Where's timeout?

Car seats are great for lots of reasons, but as I discovered today they are great because the boys are contained and can't do too much to get in trouble.

Brody knows he goes to timeout for kicking, hitting, pushing or yelling. Yelling has been his latest thing and we are trying to help him learn how to ask or say things in a nicer tone.

Today as we were driving back home Brody was planning what he wanted to do. He wanted to go outside and blow bubbles. I told him that we could blow bubbles after his nap time. This made him upset so in his yelling voice he yelled..."I WANT TO BLOW BUBBLES." Since I was driving all I could do was talk to him about how we don't yell and we need to talk in a nice voice.

Less then a few minutes later Brody asked. "Where's timeout?" I was a little confused since this question seemed to come out of the blue but I answered "It's at the bottom of the stairs." I then realized he was trying to figure out where timeout was in the car. I had to tell him that we don't have timeout in the car because he has to stay in his car seat.

Then I asked him a few more questions.

"Brody, do you need to go to timeout?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I yelled."

Suddenly...

Brody was up in his room because he wasn't going to eat his dinner. He had his choice between dinner and going to bed early and he chose bed. (I know -- we are such mean parents). He was up in his room for a few minutes crying in a "I'm very tired" kind of cry. I noticed when this cry turned into a panic or hurt cry so I went upstairs to check on him. This was our conversation.

Me: Brody, what's wrong?
Brody (through tears): I was, I was getting my friends (these are his stuffed animals) because I was climbing down. Suddenly.......I fell.

Can you tell he has lots of stories read to him?

WILMB! Reason #3

They love forts and campouts.



The evening before this fort was completed, Brad had spent some time making a fort with the boys. He had pushed their little table over to our dinner table and added some blankets and pillows. The next morning as I was cleaning up breakfast Colt started moving his little table. I could not figure out what he was doing at first. Then I realized he was trying to set up a fort. Brody saw this too and quickly wanted to build one. So I stopped cleaning up and started to put my mommy engineering skills to work.

Brody and a few of his friends.


Colt is all smiles. He is getting really good at smiling for the camera.




Brody crawling out of the fort.



The novelty of the fort didn't last as long as the effort that was put into making it, but we left it up for the day and had lots of fun going in and out of it. Plus it was a beautiful rainy Seattle day so fort building was perfect.

Why I LOVE my boys! Reason #2

They LOVE being outside and LOVE mud puddles.

We went outside to let the boys get some fresh air. They started by riding their bikes and then kept their helmets on to do some exploring in the yard. They were quick to find the mud puddles and of course loved it. (The only reason I could tolerate this is because Brad was home. Otherwise the thought of cleaning up two dirty, wet boys would have been a little too much for me)




In this video I ask Brody what he is doing. His response "I am splashing in the mud." (It's a little hard to hear)



I know girls are into this stuff too, but there is something about boys and puddles that seem to fit nicely together.

The 7 grandsons

At this moment Papa Bob and Grandma Shari have 7 grandsons and no granddaughters. (Do you think someone (Grandma Shari) is a little anxious for a girl?)

We were able to get all 7 grandsons together over Christmas and even arranged a time to take some pictures. We never got all of them smiling and looking in the same direction but at least they were all near each other. Here are a few of our pictures.



Brody, George, Gunner, Zephyr, Wesley, Colt & Sean




And a few more pictures for Grandma Andresen and anyone else who wants to see them.

Fall Family Pictures

Back in October we had some family pictures taken. I waited to post them because they were part of our Christmas presents. Here are a few of my favorites.






And a slideshow of more pictures (especially for grandparents and great grandparents.)

Why I Love my boys! Reason #1

I have many reasons as to why I love my boys but this is my first documentation so it stands as reason #1.

Boys like to build.


This boy especially likes to build....


....and so it became Brad's mission to build the Ultimate Castle with the Mega Blocks.

He had his helpers who were more than ready to help. Colt lived up to his nickname "Colt the destroyer" and dismantled everything as quickly as Brad could build it. I finally took Colt upstairs so Brad could finish up.



This was Brad's final castle. It was ready for the boys when they woke up the next morning.



Brody & Colt enjoying the castle for a few minutes before it was dismantled.