Life with my boys...

One Year Comparisons

2012-01-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

Here are one year comparison pictures of all our Bartley boys!

Caden

Caleb

Cole

Happy Birthday Cole!

2012-01-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

Guess what day it is?

Cole turns one year old today!!!

Big brothers were in charge of selecting and helping to make the birthday cake and they voted on "rainbow cake". Apparently it is a one-year-old-birthday tradition in this family :)

Happy Birthday Cole! It seems like only yesterday that I was holding you for the very first time!

We love you sweet boy!

Christmas Excitement!

2012-01-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

Ah Christmas time, where Jennifer is at her best! Above is our Bethlehem dinner tradition that we started this year. For dinner we got to eat figs, dates, apricots, and special "Jesus" bread. We did this all by candlelight and spoke in Hebrew during the occasion. Caden didn't like the food, no surprise there.

Christmas at the Faulkners! Grampy and Grammy (top left) were very busy in their younger years having children and so far this is the net result. Top middle is Jennifer's oldest brother James who will soon be a lawyer making gazillions of dollars and purchasing the first family yacht. Next to James is his awesome wife Layne, who is a teacher here in Austin. Next to Layne on the top row is Will, Jennifer's younger brother, who is on a top secret mission and has special ninja powers that even Chuck Norris wishes he had. Bottom right of the front row is Jenna and Gray, the newlyweds. Gray's sweater vest was quite "special" and "merry". He will soon be our family accountant and running the books for my next ponzi scheme. Gray's wife, Jenna (Caden's secret wife) is a teacher as well in the College Station area (keeping the real location a secret). Don't let her smile fool you into thinking she is always nice. Gray told me once she has a vicious left hook.

Christmas morning and Cole found special footprints in the house!

More footprints! They came from SANTA!!!!! Notice no ornaments on the bottom two feet of the tree.

Kids enjoying Christmas morning. That darn strand of lights is out on our tree. Jennifer later fixed this but it was no easy task.

Brother Christmas hug! And below, dad reading a note left by Santa about Caden's goat and chickens he got for Christmas. Caden was really excited, so much so he ran to the back door thinking they were in our backyard.

Secret Park Time!

2012-01-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

So here we go! Jennifer has lost blogging privileges and I, Collin Bartley, have taken complete and utter control. As King, with a capital K, I have decided to post some pictures of our family day at the park. Please enjoy!

Hey look at me! I'm open!

Goal! And look, Caden has ups!

Looking at some fish and trying to find Quack. Caleb and Caden were both determined to hit the fish with rocks. We had a talk about if you kill something you have to eat it. Nothing was killed during our park trip.

Tree climber extraordinaire, Caden, striking his "G" pose.

Whoa! Who is that hottie in red? Man I want some of that! Wonder if she is single?
I bet she can bear some awesome children, someone is really lucky!

Halloween is over?

2011-12-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is over, too? Oh brother, this blog is too accurate of a representation of my severe time shortage.

Probably the only person in the world who doesn't absolutely love the deliciousness that is Thanksgiving dinner = a picky 5 year old to whom the abundance of foods "mom might make me try to eat" makes this holiday pretty much a terrible idea :)

A post nap grin

Cole is pulling up on everything he can find!

He is even derailing trains...

Colorful cousins do some fun puddle jumping

Silly Uncle Collin just does not, for whatever reason, understand little girls. I tried to show him how to play Pretty Princess because he kept trying to play Monster like he does with the boys when they are wrestling.

So he took my advice by coming up to my niece and saying, "I'm a pretty princess...I'm going to get you..." and proceeded to chase her. Sigh. She didn't think much of the worm he found either. Is there a Uncle school he can attend somewhere?

Run Daddy, Run!!!

2011-11-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we headed to San Antonio to cheer on Daddy running in the Rock "n" Roll Half Marathon.
He has been training for months and months. We are so proud of him!

Sunday morning Daddy headed out the door super early to get started at the race. Mommy and the cheering crew grabbed breakfast and headed to the sidelines. After a few tries, we finally found a good spot to wait for Collin to run past.

And I'd like to go ahead and designate honorable mention to myself for strapping Cole on with the baby carrier and pushing the big boys in the double stroller about 4 miles for the morning's events...

As soon as I realized just how many people were running I knew Collin would excel. Being his wife, I've been to an airport or two with this man. And I know that somewhere deep inside something happens in his mind when in a crowd...Beat everyone.
I was smitten to realize that the same instincts that I've witnessed shoulder to shoulder pushing past elderly and children (ok ok, not really) :) would push him to his best time ever!

And we waited and waited at the 12 mile marker, I promised that Daddy would be running by any minute...

Caleb was very concerned that Daddy wasn't the winner :)

And there he is!

He even ran over to get some high fives for encouragement...

Collin finished the 13.1 miles in 1 hour 56 minutes and 30 seconds.

He was in the top 12% of everyone who ran the half that day.

And for all that hard work he got a tee shirt and a medal, but nothing beats a celebration with these three fun boys!
If you want to see a live video of him crossing the finish or at another part of the race, check this out:

http://www2.brightroom.com/email/81840/16800/120194545

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hope you had a great Halloween!

We had a super fun time over here, it is officially the age of appreciation for fun kid holidays! Both Caden and Caleb loved going up and knocking on the doors. Every time Caden got candy he would announce to us what kind he got. Caleb was soo excited and especially into the decorations.

Our special treat tonight was Grampy coming to trick or treat with us. He was a super good carrier as Caleb and Cole both found out :) Love you Grampy!

Caleb's costume is a gummy bear from the song below. To complete the outfit he really needed to be wearing underwear over the pants, but he vetoed the idea and I was happy he at least wore most of it.

He walked down half the sidewalk with his head in the candy bag to survey his treats :)

Caden was a Mighty Eagle (or mutty eagle as he says it) from Angry Birds. This is the second consecutive Angry Birds costume year, perhaps we should do some iphone limiting in our house?

Sweet Berry Pumpkin Patch #2 - fixed the pictures!

2011-10-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Love this before and after, look at Cole going for it and innocent Caden doesn't know ;(

Thats not me laughing because its funny by the way...

Ok, these are possibly some of my all time favorites--

The precious baby is one reason and also because I finally figured out how to get that "blurry background" look on my camera...it has to do with the zoom lens I (actually Collin) got last Christmas and being enough distance away from the subject who is also far enough away from the background...

Very seriously selecting flowers to cut

And another fun with babies before and after...hmm this looks yummy...

Yep a little closer...

Perfect, thanks Dad!

Had to put in one more of those cool gourds..

And a few more of my littlest pumpkin patch visitor...

One more before and after :)

Man, there is soo much fun stuff to eat around here!

Sweet Berry Pumpkin Patch #1- fixed the pictures

2011-10-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

I am about to make up for my lack of posts big time!

Today I convinced Collin to take a half day so we could make a trip out to Marble Falls and visit Sweet Berry Farm! We had soo much fun, and it was great timing with the cold front. Its actually the first time I've ever been to a pumpkin patch when it felt like Fall!

Going through the corn maze...

Hurray we made it to the bell at the end! Even Cole go to ring it (we are all about fairness over here)

Petting the goats is always a hit at this place-

These gourds were soo cool this year! They are actually growing just like that from the top of the structure. They told me this was a dipper gourd b/c it was used back in the day for a giant ladle. You can imagine all of the Little House on the Prairie notions this stirred in my inner 8 year old heart.

Handsome boys

I think that Caleb's spirit resembles the Cheshire Cat somewhat...

its in the grin

Caleb's favortie part:: the "train" ride...sooo cute and since there was no one there at the time, Farmer Leroy gave the boys their own private ride~

Meanwhile Cole and Daddy had some fun together...

That baby donkey was only 19 days old...all I could think of was how big it must have been when it was born. I suppose childbirth memories must still be pretty fresh on my mind or something.

FYI, the fine print on that sign says,

"Warning: Adorable, Handsome, and very very taken."

Cole is "crawling"

2011-10-17T05:32:00.000-07:00

Ok ok, so he is really scooting. But, it won't be long! My baby is growing up :( and :) Mommies have very mixed feelings about this kind of thing-

How Does Your Garden Grow?

2011-10-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

Moms need an out. You know something to think about that isn't related to whats for dinner, or potty training, or sibling rivalry issues, or whether they should institute underwear rules because 5 times a day each child goes to get a new pair every time they take off a pair to go to the bathroom.
My out is my garden. I know, its kind of still a maternal thing. I'm already "growing kids" and really these silly plants seem to consume just as much energy. Ideally I was going to plant them and see what happens. But oh no. I walk outside to check on them every morning. I even sent a soil sample away to have it tested. (although this is apparently a must do if you want to garden effectively) When you drag three children into Lowes at 9 am on your way to a playdate/Bible study group so that you can just pick up some soil acidifier /chelated iron supplement you know you have a problem.

Oh well, at least its growing!

Our first squash!

Three!

2011-10-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

When in the world did this little baby

turn into this great big three year old!??

Birthday celebrations happened all week over here!
This is a prebirthday cupcake celebration with Grammy!

If you are wondering what to get a three year old boy, may I recommend a bunch of balloons?

The "birthday cake" was the topic of discussion between Caden and Caleb aaaalllll week long.
Would we make it with green icing or blue?
Rainbow dots inside or strawberry flavor?
And the one thing Caleb never ever waivered on?
Sprinkles. It had to have sprinkles!
Here's the final product:

That would be a cherished "birthday crown" from his Community Bible Study class.

Cole didn't get any cake, but he was very excited about his macaronis and peas-

We capped off the night unwrapping a Cars race car set from Grandma and Grandpa that was a big hit and opening sweet birthday cards from Giggi, and all of his Great Grandparents.

Sweet sweet Caleb! What a joy-filled, energy packed, loving boy you are!
You keep us laughing and on our toes. As I type this, I just sat back down from wiping my makeup from all over your face. Apparently we thought it was bedtime and you decided it would still be playtime!
At three, you are talking up a storm! The best part about this is that you usually say ch instead of c so we hear a lot of "Chaychin", "Baby Chole".
You have started wearing "big boy" underwear and done a great job of using the potty. Especially when there are m&ms at stake. Usually you bargain with me from getting just 1 m&m as a reward to 5! Speaking of candy, your favorite thing right now is a dancing gummy bear on you tube. You and Caden love to put on the gummy bear song and run around the kitchen/living room in circles.
You are a fantastic big brother and love to see babies. You say things like, "Aww a baby. So sweet. Mommy, a beautiful baby."
We love to look at the moon together before bed. And unlike your brother whose head hits the pillow and starts snoring, you take a long time to unwind which usually means multiple sesiosns of singing "lullaby", changing your diaper, getting your animals arranged, and escorting you back to your bed. My favorite thing is when we lay down to sing and pray before bed, you say to me, "Ok Mommy, close your eyes and go to sleep." And then when I finally leave and tell you goodnight, you always make sure to ask if we can make marshmallow pancakes in the morning.
We love you big three year old boy!

Friend or Enemy

2011-10-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

One night asI was whining about my lovable two year old's behavior to my friend Stephanie, she recommeded that I check out these books that are about child development by age. I've briefly looked through them tonight and think they are written well and have some helpful insights to refresh my mind about developmental stages by age. It brought lots of, "Oh so this is totally normal to my mind."

The best part is the the subtitles:
Your 5 Year Old: Sunny and Serene
Your 3 Year Old: Friend or Enemy?

Oh how I love my boys!

Mayfield Park

2011-10-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

How have I lived in Austin this long and never heard of this park?
My out of state friends always find these cool places here! Thanks Chapmans!

There were lots of cool ponds with fish.

And trails to hike on.

And picnic tables for lunch for the 6 children that Jessica and I have combined!

Look at Kayla sneak in that hug :)

They have this old stone wall that goes all the way around the whole park.

I did not teach Caden the hike your leg up pose.

And best of all peacocks running all over the place.
(but you apparently aren't supposed to chase them we were informed)

More Favorite Things

2011-10-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

Several things I'm loving lately:
1. Seeds Family Worship Music
http://www.seedsfamilyworship.net/listen-online/
I really like this music, its catchy, all the lyrics are Bible verses and you can listen to all of their cds online for free. If I am going to choose the tune that gets stuck in my head by bedtime, I'd much rather be hearing an encouraging scripture than the you tube video of gummy bear songs every night...
I am a gummy bear, I am a gummy bear. I am a yummy tummy nummy yummy gummy bear. I am a jelly bear, I am...

2. A Love That Multiplies by the Duggars
Its no secret that I love the Duggars.
More frequently than not I meet people who think they (and I suppose I) am crazy!
Look past the mega sized family issue and the Duggars have a ton of great parenting experience and some really good wisdom. If you are trying to raise children with Christ-centered, Biblical worldview I highly recommend this book. They have great parenting thoughts, family rearing advice, encouragement to parents, and lots of neat ideas and principles in there. A lot of the time I read that book thinking how much what they were saying made sense as the goals I have for my family, they just said it best and have actually done it! There are even some really good recipes sprinkled in the margins. Here's a link:
http://www.amazon.com/Love-That-Multiplies-Up-Close-View/dp/1439183813/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317474724&sr=1-1

3. Preschool Ideas- I love these sites for the worksheets they have that you can print off. Also, I just found out that Dollar Tree has great workbooks for $1! They are better than the ones I found at the Target dollar section...

http://homeschoolcreations.com/preschoolpacks.html
http://kidslearningstation.com/

Beach Day Two!

2011-09-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Beach Day Two we woke up bright and early to hit the waves!

Daddy and Caleb

Jumping in the waves!

I suppose this picture would have worked out better if Cole didn't refuse to sit up. On the other hand, this made it much easier for him to shovel mouthfuls of sand into his mouth.

Caleb is potty training which means he is an expert at ripping of pants, underwear, bathing suit, you name it any time he has the urge to use the bathroom...or whenever he wants to be naked for the sake of it. We put his pants back on over and over again all weekend, but half the time he just ended up in his birthday suit :)

Nursing on the beach :)

Making "turtle shells"- Caden invented that term. Its a sand castle that he his with the shovel until it was smooth on top.

Daddy's shark

Daddy throwing Caleb way too high

Had to post this one again

Caden and Cole at the pier

Back at the condo the last night...

You would think Caleb would be exhausted by this point in the night, but this is a perfect example of our nights around here lately!

Beach Trip, Day One

2011-09-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we headed to Port Aransas-

Here is the view from my seat in the back of the car. Usually we have luggage and junk packed to the roof in the back, but I really needed to move Cole's seat to the back and be able to sit next to him. Because, you know, sitting on a plastic crate in the middle of the car is neither safe nor comfortable! This empty and organized car was brought to you by:

sherpak roof bag from rei - $110 and worth every penny

moms, google it and get one!

My seat buddy!

When we finally got there we had to wait an hour to check into our condo unit, so we went tourist shopping/got eaten by giant sharks!

I don't have any pictures, but we also went to a cute candy store in town. Wiltons or something like that. They had boxes and boxes of candy that you put in bags and pay by the pound. Unfortunately it was all at the perfect level for little fingers...we only stayed in that store for a bit!

Then we got into our unit and it was beach here we come!!!

Cole's first glimpse of the waves...

He loved it!

After our first time playing in the waves Caden swallowed a huge mouthful of water and started coughing. He ended up running to the sand and throwing up everywhere. Then, this huge flock of seagulls came and ate all of the throw up! It was disgusting and hilarious. Probably Collin and I's favorite beach trip memory.

Before we left I convinced Collin we had to have a beach tent and we bought a different one first that required using those interlocking poles. Crazy idea. We exchanged it for this "60 second pop up" tent the same night which was the best decision ever. Its lighter than those typical pop-up canopies and easier to set up, too. We did have to stake it down really well because there is so much wind, but it was a great beach accessory!

After the beach bath time

And then off to bed, so sweet to see these two crawled in bed after we left.
I love how cute the condo was decorated!

The condo was nice, although the complex itself looked a little bit old and outdated from the outside, the owners have completely redone inside. Its all freshly painted and very clean. Our only complaint was that the ceiling is original and in bad shape. Its completely outfitted for little kids, with a pack and play, high chair, plastic plates and dishes, a full toy closet, and a full collection of vhs tapes in the kids room. (I had to explain what a vhs tape was though!) There is also a great pool and playscape onsite. Plus, the short walk to the beach takes minutes from the condo!
If you are interested, the condo website is:
www.thesandyturtle.com

Beach Part One

2011-09-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

First ever family beach trip!!!
We just got back from a weekend in Port Aransas having the best time ever.

The beach was clean, the water was great, and the weather was fantastic...

Everyone (including Cole) LOVED playing and jumping in the waves!

Daddy and Caden worked on sand turtle "shells", sand alligator, and this sand shark. Meanwhile Caleb worked on constantly ripping off his bathing suit and running naked on the beach to our dismay.

I'll try to put up more pictures asap, but for now I'll leave you with this sweet shot!

SOCCER!!!!

2011-09-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

Introducing, team Phoenix all star player of the game...

Check out Coach Collin! Cheering the team on to victory. There are no referees at this age. The coaches go on the field and do that part. Plus its just 3 on 3 so half the kids rotate in every 4 minutes. Ok, so goals aren't counted at this age. Although I'm sure Collin could tell you if you asked. But I won't ask because I'm pretty sure the other team may have scored a few more.

Everyone on our team did really well though. I was completely expecting them to stand around and score in the wrong goal but they were really good!

Caden did great! He really had fun and told Collin that we needed to build a giant slingshot and shoot him out of it to take out the other players from the opposite team. Oh the life long applications of angry birds, perhaps someday he will solve some world crisis on those building blocks. (get it? blocks- ha)

Check out that face of determination!

Ok, so crazy story. Collin started telling Caden last week that he should eat his vegetables and meat because there would be a kid named "Zeek" playing soccer against him and "Zeek" was somewhere eating his vegetables and meat and getting stronger. So Caden and him were bantering back and forth about getting stronger to beat Zeek in soccer.
Sooo, today the other team started charging their goal right off the bat and everyone could tell most of their kids had probably played before. One kid in particular scored several goals one after another and you would not believe what the parents on the other team were cheering!
"Good goal Zeek!"
No kidding!
Caden was much less impressed with this than Collin and I who were cracking up and dumbfounded. I think this means that Collin should stop making up stories to tell the kids, because who know what will be real next time!?

Snack time with Coach Collin! When Collin told me he decided to volunteer for coach, I was a little/lot nervous. He is so competitive I could only imagine him going overboard. I am officially retracting all worries. He was the cutest and best coach all day. High fiving, cheering kids on, and making it so fun for everyone. Not to mention he has the energy level and excitement to get even the shyest kids having a blast!
Way to go Daddy, you were made for this job!

Caden specializes in falling down. He never got hurt, just tripped a lot. But he was a lot more aggressive than I thought he'd be. In the beginning Collin saw him throwing some elbows. We will have to work on that one.

Lullaby

2011-09-07T18:30:00.001-07:00

Pardon the out of tune mommy voice, but Caleb's is priceless.
There is no picture, its just an audio track so make sure your volume is on:

Ahhh, life with precious little ones!

Wedding Weekend!

2011-09-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

My "little" brother got married this weekend!
Congrats to Aunt Jenna and Uncle Gray

We had so much fun at their beautiful wedding weekend...

Caden swimming at the hotel pool

A pensive nap-deprived Cole staring at his silly swimming brothers.

Got to document his adorable "lowlights". That brown patch is all thats left of his brown baby hair :(

Ok, I've spent weeks mentally preparing for this occasion with all our little ones and the ins and outs of wedding details. I've spent days packing, shopping, and discussing all of the events with the kids so that hopefully when the big event happened we would be prepared. Let me just say that even for the most organized, and prepared mom (which I am not), this weekend was both wondeful and challenging. And I even had help from the best daddy, amazing grandparents, aunts, uncles, and strangers. Ok, strangers were pretty much just staring at our crazy children with amused/judgemental/horrified/endearing/understanding (depending on the particular moment and stranger) faces. But in the end, the wedding was about Aunt Jenna and Uncle Gray and we were soo blessed and honored to be there with them!

This was taken about 20 minutes before the ceremony while we were waiting upstairs . For the record, 3 out of 5 of us ended up wearing our shoes.

My dad and Cole were buddies the whole time. He even carried him down the aisle!

Caden helped carry a banner down the aisle, and did a great job. He kind of started moving to the middle halfway and almost ran the other little boy off the aisle. They got back on track pretty quick, it was so cute!

And...Caleb...he acted exactly like a 2 year old boy who was hungry and tired and in a tuxedo should act. Grammy carried him down the aisle. Daddy carried him back out a few minutes later and our babysitter played with him outside :)

Waiting for the pictures to be over.

Collin got a new suit for the wedding, I wish I had a better picture of it. He looked soo handsome!
The boys went to back to the hotel room for the reception and played with a babysitter. It was the best money I've spent in a while. Collin and I got to have a blast at the reception which was soo fun. There was a live band and we got to dance and visit and eat! Meanwhile...

My Favorite Thing

2011-09-02T08:57:00.000-07:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens-

Nope
My favorite thing is my "kitchen towel system"
I was going through rolls and rolls of paper towels which adds up. It made me cringe every time I wiped up a spill on the floor, table, or counter. Or wiped off dirty hands. Or wiped off my own hands after wiping off dirty hands. Or cleaned up after breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack time. Or cleaned up improvised snack time when a boy decided to pour himself a glass of milk and poured some for the floor, too. You get the idea- I use lots of paper towels.

Till one day I was a the car wash, noticing the washer dryer system they have for the hand towels there. Dry car, wash towel, dry towel. Its just a revolving system- solution found.

I looked and looked for the white absorbent towels I wanted for my system at the right price
and finally found them cheap at Target of all places. In the section where all their decorative towels are, they have sets of washcloth size and hand towel size "bar towels". I bought like 3 sets of each.

They sit in baskets above the washer dryer and I use several a day. When they get dirty enough I just toss them in to their own "dirty box" so I can do a load of them with bleach. And then I toss them from the dryer right back into their baskets!

Now if Julie Andrews could sing in my house while I cleaned up spills we'd be living a fairy tale!

Homeschool Preschool Week 2

2011-08-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

The teaching around our Bartley Preschool is getting better.

Here's a short list of our school activities:
Song time- Prayer- Work on the verse for the week-
This week: "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
Character Quality for the week: Truthfulness
We played a game where I said a sentence and Caden shouted if it was true or false.

Usually after all of that Caden is begging to start his coloring sheets to work on writing letters.

www.twistynoodle.com has some great printouts with pictures on top and dot letters at the bottom. You can even type in your own words to print out!

Today we worked on coloring inside the lines of a baboon picture (not shown) and then both boys drew their own faces onto the pictures with their name on it. Caden even wrote his name at the top (well actually he wrote NEDAC, but I'm counting it)
During drawing time we talked about the color names in Spanish for Caden and English for Caleb.

Then we played with these alphabet notecards. Caden found his name and Caleb looked for individual letters.
That didn't last very long so I shouted colors in Spanish and Caden had to go touch something in that color.

Finally, we reviewed the character quality for the week (truth) and the animal that represents it- the lion.
That sounded like a good time to go outside and practice being lions so school was over!

I'm feeling much better about this, its helping me to work on "learning focused activities" throughout the day and not just for 30 minutes while we do school time. Its amazing how quickly they can pick stuff up. Also amazing how quickly activities go by when they are 2 and 4. The idea is lots of different little activities. I like for them to interconnect, like our verse about truth going along with the character quality. I'm really enjoying our school time, Caden is able to learn so much right now, its cool to watch!

Happy Birthday Adalyn

2011-08-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

We made a road trip to DFW this weekend to go celebrate Cousin Adalyn's third birthday!

I was so hoping the temp would drop about 20 degrees with the 180 mile difference. Wrong.

But at least there was water play!

And lots of yummy delicious birthday treats!

Birthday girl!

Cousin Brynna

My boys didn't want to play in the jump house because it was "princess". Just kidding, aparently they are not anti-disney princess themes :)

Wrestling Uncle Connor. Ironically at our house when Daddy has them in a trap they yell, "Uncle Connor" instead of just "Uncle".
I'm not sure about this situation but it looks like Uncle Conner should be yelling his own name!

We are Homeschooling

2011-08-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

...for preschool!
I have spent a lot of time debating what is best for OUR family as far as schooling.
I'm not going to go into all the pros and cons here on my list of public vs private vs homeschooling.
But since we at least have one last year all at home together during the day
Collin and I decided it would be a great idea to prepare Caden for Kindergarten!

And since schools officially started back this week, we have been having "school" time every morning during Cole's nap.
And after breakfast is cleaned up, and everyone is dressed including myself.
(which seems to take for-ev-er)

The first day I sat Caden and Caleb down excitedly.
We sang a song together, and learned our verse for the week.
"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19
Caden sounded out "love" and drew the letters in the air with his finger.
Then, he wrote them down on a piece of paper.

We did 2 math worksheet about matching same number objects,
a worksheet to practice cutting, and a worksheet to practice writing a few letters.

Meanwhile Caleb colored some worksheet also and "helped" me make a few cuts with scissors.

And then, school was finished. "Mom, lets play with playdough"
Umm, well, ok.
And school was over.
It took us 12 minutes :)

Caleb participated in school pantless, because when you are almost 3, your biggest life goal is potty training.
He is doing well, celebrating with mini marshmallows and gummy bears happily.

I wish someone brought a Starbucks mocha to ME everytime I tinkled on the potty.

And randomly, here are my pumpkin plants getting ready!

Adorable student in my class.

Other adorable student in my class.
The student to teacher ratio over here is really good.
But the teacher has like 12 other jobs going on during class, so I think its a wash.

Gooooaaaaal!

2011-08-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Because you can never be ready soon enough for World Cup 2030,
we have added a new soccer training field to our back yard.

We are very altruistic parents,
always doing what is best for our kids even if it doesn't interest us at all.

Because I can't imagine us actually using a child-size goal and 10 soccer balls for ourselves.

Oh, wait, what's that?

Anyway, Collin is very excited to play with the new mini field in our back yard and to teach the boys all of his soccer wisdom.
Caden has been doing a good job as goalie,
although I've made several threats about balls being kicked too roughly by the "coach"
So far, mom is the only one concerned about that.

Caleb loves to dribble the ball all the way from the fence, and when he gets a goal he throws his arms in the air and says "Goooaaal".
We've had some demonstrations on how to do that from the coach, too...

Cole is on the pre-training schedule.
We use this contraption to build up his thighs for kicking and his jumping ability for all of those times when he will "head" a ball into the goal. He gets a 5 minute "nap break" every once in a while.

This is his strict diet to increase his sport ability in the future...

Its complex carbohydrates, omega 3s, and proteins.
We call them blueberry pancakes.

All that exercise is fine,
but at the end of the day,
nothing is better that movie night and
Daddy's special buttered popcorn for resting all of those tired muscles.

Picky Eater

2011-08-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

If you have spent any time with me and my kids that lapsed into a meal, you may have noticed that my precious oldest Caden, while positively perfect in almost every area of his life, happens to be a picky eater. Now, I don't mean he doesn't like green veggies like many other kids, I mean. P I C K Y
And if I were watching another mother interact with a picky eater like this, I would probably judge her and think to myself even though I know better that, "The reason that child is like that is because the mother is enabling his behavior." I've never been told that by anyone but my mommy guilt meter replays this message in various times throughout my days.
And I happen to know the worry that "your kids are behaving in certain ways is your fault as a mom" concern is not just mine...

Anyway, Caden is soo picky. Most days, I make the best of the healthy options of food that he does enjoy eating, while still including items such as non-square carrots, non-chick fil a nuggets, and other vegetables on his plate even if he won't eat them. Along the way of this journey, I've tried making games out of trying new things, giving him fun dipping options, using toothpicks for added interest, making him sit at the table until he tries one bite, asking him to at least lick the "new" food, making sticker charts, and yes, on occasion, forcing the food into his mouth. I draw the line at physically spanking him or threatening him with some sort of horrible punishment like that because I don't agree with treating your kids like that over eating. Its not my style of parenting.

So, want to see what I mean? Here is a little nugget of last night at 5pm...

Most nights I'm flexible and let Caden eat whatever healthy options he usually does, but last night enough was enough. After this clip he sat at the table and I told him he couldn't get up until he ate, actually ate (not licked or took a microscopic bite) of one entire piece of pasta.
He pouted, he sat, he told me he was full, he told me he was hungry for something else, he cried while I asked him what it was about the pasta he didn't like. He said it was yucky even though he hadn't ever tasted it. We talked about it calmly. I used a harsh voice. I offered to cover it in chocolate, whipped cream (yes, that is not a good parenting solution I know) And two hours later he was still sitting at the table.
I started to get concerned about handling bedtime and having to have him wake up the next morning and sit back at the table. So, I set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes and in the most serious voice I could muster said, "Caden, you have 10 minutes to eat that noodle." He said he needed privacy, I allowed him to carry his one cold, floppy noodle to the porch to eat it by himself. I shut the door saying, you have 9 minutes and 15 seconds. He walks outside, puts the noodle to his mouth and licks it as if it might have poison coating it. After realizing it didn't kill him he proceeds to carry the noodle around the yard licking it like a lollypop. Door opens. Caden, you have 7 minutes.
One minute later, "Mom, I dropped my noodle in the dirt." Sign, "here is another one, you now have 6 minutes. I peak outside, he has actually taken a teeny tiny bite, he sees me spying through the blinds and smiles. Then, 20 seconds later, "Mom, I dropped it again."
Ok, here is one more, you now have 5 minutes to eat the entire noodle. I shut the door, and peak through to see him actually take 3 real bites of the noodle. Angels from heaven start playing in my mind. He sees me spying again smiles mischievously and eats the rest of the noodle. I go outside and hug him, we high five, and we run and tell daddy. He says not to tell anyone else that he ate it. (I'm not counting this hour long blog rant, don't tell him)

I have no idea what I would have done if that timer would have gone off with that darn noodle still in his hand. But it worked, so I'm not going to worry about it. I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish this victory. I could have spanked him for not eating it after a while. I could have ignored it until he was 18. I could have deprived him of all food for days until he was hungry enough for the noodle. I do not proclaim to have the right answer, but just like everything in parenting, you find what works for you.
For me, this works. He chose on his own, not out of fear, to take a bite of that pasta. I'm hoping that tonight our small victory will translate to a shorter, less painful (for me) battle and we will be working towards more eating in the future. But at the very least for one night, I went to bed smiling, because I stuck to my guns, because he learned a good lesson, because even though it took us 2.5 hours to "finish dinner", there was one less noodle to dump in the garbage afterward.

Desperate Times

2011-08-09T05:32:00.001-07:00

Call for desperate measures...

We got creative with our outside time this week b/c if you are outside in 105,
you have to be in the water!

PS, does anyone remember it being too cold to play outside? Has anyone else been listening to christmas music, smelling christmas candles, or looking at old pictures of their kids playing in the rain?

Friends!

2011-08-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

If you ever click on the blogs on my right side bar, you might see that our friends came to visit a few weeks ago. Those super blogging mommy's had their cute pictures up before the laundry from that visit was washed:) I, on the other hand, must not be as efficient with household chores because it has taken me weeks to catch up and post some. And I'm even using Stephanie's really wonderful pictures from the visit.
How is it that the mom with 4 kids out-photographed the mom with 3 and the mom with 2? :)
Always impressive, Stephanie, always impressive!

Jackson, Caden, and Providence "played" naptime for a while.
This turned into a giant pillow fight later!

Atticus, Annie, and Caleb playing on the swing set.

Cole with his buddy Atticus.

We had to hit up the neighborhood pool.
It was definitely part of my pitch to get the Taylors to move to Austin someday...

FUN!

Playing at the pond

2011-07-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on pictures, but here are a few of us playing with Grandpa and his speed boat!

Gummy Bear Dance by Caleb

2011-07-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

6 Months Half Birthday!!

2011-07-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Half Birthday Cole!!!!

It was just a blink of an eye ago when we got to meet you, but look how much you have grown! You are the sweetest cutest baby boy ever, and everyone we meet loves how you smile away at them. Your big brothers are so in love with you too. They love to play patty cake with you and you love to watch them be run around. I know you cant wait to run around with them, too!

At 6 months you are rolling over and playing with toys you can grab with your hands now. You love bathtime and looking at yourself in the mirror. You blow lots of bubbles and all those newborn noises you used to keep us awake with have turned into grunts and squeals. You are sleeping in your own crib now but you are very punctual when you wake back up at 12am, 2am, and 5am to nurse. I'll remind you of that someday!

Cole at 2 months
Here is how much you have grown!

To compare, this is Caleb at 6 mths

Caden 6 mths

Cole 6 mths

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

2011-07-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

From the day I got pregnant with Caden,
Collin has been looking forward to a lifetime
of pink flowery dresses, my little ponies, and
oh wait, that was my dream...
Here is his...

Taking his boys to an Astros game!

.

Yay sports!

Grandpa insisted on wearing Pirates paraphernalia,
by which I'm pretty sure he crushed Collin
but at least all of our boys were sporting Astros gear.

Believe it or not we actually made it all the way to the 7th inning with all three kids!
Success brought to you by the following.
1. Lots of hands to hold on the way in (thanks Grandpa and Grandma)
2. A stop at the kids area to jump in bounce houses and get balloon swords.

3. Big bowl of popcorn immediately upon arrival.

4. 45 minutes at the playscape between the 3rd and 4th inning.
5. Huge bowls of icecream to finish off the 5 and 6th innings!

Summer Fun

2011-07-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Austin Summer Fun Spots:
Williamson County Splash Pad
Crowded and hard to watch both kids, but this was on a weekend.
I'd go again on a weekday and reevaluate, but there are several other splash pads
close by that I like a little better
(and that aren't made mostly of jagged rock)
really design people, could you not find a mom to consult?

Austin Zoo:
Less than 3 minutes from Grammy's house makes this a pretty fun one on the list
but in the summer heat the tigers were the only smart ones there bc
they were in the water

Georgetown Rodeo!
Super fun, apparently super good sno cones.
I'm partial to rodeos since its a childhood favorite from back in the day,
so I can't wait till we can go sit through the whole thing...

Fourth of July and Stuff

2011-07-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

What better holiday greeting

than a sweet smiling 5 month old

with wonder in his eyes

to say Happy Fourth of July!

Or better...three sweet semi -smiling, bathing boys to say it?

Or two cousins sharing bubbles on the back porch?

Or mother-forced family pictures in front of a freshly painted front door?

(Yes, that was the best one)

Or freshly picked watermelon straight from your own garden?

Or a trip to the "pool" in your backyard

Whichever way you like it...
Happy Fourth of July!

More pool fun

2011-06-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

Check out that muscle man in the background!

Cole is my most bubble-blowing baby :)

Caden loves those goggles.
Some mom advice, go for the $10 pair over the $3 pair.
We tried both and it makes a huge difference on how they fit..

Mommy with Cole of course. Have I mentioned that I'm under contract?
This is my policy with babies. The first year, they are allowed to need me every second of every hour of every day... and most days that is how it feels.
Knowing that it only last a year makes it survivable and makes me realize I should enjoy the special time I get with him right now! They are only this way for the blink of an eye-
Just look at my giant four year old if you want proof!

Playdough

2011-06-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Fun inside project for escaping the heat of the day!
I bought that box of 100 cookie cutters by Wilton at Walmart for $10, great purchase!

Homemade Playdough:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbs Cream of Tartar
4 ts baby oil
1 cup plus 2 Tbs boiling water
food coloring

Mix all ingredients and store in ziploc bag.

Good Morning!

2011-06-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

How did your morning start today?

Alternately titled: I need a bigger rocking chair!

Forward Our Mail

2011-06-07T12:39:00.000-07:00

You might as well just forward our mail to the neighborhood pool, because after our first trip of the summer there today
I'm not sure we'll be at the house that much longer!
There is just something so "American summer" about a neighborhood pool, kids splashing, and lifeguards sitting above with whistles at the ready...
...I could almost hear the theme song of The Wonder Years playing in the background...sigh

What a great time out spot right by the lifeguard stand with the umbrella :)

Earlier that morning Caden started his first swim lessons. He is fully capable of swimming at this point, he just needs the influence of a sweet young teacher instead of mom who already doesn't know anything.
Today they worked on blowing bubbles, and kicking, swimming from the step and back holding her hands.
Caden let go of her and swam all the way back by himself on the first try. Yea!

Couponing is the Best!

2011-06-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know if you've watched an episode of Extreme Couponing on TLC by now, you have also gone to the store armed with some Sunday coupons ready to leave with a cart of free groceries.
And then wondered why your grocery bill is unchanged or maybe you saved around .58 off your normal bill only after stumbling down the aisle awkwardly shuffling some tiny pieces of paper while figuring out which sized box of macaroni it matches as the 3 children you are with start getting impatient with your extra long 3.2 minutes (compared to the usual 1.2) on the pasta aisle.

Here is my summary on couponing:
1. To be effective you have to use and match 2 coupons per item: Both the store sale item/in store coupon with the manufacturer's coupon.
Otherwise you are better off just buying the off brand products, they are usually cheaper than name brand even with a coupon.
2. A lot of things that coupons are good for are not good for you...candy, junk food, and random household goods you probably don't need anyway and wouldn't spend $3 on even if you get $2 off.

3. You also need a Sunday paper every Sunday which costs $2 so you have to subtract $8 a month from the coupon savings you are going to earn.
4. You need free time to cut coupons, organize them, figure out which are expired and which store has sales when.
5. You need the time and energy to go to more than your local grocery store to really save...HEB does best when you just shop off brand, and use their own instore deals. Randalls is good, but they don't have a buddy buck machine, the lines are long at the register and you have zero help unloading your cart. This is a big deal when you are keenly familiar with your local HEB when the sweet people rush to your cart to help you unload it to the belt, then offer your kids prizes while you check out, AND help you to your car.

Just to reinforce my thoughts, here's a fun example:

I needed batteries, you know, for important things like race cars, remotes, and baby toys...
I was super excited that HEB had an instore $2 off coupon for energizer max batteries. And even more excited when I saw a free $10 gift card manufacturer's coupon inside the pack I bought....but then I saw you had to buy THREE packs of batteries to qualify. So the next time I went to the store they were still on sale and I bought 2 more packs. I think it was around 4 each after the 2 HEB coupon. So if I could get the $10 coupons that would mean 24 batteries for $2.00!!! ($4 x 3 packs=$12 minus $10 gift card)
As soon as I got home I logged onto the engergizer site. Now all I needed to do was register my email with them and put in my three passcodes. Then tell them how I wanted my money (paypal for free or donation to the national park of my choice) Great, now I feel guilty for taking the money, oh well.
Ok, it takes my codes and I only have to stop about 7 times to break up arguments, feed snacks, and rock a crying baby while I'm working on my "coupon savings"
Now it says my $10 will be in my paypal account soon!
That was on May 5th...fast forward to yesterday, I think to check paypal and see if its there. No luck. Till today, one month later I get an email saying I have to go to paypal and retrieve my $10 or it will be given back to Energizer. No way!
Log on to pay pal, but I must verify my account (its a new account that I created with my junk email address since I wasn't sure about the whole thing).
Send email verification, Log onto junk email, verify account.
Return to account, I have $10, now I just have to send it to my bank account from paypal. Oops, my bank account is already linked to my original paypal account and I can't link it to more than one.
Thats ok, I can send the $10 from my junk paypal account to my real one.
Problem, there is a limit on my junk account b/c I haven't done some special registration so I can't send my $10.
Thats ok, all I have to do is register my debit card with my junk paypal account and they will let me send my $10. Done.
Retry to send $10. Success.
Log out and log into my real paypal account.
Woohoo, there it is...my $10.
Now I just have to send it to my bank account. Fortunately that information is legitimate in my real paypal account, hit send.
Transaction will take approximately 4 business days to hit my bank.
So that means THURSDAY, June 9th I will officially have gotten 24 batteries for only $2 and it only took me 32 days and an hour or two ignoring my children while messing around on the computer to get it...

Train Ride Saturday

2011-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

There is a really fun train to ride just down the street from us at the Williamson County Park...

So when we woke up a few Saturdays ago with nothing on our schedule, this is the first place we thought of!

Its nice and shady, plus only a couple dollars a person!

Four Months Old!

2011-06-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

Look who's four months old!

I can't get the picture to show it best, but this little one is on his way to a sweet strawberry blonde!

He is an expert finger chewer...especially since he won't take pacis or bottles...

Traditional four month birthday cereal eating:

Cole seemed to be ok with eating the rice cereal the first time, but the next night he hated it.
We'll probably nurse exclusively for a little bit longer post photo shoot...

What to Do?

2011-05-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

Visit new local parks and climb trees?

Pose for hundreds of pictures for Mommy...

Practice lifting feet in the air while simultaneously eating your own fingers.
(I know he is a genius already)

Accessories...

2011-05-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

..that is what I am going to start calling Caleb's injuries
who needs a little girl with bows and dresses when you get to dress up your little boy
in toothless grins and casts :)

Of course, I think the bows and dresses could probably be a little more economical than
dental anesthia, xrays, and trips to the cast doctor
but who's counting?

Speaking of priceless, I cannot express the enjoyment of watching Grammy hold Caleb in her lap while he got his cast on. Do not be deceived, the ipad they are looking at may seem to hold the key to the tearless incident, but I promise you not just anyone could have pulled that off...

We love Grammy!