Friday Night Lights

A few of the things lighting up my life...

- The boys have discovered the card game Snap. It's great watching them play. They learned it from watching Charlie and Lola (they are going to be crushed when the DVD goes back to the library!!) and the funniest is that when they play Snap, they both have to be Lola. Hee hee.

- Shea has discovered the kitchen broom. It may take me four times as long to clean the kitchen floor, but it is also four time as funny. She's just so tiny and to see her walking around the kitchen with a big old broom is just plain hilarious.

- Jaxon has started giving away our belongings when friends leave the house. He feels the need to give gifts before anyone heads out and he usually finds them in the toy bin. Little does he know that Theresa and Daddy are now in the routine of placing their sweetly given gifts under our welcome mat for me to retrieve after the boys are in bed.

- Shea is as much of a climber as the boys ever were. I routinely find her standing on her rocking horse, clapping her hands and giggling away. Today, I found that she had moved a lego box in front of the toy shelf so she could climb to the top of the toy shelf... where she was standing, clapping her hands (naturally). Apparently, this is a genetic condition, as the boys were total monkeys, too. Once again, chairs are being turned upside-down or placed on the kitchen table and I'm just going to have to watch her like a hawk! Jax, giving me his cheesiest smile . :)

Jax, giving Shea a little love. What a especially love about the photo is the fact that Jax is holding D.R.'s Spiderman DVD and Shea is holding our telephone. SO typical.

I also get a kick out of these photos, because usually it's the other way around. Shea is trying desperately to cuddle or tackle the boys and they are doing their best to squirm away from her without hurting her!

Week-end with Gramma and Grandpa

A few weeks ago, we spent the week-end with D.R.'s folks. It was the first time we'd been for a visit in over six months. In many ways, it was difficult... but the boys filled the atmosphere with much joy and enthusiasm. Naturally, highlights for them were hiking with Daddy, riding the lawn mower with Grandpa and playing with D.R.'s old toys, the highlight of which was his amazingly well-organized collection of legos. Grandpa and Dex. The boys carried lego space ships with them EVERYPLACE.

Jaxon, striking a pose with his lego space ship.

Another lovely pose from Jax.

Grandpa and Jax.

Dex and Daddy

Jaxon spent most of his free-time trying to throw rocks in this crock of water. When not throwing rocks, he could be found splashing around or admiring his reflection. Dex was also a big fan, but didn't seem to love it quite as much as his brother!

Jax- left, Dex-right

Dex, charging.

Fierce little Dex.

About two years ago, trucks were THE big item in our house. Though no longer an obsession, the boys still love a real truck! Here, they danced around in Grandpa's truck for quite awhile... video, below. I have no idea why they were singing, "yeah, yeah, yeah," but it's pretty funny.

Dex-left, Jax-right.

Gramma and Shea

More bonding

Bat duels

The other day I found Dex teaching Shea a few of his tricks. Good thing I had the camera within reach!!

I love how patient the boys can be with Shea. Sure, there are times when they don't want her anywhere near them (or their toys!), but it just makes me melt when I see them being sweet with her. Naturally, she just eats it up... even if it's in the form of a lightsaber duel.

The times they are a-changin'

I feel like as soon as I get used to the funny behaviors of my children, they go and change on me! The boys are just so silly and quirky and Shea seems to be learning more each day. Before I forget some of the cute (or odd) things they are doing these days, I'm going to take a minue to jot down a few of them. Shea thinks she is about the funniest thing ever. Blowing raspberries at her brothers, tackling her brothers, hiding between my legs, singing "Batman", attempting to run... it's all funny to her. I absolutely love this. I hope she keeps this ability to laugh!

The boys continue to be two of the strongest-willed little people I have ever met. Sometimes, I honestly believe they are being contrary JUST for the sake of being contrary! I could offer them ice cream (one of their all-time favorites) and they would refuse, insisting they need cookies or crackers or yogurt. It can be so frustrating!! That being said, I'm trying to keep a sense of humor about it. On this particular day, I asked the boys (who were busy playing ON our key table) to give me their nicest picture smiles and they instantaneously and simultaneously stuck their fingers in their noses and began to laugh hysterically. So... here are my boys. One day, I hope their sense of humor matures a bit... in the meantime, THEY ARE JUST SUCH BOYS!

Dex, left- Jax, right.

Batman continues to be a big hit. On this particular day, Jaxon was upside-down-mask Batman. Naturally, it was hyterical.

Shea LOVES cuddling. She will approach other babies and young children and try her best to wrap her arms around them, smothering them with all her baby love. She loves giving hugs and squeezes, but my all-time favorite is her head nuzzle. It's the cutest, sweetest and funniest thing. Of course, I also like it when she tackles the boys. Too funny.

The boys are constantly role-playing. Most recently, they've been Charlie and Lola or Harry and his bucket full of dinosaurs. They've been into good-guys/bad-guys and superheroes for a good year, now, but they're little action/adventure scenarios are getting more complex. Usually, now, one of them dies. They're never killed, but rather, just die suddenly. It's always quite dramatic and they insist on everyone around them crying and mourning their loss. I will frequently find one of them fake-sobbing over their brother, lying very still on the floor... usually covered with a blanket or pillows. At first, this preoccuption with death and dying really disturbed me. But, I think they're just really trying to make sense of the fact that they've learned that people do, in fact, die.

Jaxon has started asking to call Daddy whenever he's sad or doesn't get his way at home. He knows D.R. can't answer his phone at work, but he'll call him, leaving theatrical messages of all his woes and troubles. I'm sure D.R. understands about 10% of the message, but I think it's pretty sweet the way Jax thinks this will make things better.

Dexter is constantly dueling. Light-sabers duels, hulk smash duels, pillow fights... I'm so glad that he has Jaxon because I simply cannot duel as much as he would like me to!!!

Another funny thing about Dexter is how sweet he is about suddenly remembering to kiss Daddy good-bye as D.R. is locking the door behind him. He'll shout for D.R. and wait for him to run back in and give the boys one last hug and kiss. I think the funniest, however, was when we recently had two maintenance men here doing some repairs and, as they left, Dex ran after them shouting, "Wait! I forgot to give you a kiss good-bye!!!" Hee hee.

The boys continue to be best playmates and I continue to be eternally grateful for the fact that they have eachother. Jax tends to be a bit of a loner in a crowd of kids, but when the two boys are together, they just play and play. Most recently, they've discovered the card game Snap and they can be found sitting sweetly on the living room floor playing ever-so-well together. I love this.

Shea's "Batman"

This cracks me up. The best is when she'll rummage through the toy bin, pull out a batmask and try to put it on, giggling, "Batman... Batman." Of course, it sounds more like Ba-bah... but we know what she's going for!! :)

Let's celebrate

These are the people I'm celebrating today. Yes, they're a rowdy, noisy bunch... but I don't think they'd be half as much fun if they were quiet and contained. Nor would they be as funny!

We built Gotham City out of cereal boxes today. It was really something... complete with a batcave, Wayne Manor, a jail and a bank. As a result, Shea now says "batman." Yes, "batman" has superceded "Mama." I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Okay, I'll laugh.

What would we do without our nightly family wrestling match?

Fun for all of us

More sun... more fun. A few weeks ago, I got my hair cut shorter than I've ever had it!! Normally, my posts are about the children, but this was such a huge thing for me, I just have to show a before and after. :)

Pretty fun, right?

Dex and Daddy.

Jax, helping Daddy with Shea.

Aww...

Dex, just making me giggle.

Jaxon

Jax

My boys

Jax

Ta-da!

Dex

My little cutie... even with smooshed up apricot on her face. :)

Jax