Welcome to our home...

I would like to introduce you to my family. We are superheroes. We each have our own special abilities, but those can change at any given time. As with any superhero, we crash landed here from other planets. We are a family, and we look out for each other.
There is the father figure, The Hulk at times, but mostly known as Thing from The Fantastic Four. We don't know yet which planet he comes from.
There is the mother figure. She can fly at super fast speeds. She loves flowers and color. She comes from the planet of Neptune.
The greatest duo of all time comes to us from the Sun. Their powers change as the situation calls. Usually Lava Boy (also known as Fire Ball Fire) has the power of fire with the occasional power of speed. He is Dash (from the Incredibles) and lightning mixed together. He can go "20 silent" miles per hour. That is very fast. The other half of that duo is much more flexible. He can be strong, have "guns" for arms, spit fire, and amazing speed. He goes by many aliases.
The smallest member of our super hero family, is Yoda. He speaks in gibberish, but has eyes that mean buisness, and he gets the job done. Whether he is swinging a light saber at an arch enemy or "playing" basketball, our little Yoda is always on the go.  He can be on top of the cabinets in a flash, or making sure we have throughly toddler proofed the house, our little Yoda is always thinking one step ahead of everyone else, ensuring the safety of all those who enter our home.

Our family is out there, every day, saving the world from the likes of dragons and ninjas. Don't worry all you princesses, we are coming to your rescue!

Boys and Bathrooms

There is a really cool place in every building we go in. It's this thing called the Restroom. Beware, Mommy will tell you it's not clean, ask you if you reeeaally have to go, and even beg you to hold it just a little longer. Don't give in, you will miss all the fun. If she gets persistent, just hold yourself and whine, maybe jump up and down a little, that helps.

Every one is different. Some have these handles that make the toilet make this super loud noise, no matter how many times you push it. Some of them make that noise when you stand up. This is REALLY cool, in some of these Restroom places, they have toilets hanging on the wall! You stand there and go potty, right there on the wall!! They are awesome!! (note- if Daddy is with you, he will tell you not to look at anyone or talk while you use the special wall toilets - he's kind of weird that way, mommy talks all the time in the Restroom thing.) 

Ok, when as you are leaving, there are sinks, you can just ignore those, they're just like the ones at home. Boring!! 

Good Luck, and have fun!!

-The Boys-

Random Funnyness

My kids are always saying things I think are just hilarious and they often don't warrant an entire post. I have gathered a few here for your enjoyment.

At a restaraunt my husband had something called fried mandu (spelling could be wrong) and we were discussing what it might taste like when Tyler offered this explanation: 

Did they fry a man using the bathroom?

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Isaac: What's inside my belly button?

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Nick: ball ball ball (much cuter when you hear it, but I just couldn't bear to leave him out!)

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Tyler: Teacher aren't super heroes

Daddy: Yes they are, if there were not teachers how would you learn?

Tyler: The Internet

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Isaac: When I put on my sunglasses all the girls will scream and hug me, but don't worry, momma, they are just my friends.

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Tyler's teacher: If I have 9 dogs and they all have two ears, how many ears do you think I will have?

Tyler: 18...That's multiplication....It's 9 groups of 2

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Nick: Tdown (touchdown-arms raised in the air)

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Tyler: My butt just burped!

Sometimes I wish...

Sometimes I wish for hair to brush and put little bows in, Mary Janes to buckle, or tights to put on. I long for a someone to paint toenails with, talk fashion with, or deal with mood swings.

 I wish at times I could convince my husband to have just one more, on the off chance we would have that elusive girl.

 

 

 

Then again, maybe I'm content!

Free at Last!!

At last!! The sun was shining today! Not a cloud in sight. And this was not the pretend sun we saw today, you know the one that shines but doesn't actually warm anything up. This was the WARM sun!! It must have been almost 50 degrees outside!

After these years weeks of being forced to stay inside by mother nature herself, we let ourselves free this afternoon for a spring like romp through the muddy and still slightly snow covered yard. We giggled and ran and slid in the snow/mud, then giggled some more. It felt as if our winter blues had been warmed with the sun and were floating away like a balloon.

The trees stretched in the warmth of the sun, their branches reaching and begging for more. The birds all seemed to be talking at the same time,no doubt excited for the chance to get some food from the ground.Their wings spread wide, opening up to the sky as they soared high and low. As we ran through the grass, it even seemed to be singing a song of warm joy.

We came inside all breathless from our adventure, our lungs adjusting to such an extended period of fresh air intake, and settled with some books. We read and read, so much longer than before. Our minds had been refreshed and our souls had been freed. And we had just enjoyed the outdoors.Finally!!

Soon, Dan and Tyler will be home and the outdoors shall be enjoyed, again!!


Side note- there will be no pictures of this glorious event, I was way to busy chasing a Jedi!!

I was blind, but now I see

I doled out some advice the other day regarding kids and bullying. I said, be consistent, keep teaching them to be kind and it will all work out. I would like to apologize to that person for my ill fated advice. It turns out things may not be ok, that your child may end up being the bully. Perhaps to their own sibling. We have witnessed in the past few months an increase in physical behavior from Tyler to Isaac. We often heard Isaac screaming to Tyler to stop, Tyler starting things and egging Isaac on, and even hitting or really hurting him and then asking "What, I thought we were playing?" or telling us he was aiming for a more acceptable body part. There were times we rationed that Isaac was just as much to blame, after all he is a live wire and you never know what he will do next. We tried all the things we could think of, never admitting outside our home what was going on, ashamed, I suppose, of the truth. We finally gave it a name. Bullying. It had all the classic signs, everything we had ever known or read about bullying we were seeing in Tyler.

Oh! How could we miss it?? How could we not see what was happening? Our hearts were broken. It came to head one afternoon and we just had to make it stop. We took away everything we could think of, sent him to bed early, and had a very long talk about bullying and what it was and meant. He cried, I cried. We tried so hard to give him every illustration we could on the subject. But now what? I feel cold in my bones and aches in my heart. I feel guilt for not being perceptive enough to see what was going on. I questioned every decision I have made regarding his behavior lately, would I have done anything different if I had this knowledge weeks ago?? Will he learn to get past the little annoyances he holds as ammunition? Will he ever let go of his negative fun and pick up a positive one?

I know that we are not perfect parents, we make the best choices we can and put on our confident faces, especially around those we feel judge us or doubt us. Just like every other parent. We pray each day for our kids and want them to be strong, kind, and wise men when they grow up.

And what about my Tyler? My heart is so heavy and worried, if this to will pass, and will he be secure about himself?

Snow Day

Today was fun. The kind of fun you can see coming before it actually happens. The snow was falling pretty hard on our way to church, and it was so hard to concentrate, watching the snow fall in big flakes just outside the window. We packed up all our snow gear and headed off to Grandma's house for chili and snow play. The boys played and played and played. They jumped in the snow, making it fly up into the air and fall back down. They held out their tongues to catch a tasty bite of cold, wet, snow. They rolled in it, making snow angels and throwing snow balls at each other. It was just a wonderful, simple, fun day. Aaaahhhh, a sigh of joy.
Here are a few pictures of the fun we had!

Everything I need to know I learned in 2009

Ok, so not completely true, but I did gain some serious skills in 2009. Here is a quick (and I do mean quick, I only have 7!) recap...

1. I learned that if you force my boys to do arts and crafts with you they will inevitably draw somebody dying or a super battle that ends the world.

2. I now have the skill of pre cooking and freezing. Not that I didn't poses this skill before, I have now used it!

3. I learned that living with your mother in law while you look for a house has its advantages. (I cook, she cleaned- I got the better end of that deal!!)

4. I have the skill of dying correctly. I know how to slow motion fall and stick my tongue out while saying "nnnnnnooooooooo". (thanks to my boys for imparting this wisdom on me!)

5. I now know that I can wash dishes, clothes, two boys in a tub, AND fix my hair at the same time. (that is some serious multi tasking skills)

6. I can live without eating out for more than two weeks (this has been a great asset to my health!)

7. I learned how to down size into a bigger house.

8. I learned to blog!!

9. I learned some times moving away from your comfort zone can be scary, exciting, nerve wreaking, and helpful all at the same time.

10. The very most important thing I learned this year is this:

I am a mommy of all boys. Therefore my life does and always will consist of wrestling, guns, people dying, shouting, balls of all shapes and sizes flying through the air, stories of monsters and aliens, and lots of love.  And I love it. And I accept the challenge of another exciting and change full year.

Have a Happy New Year!!

My Trip

Today I was an eye witness to a sinking ship being saved, a monster getting clean, and a water tornado all before I even got dressed. Yup. Nick and I (and any other poor soul that spoke to my five year old today) were wisked away to a fun filled world called Isaac Land. That is what we refer to it around here. It's a magical place where monsters are scary and your best friend, bad guys always lose because of your awesome "orginal karate moves", and your words don't actually have to make sense as long as you say "It's really like this" before your sentence.
It's a place I visit often. It's taxing on the brain, chaotic, and the laws change about every time you blink. Rock, Paper, Scissors is the judical system in Isaac Land. It is the final judge on all matters of importance. Isaac, the king, is always right. Even if he changes his mind.
 This is not a democracy, it's an Issac-ocracy. It has one supreme ruler who will be happy to kick you out of Isaac Land if you don't follow the rules. You can always come back, though, when you say please or if you happen to be the Hulk (or any other super hero for that matter).

I enjoyed my day in Isaac Land. Nick and I had lots of fun hearing stories and sometimes being the stories. Although we didn't always know it!! But, it is great to be back here, in Mommy Land. A restful place where music matches the mood and pillows are soft. Where babies (no matter what age) are sleeping peacefully under the soft glow of christmas lights hung in their rooms. Where Daddy's come and stay to chat, hold us, and laugh about our visit to Isaac Land. I love Mommy Land, but I know that tommorow will bring another visit to Isaac Land. And I will love it.

Today in the world of boy...

This morning I was a mermaid. I was guiding a ship with a rouwdy pirate that speaks some unknown pirate language that requires grunts and screams instead of pronunciation. I was forced below the boat only to be pulled from a trap door at the back of the boat.
I was also a baker. A yummy smelling Apple Crisp filled the house. The pirate trailed behind me as I checked on our treat.
We discovered a "gamer" in our midst. Playing levels upon levels (and beating them all!) on a pirate ship. His skill at killing the hippo and cutting off heads was percise and at times in slow motion for my benefit. Thankfully, the pirate and I made it past the "gamer" to and from our ship in another room. We docked at a book island and took a break. We read our favorite stories of Diego and sang patty cake.
 But soon, our treat was done and we had to pass the "gamer" again to reach our oven. I braced for what might come flying at us as we passed. Luckily, the smell had attracted the "gamer"  and he too was standing at the oven for a peak. As we took it out they both wanted some, but it was to hot. Soon we would. And soon we did!! Some bites after lunch and save the rest for daddy and tyler. It's dessert tonight. Yum!!

Now all the battles have been won and I, the beautiful mermaid/baker am procrastinating a to do list while my cute little pirate and very creative gamer rest.