2nd First Halloween in Phoenix

That's how Brendan put it earlier today. Pretty much. This is our 2nd, first Halloween in Phoenix. The big boys picked out their costumes. Big surprise. StarWars. They decided to be CloneTroopers.  I accidentally called them StormTroopers and got an entire lesson on the difference. Clone Troopers are the good guys, just FYI. And since they aren't Jedi Knights they refused to carry their lightsabers even though I thought it would be super cool to have light sabers outside at night. Not cool. Not cool at all. CloneTroopers do NOT carry lightsabers.
Easton wore the tiger suit. We got it for Brendan when he was 14 months old. He was terrified of it and refused to wear it. 2 years later Wyatt wore it. And now Easton. I was glad it wasn't too hot, even though it was probably a little warm for him he still rode comfortably in the stroller all decked out as a tiger. And then the kids brought home 2 grocery sacks full of candy. Oh good grief! I need to get rid of it!
Check it out! This is Wyatt (you can tell because of the binki! AND the forward facing big boy carseat for the 13 MONTH OLD!!)

October 2006

And now Easton (7 months)

My CloneTroopers

Brendan is actually Captain Rex, Captain of all the clones

Wyatt Trooper

This is Baby Luke Skywalker

Everyday Moments

I just uploaded my pictures off my camera and realized I had quite the assortment of just random everyday photos.

Let's start at the beginning.

Easton and his bath. He's loved it since birth. Still does. No matter what, I can stick him in and it will instantly change whatever funk he's in.

Then I knit these little hats for someone (I made these for my friend who hopefully won't look here before I give them to her, but maybe she will and that's okay because they aren't for her anyway. They're for her new baby girl and the new big sister!)

Then we put earrings on Easton and all laughed our heads off...even Easton.

Then we put a Darth Vader helmet on him and laughed our heads off some more.

Then I witnessed a sweet moment tonight when Rand was saying goodbye to Wyatt before heading out for the night. I ruined it when I came out to try and capture it with the camera. Obviously I was intruding!

Just a day in the life at my house.

Kid Quotes::Vol. 27

Brendan reads his Bible on his own every night before he goes to bed. We have a ton of kid Bibles. In fact, I'm not sure how we ended up with so many, but it seems like each school year we have a new one. There is one that is his favorite. I think it's my favorite too. It doesn't water down the stories. For example, the David and Goliath story doesn't just end with the David killed Goliath. It tells the whole story. If you don't know the ending, you should read it (I Samuel 17)!
Anyway, Brendan tends to stick to the Old Testament and we happen to be reading about the Israelites wandering in the desert in school as well.
Tonight he was looking at a picture in his Bible and we had the following dialogue:

Brendan: Hey Mom, is this the Arc of the Covenant or the Tabernacle?

Me: It's the Arc of the Covenant. See they're carrying it. They had to carry it whenever they moved and then reset-up the tabernacle everywhere they went.

Brendan: Why?

Me: Because God told them to.

Rand: The Arc of the Covenant is where God told them He would come and manifest himself in their midst. (The theological answer from Dad, of course!)

Brendan: But why did they have to carry it?

Me: Because God told them to (haha. Nice answers, eh?)

Rand: God is Holy and...(Brendan interrupts)

Brendan: God does NOT get drug on the ground by His Israelite's. 

profound, son. profound. :o)

Kaylee Quotes::Vol. 2

Things that only a Mom would say...


"Let's read it, not eat it."

Easton::7 Months

Wow. 7 months old. The days and weeks are flying by!

-Easton has his 2 bottom teeth now and I think he's working on some more. He's been fussy, fussy the last couple weeks.
-He sits up great and loves pulling toys out of a little bucket. I come by and load up the bucket and he sits there grabbing out this or that and pretty soon he's made a big mess and we do it all over again.
-It's fun watching him start to develop an opinion. For example, he's surrounded by toys but he wants one particular toy that is just out of reach. And so he grunts and stretches and yells until somehow he gets it.
-He is still quite immobile. No surprise there. I'm making him spend a lot more time on his tummy to try and build some different muscles. Maybe he'll start crawling and thin on down! I'm also making an effort to offer table food more consistently more often...I'm thinking that might help him thin down too. And just for the record, I'm not actually trying to make him thin down, but rather more like slow down a little bit in the growth department (all areas).
-When Easton was tiny (relative, I know) I was cursing the infant carrier we had for him. It was one of those big ones that weighs 10 pounds. However, it is good up to 30 pounds as opposed to 20 with the smaller seats and I've been glad to be able to put off buying (or somehow getting) a convertible carseat for him. The time has come though. He's really too big for the infant carseat. :(

 Couldn't get much smiling out of him. I think it's the teeth!

This face cracks me up.

 

This face cracks me up too.

And this face! :)

Happy 7 Months!

Kid Quotes::Vol.26

...

Wyatt: I just feel so sorry for Sammy (our dog) that I just almost threw my whole cookie on the floor.

...

First Soccer Game!

Other than it was too hot for soccer at 9:00 in the morning yesterday, the first game was awesome! Our team, the Renegades if you must know, won their first game 4-0! Brendan and Wyatt successfully prevented two goals while playing goalie and defender in the last part of the game. They're a good team! They were flyin' high all day after their big win. We may have a hard time switching sports after this! ;)

I love how Wyatt found a little patch of shade to sit in!

Protecting their goal

Wyatt getting some one-on-one from the coach

GOOOOOO RENEGADES!

A Giveaway

My friend Bekki, from Pennsylvania, is doing a giveaway on her blog. I don't know who wouldn't want one of these!

Click here to enter!

About a Dragon

Anyone ever read the book My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett?

The boys just finished it up last week and it was so cute! It's a short chapter book with a few pictures and a great story...especially for boys (imo).
We did a dragon craft to finish up. (They look like eels, but they're dragons!)
If you haven't read it to your boys you should!

helping to save my back...

...the ergo.

By far, the best money I've spent on Easton so far! Who knew he'd be almost 30 pounds and still immobile! I could sing its praises a little bit more if the weather here wasn't so hot. I often choose not to wear it because he and I just sweat....but seriously. It's awesome. And my back always breathes a sigh of relief whenever I decide that sweating is better than holding this kid on my own any longer. I know I'll be using it more and more as cooler weather moves in.
It's a baby/toddler must-have!

Kid Quotes::Vol.25

This just had to be written down. Brendan had a journaling assignment today. I gave him 20 mins to work on it after he said he was done after 1 sentence.
Also, side note, it is so weird to me to have such a good reader who is such a horrible speller. The kid is the worst speller, even though he has been reading these same words since he was 4! Just goes to show you that reading is so much more than de-coding words!

Here's Brendan's journaling assignment from today: (spelling corrected!)

written by Brendan: I am feeling happy. Yesterday I did soccer practice, and I tried to write a book. Today I am going to read the Bible. When I am a grown-up I'm going to get a job. I am going to get the same job as my Dad. I am going to help dead people get to the hospital.

It just cracks me up!

Stormy Weather

Stormy weather is short lived here in Phoenix. Storms are also few and far between, which makes them all the more exciting. We were lucky this time in that the clouds and rain and cool(er) weather stuck around for about 3 days. The climax of the storm was awesome! I can only say that because I wasn't on the road out and about and the windows of my home were not broken out by the golf ball sized hail (ours were just marbles), unlike some poor people I know. We were also nowhere near the 2 tornadoes that touched down north of here. Phew! But the storm was wild enough and exciting to watch from inside...or even on the back patio for some of the brave ones. I felt strangely happy as the skies got blacker and blacker....like I was home or something. :)...except it was warm...which was weird. Full on storm with the windows and doors open to let in the cool breeze, I mean wind, I mean GAIL. Aaaaahhh, fresh air.
The park across the street flooded. It is actually designed to capture all the excess water and keep it off the streets and out of people's houses. It looked like a great big lake! I thought it was beautiful and wished it would stay a lake!

A Week of Teeth

It's all about teeth at our house. Brendan's are falling out, Easton's are coming in and mine are sore because, in case you didn't know, I'm a clencher. Oh and come to find out, my nephew is one of the youngest kids to get his 6 year molars. I think Brendan might be one of the oldest kids to have not lost a tooth yet. In fact he is just finishing up getting his 6 year molars. That's a 3 year difference between him and his cousin! We've been watching his friends lose tooth after tooth since he was 4. He was beside himself excited and was convinced the tooth fairy really is real since there was money in the place of his tooth last night. Apparently that was all the proof he needed.
In other toothy news, Easton cut his first 2 teeth like it was nothing. I love how teeth totally change how a baby looks. It's sad, but at the same time, I can't help but think he is even cuter. :)

Soccer Mom

It's official. I'm a soccer mom. If Santa was real, I'd be asking him for a swagger wagon this year. Minivan snobbery officially gone. It's all about convenience now. Soccer Mom, Mini-van, I'm a stereotype, and I'm okay with that! :)
Back to soccer....
 I know, I know, the boys have been trained to be baseball players. This is all somehow a part of the plan. ;o) They are LOVING it, though! Rand's out there helping out the coaches and he is loving it as well. They were on separate teams, then we found out that they would both have separate practices twice a week and we would be going to 2 games on Saturday. Um, no thank you...at least not yet. They said it was fine if we bumped Wyatt to the older group and so now they are on the same team. Phew!Wyatt is keeping up just fine! Brendan's leg still slows him down but he manages to keep up, too.