Best friends

I love my kids and I am so incredibly impressed with them. I have often said that the best thing I could have given my first child was a sibling. Zach and Nate have had their struggles, but for the most part they are best friends. Zach and Addi have also have some struggles where they don't always get along, but they are becoming best friends now too. Nathan is super cute with Addi and always has been. It warms my heart they at they all play together. Zach is doing his reading and Addi keeps bringing Zach books to read to her. Yesterday afternoon, as with most afternoons, Nathan had a friend over. They were jumping on the tramp and Nathan and his friends were playing games with Addi and letting her jump too. It means so much to me that they (almost) always include her. We've had numerous group games at our house and, even if it's Nathan and his friends, or Nathan's and Zach's friends, they will let their little two year old sister play with them. She has joined her brothers with kick the can, capture the flag, nerf gun wars, and, last week, red rover. They are incredibly close and it warms my heart so much.
Yesterday Addi and I dropped the boys off at school. On the way home, little 2 minutes after the boys left the car, Addi said "I miss my guys, I need my guys". I told her that the boys would be home after school, and she started crying. She loves her boys. We picked up Zach from school at about 12:00 p.m. and we were talking about how Zach was invited to have lunch and play at the park with a friend. Addi was sad and said she needed to have lunch and play with her Zachie. She loves her boys so much. I'm thrilled that the each of the kids will almost always include their siblings in things. I just hope they stay really close as they grow up.

I am... an Internet Ninja!!!

You may not know this about me, but I am a self taught internet ninja. Ssshhh... don't tell anyone though. I don't want people to find out. I have come to harness the power of the internet and can find just about anyone. Maybe I should put this on my resume. For my job, I sometimes need to track down witnesses to accidents, and other fact witnesses and/or expert witnesses. Amazingly, people move and change their addresses and phone numbers. It can get rather annoying. Especially when I just need to talk to them for a couple of minutes. However, I can harness the power of the internet and find almost anyone. There are some people that I can't find, but there are numerous people I have found with little more than a name and an estimated age. I have also found numerous expert witnesses that we hired on cases. I once found an expert witness who specialized in testifying about the effects of heroin. Or, we once had an expert witness on manufactured (mobile) homes. Yup, exciting stuff. I can also find all sorts of documents too. Did you know that most FAA reports are available online, for free?? I am still learning, but I am a self proclaimed internet ninja~! Just try to hide....

the hat

I was at work on Tuesday, because that's what I do, when Jeff emailed me this conversation:

Jeff: shall We take a cute picture of you with your hat?

Addi: no, I don't want to take a picture!

Jeff: don't you want to send a cute picture to mom?

Addi: NO! I don't want to take a picture. *as she runs away and hides behind the couch*
Jeff: ok, then what do you want to do?

Addi: not take a picture.

"Watch Mom"

Zach and Addi were in my room playing when Zach asked me to come watch him. He said, "Watch Mom", then jumped on my bed and did a complete front flip. It was pretty impressive! Then we had a talk about not jumping on my bed. We take down our trampoline during the winter to help protect the mat. We've talked about putting it up really soon. I'm thinking it just moved up the priority list and may have to be done today or tomorrow. He was also doing somersaults off my bed and landing on his feet. Overall very impressive. Maybe I should put him back in gymnastics...

Drive, determination, and just plain stubborn

It was a gorgeous March morning so we decided to walk to church today. The kids enjoyed it and were excited to walk. That meant that we got to walk home from church as well. As we were getting ready to go, I put my church bags on the stroller which included my purse and my church bag that contains magazines, gospel art kit, primary manual, and the like. It's a pretty heavy bag. Anyhow, when we started walking Nathan asked if he could push the stroller with his little sister in it. Jeff said that he could, but he told Nathan that he didn't think he could push it all the way home. It was pretty heavy with all of the stuff and it was almost entirely uphill. I mean, the stroller probably weighed more than Nathan does. He's eight, but he' still pretty thin. Anyhow, he started pushing it kept going. I asked him multiple times if I could help but he took the comment from Jeff as a challenge. He had to stop for just a second multiple times to shake his arms since they were hurting, but he kept going. There were a few times were I wondered if the people passing by thought I was torturing my young son by making him push a stroller that weighed more than him up a steep incline while Jeff and I walked behind him holding hands. However, he kept going and going until we go home. Once we were home he said to Jeff, "You said I couldn't do it and I did it". I was very proud of him. I'm hoping he keeps that drive and determination and uses it for the things he wants to accomplish in life. Sometimes my very stubborn kids drive me absolutely crazy (like when Addison through a HUGE fit today in nursery), but I'm hoping it will take them far in life.

Watering the flowers

Addi was going through the bath toys today and found a small watering can she wanted to play with. I mentioned something about watering flowers and she was all for it before I knew it. It was a nice warm day and some flowers are peaking out. Addi spent a good long time filling up her watering can in the bathroom and then going outside and watering every plant she could find. Love it!

Kick the can

It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and my kids were excited to play outside. Addi and Zach had friends from across the street over, and Nate called a friend over when he got home from school. We ended up with some other friends that came to join us and we ended up with 10 kids this afternoon. They were looking for something to do. I had a flashback to my own childhood that we used to play kick the can all the time. I thought I needed to teach my kids how to play kick the can and realized there was no reason to do it right then. I looked up the rules since I hadn't played forever and asked the kids if they wanted to play. They were really excited to and had a great time playing. It was an awesome afternoon. I took a couple pictures with my phone that aren't fabulous, but here. I've got to make sure to teach my kids these important things. I'm hoping for a few of these games this summer. We may need to do capture the flag next.

Nerf guns

Thanks to great aunts, uncles, and grandmas and grandpas we have obtained quite the collection of nerf guns. We have big ones, little ones, and ones in between. there was one time where Aunt Britney gave one of the boys two nerf guns and then my brothers (in their 20's and 30's) proceeded to run throughout my house chasing each other and shooting the soft nerf bullets at each other. I don't think I've bought a single nerf gun for them. I think it's all from extending family.
Well, the boys have had great time with them and we have had a few battles with friends at our house. Apparently, the boys have taught Addi very well because at the age of 2 she can load, cock, and shoot a nerf gun. She just told me she needs bullets for the gun. Needless to say, even at the age of 2, my daughter can hold her own.

Love my neighborhood!

I love my neighborhood! I currently have eight kids running around my yard playing together and I love it! I have my three, my nephew Jackson, and four of the kids friends running around my yard playing together. I'm so happy to have a yard and a good neighborhood to play in!!

Flowers

Nathan, age eight, will still bring my flowers from our yard! He's done it since it was 3 or 4 years old. I've gotten TONS of dandelions from both Nathan and Zach. He found some crocuses in our yard and brought me four of them. He's such a sweet kid! I hope he stays as thoughtful as he grows up!

Boys will be boys

So Nate, age 8, Zach, age 5, their cousin Jackson, age 6, and two friends, ages 6, an 8, where playing together this afternoon. I was inside with Addi who was still not feeling very good and had the door open so I could listen to these boys. They, without my knowing, got the step stool out of my storage room, took it into the garage, and got down the water noodles (big foam noodles usually used for swimming). I went into the garage to check on them when I heard a bunch of noise. Apparently the were having an awesome time whacking each other with the water noodles. Thankfully they are soft and no one got hurt (at least then) and they were having a ton of fun. They also ran around with nerf guns shooting each other. Well, they got a ton of exercise and they should sleep really well tonight, I hope.

Dinosaur medicine

For the last few years we have had to deal with a lot if respiratory issues with kids. When I was pregnant with Addison, I had a bad cold that turned into pneumonia and I was hospitalized overnight for it. Zach ended up getting pneumonia shortly after that. Over the next few years we had a lot if problems with croup, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other respiratory issues. Zach had asthmatic tendancys and he would get winded and wheeze at times when running and playing. Thankfully we were able to borrow a nebulizer and did many breathing treatments. Zach seems to have outgrown all the respiratory issues and I haven't had to give him a breathing treatment for sine time. Sadly, Addison is now having issues. We have had to do many breathing treatments this winter for her. We call it dinosaur medicine because we got a dinosaur shaped mask from the doctors office. Addi had issues this morning and she now asks for the dinosaur medicine. I an really hoping we get over this soon. I am at least hopeful that she will outgrow it too.

Home Depot

Home Depot does a kids workshop the first Saturday of each month. It is totally free and my kids love it. We don't go each month, but we have gone many times in the past. We went this last Saturday and it was a great project. Nathan did his without any help. Zach and Jeff worked together, but he did most of it on his own. Addi got to do her first project and she did most of the hammering, which was a bit nerve wracking for me, but she did a good job. She just had to be like the boys. It's crazy insane with everyone there, but it's always fun. The project was a car, and the kids loved playing with them when we got home.

Zach's skills

It's been a MANIC couple of days and I was at work again this morning. Jeff was working from home and he texted the following:

Zach: "Dad, can I take this picture to Eli?"
Dad: "Not right now"
Zach: "Why not?"
Dad: "Cuz I need to get Addi down for a nap"
Zach: "But Dad, Can I go by myself, it isn't very far. Plus, I've got skills. And I'm taking my spear"
Dad: .......

Ewww, gross!

The kids and I had the opportunity to go to my cousin's wedding last night. It was a very nice ceremony and my kids and sat through it quietly, which made me happy. Nathan was sitting between me and my mom and, at one point, tried to put his arms around both of us, which was very tender. It was all very sweet and, at the end, the bride and groom kissed. Nathan quietly whispered to me and this was our conversation:

Nathan: "I didn't see that".
Me: "What, the kiss?"
Nathan: "Yes, I closed my eyes"
Me: "What, you closed your eyes during the kiss?"
Nathan: "Yes, because that's gross"
Me: *laughing*, "What, do you close your eyes when I kiss you on the cheek"
Nathan: "No. Just when people kiss on the lips, because that's gross"

It made me laugh. Jeff and I have teased him on occasion and made sure he was looking when he kiss. I'll have to make sure to do it more often. However, I am very glad that he thinks kissing on the lips is gross right now. I hope it lasts for a good few years.

Asleep

Jeff was home with Addi the other day while it was at work and this is what he said:

I have a new one for you... I went in to check on Addi, cuz I saw her door was cracked open. She was playing with her babies. I said you are supposed to be asleep... back into bed. To which, she responds, in her infinite wisdom.. No, I am asleep...