Eavesdropping

I was at a friend's house with the boys for a birthday party. Another lady and her son Spencer were there, and Zack came into the room and dashed for Spencer. The two 4 year-old boys had a great conversation, and while I didn't hear the whole thing I caught this tidbit that made me laugh:

Zack - Guess what? I'm in potty training. I wear underwear all day and all night!
Spencer - I'm not in potty training, I'm in gymnastics!

It's funny that Zack would mention that, considering he's been potty trained for months now, but it was so funny to hear it.

A Small Voice

A few days ago, Pete and I had just put the boys to bed and the house was quiet. We were quietly chatting in the living room when we heard the little voice of Nathan singing "Jesus Loves Me" to himself in his bed. It was so adorable. And then last night we set up our Christmas tree. Pete and I put the tree together (it's a fake one) and put the lights on, and then we all put the ornaments on. The boys loved it. As we finished with the ornaments and took a step back to admire our family's handiwork, Nathan sang softly to himself, "Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas treeeeeee, leeeeeeeeaves so unchaaaaaangiiiiing." What a sweetheart.

My Artist

Zack has always been creative, and as he's getting older he is starting to draw what's in his mind. And it is amazing to see what he comes up with. This is the first thing he ever drew for me: a happy snail. Adorable!Zack is also very into writing. He loves making cards for people, drawing them rainbows and hearts on the front with their names inside. At thanksgiving while the other kids were playing, Zack was at the dining room table making cards for everyone there. He writes his name first and then writes the name of the recipient. He knows how to spell Zack, Nathan, Mommy, Daddy, and Heinbuch without asking how to spell it so he makes a LOT of things for us.

We love to watch a show called Mr. Maker that's on twice a week, and Mr. Maker has greatly inspired Zack to draw funny animals, monsters, and people. He decided to make some spiky monsters for us, and they are so great.

2 Knights in the Night

Well, this year we took the boys out trick-or-treating for the first time. For the first few minutes, they didn't really understand that they would get candy from complete strangers if they said "Trick or Treat!!" at their door. Then, once they started getting their candy it was all gung-ho after that! We took them out for about half an hour, and look how much they got! Wow! They wanted to dress up all day instead of just after supper, so at city hall and the grocery store, they were my little bodyguards. Well, except for the sword fights in the produce aisle!

Bowling for Birthdays!

We went bowling for my birthday last weekend, and it was Zack and Nathan's first time at the alley. They did NOT want to leave! Nathan couldn't stop jumping, he was so excited! We went 5 pin bowling so they could lift the balls, and they had tiny little adorable bowling shoes. Way too cute!

Favorite Songs

As they listen to more and more music, the boys' eyes are opened to even more songs that they like. Just like most kids, the current favorites are always requested to be on repeat as much as possible, especially in the car. Zack and Nathan's current favorite songs include:
-Bicycle Race and We Will Rock You by Queen
-Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine
-Bleed it Out by Linkin Park

Zack loves listening to our Queen's greatest hits album, and it's adorable hearing him sing "Ooooooh, you make me liiiive" from You're my Best Friend.

The boys go to "Wee Grow" during my Wednesday morning bible study at Beulah, which is a sort of preschool combined with sunday school. They came home the other day singing "Deep and Wide" which is from waaaaay back, and it was so cute! Ask them to sing it for you - Nathan does the actions so great!

Full of surprises

Zack is so full of surprises. What a smart kid.

Last week he said to me, "Mommy, I'm going to draw you a volume."
"A what??"
"A VOL-ume!"
"Okay Zack. Draw me a volume."
Not knowing what he was going to draw, he came back from the table with a picture of a sound wave. Wow.

Zack has been really good with copying rhythms and staying on the beat with music, and yesterday we really knew how well he knew it. Pete got this mini guitar amp that the boys love, and it plays the "Smoke on the Water" guitar riff by Deep Purple. He asked Pete if he would sing along with the music and Pete told Zack that you can't sing along if there aren't any words. Without missing a beat, Zack pressed the button on the amp and sang perfectly with the beat of the music,
"Sing the song,
Sing sing the song!
Sing the song
Sing singgg!"
Pointing to Pete on every beat with an "I TOLD you it would work" look on his face, he looked at us when he was done singing and all we could do was laugh and hug him.

Fall

These fall days have been wonderful. Nice and warm sun, cool breeze, perfect for walks. The boys are loving the color change of the trees and the falling leaves. Nathan prefers the "pokey trees" as he called them during a conversation in the car. Zack likes the leafy trees. We went for a walk through the participark with grandma last week, and I couldn't resist taking pictures.
After three attempts to send him, this fall is finally Pete's time to go back to school. What a relief that we are at last able to send him! He's got his school supplies, his backpack, and his bus pass. He'll be on his way on October 14th - a week from tomorrow - for 8 weeks at NAIT. Then he'll be back at work again. Yay Pete!

When I Turn Five...

The boys are both very insistent that turning five will be the start of very exciting lives. Whenever the boys are told they're too small for something, they say that they'll do it when they turn 5.

Zack has said that he will do the following when he turns 5:
- Go to school
- Read (he won't read right now, he wants to wait til then)
- Race a motorcycle
- Drive the car/truck/any vehicle he sees

Nathan says that when he turns 5 he will:
- Be Optimus Prime
- Pour his own cereal/milk
- Go to school
- Race a motorcycle
- Play baseball, hockey, other sports

Whenever the boys see something cool, they tell me that they will do it when they turn five. Boy will Nathan be sad when he's only 4 and Zack gets to be 5! It sounds like all kinds of doors open up when you're that old!

Zack's Prayer

I had to write this down, it was both innocent and funny... We were praying for supper last night and Zack very sincerely prayed, "...and please protect our bodies and... *sigh* ...protect our penises..."

Always running

Nathan has so much energy, some people get tired just from watching him. His favorite movie is Cars, but he doesn't just sit and watch it. He re-enacts the movie, and he's Lightning McQueen (the main car). He clears a path and runs as fast as possible around the coffee table "race track" for pretty much the entire movie, quoting most of the lines with the movie while running. He's the only kid I know that is covered in sweat just watching a movie. I remember one particular instance of his abounding energy when this spring I had to take him to the hospital. He had croup so bad he could barely breathe, and he was coughing so hard there was vomit everywhere. It was so bad that eventually I packed him up in his jammies and we went to emerg in Stony Plain. The other people waiting were watching Nathan with wonder -- this obviously very sick boy running as fast as he could, touching every button he could find, playing with the vending machines, turning the lights on and off, taking all the kleenexes out of the boxes, all while coughing terribly and trying to breathe. They all said something to the effect of, "Wow, he's got a lot of energy!" No kidding. You should see him when he's healthy!

My boys

I realized that with all the excitement of being healed, eating new foods, and Pete going to school, I've neglected to talk about what Zack and Nathan are up to! Let's see... Zack's favorite things to do right now are:

- Ride bikes

- Play wii sports

- Write words and color

- Boss Nathan around

- Race - anything, anytime, anywhere. The only problem is that he HAS to win

Nathan's favorite things to do are:

- Play hockey in the driveway every day

- Ride bikes

- RUN, jump, and gallop at all times

- Play with his cars

- Make Zack mad

- Take apart everything that Zack puts together

The boys still love to play together - it's great watching them (especially when they're actually getting along) when they are pretending. I love that they love eachother.

Finally

Well, finally things are coming together with Pete's school! After re-registering him 3 times, he's finally going to start school on October 14th. He'll be there for 8 weeks, and then he'll be a second year apprentice when he goes back to work. Yay!!

A Slow Start

I'm definitely enjoying my new culinary freedoms - I've learned that I have to get my body used to all of this new stuff, so I'm slowly growing my gluten intake. Pete's parents came into town on Saturday and took me out for chinese and it was AMAZING! I'm not used to food with flavor so that's definitely the best part about this! I didn't realize how much I was really missing until I tasted the sauces and seasonings. Mmmmmm... Yummy!

I baked cookies for Pete today and didn't feel disgusting and sick afterwards! What a feeling.

An absolute miracle.

Well, the most amazing thing has happened to me. I'll start at the beginning of the end of the story - last week Wednesday....

So I went to PartyLite national conference last week - 4 days at the Shaw, staying in a hotel for three nights. All the meals were catered, and because it was such a big event there were no accomodations for those with allergies such as myself. I picked at the things I could eat, but I knew there was no way I hadn't eaten contaminated food. I got home from conference on Saturday night, knowing full well that I would be really sick for the next few days at least. Pete and I were laying in bed that night, and I asked Pete if he could pray that I wouldn't get sick from the conference food. He prayed that this burden would be lifted off of me. Well, I was absolutely shocked at each day that went by without me doubled over in pain, laying in the fetal position, or on the toilet. When Tuesday came, I was praying about what had happened, and questioning if God had healed me or if I had been temporarily relieved of the pain. I really thought I heard the answer that I was healed, but I really wasn't 100% sure. I ate an oreo that evening just to see if it would make me sick (normally just kissing Pete after HE ate an oreo would make me sick!) and to my surprise I felt nothing. Well, I just HAD to know - was I completely healed?? Pete and I took some time to seperately pray, and we both received the same answer. We couldn't even finish asking the question before we were overwhelmed with a mighty "YES!!!" coming from Him. Jesus took out my stomach and intestines, showed them to me and said, "Look! They're healed." Just like you would lift up a new pair of shoes and blow off the few specs of dust that had gotten on them in the last minute to make sure they were perfect, Jesus blew off those parts of my body, told me they were brand new, and put them back in my body.

So thank you Jesus for doing something I never thought possible. I guess I didn't think that my disease was "bad enough" to ask for healing. I am still in absolute shock from this - and it goes so much deeper than just eating. This is a life change. And most importantly, God healed me so that I could TELL EVERYONE!! God is real! God can heal people! Amen to that.

Nathan's Prayer

Nathan, being a busy boy, is very fast when it comes to praying. His general prayer is usually, "Kyle, Kendra, Zack, Nathan, Amen." The four things he loves - our neighbors Kyle & Kendra, him and his brother. Lately he's edited his prayer so now he says, "Kyle, Kendra, Zack, Nathan, ride bicycles, Amen."

An awesome weekend!

We had a wonderful time this past weekend - lots of cool things to share! First, Pete got off of work early so we could drive down to Rocky Mountain House to visit Pete's family. His brother Dave came up on his motorcycle all the way from Wisconsin, so it was an exciting visit! Dave had seen Zack as a baby and had never met Nathan before, so it was great for the boys to bond with him. We had a great time, and Pete would tell you that the highlight of our time there was that mom made lasagne, Dave and Pete's favorite meal. I even got gluten-free lasagne, and it was fantastic! :) We left on Saturday night, and here is a pic of the boys only 7km down the road. They were exhausted.
Our next adventure started Sunday, when we were invited to one of Kyle's motocross races. As most of you know, Kyle is one of our neighbors, Pete's good friend, and the boys think Kyle is the coolest guy on the planet. Kyle is a pro motocross rider and he's going to be teaching the boys to ride starting next year. It was really exciting to watch him and the boys want to start dirt biking more than ever now! Nathan was busy trying to convince everyone there that he was old enough to race, dragging anyone he could to the bikes and quads so he could sit on them. The boys got such a thrill out of watching Kyle do the jumps and seeing his bike fly. We made signs before we left for the race, and the boys made sure to hold them up even during Kyle's practice laps. Most of the racers know Kyle, so they all couldn't help but smile at his little fans. Nathan was so cute holding up the signs - all you could see were his tiny legs and hands! We got to meet Kyle's family, one of his brothers is a quad racer (Nathan is sitting on his quad on the right) so we got to see his race too. I'd go again in a heartbeat - it was such a fun (but dusty!) day. We had an absolute blast!

My little collection... Well, maybe not so little...

Somehow we started collecting Coke stuff (I really don't know how!), and we've started to get some really cool things from people! There's the plane made out of coke cans, a coke can lamp, and of course cans of coke featuring different designs. There's more to the collection than just what's in this picture, but this is the bulk of it in one spot. We've got vintage pictures and signs, framed postcards, even a little coke toolbox. The coolest part of our collection has to be the bottles and cans from our friends that have been travelling. If you look down at the bottom picture, you'll see (from left to right) a can from Beijing, a bottle from the UAE (middle east) in Arabic, a bottle from Mongolia, and a teeny-tiny can from the UAE. So if you're going anywhere cool, make sure you pick up a can or bottle for our collection!

What you SHOULDN'T do.

Last week, I did something stupid... So here's what happens when you try to cut a piece of plastic with a big kitchen knife... It goes right through the hand. Bad idea. Here I am, 3 stitches and a couple days later...

Peter

My husband. What can I say? He's amazing. I love you, Pete. Happy Birthday.

Super Nathan is Three!!

Nathan turned 3 on June 21, and we had a spectacular day! His birthday was on Saturday, so it worked nicely to have a party, and the day was just beautiful! We played outside on the jumpy slide, had pizza, and played with toys. Nathan wanted to have a Super-Hero birthday party, so we got some decor of different heroes, and finished off with a super cape that I sewed for each little boy. It was so cute! Nathan had his friends Trevor, Tyler, and Caleb Kucy as well as his cousin Forest. We had a great time. Here's a picture of the boys (except for Forest - hard to get boys to stand still!) with their capes - love it! Then after the other kids left, some family and adult friends came over and we pulled out the sprinkler. It was a wonderful day. We couldn't have asked for anything better!

Wooo Hooooooooo!

I am so happy to finally say that after a (very) long (long) wait (it was long), Zack is potty trained! Yay Zack! I knew he could do it! :) He's now officially a big boy.

A little more serious...

"Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them." Proverbs 13:24

"Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives." Proverbs 19:18

"Don’t fail to discipline your children. They won’t die if you spank them." Proverbs 23:13

"To discipline a child produces wisdom, but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child." Proverbs 29:15

"Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind and will make your heart glad." Proverbs 29:17

I've been both encouraged and saddened by seeing other families lately. I've been saddened to see friends struggle with their children daily because they are too afraid to discipline them. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's because they don't want to limit their child's freedom, maybe because they think it's cruel, maybe they are afraid of saying no. But I have realized how unhappy and indifferent these children are... Their parents just following them around, providing no direction for them. Is it that what our society has taught us -- to feel guilty for punishing kids? These kids are learning that they can get what they want if they just fight or cry or manipulate enough.

I've been encouraged by friends that discipline their kids - seeing how their kids are growing up knowing that their actions come with consequences, knowing how to apologize, and respecting their parents rather than walking all over them - it gives me motivation to raise my boys that way... I too have felt so encouraged by others that tell me it's a joy to babysit my boys. I love going to pick them up at sunday school and hearing how good they were! It's true what Proverbs 29:17 says (as above) - my heart is glad! My mind is peaceful when my kids are with other people. My boys love going to bed, they love knowing what's going to happen next in their routine, they know what's going to happen if they choose to do something bad. They aren't surprised - they are happy to know that we are paying attention. Their routine and the consistency of our discipline makes them feel secure. And I love it. I truly love my children. And I'm not going to stop disciplining them!

Pete's first unicycle injury.... THIS year.

So Pete came home with another wound from his battle with unicycling... This one was from his pedal slicing the back of his leg. His pedals have metal spikes that are made to "stick" to your shoes for better stability. Unfortunately, those pedals leave quite the bite marks! Ouch.

Jumpy slide

My dad loves to buy cool things, and last week he bought a jumpy house with slides going in and out. He got it for their back yard, sunday school, (and for us to borrow!) and he brought it over last Saturday. The boys were in their glory sliding and jumping in our back yard. We were just happy that it fit in our tiny little yard! The boys now ask me constantly if they can play on the jumpy slide, and if grandpa can come over to play.

Zack's burp

Zack was singing the ABCs yesterday after supper, and while he was singing he hit the "E" and burped for 3 full seconds. Three FULL seconds! "Eeeeeeee." It was hilarious.

Mommy, can we ride bikes?

This is the question that gets asked every moment of the day that we aren't riding bikes! The boys are having an absolute blast riding their bikes, and we grabbed my old bike from my parents' place so I can ride too. The best part is looking at us ride all together - Pete on his unicycle, me on my bike, Nathan on his tricycle, and Zack on his bike with training wheels - 1, 2, 3, & 4 wheels all in a row! :) It's so cool. It's awesome spending so much time outside, I've missed it! If we aren't riding bikes, the activity of choice is playing with the water guns or drawing with chalk. But after the water runs out or a couple of pictures are drawn, the bikes come right back out. Nathan used to just sit on the seat and scoot his feet on the ground, but he's finally learned to pedal and it's so cute!

All grown up!

Zack had his fourth birthday last week, and he is really growing up. I love having conversations with him; hearing all the new things he's thinking about, him listening with interest as I explain the world to him. I've cherished every stage of his life, and I'm just so excited to experience even more! Zack's tricycle from last year is now Nathan's, and Zack is riding his new bike. With every new birthday, we think about ones past - I think about what Zack was doing, what size his clothes were, what his favorite things were... And everything is so different with every new year. I can't wait to see his life as it continues to unfold. What an awesome little boy I have. Happy

Birthday, Zack!

Conversations with my boys

A couple of days ago, when it started snowing again, Zack came to me crying...
Z - Mommy, I don't want it to be snowy anymore. I want it to be springtime.
Me - Me too, Zack!
Z - (Crying harder) I want green grass and flowers!

Yesterday, as Zack was eating a cheesestring. He peeled and peeled and decided it was a princess.
Z - Mommy, look! I made a beautiful princess! Do you see him? I'm going to make him dance. (making the cheese dancing around the table) La la la la! Do you think he's beautiful?
Me - Yes Zack, the princess is very beautiful.
Z - Now I'm going to eat his dress! Ha ha! (Ravenously pulls a bunch off and eats it)
It makes it even cuter that Zack calls everyone a "him" and the funny thing is that he used "her" only once, and he was referring to Uncle Nay! He he.

This morning, Nathan decided he was the big bad wolf and was blowing at everything. It was so cute - he would blow and blow and then say "baaa-wool" and run to the next thing he was going to blow on. We decided to put him back in his big boy bed, and he's doing okay again. Ah well, it's always a trial and error kind of thing...

Stinky Stinker

As mentioned in a previous post, Nathan has a "big boy" bed. We sold his crib because we didn't have the space to store it (disadvantages of trailer living). It's been a few weeks now, and he was really good at first... Now he's delighting in the ability to get out of bed (and destroying his room) anytime he is the slightest bit awake. Nathan, when in his crib, used to semi-consciously wake up for 2 minutes every morning when Pete left for work. He would hear the front door close, roll over, and go back to sleep. Now that he can get out of bed, it's a different story. The problem here is that he is SO tired if he doesn't get that last bit of sleep in the morning, and when he's tired, he is BAD. Some kids are whiny or moody when tired, but Nathan decides to do everything he knows is bad. Yikes. ALSO (to add insult to injury) Nathan's early morning shenannigans have been waking Zack up, making for not just one but two tired boys. So we got the idea to borrow a playpen (thanks Rienna!) and put it up in his room as a disciplinary tool, thinking that if he was truly a "big boy" he would stay in bed. Then if he got out of bed, he would be demoted to a "baby bed" by being placed in the playpen. We thought this was a great plan. Except once we set up the playpen, he fell in love with it and all he wants is to sleep in the baby bed! *sigh* So the upside is that he's sleeping better, but the downside is that we've just taken a big step back - and in a borrowed playpen to boot! Aaaaaah!

My shortest post yet!

I've always wondered how every kid somehow knows that if they open the doors of their toy car, it turns into a plane...

Jesus is Alive!

I was talking to Zack the other day, and the topic came to Jesus. I asked him what he knew about Him. So this is what he said:

"Jesus is alive in our hearts, but he's not here... He's coming soon!"

How amazing is that?! I loved it. I hope he is always this passionate and insightful about God. What a blessing. And Nathan chimed in during our conversation, "Jeeee Lie!" (Jesus is alive). Thank you Jesus for moments like this.

No MINE

Nathan is definitely going to be three. He is very much into the "mine" phase of his boyhood (oh wait, does that actually end?). He had a conversation with Kyle today outside that I just had to write down.

Kyle - is that Zack's tricycle?
Nathan - no, MY tricycle.
Kyle (to Pete) - Ah, so he's in that "mine" stage, is he?
Nathan - no, MY stage!

We were at mom & dad Heinbuch's place in Rocky Mtn House, and both Pete and dad were bugging Nathan by trying to steal bites of his ice cream after supper. After a few joking attempts at taking some ice cream, Nathan started saying, "No, my ice cream." Even after Pete and dad stopped bothering him, Nathan kept saying "No, my ice cream" in between EVERY bite until he was done.

Nathan has also gotten a "big boy bed" and is very excited about it. He has to show it to everyone! So no more crib to keep him in one place for the night, but he's actually doing surprisingly well. He looks so small in that huge bed though! My baby's growing up.

Lord-a-head

Zack is such a blessing to us - he has such an amazing heart and I'm just so excited for the blessing he will be to everyone as he grows up. This is the blessing we say to Zack every night before he goes to sleep. He calls it "Lord-a-head" because it starts with "May the Lord" and we put our hands on his head. He wanted to bless daddy and we were lucky enough to get this precious moment on tape. I somehow couldn't download it onto the blog, so I put it on YouTube. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60RE0wj_194

"May the Lord bless you and keep you, make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen."

Oh....Thanks....

We had just sat down to have supper, and as we started to eat our yummy food (or at least I thought it was good!), Zack makes a funny face and says to me, "Mommy, it smells like POOP in here!" Thanks, Zack. Thanks a lot. :(

Nathan the crazy boy

Nathan is my crazy one. He is hilarious and cute and crazy and huggable. Tonight he really wanted to watch me play Guitar Hero while he gets to play with the second guitar. I told him to clean up if he wanted to play, so he was running and cleaning while chanting "tar-ho, tar-ho!" (guitar hero). He was cleaning and running so hard that he was sweating, so I took off his shirt. What a rock star - shirtless and rocking out with his guitar, dancing and spinning and trying to sing along. Love it.

Nathan's talking is so cute - he has such a baby face and is still learning to talk, so it makes him verrrrry easy to love! :) A few months ago, he used to say "la" instead of "yeah" which was adorable. He says "jeeeeee" for "please" and now he says "kank-oo" for "thank you" and I just can't get enough of the cuteness! Especially when Zack tries to teach Nathan how to say bigger words. Zack will break down the words for him and get him to repeat it. Example:

Z - Nathan, say spagetti.
N - Ummm... Ge. (Said like "get" without the T)
Z - No, no, no, Nathan. Say SPA.
N - Spa.
Z - Good, now say GET.
N - Ge.
Z - Now say TEE.
N - Teeeee!
Z - So, say spagetti.
N - Ge.
Z - NO Nathan! NO! SPA-GET-TEE. Say it.
N - Geeeeeee!
Z - Rrrrrrr!

So funny. And we all know that Nathan's probably capable of saying the entire word, he's just trying to make Zack mad. :)

*sigh*

Last week when it snowed again, Zack got up in the morning and I opened the curtains. He skipped into the kitchen with a smile. Then he looked outside, sighed a huge annoyed sigh, rolled his eyes, slumped his shoulders, and slowly plodded to the breakfast table... It's amazing how someone so little can have such huge attitude!

Recent shots...

We are finally together again! Yay! Now that our month of madness is over, we are so much happier being together. :)

The boys are growing and doing and pretending and loving and laughing more every day, and it's so wonderful to see how much they love eachother in that. At church they are in different classes, and after it's over they run up to eachother at full speed and hug. There is not a whole lot that's more heartwarming than that!
The boys love to learn more about everything they can. A few days ago, Grandpa came over for supper and we were telling them about his upcoming plane ride to San Diego. Nathan and Zack got so excited hearing about the planes, and Zack asked if we could go on the plane with Grandpa. I told him it would cost a lot of money. He asked how much and I pulled a number out of the air and said a thousand dollars. So now, Zack tells everyone he needs a thousand dollars for the plane. And Nathan says "aaaaaairPORT" a whole lot. When Grandpa had to leave after supper, Nathan cried so hard that he couldn't go to the airport too. He sat by the door and cried, "Plane too! Plane too!" It was sad and adorable. I would love to show him the planes someday.

Well, it's been quite a month! We are just getting back to "normal" (whatever that is!) from our month-long "extreme makeover" project on our friends' place. I'm finally catching up on a month of lost sleep, and it's feeling good to have a brain again! I was thinking about cute things the boys have been doing in the last while, and there are just so many... Zack is getting more bossy, Nathan more defiant, but just to eachother which is good. They were emotional but did so well during our big project. We left them with babysitters as often as possible, and they were superstars through the whole ordeal. :) We love them so much.

A family in bed!

Nathan has decided that every stuffed animal that he has is very important. About a month ago, we went to Wendy's for a meal, and the kids toy was a little stuffed puppy. Nathan has always had a weakness for puppies, and he was just so excited! He ran around the house saying "Puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy, puppy." So since then we've gone back a few times, and so have some other people, to get a puppy from Wendy's for the boys. Nathan has decided that he NEEDS to have ALL of them to sleep with too! So to add to the stuffed dinosaur and the two bigger puppies (that he's named mommy and daddy), he has TEN of these little puppies in black, white, and brown... And he won't go to sleep unless he has them ALL. It reminds me a little of the "lost sheep" parable - we have to look and look until we find the missing puppy, while we make sure the "flock" is safe in his bed. Nathan's heart comes shining through when he carries them all to his bed at night.

More than he's letting on.

We were all grocery shopping at Safeway last week, and as we got to the checkout to pay, Pete was loading the groceries. I was talking to the boys and as I pushed the cart forward, Nathan looks at me and points to the till, proclaiming, "Seven!" And here we were at till seven! That silly little boy is just trying to keep us in the dark.

Bossy, aren't we?

A couple of days ago, Zack was telling Nathan what to do, how to do it, where to go, and bossing him around all day. I was making supper and it was getting to be too much. So I said to Zack,
"Zack, please do NOT tell Nathan what to do."
And he sadly replied, "But Mommy, I LOVE to..."

Zack's Dream

This morning Zack woke up and as he was getting dressed, I asked him if he dreamed about anything. Zack will tell me when he dreams something, and he says he sees something "at his bed". So this morning Zack said, "I saw Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus at my bed."
"Really?" I said.
"And Joseph said, 'baby Jesus, STOP making noise!' That's what he said, mommy."

Some recent conversations

Zack will take two bites of his current meal, and proudly comment, "Look! I'm ALMOST done!!"


Anytime something of Nathan's doesn't work, he runs up to me with it and says, "Baaaa-eeeeees." (Batteries) Whether it requires batteries or not, he thinks that's what will fix it.


This morning, Zack was being very whiny and difficult. In frustration I asked, "Zack, is it going to be one of THOSE days?" And Zack sadly whimpered, "Yeeeah."

Any time Zack thinks someone is silly, he'll comment on their silliness and then call them, "Mister Hee-Who!"

My Favorite

I had a conversation with Zack on the couch and we were talking about our favorite things. I said, "Zack, are you my favorite?"
"Nnnno!" he said.
"Well then who IS my favorite?"
"Daddy is!" he said with a big grin.
He's right!

Memories of 2007...

Well, we had an amazing Christmas holiday! Starting the 24th, we had 4 consecutive days of Christmas, and it was both tiring and absolutely wonderful! The boys are still getting over the excitement and lack of sleep, but they are very much enjoying all of the new things they have to play with, watch, and do!

Nathan got so much Lightning McQueen stuff! Pajamas, markers and coloring books, a lunch box, a PEZ dispenser, books, note pads, and it goes on. He just loves it.

Zack's favorite gift this year was his very own Fisher Price digital camera from Grandma. It's drop-proof and holds about 65 pics. He has taken some great shots, and he loves being able to have a toy that makes him a little more "grown up." Zack has learned over the holidays to play our Nintendo Wii, and he is actually really good at it!! He loves to play bowling on it, and he gets amazing scores. His highest so far is 174! He beats Pete and I sometimes.

Pete's favorite gift this year is his new skateboard. Pete thinks my family is trying to kill him - I gave him a unicycle last year, and my parents got him a skateboard this year. Crazy!

My favorite gift this year is my georgeous Fender acoustic guitar from my parents. Last year they got me a piano, so this seems fitting that the rest of the band come too! :) A close second would definitely be my new blender (I know, I'm a dork - but hey, I really wanted one!).

The boys loved having daddy home during the days for a while. One morning, I heard the boys talking in bed, so I went and told them to go wake up daddy. They ran into our room, and Pete was laying on his back in bed. The boys each cuddled up on either side, and Zack looked up at me with a blissful look and said, "Mommy, go get the camera."