This boy M

And not to neglect the firstborn, here is a little about my other peculiar son. (Peculiar is good, right? Are we not supposed to be a "peculiar people?") Again- a note of warning to those who don't want to hear about my kid.

M is now officially 5 1/2, as of a few days ago. He has a very different personality than E. Where E is fearless he is cautious, where E is stubborn, he can be talked into things, where E is quick and dirty he is slow and methodical, you get the picture. He generally follows (and sometimes becomes obsessed with) rules. He is starting to be a sort of "kid" instead of preschooler. For example, he looks a little bit awkward sometimes, his arms and legs look SO long, he has started to play a few video games, and he likes really stupid cub-scout type humor.

He likes to talk- A LOT- and has a huge vocabulary and notices a lot. It's not that I'm bragging how smart he is- this is just his area of intelligence. He could have a really long conversation with most any adult that would take the time, and loves to do the talking in groups of kids. This has recently led to his inherited trait (from DH's side, of course) of "BSing." One of his friends has reported that M knows a lot about "hiring," like "hiring people." What the? He is just making crap up and sounding like a know-it-all. Downside to this trait, but sometimes humorous.

He also has a HUGE love of the stage. I will claim this trait or not, depending on how weird it ends up making him when he's 13. We'll decide later. For now it's adorable- and way fun. I signed him up in Sept. for the group Up with kids! where he goes once a week to learn about singing, dancing, acting, and rehearse for his part in the musical "The Wonderful Witches of Oz." It is going to run in May for one night in an Elementary gym at no cost- come see! That's his big debut. He really enjoys going to the Treehouse Museum because they have "participlays," where they call you up from the audience and you dress up and say what they tell you to. He puts a lot of feeling into his parts. He has gotten chosen EVERY time we've gone, sometimes out of 100+ kids, and he's usually the lead. I have hoped he wouldn't get chosen at least once, so he can learn how to take turns and not get something "every time," but I guess he just has one of those faces, because without fail, he is called up. He is at THIS moment doing a play for E in the office. He loves attending plays and concerts as well- just can't get enough. He's been to a few musicals, a ballet, and a symphony.

He also loves watching documentaries and learning about history and science. He will be learning Spanish at his school (a Spanish immersion charter school) and is excited for that to start in the fall. He also loves Legos, which makes his daddy happy. :)

He is a good helper and very sensitive to my feelings, which is nice but I can't really hide anything from him. I don't have the stubbornness issues about clothes, hair, sleeping, etc. that I do with E, which is good since I don't think we would have had E if that had been the case!

If I had to compare- I'd say he's a young version of my cousin Jason (hey Jason!)

A few pictures of him recently- he is sometimes such a funny kid.

lego bonding
in a participlay

This boy E

(warning- if you don't like my-kid-is-so-cute posts, don't read any more- if you're his grandma/aunt, etc..- read on)

He's almost 4- in just a few weeks. He is such a hoot lately. I have way more pictures of him right now than M because he brings me the camera all the time requesting a picture to be taken. It's kind of funny how much he loves having his picture taken.

Also, he spent LITERALLY 30 minutes combing his hair yesterday. He even got out my old hand mirror to do it, then requested hairspray. I can't even imagine what he'll be like in 10 years. Maybe everyone should stop complimenting his hair.

Here are a few of the funny things from recently:

This is after the hair combing- he wanted to look like a Jedi, then take a picture. So serious.

His "world famous" smoothie stand. I love that it's only 1 cent! And he made the sign himself.

With his loot at an "easter egg" hunt (there were no eggs, at least that he found)

The same loot- out of the bag. There was more, this is only what was left.

The boys before church on Sunday. Clearly the sun was in their eyes.

Mean pirate
Again with the hair

Also note- with the exception of the above photo (pj's) you'll notice he only wears "cowboy shirts" (any shirt with a collar and at least 2 buttons) I don't know what I'll do with all the millions of t-shirts he has for summer, 'cause he won't wear them.

Flashback Friday

5 yrs. ago

Blog Header

Is my new blog header weird and/or creepy? Be honest 'cause I can change it.

Thank you for your time.

Green

Better late than never- Happy St. P's Day!

freckles

I don't know if I should I be THIS excited about my kids getting these, but I am.

A stone for Nolan

Something happened while we were on our trip. It warmed up, the snow melted enough- Nolan's headstone was installed. We ordered it in December knowing that it would be a long while before they could get it in the ground- I was actually surprised they were able to do it in February.


I am glad to have something there, it just feels better than the tile we had there temporarily. However, I can't say anyone is more excited than the boys, especially E. It always really bothered E that he didn't have a stone, then a week or so after we buried him we were visiting his grave and E spotted a hot wheel car on another little boy's stone. He has wanted Nolan to have a stone ever since then so he could do the same.

The boys had earned a new hot wheel apiece on the trip from being good in the car and they both had the idea to take these new ones to Nolan. As soon as we could get there, we went and saw it and they were excited to give him the cars.


Just some information about the stone- Yes, it has our last name on the front and our names as well as M & E's names on the back of it. I just like to keep our real names off the internet. The front says "Our little Champion" because champion is what "Nolan" means and in part why we liked it. We still think it fits him because he must have already been a champion (in another life we don't remember) to have had the short life he did. The handprints are his actual handprints- same size and everything. The guy that made it was really good, we think it was awesome he let us do custom things like that. He designed the leaves around pictures I gave him as well. I never thought I'd be helping to design a headstone for my own child, but there it is, you do what you must, and try to make the best of it.

"I'll even kiss a sunset pig, California I'm comin' home..."

A few others have beat me to it, but here's a bit more from me about the trip!

We stayed in Oceanside, CA. It was a fun town, we enjoyed walking down the (really long) pier and eating at Ruby's, which is at the end. I don't think I'd do it again though, I was getting sick with all the swaying while we ate. They had a farmer's market, which we went to 2 weeks in a row. Great music, awesome food! We rode the coaster train they have there a few times. We visited Old Town and sampled Mexican food, cactus candy, and checked out the old buildings and museums. By an odd stroke of luck, my kids got to see all 4 of their grandparents on this trip as well as a cousin they don't see often!

We enjoyed 2 days at theme parks, one at Legoland and one at Disneyland. E was pretty much the cutest thing at the Jedi Training Camp show. He was the smallest one and he kept having trouble with his lightsaber. The host incorporated it into the show and it was really funny. We got soaking wet on Splash Mountain, but were rewarded with a really good picture for my mom to buy. M wasn't tall enough to go on Indiana Jones, but was proud that he braved Pinochio, Haunted Mansion, and Snow White, all of which I stayed off with a scared E. E went on all the mountains, and wasn't a fan of Space Mtn, but loved Thunder and we did it again. Legoland was right up our alley (well, not me) The DH loved it as much as the boys, and we had a nice-paced day there riding all things Lego. I thought the jousting horse ride was adorable.

Don't worry, we made time to do a bunch of educational "school" type things while there too. February is museum month in San Diego county, so we got to attend the Science Center & Birch Aquarium for 1/2 price. We had a lot of fun exploring at those places. We also visited the newly remodled Mormon Batallion museum. It is very well done, with a new hands on area where the kids panned for gold. I would highly recommend it to those interested. It is in old town, just off the main street.

We were all were spoiled. At Downtown Disney with new build-a-bears, which they dressed as a Jedi and Woody the cowboy. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory in "Fashion Island" and I used some Christmas money to get a beautiful bracelet in Carlsbad. The boys had been earning money for the trip and had fun spending it in the Lego store. We also had a fun time antiques shopping and enjoyed the Orange County Swap meet.

And we won't forget the beach. There were many trips to the beach just a block from our condo, which included kite flying, getting knocked over by waves (rattling Grammy's nerves) playing in the sand, and collecting sea shells. We enjoyed a brief visit to the beach on Coronado island as well as the last request of my sister before she flew home. DH was happy to be able to join us for the weekend, and we sure missed him the rest of the time!

We stayed in St. George on the way home, making the return trip in 2 days instead of the one we'd done on the way there. We stayed at one of my mom's friends' houses, and the boys really enjoyed the ride around the block in her golf cart.

These pictures aren't in order or anything, and sorry this is so long!

My little beach bum.
My parents flying kites just down from our condo.

Monkey boy
Right where we watched them feed the sharks

What I decided I don't want to look like when I get really old

See the Hotel Del Coronado in the background?

E fighting Darth Vader
This shows how tiny he looked next to the other boys, I thought it was funny

Having a great time at the happiest place on earth

He insisted that his mouse ears could hear the music in Whit's headphones

Dad bought us cactus candy to try

Panning for gold at the Mormon Battalion exhibit

Eating mexican all together- this is the biggest group we had for about 3 days

Dressing their new bears at Build-a-Bear Downtown Disney

On the Coaster train

Yummiest churros at the Oceanside Farmers' Market

Pops getting a kite in the air when we visited their condo, just down the street from ours

Playing on the beach with cousin M

Science Center in San Diego- it was supposed to hold a ball in the air, but E liked it on his hair

Legoland horse ride

All 3 of my Lego-maniacs in front of the Castle area they loved so much