Delicious Cake

K2 baked a cake for work. He chose to make a Neapolitan cake, with layers of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. I had to post a picture of it. It was pretty amazing!

Here is the cake on Tuesday night....


...and all the was left Wednesday afternoon.

A Christmas Miracle

Happier times in October

Good news! After a month of being banned from bed and play, Baby Owen has decided to make good choices. Kevin told me that Owen is ready to listen to his words. While getting dressed for bed tonight, Kevin and Owen had a "discussion" and Kevin revealed this information to me. It was alarming and adorable at the same time.

Also, at dinner, a family with three blond girls sat down next to us right before our dinner was served. Colin stared at them the entire meal. He didn't turn around to talk to us or to eat. Nothing. When leaving he even yelled "BYE!" and waved at them. It should be noted that at no time did one of them talked or looked at him. (I think we may have a future stalker.)

One last story for the night. The boys have rooms right next to each other. Usually there is very little noise that comes from their rooms after bedtime. Occasionally, Kevin will be upset and cry for a minute. When that happens, Colin immediately starts crying, and stops the instant Kevin stops. (It is pretty cute.) However, tonight as the first night that I think I heard talking between the rooms. Already kids????

Corndog!

His favorite shirt (as promised).

Kevin said this to me at breakfast this morning.

"I am going to punch you in the corndog!"

Secret Present

As a gift for Colin, I got him a Little People book (thanks to a friend). When Colin left with K2 this evening, I got it out to wrap. Kevin said that he wanted to give the book to Colin. So we wrapped it together, and labeled the tag "To Colin, From Kevin." I then told Kevin that he needs to hide the present in his room, to surprise Colin with it on Christmas. He ran upstairs, returned, and told me that he hid it under his bed.

Later, when Colin got home, he told him "You are getting a Little People book for Christmas." Something tells me that he doesn't quite get it yet.

Cute things

Two more stories of things Kevin says and does.

1. I was putting him to bed last night and he wanted to play with his sword. (The one from Halloween.) I agreed, but told him that once the light goes off, the sword gets put away. He has been fine with this rule since we started it in early Halloween. Last night he was very angry about putting the sword away. I took it from him and put it on his dresser. (He is the only child I know who will not get out of bed to retrieve it.) As I walked out he told me "You should be ashamed of yourself."



2. Colin got the flu again this weekend. He was not able to go to Gramps and Pappy's birthday party on Sunday evening. Kevin was concerned about Colin, and brought home a plastic aquarium where the fish swim around. As soon as he walked in the door he told me "I brought it home for Colin. I am going to put it in his room and make him feel better." He did walk up to Colin's room where we plugged it in and both boys watched it for a while. Colin still looks at it before he goes to bed, and loves to point and say the word fish.

He is quite happy with is fish.

Playing on the stairs

For those who don't know, Kevin and Colin have blankets. These are the blankets they sleep with and use when they are upset. However, these are not things that my husband and I want them to drag around everywhere. So the rule has been that the blankets stay upstairs, unless they are needed to calm down. Lately the blankets have been left on the stairs when they come home from daycare.

Well, Colin loves to snuggle and loves his blanket. But the rule stands that the blankets are not to be played with downstairs. This is now Colin's new favorite place to sit.

I took this photo to show everyone where he now sits. But I underestimated how much he likes to get his photo taken.


Then he started making faces.


And Kevin wanted to be in the photos.


Colin was still making faces when Kevin decided it would be better to climb higher...

...and put a bib on.

No one can say they don't have fun together!

Lights

They may not be much at all, but it is what we got up one afternoon when a 3 year old wanted to help.

Can you guess which part Kevin did?

How does he come up with these things?

Today we were driving out to a Christmas party with Pop, Grandma Tracy, Tony and Jake (pictures to follow) and Kevin told us two pretty strange things.

The first was when we passed a very colorful building that had a sign with changing colors. Kevin told us, "It changed colors!" Then he added "Like a chameleon."

Next, we were practicing how to talk to Santa. K2 and I were telling him that Santa will ask if you have been good, and what presents you want. Kevin told us "I don't want any presents." We told him that Santa will bring presents and you need to tell him which ones you want. He replied "I don't want any presents because I already have too many at home."

Additionally, he now has a favorite character to be. It is Dr. Jones. As in, the infamous archeologist, Dr. Indiana Jones. He gets to watch the "parts with the horse" when he visits someone. (It is the opening scene of "The Last Crusade.") He now yells that he is "Dr. Jones" and that he will save me. I guess there are worse role models.

Who says these things? Honestly?

Cobwebs

On Sunday Kevin, K2 and I spent a few hours decorating the house for the holidays. (Colin was with Downtown Grandma for a few hours.) K2 hung lights outside. I wrapped the banister with lights and poinsettias. Kevin made cobwebs. He was so proud of them that he wanted his picture taken with them. That says a lot. This kids usually hides from cameras. (He made the cobwebs in the carpet using a hanger, so look there for his art.)
Today (Thursday) he wanted to make more cobwebs. This time, they stretched all the way down the hall. Again, he was so proud that he wanted his picture taken with them. If he is that proud, it has to get posted. Enjoy.

Colin's new bed

Colin is now working on transitioning from his crib to his first bed. He was very hesistant his first night to sleep in it, although he loved to snuggle in it and yell at Kevin to stay away. The second day it was in his room, he napped and slept all night in it. But the bed's novelty has worn off and he wants nothing to do with it anymore. However, we are thinking that by New Year's the crib will be gone.

Dinosaur Day!

A few weekends ago Uncle Tony (Jane's brother) visited. We were very excited to have him over to celebrate his birthday.

Friday night we baked his cake, but did not eat it yet. We planned on icing it the following day, which Kevin did not appreciate.

Saturday morning we headed to the Science Center to see the dinosaurs. Here are some pictures when we arrived. (The boys are looking at the balls on the tracks above the entrance.)


Once we got into the dinosaur exhibit, both Colin and Kevin were a bit frightened at first, but they got used to things enough to enjoy staying for another 30 minutes. K2 and Kevin pressed buttons to make the dinosaurs move, while Colin used brushes to unearth fossils.

Contrary to the picture, I was pretty certain Tony had some kind of fun.

Even though we only lost one person (for only 5 minutes) we all had a great time looking at planets and building bridges! We look forward to the next time Uncle Tony comes to visit!

Are you serious?

We tried like crazy to make a fire in our fireplace today. We had spent the day getting ready for Christmas, and thought it would be a great way to end the day. Well, it wasn't going well. So we gave up after about an hour because the wood was just too wet.

Here was our conversation later on:

K2: "You know one thing we havn't tried?"

Jane: "No. What?"

K2: "Holding the log over the stove and then waiting until it catches fire and then bringing it to the fireplace."

Jane: "WHAT!?!? Why is that even an option?"

K2: "Why is it NOT an option?"

Jane: "I am putting that on the blog."

Happy Thanksgiving!

We still have to blog about when Uncle Tony (Jane's brother) came to visit last weekend, but again, we are all sick. So until that blog gets put up we wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving!

Today (Friday) we spent the day putting up stockings, decorations, and our tree. I asked Kevin what his favorite part of the day was. "Grocery shopping." Glad to see we are making memories for you, kid.

Strong Words

On the way home from dinner tonight, I excitedly told the boys that there was a bus behind us. Kevin told me "Yeah, I hate that." I asked him what he hated. He told me he hates when buses are behind the car. I then asked him what the word hate means. He replied "It means you don't like it." I told him that hate is a very strong word.

His response: "It is a strong feeling I have." (Pause) "And I am a strong boy."

Point taken kid.

Homemade Birthday Cake

Okay, it may not be Melynda's cake, but it was still delicious. And it accommodated those who wanted all chocolate (me), some chocolate, or no chocolate. (There is also 1/4 that was all white.)

As neat as his brother, always wanting a napkin.

Hot mommy

Best seat in the house

This is their favorite jungle gym, seat, and playmate.

A weekend with no Mommy

Mommy left us this weekend, something about friends in Kansas. As the big brother it is my job to let everybody know what happened. Colin does not type very well. Friday night Daddy picked us up from day care. He seemed upset about traffic, but I was too busy playing to worry about traffic. On the way home I watched the cars on the other side of the highway. They didn't look like they were moving. We had stuffing with dinner. I like stuffing.

Saturday morning Aunt Pat came to watch us. Daddy said he needed to get out of the house. I think the half day of being a single parent had gotten to him. When he got home he took us to the park. That was fun until Colin swung into me as I ran buy him on the swing and knocked me down. My face hurt really bad. Daddy was busy talking to pretty lady next to Colin on the swing. I didn't know Mommy had gone to a better place. What is better than a park?

That night we made pigs in a blanket for dinner. I really like crescent rolls. I had four. After dinner we made cupcakes. Cooking them is fun, but eating them is better.

Sunday morning I woke up and was excited because Mommy was coming home. Daddy seemed tired. He was very proud of me because I went poop all by myself. After breakfast he put us to work in the yard. That was fun because I like raking leaves. Daddy says he will remind me I said that ten years from now. It almost time for nap. Mommy should be home soon!

We had a picnic lunch outside. It was a lot of fun. I think Daddy just didn't want to clean up inside anymore.

Manual labor is fun. And for a nickel an hour it really pays off. Colin said he was in the union.

The Cow

On our way home today from Pappy Grandma's we passed some cows. The following are the highlights from that conversation. (This is pretty much word for word.)

Kevin: I want to take a cow home.
Me: Okay.
Kevin: We will need some rope.
Me: Why would you need rope?
Kevin: So we can take him home (I think he means to use the rope as a leash).
Me: That sounds fun.

Me: What do cows eat?
Kevin: Grass. I will put him in the backyard so he can eat. You need a cow too. Your cow can eat in the backyard with my cow.
Me: I like that idea. What are you going to call your cow?
Kevin: Ummmm...... I don't know.
Me: I am going to call my cow Pete.
Kevin: Me too. I will call my cow Pete, too.

Me: Where is your cow going to sleep?
Kevin: In my bed.
Me: That is very nice of you.
Kevin: I will sleep on the top and he will sleep on the bottom. (Last week we checked out a book about sleeping from the library. In the book is a picture of bunk beds that, until Pete came along, were for Kevin and Colin- according to Kevin.)
Me: In bunk beds? I bet you will sleep on the top! I haven't ever seen a cow climb a ladder before. Do you think he could?
Kevin: No. The ladder will bend.
Me: And then what would happen?
Kevin: It would break. And the bed will break. We will need to make a stone bed for the cow.

Seriously, I would never have guessed a three-year-old would have this much imagination! I did not ever mention making a stronger bed. I love the way he thinks!

Curious George

A few weeks ago Pappy Grandma took Kevin to the Magic House to see the Curious George exhibit. Since Kevin doesn't like crowds very much, it was a good experience since the Magic House opens up for pre-school age children for two hours before opening to the general public. He had a great time playing in the water and driving the car. (As expected, he did not get any water on himself, and impressed the workers with his cleanliness.) They had a big rocket with a slide in it, and Kevin liked sliding down it. As you can see, he also wore his Curious George shirt. Pretty good looking kid!

Halloween

Although this year's Halloween was a bit muddy, I think both boys had a wonderful time! On Thursday we carved our pumpkins. Kevin's was the big one with "a happy face" and then Colin picked out my scared face. Notice the "Colin sized" pumpkin that he got to pick out. He has been carrying that things around for days now.



Colin dressed up as a giraffe and Kevin was a pirate. I was very surprised that Colin wanted to keep his hood on. He loved his costume. (Kevin grew tired of his pirate hat, and stopped wearing it. That is why it is not on in every picture.) On Saturday morning we went to visit my grandparents (GGma and GGpa). While there we saw Downtown Grandma and Aunts Mary and Amy, as well as cousins Rachel and Emily, who were Cleopatra and Supergirl.



After naps the boys headed to Pappy Grandma's (K1 and Louise) for the largest treat bags a Grandma and Pappy can give. There Kevin got into the "pumpkin pool."


We went trick or treating for over an hour. I had forgotten how slow trick or treating can be with two small kids. We did not get very far, but the boys had a fun, even though Colin got scared a few times. Back home, we had set up a fort that Kevin called our "haunted house." It was a normal fort (sheets, dining room table and chairs) but we hung bats and skeletons up. The boys also put their nightlights in there, as well as few flashlights and some Halloween books. Here is a picture of K2 reading to Kevin.


Here is one last picture of Colin at the end of the night. Kevin wouldn't let me take a picture of him eating his candy. (Of course.)


A special thanks to the Nordgaarden's. Thank you for bringing over Chase and Parker. It helped to keep our kids up late to better adjust to Daylight Saving Time!

Black Eye

Well, Kevin went to Downtown Grandma's and came home with a black eye. But in all fairness, he also went there with it. (It just wasn't as colorful.) Thankfully Downtown Grandma (Jane's mom) took Kevin Saturday night since I was still sick and K2 was getting sick. So we were down to one child for 24 hours. After having two children we realized that having only one is like a vacation. It is also great to get one-on-one time with Colin. He is growing so fast! He is learning new words and animal sounds everyday. And he shocked me when I told him that we were going to Downtown Grandma's to get Kevin and he looked very excited and said "Chooch!" (That is how he says choo choo train. The last time we saw Downtown Grandma we took the train down.) I can't believe he remembered that. I told him no we were not going to take the train, but we would go for a walk in the stroller, which seemed to be a decent consolation prize since he continued to smile.

About the black eye: We went to get family portraits on Saturday morning. (When we left the house everyone was fever-free, although the fever would come back for me later on. We also called ahead to let them know we had been sick, just in case.) Anyway, about halfway through the pictures, Kevin slid and hit his face on a wooden box, giving him a small welt on his left eye. So when we get the pictures back half will be with a bruised eye and half will be without. The picture does not show that much swelling or color, but I tried.


Also included: a few action shots of Kevin with his sword. He really wanted me to take them. As well as the picture he wanted of him hiding with Baby Owen.