A Tour of Great Grandpa's Lake

Today, the boys and I decided to walk down to the lake on my Grandpa's farm.

They always beg me to walk them down there, but it's a treat I save for really nice days.

Henry was our tour guide on the trip.

He pointed out landmarks and things that he thought might interest us (tractors, the lake, the snake bush). He also gave us little facts along the way. Josh and I heard a lot of, "You may like to take a picture of....", "As you can see....", and "If you'll just look over there..."

I don't think he's actually been on a lot of those type of tours himself, but he used very official sounding language!

The boys each took along a bowl of animal crackers--a staple at Grandpa's--to feed the fish. Last time we walked down there we found 5-6 caterpillars--each one was left an animal cracker to eat. They were hoping to find more today, but we had no such luck. We did see a frog, though!

Henry was concerned about all the gun shells on the ground. He wanted to pick them all up so that the geese didn't accidentally eat them. I told him, maybe another day! There are a ton!

The best thing about those walks is just letting the boys run free; although, Josh Oliver usually spends half the time crying because he wants to be carried!

Now that it's back to being warmer we will have to walk down there more often.

Next time, though, we'll have to bring bags for the shells!

Library Books

Lucas got to sign up for a library card last week.

It was a really exciting day!

He was definitely ready for is own card. Not only is he old enough and responsible enough for one of his own, but he is also ready to move beyond our home library. It is quite massive, but it just doesn't have enough "older" kid books in it.

I have quickly learned that I need to make sure chapter/longer books are going to be good ones before we buy them. A lot of times I read them aloud to all of the boys, and, while I can handle reading a bad picture book over and over again, I don't like investing an hour or two re-reading a terrible chapter book. Not good books are a waste of money and my voice!

That means that the library is our new best friend!

I didn't really take the boys to the library much when they were smaller. It was just too stressful. I love that we have now rediscovered it!

We already have quite the list of books that we want to check out, not to mention the little gems we come across when we are just browsing! Basically, we are lucky that Luke has a card just so that we can check out twice as many books!

Three

Josh Oliver turned 3 on Tuesday.

He'd been waiting months for that day. Months!

As soon as he woke up that morning Henry gave him the once over and assured us that he was definitely 3 now. (He knew because of how much taller Josh was than the night before!)

Josh lucked out and had swim lessons that day. There is nothing better than getting to bring treats to class on your actual birthday so everyone can celebrate with you! He was excited about it!

Other highlights of his day included:

• going to lunch with Daddy and Henry

• a trip to George's shop (the boys' favorite hangout spot)

• opening up presents--including artwork from each of his brother's

• not only getting to eat dinner at Freddy's, but getting to eat outside at Freddy's

• Almost getting a cookie cake that said "Happy Birthday Josh All Over" (I'm really glad I double checked what she was about to write!)

I think he had a pretty good birthday.

Unfortunately the fun ended right before bedtime when he got caught standing on the top bunk and wildly peeing all over Luke and Henry's bedroom floor. What an excellent way to start off being 3!?

The Rough Life of Cowboys

The boys came across these cowboy statutes at my parent's house.

Henry, especially, fell in love with them and Grandpa J let him bring them home.

Yesterday, Henry ran into his room to get something and suddenly he let out the most shrill scream.

I raced into his room as fast as I could--having no idea what horrible thing I was going to find. Sadly, I found the two cowboys lying on the ground with bits shattered off of them.

Henry was mortified! He was in such shock that one had lost it's head and that there were bits of plaster all over the floor. Josh was the culprit--he just knew it.

Josh, who had tagged along behind Henry into the bedroom, didn't have any problems owning up to what he had done. I don't think it was on purpose, but it would have been nice to see a bit more sympathy from him!

All is well, now.

The head has been glued back on. Most of the chunks have been replaced and I think I can tint the areas of white plaster that couldn't be fixed.

Even a bit beat up, they are still loved!

St. Patrick's Day

Gigi and I took the boys to the St. Patrick's Day Parade last Saturday.

Henry was the only one of the three boys who got really decked out for it.

I can't imagine why Luke only wanted to wear the beads!

Lucas the Writer

Lucas has been making a lot of books lately.

They started off as just short ones with no pictures. He's now making longer books, with colored pictures and interesting facts!

Here is a few pages from his book about soccer.




He's considering making a bunch to sell or donating some to the library so that other kids could read them.

He's thoughtful like that!

He also has another book that's titled Secret Stuff.

It's all about him.

He was apparently angry with one or both of his brothers when he wrote it. On another page, though, he listed me as one of his friends!

I also found this letter a month or two ago:

His spelling and grammar are terrible, but it translates to this:

Dear Issac,

The worst show I ever seen is iCarly.

I have a crush on Rhys and Abigail.

The wildest person I ever seen is my brothers.

The worst sport I ever seen is volleyball and tennis.

The best food I ate is Taco Bell and McDonald's.

Look at the bottom. You can write whatever you want.

I'm not sure why he never gave it to Issac, but I'm glad I found that little gem.

It cracks me up and offers such insight!

Amazingly he always does awesome on his spelling tests. I'm not sure exactly what happens when he's writing just for the heck of it! We are going to work on it--that and writing neatly!

Josh Oliver--Right Now

• Josh Oliver has decided that he likes to share his daddy's toothbrush. It grosses Ben out beyond belief! Josh says it's okay if he uses it because he is also willing to share his own with Daddy! Since Ben found out just how often his toothbrush is being "borrowed" it has since disappeared from the toothbrush holder.

• He currently likes to pretend that he is either a dog or a cat. He meows or barks at us, crawls on the floor, and occasionally gives a lick or two. He's my only one who has ever done that. I'm hoping it passes quickly.

• Although I keep trying to hide it from him, Josh keeps appearing with a two-sizes-to-small-for-him Santa hat on his head. He also has been insisting that he wear his army crocs which are a bit to small for his feet, but on the flip side, he also frequently wears Luke's rainboots which are way to big for him. At our house, we pay no attention to sizes.

• He always wears his underwear backwards. Henry use to do that a lot just because he didn't take the time to look at the tag. Josh, however, insists that he has them on the right way because he thinks he should be able to see the big pictures that are suppose to go on the bum. It's a decent argument.

• Today was the first time he saw Aunt Michele with her new hair-do--or just plain lack of hair. He wasn't a fan of it. He then spent the rest of the lunch making pirate faces at her and saying "Aye-Aye Matey." We all decided that he must have thought she was dressing up like a pirate because she had a scarf on her head the way the boys do when they play pirates. We all had a good laugh about it!

• Most nights he has been waking up around midnight and crawling into bed with us. Sometime he stays up for a couple of hours. I have learned to make him go potty before he is allowed in bed, otherwise I risk waking up in a puddle of pee thanks to stolen sips from drinks by our beds. (Other than that he has been 100% potty trained since the end of December!)

• He is now super self sufficient. He gets himself dressed and undressed, can get his own drinks and snacks (thanks to some helpful kitchen reorganizing a few months back), puts away his clothes, is learning to make his own bed, lets the dogs in and out for us, and is just all around helpful when he is in the right mood. Life is so much smoother now that everyone is in "big boy" mode.

• Everything is currently revolving around his birthday. If you offer him a drink, or a bite of your food, or a crayon, he asks if you are giving it to him for his "birfday". If that's the level of birthday presents he wants, he is going to be super excited on his actual birthday! Today, however, was the first day that he actually told someone he was going to be 3. Before, he would argue, "no, I'm goin' be 2".

• He's developed a laid back attitude when being punished, especially when we are out in public. Several times now, after he's been pulled away from the excitement for a couple of minutes, I have asked him if he's ready to go back and behave and he just casually tells me no. I haven't really figured out how to handle that yet. Usually he's willing to wait longer that I am, but I have to give him credit for being honest.

• He has collected up every loose battery in the house and has been carrying them around in a suitcase for the last two or three weeks. It seems very irresponsible of us to let him keep them, but they really are quite a treasure to him, plus he just looks so darn cute waddling around with that heavy suitcase!

Hanging Out with the Food

Henry and Josh Oliver have found a new hangout spot in the house.

For the last couple of months they have been sitting in the pantry with their pillows and blankets with the door shut.

They are careful to move the bread and chips so nothing gets crushed, so at least that's good!

I don't really know what they do in there except quietly hangout and eat whatever treat they come across.

A couple of times I have been doing something in the kitchen, assuming the boys were playing downstairs. Then I'll hear some rustling or go to put something away in the pantry and there they are. It was strange at first, but now I've gotten use to it.

It's really a pretty good hangout spot from my perspective. There really isn't a big mess that needs to be cleaned up and they are quiet and contained while they are in there!

The Three-Ringed Circus

On Tuesday night, Luke had a music program for school.

It was circus themed and it was fabulous!

(Really, it is by far my favorite program yet!)

I helped out in Luke's class earlier in the day and all the kids were so excited and nervous about it. They kept telling me little bits about what they were going to do and asking how much longer until the program and if I was going to go to the rehearsal. It was a really fun afternoon, and made me even more excited to see what sort of a show they were going to put on!

When we got there the other two boys were so excited to see all the kids dressed up like clowns, lions, elephants, and, our favorite group, the concession vendors. As they were all coming out, the boys were so excited that you would have thought we took them to a real circus!

It didn't take Luke long to scope us out in the crowd. He just kept waving to us and we all just kept waving back. Josh even hollered "Hi, Lucas!" It was great!

Luke's favorite song was one where they got to make all sorts of silly faces--he had been practicing what he was going to do--and of course the popcorn song when he got to try to peddle his goods. He did a good job and sang pretty loudly throughout most of it!

Afterwards we decided to celebrate with some ice cream at Marble Slab where Lucas was surprised/grossed out that the raspberry ice cream that he picked out actually tasted like raspberry.

It was a super fun night. Luke was so proud and we were so proud of him!