Brady Family

Emotions Brought on by my Boys

2012-01-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I got sick. It was ugly and after spending several miserable hours in the bathroom I finally felt like I could sleep without having to get up every couple minutes. And sleep I did! I sort of woke up when the kids and Jon got up, but I couldn't get out of bed. I felt like someone had beat me all over with a big stick. My whole body ached. Luckily it was a Saturday, so Jon was home and took care of the kids all day. He took them to play outside, took them shopping so I could rest, and got a movie to watch so we could have an easy evening. I finally got out of bed around 1:00 and ate a little and then lounged around on the couch. When the boys got home, we just watched TV for a while. Sean and Matthew were both so sweet. They would pat my head and give me kisses. At one point, I laid my head on Sean's lap and he was stroking my hair. I was so touched at his tenderness. During the movie I kept thinking about how wonderful my little family is. I'm so blessed to be the mother of these little boys with huge hearts. I teared up about it a couple times. I guess it's not just pregnant ladies that get super emotional. Apparently I get that way when I feel really sick and I'm not sad that one of my symptoms was feeling so loved by the men in my life.

Today I read a list of Rules for Moms with Sons on another blog and I love it! I copied her "shortened version" for you, but DEFINITELY click on the link and read the complete one. It made me emotional again and appreciative of other women who are mothers of boys that will grow up to be men. Women who are serious about their jobs of raising the next generation of men and who want to succeed at that huge job. I thank them for their examples and advice!

You might have to click on this to make it big enough to read well, or just click on the link above to read the full version because it's worth it and it also has cool pictures for each one.

Discovery Space Children's Museum

2012-01-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

We went to a local children's museum last week. It's called Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania. It was a fun place with some nice activities for the kids.

Sean testing the weight of different buckets.

The boys took turns building little log houses and then turning on a simulated earthquake to see how they would withstand the shaking.

I don't have a picture of it, but there was also a machine that could make a little tornado.

A beaver house. Inside had a video screen playing more information about beavers.

The boys checking out the flood table. They made some dams to see how that would change the water flow. They stayed here for a long time.

Matthew working on moving a ball through a maze. Parts of it, he had to use the magnetic bar to pull the ball through.

There was also a big sand/dirt box filled with "treasures" that kids could dig for. There were bones, shells, jewelry, pieces of pottery, feathers, and I think some other stuff I can't remember.

Another display showed some different rocks under a black light glowing different colors. There were different building stations too. It's a very hands on place which the boys totally love.

Sean and Matthew had a great time and didn't want to leave. We may have to go again while we're here. Thanks Nicki, for finding fun things for us to do here.

Snow Picture Overload

2012-01-23T05:40:00.000-08:00

I know that you all pretty much want pictures of my lovely family, so here you go!

The snow was super powdery, so they couldn't make snowballs or snowmen, but they still had fun tossing it around.

It was such a bright day. Such a difference from when it snows in Washington and Oregon

Watch out!

You can't see it, but there is a little pond under the snow just in front of the boys. They had been exploring a couple days earlier and saw that it was frozen over. I'm glad we knew it was there so we could keep the boys off of it.

A group of maintenance guys came right after these pictures and shoveled all the walkways around our building. See the clear road too? I heard snow plows during the night keeping the roads clear. That's something I wasn't used to. But it sure made it nice when we wanted to go out after playing in the snow.

That's our building. Nice, right?

This looked cooler in real life. Sean smacked a tree limb and the snow flew off. It looked all sparkly, but it didn't turn out great on camera.

It was lots of fun to let the kids play. We discovered that Sean and I need better gloves. These pictures are from 3 days ago, and the snows still out there. I haven't want to go out again though because it's so cold. I'm sort of a wimp!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Local Adventures

2012-01-17T18:46:00.000-08:00

Jon had Monday off of work, so we got to spend the day together. It was wonderful!! Matthew was all recovered so we were ready to play! Sean came and told me that Matthew wasn't sick anymore because of his prayer. I love his care for his brother.

Here's the boys loving having their dad back!

Their room. Full of toys and smiles.
There's a desk in the room and Sean asked if there was some work for him to do at his desk since he hasn't done work for a while.

Jon took the kids for a walk around our place to see the ice on the ground. That reminded me of a part of the story I forgot from the day before. When we landed in Detroit there was snow on the ground and the kids were so excited. I told them we weren't going to play in it there, but there should be some snow in Pennsylvania too. When we landed in PA, there wasn't snow on the ground. Sean looked out the window and cried. Serious tears over the lack of snow! I tried to reassure him that it will snow here soon (I think the forecast promises some in a week). I couldn't believe how sad he was. Well, the walk seemed to help and they came back with stories of a frozen pond. Sean learned about not eating old snow off of the ground. We had some lunch, went grocery shopping, and then went to a park for an adventurous walk. It's a wooded park with lots of trails. We walked around for a while exploring lots of the trails, the boys wandered off the paths a bit to climb around on fallen trees or collect sticks, leaves, and walnut shells. I told Sean we could go there a lot for exercise and he told me "Yeah, and we could call it Exercising Forest." Another time I asked him to get back on the trail and he told me "but boys like to explore!" He's all boy I tell you. We left as it was started to get a little dark. Jon decided we needed some hot chocolate. We ended up at Dunkin' Donuts so we each got hot chocolate and a doughnut. :) The boys fell asleep on the way home.

Here's Matthew sacked out. We had to wake them up so they could eat dinner and so they would go to sleep that night. It was a great first full day. We're looking forward to lots of adventures and I'll be better about taking my camera to document them all.

Quote of the day by Sean with a smirk on his face: "I wonder if there are pencils in Pennsylvania."

Getting to Pennsylvania

2012-01-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

The boys have each been on an airplane before this trip, but it's been years. Matthew's last flight was when he was about 6 months old and it was only an hour long. Sean's last flight was when he was 1 1/2 years old. Since then, Sean has had some motion sickness on a boat and in the car, so I was nervous about this plane ride. We got him some sea bands, Dramamine, and aromatherapy oils to help keep him stable. I didn't end up giving him the dramamine because I heard it can make him sleepy and I knew I wouldn't be able to carry him around. I needed both my kids to walk and be in charge of their own bags.

The kids had been looking forward to riding on an airplane for a long time. Months. The night before we left I told them I would get them up when it was still dark so we could get on the plane. They were excited!

The morning we left it was so cold. It had snowed a bit the night before and there was still some on the ground. Amy took us to the airport without any trouble. We checked all our stuff at the curb (did you know they like tips at the curbside bag check place? I didn't until that morning) and headed for the gate. The boys got new backpacks for Christmas from Uncle David and Trevor filled with fun stuff for the plane ride. They each had 1 other backpack too. Matthew wore both of his on his back even though the new ones have wheels. I should have taken a picture of that because it looks so silly and lots of people were giggling about it. He wouldn't be talked into any other way though and I didn't really mind since he was carrying them and I could carry just my things. The security gate was a mess. Sean was fine and thought it was so interesting that our bags were going to be x-rayed. Matthew, on the other hand, was NOT giving up his bags. I finally just ripped them off and got through the gate holding a sad, screaming little boy. It was a fight to get his shoes back on. He had a glorious, 10 minute (no exaggeration here!) full on fit on the floor before getting his bags and agreeing to go to our departure gate. I didn't realize we were going to ride a train there. If I had known I could have probably talked Matthew into walking a lot sooner. He sort of loves trains. There were a few really nice people that offered to help, but I didn't know how they could help, and I didn't want to make them wait for our slow behinds, so I thanked them and sent them on their way. We made our way to the train and the boys were both excited to ride it through a tunnel. We got to our gate and I fed the boys a little snack since I didn't have them eat before they got into the car. They looked out the window at the planes going by. There was a big net on a truck near the plane and Matthew said that someone had caught a squid. He's so silly.

We boarded the plane and the boys got into their bags for a snack or a drawing pad and settled in. I gave them each a sucker for take-off. I watched them super closely for any sign of motion sickness. We made it into the air without incident. They were so excited to be in the sky and fly through the clouds. They ate more snacks, enjoyed the drinks that came by, looked at some books, colored and were just giddy. Matthew kept using the bathroom. That was a fun challenge because he still needs help and those bathrooms are not built for more than one person. The flight was supposed to be 4 hours but we were making great time and shaved about 30 minutes off the time. There were little screens on each seat and we could watch the flight path. That was really cool to watch how fast we crossed the states. I was grateful knowing that it would take so much longer in a car. With about an hour and a half left Matthew's cheeks started getting really pink and he was getting whiny. Oh no! He said he needed to throw up, so I got ready. He ended up falling asleep for a few minutes. He woke up, threw up immediately and then seemed fine. Phew! I thought "that wasn't too bad. No more candy for him." We walked off the plane and he threw up a tiny bit more. I wiped it up with a wipe and then we started on our way to the next plane. This was in the Detroit airport. It is really big- here's a map. We were at the far end of concourse A and we needed to get to concourse C. It was a long walk and I didn't realize until we were half way down that there was a train that could have taken us much quicker. I'll know next time. There were about 8 moving sidewalks that the kids got to ride. There was a pretty water fountain that we watched for a few minutes before walking through the tunnel to concourse C. It's a pretty tunnel with 2 more long moving sidewalks, soft music, and a light show on the walls and we made it! I was pretty hungry so we got in line to get a sandwich. Matthew started whimpering again so we got out of line real quickly, I grabbed a bag (the stewardess gave me a couple just in case- so thankful for her!!) and he threw up again. Ugh!! "Is he actually sick then? Is this not motion sickness? Why am I doing this? I need Jon." These were my thoughts. Again, Matthew seemed fine after he was done throwing up. I decided we didn't need food after all.

We got to our gate and Matthew asked for some juice. I got some drinks and we sat and waited for our last flight. I talked to a couple people who told me I would fall in love with Pennsylvania and not want to leave. When I told Jon about that he commented that people don't realize how beautiful our home in Washington is. Just as people started boarding the plane, Matthew started whining again. Oh man! He was in bad shape, but we had to get on the plane, so I had him hold a bag and I carried him, his bags, and my bag on the plane. Sean was a great helper and get into his seat and started reading a magazine. Matthew fell asleep for a few minutes, woke up, threw up, and fell back asleep before we took off. Sean finished looking at his magazine (the one that was on the plane. I wouldn't think it was very exciting, but he went through each page carefully. He commented that the pages were "scripture page thin") and then he fell asleep before we took off too. Matthew slept the entire flight. That was a nice relief since I was all sorts of exhausted by this point. This flight was just over an hour and Sean was still fine. I'm a believer in those sea bands. We'll be getting some for Matthew for the trip back! Well, we landed and Matthew was still asleep, so I again carried him, his bags, and my bag off the plane. State College has a super small airport, so we walked off onto the tarmac. I had to get one more bag that I gate checked and since we were the last ones off the plane, a lady there said she could help us inside. We were walking toward the baggage claim and I saw Jon walking towards us. I told the lady "There's my knight in shining armor!" He took our bag from her and off she went. Sean hugged his dad, I kissed him, and Matthew pitifully looked at him. Oh it was so nice to see him and be together again. I let Jon hold Matthew for a bit so I could just stand for a minute and breathe knowing we didn't have to get on any more planes for a while. Jon gathered up our bags and car seats and we loaded up and headed to our new home.

I didn't look around much on the drive home since I was still focused on Matthew. I didn't want him throwing up in our rental car. We live about 10 minutes from the airport, so that was nice. Jon showed us around the new place. The boys love that we take an elevator to our floor. Matthew wanted to take a bath. Jon had bought a new Lego set and Sean started putting it together. Matthew threw up a few more times that night. I kept worrying that he was really sick and that we would all end up with it. I had been feeling dizzy since Detroit though, so I also wondered if it would just take a bit for Matthew and I to stop feeling the effects of the day. Sean prayed that Matthew would be better in the morning and we went to bed.

What a day! It started very early and was more eventful than I would have liked, but we made it safely and that's really all I could ask for. Our condo is really pretty and very comfortable. It will be a great home while we're here. I'll do my best to take pictures and update often.

Extended Vay-cay

2012-01-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas we finished packing up our home and cleaned like crazy. Amy came and took the kids to her house which was great. I'm sure it would have taken much longer with them "helping." Plus, they got to play with their cousins. We picked them up at dinner time and headed to Portland for a 2 week stay with our extended family. It was so nice to have a big chuck of time with everyone. The boys were loving that they kept getting more Christmas presents when we would see someone new.

We kept very busy. One night we went bowling with nearly the whole fam. It was super fun and James beat us all (however, he did have the advantage of bumpers.)

Another place we went was Out of This World Pizza. It is a restaurant with a huge play area. Lots of slides, bouncy houses, little cars, and cool paintings all over. The kids loved it. Here's some pictures from that day:

Pretty near every time we had to leave somewhere, the kids would cry.

They were loving this vacation.

My birthday was in the middle of our trip, so Jon and I had a night out. Earlier in the week we had gone for massages which was blissful. Our night out included, dinner at P. F. Changs, a movie (War Horse) which was great, convincing Jon that a trip to Winco would be a good idea (I was so right), and lots of hand holding. It was nice again for the kids to spend some good time with their cousins.

We took the boys for a ride on the Wes train (a local commuter train). They had been asking for a couple days and it was something I really wanted to do with them. While we were waiting to go Matthew said to me "Thank you for taking us to here." He's so dang cute!

Our oldest nephew got baptized during this trip, too. That morning, Jon and I got to go to the temple with my grandpa, Jon's grandma, and Bethany. I really wanted to go before heading east and it was nice to be with so many people I love. The baptism was in the afternoon and Jon made a pineapple boat for our gathering afterward. I thought it turned out really well.

Yum!

Sweet Avery and Mackayla

These are the next ones in line for baptism. I'm sure it will be their turn sooner than I expect.

All the kids gathered around to look at a map during Steve's talk on baptism.

It was so nice to be there the share James' special day. We are so proud of him. Sean made a book mark for him showing how he went under the water and came back out. He sure loves his cousin and I'm grateful for the good example James is setting.

Jon left for Pennsylvania and I took the boys back to Bremerton to see our friends again before leaving. We had such a good time. We had a lunch and ate good food and giggled and just had fun. I should have taken more pictures, but here's what I have:

Oh I love these two cuties!!

I hadn't spent time with Amy's family yet, so we went to stay with her for several days. Dad and my grandparents came up too so we took advantage of the pool in their hotel. The kids had so much fun.

My camera kept fogging up by the hot tub, but Matthew's still cute.

Seriously!!

We love our family and friends so so much and it was hard to leave them, but it's only temporary. I'll do my best to keep you all updated so you don't forget how awesome we all are.

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-22T23:43:00.000-08:00

I asked the kids to pose by the tree for some Christmas pictures. This is what I got:

Merry Christmas from our family. If I had done a Christmas card this year, it would have a couple of these pictures on it.

Here's a quick quasi-letter:

We are all doing well. Jon loves his job. He's being transferred to Pennsylvania for part of the year and the boys and I are going with him and we leave in a couple weeks (hence, no official Christmas card and letter).

He has been in the Young Men's presidency at church working with the 14-15 year old boys. I've heard the boys think he's pretty awesome, especially when he shows up to activities on his motorcycle.

I love playing with our kids all day. I love baking and learning to cook a few healthy things here and there. I've been teaching the Sunbeams (3-4 year old kids at church) which made me Sean's teacher this year. I have had a lot of fun with our class.

Sean has been in a playgroup co-op and loves getting together with his friends once a week to learn about a letter and play. He loves singing and laughing.

Matthew started going to a playgroup co-op this fall with kids his age and has really enjoyed that. The boys love playing together and Jon and I love to watch their friendship grow.

We love each other. We love the blessing of being able to be an eternal family through our Savior, Jesus Christ. We love that Christmas reminds us to teach our children truths like this.

This is how we roll- or bounce

2011-12-17T19:09:00.000-08:00

This is what happens in our home when we take furniture apart:

Sean's Angry Birds

2011-12-15T12:32:00.001-08:00

Sean plays Angry Birds every once in a while. He loves it. Matthew can imitate each birds' sound perfectly. Sometimes both boys will jump off of things (the couch, the table, etc.) while making one of the bird sounds. They are pretty hilarious. Recently, Sean started drawing his own scenes from the game. Check them out:

Don't you love all the details?

All the birds lined up behind the sling shot.

All the pigs in various places.

Ok, so his birds and pigs are just circles, but I still love it.

I love that he shows the tracks of the birds' flight too.

This one didn't scan very well.

He made another one that he's since mailed off, but he made a couple different pigs (one with a helmet and one with a mustache). I love how different each one has been. I hope you are all as impressed as Jon and I are.

Matthew's Birthday

2011-12-06T18:01:00.001-08:00

Here's our little 3 year old with one of his birthday gifts.

I think he likes it

He just finished a Costco sized candy cane.

Matthew's birthday interview went like this:

What did you do for your birthday?
Ate cake!

What is your favorite color?
Um. I don’t know. Blue!

What is your favorite toy right now?
a car

What is your most favorite thing to do?
play with a guy

What are your friends’ names?
Nicholas, Levi, Eliza

What is your favorite food?
ice cream

What is your favorite drink?
milk

What is your favorite animal?
a camel

What do you want to be when you grow up?
um, I just don't know

What is your favorite song?

Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam

What is your favorite book?
A dinosaur one

What is your most favorite thing to do with Dad?
protect him

What is your most favorite thing to do with Mom?
protect her

We sure love our Matthew boy. He has a great personality, and is also Sean's shadow and greatest fan.

Latest quote: I eat bugs!!

Changing my Heart

2011-11-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

This quote was in our Sacrament meeting bulletin and it really stood out to me:

"How do we decide where our repentance should be focused? When a loved one or friend suggests things we need to change, the natural man in us sometimes pops up his head and responds, 'Oh, you think I should change? Well let me tell you about some of your problems.' A better approach is to humbly petition the Lord: 'Father, what wouldst Thou have me do?' The answers come. We feel the changes we need to make. The Lord tells us in our mind and in our heart."

-Neil L. Anderson, "Repent...That I May Heal You," Ensign Nov 2009

Last week I read another passage in the scriptures:

Alma 7:23-24

23 And now I would that ye should be ^ahumble, and be^bsubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

24 And see that ye have ^afaith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

And another place shortly after this chapter talks again about being submissive and humble. All these things make me think that I have some changing to do. I feel like I need to be less defensive, more willing to change things that I know need changing (even when I don't WANT to change), more open to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

I read a book a couple years ago called "I Hate it When Exercise is the Answer: A Fitness Program for the Soul" by Emily Watts. I got it because the title was funny and very true to me. It was a really good book. Sometimes the obvious things are the answer, but I just don't want to do them. Lately I've been feeling a little down, and tired. I was talking to Jon about it and we agreed that I should probably be exercising regularly and eating healthier food. Ugh!! Why does it have to be that?! Why can't I be happy and energetic on cookies and movie watching? This is one of those times that I need to humble myself enough to know my usual way of doing things is not the right way. In order to have what I want long term (energy, health, happiness, humility, positive attitude) I have to make some sacrifices. I have a lot of hope and a bit of faith that I can make the changes necessary to be more than I am now.

Time to go exercise!!

Warm Thoughts

2011-11-19T20:32:00.000-08:00

It makes me very happy (almost to the point of tears) when people are generous and loving to my kids. When others see just how wonderful they are and try to make their day a little brighter. Today I took Sean to a gem and mineral show. There were shark's teeth and some fossils and plenty of cool rocks for him to look at and touch. He was in heaven. There was one booth where people could buy a geode (the rocks with pretty crystals inside) and the guy would use a huge pipe cutter to open it for them. We happened to be there when a lady was buying one so we stayed to watch. The man saw us and noticed how interested Sean was and asked Sean to come help him open it. He said he needed Sean's strong muscles to get that one opened. It took a bit and Sean was totally red in the face (even though the other guy was doing most of the work), but Sean was so pleased about it. He said "I didn't know I was that strong that I could break a rock open!" I was just so grateful to this stranger who made the gem show personal for my little 4 year old. People like that are a gift from Heaven to this mom.

Kids Discovery Museum

2011-11-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

My friend Bonnie and I took our boys to the Kids Discovery Museum on Bainbridge Island to check it out. It reminded me of the Children's Museum in Portland, but on a smaller scale (which was a big PRO for me). The boys had a great time.

Matthew and William climbing all over this car.

All 4 boys got in together at one point.

A couple cute octopi/octopuses

(insert whatever the proper term is)

I wish I would have taken pictures or video or something of the upstairs area. It's a ball room (golf balls) with a bunch of contraptions to put them on. I'm really not explaining this well, so here's a picture and more info. It's a bit of a drive to do often, but I'm glad we went. I'm pretty sure the kids are glad we went too.

More Flower Clips

2011-11-09T22:24:00.000-08:00

I was making some more of these tonight and I wanted to show you a new way I found to attach the clips. I saw it on some headbands at the store and I copied the great idea.

3 Ways to cuteness:

Slide a head band through

or clip it to an elastic head band

or just slide the clip through

When I first learned to make these, I glued the clip to a rectangular piece of felt and then glued that to the flower. I actually like that better if I know it will be used solely as a clip, but with this circle version, there's some more versatility. I don't have a fancy camera, so if you can't tell, it's just a circle piece of felt with 2 slits that I glued to the flower.

Bathroom Humor

2011-11-06T21:24:00.000-08:00

I still help Matthew in the bathroom. He was sitting on the toilet and looking at the floor said "Mom, you have poo on your socks!" I quickly said "I do not...," but looked down and saw that I, indeed, did have Pooh on my socks. Winnie the Pooh.

Karate Kids

2011-11-03T08:25:00.000-07:00

I had my friend's three sons over here last night for a bit and the 5 boys were hilarious together. There was lots of running and laughing and jumping off of things. Here's a small sampling of the evening.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here's our obligatory Halloween post.

Matthew's a dinosaur and Sean's a race car driver.

Both have spaghetti sauce on their faces.

Sean gave Matthew a dinosaur to show him what his costume looked like.

Matthew's holding a stool in his other arm to try to get to our bowl of candy on the counter.

Sean wanted to make thank you cards to give to people that gave him candy. Totally his idea. I love this kid. It threw people off though. Some of the comments were "What is this, a business card?" "Oh, do you want to give this to the next house?" I felt bad that people didn't want his thank you cards, but Sean didn't seem to care, so it's ok.

Love!

This monster tunnel was at one house. Pretty awesome if you ask me. There was also an arm under one of the sides that Sean was very interested in.

The boys with their loot. Sean kept saying how much fun the night was.

Matthew's scary dinosaur face.

Happy Halloween!!

My mom told me that a congressman or some other politician is trying to change Halloween to be the last Saturday in October (so it's always on a Saturday). I could totally be ok with that. Just sayin'.

I need some daughters!!

2011-10-21T13:44:00.000-07:00

Since I have no daughters, my nieces will benefit from my flower and hair bow making kick I've been on lately.

Avery wanted to wear this one to school. It went perfectly with her school uniform.

These are the ones I made today.

You can't really tell, but the light pink fabric has little sparkles in it.

Darling!!

I had the boys watch a movie while I was making these to keep them away from the hot glue gun and my scissors. Sean came in to see what I was up to and I was finishing up the blue bow with strawberries on it. He said it was so beautiful. Then I clipped it into my hair and he kept saying how beautiful it was. He makes me feel pretty talented. While I was in Portland earlier this week I made a red one, a red-white-blue one, and a white-baby blue one. I think the red one's my favorite.

Ginger Girl!

2011-10-09T18:53:00.001-07:00

The boys and I were taking Ginger to the vet to have her ears checked out. They have been bothering her for a while and so I needed to get some medicine for her. We get to the vet and Ginger had sat so nicely in the back seat between the boys' car seats which made the kids so happy since she usually sits in the front with me. Anyway, we get there and I'm getting everyone out of the car. Ginger goes to hop out of the car and sort of falls and lands on her hip with a big yelp. Dang it! So I carry her in and tell them what just happened and the vet looks her over and tells us that he wants to do x-rays to see what the damage is. I told him I want to wait to see if she's better the next day. He said that's ok and yes, she does indeed have an ear infection. She's in bad shape overnight. We can tell she's not magically better the next day so we take her in for x-rays. Well, her hip is out! We can try to get it popped back in and hope it sticks. If it doesn't fix the problem, then the next step is surgery. Yikes!! Oh, and we have to go to Tacoma to get either thing done. Luckily, we were headed to the Tacoma area the next day for Natalie's baptism, so we made it work. Amy was able to come get the kids so I could stay with Ginger at the fancy Vet clinic in Tacoma. They did a couple more x-rays and said she's a really good candidate for just popping the hip back into place and it working well since she's a smaller dog and won't have a lot of weight to support. They did that and placed hobbles on her. Hobbles look like hand cuffs on her back leg, and then she can still hobble around. She was really pitiful coming out of the anesthesia, but she's getting to be more like her old self all the time.

She'll have the hobbles for about a week and then once they come off, we still need to keep her off of stairs and from jumping on and off the couch for 4 or 5 weeks. It'll be tough, but I'm just glad she didn't have to have surgery. As much and we want to cut the hobbles off right now, we know they will help her in the long run. Here she is, hobbling around.

Exposed!

2011-09-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

What is it about appearing weak that we have such a hard time with?

I was recently talking to a friend and some of my insecurities came out. I felt strange afterwards; almost like I needed to apologize for being so weak. But then I remembered something she said during our conversation. She said we all just "humans being." And she's so right! We are each imperfect and trying to do our best in this life. It made me think about other friends and family members that try so hard to make it seem that they have it all put together even when they are falling apart inside. I'm not sure why it's so hard for us to show our human-ness and ask for help when we need it. I know sometimes we don't want our personal business made public, but Heaven knows we all need help at one time or another. I have had friends and family that have been so helpful during times of stress or worry or other emotional challenges. I appreciate them so much for their support and I try to be available for them in return. I love my friends dearly, even when I see them in a weak moment. Watching people make it through hard things motivates me to keep trying when times are hard. I know that this friend that saw me in such an insecure moment will still love me and won't think less of me for exposing my weakness to her. She was able to strengthen me just by pointing out the truth that we all have struggles to deal with.

I just want to say that I'm so thankful for the wonderful people in my life that have provided shoulders to cry on, advice, a listening ear, a place for my kids to go so I could have a break, shared meals, stayed up too late talking, helped move furniture, laughed with me, inspired me, and loved me through it all. Thank you for helping me through my journey. I love you!

Sean's Book

2011-09-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

Sean wrote a book called The Family Was Living Ever After.

You'll have to click on each of them to read the words. He drew all the pictures and then told me what to write. I hope you enjoy it!

Motorcycle Improvements

2011-09-20T20:04:00.000-07:00

What?

Doesn't everyone have an extra motorcycle engine hanging from the ceiling of their garage? No? Hmmm....

Jon bought this engine because the engine he currently has, has some issues. He's still getting everything together before he starts working on it. So this has been hanging in the garage for about a week now. I know he's eager to start working on it (one of the things he's missing from the bike right now is 2nd gear. No big deal, right?).

Jon took the boys with him one day to get some parts and before they went into the first store, he told them that they weren't allowed to touch any of the motorcycles or anything else. But then they walked in and saw some kid sized motorcycles.

These are seriously happy faces!

Sean keeps asking when we're going to buy him a little motorcycle. I remind him that he can't even ride his bike without training wheels yet, so there's no WAY I'm getting him a motorcycle. I guess these boys will just have to keep dreaming until Jon teaches them to ride.

Labor Day Weekend 2011

2011-09-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Jon almost had to work last weekend, but he was able to stay late Friday so we could have the rest of the weekend as a family. It was great!! Saturday we went to a party for some friends that Jon helped move. We went out to ice cream (thanks Bethany!), we played in the yard. Sunday evening Jon took the boys to a park and they had a good time on the baseball field.

Sean practicing his swing.

Matthew making it on base.

Monday we went to the Olympic Mountains. It was a beautiful day and we had packed a lunch and plenty of snacks and water. We all looked forward to a nice little walk up the mountain. However, on the drive up the mountain, Sean started whining and saying his stomach hurt. I asked if he needed to throw up and he said no, I asked if he was hungry. No. I asked if he needed to go to the bathroom and he said yes. We were only about 1 1/2 miles from the visitors center, so Jon tried to go a little faster up the curvy roads. Well, Sean evidently gets motion sickness and he started throwing up in the car. Lovely. That was a first for us. Jon pulled off the road quickly and we were able to clean up with wipes (I will carry those FOREVER even though we don't have kids in diapers any more). We got to the visitors center and cleaned up some more. We had lunch (well, not Sean, but the rest of us) with an amazing view. Sean wanted to lie down, so we found a little spot and Jon and Matthew were going to take Ginger and go up one of the trails while Sean slept of his illness. I watched them go to the beginning of the trail, then they came back to Sean and I and told us that dogs aren't allowed on the trails. Lovely again. One of my favorite things that happened up here though is that after the last time Sean threw up, he looks at me and says "This is really not my day." It was pitiful and adorable at the same time.

Sean feeling miserable and Matthew not cooperating. But isn't is beautiful up there?!

Oh the cuteness of my boy!

Matthew looks so much like Jon at this age.

See?

Well, we decided to head down the mountain since it didn't look like Sean was going to feel better any time soon. He fell asleep on the way and when he woke up he announced "My stomach's feeling much better now." Then he proceeded to talk up a storm and he was back to his silly self. I asked Jon if we could stop at a park on the way home and still try to have some fun. Right by the Hood Canal bridge is a little park, so we pulled off and played there for a while. It was beautiful here too.

The boys played in this fort that someone else had built.

The kids found 3 jellyfish that had washed up. They got to see them right up close and touch them a bunch.

It turned out to be a wonderful day together. I told Jon that I'm so glad that he has a great job in such a beautiful part of the country. Now don't you all want to come visit?

Our Pet Caterpillar

2011-08-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

We got a flyer in the mail to see the new Bug Museum in Bremerton. There was also a coupon for a free caterpillar just for stopping by. My friend and I decided to check it out one day with our kiddos. The museum is part of a nature gift store, so it's little, but cute. They have some live bugs that were interesting and gross. The store sells some neat kits too (ant farms, tadpole farms, etc.). My friend and I each got a free caterpillar to watch turn into a butterfly. Her daughter was so cute and worried because they aren't supposed to have pets in their house. We assured her it was ok since she would only have it for a few weeks.

I don't have any pictures of it as a caterpillar but it was cool to see it get bigger each day.

Here's the chrysalis.

We were going to be in Portland around the time the butterfly should have come out, so we brought it with us. I remember wondering out loud how long it would take and one of my nieces said "More than two weeks." That's a line from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and it was funny how matter-of-fact she said it. It ended up being about 10 days though.

Here's the empty chrysalis.

My mom and two nieces got to see it happen, but the rest of us were out playing.

Here he is sitting on an orange.

Side view of our Painted Lady butterfly.

We released him at my in-laws house by their butterfly bush the morning we left to come home. On the car ride home Sean would whimper and say "I just miss my butterfly. I hope I get to see him again." That boy is so dang tender I can't even stand it!

It was lots of fun to watch all the amazing changes our caterpillar went through. We might have to do it again because it was so cool.

Sunflowers and Gardening

2011-08-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

So...I'm a little behind because it's just been a busy, wonderful summer, but here are some pictures of my tiny little garden from July.

Left to right, there's lavender (that was here when we moved in), strawberries (that we don't get because the squirrels beat us to them), carrots, sunflowers, zucchini, and pumpkins.

The sunflowers are a giant variety that can get as tall as 10 feet. Most of ours were only about 2 1/2 feet tall, but we had one get almost 6 feet tall. Sean's down at the end adding stuff to our worm bin.

Here's Sean by our "winning sunflower." This one has multiple blooms and the others just had one.

These pictures are all from several weeks ago, so now all the first blooms of the sunflowers have died back, but 2 more from the biggest one opened up. We've picked a few zucchinis and enjoyed them fried and in zucchini bread, and we have a little pumpkin growing. In the back we also had an herb/salad box. The herbs didn't do really well, but we got a bit of lettuce that was really tasty. I felt really discouraged with our garden last year, but I'm feeling a bit better about what we're getting this year. Sean wants to try corn next year. We'll see how that goes. It's fun learning what will grow in our yard and how to better space things. And I love having my kids help with it all. Sean made the comment one day "We're kind of like farmers." Yeah Sean, only on a tiny plot of land.

Sean's Gun

2011-07-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

Jon had some wood leftover from a couple projects and wanted to make a gun for Sean. He made a little handgun first which is pretty awesome. Then he made a rifle.

Sean is totally serious when he has it. He's sure it's his job to secure the perimeter.

He asked for his camo jacket since he already had camo shorts and flip-flops.

Sean on patrol:

Jon has since made a couple modifications to the rifle. The barrel pointed up a bit, so he straightened it out. He also gave it a pretty sweet trigger. The boys love it so much. Sean's friend asked him today if he was going to paint it and Sean said he didn't want it painted. I agree that it's cool just the way it is now.

Farm Visit 2011

2011-07-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

I got to take the boys to Eastern Oregon last week to visit my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. Molly flew up and we drove out together. It was so, so great to have her with me on the drive. Seriously, she was so helpful and made the long trek so much better. Thank you forever Molly! And thank you Amy for letting us borrow your portable DVD player.

These pictures are all out of order, but here's what we did:

ate plenty of popsicles

sat on the 4-wheeler

(neither of them look happy about this situation. Not really sure why)

splashed in the pool and shot each other with water guns

played with Grandpa's cool remote chair

rode the gator around for hours

had our very own parade

got rides on Grandpa's wheelchair

(don't worry about Sean in the street-it's WAY out in the country)

watched hummingbirds eat and fly around

Matthew waiting patiently for his turn to ride with Grandpa

read books with Grandma before bed

climbed the gravel pile

dug holes in the gravel pile

(Grandpa said if he knew it would be so fun for the boys, he would have put it somewhere with fewer stickers on the ground. The boys didn't ever get poked though, so it was fine)

sat in tractors

The Auntie-Bodies

this one's from our Midsummer's Eve party

We are so glad we were able to visit again this year. I'm so grateful for the awesome family that I am a part of!

Proof of Improvement

2011-06-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

I was looking at my yard the other day and was feeling sad that it's not as lush and gorgeous as my neighbors. I know I shouldn't compare, but I do. Then I came across this picture from last April and I felt much better!

Last summer (our first in this home) our "lawn" was growing a healthy crop of dandelions. Sean would gather lots of lovely yellow flowers for me and got sad when I started digging them up.

I took this today.

What a difference, right??

I still have bare patches and that's what was bothering me, but when I see how much better it is than last year, I feel pretty dang good.

We also have a (very) little forest area in the front that I should have taken before and after pictures of. I guess it's still in progress, but there was ivy trying to strangle all the bushes and trees in the forest and I've spent many hours this spring pulling it out, and cutting it back, and even sawing the big roots out. I feel like the bushes and trees can breathe again. And the boys can make their way through the trees now without so many hazards.

Today was so nice, we spent nearly all of it outside. We ate otter pops, ate lunch, dug in the dirt, found worms, and pulled some weeds. It was fantastic!

I think it looks like they're playing recorders.

Love that face!

New Chairs for the Boys

2011-05-28T21:07:00.000-07:00

I saw these plans on Ana-White.com for some deck/beach/camping/whatever chairs for kids. I told Jon our boys needed a set and he agreed. We went shopping for fabric and found some super cute stuff that was even 50% off!! We had enough fabric out of one yard (of each color/print) to make 3 chairs. Saturday I sewed the slings while Jon built the frames. Sean actually helped me with sewing up the edges of one sling. He really wanted to work the pedal of the sewing machine. Driving practice perhaps?

Jon put one together and brought it to the kids to try out. Matthew climbed up and leaned back with a big grin. Then Sean took a turn and announced that "it's really comforty." Jon still had to stain them before I could post pictures.

Aren't they precious? Don't you want a set for your family too? They ran about $12 per chair. I made 3 slings in about 2 hours (with a few distractions like thread breaking and getting snacks for the kids) and Jon took a bit longer building (again with distractions....) but they were all done in a day. The longest part was waiting for the stain to dry.

Sean the Chef- a new cooking show!

2011-05-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

Sean likes to help me when I'm cooking. A lot. He likes measuring and stirring. Matthew likes to try to help too. He gets to help me flour pans. He's not as patient and usually tries to climb on top of the counter to get closer to everything. That's not so helpful.

A couple nights ago during dinner Sean was talking about food he likes to eat and all of a sudden got really excited.

He said "Tomorrow I'm going to make something that you're gonna love. It's going to have tortillas, and cheese, and chips, and chicken, and cheese." In case you missed it, that's cheese times two! Then he said "And there's a secret ingredient too. Let me whisper it in your ear. Sugar."

He wouldn't stop talking about it either. He told my mom on the phone. When Jon got home from work Sean told him all about it. I knew it wouldn't just go away, so Jon and I decided we would let him just make it and see how it went. We had asked him how much sugar he needed and he told us "4 cups. Actually, 5 cups." We decided to let him have a few tablespoons.

Here are a few videos of Sean making his special recipe.

(OK- it's 5 videos and maybe only Sean's grandparents will watch all of them, but each clip isn't too long, so go on and watch them all. You'll be glad you did.)

I love how helpful Matthew is being too.

Sean has never seen a cooking show, but I love how he takes a drink of his milk like the pros take sips of wine. So awesome.

Me: How did it turn out?

Sean: As I planned!

There you have it, our little chef in the making.

He was so proud and made sure that everyone got a piece. When Grandma called to see how it went he asked me if there was any left for her, but there wasn't. We ate the whole thing!

The Faith of a Child

2011-04-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

The other night I was in the boys' room reading scripture stories before bed. When I read other childrens books, Matthew will hog my lap (pushing Sean off if he's in the way) and enjoy the pictures. However, while I read scriptures, Matthew plays in the room and Sean gets to sit on my lap and look at the pictures with me. We were reading the end of the Book of Mormon, specifically Moroni's promise where Moroni says to all who read the Book of Mormon to pray and ask God if it is true. Here's the conversation that followed:

Mom: Do you want to pray tonight and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true?

Sean: No Mom, I already know it's true. (Then excitedly he adds) "But we can pray that Matthew will know it's true!

I love the faith he has. Faith that what Jon and I tell him is the truth. Faith that his prayers will be answered (he has had some that were answered immediately to strengthen this faith). I love how much he wanted Matthew to share his belief. After a long day of less than perfect obedience to me, moments like these make me feel pretty good as a mom.

Matthew loves birds!

2011-04-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

Matthew has been really loving birds nests lately. I made some candy ones a while ago and he liked those of course, but he likes the real thing too.

We've had some birds attempt to build a nest by our entry way, but it keeps falling apart. They seemed pretty determined for about a week and a half though. We kept hoping to see one all built. I was looking forward to hearing baby birds.

Sean and Matthew like to make birds nests in the dirt too. They dig a little hole and then find grass, sticks, and leaves and make it all cozy. Last weekend, Amy and her family came up and the girls made a huge nest.

Matthew was in heaven!

All the pictures I took were less than awesome, but let me just tell you he was adorable in his nest. He kept saying to me "Mommy, I'm a baby bird," and "I'm in a nest!" He has such a cute way of talking too. I should have taken a movie, but the pictures will just have to do for you today.

Here's an unrelated, but equally cute story:

Matthew really likes to pretend to be various animals. Last week we were on a family walk and Matthew started pretending to be a bunny. So he's hopping on the sidewalk and makes it about 4 hops when he asks me to "hold the bunny." So I go to pick him up, but he doesn't want me to hold him on my hip like I normally would. Oh no! I need to hold him the way a bunny would be held, with him curled up and sort of laying in my arms. That boy! Good thing he's so dang cute!

Sean's Artwork

2011-04-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sean's drawing skills are really improving. He draws a lot on his magna-doodle pad and I wish I could scan some of those pictures. He made a giraffe the other day that was just precious! Here's a little sampling of some recent drawings: (Click on each picture to enlarge)

A T-Rex. I love the little tooth. His dinosaurs are usually more exciting. I requested that he draw a dinosaur for me, so I think he wasn't really feelin' it.

He drew a bunch of squids the other day. This was the first draft. He then made some close ups where one squid took up a whole page.

This is Sean's family in a boat.

I'm not sure why Matthew's not with us. Hmm...

We have some window markers and Sean drew this bird. He told me that he saw a bird outside on the ground so he knew how to draw it. I love the details he gave it!

For Safety's Sake

2011-04-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

For those of you who may have been concerned for my kids' safety, the guard rails are UP!!

Jon also made a little rope ladder for Sean on the side. We all can't get enough of this bed. It's seriously so cool!

Bunk beds for the boys

2011-04-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Jon made bunk beds for the boys and we put them in the room last night! I am so impressed with how amazing they look. Jon did a great job and the boys were super excited to have them up finally. They watched Jon do some of the building and Sean even helped with the painting. It was a fun project.

This picture was before the ladder was up.

This sums up how Matthew feels about the beds.

They love climbing up and down the ladder.

Matthew has learned that you can't jump on the top bunk or you bonk your head on the ceiling.

Sean was being silly and shy for this video.

The light makes it look like their room is changing colors, sorry about that.

Jon had a lot of fun building this. He got some new tools out of it too. He just has to make some safety rails now to complete it. We prayed that the kids wouldn't fall out and they woke up unharmed this morning, so that was nice. Sean has never fallen out of bed so I wasn't too concerned, but Matthew sometimes does. He did great though and I'm just so glad that the boys have some space to play in their room now.

Sport Princess Freebies

2011-03-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

My sister in law Bethany has been adding more and more to her Sport Princess website and I think the first book is going to be out soon. She's having a giveaway right now too with some great free stuff! Check it out: Sport Princess Blog. You have until the 30th to enter. I'm so excited for this to be moving forward.

Buddies

2011-03-11T13:59:00.001-08:00

This is Matthew's very special friend.

He loves her and she loves him. They hug each other and like to say hi to each other very loudly at church. She influences him to use the toilet when she's over here (anytime she goes, Matthew needs to do it too). They play so nicely together and Matthew's always thrilled to go play with her. Her mom brought me cookies last night and she told me that when her daughter saw them she asked who they were for. When she told her daughter they were for Matthew she said "Oh that's good." These two are just so darling!!

Homemade Oreos- Sort of

2011-03-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Don't these look yummy?

Well, they are. I posted this picture on facebook and lots of my friends want the recipe, so here it is:

Cookies:

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 cup shortening

4 cups flour

2 eggs

2 tsp soda

1 1/2 cups milk

2 tsp vanilla

Mix everything together and spoon some onto an ungreased baking sheet (the size is up to you).

Bake at 350 for about 8 minutes.

Mine are kind of puffy, you could try flattening them with a spoon if you want too.

Cool completely before filling.

Frosting/filling:

1 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup milk

4 tsp vanilla

1 pound powdered sugar (3 1/2- 4 cups)

Mix those all together and spoon a nice amount in between 2 cookies.

This recipe will make about 2 1/2 dozen sandwiches. I didn't want to be baking that many when I made these last so I just made half and that was the perfect amount for our family of 4 to eat in 2 days.

Enjoy!

My grandma makes something like these called "Choke Downs" and instead of making sandwiches, she just frosts the tops of all of them (only her frosting is always pink) and then sprinkles a little coconut on top. They are super delicious also, but the men in my house aren't crazy about coconut, so we had these.

I hope your family likes these as much we do!

Tag Blankets

2011-03-02T20:36:00.002-08:00

I "taught" a class on how to make tag blankets a couple weeks ago. I don't feel like I lead the group as well as I should have. I really just wanted to make one myself, and I feel badly about that now, but whatever. As I was shopping for fabric I came across some cute shark material and Sean was really insistent that he needed a new one and that I could have his old one. It's seriously cute fabric, so I caved. Here's how it turned out:

I LOVE the blue ribbon!

Sean wanted some pictures of him with his new blanket.

It's a hit!

I wanted to make a girl one too and one of my friends is having a baby girl in May or June so I found this cute fabric:

I also made a little burp cloth to go with it. My aunt gave me a pattern years ago and it was fun to do a couple little sewing projects.

Old Sean Quotes

2011-02-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

These are things Sean said in a prayer on my birthday in January:

"I'm thankful for my mom's flowers"

and

"I'm thankful that we're not extinct."

A Project for Projects

2011-02-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a place that Sean and Matthew could hang up all their drawings and colorings, and whatever else they make. Sean tends to get attached to his artwork, so I wanted a way for him to decide what he keeps, and what we throw out because we are not saving every little thing forever. I saw this Ruler Clip Rail on this blog here. It looked easy enough, and my mom said she had an extra meter stick at school, so I think I spent $1.19 on clothes pins and a couple hours with Sean and it was done!

Sean loves to make faces for the camera lately.

The original plan called for jumbo clips, but I wanted to have more, so I used 9 regular sized ones. Sean picked the colors and helped paint about half of them. My OCD was a challenge for me. I really wanted to have them done my way, but I was able to let some imperfections slide. I was going to glue the clothes pins down, but I couldn't find my glue gun and the plans said to screw them in anyway. Jon had exactly what I needed in his collection of nails and screws and I got it all done before he came home from work.

What I love about this is that it can only hold a limited number of beautiful pieces of the boys' art. They get to decide what stays and what goes. I will try to help the boys avoid becoming pack rats like I once was. (Amy visited once when she was in college and I was in middle school and got rid of all my saved school work from 2nd and 3rd grade- it was serious!) Sean's only request was that we hang it low enough that he can reach the clips. Simple enough. A friend of mine made one of these using ribbon instead of a meter stick and it is also super cute.

See what I mean?

Matthew's Just Adorable

2011-02-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

I need to write something before I forget all about it. Matthew is awesome. That's not something I'll forget, but the way he speaks will change over the next several months and years, so I want this documented before that change happens.

Matthew does things his way. Sometimes he's really in the mood to say full sentences and other times he just wants to say one word for what he wants. Then there are times he just grunts and we have to guess what he's after. He has been giving different activities their own names. We were at the Brady's (Jon's parents) and Jon was holding Matthew while sort of hopping down the stairs. He made a little sound with each step too. Later that day we were all at the top of the stairs and Matthew pointed downward and said "Play da-buh, play da-buh." Jon looked at me for clarification and I had none. Matthew kept pointing and saying that and Jon realized that was the sound he had made when they had hopped down the stairs earlier. Matthew knew just what he wanted, we just had to pay better attention.

He learned a game from Hunter a few months ago. I think he just calls it Ghost. He comes up to a person and says "Daddy ghost" or "Papa ghost" and you're supposed to say "Booooo" and chase him around. Hunter and Matthew love this game. But sometimes Matthew thinks that the ghost is supposed to say "moooo."

We found a toddler bed on craigslist for nearly nothing and bought it. It took about a week for Matthew to get used to, but he's great now and doesn't get out when he's not supposed to. In fact, at bedtime, we sit together on Sean's bed and read a story and then Matthew goes straight to his bed and lies down.

Matthew is super resourceful and independent. He has seen where we keep the gum (on top of the fridge now, since he figured out how to get it out of the drawer). When I'm not looking, he pulls a chair from the dining room table, to the kitchen counter by the fridge, climbs up on the counter, reaches the ziplock bag and opens it, unwraps a few pieces of gum, and goes to town. When I catch him, he just smiles and says "I did it!" He's also very fair. If I give him some sort of treat (like a vitamin or a snack) he always asks "Sean snack?" and will bring him one of whatever the treat is.

He is very expressive. If he's mad he really lets you know. He'll say in a low grumble "No! Not Fuddy" (His 'n's are a 'd' sound) And if he's asking for something he really wants, he'll say in a high sweet voice "Hot chocate, please Dad?" When he does something he thinks if funny he'll ask "See dat, Mama?"

This boy is so much fun. He makes me tired, but he also makes me smile so much. I love watching him watch Sean and laugh at the same things even when he doesn't know what's funny. I love how much he loves books. I love his dance moves. He's been doing some amazing arm movements, which if Jon and I try to copy, he tells us "No Mama dancing." I'm so excited that he's talking more. I love watching him play with his friends and cousins. I'm just so happy to have this guy in my life.

How can I possible resist loving this boy?!

Happy Birthday to Sean!

2011-02-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, Stacey asked if we would drive to Portland if she flew up. Of course! And it worked out that it was Sean's birthday weekend, so we could celebrate with the extended family. We had so much fun all weekend long. The boys played in Nanna's sandbox. The cousins came over and played until way past bedtime. I got to go shopping with Stacey. Jon and his dad and brother went looking at motorcycles. We had a party for Sean. He even helped decorate his cake:

He asked for a dinosaur cake with a volcano with lava coming out of it. Pretty specific, right?

He also asked for a book about dinosaurs with buttons that you push that make the sounds of dinosaurs growling. I'm not sure there is a book like that, so he got different presents.

I've also been making a lot of doughnuts lately and I wanted to try some new ones while I had lots of willing taste testers. Here are the kids enjoying apple cider doughnuts and hot chocolate.

Above- cake doughnuts with cinnamon sugar glaze

Below: Apple cider doughnuts rolled in cinnamon sugar

I also did a batch of Baked apple cider doughnuts, rolled in cinnamon sugar. Yum!

Back to Sean- he is awesome and we love having him in our family. He's a great oldest child. He's so helpful. Just today he went around the house with a spray bottle and wash cloth cleaning the windows and sliding glass door. He loves his younger brother and tries to help him learn how to say words and how to play different games (He played a game this weekend called "Sweetie Eat" where Matthew was Sweetie and they made food to eat in the play kitchen). He loves music and makes up songs while he plays. He's a good friend and I love watching him interact and learn from his friends. He loves to make people laugh. He loves to make cookies with me or Jon. He's learning so many new letters and sounds that go with them. He amazes me all the time!

My sister in law Nicki has an interview with her kids on their birthdays and I'm totally copying her for Sean this year. Enjoy:

What did you do for your birthday?
Um, helped you make a cake.

What is your favorite color?
Blue instead of green.

What is your favorite toy right now?
Those tools Stacey gave me.

What is your most favorite thing to do?
By helping you make food and cakes.

What are your friends names?
Grant, James, Avery, Kayla, Hunter, Sophia, and... come on brain, Isabel and Natalie, Max, Kelly, and baby Kira.

What is your favorite food?
Spaghetti and not mashed potatoes

What is your favorite drink?
Water and milk.

What is your favorite animal?
Frogs and dogs and cats.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A dad.

What is your favorite song?

All sorts, like a dinosaur song or a frog song.

What is your favorite book?
Crash Bang Donkey

What is your most favorite thing that Dad does?
That he fixes torpedoes and submarines.

What is your most favorite thing that Mom does?
Telling the kids what the truth is.

I sure love our Sean! Happy Birthday Buddy!

Music Fans

2011-01-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

Nicki's kids have been singing a Bruno Mars song a lot. It's called Somewhere in Brooklyn. Her kids are amazing at learning lyrics to songs. Seriously. I remember James knowing most, if not all of the words to Next Time He Cheats when he was 3 or 4 years old. Avery and Briella are just as skilled. Sean spent a night at their house when we were in Portland over Christmas break. He picked up part of the Bruno Mars song from them and we've been listening to it more too, so he has learned a lot more. He gets a little excited when we turn it on for him. Matthew's starting to get into it too. Enjoy!

He was going a little wild this time and I blame bedtime and the camera being on, but it was still fun.

Snow Day

2011-01-12T13:27:00.001-08:00

It snowed last week and stuck around long enough to build a couple things in. It was lots of fun. The boys and I made a couple small snow men. Matthew kept kicking their heads off though. He went in with Jon and then Sean and I made a one-man igloo.

I tried to get Matthew to go in and sit on Sean's lap, but he wasn't having it.

That's probably our one snow day of the season so I'm glad we made the most of it!

Sean's Bike

2011-01-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

Costco had some Christmas leftovers, so Sean got an early birthday present. Jon put it together and Sean tried to ride around our living room, but didn't have much luck. They went to the church parking lot the next day and it was way better. Go figure! Jon taught Sean how to use the brakes by going down a hill (Jon was in front of him to be safe). He wanted to ride the next day (which was Sunday) but I told him he would have to stay in the garage that time. It was so cold and he wanted me to sit out there with him. I bundled up in a blanket and watched him. I was really impressed how confident he is. Jon's an awesome teacher!

I think he likes it.

Next week, we'll take the training wheels off!

I'm an antique!

2011-01-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

Molly told me once that anything 30 years old or older is an antique. Well, I'm there now. I don't see what the fuss is all about. Jon asked me if I felt 30 and I told him I don't feel a day over 28 and he'll know what that's like in a couple months. I will say that I picked Matthew up the day before my birthday and pulled something in my leg. And it was still sore the morning of my birthday when I got Matthew out of his crib. That was less than awesome. But the rest of the day was great. I went to my friends house in the morning to play. She kept the boys while Jon and I went to lunch. Jon stayed home in the afternoon and I was able to take a little nap. I got flowers from 3 different people (my mom, Jon and Sean, and my visiting teachers). Another friend brought me some delicious bread and jam (one of my very favorite things). After dinner, I got to go shopping by MYSELF with some gift cards and got some cute new clothes. It was fabulous.

A couple days later, Jon surprised me by having my mom, grandpa, sister, and nieces show up while I was gone. He had been planning it for a few weeks and had them (and my other siblings) each write some memories of me. My mom copied some journal entries about me as a little girl that were very touching. We had dinner and cake and lots of fun. I was really impressed with Jon's thoughtful plan.

The next day, Lorainne, Steve, and Bethany came over. Lorainne made Nanaimo bars and Jon made some amazing enchiladas and we had more cake. Seriously a great week! There were lots of other people that called and sent cards to let me know they were thinking of me. It was just great to feel so loved. Thanks!

Christmas Picture Attempt

2010-12-23T11:05:00.000-08:00

After church last week I tried to get pictures of the kids by the tree. They were super silly and this is what I ended up with:

Once there was a snowman...

I love our two boys even if they won't be calm for pictures. They are really liking this Christmas season. Matthew loves to see Santa all over the place. The boys colored a Nativity picture at church and put a cotton ball on the sheep and a blanket on baby Jesus. Matthew ripped his blanket off and told me "Jesus hot." Sean and I slept under the tree last night and that was lots of fun. Sean is also fully expecting it to snow. I hope he's not too disappointed with rain.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Matthew's TWO!!

2010-12-13T13:11:00.001-08:00

Matthew had a birthday a while ago, and I've been meaning to get pictures up. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. I gave him some options like chocolate, white cake, yellow cake.... He enthusiastically said "Chocolate cake, YEAH!!" Then I asked various shapes like train cake, spider cake, dinosaur cake, etc. And again his opinion was a strong one; "Spider cake, YEAH!!" and then he ran to the kitchen to find it. That was several days before his birthday, so the poor guy had to wait. But here's what he ended up with:

I was experimenting with making things out of chocolate since I had to make the spider legs. I made Matthew's name, and Sean's, a 2, and a little heart. It was fun.

I think he liked it.

I had just bought a mini cupcake pan for myself and it was fun to have a reason to use it. Mini cupcakes are so cute!

I'm amazed at how much Matthew has grown and developed in the last year. Since his last birthday he has learned how to walk, talk, jump, run, tickle people, climb, sneak into child-proofed cupboards, move chairs into the kitchen to be "helpful", throw diapers away, and many other things. He's a handful (sometimes two hands full!) but so sweet. I love his dimples and I love his laugh. I love reading to him. I love watching him copy his big brother. He's a great kid and we're all glad he's part of our family.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

Where did November go??

2010-12-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

My mom reminded me that there is nothing new on my blog. November flew by and I don't have tons of footage. Sean took a trip to Portland on the train with his Nana (but without Mom and Dad) and played for a few days before riding the train back. He had so much fun and was treated like royalty.

Playing in the sandbox

Taking a bubble bath

Matthew enjoyed the time he had with Mom and Dad's full attention, and full access to all the toys. It was hard to have Sean gone for so many days, but I knew he was safe and having so much fun. I really enjoyed the one on one time with Matthew too. So it all worked out.

A couple weeks later, the boys and I went to Corvallis to visit our friends there. Angeli had a baby boy in October and I wanted to meet him and to help out a bit. He is a darling baby and I loved being able to hold him and rock with him and pet his soft head (newborns are so soft!) Matthew got jealous and would tell me "Don't baby!" and try to get me to put him down. The boys had fun playing with Clara and William again. It had been almost a year since we saw them last so Matthew has changed a lot, but he jumped right into the crowd and had a blast. We spent a couple nights with our other friends, the Goebels. Sean and Jed are so silly together! I told Kellee that I was a bit emotional driving into Corvallis and remembering our life there. It's hard to be so far away, but I'm so glad that Jon's not in school anymore! And I really do love where we are.

It snowed the day we left Corvallis, so the kids played in it for a while before we left. Then we drove to Tualatin to spend a night before heading home. We ended up staying 2 nights because Matthew and I were pretty sick the first night and didn't sleep. Ugh!! But we made it home and had Thanksgiving leftovers at Amy's. It was wonderful!

Jon and Sean went and got our Christmas tree. Sean LOVES the train that Lorainne has around her Christmas tree and wants one too. We were talking about it and I didn't really want to get one so he asked if he could make one with his train set. During dinner he told Jon and I how he was going to use his silver train with the controls and the curved pieces so it could go all around the tree. He's so clever.

This isn't as thorough as it could be, but it will have to do. I'll try to do better next month!

Halloween Treats

2010-11-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but boy did we have a good time this month getting ready for it and celebrating. Our ward had a carnival at the beginning of the month which was a lot of fun.

There were lots of booths with activities they could do for candy (fishing, bean bag toss, etc.) and even a donut eating competition.

Matthew wanted to help so badly!

Sean did a great job of following the rules of not touching the donut with his hands. We finally told him to grab it because he was only getting licks of the thing. What a champ! (There's a video at the end of this post)

We didn't go to any pumpkin patches this year, but we drew faces on mini pumpkins and gourds from the store. We made glass jack-o-lanterns. We went to Tacoma for a Zoo Boo. And we went to our Trunk or Treat. That is a seriously efficient way of getting candy out. In only about 40 minutes, both boys had more candy than our family needs for the next 3 months. *I asked Jon if it would be wrong to save some for their stockings. I don't really think it will last that long though since we keep helping.

Matthew's checking out his loot. He liked to have one in the mouth and one in each hand.

Sean's bucket 'o goodies.

We weren't going to go out on Halloween night partly because it was Sunday, and mostly because the boys got enough candy the night before. Sean started seeing kids outside in costume though and a couple knocked on our door during dinner (even though our lights were off) and Sean asked if he could give his candy to the kids. Really? He wanted to share his candy that he'd only had for 24 hours? OK, sure. He asked to wear his costume while he handed it out too.

Here they are, anxiously awaiting the next kid.

Halloween Craft

2010-10-22T13:09:00.000-07:00

The boys and I went to my friend's house yesterday and made a fun Halloween craft. I don't really like the dressing up part of Halloween, but I like the other things the fall provides like pumpkins, beautiful colors of the trees changing, and....candy corn.

Aren't these guys so cute?

We used old glass jars, mod podge, orange tissue paper, green paint, and black construction paper. Actually, a couple of the faces were templates that my friend printed out. It was a lot of fun. Sean was really into painting the mod podge on the jars. He requested to have one in his bedroom last night as a night light. We have a couple battery operated lights that my grandma sent us that work great for a light source instead of a candle.

Thanks so much for having us over, Nicole! We had a great time.

Who's in charge here??

2010-10-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

I was in my room yesterday afternoon folding clothes while Sean and Matthew were in the living room playing with trains. Sean tends to be a little nervous about his trains. When Matthew plays with him, there's typically a lot of yelling and hyperventilating. We are hoping this changes, but that's the situation right now. So from my room I hear Sean yelling at Matthew "No Matthew, you can't do that!" followed by Matthew crying for about 3 seconds. Sean ran into my room and told me his side of the story:

Sean: Mom, Matthew's in time out.

Me: Why did you put Matthew in time out?

Sean: Because he was doing something naughty with the trains.

Me: I'm the only one who can put Matthew in time out. (Which I don't do yet, by the way)

Sean: Oh, ok. I'll go get him out.

Sean went into the living room and so sweetly said "Matthew, you don't have to be in time out. Can I read you a book? You can sit on my lap if you want to."

I grabbed the camera as quickly as I could. I'm sorry I didn't get more footage, but this is golden.

My Delicious Weaknesses

2010-10-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

I love to eat. I love to eat sugar. I also happen to bake really well, so it's easy to make whatever sweet thing I "need". Here's what I made today:

And a close up of the gooey goodness:

It's called Danish Apple Dessert. My mom made it a lot when I was growing up. Today was the first time I have made it and it's so good! I just need to find someone to share it with because I'm sure I'm headed toward a diabetic coma. Jon was home for lunch while it was cooking and I told him I would try to leave some for him. Sean told me he doesn't want to even try it. I'm sure Matthew will eat some, but that will still leave A LOT to tempt me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and several snacks in between. Hmmmm....what to do?!

Fresh Farm Produce

2010-10-07T13:34:00.000-07:00

It has taken me a while to get to this last part of our visit to the farm. We went and stayed with my grandpa and Sean helped him harvest the end of his strawberries. We even found one that was a heart.

Sean usually only eats strawberries with Jon, but he made an exception with these because he picked them himself.

We had a great time with all the family that we saw. We're only sorry we didn't get to see more of them. Next time!

Fun with (1st and 2nd) Cousins

2010-09-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

The boys and I made it to Idaho for a couple days to visit some more family. My cousin's boys are really close to the same age as mine, so they had a great time together. Sean sometimes doesn't share well with other kids, but I was amazed how well he played with Landon. I don't think they fought once in the two days we were there. It was great and Sean misses his friend a lot.

The four cute boys in the sand box

Matthew was taking a nap, so he missed out on the muddy fun.

The mud here feels so amazing. Seriously. I love it between my toes.

And I love these boys running around in the back yard all filthy. It brings so much joy to my heart! This is what summer fun is all about, right?

Eli was helping wash everyone off.

Only, not really.

(See video below)

My uncle has taken Landon to this model train exhibit every year and invited Sean and I along for this one. It was a lot of fun.

This was Sean's favorite spot:

He followed the directions perfectly and Pushed the Button a LOT to make a whistle blow.

After the trains we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream. Sean and I shared a mint oreo blizzard. So heavenly....

**Breanna, if your kids are too naked on here for you, I will take the pictures down right away**

Farm Visit 2010

2010-09-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Since as long as I can remember, I have gone to Eastern Oregon and Idaho to see my grandparents and other various family members during the summer. After high school I still managed to make it out there pretty regularly. The years I don't go to see them, I feel the summer isn't complete somehow. This summer filled up and I still really wanted to go see my grandparents. It finally worked out that I could go a little after Labor Day. Jon had to work, so it was just the boys and I. The kids were amazing in the car. Sean would ask how long it was going to take occasionally, but they had lots of books and snacks and were more patient than I have expected. The drive is 8 1/2 hours if you don't stop. On the way there, we stopped at my cousin's house in Yakima and spent the night. She has 2 boys and her two and my two had a great time together.

The first night we were at my Grandparents, my Aunt brought over her motorized toy tractors. They were a huge hit. Matthew's legs are too short for him to drive, but he was happy to sit and watch Sean drive the other one. There are also 3 apple trees in the yard and Matthew helped himself to whatever he could.

The tongue hanging out helps Sean focus.

I love the sunsets here!

Again with the apples!

Day 2, back to driving the tractor.

We had told Sean to stay on the cement driveway because the tractor drove the best on it. He proudly told me this 2nd day that "I can drive it on the gravel too!" So around and around the house he went.

My Aunt (who lives down the hill from my Grandparents) has 2 granddaughters that come over quite a bit. There is a swing set for them and of course, it's pink. That didn't hinder Matthew at all. He LOVES to swing.

Wheeeee!

Again with the tongue!

Grandpa followed Sean around a lot, which Sean loved, in his motorized wheelchair. Sometimes Matthew would ride on his lap.

Matthew and Sean both love this cat. Grandma and Grandpa call him the tree cat because the first time they saw him, he was climbing down a tree. Sean decided to name him Silly Cat (He's not so creative with naming things- our fish are Sean and Matthew!)

Another day, but the sun had come out, so Sean needed his shades!

Here's a little video of the tractor in action. Yep, it really has a radio!

Matthew also loved the cows that were right outside. So much so, he wanted to climb past the electric fence to play with them. That was exciting. He only managed to grab the fence once and I grabbed him quickly. He was crying, but I'm not sure if he got shocked or if he was mad the I took him away from his precious cows.

We had so much fun on our visit. My cousins came over with their cute girls. We went outside every day. We ate great food and just had a wonderful time visiting.

Still to come... a visit to Heidi's and the Kennington Farm.

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-14T20:52:00.001-07:00

For the last several years, there has been an annual Labor Day get-together with our friends. We camped for the first few years. Then after Jon and I had kids, we would usually just come out for a day and visit the friends where they were camping. Last year we decided not to camp and instead spent the night at one house (because it was raining like mad) and this year, we had the party at our house. It was so much fun! It wasn't the huge group that it has been, but it was a blast. Stacey flew up from San Fran, Heidi came over from Seattle, and Ryan drove up from Portland. Stacey came a few days earlier than the other two and the boys just loved having her over.

Matthew was playing peek-a-boo with Stacey with spaghetti hands

Ryan and Jon teaching the boys more about gravity.

I LOVED having another able and willing reader. These boys wear me out!

Sean learning how to watch videos on an iPhone.

Jon stayed home with the boys one night so I could go play in Seattle. Sean had a hard time letting our friends go.

Highlights of Seattle include:

* Miranda (the name of our GPS lady) directions vs. iPhone directions

* Laughing so hard it hurt

* Pike's Place donuts for breakfast

Let's do it again next year, ok?

Sean's Imaginary Friend

2010-08-28T08:04:00.000-07:00

Sean has an imaginary friend named Jon Brady. That's right, Jon Brady!

Here are some things Sean tells me about his friend:

"He's one of my kids" (This is how he refers to his cousins)

"He lives in Tualatin" but as we are taking a walk in our neighborhood "See that brown house, that's where Jon Brady lives. It's not too far."

"Do you know Jon Brady has a really cool tricycle?" Then as he looks down at his own tricycle "It's a Lightning McQueen one and it has red, and black, and yellow, and white...."

"He has some frogs in the back yard, and he says they are his friends."

When I asked Sean what he looks like he said

"His hair is blue. And his eyes too, because he's a boy. That's why I call him Jon Brady. He's short like me. "

I asked if there was anything else he wanted to tell me about Jon Brady and the response was "He lives in Tualatin, but I don't know why."

Sean Quotes

2010-08-23T21:14:00.001-07:00

"Do you know there are brains in your feet?"

"Neal, you need to stop talking and just eat!"

I was trying to swat a fly and Sean says "No! Don't kill the fly because he has babies he has to take care of!"

Quinoa Salad

2010-08-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

I've wanted to post this for a while for my good friend Doreen, and I'm only now getting to it since I just made it.

Quinoa, Corn, and Black Bean Salad

Dressing:

- grated zest of one lime

- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about one or two limes)

- 1 tsp salt

- 3 1/2 tsp ground cumin

- 1/4 cup olive oil

Salad:

- 1 1/2 cups water

- 1 14 ounce can chicken broth (or about 2 cups if you make your own)

- 1 1/2 cups quinoa uncooked

- 1 tsp salt or more to your taste

- 1 1/2 cups corn kernels (I used one can of corn and drain it)

- 2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed well

- 2 Tbs red wine vinegar

- freshly ground pepper

- 2 cups finely chopped red, yellow, or orange peppers, or a combo of the colors to make it pretty

- 1 jalapeño chili, seeded and minced

- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

- 1/2 cup chopped green onions

- 2 cups salad greens (optional)

Make the dressing:

In a small bowl whisk together lime zest, lime juice, salt and cumin. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Set aside.

Make salad:

Bring the water and broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the quinoa and salt. Simmer about 15 minutes until grains are just tender and the germ has begun to separate from the grain. Add the corn and continue cooking another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl toss the beans with vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Add the bell peppers, jalapeño, cilantro, and green onions; toss well.

Put the quinoa/corn and the beans/peppers together and drizzle dressing over the salad and toss well. Add more salt and pepper to taste. You can eat it chilled, but it's best at room temperature.

I didn't use green onions when I made it last because I didn't want to cut up one more thing. It was delicious. Jon didn't want any and promptly made himself a sandwich so I probably won't be making this again. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture because it's such a pretty meal. You'll just have to make it and see for yourself.

Summer Fun with Cousins- Part 2

2010-08-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

We took a couple days off of adventures and just played at home. Here are a couple pictures from Sunday after church:

I love the dimples!

These boys are going to break some hearts.

* Sean got to spend the night with his cousin James. Sean's pretty sure that James is the coolest boy out there. He is still telling me about Bakugan. (Did I spell that right?)

* We drove to Salem to the AC Gilbert house which is another children's museum. I wasn't sure about the 45 minute drive, but I'm so glad we went. It is a super cool place.

Another shot of the Garner grandkids all together.

Get impressed Mom!

Matthew was helping himself to some lunch.

Mei Lyn is hilarious!

She gets so excited and we were trying to capture it on camera.

I love that little girl!

One more attempt to get all 7 kiddos in the same shot.

Mei Lyn was so cute when she got to the top of this she shouted out "It's a slide on the other side!"

I was pushing Matthew on the swing and Sean came over and wanted a turn pushing. I think they both liked this arrangement better:

It was so great to see how much Sean and Matthew love each of their cousins. Family is the greatest!

Amy has a few more pictures of these same adventures on her blog if you want more (which I'm sure you do, these kids are sort of awesome!) Click on her link to the right.

Summer Fun with Cousins- Part 1

2010-08-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

The boys and I went to Portland to visit family for 10 days because Gina came into town from Nevada. It was so fun to see how much her kids have grown up since we saw them last year. It was a packed 10 days, but so much fun. Here are some highlights:

* Visited with some good friends that we haven't seen since before we moved to Washington.

* Went to the zoo with Ally and Kira. Matthew laughed at the zebra eating grass.

* Played in some fountains in Wilsonville with 8 out of 11 cousins. Sean cried and cried when the city turned off the water at 8:00. I love this picture that Nicki got:

* Went to OMSI. Sean loved the dinosaur bones. Matthew loved the water and sand and play dough. I hadn't been there with my kids so it was a totally new experience for me.

* Went to the Children's Museum. I went last year when Matthew was barely crawling. It was so fun to see all the stuff he was able to do this year. It was a little insane trying to keep 7 kids together and interested in the same thing for the same amount of time, but we did ok.

* Washington County Fair. This was also lots of fun. There was a place displaying tractors for sale that the kids liked climbing all over. Matthew liked being buckled in:

The 7 Garner grandkids.

(You can see Sophia's hair anyway)

Cotton candy is a must when you go to the fair!

Sean and Sophia on a little ride.

This corn box was a serious hit with the little kids.

I totally want one in my back yard!

Tune in to part 2....

Seattle!

2010-07-18T21:40:00.001-07:00

Jon went to Corvallis for a wedding and Man Weekend, so I decided to go to Seattle and play for the day.

I wanted to take Sean on the monorail and it put us right here under the Space Needle.

The boys with our ever lovely friend Heidi.

Sean's not sure what to do about all the sunshine!

There was a little carnival so I let Sean go on this ride. He was concentrating so hard like he was really in charge of steering the thing. He did a great job!

Heidi took us to Matthew's Beach Park close to her house:

It's a great place. Beach access, shallow enough Sean could go in alone. Lots of buckets and shovels to share and make sand castles. A nice big lawn to lay around on or have a picnic. Up the hill is a playground with super fun features. We'll definitely have to come back!

Matthew found Heidi's sunglasses and kept putting them on. I missed it in this shot, but I love his dimples so much I had to share. Scrumptious, right?

Embarrassing Sean

2010-07-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

Sean is hilarious and I love the things he says. Here are a few that he'll probably hate me for writing down later in his life:

* We were playing the back yard and he was dancing around so we had a little chat:

Me: Sean, do you need to go pee?

Sean: No Mom, I'm just dancing.

Me: (in a whisper to make it cool!) Do you want to pee outside on a tree?

Sean: Oooh, yeah. That would be gross! I want to do that!

So we went to a tree and I helped him go and made him PROMISE that he would only do that if I told him it was ok. We'll see I guess. He is a boy after all.

* I was helping him get dressed and pulled his underwear up. He adjusted them so I asked if I had hurt him. He said "No, my peanut (our word for his boy part) is just too big."

I about died and told him that he is awesome.

* This one is less embarrassing, but I want to write that he does it.

Instead of saying "that's why" Sean says "that why's"

The above picture is of Sean decorating (his word choice) our barn. I asked him who taught him that word, since I don't really decorate anything other than cookies, and he said Mackayla did. Hmm, thanks Mack! He was very serious about this decorating business though. He took all his books off the shelf and put them neatly around the sides and then piled the rest on top. Just lovely, right?

Summer Dessert

2010-07-16T13:36:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite treat for the summer

So, so yummy. Here's the link to the recipe:

Fruit Pizza Recipe

I've made it 3 times in the last month and it's always gone too quickly.

4th of July

2010-07-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Jon and I got to watch Amy's kids over the 4th of July weekend. She had a "mom vacation." You can ask her all the details. ;)

It was a fun weekend with our 5 kids. Isabel was an amazing help! I got my girl fix by doing fun stuff with the girls' hair. There was a lot more screaming (usually in fun) and they slept well at night because they were so worn out. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but here's a rare moment of them all sitting still (for a movie). It didn't last long though. Matthew decided to climb all over Isabel and then to chase Sophia around the house.

We were busy all the time, which was great. Every morning, Sean would ask "Where are my cousins?" He got a big smile when I told him they were in the office. It was a sad morning when they had gone home. Good thing we're going to see them again in a few weeks.

Reptile Man

2010-07-16T13:12:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to see the Reptile Man at a park in Silverdale. There were so many people there. I wish we would have been earlier so we could sit closer, but it was ok. There were just a lot of kids who didn't understand sitting still or taking turns. But we still had a good time.

I don't remember what he's saying, but he showed us how to make an alligator pass out:

This tortoise was huge! He called it the world's slowest lawn mower.

8 kids holding up a boa constrictor.

It was a cool show. The guy knows a lot and really takes care of his animals. Sean tried to touch the tortoise, but he got pushed over by another kid and then he was scared. He did touch the alligator, but didn't want to touch the snake. I had to keep Matthew strapped in the stroller, so I hope we can do this next year when he's trustworthy enough to not wander off.

Quilt Project

2010-06-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

I started making a quilt (bought fabric and cut the pieces) after Jon and I had been married just a few months. I jokingly told him to give me 5 years to finish it. Well this October it will be 5 years, so I decided to dig it out of a box and get to work. I picked a pattern that is NOT for a beginner, but the pieces are already cut so I guess I'm committed.

Here's one of the squares:

It doesn't lay completely flat, but whatever. I like the colors and it's not going to win any prizes, but I'm learning a lot. Here's sort of what I'm going for:

This post is pretty much for Stacey so she can see what I was talking about. And for Mom so she can see what I'm up to. Also for Aunt Heidi who gave me great advice - I found some super helpful tutorials online for set in seams. Thanks!!

Matthew's Funny Laugh

2010-06-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Matthew started doing this funny laugh last week and since we react so much to it, it has continued. He's such a silly boy!

about 25 seconds in he starts

Cream Puffs for Everyone

2010-05-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Happiness is found in Cream Puffs. Oh yes, it's true!

See for yourself:

Don't they look gloriously delicious?

My little helpers - there was some extra frosting that couldn't go to waste. (Or my waist?)

You too can enjoy these tasty treats. They are super easy (a little time consuming, but not difficult) and people will be super impressed that you made these from scratch.

Cream Puffs:

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Filling:

One small box vanilla pudding (preferrably the cooked kind, but instant will work if you're in a hurry)

One 1/2 pint whipping cream

Frosting:

(I never measure anymore, so this is as close as I can figure)

About 1/4 cup butter

About 1/3 cup cocoa

About 1/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

About 1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

(If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. Too thick- add some milk)

Directions:

1. If you use the cooked pudding, do this step first. Make the pudding according to the directions on the box, then put plastic wrap on top of the pudding (not covering the pan, but really ON the pudding- it keeps it softer) and let it cool COMPLETELY.

2. Make the puffs: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (my oven takes a while, so plan ahead)

Put water and butter in pan and bring to a full boil over med- high heat.

3. Remove from heat, and add flour stirring quickly with a fork until mixed well.

4. Add eggs (have these already beaten together in a bowl) and beat with electric mixer until it's the consistency of sticky paste. Everything should adhere together. (Occasionally the mixture doesn't adhere well. You can still cook them, and they will be tasty, they will just be a bit flat)

5. Spoon onto an ungreased cookie sheet (the heavier the better) as big as you like them to be. I like them bigger, but if you make them for a big group of people, make them a little smaller so there are plenty to go around.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until they are golden brown. Err on the side of overdone rather than under-done or they will collapse.

7. Remove immediately from pan and place on cooling racks or they will get soggy bottoms (and you don't want that!) Let them cool completely.

8. Finish the filling: Whip the whipping cream until it's a nice thickness (like cool whip probably- which maybe you could use, I've just never tried it)

9. Add pudding to cream and mix well.

10. Assemble everything together: Use a knife with a serrated edge and cut the puffs in half. Pull out excess egginess inside (or not, whatever). Spoon your filling into the puffs and close them up. We have used a pastry bag to fill them without cutting a hole, but that's really time consuming and I think they taste the same either way- so save time and just cut them. :)

11. Frost them. If they are just for my family I'll just use a knife, but if I'm taking them to a social event, I will use a pastry bag for the frosting. Again, they will taste the same and disappear just as quickly if the frosting is sloppy, so do what you like. Also, I have a brother in law who is allergic to chocolate so we sprinkle powdered sugar on the tops.

12. Eat up! Refrigerate if you're not going to eat them right away. Occasionally we haven't devoured them all in a day or too and the pudding gets really runny after about 3 or 4 days. So really, eat them!

Other notes:

My mom says not to double the recipe. I don't know what happens, but I believe her, so I just make the recipe and wash the dishes and then start the next batch when there's about 5 minutes left on the timer for the first batch. However, go ahead and double the recipe for pudding. Just use the large box of pudding and 1 pint of whipping cream.

We have also used chocolate pudding instead of vanilla. They are quite tasty. I have a friend that used pumpkin instead of pudding and said they turned out well too.

I imagine you could use sugar free pudding and not frost them and then they would be a sugar free treat. I haven't tried it, so I can't tell you how that would taste. Leave a comment if you do try those some time.

Good luck!

"I'm helping!"

2010-05-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

This morning I was making some muffins and I could hear the toy bins being removed from the shelf.

Me: Sean, what are you doing?

Sean: I'm getting all the toys out. Isn't that nice?

Me: Why are you getting ALL the toys?

Sean: I'm getting them for Matthew. He wants to play with them.

He's such a thoughtful big brother.

It wasn't so bad. All the toys managed to stay in the living room (I usually find them scattered in the office, the boys' bedroom, sometimes my room, and all through the hall) and it was all picked up before lunch, with some guidance. I was glad that the Legos stayed in their bins in my bedroom. I don't think I would have been as patient if those were in the mix.

Nachoooooo!

2010-05-01T13:33:00.000-07:00

We got this in Mexico a couple summers ago.

Matthew brought it to me and wanted to wear it. He's just awesome!

*In case you don't understand the title- Nacho Libre is a Jack Black movie from a few years ago. Watch this clip and you'll get the idea.

Date Night with the Wee Ones

2010-04-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

Jon was out of town for work this last week, and on the last night I decided to have a little night out with the boys. We went to dinner and the boys were so good. Then we went across the street to the mall because I knew there was a play area for kids and I wanted to them to run around for a bit before bed. They were so silly and happy. We also did a little picture booth thing:

Craftiness

2010-04-12T11:34:00.001-07:00

Bethany made me an I-Spy bag a few years ago that I absolutely love! The kids also love it. So much, in fact that it was falling apart. I have been meaning to repair it for a while, but last week I was at a Relief Society activity and they are planning on making some next month. There was one on display and it inspired me to get busy. They used fleece instead of cotton to prevent any unraveling (which mine was doing a lot of) and it had a list of the items on the back. Ours originally had a card attached to it, but that came off a while ago too. I bought some fleece and an iron on patch and got to work. I wasn't going to put the silky tag on it, but Sean insisted on it being there still. I'm very pleased with the finished product:

So Very Sweet

2010-04-12T11:31:00.001-07:00

Sean and I were gardening the other day and he asked me to come dig for worms for him. Here's how our conversation went:

Mama: I'll have to dig by the tree to find some.

Sean: But there are biting ants by the tree.

Mama: They'll leave me alone, it's ok.

Sean: I'll squish them if they bite you Mama. I will take care of you always.

That's a line from the book "I Love You Stinky Face" but I love that it has become part of his conversation with me.

Fun in our Backyard

2010-04-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

Sean asks every day to go outside. He doesn't even care if it's cold or wet. Yesterday was a pretty nice day so we went out to enjoy some of it. Matthew is still a little unsteady walking around back there because there are some hills, so often he just sits in one spot and plays with the dirt. He also loves to pick up rocks. A previous tenant must have tried landscaping or something because there are palm-sized rocks all over the place.

Examining a new rock

Sean digging for worms.

Sean loves this trowel. I bought it for me, but he tells me that it's not my shovel. "There's no shovel for you Mama, just for me." He will dig in one spot and tell me "No worm here, I'll go dig over there." Once he finds one he very proudly brings it to me to show off. Matthew thinks worms are pretty funny when they wiggle. Later that day, he was also laughing at all our dandelions (we have quite a few right now!)

I'm excited for Spring and Summer in our fully fenced backyard. I think we will spend nearly all our day-lit hours out there.

Robots

2010-04-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

Oh, the fun that can be had with a paper bag!

Check out the dimples! This is pure joy.

Our Little Gerbil

2010-04-07T10:06:00.000-07:00

Matthew has a special way of asking for more of something...

He does sign occasionally, but even then, it's accompanied by this cute sound he makes.

Visitors and Fun...and an Octopus Attack

2010-04-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, my mom came to visit us for part of her spring break. It was so nice to have her here. Jon and I got to go on a date, I could run some errands without the kids in the middle of the day, she pulled a huge pile of weeds and ivy out of our yard, and the boys were given so many hugs and kisses. With mom's help, Sean found lots of worms and a few snails in our back yard and had a great time watching them. He keeps going out there and digs holes looking for worms. He's so proud when he finds them and brings them to me cheerfully. I won't let Matthew hold them yet, but he is sure interested in watching them.

The last day my mom was here, we went to the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma and met up with Nicki (who was coming to our house for the night). What an amazing place! The weather was supposed to be crappy all week, but it was so beautiful. We went to the aquarium first since Sean wanted to see the sharks. We spent a long time there just watching all the fish, sharks, sea horses, sea DRAGONS, and other water animals. We walked around the whole zoo and saw all the other animals too. There is a super fun kids play area too and that's where we ended up letting the kids run around before getting back into the car for the longish ride home (It's a little less that an hour away). When we made it home, I discovered that we were locked out of the house, and Jon wouldn't be home from work for another hour or so. We got a message to him through his dad (since I didn't have a cell phone or remember his number to call him from Nicki's phone!) and he called and said he would come home a bit early to let us in. We went to a park to kill time, and then Jon came to our rescue and we could play inside. It was so fun to have the Davis family visit. James and Sean just played and laughed together so much. It's so sweet how much they love each other. Nicki learned that she can NOT share a bed with Miss Avery. Briella and Matthew were as cute as ever. It was a very fun filled week.

We decided to go back the the zoo last Friday with Jon so he could also experience the awesomeness. It was a super rainy day though so we just visited the aquarium and the "Rocky Shores" exhibit (seals, walruses, etc- with an inside area). There is an octopus at the aquarium, but when we went with Mom I didn't see it. This time, I could see it hiding under its rock and wanted to point it out to Sean. I was holding Matthew up to see it, so Jon held Sean up to the glass to see it too. The octopus started coming out of its hiding spot and Sean thought that was great, but then it totally lunged for Sean's face!! If there wasn't glass between them, the octopus would have really done some damage. Once it figured out that it couldn't eat my little boy, it retreated back into its hole. It was pretty cool to watch though, and Sean still laughs about it when he tells us that the octopus tried to get him.

I didn't have our camera either time I went, so I'll have to remember next time so I can share some pictures.

Hats

2010-03-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

I love these boys in hats. I can't get them to keep them on for very long, so I snapped a few pictures while I had the chance. I love how Matthew is looking at Sean in this picture. They just love each other like crazy.

Germs

2010-03-16T08:11:00.001-07:00

Warning, this will have details about vomit. Not too many, but enough that I wanted to warn you if you are easily nauseated.

Last week in 7 days, the members of my family each had a turn being sick. It was sad and frustrating and messy. I thought we were in the clear because we had 2 full days of no one being sick and I had cleaned the house really well. Evidently, this was a strong bug that laid dormant in Sean for a couple days.

Friday afternoon Sean woke up from his nap crying (which is very unusual for him) so I went and got him. Matthew was up too with a stinky diaper. So I grabbed Matthew and started changing his diaper. Sean followed me into the living room and while I was still changing Matthew, Sean threw up...all over the carpet. Agh!! I didn't know what to do. I was still wiping up one mess, but needed to get Sean off the carpet. He was so sad too (this was the first time he had ever thrown up) and was crying and rubbing his face and saying "Mama, what is that?" I told him it was his throw up. I decided that Matthew would be ok half naked for a second and I grabbed Sean and took him to the kitchen sink to finish up. I set him on the floor and told him to stay there for a minute while I got a diaper on Matthew. This is more detail that I meant to share, so let me just get to what I wanted to write....

Sean was sick for about 3 or 4 hours. What was funny was that we would set him up on the couch and hand him a bowl and he would push it away and say he didn't need it. Jon was on watch at one point and left Sean with a bowl while he went to get something, when he came back the bowl was as far away from Sean and he could get it. The next day, I was asking Sean if he felt sick still. He said "No, I feel better. See (he opens his mouth wide), no yucky stuff is coming out." It was such a funny thing to say. I'm glad he was only sick for a short while and that he is fully recovered.

Sport Princesses

2010-03-09T08:28:00.000-08:00

One of my very talented sisters in law (Bethany) is writing some books. The first one is coming out this summer with many more to follow. She found an equally talented illustrator and I love what they have created. Check out her website to find out more:

http://mysportprincess.blogspot.com/

There is a photo contest and other goodies going on right now too. Check it out and tell anyone else you know with daughters about it.

Lessons in Gravity

2010-03-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

Jon was playing "soccer ball" with Sean tonight. It's basically catch with a soccer ball. Sean was getting frustrated that the ball wasn't staying in the air. I'm not sure why he thought it would. Maybe he thought it should suddenly turn into a helium balloon or something. Anyway, it lead to Jon teaching him about gravity. "What's grativy?" Sean asks (the way it's spelled- he's still figuring out how to say it). Jon explained that if he throws Sean in the air, gravity says "nope, you have to come back down." He taught the lesson in a way that Sean would remember it well.

I love the expressions on his face!

And for more:

Indoor Camping

2010-03-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

We set up our tent in the living room just for fun and the kids just loved it. Sean wanted to sleep in it and it was the weekend, so we let him. We are borrowing some foam pads and the tent is about a foot too short to fit three across, so just one of us could stay with him. He decided he wanted me to sleep with him this time and next time it will be Dad. There was no way I could go to bed at 8:00 though so we put Matthew to bed and then set Sean up in the tent. I told him if he got out of his bed he would have to sleep in his room. He was perfectly obedient and stayed there until Ginger woke him up at 8:00 the next morning. It was fun having a little indoor camp out. I was tempted to roast marshmallows over the stove, but decided against it.

The kids played in the tent most of the day Saturday. We even had a little lunch picnic in there. I told Sean I needed to put it away and his lip started quivering. So I left it up a little longer. I ended up packing it all up Sunday while he was napping and the first thing he said when he came into the living room after his nap was "Where's the tent?!" He didn't understand why it can't be out all the time. I told him we'll get it out another time. He'll be totally spoiled by this kind of "camping" and will probably freeze when he really camps.

Blankie Boys

2010-02-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Before I had kids, I said that I wouldn't have "blankies" for them. They wouldn't need them, etc, etc. Well, Sean developed a love of tags (I'm sure I've written about that before) and my sweet sister Amy decided she would make Sean a special tag blanket. He got it a couple Christmases ago and I don't think there has been a day since that he hasn't slept with it. I do have to wash it often, and Sean is so excited when it comes out of the dryer all warm. He instantly grabs it and the thumb goes into the mouth. *Bliss*

Matthew had a blanket that I meant to be his special blanket and he liked it just fine. For his 1st birthday Amy made him his own tag blanket that matched Sean's. They both have piratey fabric. He took a little bit to shift his allegiance from the original blanket to the new one, but it has happened. I need to wash his more often because he sucks on all the tags and it gets totally soggy and smelly. But at least he's happy, right?

This picture is from last week when Sean woke up and wanted to get in Matthew's crib with him. The elephant plays a song when you pull the tail and Sean wanted to play with it. They sweetly played for about 10 minutes before wanting to get out and start their day.

It's been really nice for the boys to have their special blankets. I think it has helped them when we've slept somewhere other than home. They are a great source of comfort for them when they are sad. I guess my sister knew what she was doing and really was trying to help me instead of trying to sabotage my parenting. Thank you for the love, Amy!

Matthew's Love of Reading

2010-02-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I was thinking that I could improve on how much I read with Matthew. When Sean was a baby I read to him all the time. With Matthew, it's pretty hit or miss. Jon and I have both been making more of an effort with Matthew and it seems that even though we started a little late with him, he has a love of reading.

This is currently his favorite book:

He really loves it. We will read it to him six or more times in a row and he'll still want more. Jon has even put it away and start another book, and Matthew will go get it and bring it back. He usually grabs it and says "Dada!"

We're so glad that both the boys love books. They can happily read by themselves for a good amount of time. Of course, other times they just like to pull all the books off the shelves and climb over them. It could be worse....

2 Fun Videos

2010-02-16T20:55:00.000-08:00

Matthew has only been taking steps since Sunday, but he seems so eager to walk and tries to do it often during the day. It's really fun. Tonight we got some golden footage of the boys playing together:

Our First Visitors...and Matthew's First Steps

2010-02-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

My sister and her girls came up to visit us last weekend. It was so much fun to have them here. We played hard and got to do some fun things despite the rain and cold weather. We went to the Naval Undersea Museum in Keyport. It's right next to where Jon will be working, so they got to see that too. The museum is pretty fun. It's not usually very crowded and I don't feel bad if the kids are a little loud. There are torpedoes, model ships, some hands on exhibits (with buttons that Sean likes to push over and over), and a children's area with sea animal puppets and Navy and Army shirts for dress-up.

The kids really liked this room. They could drive, push buttons (there is sound in the background saying "Dive, Dive!" and other things you might hear in a submarine), look through periscopes, and just have fun.

We went to church, played more, went to a park, the girls collected shells (mostly little mussels and clam shells, and a couple crab legs- yikes), played even more, and generally had a great time. Jon's parents and sister with her family came over Sunday night and we all had dinner together. That was fun to see them and to have a full house. By the end of the night the kids were very ready for bed. We read some books together on Sean's bed. Good times.

They spent two nights here and each morning Sean would ask, "Are my cousins here?" He just loves all his cousins and didn't want them to go home. During lunch the day they left he said, "Isabel, I will be sad when you go to school."

Before Amy came up we were talking and she said her goal for the weekend was to get Matthew walking. Well, she was a success (or her kids were, who knows what finally motivated him?!) Here's a little video of some of his first steps:

Sean's birthday

2010-02-15T20:24:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of Sean's birthday. We celebrated a week early as one last big family get together before moving to Washington. It was great fun. I made a train cake because he's been asking for one since about September. I would check out lots of cake and cupcake decorating books and he would look through them and tell me I could have this one or that one, but he wanted a train cake.

It turned out really cute, and it was gone super fast.

Most of the family.

I feel like Sean's birthday lasted two weeks. Our friend Stacey was in town and she came over with gifts a day before this party. Some friends from Corvallis took us to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. We had our extended family party. We moved to our new place "for Sean's birthday." During our first week here, he got fish and a new toy truck for his birthday (on 2 separate days). He got a couple gift cards that have been used since then too. By the time his real birthday came around, I actually forgot. We had been up and playing for a couple hours before I realized what day it was. I don't think he cared at all though. We made brownies that night for dessert and sang to him again. He's been telling people that he's 3 for the last couple months anyway, so what difference does celebrating on the actual day make, right?

Jon and I just love Sean. He is so much fun and such a nice boy to be around. I was watching old videos of him from a year ago and it's amazing how much he has grown and learned in the last year. We are so glad he's ours!

Walking!!

2010-02-14T21:22:00.000-08:00

Matthew took his first steps today!! We have video thanks to Jon, but I'll have to post it later. I just wanted to write it down and say thanks to Matthew for a great Valentine's Day gift. I love it when kids figure out how to walk!

A Little Matthew Video

2010-02-08T20:20:00.000-08:00

Matthew is 14 months old now and still not standing or walking. Today however, he was trying to stand for a change:

All moved in!

2010-02-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

We made it safely to Bremerton! We had wonderful help (thanks- you know who you are) along the way. We are as unpacked as we're going to be for a while now so I have a little time to sit around and blog. Here are some pictures of the place:

The front entry. The window on the left is the kitchen. I'm excited for those flowers to bloom. The big wall on the right is the garage.

The boys' room.

Living room taken from entry way.

So the kitchen is directly to my left and there is also a dining area there.

All the bedrooms are down the hall to the right.

Here's a super dorky floor plan that I just made.

You get the idea, right?

The garage is huge and has nice shelves that we are using quite nicely. The back yard is big and has lots of tall trees. Sean and I explored the back today and he seemed pleased with his lot. The only grass is in the front which is nice.

Our closet is great! I have missed having a walk-in closet (it's been about 3 1/2 years since we had one). The kitchen has a big working island that I like a lot. We also like how open the living/dining/kitchen areas are. All the toys are out there, so I can make dinner with the kids still around.

Since we've moved in we have:

- started a big goodwill pile

- visited a couple local parks (one of which has an amazing view of the Olympic range)

- bought Sean goldfish for his birthday (named Sean and Matthew- story to follow)

- baked bread (because baking for me turns a house into a home)

- come down with colds (just the boys- poor kiddos)

- deep cleaned our stroller that was growing mold from living outside in the northwest

I feel like we've done more, but mostly we've unpacked and let the kids play and play. I am so grateful for our GPS that we got 2 Christmases ago (seriously a life saver!). I am also so grateful that our internet works because I am an internet junkie. I am glad that Sean likes his new house, but please know that he does miss his family and friends. Throughout the day he will ask to go to Grandma's or Nana's house. Ginger was super depressed for the first day and a half. I think she really misses Michael (Jon's brother with whom she totally bonded while we lived with his parents). Jon took her for a walk and she has been much happier since.

OK- quick story about the fish and I'll stop for tonight. Before we moved Sean was talking about fish and I told him we would get him some for his birthday when we moved to our new house. He and I took a trip to Petco and he picked out 2 little goldfish (Jon really wanted him to get a beta, and I tried, but Sean really wanted an orange one). We got 2 because the label said they are community fish, and I didn't want a sad, lonely fish.... Sean really wanted to hold the fish in his lap on the way home. While driving home, I asked him if they were girls or boys or one of each. He said they were both boys. Once we got them in their bowl, I asked Sean what their names are. He seemed confused and asked "What's a name?" I told him, "Well, your name is Sean, and your brother's name is Matthew. What are your fishes names?" He said "Um, Matthew and Sean." So now we have fish named after our boys. He'll let you know that the one with white on him is Matthew and the orange one is Sean.