C is 2.5!

My 'baby' is two and a half!  Two and a half...I've never had a two and a half year old in the house without a baby.  I don't think I am any less busy without the baby in the picture.  2.5 years old is a busy stage in life!  But, it is so fun.  I really believe that it is my favorite age.  They are so fun and so inquisitive and yet don't have the attitude that somehow children develop as they age.  The boundary testing is trying but they are (generally) easily redirected so it isn't bad.  C is busy and full of spunk...I wouldn't have it any other way!

Thomas still reigns supreme is his world...however, StarWars is a close second.  He probably plays SW more often because it involves running around the house with a light saber and/or shooting things...and what little boy doesn't love those two things.  But, he does whole-heartedly love his trains and they constantly travel with us.  He loves building track set-ups.  He loves his blocks.  He's just starting to want to play games...although he has no desire to follow any semblance of any rules while we play said games.

I love listening to language development.  C has dropped most of the 'cute' mis-pronouncations but he has retained "email" for oatmeal..."Anander" for X and "Isbith" for E.  He talks and talks.  He parrots X all the time.  X will say, "Come on.  Let's go!" and C will repeat it and off they will run.  It is adorable when they aren't being exasperating.  One of my favorite sayings that he has is when I ask him something and looks up and replies, "Of course!".  He is adorable and sweet and it just makes me treasure these 'little' moments so much.

C is loving the balance bike this spring.  It is amazing how quickly the balancing skills develop.  He has a long ways to go, but he's already getting the beginning balancing down and beginning to coast a foot or so at a time.

I retired the cloth diapers.  He's not fully potty trained.  We probably have an accident or two a day but he's been wearing underwear at home for several weeks.  He's starting to take the initiative and going in the potty without my prompting.  It is coming.  Spending the weekends in disposable diapers is probably keeping our progress limited, but it is a work in progress.

He always has a sword or lightsaber in his hand at home and a train if we are away from home.  He is 110% boy at all times!

He puts himself to sleep at night in the crib.  A hug, a kiss, super kitty and the monkey are all that are needed for him to go to sleep.  However, I do sit at the top of the stairs to keep him in his crib because if he doesn't fall asleep fast enough he has to get out and explore.

My boy loves meat!  I made a soup one night.  He spooned some up, looked at it and exclaimed, "Where's the meat?!"  He is a carnivore through and through.  I put all leftovers in the fridge.  He always goes foraging between meals and he'll pull out anything and gobble it up.  Oatmeal is his favorite in the mornings...but he'll eat sweet potato, broccoli, peas, beans...if it is in there, he'll find it and gobble it up.

Sweet hugs and goey kisses are common.  He hugs my neck so tight.  I just love his hugs...I may not love the goey kisses quite so much.  But, I am treasuring them all.  X is already reaching the stage that he doesn't want to give me as many hugs.  He melts my heart every time he asks, "Mom, do you want to play with me?"  It is hard to turn down that request.

He's a sweet little guy.  Completely manic and destructive when he's tired.  Hilarious when he falls prostrate with his head touching his straight legged-knees when he doesn't get his way.  It isn't all sunshine and roses.  Thankfully he's no longer eating all of our toothpaste.  But, life is good and life with my rambunctious 2.5 year old is awesome.  I wouldn't change a thing!  :)

The Rescue Note…

Jut found this note outside the bathroom…the day after the rescue was staged.  Good thing she sent a note while she was stuck in case the fumes inside rendered her incapacitated…thankfully we found her before that happened and thus didn't notice the note right away.

Life is never dull.

Oh Easter...

I have to admit.  I love Easter so much more than the all the hoopla involving Christmas.  It took me a half hour to stuff plastic eggs and prepare baskets last night.  It is so much easier than all the craziness that seeps into Christmas.  It was a relaxed and calm preparation...if you don't include the 10 minutes of crazy egg dying that for some reason is an Easter tradition.  (Thankfully C's interest only lasted for like 1 minute...and that was more than enough!  What is the point of that crazy tradition anyway?!  Thank heavens for G'ma willing to help!)

However, then I look through FB and realize how much I slack on Easter.  Do I have an adorable picture of my kiddos decked out in their color-coordinating finest?  Did we even think about photos this morning?  Did the kids look much different than on any other Sunday?  The answer to all of those questions is no.  Truthfully, I remembered to make sure E had an appropriate dress...but I forgot to buy tights and white shoes.  Oops.  I did get her a new pair of white leggings at the Mom-to-Mom sale last week...so she at least had fairly 'fresh' pair of white leggings to wear.  And she thought her sparkly pink shoes looked MUCH better than her black heels...my opinion greatly differed but she thought she looked great, so who was I to argue.  The boys always wear khakis and polos to church...and I found 2 sweater vests at the sale and so I dressed them up with a sweater vest.  Oh-la-la.  Nothing fancy.  Part of me gets really irritated at having to buy 'fancy' clothes for 1 Sunday.  Seriously.  Shouldn't we wear our best every Sunday?!  Why does God just deserve our best on Easter?  Sigh.  But, that's not our culture and we don't want to offend anyone...so people dress up more to hit the bar on Saturday night than they do when they hit the church doors on Sunday morning.  And, that's not a soap box that I'm willing to die on by any means but it does perplex me at times...especially when I see how amazing everyone looks on Easter.  But anyways, with all of our attention and finances going into the new house, Easter finery hardly made it on to my radar...and it showed when you compare everyone's adorable easter morning pics to mine.

There were other things that I slacked on...we didn't visit any creepy looking Easter bunnies.  We didn't even attempt any insane egg hunts.  I didn't make any creative food to bring to our celebration at Mom's.  I am an Easter slacker.

However, we did do a few things correctly.  X squealed this morning when he found his basket.  Squealed...and jumped and squealed some more.  It was too cute.  If I could get that reaction out of every present I bought for someone, I'd buy presents all the time!  He was adorable.  The Naboo StarFighter was a hit...and was fought over all day.

We spent Saturday working out at the new house trying to get things cleaned up on the outside.  The kids played.  Jut cleaned up the remnants of a couple trees Dad cut down.  I cleaned up next to the house and took more paint off the doors.  It was a fun, satisfying afternoon...just being together and working on our house.  Then, we went out to my folk's and dyed eggs and ate dinner.  The kids were bouncing off the walls excited for today but it was fun.  It was a great day.  We did that right.

Today, we got up and found Easter baskets.  Jut headed to church.  I got myself and the kids ready.  We had a wonderful church service...came home, packed up entirely too much stuff and went  back to my folk's house for lunch.  The kids had an Easter egg hunt.  They watched a movie while the adults napped.  Then, we ate pie and some healthy stuff.  G'pa took the kids out golfing in the back yard and then my parents and I took the kids for a jaunt down the road.  E collected rocks.  Mom and Dad picked up litter.  Dad found an antler.  My mom said, "The boys will like chewing on it." She was referencing my sister's dogs...but C went and tried to take a bite out of it thinking that he was one of those 'boys'.  Uck!  We all laughed.  It was a wonderful evening enjoying God's creation and the gift that He's given us.  After a hard, long winter, the beauty of the Easter day was perfect.  Reminds me that all of God's promises are true and He is in control.

It was a relaxing, fun day spent with family.  We reflected on Jesus' ultimate sacrifice and enjoyed time in God's creation.  What is better than that?!

Bye-Bye Cloth Diapers

Dear Cloth Diapers,

We've been friends for almost 7 years, but today we are parting ways.  You are in your final wash cycle  and tomorrow you will be packed away.  Thank you for your faithful service.  We've appreciated all the messes you've contained, but it is time to say goodbye.  My little guy is down to using just one or two a day and it seems wasteful to wash 2-4 diapers in a load.  Unfortunately, you get smelly if I wait for more.  Thank you for all your hard work.  We have greatly appreciated all your efforts.  I'm certain in a strange way, I will miss you... as it means I no longer have a baby in the house, but I am excited to have three less loads of laundry every week.

We wish you well in all your future endeavors!
~A former cloth diapering mama

Wordless Wednesday

E's picture of the family...Made me laugh...X isn't really shorter than C, yet.

The Cherry Tree

 E's pose for the camera...Not quite sure what she's doing, but she thought she was cool.  She's coming up with all sorts of ideas for her 'age 7' picture.  We are 'practicing'...but I need to borrow a better camera that hasn't been spiked down a set of stairs to ensure a good picture when the opportunity presents itself.  Looks like this one has a nice thumb mark on the lens.

I tried getting a picture of the 'olders'...but that didn't work out very well either.  Too much sun for pictures...but just the right amount for enjoying the day!  The kids loved getting outside and playing in the beautiful weather.  They were even pleading with me to get out the pool, but somehow, I didn't think 65 degrees warranted the pool.  That did not stop X from wearing shorts, however.  They played and played and played outside.  It was great!




The kids LOVE our cherry tree.  I think it is the thing that they will miss the most when we move.  They all enjoy climbing in it.  E loves it the most.  I'll be thankful if we can move without her falling out of the tree and hurting herself.  She's getting entirely too confident in her abilities to scale that tree.  It makes me nervous.  The tree does make a very fun place to take pictures.  Notice that the tree can even hold your lightsaber when you are climbing.

























C climbs the tree as well.  Well actually, he climbs the fence and then perches himself in the tree.  To get out, he generally gets stuck between the fence and tree and needs rescuing.  However, that is better than plunging out of the tree and needing an ER visit.  Doesn't it make you feel better to know he's wearing a bike helmet to protect his cranium?!  He wears it everywhere...in the car, in the house, playing outside.  He must know that his little head needs some extra protection.

 The nice thing about the tree is that more than one child can fit in it at a time.  I think all three have been in it more than once, but I never have the camera at the time.  E does watch out for her little brothers when they are in the tree and bosses  or helps them out.  She is the little mother hen at times.


















This is an even better picture of the safety measures in our house.  On a branch, in the tree, with his lightsaber to keep any crazy birds (or siblings) away. That doesn't scream immanent ER visit...Sometimes I wonder how I will survive life with my boys.  But, I do remind myself that somehow boys do tend to survive their insane antics and crazy behavior.


While all the tree climbing was happening, this is X's activity.  He was chasing something determined to deliver a death blow with his lightsaber.  We are very well protected around here.  Everyone is armed with a lightsaber and the 'force'.  Intruders beware.

Enjoying Spring

We have been loving the nice weather of the last few days.  E was bummed last week when we didn't take 'spring break' when everyone else in the area did.  However, she has loved all the time she's gotten to spend outside this week when everyone else was back in school.  We have spent lots of time outside soaking in the sunshine and nice weather.  Homeschooling does have some wonderful perks!!


My Jedi are practicing their light saber moves.  Don't they look menacing?



They also love posing for the camera in strange ways to look more feriocious.


Playing the backyard...climbing the cherry tree, digging a plethora of holes, and swinging are all in full swing.  It is wonderful that E can finally swing herself.  I thought she was never going to develop that skill.  However, now I worry that C is going to get leveled as she's swings and pays no attention to his wanderings.  I guess I can't have it both ways.



One of course cannot forget, Super C!  He refuses to take off his pjs some mornings.  I made the deal with him yesterday that he could keep his pjs on until I had to change his diaper.  He stayed dry until 4!  Whoo-whoo!  Of course, I did all the work.  I'm trained very well to have him sit on the potty every couple of hours.  Oh well.  It is a learning process and its coming.  He even wore undies successfully today for a couple of hours.  Someday he'll decide that he wants to wear them all the time.  Back when he had no control, he wanted to wear them constantly.  Now, that he has basic control, he refuses to wear them.  Silly boy.  This too shall pass...all the phases do regardless of how long they seem at the time.

Last night, we took our first family walk of the evening.  All three kids rode bikes.  Jut and I got to walk holding hands again...instead of pushing a stroller.  Oh the little things that are nice about not having babies.  :)

X is doing very well on his new bike.  We've had it out several times already this spring.  He's a pro at riding...starting and stopping, now those are skills that are not fully developed.  The years on the balance bike made learning to ride a breeze.  However to stop, he just tips over into the grass and to start, he needs you to balance him.  The bike is a bit too big for him to get started easily, but I think by the end of May, he'll be able to do it anyway as he builds his confidence.

C rode the balance bike most of our walk also.  I couldn't convince him to take the cape off to ride the bike but thankfully he didn't notice it stuffed into his hood.  It has gotten absolutely filthy from bike riding.  And when you wear it all day, every day and to bed, it doesn't leave much time to wash it.

It is amazing how quickly C is picking up on the balance bike too.  You can already see him balancing more and getting the hang of it.  He won't be gliding down the hills anytime soon, but he's learning.  It is amazing to watch how quickly they pick up on it.  He'll do better once we get air in the tires, too.  Everyone's tires are a bit soft from the winter still.

I dropped...or 'spiked' might be a more accurate term...the camera down the stairs to the new house on Saturday. It broke off the shutter and lens protection.  So...the pictures are not the best and I don't know how long the camera will last without any lens protection...but it has made it a week..