May 2010

Now that June's almost over, here's what we did in May....

Finally put away the cribs. Caleb and Levi are almost 4, but they never complain about being in a crib, and Levi has only gotten out a couple of times. So, I kept putting it off. So today, we finally took them apart. The last time they are all caged in!

It took a lot of tools and helpers to get them apart :).

Caleb in his new bed! Ian likes to lay on it and measure how much more he needs to grow to be as big as it. He still has several inches to go! It's a crib mattress, but really it's pretty big. The family we bought the bed from just got their 7 year old out of it, really, Ian could sleep in it just fine. Caleb loves it, and doesn't get out. He's only fallen out twice!

Levi's new bed. I had to turn it around, so the head was this way to kind of cage him in still. He loves to sleep in that corner he's in - if it were open, he'd fall out every night! He sleeps with his face up against the bars a lot of times. He hasn't fallen out at all, and doesn't get up at night or naps!

The weather has been nice enough (notice the sweatshirt still on) to be outside some, Caleb likes to ride his bike.

So does Levi! Often they both ride on Levi's, with one crouched on the back like a fireman holding on to the back of the truck :). Or it's sometimes an ambulance.

Ian finished soccer! He enjoyed it more than I thought he would, after the first couple of times. He isn't too aggressive, but he got some good exercise running and loved to get the ball when it went out of bounds. Too bad the season was so cold and rainy!

The baby ducks in the pond by our house! They're growing up fast. You can see the fish, too.

Caleb practicing his name - not too bad!

The arboretum had beautiful lilacs!

On Memorial Day we found an old train engine and caboose to play on - they LOVED it! Caleb asked for a week if we could go back. Luckily, we got there for the only 45 minutes of the morning it didn't rain. Then in the afternoon, we grilled hot dogs in about the only other 10 minutes of the day it wasn't raining!

Happy Father's Day, Grandpa!

Ian's new trick

April 2010

Some things we did in April.....


Easter! We took a trip out of town for Easter weekend, since Ian had some days off school, and got to enjoy family and have an Easter egg hunt with cousins - it was a very enjoyable trip!


Sewing! My mom convinced me that making my own pinch pleat drapes isn't very hard. So, I decided I'd try it, since I couldn't find drapes I wanted to buy and I could make them for so much cheaper anyway. In December, when my mom was visiting, we got them cut out and started. But then she left and I had to gear myself up for finishing them. It took a few months, but once I started it really wasn't too hard. Just really big. It took me most of two days. But, now that they're done, it's so nice to be able to see out the patio door instead of having newspaper covering it!

The finished product!

Soccer! Ian is playing soccer this spring. The team is all first graders, and they play only first graders. They have four on the field (per team) at a time, with no goalie and no score keeping. He's enjoying it more than I thought he would. He's definitely not the most aggressive player, but he chases the ball a lot and gets in a few kicks here and there.

This is how we spent the first soccer game, and really, most of them so far. He's only had a few games on days that were nice! It's been really cold, windy, and rainy this spring. Perhaps we'll try fall soccer next time.....

Bike riding! We have had a few nice days. They do each have a trike, but they like to play that it's the fire engine. Levi is the driver, and Caleb is riding on the back. Then they jump off and fight the fire, and get back on to go to the next fire. They live in a fire-fighter world many days.

Coloring! They've all, Ian included, been interested in coloring again lately.

Sleeping in odd places/positions. Ian was sick for a few days, one afternoon I told him he should rest and could read books, this is what happened.

Levi, sound asleep. He likes to sleep in the corner! He often wakes up with a red mark on his forehead from sleeping against the bar. It's one reason I'm a little worried about getting rid of the cribs, but it will happen soon!

Caleb. He didn't nap this day, and was sorting the laundry before dinner. I hadn't heard from him for a while (some days he comes out with every article of clothing to ask whose it is), so I went in to check and this is what I found.

And, I just thought this was cute!

March 2010 part 2

Trucks and blocks. What more do little boys need?



I love this picture; earlier this evening I went in their room and Levi was asleep, and I covered him up. Later when I went in, he had his bear "Teddy" in his arm. He loves Teddy, he usually makes him a pillow or covers him with one of his blankets.

I made job charts. They've always helped do some jobs, but I realized Ian has been doing the same jobs for a couple of years, and it was time to let his brothers do those jobs and Ian do harder ones. The way I made it, I can customize it to each day- if I do laundry that day, then the laundry jobs are put in, on garbage day, the garbages need to be taken out, etc. Ian was really excited at first, he's getting less so as he has to continually do the new "harder" jobs. Caleb isn't excited at all, except to play with the pictures, and Levi sometimes is willing, sometimes not, to work.

One day as I was feeding Levi and Caleb chocolate ice cream, one of them (I can't even remember which) said, "what if the whole bowl was made of chocolate?" So, one day, I made chocolate bowls. This is what happens when the whole bowl is made of chocolate - chocolaty boys! But they were good.

Levi and Ian were so proud of the city they built, they needed a picture taken. They built buildings and roads, and the bandannas are concrete that has just been poured.

St. Patrick's Day biscuits!

Imagination is always running freely around here! Our house has turned into a fire station, our van is the fire engine, if I ask them to get their shoes on, they tell me they aren't shoes, but fire boots. And of course, the stairs they are sliding down is the fire pole.

Ian at the science fair with his display of "what makes pancakes fluffy?" There were some neat projects. I should have been taking notes for ideas for next year! They had a scavenger hunt kids could do, where they find a project that uses rocks, plants, electricity, etc., and there was a drawing for several science-related toys. Ian won one! He got a dinosaur fossil he gets to excavate out of a brick and put together. He was so excited he won.

This isn't the greatest picture, as I took it out the window so I wouldn't scare away the birds, but this was taken out our back window. We've always had a pheasant or two wandering in our yard, but I hadn't yet seen so many together; they were just strolling down the neighbor's driveway.