How is it that I haven't blogged in like a week?! Honestly, it's because work for me has been very busy lately including mid-day conference calls (which are extremely hard to do with the boys running around) and working as many hours as I can after the kids are in bed at night.

So...I have a lot to say (warning: potentially boring post!)

Last Monday I took the boys for their H1N1 vaccinations. I was so super proud of them. They knew exactly why we were there and we even talked about how the shot was going to hurt just a little. They stood in the long, but quickly moving, line and kept saying things like "is it our turn yet?! I promise I'm going to be brave!" Logan was very intent on going first...until we got into the room. Suddenly he decided Aiden could go first. Aiden actually had no problem with that, let me take off his shirt, watched the needle go in and didn't even flinch. As soon as Logan saw Aiden's reaction, he jumped up, took off his shirt and yelled, "me next!" Brady went last and did cry...until the nurse brought out a bucket of lollipops...then it was all fine and dandy.

Other Monday things: swim class and soccer. We recently switched our swim lessons to a new place. Logan and Aiden are in a class together with two little girls. They goof around and act crazy when they're supposed to be paying attention, but it's a blast to see them share their first activity together. I think the overall content of this class is much better than their old ones where they did the exact same thing over and over and over again. They work on a variety of skills and seem to get a lot more time with the teacher. However, the pool is colder and so poor Aiden was shivering like crazy last week. I plan to take their swim shirts tomorrow...maybe that will help a little. Logan....well....I'm starting to understand that Logan isn't comfortable with change and has a bit of his mom's fear of failure. The second week of class, he sat on the edge and refused to go in until I threatened to take him to the locker room to get dressed if he wasn't going to participate. Last week, he was very upset when I told him it was swim day. I gave him a little space and went about getting the other boys ready for our day. A little while later, I found him, sat with him and asked him to please explain to me why he didn't want to go to swim. Well...it seems that he's afraid he's not going to do it right. I guess the repetition of the other class was comforting after all. I explained that no one does something right the first time they try and that's why you go to a class. The teacher is there to help you so you just pay attention to her, practice on the side of the pool and do your best. If you aren't sure that you're doing it right, ask her to help you - that's why she's there! I was so proud of him! He did exactly what I suggested and was even trying everything on the side while he watched the other kids. During our discussion at home before we left, he also mentioned that he felt a little frustrated at karate. He joined in the middle of a testing session (hard to explain), but the whole class is about to start over again so he's going to be just fine. We decided together that I would tape the class so that we could work on the moves at home together...not to make him the best in the class or anything like that, just to make him comfortable because he LOVES going to karate and I want him to have fun.

So wow - I had more stuff to write about, but that was a lot! I'll talk about some more of last week's stories another day! I do have pictures though!!

One day during lunch, Aiden wanted some of his stretchy lizards with him at the table. He also thought they should have some food. I found our left over Halloween sprinkles, picked out some mini candy bats for the lizards and put them in a bowl. I thought they sort of looked like bugs (which is what we always talk about lizards having for lunch). Aiden made sure each of his pets had at least one "bug bat" to eat.

That same day Logan brought one of his McDonald's Bakugans to lunch. This little guy obviously needed food too so he got the orange sprinkle part of the "sprinkle mix" (this is what's left over after you pick out the bats so it worked out well...)

Have I mentioned how the boys love to steal my camera!? I had a LOT of crazy pictures to delete from last week. This one made me laugh! Logan and his friends on the street have a crazy exchange program going on where they trade toys or "borrow" from each other all the time. I usually have a pile of "things to return" on my counter top. Logan was obsessed with this batman for like 2 days. It belongs to AJ. Inspired by his love, we added a batman toy to his Christmas list :)

We have a new tradition at the 554 these days...invented by Logan (wow...this is a Logan-heavy post!) Anyway, last week we made homemade soup with cheese bread for dinner on Friday night. It was a chilly fall evening and it seemed right! That night, Logan was eating his soup and said, "Hey! I have an idea! Every Friday, let's make soup and have grilled cheese sandwiches! We'll call it soup Friday!" Brian loves cooking and we all love soup (not to mention grilled cheese or cheese toast) so we decided it was an excellent idea. This past Friday, Logan requested Tomato soup. Brian made an amazing version of an old favorite which included bacon, mushrooms, cream, a little gin and diced tomatoes. He also made his own focaccia bread. I'm such a lucky girl! :) Anyone remember our grand plans to make a family cookbook complete with pictures? I think we're going to simplify that idea and start with a Soup Friday book.

Here is the yummy bread!

Logan and daddy getting ready to chow down.

And now to Brady news:

theyyyyyy'rrrre baaa-aaack - the long forgotten Thomas trains! Logan loved, loved, loved, loved (get it??) Thomas when he was Brady's age. It started at 16 months and ended about a year later. In that time, we accumulated a lot of trains, a train table and tons of wooden track. These days we have GeoTrax LAND in the basement which all three boys enjoy. I even recently moved the train table to Aiden's room for his marble run. Bear saw Thomas on TV one day and has been requesting it frequently. Aiden and Logan will sit and watch it as well so it's definitely a go-to crowd pleaser. Today, Brady found one of the wooden Thomas trains and was rolling it along the floor. I got the rest of the trains out of the hallway closet, set up a track on the floor in the foyer and he played with it ALLLLL day long (save for the 2 hours we went out to see the movie Astro Boy in the morning <-- very cute movie by the way, and during his nap)

In this picture, he is pointing to the trains and saying "my trains!" Other things frequently heard: "tains tains! go tains! hoo hoo!" <-- that is Brady's train sound! He will often get frustrated while trying to hook them all together on the track. He'll find one of us, do a "come with me" motion and say "help - tains!" Logan was a doll and helped him out a lot today when mom and dad were busy.

The tree in our backyard is shedding pine cones like crazy. Some of the (older) neighborhood boys have been throwing them around and my kids have followed suit. This afternoon, Brian went out and collected a bunch of them with the boys. He found a craft on the Internet, which I then did with them (crafts are not Brian's strong suit). These are pine cone owls. Cute...not too hard to make!

The pipe cleaners and pom poms we have on hand in the house are all in Christmas colors so our owls look a little like they belong on Seasame Street :)

Per usual, I was planning to write a real quick post on one little topic...until I took a look at the pictures currently on my camera! The one little topic was: my boys and magic. I didn't realize until yesterday that we have several little rituals that involve having or being "magic":


1. Every time we go into or out of a store where there are electric handicap doors, the boys run and compete over who gets to push "the magic button" (which is nice because I need those doors open for the stroller!). It's gotten to the point where I have to monitor the whole process "ok guys...there's a magic button on this door...Logan gets to push it on the way in and Aiden gets to push it on the way out". For the most part, they are very courteous about sharing the magic.


2. Aiden loves to "use magic" on automatic doors (the ones that open via sensors as you approach). At Home Depot one day, for example, he stood about 5 feet from the front door until the person in front of us went through and until the doors slid shut. When everything was all set, he quickly ran towards the door, jumped into a sort of crouched position and waved his hands, palms out, towards the door. Ah...every time he does that, it cracks me up!

3. This is what made me think of all our "magic" stuff: Last night, we were playing outside with friends. It was time to go in so I asked the boys if they wanted to eat real quick and then take a bath so that they could play with daddy when he got home. Logan said "sure....but can you do the magic tonight?!" Aiden chimed in with "ya!! do the magic!!" Mommy's magic started one night, over a year ago, while I was giving the boys a bath (in our bathroom as always...which is right over the garage). I heard the garage door open and then I heard Brian walking up the back stairs. Anyway...I turned to the boys and asked, "you guys want to see mommy do a magic trick?" They were totally excited. So...I said, "abracadabra....hokus pokus"....and a bunch of other words, until I heard the door open to the bathroom. Then I said "TA-DA!" and in walked Daddy. Now we have a system. The boys ask for the magic if Brian isn't home, but is supposed to be home before bedtime ("do the magic in the bathroom mommy!!"), Brian will call me when he's in the neighborhood and I'll say "ok guys....it's time for the magic!" They get so excited...especially when I finally get to yell TA-DA!



And now for the pictures on my camera:



Last week the boys needed something to do. I wanted them to go outside. I set up this little bubble machine we got after our super cool one kicked the bucket. I told them that Darth Vadar had created clone bubbles and that they needed to be destroyed as they rolled off the production line!! Here are the boys battling the clone bubbles.



Last weekend we went to Wisconsin for Charlie's open house (a chance for everyone to come and meet the new baby!) We were at the beautiful home of Aunt Sara's mom and dad and got to see a lot of people we haven't see for quite a while (lots of new babies in the mix!). Right before we left, we took a picture with Charlie. He's sitting on Aiden's lap. It was a really fun little party and our boys were like shockingly well behaved. We were a super happy mommy and daddy as we drove home. Of course we went to The Brat Stop to grab some of Brian's favorites for the freezer.

So...we're all familiar with Logan's pictures from my camera. Aiden got a little curious about it Sunday morning while the two of us were making pancakes and eggs. He kept wanting to take pictures of himself.

Ouch...I wonder if the flash hurt!

I love making photo albums using shutterful.com. At one point, I was looking at all the different albums they offer and noticed a recipe one. Brian was making an AWESOME meal for us on Sunday and mentioned that he would like to make a family recipe book. The only problem is that each page in the shutterfly album layout is accompanied by a picture. So....we have a new family mission: make all our favorite recipes, take pictures, and make a book! We had Meemaw and Grandpa over for dinner on Sunday (belated bday for Meemaw, early Father's Day for Grandpa). We decided to take pictures of the food...and a few of the family.

Aiden loved the corn! The night's menu included smoked ribs, rotisserie chicken (the best we've ever had!!!), grilled packets of red potatoes with blue cheese crumbles, and corn. Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard! I'm saving the pictures of the ACTUAL food for the book :)

And now we have a series of pictures that Logan took yesterday. I will narrate what I think might have been going through his head:

mommy said my friends are playing outside....here I go!

There's my brother Aiden!

He has a bunch of monster stickers on his shirt today! (from Ella)

Here is my friend Ryan! He just got done playing in the water. WATER! That sounds like fun. I should go get my bailing suit!

I'm walking back home....that's my patio! I need my bailing suit to play in the water!

Here I am walking back inside. Where is mommy??

Wait....no....I don't think I'm done playing with the camera yet. I'm heading back outside!

Here is some stuff on the porch....

This is me sitting at the little picnic table...

This is me laying my head on the patio couch

I think I came off too serious that last time....here I am grinning

Wait...that wasn't a very good picture....I didn't get my whole head. Let me set this shot up one more time. That's better!!
Oh my gosh....did you think this post should be over?? me too! But...the boys were playing in the rain today and I thought it was cute. Brady was a bit upset because.... He was having some initial problems managing the big umbrella his brothers gave him.

Logan offered to take the big umbrella from Brady. He thought it was pretty cool that you can hit a button on the handle to make it pop open. Here he is saying "look Aiden...I can cover us both!"

Brady did a bit better with the smaller umbrella, although I kept holding mine over his head so he wouldn't get soaked.