Hammer Pants Dance

I am turning 32 this year - which seems really old. But, watching this video makes me happy. I definitely did not appreciate Hammer Pants at the time, but looking back, I am happy to clearly remember being a teenager when they ruled the dance floor:

Hopes, Dreams & Crime

I was putting the boys to bed tonight. As I was tucking them in, Tyler says to me, "Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a construction worker!"

Dylan sits up in his bed and says, "When I grow up, I want to be a bad guy!"

Baby Prep

This baby is probably going to be born in the next 2-3 weeks. So, I am in Baby-Prep Mode! I have been talking to the boys quite a bit about the new baby. I know they will never really be prepared until he arrives, but I just want to make sure they are in the loop about some of the baby stuff.

Today at lunch, we were talking about how the baby will cry and need to be held. I asked the boys who should hold the baby when he is crying and they both decided it would be best if me and Daddy do that. They were surprised to hear that they could also hold the baby on occasion.

So, the discussion then lead to how they can help the baby.

Dylan immediately said, "I can teach the baby about Lightening McQueen and Chick Hick!"

Tyler followed up with, "I can teach him how to hold hands and look both ways on the street!"

Although most of the time I am fearful for the baby to be brought to our crazy household, it is times like this that I think he could have a chance!

Last Day of Preschool

Today was Tyler's last day of preschool. I can hardly believe that he has already reached this milestone in his life and will soon be off to kindergarten! Why does time go by so fast?

This year, he has grown so much and learned so many new skills. Although, his energy is still through the roof, he can sit still and listen to instruction much better. He plays with groups and expresses himself much more. He still gets overwhelmed in some situations involving large unfamiliar groups, being put on the spot, or unclear instruction, but his maturity and ability to adapt is improving.

His reading has started to take off. He doesn't get as frustrated with new words and works hard at trying to spell. He will come to me with papers full of words that he has written just by sounding them out. Sure, the spelling is usually wrong, but it is a huge step in progress from a few months ago when he wanted nothing to do with reading.

Tyler really loved his teacher. She is one of the most patient people I know. Somehow she was able to get all the kids in the class to behave and listen without uttering a cross word or raising her voice. I was seriously amazed at how much the kids loved her and respected her. Tyler definitely became a different person when he entered her class.

This year, his best friends at school were Sarah, Charlie, Emma, Owen, Joseph, Madison, Jack, and Tay. His teacher taught him all about bees, rolly pollies, the calendar, days of the week, seasons, smells, and so many other things. He learned to blame things on "Mr. Nobody", and cross his fingers when he heard a siren.

Ty - I am so proud to be your mother and get to witness your learning and growth. Congratulations on finishing your final year of Preschool! I can't wait to see how much you love Kindergarten and how much you will learn next year.

Real Camping

After the success of the practice camp out in the back yard, Arthur took Tyler and Dylan to the Father/Son Camp Out that our church has every year. Dylan ended up being almost the youngest son there. He was trumped by a baby (who actually did not fare very well, from what I have heard). The boys behaved well, slept the entire night, and still have not stopped talking about it. Now whenever we drive on the freeway, the boys love to point out the mountains to the north where Daddy took them camping!

Here are a ton of pictures!

Eating a "healthy" dinner

Firearms TrainingBoulder ThrowingDirty Face + Nappy Hair = Happy Sons

"Kleaning" the K'nex

I have so much to post, and will eventually get around to it (hopefully before the baby comes)!

For now, I wanted to share something funny.

I asked Tyler to clean up his K'nex that had been spread across several rooms in our house. After about 5 minutes of total silence, I knew something had to be up. Well, he wasn't exactly cleaning, but he was working hard:

If you click to enlarge to picture, you will see that he replicated the Parts List exactly.

Pretty proud of his work: