream a little dream...

and watch them go.

*

I don't know how much longer my boys will be excited at the sight of wishers, but I will treasure every moment of it.

Silly sleepers

My littlest two find themselves in the silliest sleeping arrangements.
Sometimes it's adorable.

Sometimes it's just plain strange.

But lately it's always when they are together.

Snuggling in there own special way.

They are so peaceful when they are sleeping aren't they? I find that no matter how hard our day has been when I look at their peaceful sleepy faces it all melts away and I just want to snuggle up close and soak it all in.

Practically famous...

Check this out! I couldn't get the text, but there's the picture, my mommy and boys in the Bellingham Herald. Funny thing is my mom was trying her hardest to hide from the camera and she ended up being front and center. The bummer, you can barely see Spike. My husband brought me the paper home and they are on the second page, a big ol' picture. So cute, I have to admit I'm super excited! Silly I know...

Oh and I finally figured out how to link...I feel so advanced. ;)

Testy times three

All three of my boys are going through a testy stage at the same time! Yeah me....

Examples;

Exhibit A- A few days ago Atty scaled our 5 foot fence that is surrounding the pond in 2.2 seconds...After I ran around the house to get to the gate (barefoot on gravel with my heart pounding, screaming at him like a mad women) he needless to say got in big trouble. Which apparently didn't faze him, because he tried it again the very same day! He has been determined to scale that fence since the day he saw it.

Exhibit B- Bubu has picked up the word Damn it...again (from his father) and has been slipping it in to his vocabulary randomly and in increasing dosages during this pass week. Just last night he said "Move it Damn it" to his brother. I feel like the best mom in the world.

Exhibit C- Spike is starting to throw the most horrendous fits I have ever witnessed, worse then the ones Atty throws that I thought were going to drive me bonkers. I've never seen anything like it. And it's over random little things, that I would never dream would bring on an hour long scream fest. We are talking screaming, crying, shaking, no reasoning, nothing I can do but put him in his room (over and over again) kind of fits.

Let me continue...

Exhibit D- I am making another diaper cake for someone who is having a baby shower soon. I was working on it the other night and had placed three bottles down on the table, one lotion, one bubble bath, and one oil. I made a point of telling the boys to leave the stuff on the table alone and go play. I walked away for one second assuming that my husband was watching the boys like he said he would, and the babies got into the lotion and bubble bath got the lids off and spilt them on the table in the blink of an eye. I scrapped up the contents (you do what you need to do to get the job done) and finished the majority of the cake and then very responsibly put the diaper cake safety in my room. Last night I got to take a bath for the first time in a long time. While I was in there Atty got into my room (Again while my husband was suppose to be watching him, see a pattern anyone?) got his hands on the bottle of oil that was perched on the top of the cake and spilt the WHOLE contents onto my carpet. Oil...on my carpet. The only bottle they didn't get there hands on the first time. Can't scrap that up, can't even get it out of the carpet with my carpet cleaner. So after taking a relaxing bath I went into a screaming tizzy and then got to clean my carpets before bed.

Exhibit E- I planted a bunch of tomato plants in containers on the porch, right now the boys love tomatoes to I thought it would be nice to grow some for them to eat. Plus I love fresh straight from the garden cherry tomatoes, yummy yum. After I got them all planted Atty pulled up over half of them before I had any idea what was going on. I'm serious people he is that quick.

Need I go on, or do you get the idea? On top of the big stuff, there has been a none stop flow of talking back, from all of them. Fighting with each other on a way bigger scale now. Screaming and squawking and climbing all over everything and trashing the house. Play fighting and turning everything into a gun, which I don't permit in this family, and don't allow in the daycare. I don't even know where Bubu picked it up from but he's got his brothers copying him now and they run around the house Pish, Pishing each other using anything from a toy drill to a tinker toy as a weapon. When I tell him to stop he says, we're just Pish, Pishing mom. What?

I haven't the energy for it right now. I was managing when the boys were taking turns testing me, but now they have ganged up on me and are coming at me from all angles and I totally can't handle it. Bubu was my big helper, always has been, but now he is going through some late terrible two phase (the one he skipped that I was so thankful for) and he is almost four. I thought I was in the clear, boy was I wrong. Atty and Spike have definitely decided not to skip the terrible two's phase and are diving right in.

As I said, Yeah Me!

Spring Shearing

It was time. Shaggy hair be gone. Bubu being the oldest and bravest went first. In his own words he was ready for his "ho-hawk" ...and boy does he sport a good fro-hawk! Technically not an actual mo-hawk, because I only spike the top, and the rest is shaved. I like it better that way on my boys. The orange on their faces is from the carrot juice my husband just made for them. That stuff stains!

Then there was Atty ready to go.

Ta-da! Red head fro-hawks are the best!

Then on to the littlest. Shaggiest of all!

Oh yeah! Spike of course had to have the tallest fro-hawk to live up to his nickname.

So there you have it, fro-hawk everywhere around here. If I end up having a girl this time around she might have to hide when mommy gets the itch to shave heads in the spring, or she might end up looking like the rest...ha, ha! Even my hubby got shaved, but no mo-hawk, maybe next time.