booger fingers

I must document some of the funny things my kids have done/said recently.  I taught Ben's primary class today and I wish I had taken notes on his hilarious commentary and attitude he displayed in class.  During the opening free-discussion time, each of the children can share whatever they would like to talk about.  When Ben's turn came around, he stood up, insisting that he needed to stand, stretch, and clear his throat in preparation for the amazing things he was going to say.  Then he proceeded to talk about Super Mario.  He told about how he beat the sand level and then, turning to Eli, matter-of-factly suggested, "Eli, you can say 'Wow'."

I've also been night-training the boys (and washing a lot of bedding in the process).  One night about midnight, I went into the boys room to wake them up for a potty attempt.  When I went to get Jack up it was too late.  His bed was wet so I just picked him up and started undressing him without even speaking to him.  I stood him beside his bed and without any words exchanged, he immediately said, "It's all Peter's fault!"  I busted out laughing and couldn't stop, which I think woke him up a bit, and then he gave me the pouty bottom lip and acted a bit offended by my laughter.  It didn't last long and he went back to sleep pretty easily after a change of clothes and bedding.  We all had a good laugh about it the next morning.

Recently, when Jack went to work with Wade on a Saturday, he was introduced to an acquaintance of Dad's.  When introducing himself, Jack said, "My name is Jack, there are two of me."

Jack and Ben have recently invented a new game.  I've seen them playing impromptu games for a few weeks, but today I caught them in a very serious attempt.  I overheard Jack say, "Let's play booger fingers," to which Ben replied, "Yeah, booger fingers."  Hearing this, I looked over at them and watched them each, very seriously, start to put every finger, one-by-one, into their nose.   At that point, I decided to intervene and told them, "No booger fingers! Go wash your hands right now."  From the impromptu games I've seen in the past few weeks, I know that the game continues by wiping their own booger fingers on each other and laughing. So much fun.

in which we have a mario and luigi birthday party

Complete with a pinata...

...a Bowser pinata.

Presents...

 

 

...Star Wars presents.

And cupcakes...

 

 

...Super Mario style!

FIVE!

 Jack and Ben are 5!  On their birthday last Friday, we had cake and ice cream as a family.  Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa V and mom and dad they got Lego ninjago spinjitzu sets along with an arena that they wanted.  They have been in heaven spinning their Lego guys around and using the different "weapons."

Ben on left and Jack on right.  They wasted no time after opening their Lego set!

Jack playing Legos.

Ben with his Legos.

The Mario and Luigi cakes.

Ben on left and Jack on right ready to blow out the candles!

pajama wrastlin'

While Wade and Pete were at Cub Scouts, the boys and I had some pre-bedtime pajama wrastlin'.  They pretty much wrestle, jump, roll, flip, and tackle each other all day long, but it's a special occasion when mommy gets involved.  I had to grab the camera and attempt to get them to hold still long enough for a photo.  It's quite difficult to get two almost-5-year-olds to jump at the same exact moment for a picture. 

 Two wrastly boys!

 Jack with his pillow "gloves" on.

 1, 2, 3, jump!

Make a funny face!

the christmas bush

Last year Wade and the boys discovered this bush during a hike at Percy Warner Park.  They planned to find it again on our Christmas Eve hike. It is just a random bush decorated with ornaments, but the kids seem to think it's pretty cool. 

december 2011

 Somehow, we didn't take very many photos from the holidays this year.  We did have a lovely Christmas and managed some holiday hikes as well!  Here are a few photos from the month of December.

We made gingerbread men and a house (which was not structurally sound so we weren't able to take any photos).

 Ben and Jack.  Jack brought his list to give to Santa.

Christmas Eve Hike at Percy Warner

 

 

 Jack and a rock.

 Pete and Ben.

Updated: I found some photos from Christmas morning!  It's always fun with these cute boys!

 Pete and Ben checking out what Santa left.

Jack (Buzz) and Ben (Woody) with their new jammies from The Foote Family!

we didn't send out any christmas cards this year...

...so if you got one of these in your mailbox from us, 

you KNOW we love you ;).  Merry Christmas every one!

 

November 2011

One of the best months in Nashville!  The leaves are gorgeous, the weather is perfect, and we get to spend some quality time with family and delicious food. I started November with a 20k that was held at Montgomery Bell State Park on Nov. 5.  It is located about 15 miles West from where we live (farther out into the "country"), and it was beautiful.  There were around 20 people running the 20k, so once we got a couple of miles into it and people started spreading out, I was running along beautiful tree-lined roads and paths alone.  Not a bad way to run.  I finished in just under 2 hours and ended up being the first female finisher.  Even though that's not a particularly great time and the competition was slim, I won an award for finishing first.  $250 to be exact.  This was quite a pleasant surprise to me and you can imagine that I was thrilled.  Anyway, I've registered to run the Music City Marathon this April, so I've really got to step up my training and get ready.

Later in November we had Wade's brother HF and his wife Ginni and their little boy Alexander for Thanksgiving.  It was great to see them and the boys loved cousin Alex!  They stayed for a week so we spent some time touring Nashville and then had a delicious Thanksgiving meal. I even made my first home made apple pie (which I thought turned out great and ended up eating most of by myself :(). After a long day of cooking, eating, and enjoying company, we were surprised with some unwanted guests that I noticed in Ben's hair at about 6pm on the evening of Thanksgiving.   

We had lice.  Wade ended up shaving the boys hair off and I got to work loading every article of clothing, bedding, coats, stuffed toys, etc into our laundry room to wash. Uncle HF ran to the store to buy the necessary shampoo and supplies.  By 9pm the boys had been striped, shaved, washed, combed, nit picked (that's literally what it's called to get the nits out of their hair), and were in bed asleep.  We still had lots of laundry and vacuuming to do.  We also had to check our own hair for lice and nits.  HF and Ginni were planning on leaving early the next morning, but decided to start he drive that night and stay in a hotel on the road (and I don't blame them).  No one else had the lice, but our three boys.  Later that evening, I was combing through my own hair fairly casually with the nit comb, when I pulled a hair out by the roots as it stuck to the comb.  I looked at the hair and there was live louse on it!  I called a friend and she came over and spent several hours going through every single hair on my  head looking for the nit eggs (and only found one)!  It was a long night and a longer few days that followed.  I have learned a lot about lice and would not wish them on anyone.  If you ever find yourself needing info about lice, this link from the CDC is the best source.

 

 Pete and "THE" tree at Opryland

 The boys before:

The boys after:

super

it's that time of year

orange butter cream & candy corn, mmm

 Ben & his Halloween cupcake

 Jack

Pete & his creation