Party

We went to a bbq tonight with my co-workers.  Everyone had a good time and the food was excellent.  The kids enjoyed going to the party and Adlyn was excited to wear a dress and Brooks was looking forward to wearing a shirt with buttons.  They looked cute and were well-mannered.  As we were eating, Adlyn asked for more jelly beans (black beans).  They drank way too much of the punch that we brought to the party, and I'm pretty sure they went to the bathroom about 20 times.  Brooks loved the coconut cheesecake for dessert.  On our way home, they said they wanted to go to the party again.  My boss has hosted several gatherings at his house, and the kids remember each one.  Brooks told me that next time we shouldn't bring punch.  I asked him what we should bring, he responded, "Oats."  Oats?  Well, he has been eating plain oats in a bowl lately, but I can't imagine that would be a big hit at the party!

Leap Year - Wacky Wednesday

This year, leap year was on a Wednesday.  I was out of town for work, but if I was home, I would have read them Wacky Wednesday.  The book is one of my childhood favorites, and the kids have been enjoying it as much as I did.  It is just a funny book, and both kids love it.  They think it is funny when the palm tree is in the potty, and they talk about how funny it would be to put our Christmas tree in the potty.  They didn't like it when we said we would put their presents in the potty! 

This week, I was trying to get Brooks to brush his teeth.  He was on the bathroom counter, and I thought I would pretend to be a dentist to let me brush his teeth.  He referred to be as Dr. Big, but it didn't work.  Adlyn told me I was Dr. Seuss and let me brush her teeth.  What kid doesn't love Dr. Seuss?  We also like Fox in Socks and Cat in the Hat.  The kids refer to it as Cat Hat.  We had green eggs and ham at Grandma's house for St. Patrick's Day and read the Dr. Seuss book.  Adlyn ate it and enjoyed the book.  Brooks wouldn't touch the green eggs.

Backwards

In the past month, Brooks and Adlyn prefer to wear their clothes backwards or inside-out.  Brooks also likes to wear his shoes on the wrong feet and it doesn't seem to bother him.  It isn't just their shirts they like backwards or inside-out, but they have been known to wear their pants backwards.  I'm treating it as a phase, and as long as they don't wear it like that in public, I don't really care.  Hopefully, they will grow out of it soon.

Sticker Pic

A few weeks ago, I put Adlyn's picture up on the fridge.  It was basically scribbling done with marker on construction paper.  I came home for lunch one day and noticed her picture had been transformed!  Zach told me she stood at the fridge for about 45 minute that morning and placed these stickers on her paper, one by one.  She intricately peeled each sticker off the sticker sheet, and strategically placed it on her paper.  It is kind of pretty and she put a lot of time into it!  I haven't had the heart to put it in the recycle bin, so I've scanned it in so we'll have a copy of it for years to come. 


















On that same day, they also placed a star sticker on the top of every one of their Matchbox cars.  Most of them are still there!

Pigs

Brooks was very proud of his pig worksheet this week at preschool.  I thought he did a pretty good job!  He colored the pigs red and was very happy to explain his picture to me.  If you look close, you'll see the brown mud that he colored.  He specifically told me the pigs only had a little bit of mud, not a lot.  He also informed me that he didn't want to make curly tails on the pigs, rather he made the tails wavy with a pink marker.   

Painting

I think Adlyn is a skilled artist.  She really enjoys art and I think she has her Dad's talent.  Here is a picture that she painted a few weeks ago.  Dad only helped her with the pink flower, and she did the rest by herself. 

http://www.melissaanddoug.com/paint-with-water-pink  She got this neat watercolor painting booklet for Christmas, and I would recommend it for young children.  It is easy to use, it is not very messy, and the paint is confined to the paper they select to paint.  Adlyn has really liked this great Melissa and Doug Paint with Water product.

Dinosaur Tail

Today I put a tiny little braid in my hair.  As we were walking to the school park tonight, Adlyn looked at me and told me, "Mommy have dinosaur tail."  She was talking about the braid in my hair!

Ice Cream

Both of the kids love ice cream.  We had an ice cream party this weekend and they enjoyed every minute of it.  We even got cherries to put on top!

I love how they call ice cream, "i-pa-cream".

All Day, So Big

Brooks has been saying a few phrases on a regular basis the last few weeks.  They like to tell me that they are going to do something allllllll day, only because I tell them they can't.  For example, if they ask to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they say they want to watch it allllll day.  They think it is pretty funny.

Also, Brooks likes to say that if he eats his supper, he will get sooooo big.  They also tell me that it isn't just their tummy that is full after they eat.  They also fill up their legs, their arms, their head, and their body. 

Brooks also wants to make people happy.  Today he drew a picture as a thank you for a gift he received from my co-worker.  As he gave me the picture, he said it would make her sooooo happy.

Clarabelle Kettlebell

Zach and I go to the gym on a regular basis.  The kids are in tune with us making comments about going the gym, lifting weights, etc.  The other day, I was telling Zach about a kettlebell session that I went to.  Adlyn came up to me and said, "Adlyn want to see Clarabelle."  I knew what she meant, she thought I was with Clarabelle (from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) at the gym.  I quickly clarified that I was talking about kettlebells, not Clarabelle. 

Tonight, Adlyn told me she was going to the gym.  I asked her what she was going to do at the gym.  Adlyn told me, "Lift an elephant." 

First Field Trip

Brooks & Adlyn had their first field trip at preschool today.  Maybe if Zach and I had known they were going on a field trip I would have helped prepare them for this change in routine and I would have dressed them properly (but that is a different story). 

Yesterday at school they learned about farm animals.  They brought home a worksheet on pigs and they were very excited about it.  Adlyn made her pigs green and Brooks made his pigs red.  They also drew the tails on each pig.  Brooks also showed me on his picture a brown area.  He told me this was the mud.

Today, they got to go on a bus ride to a farm on the other side of town.  Based on what the kids told me, they only had pigs and sheep.  Adlyn didn't like the bus ride and cried a little, but it sounded like Brooks did well.  They told me they got to touch the animals and one of the animals was fed a bottle.

I hope preschool continues to go well.  They have made a lot of improvement over the past few months, and I have been pleased with their progress.

Marshmallow Car

The kids have mentioned this before, but I didn't write about it at the time.  Our neighbor's name is Marsha, and she drives a white car.  As we went for a walk today, Adlyn giggled as Marsha drove down the street.  She referred to Marsha's car as the marshmallow car.  The kids think they are pretty funny!

Bike Park

Green River has an awesome bike park!  http://www.greenriverbikepark.com/Home.html

We had a great time this weekend with the kids and their Strider bikes.  My goal is to expose them to as many things as possible at a young age.  I figure the more we do this, the better.  If they are young, they don't have a sense of fear or being scared.  Maybe they'll like to ride at this bike park as they get bigger.  Zach has mentioned that if they had this type of bike park around when he was a kid, he would spend a lot of time there.  I think that most girls never ride bikes on ramps, etc., but hopefully Adlyn will continue to enjoy it as she gets older.

Our kids were the youngest ones in view, and I'm pretty sure Adlyn was the only girl at the bike park.  They enjoyed the rolling hills and the wooden bridges.  It was also fun for them to watch the big kids to tricks as well.  The kids and I can't wait to go to the bike park again.

Easter Model

When we went to church today, I thought Brooks looked like an Easter model.  He was adorable!  Last week, I was able to cut his hair and he cooperated very well.  He wore his khaki shorts and a plaid shirt that was spring-like in color.  He looked handsome!  I think I will have him wear this outfit on Easter. 

I told him he was my Easter model and he frowned at me.  He told me he was an Easter bunny.  That will do!

Bad Dreams

This week Brooks woke up one night and was crying.  I went into his room to see what was wrong.  He was obviously having a bad dream, and I tried to calm him down.  I gathered that he was upset because someone turned off the TV before the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog Dance was done.  He really wanted to do the Hot Dog Dance!  Poor kid.  Now I know that he dreams about his favorite cartoon.

He had his two best days at school this week.  On Monday, he told me that he danced during class.  This is wonderful!  Typically, he likes to observe during school, but they said he has really been participating lately. 

Brooks has also become very friendly and has been saying "hi" and waving to random people.  I'm glad that he is starting to be less shy. 

A few weeks ago, Brooks was really grumpy, tired, and upset most of the time.  Zach and I have declared that stage as a growth spurt.  He is much better now and happy.  He's also been eating more and he seems to weigh a ton!  I haven't put him on the scale, but I think he is much bigger.

Tink, Tink, Tink

Adlyn can bring a smile to my face at anytime.  When she is very serious and trying to think of what to say, she says, "Addy tink maybe we should go to swim, swim pool!"  She says "tink" instead of "think", I want to laugh, but I know I shouldn't.  She'll often repeat tink several times within her sentence.

She is also singing her ABC's up to letter G.  She does quite well!  Her favorite song is "Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Star."  She can sing most of the words, they aren't always in the correct order, but she has fun trying.

This weekend we had an ice cream date and Grandma's house and she was very excited about her Tinkle Tinkle Little Star sprinkles.  Nothing is just a star, it is always a tinkle, tinkle, little star. 

This afternoon, Brooks took a nap after our trip to the swimming pool.  Adlyn and I went to the grovery store and had a wonderful time.  Have I mentioned how easy it is to take just one kid somewhere?  She loved it, and so did I!  Zach and I rarely do things with just one of the kids, and we keep telling each other that we should.  She really enjoyed her one-on-one time with Mom.

Yester

I have had  intentions to write this blog posting for a few months, but I haven't done it.  Then, I had a friend of Facebook notate her girl (about the same age as ours) calls everything in the past, "yesterday."  Brooks & Adlyn do the same thing!  Everything in the past is either "yesterday" or "yestertime".  It doesn't matter if it was 6 hours ago, or 4 months ago.  I think it is cute and I find it interesting to hear their concept of time.

Adlyn

Over the past two weeks, Adlyn has actually said her name, "Adlyn."  It sounds like Ad-win, but this is wonderful!  She has referred to herself as Addy since she could talk, and we've never heard her say her actual name until now.  I hope she continues to practice saying her name.  Brooks has said it a few times as well.

Brooks still sounds like Bruss, but we'll get there before long.  We'll take it one week at a time.

Park Agility

This week feels like spring!  We have had a few warm days and it is such a change from winter.  It has been several months since I've taken them to the park (Zach has had them at the park a few times this winter) and what a difference a few months makes!  They were climbing the equipment so quickly and with ease.  They had no fear and even went down the steep slide at the pool park on their belly and also backwards!  I was truly amazed as I watched them play.  Adlyn is usually the dare devil, but this time, Brooks went down the slide face first, on his belly, before Adlyn did.  Strange!  Also, as they rode their bike to the park, they were quick.  I was speed walking and jogging at times to keep up with them.  It is going to be a good summer.

Long Day

One night this week I got home from work and wanted to enjoy the nice weather.  I gathered the kids and was trying to rush them outside for a bike walk to the park and back before it got cold and dark.  As we were in the bathroom getting ready to go, Brooks told me, "Brooks worked hard all day."  I just laughed.  I think he was saying it because going to the park would be a little reward for him working hard all day.  It took us about 40 minutes to get out of the house, and by then it was getting cold.  But, we've enjoyed going to the park several times this week.

Uncle Cable

This entry is short, but I just want to document it.  A&B call Uncle Kalib, Uncle Cable.  I think it is cute, and funny.