Arnold

Some favorites come and go, but when something really sticks it is worth a blog post.  Kyle's most recent obsession is the Magic School Bus.  And by recent, I mean for the last 4 months or more he has been completely immersed in the world of this book series.  He takes his toy school bus everywhere around the house with him (he would take it out in public too if he were allowed!), and has studied every detail to the few books we own from the series.  I had bought them at a garage sale thinking they would be good science books for the elementary level of reading... Some how he found them and let his imagination run wild.  Our weekly library trips are energized by the prospect of finding a new one in the little box section that they are featured at-- we currently have 8 books and 3 movies from the series checked out... That gives you an idea of how popular they have become to our household.  We have also discovered that there is a TV show of them on Sat. mornings, oh how they look forward to that!   They all pretend they are characters from the series and they call me Ms. Frizzle :).  Come meet Arnold. 

This is the real Arnold... He is the scientific, slightly nerdy kid that is always reluctant to do something too dangerous. 

This is my Arnold.  When asked in public what his name is, he tells them that his name is Arnold.  If you call him Kyle at home, he will declare that he is not Kyle, he is ARNOLD!

He told me that he wants glasses for his birthday!  For Christmas he said he wanted a yellow striped shirt, and while I couldn't find one for Christmas, I found this one last weekend at a second hand store... He has lived in it since I first washed it! 

The series really is great!  He has learned so much about the human body because of it... He will tell any listening ear ALL about what is inside your ear or how your digestive system works.  He doesn't have a shy bone in his body and he has been know to walk up to people he doesn't know and start the the conversation with: "Do you know what?!"... And if they say "what?" he will let them know whatever he happens to be thinking about.  He is telling me about the villi in the small intestines here.

Uh, oh- don't tell him that C is about to get his school bus!

He loves to color pictures about the body... Here is the heart (with blood vessels) and large intestines, Can you tell?

It is truly part of every aspect of his play... Here he turned train tracks into a digestive system, all the way from the mouth to the butt and everything in between!

Oh, how we love our little scientific kid!  

Carter 11 months

The count down is on to the 1 year marker of giving birth to a jolly little fellow...  He is running wild (literally) through our whole house and has a way of taking everything down or out that comes into his view.  He is like a tornado and can devastate any room that he comes in contact with in a matter of seconds!  I have watched him unravel the whole toilet paper roll in a couple of pats, completely unload the Tupperware cabinet with a good dig, take out almost all the numbers in our pocket calendar and wipe out a book shelf full of neatly lined books with one arm swipe!  Don't get me wrong, he is still sweet as pie, but his new vertical skills have appeared to make him just a little more rough and tumble!  We love him to pieces!

Do you see the 'I am cute and can get away with just about anything' look?

Here comes baby Godzilla!

Closer...Run!

He is spotting something to destroy.

Oh, it is the camera :)!

He has a few battle wounds from his toddles.

Such a funny kid that loves to laugh!

I got to thinking that we haven't done any diaper only pictures in a long time... What does he do with his clothes?!

He is also a thinker... That means trouble!

His favorite is walking with something in his hands.

Look at him... He is ALL boy!

Boy, oh BOY!!!

Boys will be boys!

Last week I sent the boys outside after lunch so that I could clean up the kitchen and finish folding a couple loads of laundry that were piling up.  I expected the usual winter time response of "It is too cold!" or "I don't want to play outside.", but for some reason I didn't get any complaints and after a few minutes of not hearing any of them try to sneak back inside, I decided to check on them... Come see what I found.

Let me remind you that it is the middle of January!

There is just something boyish about taking your shirt off and wresting!

We have officially entered the 'Boy' stage with these two!

I am so grateful I have a grassy yard!

The capture!

The take-down!

and the victory!

Earlier in the day I captured this picture of the spiderman cowboy himself... Can you guess who?!

Too bad the boys shirtless wrestling session got cut short because I found them trying to pee in the backyard... There is truly NEVER a dull moment in our house! 

Winter Swimming

We ended the year off up in the east mountains with snow, cousins and swimming!  While the weather outside was sunny and freezing, we were inside keeping warm swimming and visiting with family.  Mike's cousins are big on swimming and even have their own indoor pool to practice with... Too bad it is a long 1 hour drive with 4 kids to the other side of the mountains. 

The blow up car was supposed to be for the baby!

I think this is Carter's first time swimming?! Terrible is the memory of the 4th time mom!

Jakey playing basketball with his California cousin, Dylan.

And Kyle having a blast with Taylor!

Yay, dad even got in :)!

Something funny must have been said as we gathered around to eat lunch?!

Uncle Donnie and J on the guitar.

K and the kitty... He was searching for the cats all day!

Josh joined in on the musical fun.

K enjoyed some quiet time with his older cousin.

Snow Castles and Beasts

During Christmas break, Grandma Reinert came over to spend a day with us.  The kids played with the residual snow in the back yard, but got cold and bored of it fast... It just isn't the same a few days after the snow falls!  We decided to gather what snow we could find and bring it indoors instead.

Storage containers and Popsicle molds made for great castle builders.

 J was ready to rule his kingdom.

 After grandma started making little snowmen with little J, we brought the Mr. Potato parts out to make snow beasts...

 It takes a lot of concentration... and did you notice kyle making sure his castle tastes good?

 Everything has to be just right!

 I see you!

 Look mom!

 He has a pretty satisfied look on him.

Merry late Christmas.

Yesterday, while putting our Christmas stuff away in the garage, I thought to myself how quickly the month of December flew by!  I can't believe Christmas has come and gone... While we had fun celebrating the very special season of Jesus' birth and watching our kids getting excited about all things related (music, books, movies, decorations...), I am ready to get back to normal life! 

I finally found some time to post some Christmas pictures, come see how Christmas with our families went!

Christmas Eve at Grand D-D's...



Jacob loved looking at all of her decorations, especially the baby Jesus.

After dinner, the boys eagerly looked out the window and listened for jingle bells...Even C was curious about what was going on!

Penny made milk and cookies for the special guest.

There he is... Cousin Carl (AKA- Santa Clause!). Big J was eagerly giving him milk in exchange for gifts.

They were all tuning in to see what he had to say.

It is hard to read the name with a wig head full of white hair!

When it was Carter's turn to get a gift, he had no idea what was going on... The look says it all!

After the kids said their goodbyes to Santa, the mingling began.

Grandma and daddy caught the contagious smiles of C-man!

Oh, what a wonderful first Christmas for this little guy!

A drive home & a few short sleeping hours later, these guys caught a glimpse of all the gifts under our tree and the full stockings and were ready for round 2!

Carter got fancy baby food...

J was pretty excited about undies!

Puzzle for K!

Little J got a lot of attention as he opened his play food.

He began playing his drum right away (too bad it broke a minute later!). 

This is a COOL maze ball toy from Auntie Amy & Uncle Robbie... They always pick out great toys!

K is totally into learning how the body works and would not put down his new what is inside the body book... He kept telling us "Hold on, I am looking at my book!!" when we told him that it was his turn to open a gift!

Magic School Bus movie... The book series is what got him so fascinated with the how the body works!

Big J got spy gear... Glasses that you can see what is behind you, spy watch & walkie talkies.

Can't forget the latest toy obsession... Transformers!

Group gift from G & G R... a Castle play set!

Can't forget the 'mom' gifts (practical and cute!)... They look so excited, don't they!

C practiced his steps!

Dad got a vintage Transformer... it was the hit of the day for him and Josh!

The boys spent most of the day play pretending with their new castle!

Merry Christmas.