Are we having fun yet?: the bigger kids

We had a lot of excitement with the bdays. As soon as they woke up, T said, "which day is it?" I asked him back and he said he it was sunday and he was already one year older. They loved the surprises around the house. The hearts with messages on the mirror by Grandma, the paper chains put up by aunt B, the flowers and bday girl/boy signs on their chairs.

I let them have smoothie and chocolate bread for breakfast made with the smoothie juice Papa had bought them. Got to start the day off right with chocolate. Then we had cream cheese and salsa for snack, in addition to the fabulous dinner. They polished it all off very quickly.

I asked W what the best part of her birthday was and she said "watching Grandma put lots and lots of sprinkles on one of my cupcakes". T didn't respond much to his favorite part. Probably because all of it is the answer. He loved his chef apron and took the pieces out of the squirrel game to use it to cook. He also already claimed the miniature Hello Kitty piece from her Hello Kitty store. He hit E for chewing on his Hello Kitty spatula. He also loved his Thomas water colors and stickers.

W so very carefully decorated her cupcakes she painstakingly made with Aunt B. She placed each individual sprinkle evenly on all of her cupcakes. T was done faster, so he gobbled up his two cupcakes and shared with the rest of us while W kept decorating. They were perfect. W also perfectly filled in her water color page. T poured the batter into his cupcake liners perfectly. So there.

Another part we enjoyed was dinner together. We had red cabbage, home made bread and brats. Papa asked T if he wanted some chicken. He started saying that from a year ago when the big kids called any meat chicken. W corrected him and said "Papa, no. It is bratwurst." W also informed me that I needed to eat my orange before eating my chips and salsa. Sigh. She's right. I told her they had to

They had their first day of big kid primary today. I really talked it up, telling them how I loved singing time and the smaller but bigger chairs just for me to sit in. I topped it all off with telling them that they could go to the bishop's office for candy, now that they are in Primary. He asks them all to line up and tell him what they learned in Primary in exchange for a coin to work his candy machine. It is all overwhelming and exciting. Their Primary teachers said they paid a lot of attention to the lessons and LOVED the singing time, especially T. Apparently he couldn't take his eyes off of the singing leader or the sharing time teacher. T told Grandma that he "got too big for his nursery class, so he got to go to big kid class".

Going into church, one of the men opened the door for us. T looked at him and said "Thank you gentleman!" so politely, just like I say to him. It made the guy laugh!

The fun never stops. Grqndma and aunt b in town makes for a one t one ratios adults to kids. So we got tons done and had lots of fun. Grandma had her day with w. they made q tip trees heart shaped for valentines day. Then they went to panera bread where w ate Mac n cheese and had a side of yogurt. I asked my mom to go to michaels to return something for me. Should have known that grandma and w would get distracted with all the cute valentine craft ideas. They came back with more than what I sent them out for.

E also had a big day. He started moving about three steps or three crawls. Finally. His motivation? W's hello kitty convenience store toy that has tons of stuff too small for him to even touch. The folded laundry next to aunt b. and the acorns out of the sneaky snacks squirrel game, also a perfect chocking hazard. Even with all the work, they also got to play on the trampoline and wings at a neigh it's house while ran errands with e and aunt b.

T kept up with his working hard. He squirted all the toilets and mirrors and windows. I suggested it to him and he started to doing it unsupervised. So the windows were very very clean with lots of "rain" on it. All in all, though, he got out the right cleaner and knew the basic idea. He also helped me paint by painting with water in the shower while I painted the trim in my room with realaint. Every time he needed a water refill, he asked me for a hug. I was so charmed.

Tonight they were wild from playing swing backwards off papa's back to sleep soon. So I asked who was going to sleep in mommy and daddy's tonight. T immediately volunteered. When I went in to snuggle him, he told me which pillow to use. He said papa's pillow was dirty from papa's hair, so I could share his.

T had his day with Grandma. He chose to have lunch with grandma and play trains. But then he ended up playing sneaky snacky squirrel because he saw mommy and W playing it during his train time with grandma. Grandma took him to Red Robin and only ate fries and ketchup. He ate the whole order of fries. My mom thought she would take some home. Hmph. Not on your life.

While they were out, someone commented on how cute Mom's son was. Mom said he was her grandson. The lady said my mom didn't look like a grandma. T is a bit confused as to why she would say that. He has repeated the phrase a bit off and on today, so I asked him tonight before bed who he thought grandma looked like. He said "either the helper man (cashiers at the supermarket) or the bank lady" I have no idea where he gets this stuff because I only go to the ATM. No bank lady there, but whatever. The ATM I go to is at a bank where there is a lady on the other side of the window??!!

Later Grandma was knocking on the door and asked them "Is there is a princess in here?" W said "No! Not at all!" It always cracks us up how they say certain things. I have no idea why they do because we don't talk like that, but they do.

They have been interested in learning Spanish words for things. They say "How do you call ______ in Spanish?" I tell them and they copy it. Another thing W will say is "what is ___________ out of Spanish?" T has also started teaching J a few words in Spanish. T will tell J such and such is _____ in Spanish. Today he heard Grandma say "uh-hmmm". He said "uh-hmmm is yes in Spanish!" True, but it made my mom laugh.

I asked aunt B what her favorite part of today was. She said sneaky snacky squirrel.

W has been having fun making valentine décor with grandma. Grandma started making a heart garland for the fire place. W asked for a heart for her room. Grandma said she could make a small garland for her room. W was very excited about that. It was up in time for bed. W asked me to take down her flowers because "those were for my birthday and my birthday is over now." Then she asked grandma to put it lower where her flowers were so she could look at it while she was sleeping.

My mom was putting on her shoes when W noticed her earrings. "Grandma. I like your earrings. They are cute!" She so loves bling. Poor thing. Good thing she has grandma because her mom just doesn't think about that!

W amazes me. She cut a fairly straight line using scissors. She was so upset that it wasn't perfect. "I didn't cut along the track, mom!" But it was so close! She also did a better job writing than I knew she was capable of. It looks great!

Sneaky snacky squirrel game is played a lot in this house. So one day I tried to take advantage of the one on one time with Tucker and speak only in Spanish to him while playing. Only problem it that I didn't know the words for squirrel or acorn. When I said I didn't know, T said "maybe we should get the ipad so we can know" Good idea T. Wonder where you learned that. Papa will be proud to hear

Then he decided to play sneaky snacky so that woof woof could be a player. We stopped playing once Woof Woof and T both had won.

T and I went to the grocery store ourselves today. When we walked in I told him we were looking for pumpkin. Once we found it, he told me "now we are looking for cheerios. And grapes for Whitney because she wants some". This morning we didn't have any cheerios left for breakfast. And he remembered. I thought it was cute he remembered what W wanted for breakfast this morning, too.

We made pesto today together. I asked him to help me by being my chef. He got an apron for his birthday and loves it. He also loves the Hello Kitty spatula and the "fire" spatula. The fire spatula is the IKEA spatula. And he is right. The design does look like a flame. When we were done using the spatula, he really wanted it cleaned so he could play with it in the playroom, too.

We went to the park. Downright balmy 41 degrees and very foggy. But the water was still and there was no wind. W really wanted to check out all the different trails. The honey suckle had a great smell and we loved smelling it together.

T had a great time riding around on "fire". E thought it was so funny when we would "shunt" T on his bike back up the hill.

I have tried to get my kids to efficiently wipe their bottom. I really don't like cleaning skid marks, so I "check" when they are done, for any left overs. Today was an especially successful day. T was so proud! He said " I'm learning to wipe my bottom like a PAPA!" We talk about how they practice different things at home so when they grow up, they will know how to do it. And this is just another skill.

E is on the move. He consistently crawls a couple of feet several times a day. He is especially skilled when it comes to getting toys of T and W. Nothing gets him crawling faster. Their toys are so much cooler than his!

E also finally got his own room. My mom and I took apart the desk in his room and moved it. I thought it would be easier. J knew it was difficult. No wonder he was dragging his feet on it. But it's out!

E loves to feel soft material and suck his finger. We love how he snuggles! He loves to play wild and be flung around. And be naked. And the sound of an exaggerated "p".

T and W were playing "which CD do you have?" They were asking each other that question. What got me laughing was T answered W "I have spaghetti (on top of spaghetti), rock a by meow meow, and bammy" Totally made up. And I have to laugh because they don't particularly care for any other music except theirs when they are in the car. T even knows its "Papa's music" when he sees the numbers for the radio station pop up on the screen.

I took them rock climbing for the first time. They didn't like it as much as I thought they would. Before we even left the house, W asked if Papa was going to come and T wanted Papa there so he could "check to make sure it is safe". They were excited to try it and have their turn, but when they got to about the level of my head, they didn't want to go any higher. It might be because they felt like they were going to fall. My mom also tried it for the first time. I couldn't stop laughing because of what she said. She told me that she didn't like it because the rock things were not big enough to stand on. I'm still laughing writing this. I tried to explain to her that the reason people like climbing gyms is for the challenge and difficulty in the smaller grips. She wasn't impressed and said she didn't like her "gecko" experience. I still can't keep a straight face about this paragraph! At least they all gave it a whirl.

E is totally into peekaboo now. Every time his siblings come running into the room, he laughs hysterically, thinking they are playing peek a boo with him!

We've been back and forth to the airport 4 times in the past week with my mom, sister and hubby all coming and going. Every time we go, W remembers she went on the train for her 3 year old birthday and how, for her 5 year old birthday, she wants to go on the train again.

W doing a head stand. They are into head stands at the moment. Her head is in a diaper box with all the diapers in it except one package removed. E thinks this is ridiculous