Saturday on Skates

I took the boys ice skating for the first time by myself yesterday. We had a really fun time. We had to time it just right and weren't able to stay too long because Ella was napping and Lewis was working on a house project and he was a mess, but it was still fun. I don't think my feet could have held out much longer anyway.

Will really surprised me. He didn't want to use any balance bars or even hold my hand. He stayed up on his own pretty well. He kept saying it was slippery. Well, its ice.

I think it was Jack's first time on single blades and he had a little harder time staying up. But he really enjoyed it. I told them we'll go more next year when its easier for Dad to watch Ella. I'm excited to be able to do fun stuff like this with the kids as they get older. Its been so long since I did anything with just the boys. It was a great bonding moment.

Those crazy Girls.

Last night I asked Jack if he was excited to go back to school on Monday "no, I hate school" he answered. "why?" I asked. "Kaitlyn loves me again. She wants to go to Paris with me. Mom, I already told you I'm not getting married!" I told him to just tell her you had no plans of getting married because girls cost to much money. Jack has grand plans of spending all his money on dirt motorcycles and Jeeps. Now today Will was playing at the play area in the mall and didn't want to go play because, as he put it "those girls are going to try and kiss me". I'm a little afraid of what the future holds if my boys are having this many issues with girls already. I guess I better get praying!

Mr. Sensitivity.

My mom recently injured her shoulder and has a band around her stomach attached to her arm so she can't move it. Will thinks she hurt her stomach and was asking if he could see her hole in her tummy. Well, a few days later we were driving in the van and he asked "is grandma's tummy better like Daddy's balls?" A few months before Lewis had his vasectomy and had told the kids he got his balls cut off. He continued "and better like daddy's teeth? " I told him dad's teeth were still a little sore and explained that its grandma's arm that is still hurt. "I'll have to kiss daddy, on the outside, because it would be silly if I kiss his teeth" he lovingly replied. That's my boy, Mr. Sensitive. He has always cared about how others feel. When the boys wrestle and Lewis has Jack in a jam, Will always comes to the rescue and tries to beat up Lewis. Its really funny to watch. Lets just hope he keeps this trait and makes some woman super happy.

Will and his "Cars"

For the last 6 months, or maybe even longer Will has been obsessed about Lightning McQueen and all things "Cars". Now I would agree that most boys really like the movie and toys, but Will is at an obsessive state. Every night he picks one of his "macs's" to sleep with, he puts it on the side of his bed and stares at it until his eyes can't stay open any longer.

He got a majority of the cars as a hand-me-down from Jack. They were played with by him, but not to the extent that Will has used them. Will received his first "mac", that is what he calls the semi and trailers, for his birthday, Dinoco mac, as he lovingly calls it. But that was just the beginning. He received some extra birthday cash and used it to buy "highway mac", or Lightning McQueens trailer. He played with them day and night.

Now you've heard me talk enough about potty training and our issues associated with it. Since he was so in love with the semis I thought it would be good motivation to use Chick Hicks Hauler as incentive since he had been begging for it. We bought it and put it in the closet, and there it sat for 6 long months.

Grandma Pam bought him Trunk Fresh in the mean time. His reaction to opening that on Christmas was priceless. All you heard was this little voice repeat "Its a Mac!!!" over and over about 6 times. Needless to say that was his new favorite.


Soon after he was rewarded his Chick Hicks Hauler, and then accumulated the pit crew guys for "King Driver" and most recently he earned his Leak Less hauler for doing his chores. Its funny how he has this box full of Sally, Mater, Ramone, ect and how he just mostly leaves them to the side and chooses to play with the race cars, pit crews and haulers. He has grand plans to get a hauler for every race car he has, I keep telling him that its just not possible, and our collection may be complete.

For a while he would look at the back of his pit crew package and tell me "when I break these, I'm going to get chick hicks pit crew". I explained to him if he breaks them God won't bless him with more. God wants us to be faithful and respectful with what he has blessed us with. If we take care of our things, then the Lord will bless us with more. I noticed a few days later he changed it a bit and said "when I take care of these, I'm going to get chick hicks pit crew guys". Lesson learned! And he has, he has taken such good care of his toys and they keep him so busy, its hard for me not to buy everyone I see.

31 Flavors of Ella

Eleanor is now 31 weeks old. Seven months have flown by so fast. She is sitting up and has even laughed a few times, mostly at her brothers. She is a very serious baby and we can probably count on one hand the amount of times she has laughed. As you can see, she can smile, but its mostly when Daddy comes home from work or if her brothers are being silly with her. She has such a beautiful smile, I wish she would show it more.

She loves her food now and has even started eating some solids. I put some little puffs on her tray a few weeks ago and was blow away at how she just picked them up and started eating them. Its amazing how much they know.

More recently she has been chewing on my hair. She will pull it, but mostly she just wants to snuggle close to my head, grab a hand full and go to town. The other day I was trying to keep her happy and just let her go and I ended up looking like I had taken a shower on the front half of my left side. When my hair isn't available she opts for the little ribbons or tags on her toys.

A break from Winter

This last weekend my parents got two nights at the Ramada Inn to try and help with the winter blah's. They had the foresight to schedule this months ago, no one knew we would be THIS sick of winter though. Jack and Will loved it! Grandpa and Daddy loved it! Becca and I, well, it was a little cold for us, but we had a blast watching everyone.

Jack was the best to watch since this was the first time he had been tall enough to ride a "big kid" slide. He was still a little short upon entering the water, he had to paddle and learned quick how to swim, but it didn't slow him down one bit. He was out the pool and right back on the top of the slide for a grand total of 5 hours of pure fun! Lewis and Grandpa were right behind him for most of the time. They were like 3 kids in a, well, water park I guess. I tried to get more pictures but the lighting was hard to photograph.

Grandpa had so much fun with both of the boys. He took Will down the slide a few times but Will quickly figured out that he wasn't so "practiced" and would let him fall under the water at the end of the slide. He told Grandpa "I don't want to go under the water, and you take me under the water, and Becca doesn't" .

Lewis helped Ella warm up to the water. She sure loves her daddy. She was in for about 20 minutes and then she and I both started getting cold and we were out. But she looked so stinking cute in her swim suit!

Man Music

Last night we were coming home from Chili's and Lewis was flipping through the music stations. There were several decent songs on but he couldn't commit. A few minutes later Will chimes in. "I don't want to listen to that girl music, I want to listen to man music." Lewis continued flipping stations to try and figure out what man music was. He landed on a Lady Gaga song and asked him if that was man music. We were happy to find that it was not. He then flipped over to 102.7 which is the local blues, southern, and classic rock station. "That's man music!" Lewis was so proud of his musical taste.

Wisdomless

So Lewis is a little less wise these days. He finally got up the courage, and the cash, to remove his wisdom teeth. I'll tell you what, its a little scary seeing a 200lb man revert into a child like state. Its a lot harder to pick a grown man from the floor, than an crying 3 year old. He is usually quite entertaining, but get a little narcotic and sedative in him and he is borderline senile. On the way home He kept asking the same questions, and tapping his chin making while uhhh noises. Apparently he found the numb sensation fun. Once home he stood over the toilet watching the blood stream from his mouth while he waved back and forth. He isn't much for blood so the only thing I could think of is "don't pass out". Which he has done before at the sight of blood. He finally made up the stairs, barley, and ended up falling on the floor before getting into bed, and slept for the next 4 hours. When he woke up he didn't remember anything except getting in the car and standing at the door. I'm so glad he is back. Its a little scary watching him so loopy. He is pretty proud of his souvenirs too. He kept the teeth. They are so groose and gnarly, but the kids really get a kick out of them.

Sitter

Ella can sit! Smile, maybe not, but she can sit! She still does better with the boppy behind her, but yesterday she sat here for 15 minutes just playing with her play bar. She is growing up so much.

She has been eating 3 solid meals a day. She loves her baby foods, we haven't found one she won't eat, but due to her tummy issues we haven't been able eat more than pears, peaches, prunes, and peas. The doctor has her taking 1 tsp of miralax a day and said to slowly introduce the others back in her diet. I have a freezer full of squash and sweet potatoes just waiting for her. At least she isn't stuck eating all orange foods or she would be orange herself.

She has been starting to copy you when you make kissy sounds or shake your head no. The other day she found out she can click her tounge. But she isn't real consistent at any of these activities so she usually makes you a liar when you tell someone she can do any of these tasks and then doesn't preform.

Family Pictures

We had our family pictures taken last Tuesday. They turned out really nice. With the exception of Ella being tired and barley cracking a smile. This picture below shows how she feels about strangers. The stranger anxiety is sure creeping in. The boys on the other hand, have no problem with a camera, or strangers for that matter. They ham it up!

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Ella looks like a little angel. She is so precious with her rosy cheeks and red hair. Along with the stranger anxiety she is becoming increasingly sensitive to loud noises. Even the sound of a cough will make her jump 3 inches.

I'm always entertained by my boys. They have the greatest expressions. The camera just shows how full of life they truly are. I'd have to say my favorite one it the last photo shown with Will looking at Jack with that inquisitive face.

Girl Crazy

Since the first day of school Jack has been talking about girls. Zoe was his first girlfriend. I was a little nervous until I realized the whole class thought she was their girlfriend. The definition hadn't quite been understood. Zoe has since moved, and so has his interest in girls. Its moved into overdrive.

Caitlyn is a very cute well behaved little girl, who has her grubby little boy crazy eyes set on Jack. At least once a week Jack comes home saying how she is chasing him at recess, wanting to hold his hand, and now even kissing him! Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered I was able to produce such a hunk of a son, but he is only 6!

A few weeks ago Jack came home and said two kids in his class were kissing. I asked who and he suddenly forgot. I pressed a little harder for information and he remembered it was Caitlyn and someone one else. "Who?" I asked again. "Was it you and Caitlyn?". Very embarrassed he admitted to kissing Caitlyn on the playground and in the classroom. "We didn't even get in trouble, Weird hu?" Oh my! I was prompt to e-mail his teacher to let him know what was going on and reminded Jack we don't need to be kissing unless we are ready to get married. I told him he wasn't ready to get married.

So that brings me to Will. He is apparently getting information from Jack. Because last week he told me girls can't go to school. I asked why not. He said "because they will kiss Jack". Then again this morning he pointed out there was a girl walking into the building after Jack and Dillion, Jack's best friend. "yes", I said, "girls go to school too". "They are going to kiss Jack and Dillion". I sure hope they get more out of school then learning how to kiss.