Congratulations Auntie Kayla and .... the guy that goes with Auntie Kayla

Two weekends ago we packed our van with nearly all of our earthly possessions, loaded the DVD player with movies, packed enough snacks to feed three families and hit the road to Green Bay, WI.  Why?  Because my little brother was getting married :)

My two big boys were commissioned to be ring bearers and they were SO excited to be in Uncle Adam's wedding.  We talked about it, bought matching outfits, shopped for "fancy" shoes, talked about it some more.  They couldn't wait!

And they did awesome!  They carried out their ring bearer duties with keen attention and precision.  Well, Carter had his grumpy pants on tight that day, but even so he managed to walk 20 steps down an isle without incident.  That was huge!  The ceremony was beautiful.  The reception was a blast!  All in all the wedding was fantastic.  I'm so proud of my little brother and his new wife Kayla.

But as fun as the wedding was, I will mostly remember that weekend not as the day my little brother got married, but the day my big boys fell in love with Auntie Kayla.  I mean, fell.in.love with her.  She's been dating Adam for several years and it certainly wasn't the first time they'd met her.  But this weekend was different.  Perhaps it was wedding ceremony.  Or the party.  Or the fact that she looked absolutely stunning in her dress.  But my boys were smitten.

After the wedding, we had several hours of down time before the reception,  The baby took a nap, Carter rested on the couch, and Brooks worked diligently to make wedding cards for Adam and Kayla.  He carefully folded the paper, wrote out the words and drew them pictures.  At the reception, he kept asking to give them their cards.  It was such a busy day and they were always surrounded by people that I even suggested that Brooks just drop them in the card basket on the gift table.  But he was insistent.  So we weaved through a sea of people, found the happy couple and gave them their cards.

Several times throughout the night, he found Adam & Kayla and gave them hugs.  And each time they were so gracious and took the time to talk with him.  Then the best thing happened during the dance ... Brooks got to dance with Auntie Kayla!!  He loved the dancing anyway, but with Auntie Kayla??  That kid was on cloud 9!

We danced for quite a while, but when it was sufficiently past their bedtime and Benny was running on fumes, we loaded up and headed back to Grandma & Papa's house for the night.  Carter was tired beyond words, but as I was tucking him into bed, we had this conversation.

Carter:  Mama, I want the sheet over my head.

Me: Over your head?

Carter: Yeah, like this.  (he proceeds to put the sheet over the back part of his head)

Me:  Why do you want your sheet like that?

Carter:  Because I want to be like Auntie Kayla.

Me: ??

Carter:  Auntie Kayla had that thing on her head (a veil) and I want to be like her.

I couldn't help but laugh.  And sure enough, he slept all night long with his bed sheet "veil" on his head.

Then he started talking about his birthday, because, you know, why wouldn't you discuss your September birthday at 10:00 at night??  He says to Chris:

Carter:  Daddy, do you know what I want to do for my birthday?  I want to go to Thunder Road and ride the go-karts.  And you know who I want to come with me?

Chris:  Who?

Carter:  I want you to come.  And Grandma Marty.  And Papa Dave.  And Auntie Kayla.  And ........ who's the guy that goes with Auntie Kayla??

Chris:  Uncle Adam?

Carter: Yeah, Uncle Adam.  He can come too.

We laughed.  Oh, did we laugh.  So now my brother is no longer Uncle Adam, he is "the guy that goes with Auntie Kayla" :)

(Note: In an attempt to be more "unplugged" at the wedding, I didn't take a lot of pictures.  I kinda wish I had, but I was also glad to be able to enjoy the people I was with that day without sticking my nose behind a camera or phone.  All their wedding photos are loaded here.)

Benny's First Christmas

If I had to sum up this year's Christmas in one word it would be this: Simplicity.  We had a beautifully, delightfully simple Christmas.  In the past we've traveled to visit family for Christmas.  And although we love to see family, we decided to stay home this year (as we have the past few years) and start developing our own little family's traditions.  And boy did we have fun.

We played in the snow, baked cookies, saw the Western Mall Christmas light show (several times), drove through Falls Park, made paper chains to decorate the doorway, ate all the cookies, listened to lots and lots of Christmas music, decorated our house and the best part .... we did it all in our own timeline.  Nothing was forced or rushed or mandatory.  If I'm honest, I do sometimes feel the social pressure to "do" Christmas a certain way.  To send out cards, to buy expensive gifts and to move a shelved elf around every day.  But we didn't.  Not that those things are bad (I love Christmas cards!!), we just decided to keep it simple.  And it was a perfect way to celebrate Bennett's first Christmas!!

Every year growing up, we had a real Christmas tree.  Some years we'd hunt it down in the woods.  Other years we'd go across the street and buy it from the tree lot.  But it was real.  Always real.

Every year since we've been married, we've had a fake tree.  I bought it in college and each year either due to lack of funds or lack of space, we kept putting up that same 6' fake tree.  I pleaded my case to buy a real tree this year, but with a crawling baby who loves to put everything in his mouth (ie. pine needles) we decided once again to put up our trusty fake tree.  With lots of help, of course.

Carter helped haul lights!

Opening their new tree ornaments from Grandma Marty and Papa Dave

Benny approves of the tree :)

this picture would be very conflicting if we actually cared about college football

I don't think any one thing could be more work than mixing, rolling, cutting, baking, frosting and then decorating cut-out cookies.  (sigh)  But it just wouldn't be Christmas without them.

"Hey!  Where's the frosting??"

One of my favorite new traditions?  Matching Christmas jammies for the boys.  I know they won't let me dress them all matchy matchy forever, so I am going to take full advantage of it while I can!

And it was our very own Christmas miracle that all three boys looked at the camera ... at the same time ... without any weird faces.  For real, that never happens. 

I love having kids at Christmas time.  Well, I love them all the time, but it's especially fun at Christmas.  As an adult, Christmas is nice.  You decorate, you exchange gifts and it's, well, it's nice.  But with kids, Christmas is magical!  And we celebrate everything!  

I wish I would have videotaped Carter opening presents.  He was literally bouncing all over the living room.  And when he opened the bookmark that Brooks bought for him, he cheered "Oh wow!!  Oh wow!!  I will put it in my very favorite book!!!"

Seriously.  It was a bookmark.  But to Carter it was the best thing ever since it was his.

Bennett's reaction to receiving clothes for Christmas.  Sorry kiddo, we'll do better next year.

paper eater

Benny sitting like such a big boy in his new chair from Grandma Gale

I wish our families lived closer so we could celebrate with them, but we've been so so so blessed to be adopted into the Gale family here.  We spent Christmas Eve with them attending church and then going out to eat.  And we spent Christmas afternoon with them as well, eating lots of food, playing games and just spending time with amazing friends we get to call family!

Our summer .... summed up in one picture

This spot in our yard, this barren, grass-less patch of dirt, is where my boys spent hours and hours of their summer playing.  It was a perfect spot for excavators to dig, dump trucks to haul and tractors to plow.  

This spot was a favorite as well.  It's funny how what I see as an ugly, broken section of sidewalk, Carter saw as his personal quarry pit and a perfect place to dig and haul rocks.

This is what our summer was made of.  Playing.  Playing in the dirt, playing at the park, playing in the water, playing at our friend's houses ... we just played.  And it was perfect.  My boys weren't in baseball or swimming lessons or karate or soccer or any other organized activity.  And not that those things are bad, but I figure we have the rest of our lives to race around to practices and games and live according to everyone else's schedule.

But not this summer.  This summer we played.  We set our own schedule and we came and went as we pleased.  If we wanted to have a picnic at the spray park, we did that.  If we wanted to stay in our pajamas all day and watch movies, we did that.  If we wanted to play tennis, we found cheap rackets at a garage sale and learned how to play tennis.  When Brooks wanted to learn how to play marbles, we pretended we were in the 1950's, bought marbles and learned how to play "Ringer" in our living room.

We took impromptu trips to see hot air balloons launch, took hikes in the woods and ate popsicles in quite possibly the messiest way possible.

We celebrated birthdays, played with grandparents, and had a whole lotta picnics in the park. (because food just tastes better when you eat it outside!)

Brooks' birthday dinner

Most days Chris would come home from work, put something on the grill for dinner and play with the boys in the yard.  They'd hunt for grasshoppers, ride bikes around the block, or inspect our sunflower seeds we planted in the spring to see how much they'd grown since the day before.

And this little dude just came along for the ride :)

It was an amazing summer.  And I'm already excited for next summer when Bennett will be 18 months old and running around with the the rest of us.

 (ok, that was more than one picture.  sorry.)

They just keep getting bigger

All three of my boys have weighed about the same at birth.  8lb 4oz.  8lb 9oz.  8lb 5oz.  But what I find super interesting is how differently they've grown since then.

For instance, at 1 year old, Brooks weighed a whopping 17lbs.  He was a very petite baby.  And he's still a tall string bean of a kid.  Carter weighed 17lbs around 8 months.  Pretty average.  And Bennett hit the 17lb mark at FOUR months!

Here's a picture of the three boys when they were all about 6 months old.

Brooks

Carter

Bennett

It's amazing how three kids from the same parents, all fed the same, can be so totally different!!  Our theory is that it's a survival factor.  They have to keep getting bigger to avoid being crushed by their big brother :)

boys on an adventure

One thing I've learned about raising boys is how much they love adventure.  To conquer.  To rescue.  To win!  And these adventures seem to creep into our daily lives.  Chris takes them on "special missions" to buy eggs.  We go "treasure hunting" at rummage sales.

So in the spirit of adventure, I decided to take them on an exploration hike this week!  (Ok, that sounded way cooler than it actually was.  Really they I was just desperate to get out of the house in hopes that they'd stop fighting with each other for more than 26 seconds.)

And since this Wisconsin girl has just been aching lately for a forest (or the woods.  Heck, I'd even take a thick shelter belt), I decided to take them to the closest thing to a forest this part of South Dakota has to offer ..... the Outdoor Campus.

So we packed up the van and headed out.  And where to my city boys want to play as soon as we get there??  Inside!  GAH!!  And I could hear my mother's voice coming out of my mouth as I said "It's too nice out to play inside!!"  We're going on an adventure ... remember?  So I shooed them outside.  The Outdoor Campus actually has a lot of nice walking paths throughout their property.  Some are through the prairie grasses, but we followed the wooded paths.  Because I really miss trees.

This handsome-pants came along too :)  

city boys

And I would like to take a moment to pat myself on the back and tell you that I actually remembered to bring the bug spray!!  I think the skeeters love the woods just as much as I do and my poor Carter always seems to get bit the worst.  In fact, I was actually excited to try a new bug spray my friend Esther sent me.  She just started selling Radiantly You products and asked if I would try out the bug spray and give her some feedback.  So I sprayed the boys down and I am happy to say that we left the woods bug bite free!  And I love the fact that it wasn't stinky or sticky like regular bug spray.  It actually smelled like a sweet citronella.  Bonus yet that it's made with essential oils and not with "who knows what" chemicals.

Anyway, as we were "exploring" the boys found a toad!  Not gonna lie, I really didn't expect to find anything noteworthy.  (these boys seem to have an attention span of a mosquito)  But I was really glad we did and was I proud of the boys for actually holding it.  

(Note: the bug spray does NOT repel toad pee.  Just sayin'.)

Poor toad.  Holding on for dear life.

We walked as far as a two year old has stamina for (which is not that far) and we headed back to the main building.  The boys played on the different activities set up outside for quite a while and then we headed home.

All in all, I'd say it was a good adventure!

A totally rational fear of toilets

A little over a week ago we went to a friend's house for a play date, where the big kids play together (mostly) and the mamas enjoy disjointed conversation while holding our littlest ones and refereeing the big ones.  On this particular morning, my littlest one was extra fussy and really needed a nap - something not easily accomplished when there are half a dozen other kids (mostly boys) running around yelling at a ball they're chasing.  But after much bouncing, nursing, rocking and shushing, I finally got him to sleep in my arms.  I settled in on the overstuffed arm chair to relax with a sleeping baby in my arms and engage in much needed adult conversation.

Buuuuut, then the toddler declares that he has to go potty, an event that still requires my assistance and at the very least, my supervision.  So I carefully stand up with the sleeping baby cradled in my left arm and with my right arm guide my very distracted toddler to the bathroom.  I help Carter pull down his pants and underwear, slip my free arm under his arms and hoist him onto the potty.  I glance at the baby.  Still sleeping.  This is going pretty well.

But then it didn't.  I quickly realized that I overlooked a very crucial little detail.  His penis was not pointed down.  And as if in slow motion, I see the pee start flowing.  Everywhere.  It's arching over the side of the toilet, onto his pants, onto his underwear and of course, onto the floor.  (why, oh why, are little boys the ones given fire hoses out of which to pee???)  I panicked!  I needed to stop the pee!!

By now, my left arm is now nearly numb from holding a gigantic baby, but I can't put him down.  Because, did I mention that this friend has a cat?  And that the cat's litter box is in the bathroom?  And that there's litter all over the bathroom floor?  Yeah, there was no way this baby was going on the floor.  So again, with one arm, I reach around Carter and try to scoot him back further on the toilet.  Which I successfully did.  But in the process I also dunked his little butt into the cold toilet water.  He's yelling, I'm yelling and the baby, my some miracle, is still sleeping.

Carter has this terrified look on his face and I, quite honestly, had no idea what to do.  I mean, there was a hundred things that needed to be done, but what to do first?  Well, in my good judgement, I decided that first I should haul Carter out of the toilet.  I set him on the ground, instruct him not to step in the pee (yeah right) and leave.  I go back out to the living room where I finally set the baby down (after which he immediately woke up - great), grab the extra pair of pants and underwear from the diaper bag and head back to the bathroom.  My poor Carter is still standing there with sopping wet pants around his ankles with a puddle of pee next to his feet.  And I can now hear Bennett voicing his displeasure of being put down in the other room.  I grab a handful of toilet paper & mop up the floor as best as I could then proceed to peel Carter's pants off.  I didn't want him sitting on the kitty litter floor, so I helped him put on new underwear & pants while standing up.  (not easy, by the way)  I succeed in redressing the toddler and we both head back out to rejoin our play date.  I pick the baby back up to start the rocking, bouncing, shushing, please go to sleep routine again.  I inform my friend that my son peed on the floor.  She just smiled an understanding smile and told me not to worry about it.  I was so glad to have that behind us.

Except that it wasn't.  Just this last week we were at another friend's house for preschool.  Carter needed to go potty, so once again, I help him in the bathroom. (this time with no baby in my arms)  I pull down his pants and as I'm helping him sit on the toilet, he sticks his legs out, stiff as a board and refuses to sit down.  I try a few more times and he protests every time saying "I don't have to go potty!!".  Um, you just said you did.  You're doing the potty dance and your underwear already have a few drops of pee on them.  Clearly you need to go potty.  I try to again to set him on the toilet.  Still stiff legged, he states, more emphatically "I don't HAVE to go potty." And then it comes out.

"I don wanna fall in da potty".

Ah.  There it is.  My child is afraid to sit on the toilet.  I guess I can't blame him.  If my mother dropped me in a toilet, I'd be a little skeptical too.

I try assuring him that I won't let him fall, but he's not buying it.  I threaten that if he pees in his pants we'll have to go home, but still he won't budge.  And because I can't make Carter do what Carter doesn't want to do, I pull up his pants and allow him to leave the bathroom, praying he doesn't pee in his pants.  Thankfully this mama had a potty training chair that we were able to use so he could finally pee.

I've tried a few more times at home this week to have him sit on the big toilet, but he absolutely will.not. do it.  I'm just hoping he overcomes this fear before we're stuck in, say, Target and he won't use the bathroom.  Oh, the adventures of parenthood.

September

I'm not entirely sure where the month of September went.  I know it started with a birthday, and now here we are, 20 some days later with October just around the corner.  This little life of ours better slow down or my kids will be all "hey I'm leaving for college now" and I'm still "do you want to wear dinosaur or puppy jammies tonight??"

Anyway, we've done stuff.  Fun stuff.  Fall is coming.  I love the cooler air.  Although I feel like the weather is a bit drunk right now.  Seriously.   It's 85* one day and 60* the next.  One load of laundry will contain both shorts & sweaters.  But it's what happens in the Midwest.  It's a blending of seasons if you will.

Anyway, here's some highlights of the month.

Touch a Truck

Every year the Sioux Falls Parks n' Rec department hosts "Touch a Truck".  Bascially it's a parking lot full of every kind of different truck and vehicle you can imagine.  Kids are allowed to climb, touch, honk the horn and dream that someday they, too, can drive a garbage truck.  (I'm gonna go ahead and assume - and hope - they'll grow out of that dream.  If not, it'll save a ton on college bills!)

Anyway, for my two year old little motor head, this was a dream come true.  Seriously.  He squealed with sheer happiness and his jaw nearly hit the ground when he walked into the parking lot.  Brooks hated it.  It was loud.  And he could care less about trucks.  But Carter literally dragged me from truck to truck, demanding I help him into the cab so he could "drive a cuck".

I couldn't even tell you what truck this was in.  To me, they all looked the same.  But he needed to sit in every.single.one. 

Preschool Started

For Brooks this year, we're doing preschool at home.  I didn't feel like I needed to pay someone hundreds of dollars to teach my child the ABC's.  That, and I really like teaching him.  He's a fun kid to learn with.  And this year, he's a part of a preschool homeschool group called "Backpack Buddies".  Cute, huh?  It actually started mid-way through last year, but we've revamped it some, added some structure and even have field trips scheduled.  There's five of us moms, 5 preschoolers and a whole bunch more "littles" added in.  We really look forward to our Tuesday morning group time!  We have a structured lesson for an hour and then play time for an hour (aka, the moms get to have actual adult interaction time.  yay.)

The first day of "school".  Carter received a new backpack for his birthday and he certainly wasn't going to be left out of the schooly fun.

And because one of the moms is a rockin' photographer, she did school pics for all the kids.

 Handsome little fellas, aren't they??

The Apple Orchard

Our latest preschool field trip was to the apple orchard.  It was a chilly morning, but that made it even more perfect for apple picking.  Our group participated in story time, sampled apples and juice, took a wagon ride  out to the orchard, picked a few apples, and then visited the animals and played in the hay.  Super fun morning!

most of the crew!