Coming off of a day when no one had more than 2 (of 5) stars left by day's end (even after giving them multiple opportunities to earn some back...which they did....and then lost them again), I am choosing to focus on a few choice positive things:

1. Everyone was in bed and asleep by 8 tonight - joy to the world

2. After crying until from 7:30 until at least 8:45 or 9:30 three times this week, I finally tested a theory on Brady...I left his bathroom light on and the door slightly open. All quiet from the nursery...I think Bray is afraid of the dark!! (ah-hem...no idea where he got that from...as I have to sleep with the hall light on when Brian travels!)

3. Tonight, we had Anna and her kids over for dinner (traveling husbands!) While I was shutting down the basement due to WAY too much chaos and crying, Aiden ran up to Anna and said "I have to go pee pee in the potty!" This was his FIRST time seeking out the potty for pee AND....he was wearing a diaper at the time! I've been having him run around naked a little while each day, but once our friends came over, I put his cloths back on. I came up from the basement and heard her saying "yeah Aiden!! Way to go buddy!!" Me = so proud!!

4. It's been raining buckets today...with thunder storms to boot. Last year, this kind of weather would have Logan scared stiff...refusing to even be alone in his room, let alone sleep in it! Today and tonight, I have not heard even one mention of the dreaded "funder". Me = so happy (plus really....how can you be afraid of something that you think starts with the word "fun"? It's a mystery to me!)

now....where oh where did I put that bottle of wine!?

We recently had to make a modification to our "daily rewards system"


Point 1: If the boys do not lose any stars during an entire day, they get an extra special reward. I used to have a basket of stuff like stickers, dollar match-box cars, big pieces of gum etc that they could choose from if they had a "perfect day".

Point 2: They quickly tired of the little do-dads in that basket.

Point 3: they always want stuff wherever we go (as do most kids, right?)

Point 4: In an effort to provide them with some spending money (and to provide me with the ability to say "use your own money" when they ask for everything under the sun), I toyed with the idea of an allowance...I'm actually a bit torn on that whole concept....especially for 2-year-old Aiden.

For example, here is a conversation that I had with Logan.
me: "you're going to start getting money every week called an allowance. You can keep some for yourself, put some aside for savings and put some aside for charity".
logan: "what is charity?"
me: "that's when you save and give money to other people who really need it for food, cloths and important stuff like that...people who don't have enough money of their own"
logan: "but I don't WANT to give my money to other people"
me: (sigh)
logan: "what is savings?"
me: "that's money that you keep and spend later....on important stuff like college"
logan: "but I don't WANT to go to college....I just want an eight-dollar transformer!"

I'm not kidding....that was our conversation word for word on the subject of an allowance! So....I proposed the idea to Brian of having "perfect day money" instead (cheaper for us...more incentive for the boys to obey the rules!) We put $1 in a little container each time anyone has a "perfect day" <-- I'm not fond of the word "perfect" because I don't believe in actual perfection and hate to emphasize that, but whatever...it works for now. Logan totally gets the concept. Aiden just keeps spending his money on "Aiden stuff" (last week he bought a tiny, heart-shaped slinky...which he promptly broke....and a pack of stickers, also heart shaped <-- he was on a kick I guess).

Today, we went to Target for yet more party supplies, another training potty for the house, and a tour through the toy aisles. The boys (and here I mean Logan) were anxious to see if there was anything they wanted in exchange for their hard-earned cash. You can't go to Target without going to the toy aisles...unfortunately for me! Logan already knew what he wanted to buy today....

...we were all recently introduced to Bakugan (older brother to Pokemon) at our friend Peter's house (Peter is a year older than Logan). I actually think these things are pretty cool. They are supposed to be a game (based on a cartoon) which is, most likely, way beyond my level of comprehension, let alone that of a 4 year old. They are these little balls that "transform" into different creatures when you put them on their special cards (or anything made of metal). There are a gazillion different ones and, best of all, they are about $5.00 which is the perfect amount of money for Logan to save before he just can't stand to save anymore <-- he earns that amount in around 2 weeks. There are also Bakugan shooters (load in the balls and shoot them out), Bakugan carrying cases etc. I see a whole new level of obsession about to begin with this one! I don't think we'll be watching the cartoon in the near future...it looks a bit violent so...for now we'll just play with the little creatures....cool enough!

I had almost convinced Aiden not to spend his current bank-roll of a whopping three bucks, but he saw some Easter window clings in the card aisle as we were making our way towards the check out and just HAD to have them (speaking of HAD to have....I must go back to Target very soon and check out the new collection of mommy-esk bathing suits that were just put out - way cute this year!)


PICTURES!!

Logan (ironically wearing a shirt he just inherited from Peter...said introducer of Bakugan)





What a camera hog! I wanted to take a picture of Aiden playing with the window clings and Logan ran over to smush his face in too!







In other news: Brady! This kid is miraculous sometimes! He will just wake up and goof around in his crib for up to an hour! Today I found him like this, sideways, turning his aquarium on and off with his little feet. All I could see were his toes when I walked in. He is my sunshine! PS I always have him drink his milk before he gets out of bed because otherwise he just can't concentrate to finish it. And yes....still with the bottle. He can do sippy cups, but only drinks a tiny bit so...better to get the milk in the kid than to fuss with the sippy cup thing.

And our top story this week: crazy times in San Fran. Auntie Denna has been dealing with some harsh work stuff this week (layoffs etc). She was bummin' BIG time (as was I!!) on Monday. I remembered these pictures from my favorite magazine, WonderTime. I had already thrown the hard copy away, but also subscribe on-line so I looked up this article: Stages of Grief as Demonstrated by Peas (the story from the magazine is adorable - its about a little boy who hates peas, but is forced to eat them anyway).

These pictures are horrible....sorry! I took them with my phone and mailed them to myself (and to Denay...to make her laugh <-- things are OK now so we're not in the stages of grief anymore!) I just have to share them because I think they are so cute. Stage 1: Disbelief Stage 2: Anger
Stage 3: Bargaining
Stage 4: Depression
Stage 5: Acceptance

This past weekend I started, in earnest, to prepare for Logan's birthday party. Due to the mass chaos that ensued during the Superbowl party (12 kids), I decided to way organize this event to prevent the (24+ expected) kids from running wild. It's not that I mind a bunch of crazy kids in my house, I just thought it would be more fun for everyone if it wasn't just a big, ol' unorganized "play date" with cake and pizza.

So....after pondering for a few weeks on exactly what to do, we've decided to have a craft and then a bunch of games in the basement. My idea is to make the game part a sort of "arcade" experience where each child plays 5 or so games, each for one prize...much like at a carnival. All the prizes add up to be the goody bags. Game ideas: pass the planet, spray the tail on the comet, planet darts, sink the crater ball...in the bounce house of course, alien smack down <-- bowling. I found a great web site with lots of fun ideas for an outer space party. I wanted to duplicate these cute planet decorations they had, which involved covering styrofoam balls with different colors of clear wrap. Wow - I did not realize how expensive that idea turned out to be (a big sun-sized ball was $15 and each color of wrap was on a $4.00 roll). After I ditched that idea (and returned $20 worth of stuff to Michael's), I decided to do paper mache planets instead. Oh fun!!! I bought some balloons at the party store for $2.39 and I, sadly?, had all the other materials here!

The weekend also started with a couple other funny things plus a totally full camera memory card. While downloading all the pictures and videos, I came across a few that needed to be shared. Here are: random pics and party prep stuff!

Saturday morning, I was afflicted (as I often am on the little sleep I get) with puffy eyes. I had purchased a cucumber this week, during my Friday grocery run, for the sole purpose of eye treatment. The boys thought it was hysterical that I had veggies on my face. I was trying to hide from everyone by laying on the couch, but no....they found me. Logan and Aiden wanted to eat my cucumbers so Brian gave them a couple slices of their own. First....they had to do what mommy was doing! PS: I did NOT look like this...my slices were cut in 1/2 and placed UNDER, not over, my eyes.
And I didn't eat mine either!

This is me laying on the couch with the camera....up-shot of Aiden munching away on his spa treatment.

On to party prep: Here are the goodies I ordered a while ago from Oriental Trading Company (I love that catalog....even though the whole goody-bag idea is quite comical to me since the kids only play with the stuff inside for like....a day at the most). Annnnyway....all the fun space stuff I found!
These little choking hazards are my favorites! They remind me of those smurf figurines so many of us collected when we were kids.

"Baker Alien" wants to know, "cupcake anyone??"

Sunday morning we let Brian (and Brady!) sleep in while I tried to convince the older boys to play paper mache with me (look how thrilled Logan is! hahaha). Even artsy-craftsy Aiden only lasted like 10 minutes!

I finished "the sun" and "erf" <-- Logan speak for Earth, Sunday morning and then moved to the island in the kitchen that afternoon where I worked on three, smaller, yet-to-be-named planets.

This morning (Monday), I painted the sun before neighborhood playgroup. I really wanted to make my facebook status "Renay is painting the sun"....but that sounded kind of odd. I left a little "bridge" on each ball so that, after the balloon was popped, I could attach each one to a string. I tied the sun up before painting it and then tapped it to the kitchen ceiling so that it could dry completely.

I put a garbage-bag-lined laundry basket underneath "the sun" in case it broke off the string or in case the string came un-tapped from the ceiling.

Close up - don't touch....it's hot. hahaha <-- only I get that joke I'm sure!

Here is a picture of the craft we'll be making at Logan's party (as the guests arrive I think) The website had a printable template and full instructions so - yeah!

Here I am on the couch Sunday night finishing what I started Saturday night (tracing and cutting out templates to make 24 alien masks). I asked Brian to grab my camera so I could take pictures of all the cut-outs, but he took a picture of me instead. yeah - I made the blog. haha.

And now we return to some random pictures. This is Logan this morning (in his favorite jammies.....again) playing "spy". Logan's spy is also into karate. He was hi-yaw-ing around the kitchen and wanted me to take his picture (I had the camera out to photograph the sun)

Oh...more big news this weekend: Aiden walked around the house a bit sans diaper and undies for a bit of potty training! He is great at the peeing thing and even snuck upstairs, alone, without instruction from anyone, found the only training potty in the house (currently in Logan's room for nap and night time needs) and went #2!!! I gave him the promised gift of 3 mylar balloons which he picked out Saturday afternoon from the party store (a football, a basketball and a camouflage star <-- I might have helped him a bit on those)

This is a picture that Brian took this past Friday. I think this is the first time that Brady has crawled up on the train table. I'm not sure why, but whenever I leave the house, one or more of the boys ends up without pants on by the time I return! I'm pretty sure Bray was tooooo wiggly after his diaper change for daddy to bother.

This picture is pretty old, but I never got around to posting it. I wanted GG and GGpa to see Logan playing in his fireman outfit that they gave him for Christmas.

Add on the goggles, belt and other goodies he got last year for his birthday and we've got a pretty sharp looking fire fighter!!

And finally....a picture of Logan....at about 3pm one day. This was one of those afternoons where he refused to nap, claiming, "I'm just not tired!!" Rrrright.....

I think he was watching a cartoon and started doing that head-bobbing thing. Too cute!

Today, we went to a toy store where kids can pick out a bin of stuff that they "want" for their birthday. Logan's big 4th birthday party is coming up on March 7th and some of my friends had asked if I was going to put aside some stuff for him. We had a total blast (me maybe more than the kids!) I love toy stores, especially when they aren't Toys R Us or the toy aisles of Target!

It's kind of funny, but I was really excited about this sandbox toy. Logan really loved the pirate one they had on display (although those were sold out so he picked the garbage works one). It's the size of a zen-garden sand box with all these cool things inside. Logan is a BIG sandbox man in the summer so I knew he would love this thing. I bought it on the sly as I was filling out the info for his birthday box and it's hiding in the laundry room closet. yeah me!!

Anyway, it was a bit chaotic as usual with all three boys in tow. Brady was the most challenging one today. He didn't want to sit in the stroller and would try to launch himself out (I forgot to bring in the "please be still gold fish" snack) . In the interest of not having him dive bomb onto the floor, I set him free. I kept losing him though....he's getting to be a REALLY fast walker and would literally disappear in 2 seconds! A couple of times one of the ladies in the store would yell from the front (I was in the back trying to manage the bin process) that Brady was by the door. The whole shopping process took quite a while since I had to keep tracking him down, but whatever...it was our only errand of the day and it was a toy store so I didn't mind being in there for a while!

I tried to get a video of Bray running this afternoon because he was having me chase him everywhere. Per usual, as soon as I located my camera, he was more interested in what Logan was doing than in running away from me. And...to boot, my camera ran out of memory as soon as he really started moving.

Here is what I managed to get....a video is always fun :)

Karen and Nicole....I'm talking to you!! First, Karen goes and changes her blog look and then Nicole leaves a comment about free blog templates at the cutest blog on the block....which made me curious....which made me go investigate...which made me google to find MORE templates....which made me goof around with the one you see now....which made me ignore laundry and wonder what else I can do to my blog.

Thanks girls....thanks a lot....now my laundry is piling up everywhere ;)

Oh...and P.S. - either of you know how I can get the blogger navigation bar back???

I took these pictures on February 5th mostly because this was the FIRST time Brady ever fed himself with a utensil! We have actually graduated to forks now as well!! We were eating some sloppy joe's a la Meemaw that night. What happened after I took Bray's picture was just so typical that I had to document it for blog posting.

Here is: a typical dinner at the 554

First off, my littlest man feeding himself - so proud - so big....so messy!!! YEAH for Brady!!

Aiden is diving right in as well. That's pretty typical. He may be small, but he does try everything...or at least ignores the things on his plate that he doesn't want to eat without complaining loudly about them (veggies mostly)
Another nightly occurrence: the declaration that, "this is yucky and I don't like (insert name of food)" I'm CERTAIN that many other mothers can attest to the fact that this is a regular routine even if said food has been happily consumed on numerous other occasions (there is an article on just this sort of behavior in every parenting magazine on the stands....every month). Needless to say, it's aggravating!

Look at the super sad face!!! I do have to say here that Logan cleaned off the broccoli on his plate before starting in on the various evils of the sloppy joe!! At least there's that!
Upon request this particular night, I cut up Logan's sloppy joe for him. He was claiming that it was too hard to pick up. This could very well mean, to the 3 year old, that it was a number of things....like too messy for example. I did what I could to help without giving in and telling him he could have something else.
Note the concerned and pained expression as Logan debates actually ingesting the cut-up sandwich.
He ate it. He liked it. Another nightly ritual: the announcement that "(this food) is good mommy!" Thank you darling. Glad you like it....glad you feel in control of the situation!! mwah!

Darling child....why oh why do you keep hiding your sippy cups from me? It's not so much that you are leaving them in places like the toy bins or under the curtains in the formal living room where NO ONE ever goes....but that you are choosing to hide the ones filled with MILK! Don't you know how fidgety mommy gets if she can't account for all the day's milk cups? Have you ever FOUND a cup of milk that has been lost for a couple days or....a couple weeks...like that one I found on the side of the house last summer? It's not pretty my friend....and most of those cups go straight in the trash because (gag) I can't bear to open and wash them! That's all...let me know if you have an answer or, if like most things you do, the answer is "because I'm two". mwah. love ya.

Yesterday, Brian and his mom went to buy new shoes for all three boys. My mother in law has a thing for buying shoes. She says it reminds her of her childhood and of taking her own three sons to buy shoes....and it's great for us because....well....it's FREE!! :)


Last week, during 1 of the back-yard mud incidents...of which there were about 3 (I finally had the grand idea to cover the mud pit with a plastic table cloth anchored down with rocks), Brady got caught, fell down and got himself ridiculously dirty. Included in this accidental soiling (he, unlike his brothers started crying helplessly and wanted OUT immediately), were my all-time favorite baby shoes. They are a pair of Robeez boots that I bought for Logan back when he was a brand new walker. They may not be every one's style, but I LOVE them. They are perfect because they:

1. are super easy to slip on
2. are lined in fuzzy fur so they require no socks
3. are perfect for new walker feet (flexible, soft, leather no-slip bottom)
4. are boot height so they cover little feet AND ankles

Brady has been wearing them for the past few months. MIL said the other day that she thought they were starting to hurt his feet because he was crying until she took them off (then he started crying again, but whatever). It was the end of the shoes after they got muddy anyway. They were soaking wet after I washed them off and there is no reason to fix them up again since they don't fit anyone....and are not needed for any future babies. I hate seeing Brady out-grow everything. It's like saying good-bye to our babies little by little (no more 0-3 month cloths, no more 3-6 month cloths....etc....and no more Robeez boots <-- I am hit particularly hard by this one for some reason!). Should I bronze them?? hahaha! Do they even do that anymore?!


On to happier things: I now give you (discovered on my camera while downloading the boot picture) more "Photography By Logan". I will give them titles this time:

Little feet walking


Sunshine on Brother

Mama's Got a New Bag

Things are Looking Up....or at least I am (he may be standing on the table for this one)
Self Portrait #35

I finally went through the pictures from our day in downtown Chicago last Saturday. It was our early Valentine's gift to the boys - a trip to the aquarium followed by a visit to Navy Pier and Build a Bear. Brian had a boy's night out last Friday and stayed in a hotel with some of his friends. The boys and I got up early on Saturday, drove to the city and picked him up. We were totally camera happy that day so....here are about a gazillion pictures!!

Mommy and Logan with the city in the background as we walk ALL the way around the building to the stroller entrance (they were doing construction so we walked through the basement in the back).
How cute is this?! Most of the areas in the aquarium were dark with posted signs that said "no flash photography" so I didn't get many good shots.

Mommy and Aiden

Here are the boys looking at the giant tank in the main area of the aquarium. There is a diver in the tank cleaning coral and feeding the fish. You can hear Brian call him scuba Steve. Aiden kept squealing with delight whenever a fish would swim close to him.



We collected stamped pennies all day (well...we got one from here and one from the Pier). I bought all three boys a "penny passport" book at the aquarium gift shop.

They offer valet parking on Saturdays and, with three kids to tow around, we couldn't resist. Here, Logan and Daddy wait for the return of "the super van".

Arriving at Navy Pier. Interesting fact: Brian proposed to me on a dinner cruise that leaves from this pier....on a boat called the Odyssey....and now I drive a Honda Odyssey.....life is funny ;)

After we parked at the pier, we noticed that Aiden and Brady were sleeping. Brian went inside to check out the crowd while I readied the stroller. Logan was ancy in his car seat so he elected to climb inside the trunk and play with his Leapster until we were all ready to roll.

The little boys still fast asleep in their seats.

Bray was so tired that he didn't even wake up when I transferred him. I haven't had a sleeping baby in this stroller since B was tiny! He slept like that for another 1/2 hour or so while we strolled around.

Lunch: McDonald's in the Pier food court (fancy, right?). Logan and I had checked out the newest happy meal toys on line a few days before they came out and he was super excited to check out the digi games. I was curious about the hello kitty watches (yes....there is a 12 year old girl stuck inside of me....and she likes hello kitty....and choco cat....and twin stars too....)

Daddy got a hot dog and I had some tacos....

....and the toy from Brady's happy meal. Yes....I made Brian get 2 boy meals and 1 girl meal. Really though...Brady can't play those electronic games! I have worn this watch several times since. My friend Anne wanted to know how long I'm going to be wearing it. I said "until I don't want to wear it anymore"....Anne does not have an inner 12-year-old girl!!

This is the Crystal Garden area of the Pier. It's like a green house with beautiful tropical flowers. There are also a lot of fun water fountains like this one....where 4 streams of water "fly" through the air between 4 different fountains arranged in a square. Brian held each of the boys up to touch the water. I'm a rule follower so I took pictures and pretended that I wasn't with them. ;)

We left Build a Bear as our last event so we wouldn't have to haul them around for too long (they come in these big "house" boxes that are bigger than Aiden!). A originally picked out a black bear, but Logan picked a puppy so A picked a different puppy. Logan had wanted to make a cat, but the only one there had pink feet and ears....and "pink is for gurls!!"

My big idea, and the reason I so wanted to go to Build a Bear, was for the "sounds" that we put in them. You can buy these little things that go inside your new pet's paw or foot. (you know....so when you squeeze the animal's paw, you hear a sound?) Some of the sounds are funny sayings and some are animal noises (like barking or meowing). There is one called "build a sound" where you can literally talk into a little recorder that they lock, tape up so it doesn't re-record, and put inside your pet. Brian recorded one for each doggy. They say something like this: "hi (Logan or Aiden) it's daddy. I love you and I miss you!!" My thought was that the boys can have their puppies with a message from daddy that they can play when he is traveling for work.

Here they are with their un-stuffed dogs. (Bray didn't get a doggy because Brian wants to wait for him to pick it out himself when he's a little older).

Logan went first. Here he is getting ready to help fluff his doggy. See the pedal on the floor? They step on that to make the fluff come out while the girl sitting in the chair maneuvers the animal around on that silver bar to evenly distribute the fluff.
It's hard to see, but Logan is holding his puppy's heart. You pick one out of a little heart-shaped bucket thing on the fluff machine. They say "I heart you" on them. The girl had each boy kiss the heart before she stuffed it inside of the new puppy.
After the puppies get stuffed, they get a bath (of puffed air). There are even little brushes that they kids can use to brush fluff off of their new pals. Then.....it was Aiden's turn.
Here is Aiden kissing his puppy's heart.
He even helped stuff the heart inside.
Puppy bath!
As a final step, you take your new friend to the computer banks, scan their tag, name them and get a birth certificate. Logan's dog is called the "scruffy puppy"...Aiden's was something like "brown sugar puppy". Logan went ahead and named his new friend "scruffy puppy" (don't call him JUST scruffy because it's scruffy PUPPY). Aiden wasn't sure what name to pick. He kept saying all kinds of nonsense that I couldn't understand. Finally, he said something like "Scrumble" so that's what I went with. We ended up with Scruffy Puppy and Scrumble.

This is me and Aiden creating Scrumble's birth certificate

YEAH! The doggies are done! Logan picked out a Chicago Bear's uniform for Scruffy and Aiden picked out a Bull's uniform, complete with a little basketball that can be attached via elastic band, for Scrumble.
The best and final part of the day was having cookies and milk OUTSIDE! Logan & Aiden weren't even wearing coats! It was gorgeous! I was February 6th! ...in CHICAGO! It was amazing!

Look at the cookie face!

Soaking in the sun!!
"Give me more cookie....now!"

Here is a (shaky) video of us all dancing along with Brady (seriously...he started it!) I think Brian was dancing too....with the camera :)

Daddy even scored some balloons for the boys! Aiden was overjoyed! What a day!!!!