Our little artist

Mavic has always loved to draw; he has surprised us with his drawings from an early age.  Mavic first started saying words by us using his Magne Doodle to draw pictures and then he would say what the picture was. For a long time that was the only way we could get him to speak. Well, tonight we discovered he is now writing his alphabet and saying the letters after he writes it- it was amazing to us.  I am even including a picture he drew of a person and of him drawing his hand.  He is always surprising me and amazing me. 

Trouble, Thy Name is Mavic

Mavic is CONSTANTLY on the move.  If I don't keep my eyes on him he is usually getting into trouble.

Mavic's new favorite thing to do is to play in our shower.  He loves playing in the shampoo and with my razor.

This is a lovely drawing that Mavic drew on our bathroom wall - we are so proud!

I Like 'Em Chunky!

GOODBYE MAVIC'S BOTTLE - YEAH!!

Mavic LOVES his bottles.  He will only drink milk from a bottle and it has to be from three certain bottles that we have. The bottles are from when he was a baby and he refuses to drink milk from the newer bottles that I have for Luke. I have two bottles that are green - one is a newer one for Luke and the other one is an older one.  One time all of  Mavic's old bottles were dirty in the dish washer, so I put some milk in the newer green bottle.  The only difference between these bottles were the tiny design that goes around the top of the bottle.  HE WENT CRAZY - he knew instantly that this was not his bottle. So anyway, we have been wanting and trying to get him off of bottles for a year now, but he wouldn't have it.  He refused to drink milk if it wasn't in his bottle; we tried every kind of sippy, but nothing could replace the bottle for him.  Well this week we decided it was cold turkey time.  I hid the three bottles (I couldn't bring myself to throw them away) and braced myself for what was in store for me.  When it was time for him to have his bottle I played like I didn't know where they were; we checked the dishwasher, the cupboard, and the fridge.  He kept saying, "Bottle where are you, Bottle?"  I told him I think the bottles are gone.  He cried for a little bit and then took his sippy cup that had milk in it - I couldn't believe it!   I couldn't believe how easy it was this time around and I am so grateful to have that over with.  I will never throw those bottle out though - they mean too much to me.

"Mom, can you check to see if there is any poop?"

Spencer and I were talking the other day about how Hunter comes out of the bathroom every time he goes #2 to have us check to make sure he wiped all of his poop off.  I thought I should write this down so that I never forget this hilarious ritual of his.  First of all, for some reason Hunter feels it necessary to take off all of his clothes when he goes #2 - we call him Costanza. My question is, what does he do if he has to go #2 at school?  I really home he keeps those clothes on and doesn't put his clothes on those gross floors.  Secondly, after he goes potty he will come out of the bathroom, bend over and ask, "Can you check to see if there is any poo?"  It is SO gross and so funny at the same time.  We have been telling him for years that he doesn't need to come out and show us anymore, but he insists on continuing it.  He is a creature of habit, so we will see if he is still doing this at the age of 12.

MY BIRTHDAY!!

Spencer and Hunter made this weekend one of the best weekends.  Today Spencer even made a cake for me and Hunter gave me the best present ever.

I love this cake - it cracks me up!

Hunter told me that he wouldn't be able to be there when I opened my present.  Wow!! This is a big box!

Here I go!

Wow, I got a Hunter for my birthday!  He said that he gave me himself because I love him so much!

It is hard to see, but Hunter put my pillow in there to make it more comfy.

He also gave me some of his trains - wait a minute - those look just like the trains he gave me for Christmas!  I love how Hunter is always giving me his toys for gifts!

He also gave me some silly bands and some coins - what more could I ask for!  My favorite thing in life is to get gifts from my Hunter - he puts so much thought and effort into it.

Spring is in the AIR!

Today was the first day the weather was nice enough for us to all go to the park - I love this time of year.

This was the first time Mavic rode his scooter outside.  It was a miracle that he let us get his helmet on.

Hunter on his bike - notice he has a bell and a horn on his bike.  I can always hear where he is when he is on his bike!

Hunter wanted me to take a picture of his skid mark - we go through so many tires because he LOVES to skid on his bike!

Boys+Food=Love

As you can see my boys are the world's messiest eaters.  What you don't see is that Mavic has chocolate ice cream in his hair and ear - they make me so proud!

Hunter's first heartbreak :(

Hunter has been friends with our next door neighbors, Brilee and Kale since we first moved down here.  This past year Hunter has told me that he wants to marry Brilee when he grows up.  Well, tonight he came in from playing outside with Brilee and Kale all sad.  I asked him what was wrong and he told me, "Mom, Brilee said she doesn't want to marry me."  I asked him why not.  He said, "She said that she can't marry me because I am her friend and she isn't aloud to marry her friends."  This is her nice way of saying that it isn't going to work out between them - poor guy!  He was devastated.

What Happens EVERY Night!

It gets pretty loud in our house.

What Luke is up to.

Luke loves to pull out his Binky and play with it, but then he gets so mad because he wants it back in his mouth and can't figure out how to put it in.

Luke is now pulling up his knees underneath him when he is on his stomach.  My other two boys didn't start doing this until they were about a year old, so this is very exciting for me.  Although, I know this means crawling a lot sooner - maybe I am not excited!  Ooh, look at that cute squishy bum!!

Hunter's Good Heart

Tonight Hunter came into Luke's room while I was feeding Luke.  He was holding a ton of coins in his hand and put them on Luke's dresser.  He said, "Mom this money is for Luke.  These are 100 coins for him to start saving his money in his piggy bank."  I said, "That is so nice Hunter, why are you doing that?"  Hunter said, "Because I just love Luke so much and he deserves this."  Nothing melts a mother's heart more than to have your children love each other - of course this love will only last until Luke is 2 years old and starts destroying Hunter's toys!

I JUST WANT TO LAY DOWN FOR A FEW MINUTES!!

Since I was up all night last night with a crazy baby I just wanted to lay down for 15 minutes - is that too much to ask?  I decided to put Luke in his bouncer and I put on a show for Mavic.  All should be well right?  Wrong - I find Mavic with a toy watering can and he has drenched the WHOLE hallway carpet.  Then I hear Luke screaming in his bedroom.  I go in to his room and find him on the floor (remember I put him in his bouncer) in front of his bouncer on his stomach.  How in the world did he get out of his bouncer and be on his stomach?  All I wanted was 15 minutes of rest time - that will teach me!

Here is the hallway socked with water!!

I had to recreate the scene - this is how I found him.  I just can't believe it!

 

Oh, the Laundry!

Seven years ago when I became a mother I never imagined the loads and loads of laundry I would do over the years.  I feel like it never ends, just like my ironing piles!  This week both Mavic and Luke have wet through each night - in fact Luke usually is wetting through twice a night - honestly can't they hold it in?  I am also astonished at how dirty boy's clothes get.  Is it too much to ask for them to be able to last in the same outfit for a whole day??  Well, at least by the time I die I will be proficient at folding and ironing clothes.  My only wish is that in Heaven we have perma press clothing.

We are starting something new

A few years ago I bought this mailbox so that we as a family can write letters to each other.  Well, I decided that Hunter is old enough for us to start doing this.  I am so excited about this and I hope it continues throughout the years!

And then I found a toy trophy at the store and thought it would be fun to start passing around this trophy to each other.  When you get the trophy you get to keep it for the day and then you choose who to give it to for the next day and why.  I started with giving the trophy to Hunter today because I loved his book that he made and it deserved a trophy.  He LOVED it and has decided to give the trophy to Mavic tomorrow.  Although, tonight Mavic threw the trophy so Hunter says he may give it to someone else because he is being naughty.  We will see what he plans on doing.  The cute thing is that Hunter took a picture of the trophy with his camera so that he can show his family when he grows up.

Hunter's Book

One of Hunter's favorite things to do in school is to make books.  He is so proud of this book and it just melts my heart to read it.  Although, notice Dad got two pages and I got one - someone is his favorite and it isn't me!

see he loves those pickles

Miracle (to me)

Hunter's teachers told us at the beginning of the year that it seemed to them that he couldn't process what he was hearing.  So when a teacher would give him an instruction, he would do something completely different or get really confused and frustrated.  He also can't hear the different vowels very well so he struggles with reading and spelling.  We then talked to Hunter's occupational therapist (or as Hunter calls him Dr. Brian) about this and he said that sometimes kids like Hunter have wiring in their brain that doesn't match up to each other.  He said that there was a way to fix that and that is by him listening to special classical music CDs that have different tones - it is hard for me to explain.  Anyway, he listens to this twice a day for about 15 minutes each time.  We have been doing it for months now and just the other day Hunter came up to Spence and I and said that he is starting to hear his teacher.  We asked him what he meant and he said that he doesn't get confused anymore by what his teacher is telling him to do.  Reading also has started to click for him.  It is amazing because he has this new confidence in him and his self esteem has gone up.  To me this is a miracle and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for Him helping my Hunter Bear feel so good about himself!

Mavic is so brave and funny!

Last night Mavic decided he wanted to go downstairs to play, so he brought Spencer his socks, shoes, and Hunter's coat.  The funny thing is that he wasn't wearing his pants (what a shock), so under the big coat is just his diaper.  He is so different from Hunter because there is no way that Hunter would ever go downstairs and play by himself.  Who am I kidding, I don't even like to go into our basement when it is dark.  Infact, Mavic goes down there and turns on the lights by himself - he is so brave!