see any similarities?

the checklist

cray, unkempt, fuzzy, long hair...check

messy face and even messier pjs...check

small bucket to sit in...check

cars...check

a happy James...check!

yet another cabin trip

This weekend was spent at the cabin. We had a few friends join us on Friday. We took pictures, played in the creek, had a great dinner (it was a little late because of the power going out for 1 1/2 hours), and played games until we crashed. We had blackberry pancakes for breakfast on Saturday and then did more of the same. I picked enough blackberries to make my second batch of blackberry jam for the week, and Ty got me a bunch of apples so I could can some apple pie filling.

Thatcher's obession of the weekend was bugs. We saw a bunch of caterpillars, two of which were crazy huge, and spent a good part of our time finding roly poly bugs, making friends with snails (Thatcher named one 'Big Thatcher' and let him crawl all over him), and finding anything else that was crawling in the dirt.

James's obsession of the weekend was his wagon. He carried it and pushed it (not pulled it) everywhere. He gave his pig rides and used it to help him go down hills super fast.

photo shoot

This weekend at the cabin I attempted to take some pictures of the boys. Pictures where they were fully clothed and had clean faces (no small feat these days). I don't know how to us my camera at all, I don't understand aperture, ISO, shutter speed, and good lighting, I only used my mac's editing stuff and not adobe photoshop, and I was working with a very tired James and two runny noses...but I think there are still some good ones. I love my beautiful boys. The first picture is obviously a joke, and I think the last picture is my favorite.

my boys

James is talking a ton. He is getting better at holding my hand, but if there is a ramp of any kind nearby he will bolt for it and run up and down it until he is taken (kicking and screaming) away from it. James has been working on his backward-walking skills...pretty funny. He is getting better at sitting and listening to books being read and he loves the stories his dad tells. Gives the sweetest kisses. Always tells me to 'shhhh' and puts his finger up to his mouth whenever he sees someone sleeping.

James has rediscovered a leap frog stuffed animal that Josh gave to Thatcher a while ago. It sings songs and James is in love with it. Every time it plays a song, James moves his hands to do actions (Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Little Star look the same, but If You're Happy and You Know It has different actions). This morning I found James on the stairs making the frog's hands clap to If You're Happy and You Know It.

So...despite the fact that James tried to bite SIX different kids on Sunday and I am still healing from a bite that happened over a week ago. And despite the fact that every time I pick him up from day care the ladies inform me that James has a problem with throwing toys at other kids. And despite the fact that James will go up to any kid of any size and either push or hit them...I love him so much and think he is wonderful. We have a few things to work on, but he really is the best.

Thatcher is very protective of James. Today I was trying to get some serious knots out of James's hair and Thatcher kept taking the combs away from me and yelling at me to stop because I was hurting his brother. They come up with the craziest things together too. Yesterday they were surfing and sledding off the couch. Thatcher would balance a cutting board on the arm rest of the couch and balance on it for a second before diving to the side. James thought that was pretty cool so he decided to get out a cookie sheet, carry it up with him to the top of the couch, sit on it, and sled down. The little daredevils. Thatcher has started to get gutsier with bars and hanging from things and as usual, James follows suit. I am encouraging it now because it is so cute. I just hope they don't end up with multiple broken limbs because they are doing flips off the monkey bars.

Thatcher has shown an interest in cooking with me lately and he will always pull up his stool when he sees that I am starting something. He is really good at listening to what we are doing and likes to be a part of the whole process. I love it.

Thatcher held up his hand and tried to tell a huge truck to 'stop' today because he thought it was getting a little too close to him in the parking lot.

Last weekend we went to the Flagstaff Children's Art Festival where Thatcher got his face painted to look like a pirate, he got a dog balloon, he made a puppet, and he got a sucker, a spider toy, and a snow cone. He was in heaven. He was so happy. I love having a little boy who makes a big deal out of everything.

Thatcher's first day of preschool. I think it is going to be more of a transition for him than I initially thought it would be. He is just so sensitive that if he gets corrected (which I think he did a few times) he falls apart. He is also very obedient and very smart and very good at paying attention, so hopefully those qualities will help him to not get corrected very often and save him from the emotional trauma. I am not worried about him learning, I just want him to have a fun and positive experience this first year at preschool.

I love my boys so much. I love just watching them. I love seeing James figure things out. I love seeing Thatcher's creativity and his focus. I love seeing them together. They are the best things in my life.

silly quotes from silly boys

Do they get any cuter? The straight-faced picture was the first one I took. They are just too funny and make me laugh all the time. Here are some things that have made me laugh lately:

Thatcher: Mom, what is that present?

Me: It is a present for a baby girl.

Thatcher: Oh, can I turn into a baby girl and then open it?

Thatcher: "Dad you are so strong you can lift our whole house."

Ty: "Is mom strong too?"

Thatcher: "No, mom isn't strong, she is a girl and she doesn't have a pee pee."

I have no idea where he gets this stuff. We have never made any comments about girls not being strong. Maybe once I said we needed to wait for dad to get home to do something because he is strong, but that is it.

The boys have started to find potty humor funny, so I have told Thatcher that "toot" and "poop" and other such words are not funny. Now Thatcher will say, "I just went poop, and that's not funny."

Thatcher has started to quote movies...especially Cars. When we were in St. George he found a car of Redding's that we do not have and he said, "mom, look it's the car when Sally says, 'customers, customers everyone!'". Then yesterday Thatcher quoted Mater saying, "Mater, like tuh-mater, but without the tuh." I thought it was so cute...and maybe a sign that we have seen 'Cars' a few too many times.

Thatcher loves making friends and has been super friendly to ladies at the pool. He is still shy (especially when I want him to be friendly), but when it is on his own terms he is extremely outgoing.

James has added, I want that, walk, blocks, I want water, tractor, thank you, and so many more phrases to his vocabulary. I can't think of any right now, but he is really starting to put words together to form sentences. When you ask James to ask in a nice voice or to be polite he will say please. He is also very good about showing his muscles when you ask him to. He grunts and puts his hands in a fist...it is pretty cute.

Yesterday James walked past a sunbather while we are at the pool and when he saw she was laying down with her eyes closed, he put his finger to his mouth and "shhhhh-ed" me.

These two just never stop playing. Yesterday James quietly stacked blocks for the longest time. We had friends over for dinner and the adults sat at the table and talked while all four kids played quietly and perfectly with each other. I was in shock. James would build his tower of blocks until it got high and knocked over, then he would start again. I didn't know he was capable of so much concentration.

The other night James stuck a penne noodle in a water bottle along with some spaghetti sauce and a little bit of remaining backwashed water...then the next morning he found it in the garbage, somehow got the noodle out, and ate it. Gross.

Last night the boys were being naughty outside (i.e. Thatcher went to the bathroom on the back deck and James decided that he and the pig would play in it), so right when dinner was about to begin the boys were in the tub. We decided to let them be so we set up the video monitor and Ty, Logan and I ate our meal in peace while James and Thatcher had a crazy, fun, unsupervised bath.

preschool

Thatcher's first day of preschool was last week. His teacher is Miss Amber (confusing for now because Miss Amber is also Sister Black, his nursery leader). He is excited about going to school even though the first day was a little rough. Thatcher is such a sensitive kid that it is sometimes hard for him to be corrected. He did much better his second day though, and is excited to go back.

what kids find funny

Last night we went on a walk after dinner. The boys weren't really on the same page as me and Ty. They started riding their bikes in bare feet and pjs and it took quite a bit of convincing (and a little force) to get them in the stroller for our after dinner walk. A few minutes later (probably less than that), both boys had wriggled out of the stroller and were insisting on walking with us. We stopped at a boat that has been permanently parked on our street and Thatcher reenacted Nemo with Ty where Nemo wants to touch the boat, but his dad is telling him no. Then James wanted his turn to be Nemo. After fifiteen minutes we had made it about fifty feet away from our house. Then the boys discovered a tall fuzzy weed that was the funniest thing they had seen all day, and that was the end of any progress. They stood their for the longest time with Thatcher pulling a leaf at a time off the the tall weed. When Thatcher would pull a leaf off, the tall week would swing back and then sway for a second and James thought it was the most hilarious thing. James was laughing so hard and the trick never got old. Eventually we had to force the boys home so I could head off to a presidency meeting, but that little experience made my day.

It was a good lesson and reminder to me that things don't ever turn out how we plan (like getting fifty feet away from our house when we were hoping for a nice evening walk), and sometimes life is a constant struggle (like trying to keep our kids in the stroller), but how important it is to notice and appreciate the funny happy moments where everything feels right. I love my special boys so much. They make everything ok. They make everything bearable and help me keep me focused on the most important things...which is them. Even though I do often feel overwhelmed with our house situation, with loneliness and not feeling like we have many real friends, and with not knowing when and where we are going to move.

Right now I am sitting next to a very happy and very naked James who is anxious to read some books together. I am so lucky.

st. george

A few weeks ago we went to St. George to spend a few days with the Martins. The weather was gorgeous, we swam like crazy, ate lots of good food, and the kids had a great time bonding with their cousins.

Highlights include:

- Feeding, chasing, and naming the bunnies that were everywhere. My favorite name that Thatcher came up with was Toothless

- When Aunt Kay caught a little baby mouse. Thatcher was pretty enthralled.

- Riding longboards and taking walks

- Watching Thatcher lounge in a blow up car at the pool instead of playing with the rest of the kids. He wasn't very daring, but it was pretty funny

- Thatcher and Pop playing cars at the pool. Thatcher is still talking about how Pop got his clothes all wet.

- Seeing Thatcher and Redding play together. They loved taking baths, wearing their superhero pajamas, playing cars, and just being their crazy selves together.

- "Hiking" at Snow Canyon. Thatcher thought it was pretty cool that he was climbing up such big "mountains"

- Visiting the temple on our way out of town. Thatcher loves the temple and was talking about it all weekend. When we got there he asked where the angel was which I thought was pretty observant.

It was a great weekend and reminds us how much we miss being close to family.

Mr. Pig

Oh how I love this pig. I told Ty that it is one of my most treasured possessions. It encompasses so much of James and who he is and there aren't many objects that I have had that I have ever felt that way about (pictures and journals are important, but different). This pig goes everywhere with us. Because it has started to really go EVERYWHERE, he gets washed more frequently than ever before. Whenever Mr. Pig is in the wash James will ask for him and it is pretty sad.

James is so affectionate with his pig. He hugs him, kisses him, and loves him to pieces. Mr. Pig is often being chewed on or hanging from James's mouth. Mr. Pig joins James on his wiggle car rides and in the seat of the fire truck he rides around the house. James constantly reminds us that Mr. Pig is "mine". Other "friends" come and go but Mr. Pig is the only real constant. James usually has a little entourage of the day... a group of toys that he carries with him everywhere for a few hours, but that changes from day to day while Mr. Pig is always there.

Last week the pig came swimming with us and ended up in the pool. After we were swimming I told James maybe his pig was tired and needed a nap. James laid the pig down on the concrete then put his finger over his mouth and said, "shhhh".

Mr. Pig has gotten very good at folding his arms for prayers and usually participates in lots of family things like that (he watches movies with us, takes naps, joins us for meals, etc.). He is also good at moving his arms to go swimming. Anything we do...the pig does as well.

Lots of times James will ask for something specific to eat (cheese, crackers, raisisns, etc.) and then feed whatever I give him to his pig before feeding himself.

He has recently started using the pig as a pillow when he is sitting at the counter on a bar stool, or James will just smother the pig with tight hugs.

On Saturday we were at the cabin and the pig was with us. Ty was throwing it up in the air and it got perfectly stuck in a very tall tree. It took a long time to get it down and it made me nervous. I can't think of a sadder thing than losing that pig. As soon as Mr. Pig was down James helped him catch up on all the fun he had been having by smothering him with blackberry juice and dumping him in the creek.

I love that pig and how much it means to my little boy...the roughest toughest 20-month old I know who can't go anywhere without his beloved pink pig. It is pretty funny.