Coloring Books--my new best friends

My boys have always been fans of coloring--Henry sometimes has trouble limiting himself to just paper. I have recently discovered, though, that when they are running around like maniacs all I have to do is say, "Boys go pick out a coloring book and some crayons and sit on the floor. We are coloring!" and the craziness is gone. It's amazing! Sometimes the quiet doesn't last long, but it at least gives me a chance to get my sanity back!

I love coloring!

A Good Weekend

We had the very best outdoor weekend enjoying all of the snow. Ben and I took the boys sledding for the first time--which they absolutely loved! The boys pretty much spent the rest of the weekend playing in the back yard and warming up with some hot cocoa!

While the boys were outside playing--I'm pretty sure Luke and Henry racked up close to 8 hours outside--I spent my time inside getting random projects done as I sat by the open window keeping an eye on them. I basically had to drag them inside when it was time to come in!

One of the best things about outside weekends is just sitting down and watching the boys play. I listen to the boys a lot as they play through out the day, but it isn't very often that I get to just sit with no real distractions and listen to what they are really saying.

I love listening to them talk to each other--even how they talk to and play with Josh who desperately tries to keep up with them. It's fun to listen to what they say--I just get so much insight into how thier little minds work and they stuff that they pay attention too. It reminds me a lot of when Amy and I were little.

They didn't really talk about anything important--in fact I don't even remember very much about what they actually talked about--but I think that's how most of thier conversations are!

The good thing about weekends outside is that I step back a little bit as a momma. I let them make a mess and get dirty. I let them wrestle and play rough. If they start fighting, which isn't that often when they are outside, I make them work it out on thier own--I ususally try to stay out of it but it's a lot easier when they aren't actually in the house!

I love outdoor weekends. They are so much less stressful for everyone and those kind of lazy days at home are usually more productive in every way. I just have to resign myself to the fact that I'll have a bit of extra laundry and floor cleaning to do at the end of the day!

Josh Oliver's feet

I've been worried about Josh Oliver's feet for awhile--since about August. They really turn in quite a bit. 

Amy, our favorite physical therapist, says it's because he sits in a "W" a lot. He does really good at pulling his feet out in front of him when we remind him, but that is really the way that he loves to sit. My mom is certain that he needs to wear his shoes on the wrong feet. Amy disagrees. I had to wear mine like that for a year, but now my feet are straight so it's hard to argue too much against it. 

Josh had his two year appointment the other day. His Dr agreed with Amy and said that he should be sitting "criss-cross" more. I'm pretty sure Amy told me that, but obviously she wasn't assertive enough because I forgot. 

For the last week or two, I've been putting Josh's shoes on the wrong feet. It does help push them straight. Whenever I asked Amy about it in the past, I always felt like she was saying, "if it will make you feel better, than it won't hurt," but really not very confident in that method. I am such a worrier that I decided that I need the security of feeling like I'm making a difference. Plus, of my three boys, Henry is the only one who has nice forward pointing toes. He is also my only one who puts his shoes on the wrong feet nearly everyday. It's probably a coincidence, but one way or another I will get those feet straight!

Two!

Josh Oliver will be two tomorrow. It's exciting, but I'm also quite sad.

We had a little party for him this weekend. It was just Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles--simple, low maintenance, nice! The weather was perfect so we grilled hamburgers and then sat out by the fire and made s'mores.

Josh did excellent at ripping open his presents. He didn't really get the blowing out the candles idea, though. He had his tongue out ready to spit them out when I saved the cake and blew them out myself! It was his cake, but we all did have to eat it!

Josh is officially the coolest of the boys because he had a police car come to his party. The kids got to climb in the back and turn on the sirens. It was all very exciting for them!

The kids ran around outside and just had fun. Gillian practiced swinging kids around--you know where you hold their hands and spin around as they fly through the air. It was the funniest thing to watch. We were all but rolling on the ground ourselves! Henry pretty much would just go straight to the ground and be dragged around in a circle. He had no hesitation before he would face plant into the grass! I don't even know how many times she did it with Henry before he actually made it into the air--at least 20 times. By the end though she was doing really good. I think Henry's arms may be a little bit longer now though!

It was a really fun night. All of the kids--especially Olivia and Henry--were complete messes by the end of the party, but is it really a party if you don't end up covered in bubbles, chocolate, grass and who knows what else?

It's really fun now that Joshers can "hang" with the older boys, but I wish he would stay little for just a little bit longer.

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

The Simple Things

Last week Lucas taught me how to make ice. He came home from Gigi's house amazed that he could make it. I got down the ice cube trays and dusted them off. He showed me step-by-step how to do it. I didn't tell him that that is the way we use to always have to do it! Luke and Henry each made a tray and then proudly filled thier cups with each time they got a drink. It's funny how such simple things get them excited--although it's little sad that they didn't know how to do it before. We do love our automatic ice in the door, though!

Kiss Me!

On Saturday we went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade--I didn't even realize that they still had a St. Patrick's Day Pararde. I didn't have much of a heads up about it so we weren't very well dressed for it. Henry did happen to be wearing a semi-festive shirt, though!

I love, love, love taking the boys to parades. Lucas always makes sure that we all stand up with our hands over our hearts for all of the American flags and they always do so good at waving at everyone. It's just so fun.

.

We spent most of the time coaxing the older boys to stay back closer to the curb. They just kept inching farther and farther out. As long as Josh had candy in his mouth he was perfectly happy just sitting on the curb. Riley didn't really seem to care about any of it. She pretty much just hung out. Gigi made sure that she wasn't forgotten in all of the candy throwing, though!

I think the favorites this time were the Midian Go-Carts and the Police Cars. The boys kept waving to the police bikes that were going up and down the parade and one little girl told them that they didn't have to wave because they weren't really part of the parade. She obviously doesn't know my boys! Even the street sweeper at the end is a treat for them to see!

My theory with parades is to eat as much candy as you want while the parade is going, but once we get to the car the rest is mine--aka the trash's. Let me tell you those boys ate a lot of candy. They were shoving it in as quick as they got it. One float threw out round peppermint candies and when Henry found one he quickly gave it to me "because those are your favorites from Sonic!" I really love that he is thoughtful like that.

It was a good time. I wish I would have had time to get the kids all decked out. Oh well!

A Long Time Gone

Last week I went to New York/New Jersey for training for work. It was really nice. I loved just being able to sit in my quiet hotel room! I quickly started missing my four boys, though. It is so hard to be away from them that long--almost 6 full days. When I got to the airport I was greeted by my boys and welcome home signs they had made for me. I was so, so happy to see them!

As a side note, I wanted to bring the boys back T-shirts--they really love the ones we brought home from Jamaica so I thought it was a good idea. I couldn't find one in Josh Oliver's size so I got him a police car. I should have known, but when Henry saw it he really wanted it. He now keeps trying to convince Josh to trade. "See it fits you Josh!" That's what he said as he tried to put the shirt on Josh while grabbing the car from his hands at the same time. Henry refuses to have anything to do with the shirt. It looks like Josh ended up with two presents from NY!

Summer is Coming

Today was such a nice day out. We had all of the windows open all day to air out the house. As we were eating dinner, we suddenly heard the ice cream truck come. It was the first time this year! We all jumped up--our food half eaten--and raced outside. Ice cream always tastes better when it's bought off of a truck! It was perfect!

"It sure is a good day for the ice cream truck!"--Henry J.