I'm a Lucky Mommy

Today during quiet time (Tyce naps and the twins watch a movie) I was upstairs reading in my room and I heard SO much noise downstairs. I was super annoyed because the boys know that this is QUIET time. I came downstairs ready to be mad at them and I walk into the basement to find this... Sweet Jackson had cleaned up the entire basement! It had been pretty messy for a couple days now and he put all the toys away, in the correct bins, without me asking, all by himself. Jack gets easily overwhelmed by "big jobs" and I was so surprised he did this on his own. Josh was so proud of him, "mommy Jack did this ALL by himself!"

I asked Jack to smile for the camera and Josh poked his head in at the last minute. And yes, that is how Josh ALWAYS looks! He is licking his nose 24/7...

Then Josh showed me on the main level how he had "organcised" all the toys that we keep in the family room...

I really am a lucky mom. I have such sweet thoughtful boys.

Trip to the National Zoo

Yesterday Parker suggested we go to DC and spend the day at the zoo. The boys were super excited and we didn't hit traffic going either way! Yay! The weather was PERFECT! I was never hot or cold! Tyce got really fussy at the end because he wouldn't sleep in the stroller, punk, but other than that it was a great day. I didn't take many pictures because I've posted about going to the zoo before but here are two I took...

Hanging out on the bench waiting for mommy to hand out their lunches... Attempt at a family picture...

Nothing new or exciting to report. We are hoping and praying that Congress can get its act together and pass the budget so the federal government doesn't shut down! We are saving up to take the whole family to Oregon and Utah this summer and missing a couple paychecks would make things really tough. The good news is the kids and I head to Oregon in 10 days! Can't wait to spend time with my parents and grandparents! :)

While You Were Sleeping...

One of my favorite things to do at night is go in and look at my sleeping angels. They look so peaceful and precious.

Ever since Josh was little he loved his "lala," which is a burp cloth. He still loves to have it at night and I love how he wraps it around his finger when he sleeps...

Sweet little Jackson barely moves the entire night...I didn't grab a picture of Tyce sleeping but I love him in the morning, first thing he does is hand me his blankets...Then he hands me his lala...Then he hides his binky under the bumper. When we were getting him off his binky during the day when he would wake up I would hide it under there so he wouldn't want to bring it with him outside of his bed. Now he loves to put it under there, it's so cute...Then he smiles at me and is ready to get out of bed!

I love my boys!

Yesterday I asked Josh and Jackson whether they wanted to be in the SAME kindergarten class or DIFFERENT classes next year. Jackson's face suddenly got so sad, somber, and worried and he said...

"I want to be in JOSHY'S class because if another boy is wearing a brown shirt and has brown hair and I run up to him to play with him, and then see that it is not Joshy, I will be SO sad and I won't know where my Joshy is!"

AH, it melted my heart. I love their relationship. Their preschool teacher says that they are not clingy at all to each other at school but I think just knowing that the other one is there gives them peace of mind. They're so lucky they have each other!

Lastly, I'LL BE IN OREGON IN 2 WEEKS!!!! :)

Big Boy Joshy

Josh seems to grow up a little more every day, and I don't like it. He is my sweetheart, he's mommy's boy, and I want him to stay that way forever. Today I was on the computer paying bills and he asked me to get his breakfast ready. I said I would in 5 minutes when I was done. I walk into the kitchen to find this...
He was so cute getting his breakfast ready himself. He didn't spill a drop and put both the cereal and milk away without me asking (he could teach his daddy a thing or two!) I know he's 4 and pouring his own cereal isn't all that uncommon but, it made me realize, he's growing up and needs me to do less for him. Why does that make me sad? For so long when the twins were babies I wanted them to grow up. Now here they are, growing up, and I'm devastated. I want to freeze time! I hope I can always find things to keep Josh and I close as he gets older. I love you so much Joshy! I hope you're always mommy's boy!

A few minutes after I posted this Jackson says to me, "mommy I want to stay little forever because I LOVE to play with toys." Haha, he read my mind! Yes Jack, please stay little forever!!!

Puzzle Mania!

Monday afternoon Parker took the twins shopping and they each picked out a book with puzzles from Barnes and Noble. I am surprised at how well they are doing with them! They're 50 piece jigsaw puzzle and pretty difficult! It's interesting to watch their different personalities come out while they work on them. Josh will sit down and work on it until he's done. He'll do it alone and, no matter how hard it is, he keeps at it (PARKER!) Jackson gets all excited to start it, then realizes how hard it is, begs for help, then watches while Parker, Josh, or I pretty much do the rest (JENN). Haha. It's also hard because Tyce likes to wreck the puzzles as soon as we finish them. Josh says, "sometimes it's hard to have a little brother mommy. I love him so much but I don't like when he ruins my puzzles!"

Here are some pics of them doing their puzzles today...

Nothing else too exciting is really going on out here. I am missing my family (what's new right?) but looking forward to going home in a few weeks. Jack and Josh still LOVE preschool, Parker is still super busy at work, Tyce is growing up like crazy and becoming so much more fun, and I am back on my diet!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day but my boys were excited about it so I tried to make it special for them. Yesterday we made heart sugar cookies and frosted them. Please don't ask me how many I've eaten. They are SO yummy!

Jackson only wanted to frost a few then he just wanted to do the sprinkles... Josh took a lot of time on his...

Then we gave them their Valentine's surprises early because Parker is working late tonight and he wanted to see them get their stuff... They each got a transformer/robot thing (I'm stil getting the hang of boys toys) which they absolutely LOVED...And they got a new movie...Grandma Morrill sent each of the boys a Valentine's Day card with $10 in it. Josh was SO excited. "That means I can buy TEN things at the dollar store!" Haha, smart boy. Jack was super excited about his card because on it it said, "grandson you are the coolest" so Jackson said, "Mommy does that mean that I'm KEWL?" He's really into what's "kewl" these days so good job on the card mom! Tycee was sure excited about all the candy...Playing with their transformers...Then they set up their Criss Cross Crash race tracks that they got for Christmas (but we just barely found cars for) and the transformers and Woody watched the races...This morning I woke up to this from my sweet husband...And this from my sweet Jackson (hidden in the jammie drawer)...And this from my sweet Josh (in the pants drawer)...And I got a sick baby from Tycee. Poor guy woke up burning up with a fever, cough, runny nose, you name it. How sad does he look???This morning the boys were SO excited to hand out their Valentines to their friends...After preschool Jackson showed me his favorite Valentine that he got from his friend Emily...

Now they're all eating lunch and then it's nap time for poor sick Tyce and the boys get to watch their new movie. Not sure what Parker and I will do tonight, he'll be home late so who knows. Maybe takeout and a movie? Happy Valentine's Day!

Tyce is 18 Months!

I really can't believe my baby is 18 months old! He turned 18 months on January 31st and the best part is, he can go to nursery on Sunday! I'm sure Parker is very much looking forward to actually being able to GO to class and not hang out in the halls with a hungry, whiney, bored, tired Tyce.

Tyce has become such a fun little guy. He loves to play on the computer (when mommy says no), stand in front of the TV when his brothers are watching cartoons (which irritates them so much), and dump colored pencils and paperclips on the floor (after mommy has told him to put them away). He LOVES to read books and could probably do it all day. He is very smart and I'm amazed at how much he understands and remembers. He loves to play dinosaurs with his brothers and loves to play hide and seek with them as well. He isn't the best eater. He doesn't eat much, kinda picky, and won't let us put the tray on his high chair on anymore. He loves string cheese. He is still a GREAT sleeper! He loves his 2-3 hour naps every day and goes down so easily. He goes down at 7:30pm and sleeps till about 7:30am. I feel so blessed to finally have a good sleeper (the twins were not good sleepers until about age 4!). It is so fun to see his personality coming out. He tends to be a little dramatic (gosh I hope not as bad as Jackson) but is also very loving. He loves to give us each hugs and kisses. He also really loves our kitty, Brody. He could love on him all day! He does pretty well with strangers, he's shy for a few minutes then warms up. For now, he prefers mommy over daddy but definitely LOVES to play with daddy. From about 5:00pm on, every train he hears he says, "Da Da?" Too cute. I love my Tycee SO much and feel so lucky to be his mommy.