melting away

I realized I have a lot of pictures to post of what has been going on around our house and that I have neglected a family update in a while.  So I will just jump right in.
I want to start by sharing two new additions to our house.  These are two projects I have been working on. and owe a big *thanks* to Curt Brinkmann for building the coat rack for me and for the picture wall.  Here they are.

our new picture wall and new living room arrangement

our entry way coat rack

I used chalkboard paint and magnetic paint

i hung the hooks low enough so the kids could hang their own coats

Carter has been very entertaining lately.  Some of the things he says makes me wonder what his brain thinks about all day.  One night at dinner Chad and I were talking about swimming with the dolphins and how that is on my bucket list.  Carter grew concerned that the dolphins would "eat" us, but when I reassured him they were usually nice he then asked if he could swim with them.  Chad piped in and told him he could swim with the dolphins when he was married with his own kids.  We of course start laughing, when he crossed his arms across his chest and says "I am never going to buy me a wife!"  Hopefully if he changes his mind, wives are going for pretty cheap.  Carter has also been singing a lot more.  He will sing songs her learned in preschool or him and Camden still regularly sing Christmas carols.  He has also been big into playing with a stuffed monkey (that is a dog toy) pretending that it is monkey from Ku Fu Panda.  He flies that monkey all over the house and it is *always*  accompanied by sound effects.  He can play with that monkey for hours.  He has also been very eager to put on his pajamas and asks a lot throughout the day if he can put them on.  His favorite pair are his Darth Vader ones (you know, the low quality character jammies) and will often ask me to wash them right after he is done with them so he can wear them again.  He also insists that Chad wear his Star Wars T-shirt when he has on those pajamas.  I also wanted to mention in case I haven't before that he *loves* to wear any pair of argyle socks which he calls his super hero socks.  The great thing about him wanting to wear different things and change is that he does a good job putting things back and not making more laundry for me.  I really appreciate that! One last thing I want to add is that the other day I asked Carter if he would go down and get the level for me.  He said "I don't know if I know what that is." So I told him it was the thing with the bubbles in it and it was straight like a ruler.  About 5 minutes later he emerged from the basement carrying the level!

fort for his animals

he wanted a picture with spider man hanging from the window

crazy hair day at preschool

helping me paint the new coat rack

Camden is so ready for school.  I can't wait for him to start.  He likes it when we ask him what certain letters are what things say.  He loves reading and we find him alone with a book quite often.  He has also taken interest in putting on his own clothes by himself.  He used to do it if we made him, but preferred our help.  Now he takes pride in doing it by himself, usually.  He is a good big brother to Callan when Carter is away.  He makes sure Callan has the toys he wants or will give him his water when he asks.  Both of the boys do a pretty good job of making sure Callan is involved, sometimes too involved when it comes to wrestling.  I have also noticed that Camden starts the wrestling matches a lot with both Carter and Callan.  We see him breaking out of his shell more especially when he is at the YMCA child watch.  He has his friends there and usually jumps right in playing with the other kids.  He is also pretty good about telling me what he did there and who he played with.

animal pillow fort

playing with Callan

Callan is a new boy, or at least a big boy.  He no longer has his binky!  What a glorious day, and a sad day for me.  It just means another step away from him being a baby.  Even though I am sad that my baby is growing up, I see such a fun future with all the boys being able to do so many more things than nap, eat, and change diapers.  The binky removal was pretty easy.  The only hard part was for about a week he took terrible naps, but nighttime was fine.  Now we are back to our new normal without a binky!  This boy has shown some major personality lately.  First of all he has *no* fear. None!  He adores his big brothers which means he wants to do anything and everything they do.  He can climb the ladder on the bunk beds (which we have to take down to prevent spinal cord damage, or the possibility of him having a claw) he tries to go down the stairs head first (which the older boys refer to it as a "cocoa puff", why? I don't know)  He will climb all over the furniture, hang off the end of our bed, jump off the couch down stairs and pretty much anything else he observes his brothers doing.  It is amazing to me how much he mimics them.  He fits right in to their wrestling matches and can hold his own pretty well.  I am placing bets now that he will be the next one to break an extremity or need stitches.  His understanding of the english language also astounds me.  I don't know if it is because he has two older siblings who are always talking to him and interacting with him but he can do almost any task you give him.  He really enjoys brushing his teeth and getting his hair combed like the older boys.  He runs into the bath room to be first in line.  He is also doing better at using utensils.  He gets practice every morning with his oatmeal.  He is also still into opening all the cupboards and drawers which can be a little annoying, but he is pretty good about putting things back when we ask.  He is however showing us how stubborn he really can be.  I hope it is not a prediction of our future.  I really enjoy this age as they start to discover language and I love the interactions he has with the dogs and his brothers.  He is saying more words now as well.  I will try and list out all that he is saying.  bye bye, mama, dada, Nase, Tatze, Carter, Camden, please, sorry, cookie, love you, brother, ouch, no no, and water.  Their may be a few more but I can't think of them right now.  He has also started giving kisses.  He makes the cutest kissing noise!

helping dad dust the refrigerator (once again sarah, don't hate me, at least this time we were cleaning it) 

eating his oatmeal with a spoon

he found mommy's shoes

snow ice cream made with tang.  they did not appreciate it as much as  i did when i was a kid

sorry for the bad quality photo.  i let them play with glow sticks in the bath tub and the lights were out.

our awesome marble run we built

making some music

home made cannoe

Valentine's Fun

We had a busy Valentine's Day today.  The day started with the boys going to the children's museum with Tonya and her kids for a little while and then I joined them with Callan after the Gym.  We ate lunch there and played a little more then headed home for a nap and quiet time.  Then the boys got a pancake dinner with heart shaped pancakes and a visit from both sets of grandparents.  It must have been an "angry bird" kind of a day because they boys got a stuffed angry bird from the Scribner grandparents and my parents brought over angry bird cookies.  Needless to say they had a great time.

at the museum with their friends

ava and callan

face paint

in the tree house

part of dinner

angry bird cookies

Sesame Street Live

On Sunday Carter and Camden got to go with Al and Karen to Sesame Street Live again this year.  They had been looking forward to it for a while now.  After last year they would ask every now and then when they would be able to go back.  They were suppose to go on Saturday but we got a big snow storm and the roads were not clear enough.  But they were able to get into the Sunday show and even got to eat at McDonalds after which is also a favorite activity for our kids.  Thanks Scribner Grandparents for taking the kids, they loved it.

Trip to Pioneers Gymnastics

Carter got to go on a field trip to Pioneers Gymnastics on Friday.  I was able to go while my mom watched the other kids.  I was really impressed with how they handled so many preschoolers.  They had several stations for the kids to try out different things including a bounce house, zip line, trampoline, and foam pit.  The owner did great with kids and Carter had a blast.  Here are some pictures I took. Sorry for the low quality ones.  My big camera died on me so I had to use my phone.

doing a pike sit

they were doing a spin turn

waiting for his turn on the zip line

fun in the foam pit

part of the obstacle course

snack time!

working on the beam

jumping into the big foam pit from the trampoline 

bouncing

all of the classes together

way over due...

I keep meaning to write this blog update but something always comes up.  So I finally made myself sit down and type.  We have been enjoying the sporadic days of nice weather.  We had a little bit of snow fall this past week but we also had a nice few days.  We even got all of the boys outside to build a snowman.  We haven't had any super exciting events happening over here.  Carter had pajama day at preschool and we go on a field trip on Friday.  The kids are still enjoying the child watch at the YMCA and have made some new friends.
Carter has been very observant lately.  Here are some of the things he told me lately.  While eating his ham sandwich at lunch he pulled the meat out and said "mom, do you know where this *turkey* comes from?" I said "where?"  "It comes from a real live animal, you know, a turkey"  He also told us that some people have white skin and some people have black skin.  This was after preschool so they must have talked about it in school.  He has taken a huge liking to gum.  He asks for it almost everyday.  I usually let him chew it during quiet time, so now he looks forward to it.  He is very good about throwing it in the trash when he is done and making sure it never leaves his mouth unless it is in the trash.  He has also been in to art a lot lately.  Most days he asks me if he can do some sort of art during quiet time.  He chooses different projects every day and has been very creative.  We have also started playing *I spy* in the car which both Carter and Camden enjoy.

those are his superhero socks

Camden is maturing more and more.  He is doing so much more for himself and is often trying things on his own.  We still have daily bouts of "I can't do it" but once we sit down and work with him he does it.  We also got to the end of the M&M jar for going potty.  We told Camden that once they were gone, we were done.  It took him several days to stop asking for them because he was so used to it.  We told him he was a member of the big boy club now that doesn't get treats for going to the bathroom.  But when Callan started potty training he would get them.  So now if he catches himself asking for M&M's he quickly says, "Callan will get them when he goes on the potty!"  I am sure I have mentioned it on the blog before but Camden is a creature of habit.  He loves it when is world is just how predicted it.  The boys loves his schedule.  I think he will be more type A like his father. :)

a favorite past time

Callan is loving life.  Our little man is always laughing and smiling.  When he wakes up the first thing he does is look for his brothers and then the dogs.  He has a special bond with Tatze, but he says Nase's name all the time.  He spends lots of time bothering the pugs and sitting by them petting them gently.  He is really good with them now so they usually sit and let him mess with them.  Tatze *loves* him because he feeds her.  He thinks it is hilarious to let her lick his hand and then eat more food off of his tray.  Disgusting! It is probably the only reason she tolerates him.  He is also into monkey see-monkey do.  He wants nothing more than to be like his big brothers. He will try anything they do.  It is sweet to see but it has led to some unhappy endings as well.  He does a great job of entertaining himself or finding someone to play with.  He is talking more and saying words like bye, ball, please, thank you, mama, dada, Nase, door, love you, brother, and binky.  He has also starting to give kisses.  If you ask for one, he will make the smacking noise and lean in.  So sweet!  I have also turned into the epitome of  a mom with third child syndrome.  It is time to take away the binky from Callan but I just can't do it.  He loves it, calls it by name, and will sign and please when you lay him down.  It calms him down and make him happy, which makes it hard for me to take away.  I am totally being sucked in.  I know that it will only get worse, especially because he knows it by name and asks nicely for it.  It will be gone by 18 months but for Carter is was gone by 9 or 10 months and Camden was by 13-14 months.  I just pray it goes smoothly.

he loves to climb in here, but often gets stuck. (please ignore the horrific layer of dust, and Sarah please don't disown me as friend after seeing that)

I caught him enjoy his water and book. He was proud of himself  for sneaking the water out of the kitchen

I heard him fussing one day and told him to come upstairs.  He kept fussing and wouldn't come. I looked down the stairs and found him stuck in the basket

That is about all with us.  I am very excited because I am redoing the living room with some new big pictures.  The wonderful Curt Brinkman, helped me out and I can't wait to see them.  It also meant rearranging the living room a bit so they would have a big wall to be on.  Stay tuned for pictures when they arrive.  Until then enjoy the pictures

Their snowman named frosty