Sick Kid

Brooks stayed home from school today after he had a temp of 104.5 yesterday afternoon.  As Adlyn left for school, she told Brooks, "Have a good rest!"  It was pretty sweet, and she did great at school all by herself.

Charlie Brown and Snoopy

Adlyn:  What is Linus going to do with his blanket when he gets bigger.
Anne:  I have no idea.
Brooks (enters the room after hearing the conversation):  He's going to make it into a sport coat.

I'm pretty sure Brooks has no idea what a sport coat is, but he must pay better attention to the words in the show than I do!

Santa

Zach said that Adlyn told him a joke the other day.

Adlyn:  Do you know what Santa gives you if you have been bad?

Zach:  I don't know.

Adlyn:  A book about manners.

Zach:  Where did you learn that?

Adlyn:  I made it up.

I though it was funny!

Moon Cloud

On the way to school today, Adlyn asked me why the moon turns into a moon cloud in the morning.  So, I looked at the moon and realized that it does have a white cloud like look, and I understood her question.  I didn't have a great explanation for her, but I could follow her thought process!

Pool

We have spent a few days at the pool grandma's town this month.  It is a great pool for kids.  Brooks really loves the water, and wants to learn to swim.  I can see he has that strong desire.  Too bad we can't work swimming lessons into their schedule until summer!  Adlyn was timid the first few times, but she is gaining some confidence in the pool.  She was practicing using the kick board and kicking her feet with her arms forward.  I think she wants to figure out how to swim in her own so she doesn't  have to take swimming lessons!

SLC

This month, we enjoyed a great day trip to SLC to visit the zoo and the children's discovery museum with grandma.  The zoo was very boring.  The polar bear wasn't even out!  The elephants did come outside to eat, and the tiger was out.  We could see the giraffes inside, but it was a very quiet day.  After a yummy lunch, we headed to the museum.  It was very busy, and a great place to go in the winter.  We stayed there for about four hours, until they closed.  The kids were busy the entire time.  Adlyn loved playing with the stuffed chickens.  Brooks loved the construction/building area.

I'm glad we took the day to do something different.  The kids slept the whole way home!  I'm looking forward to another outing to SLC this spring.

Going to School

I was so proud of Brooks for going to school by himself while Adlyn was sick on Friday and Monday.  At first he didn't want to go, but after a pep talk, he went.  After he came home on Friday, he asked if Adlyn was feeling better.  We told him no, but she is sleeping.  He said that he was going to check on her.  It was pretty cute to see him have so much care and concern for her.  Adlyn didn't want Brooks to go to school because she wouldn't be there to play with him.

Either way, I'm glad he went to school on his own.

Pears

Tonight, Brooks asked me how I cook pears.  I told him that I don't cook pears, you just eat them.  Then, I realized he was confused.  I told him that pears grow on trees, like apples, and he thought that was funny.  He asked me if the guys who work at the grocery store drive a truck to the apple orchard, (pause) pear patch to pick them and bring them back to the store.  Yes, that sounds pretty close to what happens.  At least he knows that they grow on a tree!

Fly Guy

Our kids really like the Fly Guy books. 

We read There's a Fly Guy in my Soup tonight.  Fly Guy and Buzz take a trip and get to stay at a hotel.  It is a funny book.  I asked Brooks and Adlyn what they like the most about staying at a motel.  I wasn't surprised by their answers!

Brooks:  "The comfy room."
Adlyn:  "Going downstairs to eat breakfast."

Happy New Year!

Not one person in our household lasted until midnight.  But, the kids had a lot of fun making clock cookies.  There only reference to New Year's was from a show they watch called Max and Ruby.  They celebrate by making clock cookies and drinking punch. 

Since our town didn't allow fireworks on the 4th of July, they let people shoot them off on New Year's Eve.  It may have been nice to sit on the back deck to watch, but it was soooo cold that evening.  We could only stand out there for about two minutes before we were frozen. 

The kids watched the movie "Cars" for the first time that evening.  It was fun to sit down and watch it with them.  The last time I watched that movie was when I was on bed rest with the kiddos in the middle of the night.  Since all I could do was lay around, I couldn't sleep when it was night time!  I think I watched that movie at 2 or 3 AM to keep me entertained. 

I think this is A&B's first full-length Disney DVD movie that they have ever watched.  Zach and I enjoyed "Starsky and Hutch" after A&B went to bed.  It was an enjoyable evening and we made super nachos for dinner.

A Good Start to the Year

I was home for lunch the other day and heard Adlyn dancing and singing in the other room.  I thought I heard her words, but I didn't think it was correct.  So, a few minutes later I asked her, "What were you singing?"  I was correct!  She was dancing and singing, "I love my brother.  I love my brother." 

Now that is what I like to hear!  I think it will be a good year.

First Song

Adlyn sang us her very first song a few weeks ago - Jingle Bells.  I was very proud of her!  I think she was very happy about it as well.  Brooks likes to join in with her, but he hasn't done the song all by himself, yet.

4 Year Old Checkups

A&B survived their four year old checkups.  With two kids, it seems like the annual checkups take a long time!  We were there for a full hour.  It was cute to see the kids read the eye chart in the hallway.  To my knowledge, they have never done this before.  It was cute to see them cover their eye and state what they could see.  Two nurses came in to check their temperature, ears, blood pressure, and more.  Adlyn said her favorite thing was getting her blood pressure checked.  They put a little cuff on her arm and she liked it when it squeezed her tight! 

Brooks hopped up on the table and laid down and waited until the doctor arrived.  Once again, he was so cooperative!  Adlyn went next.  We didn't need any shots that day, so it was a happy visit. 

After that hour, the doctor gave them a sucker and coupons to go out for an ice cream date (their favorite!).  What a great surprise for them. 

Brooks is a good two inches taller than Adlyn and they are both tall for their age.  I sure love my kiddos!

Photo Shoot

In November, we did our first photo shoot with a photographer.  We visited Kelly Highby Sudduth Photography in Nebraska.  We couldn't have been more pleased! 

I was nervous about doing a photo shoot and getting the kids to cooperate.  Hence, I've avoided it for nearly four years.  After our photo shoot, Zach and I said we shouldn't have waited this long.  Zach and I were in complete shock.  Both kids cooperated beyond belief, and I've never seen them act that good in my life.  I was expecting Brooks to sit on the couch and not cooperate.  I figured we'd have a family picture of three of us, or all four of us with someone crying their head off. 

Brooks was a ham.  He was overly smiley and we had to try and get him to settle down!  Adlyn did very good and was as beautiful as ever!  She got to borrow some of Kelly's fancy headbands and pick them out.  They remained cooperative as we changed clothes and backgrounds.  Kelly was very, very good with our children, and I think the fact that she is a mom made all of the difference.  We will definitely be going back again in the future.  I'd like to get some outside shots the next time around.  Since we were here during the cold of winter, we did an inside shoot, and I was very pleased with our images.  The grandparents are all receiving some metal prints for Christmas and I can't wait to get them put up in our house. 

As we went to leave our photo shoot, Brooks extended his hand to Kelly.  They shook hands as she bent down.  Then, he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  Maybe he really liked her?  I'm not for sure, but whatever it was, it worked!  They each got a sucker for the road and they couldn't have been happier.  Great experience all around. 

http://kellyhighby.typepad.com/kelly_highby_photography_/2012/12/adlyn-brooks.html

Santa

I don't encourage the whole Santa thing.  It seems weird to go along with a complete lie to your kids.  I'd like for them to understand the true meaning of Christmas.

Whatever the kids believe with Santa is fine, but I'm not going to feed into it or use it as a bribe to get them to behave before Christmas. 

With that being said, this month I was driving downtown with the kids, and out of the blue, Brooks said, "Santa is just someone's dad dressed up."  I'm not for sure where he heard it, but it made me laugh.  He is a deep thinker, so I know he put some thought into that one!

After church this month, we stayed for a pot luck dinner and Saint Nicholas came to visit after dinner.  This was not Santa, it was a very traditional Saint Nicholas that looks religious, and doesn't have a white beard, wear red, or have a Santa hat.  Saint Nicholas was a large, beastly man (that description has been taken from Christmas Vacation) with a gray beard and a Vatican looking hat.  All of the other kids ran over to see Saint Nicholas.  My kids were content just sitting at the table and chowing down on their ham.  They watched from afar.  Brooks turned to me and said, "Is that my Uncle?"  I was completely lost as to where he was going with this question.  I asked for clarification.  Brooks responded, "My uncle, the one with one eye."  Oh, ok.  He was thinking of Cecil.  He said it looked just like Cecil, except he knew Cecil didn't have a gray beard.  I had to agree with him, it did look like him! 

Overall, I've concluded that Brooks knows it is just some guy dressed up to look like someone else!

Christmas Program

Earlier this month, A&B had their very first Christmas Program.  I have to admit, I wasn't looking forward to it.  Really, a Christmas Program when they are three years old?  I thought I could get away with it at least until they were in Kindergarten.  In my book, there are a few things that are miserable to sit through.  These things would include music programs and girls basketball games.

In regards to music programs, I think music teachers would be better off to only focus on one song with the class, and do it really well.  This would be better than trying to have them perform five songs that all turn out mediocre.  I'm not just talking about preschool here, I'm talking about elementary, junior high, and high school.  My thoughts include both choir and band.  I think I'm ok to say this since I actually was in music as a kid.  Trust me, I was in the group and I couldn't stand to hear it either.  Why should we make an entire audience suffer through it?  I hope I'm not being too harsh.

In regards to girls basketball games, it usually can't get much worse.  Once again, I played girls basketball, and it isn't pretty.  It is rarely a team of five girls.  I think it consists of a team of four and one point guard who thinks she is queen bee and should be playing on the men's team because she is so good.  Trust me, that person usually isn't good at all, and only confirms her own belief of being good because that is what she has been told her entire life by coaches and parents.  Being from a small town, talent is far and few between.  Even if someone in your school is considered talented in basketball, they usually aren't.  If you put them with the big fish from big schools, they wouldn't make the C team.  (And I've spent many a games on the C team.)  One more thing to vent while I'm on it...the post players run 2x as far as the point guard, or more - why hasn't anyone figured this out?  Since I was tall, this was the position I played.  Let me explain...the rest of the team runs to the other end of the court while the point guard casually walks and dribbles to the three point line because they have a full 10 seconds to get across the court before the whistle blows.  Since the point guard is so awesome, she takes an immediate shot behind the three point line and misses.  The other team rebounds and the posts run all the way to the other end of the court.  Repeat. 

So, there you have it.  I was dreading the Christmas Program.  We got the kids to the school on that Friday night and tried to drop them off at the choir room.  It was full of buzzing kids and overwhelming.  After 15 minutes, and kids finally stayed and didn't try to escape the room.  My expectations were low - if A&B made it on stage, I would be very happy and proud of them.  I didn't expect them to sing.  Even though they had practiced their songs all semester at school, I didn't know what they were and not once did they sing their songs as home.  They have never said the words to an entire kid song in their life, so I didn't expect it to be different today.  Since their preschool was the largest, they went last.  So, we watched about six other preschools/daycares do their songs, and then our kids came on stage.  It was funny to hear the people behind us say, "There are those twins, they are right next to each other, wearing gray."  We turned around and said, "They are ours."  It was kind of funny.  Brooks and Adlyn made it on stage, but I knew they didn't want to be there.  Adlyn basically hid behind Brooks.  They kept searching for us in the massive audience.  Adlyn eventually spotted us, and towards the end, Brooks spotted us as well.  They didn't really sing, and they did some of the hand motions on a microscopic level.  I was proud of them.  Good work A&B!  Eventually they were done and we grabbed them as they hopped off the stage.  We survived.  We ate some cookies in the lobby and Brooks actually had some interest in seeing Santa. 

The day was done, and I realized, this is just the first of many music programs over the next 15 years.  We captured some video, and I'm sure they would love to see it when they are older.