Alyssa

Alyssa Kathryn loves to play piano games with me.  She has also been loving feeding all of her new pets on abcmouse.com while she enjoys her 1 month free subscription.  I love having a child who is almost as interested as I am in learning and piano!

Big 2

Please, can I go to school?

Josh loves going places and being big like his older siblings activities.  Whenever I put a jacket on, even if I'm just cold in the house he says, "I 'nna come"  I love this stage even though he can get into a lot of trouble.  I enjoy his cute facial expressions and new vocabulary.

 We celebrated his 2nd birthday and he was delighted to get several "Speed" items.  Ever since he discovered Jacob's old toy Lightning McQueen shake-n-go car that used to say "Speed, I am Speed" (until he put it in the bathtub), Josh yells out "peed" throughout the store.  I never noticed how many Cars items there were until he started alerting me in all different areas of the store... like toothbrushes, nightlights, towels, plates, shirts and of course toys.  He especially loves his "Speed"shirt!

I was happy to find that when we took him to his 2 year checkup he is no longer technically "Failing to Thrive."   He's back on the low end of the growth charts for at least height even though he still has a petite head.  Looking at pictures of he and Dan side by side at the same age is such a contrast.

My little boys have sure grown up fast!

Garbage Mystery

Today I was home alone with Joshua working on a project in the kitchen.  I went to throw something away and discovered that my half full garbage can was empty with a new bag draped inside.  I know the older I get the more I'm losing my mind and sometimes forget things, but I knew that I didn't take out the trash within the last 5 minutes.  So I went to check the garage garbage and found that Joshua had cleverly hung the trash bag on the the end of our big garbage bin by himself and then fished out a clean garbage bag from under the sink to replace it.  This reminds me of how much our children truly do watch and imitate what we do.  Fortunately this time it was something good.  Last week he was putting my mascara on by himself!

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Compost Experiment

Honestly, I've never really been a big fan of scouting.  I don't care for all of the costly awards and uniforms, and I love the more spiritual focus of the Young Women Personal Progress program.  But lately I've really been enjoying helping Jacob with various merit badge requirements.  We planted a few rows of peas, spinach and onions in the garden and its finally warm enough they're starting to pop up.  Last week he made a compost bin from a trash can and loved using the drill.
It makes me smile seeing him in this "Underarmour"sweatshirt that he earned up the money to buy when it finally went on clearance.  He loves nice clothes and is a pleasure to shop with because he gets so delighted about "good deals" and also patiently waits for me when I am looking for things.  He is also so expressive about his gratitude when I take him places.

Worth More than Gold

Jacob has a sly sense of humor and it comes out it in his schoolwork.  His teacher says that he doesn't say much at all during school, but his creative writing is full of surprises.
It's evident they've been learning about comparisons (metaphors, similes, etc.) lately.
Here is one of his recent creative writing assignments.

What is worth more than gold?

"My brother Danny is worth more than gold because he puts a roof on my head.  He gave me an awesome cardboard box to sleep in.  He gives me really good comments on my food like he says this popcorn is saltier than a jackrabbit on Thanksgiving Day.  He plays Madden with me on Saturdays.  He also plays football with me.  One of his good qualities is his muscles are bigger than a bear.  He sacrifices so much for our room to be sort of clean.  This is why he is worth more than gold."

His essay is full of half-truths, but the truth is Jacob does sleep in a cardboard box!  When we got a new dishwasher last month and the delivery man asked me if I wanted him to discard the box for me I thought of my dad.  When he was selling office furniture occasionally he'd bring home a giant cardboard box for us to play with.  We would load it full of blankets and pillows and toys and it became our play house in the unfinished basement.  At one time I remember having multiple boxes connected like tunnels  When it got so beat up that the house walls were falling down, we'd flatten it and use it to slide down the stairs with (despite my mom's protests).  I think we even turned one into a sort of human hamster wheel to roll around the backyard in.  So of course when the flood of those memories came to my mind, I told the delivery man that I'd keep the box for my kids.  Alyssa and Emily used it in their room as a hut for a few days.  Then supposedly Jacob made a deal with Alyssa that he'd give her some money or treat if she'd give him the box.  He put it on top of his bunk bed and has been sleeping in it ever since.  Jacob also is our designated popcorn maker (and tv tech guy) when we're watching a family movie.  He takes pride in adding the perfect amount of salt and butter and figuring out how to use the remote when the rest of us are struggling.  They say that the person of least interest has the power and when it comes to keeping their room clean, Jacob has the power.  Daniel's desire to play with friends and go on outings is usually the highest in our family, so he's willing to sacrifice to do more than his share of cleaning up the room so he can earn the privilege of playing, although Jacob is close 2nd in the room cleaning department :)

Birthmarkups

Jacob decided to spice up Joshua's birthmark (mole) by adding some extra features :)
It's amazing to see the contrast between my slender little Josh (who has fallen off the growth charts) compared to Daniel's chubby baby pictures who was off the growth charts on the other end.  It's hard to believe my little guy will be 2 this week.  I love this age when they are learning to talk rapidly. 
He gets so excited to make animal noises when I read him stories. 
Today in Relief Society when the Young Women were dismissed and Becca handed him back to me, he protested and begged for his "CaCa" so loudly and broke down into tears when she left so I had to take him out.
He has figured out how to open doors, so when they're locked, he knocks and in the cutest little voice says "Le' me in."

Silly Sisters

 Emily and Rebecca share a room and for the most part they love it.  These pictures remind me of the close relationship I had with my sister Melinda growing up when we shared a room and would stay up late at night giggling together, making crazy faces at each other in the dark.  Several times I've offered to Becca that she can have her own room and Alyssa and Emily could share a room, but she protests pretty vehemently every time.  She doesn't want to be alone and would rather put up with a few messes than have privacy (and isolation) in a smaller room of her own.  I love that they get along most of the time and still have fun together making artistic paper chain room decorations (a  LONG countdown to next Christmas that they started a few days after Christmas).  Lately I can hear them through the heat vent singing to Emily's "Frozen" CD which she earned the money for on her own by passing off 14 new piano pieces in less than 2 weeks!  I'm so thankful that my kids have siblings to be their best friends.