Little Businessmen

Keith went to a job interview the other day, and when he got back, the boys pretended they were going to work, too...

Toby helped CJ adjust his tie, while CJ was busy texting someone...

Then Toby put on Keith's watch, and kept saying he was looking for his keys, until he found some of Bo's baby-toy keys.

So, you know, if Keith doesn't find a job, I think these boys are ready to go to work!

Fun with the Spencer's

This past Sunday, we were so blessed to have our good friends, Todd & Erin Spencer, over.  Originally, it was just "Hey, do you guys want to come over for lunch after church?"  After we put the kids down for naps, we were having such great conversation, and well, our card game wasn't over yet, so it turned into, "Hey, do you guys want to just stay for dinner, too?" and then, "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want..." and finally, "Why don't we just make a night of it, and put the kids down to bed?"  Eventually, we did finish our game and conversation, at about 12:30!!!  I have to say, though, it was really them being gracious enough to bless us by staying that long.  It has been so long since I have hung out with friends for that long, and they are such good friends!  Erin cleaned my kitchen (and really did most of the actual cooking!), and the boys all cleaned up the living room.  Todd & Erin also happen to be extraordinarily gifted with wisdom, and were kind enough to draw out Keith & I, ask us lots of questions, offer very helpful suggestions, and even challenge us on certain points.  We needed it, in this crazy busy season we are in, especially as we try to figure out what to do with these boys!  Keith & I ended the night by talking briefly about all the ways we are excited to change, and put into practice their godly counsel.

Anyways, all that to say, thank you, Todd and Erin!  We not only had a blast with you guys, but were SO encouraged by our time spent with you!

So, for lunch I made Tara's chicken salad (actually, I was running behind, so Erin made it!  Horrible, I know!).  Then I remembered that they just had that at Tara's like a week ago!

I also made this yummy fruit salad, and for dessert we had this:

I've never made cherry pie before, or a lattice-top crust, but it was pretty easy, and if it's not too arrogant to say so, it was delicious!
We had so much fun watching the kids all play together!  Caden and Toby have similar personalities, as do CJ & Zoe, and it was so fun to watch them all interact.
Keith pulled out the guitar, CJ's favorite!
All the kids eating their tacos.

Toby & Caden made a "train," that is, Caden sat in a car in the front while Toby pushed him with a truck from behind.  Toby was having the best time with his new friend.
It was hard to get a non-blurry picture... they were on the move!
Zoe loved holding Bo (I think he liked it, too!)

All the kids, with Todd (I think he's meditating or something in this one)
I love this last picture, CJ looking to Toby to see what he should be doing...

Thanks, Spencer's!  We had such a great time!

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Keith made up this game for the boys called "Dance, Dance, Dance!"  They LOVE it!  (He's like the best dad ever!)  It's kind of like musical chairs, but without the chairs :~)  Keith turns on fast music, we all dance around, and then he pauses it, and everyone has to freeze.  To start the music again, the boys have to yell out "Dance, dance, dance!"

So, we were playing this today, and were dancing to "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson, and, in the song, he does a lot of "Come on, girl!" and that Michael Jackson squeal/scream and stuff.  So, while Toby's dancing, he starts shouting out, "Come on, grill!" (his way of saying "girl").  It was hilarious!  Keith and I were laughing SO hard, which of course made him repeat it over and over.  

Too funny!

Boys & Bugs

One thing I forgot to mention about the 4th of July, was I had my first "boys & bugs" moment.  We were getting ready to go to Chris & Tara's.  Keith opened the door to the garage, and a cricket hopped in.  He killed it, and told me he was going to put CJ in the car, and come back in for Toby, and he would pick up the cricket and throw it away.  So my job was to make sure Toby didn't get it.  I was doing something on the computer, and thought Toby was playing in the living room.  He ran up to me, excited about something, and I turned around to give him my full attention.  He pushed up RIGHT INTO MY FACE, literally, a half-inch from my nose, the dead cricket!!!!  AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!  I jumped, and tried to calmly ask him to throw it away, but he was having way too much fun playing with it!  I helped him throw it away and promptly washed his hands (twice) and laughed to myself that I will probably spend the next ten years asking my boys to keep their fun dead bugs FAR away from me!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very relaxed, low-key 4th of July yesterday.  It was actually very non-patriotic (not that we aren't grateful for our freedom.  We are.)  It was still fun, nonetheless!

I started the day off early, super-excited that I finally got out of bed to make it to a class at the gym, and got there to realize... they were closed!  BUT, there was a Starbuck's across the street, and my kids wouldn't even be waking up for another hour or so, so I did something I haven't done in several years.  I got some coffee and read the newspaper.  The entire newspaper (well, except the sports section, ew!), all by myself!  It was glorious.

Then we got the boys up, picked up some pizza, and headed over to "Uncle Chris & Aunt Tara's" house!  We had such a great time!  It's so fun now that all the kids are old enough to interact and be cousins!  (Thanks for having us over, guys!)

Taylor is a natural mom!  She is so cute with the boys... she loves playing with them and is like the big sister they never had!  Look how cute she is holding Bo:

I love how Bo is smiling at Rylee here:

Toby had fun playing with toys that aren't his, plus having a cousin who loves trains as much as he does!

Taylor, with her beautiful picture she drew with me!
Toby loved this hat!

The highlight, for me, though, was this moment:

I cannot figure out how to post video (anyone wanna help me? :~) but this was HILARIOUS!  First of all, as a side note, Uncle Chris and Aunt Tara are celebrities in our home!  Seriously.  Anytime the boys hear a song that Chris or Tara have sung, they get so excited and squeal, "Uncle Chris' song!" or "Aunt Tara's song!" (and even sometime's "Tay-Tay's song!")  So, Chris got out his guitar and was gracious enough to let CJ whack it over and over again, and sing with him.  The video is hysterical, though... CJ just repeats whatever Chris says, and then adds some rap at the end.  I love the footage of CJ at the guitar, Taylor laughing with him and dancing around, Trevor jumping up and down and doing flips over and over on the couch, and Toby playing with toys in the background... all their personalities in one shot!  (Sorry, Rylee, I think you were sleeping! :~)
We came home, all tuckered out, and the boys fell asleep right away!  Later, while I was making dinner (BBQ chicken, chile-lime corn, and dill mashed potatoes with Lemon-Cornmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert) I looked out in the hall way to see this:
The boys were watching a Sesame Street with Ernie singing a song, and started dancing together, holding hands!  Sooo cute!  Again, I really wish I could figure out how to post video, b/c this picture doesn't really show their little "ring-around-the-rosie" type dance.  

So, after dinner, we put the boys down, Keith got some ice cream for us (I love him so!), and we watched "Vantage Point."  It was an insanely good movie!  I highly recommend it!  I didn't even finish my ice cream until the movie was almost done... I didn't want to look away from the screen...

It was all in all, not a very "Red, White and Blue" kind of day, but still tons of fun!  Maybe next year we can actually see fireworks :~)

Kids Say the Cutest Things

Now that Toby has been talking, it has opened up a whole world of entertainment for Keith & I.  Some of these might only be funny to us, but here's a small sampling of cute stuff he's been saying lately...

The other day, he said to Bo, "I'm going to go read my Little People book now, okay, Bo?  I love you, though, Bo!"

He randomly shouts things at the top of his lungs, like the other day, he started shouting, "I can't stop it right now!!  I have to try it!!  I have to go backwards!!  And choo-choo train is pretty cool!!!"

We were eating breakfast (the boys had cereal), and Toby told me, "I don't need to use a spoon because Charlie Brown doesn't use a spoon."  (he only knows about Charlie Brown from the Christmas movie we watched like 6 months ago).

He told me the other night, "I'm not hungry because I already ate dinner." (lying)

At breakfast, we were having a battle over him eating breakfast, and then he finally started eating it, and said, "I tasted it... it's pretty good."  Then I asked him if he wanted strawberries on top, and he says, "Um, yeah... okay.  Go ahead."

This morning he got so excited when I told him that his full name is Toby Edward, because Toby and Edward are trains in "Thomas the Tank Engine" world!!!

CJ has been talking a lot more lately, mostly copying what Toby says, but he's got some cute sayings, too.

I asked him what a fish says, he thought for a minute, and said in a silly voice, "I'm a fish!"

The other night I told him we were having chili for dinner, and he told me, "I'm hungry for meat loaf."

To CJ on your Birthday...

Dear CJ, Cee-jie, Ceej, C Monster, Cee-jie Pants...

What a blessing you are to your family!  I love your mischievous smile, your "cheese ball" face, that twinkle in your eye when you are having fun or up to something!

I love how you are all boy, yet so affectionate with your brothers and your mommy & daddy!

I love that all you want to do is have fun, and will do anything and take any risks in order to accomplish that!

I love that you go up to strangers and look at them with your big blue eyes, stare them down and say "Hi!  Hiiiiiii!!!" until they say hi back!  I love that when the grout man came over to fix our tile, you spent the entire hour or so that he was here trying to make him say hi to you, and you wouldn't back down :~)

I love how you love your brothers.  You imitate everything Toby does, and love to play with him!  You are generous in your hugs and kisses to Bo, and are such a good big brother to him!
I love how excited you get about cars & trucks, Spiderman, and balls!  I love that when we go to a friend's house who has girls, you are so flabbergasted by dolls and pink!  I love when you use your "man voice" and when you "vroom-vroom" around the house, pushing your little cars and trucks, on all fours, with your tushie straight up in the air!

I love your little goofy faces you make, and how you will do anything for a laugh!

I love how you live your little life to the fullest, and do everything with your whole heart!
I love that you turn anything to a song, when playing with your cars, you sing, "Cars, cars, cars, cars...!"  I love that you are always humming a happy little tune!

I love that you talk to inanimate objects!  I love that the other day, you put your see-through plate up to your face, stretched out your arms in front of you, and said, "I see you, hands!"

I love how you can have me laughing hysterically with just one of your silly faces!

I love that you practice these faces in the mirror!
I love that the other day, when I was unkind to you, and asked you to forgive me, you went from sad crying, to a genuine smile, and looked at me in the eyes, and said "I forgive you!" (without being prompted!)  I love how quickly you do forgive, and when you are disciplined, you don't stay angry!  I love that you can be crying one minute, and then happy the next.
I love when you tell me someone is sleeping, and then you start snoring loudly!
I love watching you play with your Daddy, how you love to tackle him!  I love that you curl up and suck your thumb and cuddle when I hold you!  Oh, there are so many other things I love about you!  CJ, I am so happy that I get to be your Mommy!  I can't believe how much you have grown this past year, and we are having so much fun with you!  You are a blessing to all who know you!  Because of you, my joy has increased, and I laugh much more often!  I love you SOOOO much!

Happy Birthday, CJ!!!

Our little Carson Jack is two years old!!!  I can't believe it... in some ways he seems older than two, in other ways, I can't believe it has already been two years since his birth!  So, on Saturday, we woke him up with balloons, and came downstairs to eat his favorite, cinnamon rolls, for breakfast.

He liked the balloons.

A lot.

At breakfast, we helped him put on his birthday hat.  For weeks now, he has been obsessed with birthday hats, and even made up a song about them (it has only two words, "Birthday Hat!"  Repeat over and over!)

The boys had so much fun with "Tay-Tay, Twevo and Ry-ee!"

...and had way too much chocolate birthday cake!

He also scored some GREAT birthday presents!

And at the end of the day, it's really just all about the balloons!