St Patty's Day and Stories

Sarah and Sam got to come play on St Patrick's Day morning while Tamina went to the dentist. Ben made sure that the first thing he showed Sarah was the green juice, then he wanted me to take their picture. Aren't they so cute saying 'cheese' :)We had green pancakes for breakfast, green mac and cheese for lunch at the park with pears, and corned beef and cabbage for dinner. Ben insisted that the gravy for the potatoes be green. Isabel wouldn't touch them. I don't blame her, the stuff looked like snot! We won't be making that again :) Maybe green mashed potatoes or something.
Kandi and Zoey came over to exercise and since I had Sarah and Sam, I wasn't sure how good the workout would be, but it turned out to be really good. The kids loved to camp out around Sam to keep him entertained. Peek-a-boo was a favorite. We ended up meeting Holly and Carter at the park to play after Isabel got out of school. Kind of funny story about Ben.... All the kids were running around playing tag at the park. Next thing I know, Carter is crying and Ben is standing next to him. I asked Carter what was wrong, and he said that Ben had pinched him. I looked at what Carter was wearing and he had his jacked zipped up, so it looked like he wasn't wearing green. I asked Carter to show Ben his green on his shirt, and as soon as he did, Ben said, "oh, there it is. I sorry." Carter was fine after that too. He did make sure to keep his jacket unzipped though. Later at the park, Ben came up to me and said, "oh man mommy, I have water all over me." I asked him is he peed his pants and he said no, it was water. I asked him where he got into water at. He thought for a minute, and then said, "mom, the water came from my penis!" Luckily I had clothes for him in the car!
Onto another day..... we love the pizza dough from Winco. It is nice because there are no eggs or milk in it, and for under 3$ you can make 2 large pizzas, or in my case 1 large and 1 medium, cause I let the kids help :)
This little toad definitely keeps me on my toes. He has said some funny things this past week. He was helping me clean the toilets (his favorite job lately) and his head kept getting closer to the toilet. I was a little afraid that he would drink it, cause it smells minty, so I made sure to tell him that he would get really sick and have to go to the hospital if he drank it. He thought for a minute and then said, "oh, that what happened to nate nandma!" (Great grandma Maxine has been in the hospital for a broken hip recently) We made sure to tell great grandma at dinner on Sunday that the reason she was in the hospital was because she drank toilet water! It made her laugh.

Ben's favorite movie right now is this one. He actually talks about killing 'the big wagon' all the time. It amazes me how early kids develop a sense of humor. He laughs at things I wouldn't think he would. I really do like this movie, which is good because we have been watching it at least once a day. Before you think less of me, let me explain. Ben got a cough on Thursday last week. This is nothing new, cause Isabel had one too. It seemed like just a regular cold and cough. I started to worry on Monday when he started whistling instead of breathing. When I could finally get into the dr, his oxygen sats were at 91-92. (They go to the hospital if they reach 90) He got 2 breathing treatments at the office and they told me that he had stopped coughing and wheezing/whistling because the junk was stuck in his lungs. Yep, pneumonia. Great. He hasn't had a ton of energy to do much, so I let him watch this movie! He is doing much better today. We did albuterol treatments 3 times today, and that with the 2 antiobiotics seem to be helping him feel way better. He is even running around trying to catch Isabel, you know cause she is the "big wagon!" :) As I said earlier, this little toad keeps me on my toes!
I have a funny story about Isabel, but I will wait til the next post! She is a riot too!

Grandpa Barn & Popsicles

I went to pick up Isabel from school and Ari said that she wanted to come with us. So, we had a play day at our house! They ate lunch, played inside, and outside, and after a little while Isabel came inside and asked if they could have a popsicle. (Cause it was so hot outside. ~57) I told her yes, and she came back inside with a box of creamies from the big freezer in the garage and asked if she could have a "grandpa popsicle"? I had forgotten that those were out there, but told them they could have one! They were so excited! All 3 picked chocolate, just like grandpa!
The local elementary school had borrowed Grandpa Grant's stable to be a Charolette's Web barn, and had just returned it, so it was still sitting outside. The kids went and got chairs, put them inside the stable, and informed me that they were eating grandpa popsicles in grandpas barn! They thought it was so much fun! We had a fun day with Ari! It was nice to have her come play. It was also nice to finally have beautiful weather :) We even went to feed the ducks and play at Layton park with Kandi, Zoey, Jen and Nara. Isabel, Ari and Ben all had to take turns holding Nara to go down the big slide. Nara seemed to like it! :) All of the kids loved the merry-go-round, (Zoey included!) and Ben kept asking for it to go faster. Crazy kids! By-the-way, Cadburry Mini Eggs are the ticket to potty training for Ben. He loves those things, so I hardly have to remind him to go! Thank goodness!

Rub a Dub Dub......

Rub a dub dub, 2 kids cleaning the tub! It was cleaning day on Saturday and I gave the kids the job of cleaning the bathtub in their swimsuits! Isabel couldn't decide which swimsuit to wear, so she picked 2. (Notice the one on her head..) Silly girl.
Ben loved scrubbing and sliding around, and Isabel liked to pour water to rinse the tub. Cute pose, huh!
They cleaned/played for at least an hour, giving me time to clean the rest of the bathroom! Isabel even remembered to thank Heavenly Father in her night time prayers for being able to wear her swimsuit and play in the tub!
When I was at Harmons a while ago, I saw these marshmallows in the clearance cart for $1, and thought we should give them a try! If the kids got all of their chore lists done, they could have a fire and roast marshmallows. Can't beat a good reward!
All I have to say is those things were STICKY! We made them into smores. They were huge! Ben promptly ate the chocolate off of his and threw the rest into the fire. Isabel ate her whole smore. It took about 20min :)
Here they are eating them! Their faces crack me up!
Ben gave up on roasting his marshmallow and just put it on the roasting stick and ate it.
Isabel remembered to thank Heavenly Father for her fire and smores too. We have been working on her prayers lately, and she tries to say 5 things that made her happy during the day. She definitely had 5 things that made her happy! Good quality family fun! Except now Brady has the itch to go camping :)

Potty Training Attempt #2

Isn't he the cutest little guy? Well, it's a good thing, cause potty training is definitely an adventure with him! He did pretty good with potty training the first time, until he got sick.... then it wasn't worth it to me to run him to the bathroom every few minutes...so we get to try again, hence attempt #2! Normally I wouldn't blog about this, but he cracks me up. He did really good the 1st 2 days, nothing exciting, just went potty in the toilet. The next 3 days were awesome.....(for lack of other words to explain....)
Day 1 -
Me: took of his pull-up and said, "hurry Ben, run and go potty before we put your clothes on for today.
Ben: "otay" as he runs to the bathroom. I hear him peeing, then I hear the toilet flush.
Me: go into the bathroom with a new pull-up and see pee all over the wall and floor opposite of the toilet.... "what happened"
Ben: "uh, I peed on wall."
Me: "we dont do that do we?"
Ben: "no"
Me: handing him a clorox wipe, "now you get to clean it up...and that's not fun is it?"
Ben: "Oh, no"

Day 2 -
Me: took off his pull-up and said, "hurry Ben, run and go potty before we put your clothes on for today!"
Ben: "Otay" as he runs to the potty (or so I think...)
Me: start running cause I hear the front door open and close.....
Ben: "Ha ha, my pee frozen!" (looking at where he peed on the front porch!)
(he made sure to show everyone that came over his pee spot on the front porch, til it finally got warm enough outside to melt)

Day 3 -
We talked (skyped) with Grandma Janene and told her about this... she asked Ben not to pee on her walls or her porch cause it was gross and Ben said ,"otay"
Me: took off his pull-up and said ," Hurry and go potty and get a new pull-up" (I was still in bed, cause it was barely 6am and he came and told me he had peed and needed a new pull-up)...
Ben: runs into the hall
Isabel: "Ben, you are in BIG trouble!!!"
Me: jumped out of bed and ran into the hall.
Ben: "here mommy" holding out a hand of brown stuff
Me: with no contacts in, squinting to see & hoping that it isn't what I think it is....but it was
Ben: "I didn't let it touch the ground. Nama says not to put on wall or floor."
Me: perplexed as I think....I can't believe that it would be easier to squat and catch your poop so it doesn't hit the floor rather than just poop in the toilet. At least it was easy to clean up!

Good thing he is cute, huh?

Happy Valentines Day!

Nothing better than heart shaped strawberries to celebrate Valentines Day! I had them all cut up in slices for dinner, and Isabel said, "come on mom, it's valentines day, they should be hearts!" I asked her if she was spoiled, and she said, "yes,....what does that mean?" When I told her what it meant, she just smiled :) And yes, I then cut them into hearts for her!I had to work, so I got up a little early and made the kids pink heart shaped pancakes. They had to take them to grandma's to eat them, cause they were too busy eating their Toy Story valentine chocolates and chocolate kissy lips :) They loved the lips. Isabel and Ben got to help Grandma Tracie deliver roses with the cheerleaders, and Isabel got to bring some home. She especially loved the white flowers that went with it. (Sorry the picture is blurry)
Ben loved his chocolate kiss and his puppy dog from Grandma and Grandpa Yamashita.
I decided that heart shaped pizza would be fun for dinner. I even got ambitious and cut a few pieces of ham into heart shapes. The kids loved it, and that's the point isn't it? I just tell myself that these are the things that the kids will remember, so it makes it all worth it :)
Here they are showing off their valentines! They had a fun day. FYI, Isabel even gave away her valentine's at school! I didn't want to do anything cute, just in case she decided to not to give them away, you know, like the Halloween and Christmas cute treats that she and I made for her class and she decided not to give away! She didn't agree with me that it was fun to give out her Valentine's, but she did love getting Valentine's from her class! She did make sure to give one to our neighbor Steve! I think he liked it. She is a funny girl!
It was a fun Valentine's Day. Thanks to everyone who helped make it great! :)

Tonka Fun

Things have been kind of boring around here lately....we've just been doing the normal stuff, like school, piano lessons, tumbling, potty training, etc..so the kids have decided to make their own fun. Kandi and I have been trying to be good at exercising again. This is good for the kids cause they get a chance to play with Zoey (and Nara when she and Jen can make it). Ben and Isabel love to pretend that they are hurt and push each other around in Ben's tonka truck all over the house. They even like to 'dump' each other out, because it is a dump truck :) This week, Zoey got a turn, and she loved it (as long as Isabel was holding her or pushing her. Ben is a little crazy when he pushes! Like up on 2 wheels crazy driving! I'd be scared too!)

I had to post a few pictures because it made me and Kandi laugh to see them running down the hall, laughing with hair blowing in the breeze (you know, the air generated from pushing fast :) ). The kids were enjoying it too!

Cute cousins sitting on a dump truck! I'm glad they live close so that they get a chance to play together :)
Anyone up for a ride?

All tied up

I decided that I should get my crafts for valentines day done before valentines day was here, so here it is. I saw the idea on the blog 'the idea room'. They are 3" felt circles that are folded in 1/4's and pinned to a heart shaped foam wreath. I think it turned out cute. It used about 3/4 yard of felt cut into circles. To make the circles, I dunked a canning jar into paint and stamped the felt. That way I didn't have to free hand the circles. Because the kids have been sick for about 10 days now, I got it done when we would watch movies. The kids really like 'Despicable Me' and 'Toy Story II'. Good choices if I do say so!
So, Isabel either had influenza A (the dr said 85% sure) or RSV this past week. That meant that we got to stay home, without seeing anyone all week. The kids came up with all kinds of stuff to do. Forts, tying each other up, cutting snowflakes, painting with watercolors, reading books (Isabel moved up to the reading group in preschool, she is doing really well, even if she doesn't like to sound stuff out), movies, etc. I think they were sick of seeing only me though. When Tuesday rolled around, Isabel was very excited for tumbling! She had her hair all curly (from being in braids), put on make-up and she was ready to go! Such a cute girl.
Ben discovered that yarn is the best toy ever. He spent the week tying everything up, including himself :) He and Isabel made up a game where they tied up my shoe, then one of them would stand at the top of the stairs and throw the shoe over the banister and the other one would try and catch it. It was a fun game til one got hit with the shoe. Ben LOVES to tie stuff up. I'm not sure about all of the trip wires around the house, but at least they are having fun! I'm glad they are feeling better.