St. Patrick's Day 2014

In a smooth segue from my last post in August, I bring you St. Patrick's Day 2014. 

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite days. Here is how we celebrate:

 Geocaching! This is our third annual St. Patrick's Day geocaching expedition. It is our own version of finding hidden treasure :) This year we hid a cache for the first time. Lincoln was super excited!

 We do a traditional full Irish breakfast on St. Patrick's Day. Lucas and I went to Ireland the year before Lincoln was born, and every single place we stayed served us a full Irish breakfast: brown bread, bacon, eggs, blood sausage (full disclosure: we served good ol' sausage links...we'll save the blood sausage for our next trip to Ireland...), hash browns, and tea/coffee. I usually make Blarney Stones, too, but am going with a Sticky Toffee Pudding this year instead (not yet made...saving for tomorrow, when we have visitors!)

 At school today, Lincoln followed the green footprints and discovered some hidden treasures from a leprechaun! Hats, necklaces, and shiny's for everyone!

 More shiny's were hiding in the sandbox (Bennett is holding one up in the picture). Lots of digging today.

 My Grandma loved St. Patrick's Day and used to have a green hair piece she wore every year. This year we decided to remember her by donning our own green hair. Mine are extensions I ordered online, and Beebs' are green Crayola marker :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my me and my favorite leprechauns!

Also, this face:

Lincoln Quotes 2.0

Me: Lincoln, go find your jacket for school.
Lincoln: Uh, I don't have a jacket. If you don't go get me a jacket, I'll eat your card with my claw.
(follow-up: he went and got his jacket)

About a year ago, I was having trouble getting Lincoln to take a nap. Bennett had crawled over to Lincoln's bookshelf and was throwing the books off the shelf one by one, which Lincoln thought was hilarious. I told him if he went to sleep, he could dream about Bennett and the books! He thought that was awesome and actually took a nap. One year has past, and every single time we have asked Lincoln what he dreamed about during the past year, he says "Bennett and the books." Every time. For a year. We know he has other dreams, though, because he will ask us things like, "Remember that time Bebo fell down the basement stairs but he didn't get hurt and he got the peanut butter and was playing with it and got sooooo sticky and he climbed up the walls and got stuck on the ceiling and Daddy came down the stairs and saw him and said BEEBS!? That was so funny, Mama."

When Bennett doesn't share his toy right away with Lincoln, Lincoln usually says, "Bennett just said he never, ever, ever, ever, ever is going to let me play with that toy. EVER."

Update to the dream recounting:
Instead of "Bennett and the books," Lincoln now dreams every night about a (fill in the blank) eating a (fill in the blank). Today, it was a ceiling eating an ice cream cone. Yesterday, a wall eating a hand.

Talking back has begun. Some examples:
Lucas: "Lincoln, are you listening to me?"
Lincoln: "Are YOU listening to ME?"

Me: "Lincoln, please put your shoes away."
Lincoln: "If you say that again, I going to run so fast into my room and never put my shoes away."

Lincoln can also be super polite.
Lucas: "Lincoln, do you want to go play in the basement with Beebs while we clean up dinner?"
Lincoln: "Um, not right now and thanks. No thank you. I just want to stay up here for now. Thanks for asking."

"This beetle is so clever of himself!"

"This squirrel is more clever than the cleverest beetle!"

After winning a game: "Wow, I sure am lucky of myself!"

"Daddy, it smells like rotten carrots in here. Daddy, Bennett smells like rotten carrots....and, poop."

On the airplane:
Me: Lincoln, is your seatbelt pulled tight?
Lincoln: Yep! It's as tight as a rabbit's pocket! (we laughed for days about this one...)

Playing outside with mama, grandma, and bennett:
Lincoln: "Mama, I need to go potty." (whispering: "when we get inside, I'll tell you what I really want to say...I don't want Grandma to hear me.")

We go inside.

Lincoln: "Mama, I need to go poop. I didn't want Grandma to hear, because I thought it might make her have to poop, too. I didn't want that to happen."

Bennett is TWO

Bebo (as he prefers to be called) is TWO years old today! He has had an amazing year. This is more of an update post vs. his birthday post...that will come after I actually have birthday pictures.

I have been tracking Bennett's words for awhile, thinking I would make a list on here to show how his language is progressing. That was a couple months ago...now, I think it may get a little long and boring if I write down all his words, so I'll try and keep it to the cutest ones!

Bikes and Kites

Webey (Wembley, our dog), Hepme (help me), pwease (please), honey, woo woo (choo choo), mum (mud), na-na (knock knock), meeeeee! (me), mine, hot dah (hot dog), nana (banana), appoh (apple), dump (jump), bwabee (broccoli), bea (beans, bead), beebeep (get out of my way), caw (car), ding! (toast...because our toaster oven dings when it is ready), NO! (snow), Ha-Ha (trash truck)

2 word phrases (which just happend overnight a few weeks ago. seriously, seeing this language burst in person is so much cooler than reading about it in texts books. the human mind is amazing.):
mo pwease (more please)
no webey (no wembley)
dop it (stop it)
MY (nana, ball, etc.)
eat nana
wiwinc cool (lincoln school)

3 word phrases (which just happened in the last few days):
i want noodos (i want noodles)
rock rock noodo (asking for rock-a-bye noodle)
i wike
biwd eat beed! (bird eat seed)
mo waduh pwease (more water please)

He labels the following colors:
blue (bwu), green (gwee), yellow (wewo), pink (pee), brown (bwow), gray, white, purple (puhpo)

counts:
wuh, wuh, fee, nine, nine, nine! (one one three nine nine nine!)

Knows the letters A B C D and that his name ends with TT :)

He loves art. Seriously loves it. He spends hours coloring with crayons, markers, colored pencils, pens (which may have been on the couch, in addition to his paper...). He loves to paint, too. He concentrates sooooo hard while he is coloring; it is adorable.

He has become very possessive of things that are his, or that he has one time touched (pretty much anything he looks at). MINE! and No! Meeeee! are common phrases around here.

Delicious snow.

Bennett requests hugs approximately 50 times a day. If he gets an owie, if he is frustrated, if he spills something, if he drops something, if Lincoln took something he was using, if he doesn't get something he wants...all are fixed with hugs. Which, of course, I love.

Beebs is a Daddy's boy. He does not allow me to put him to bed at all anymore, nap included. Once he stopped nursing (at 21 months, same as Lincoln), he wanted nothing to do with me at bedtime anymore. If I try, or if I go in when he wakes at night, he screams and pushes me away while yelling, "DADA!". He also likes Lucas to give him extra hugs when he gets hurt, even if I have already given him one. Trying not to let the favoritism bother me (I'll admit, getting a free pass at bedtime is nice; but I do miss the snuggles!).

trash truck (or as bennett says, "ha-ha!")

He sings a lot :)

2 days ago he finally answered us when we asked what his name was: Bebo. When we asked if it was "Beebs," he said, "NO. Beeee-bo." hahaha!

Loves to vacuum. Loves chocolate. Loves Lincoln and asks for him when he is at school. Looooves his bike. Wants to be outside all of the time. Loves to swim. Tries to use the potty chair. Loves cheese. Loves strawberries. Loves to be rocked and snuggled. Does not like it when I try to sing to him :) Favorite books: If You're Happy and You Know It, Pete the Cat, Llama Llama, Knuffle Bunny.

Beebs is full of joy, laughter, and mischief. We found him in the bathroom today eating hair gel (first call ever to poison control; he was fine...). He is very sneaky!

This year has been so much fun. We love you, Bennett, and look forward to all that is to come!

My 4 year old

Lincoln has been 4 for an entire month now, but I still haven't written his birthday post. Today is the day! I did an interview with him to record his current favorites...he is at a really awesome age right now. Hilarious, kind, sensitive. Growing more and more coordinated. Some of the things he says, I have NO idea how he comes up with. Just pure awesomeness.

We had Lincoln's birthday party at a local gymnastics center. He LOVED it! He still asks to go back.

Getting some serious air on the trampoline.

Into the foam!

 Lincoln picked chocolate cupcake with chocolate icing (chocolate is his favorite anything). His friends joined us for the party, which of course included a parachute!

 His laugh is so infectious! 

Favorite snack: Applesauce

Favorite food: Stir-fry

Favorite color(s): "When I was three, my favorite colors were black and green. Now my favorite colors are red and yellow, because I'm four."

Favorite game: Cooties (the board game)

 Lincoln's preschool had an art show at one of the local libraries. His picture is the bottom right hand corner: "A Mixed-up Rainstorm with Colors"

Favorite toy: Rokenbok (he got this for his birthday)

Favorite book: "All of them! And, Richard Scarry." (he also likes Pete the Cat books, Franklin the turtle books, and really anything available. he just loves reading.)

Favorite TV show: Busytown Mysteries

Favorite movie: WALL-E

 Rokenbok!

 My new favorite picture. Lincoln's idea--"Beebs, come hide under here with me!"

What do you want to be when you grow up: "A trash man!"

Favorite friend: Mark (from preschool)

Favorite song: "The oh oh song!" ("some nights" by fun)

Lincoln picks up on everything! Riding in the car, he will be laughing, watching out the window, etc. and suddenly say, "Hey! They are talking about me!"...it will be an ad for Lincoln cars on the radio. He loves running races, riding his bike, playing outside, digging, and going to the park. He is so inquisitive and seems to absorb everything--he still remembers things from when he was 2 years old in Houston that we haven't talked about since he was 2 years old in Houston! Lincoln is very sensitive...he hates to upset us, and apologizes almost immediately if he thinks we are mad. It is very sweet, but we are also working on him sticking up for himself more. He is actually getting better at this with Bennett (although he does still let Beebs take over way more than he should...). Lincoln loves to tell others about things he has done and loves to hear stories from other people. The other night at dinner he turned to me and said, "Mama, did you have a nice day today? What was your favorite thing?" So sweet.

Other things Lincoln loves, in no particular order:

• swimming (currently taking lessons and finally putting his whole face in the water!)
• cooking with Mama
• playing Hide and Seek 
• Music: "The King" by Piebald, "Rumor has it" by Adele, "Someone that I used to know" by Gotye, "The Cave" by Mumford and sons, "C is for Cookie" by Cookie Monster (this is mostly Beebs...). He also makes up his own songs all the times.
• He loves making up secret words: "teeny froony" is the current secret password around here.
• He likes to imitate Bennett, especially if Bennett is being mischievous (climbing on cabinets, dumping all the pasta noodles on the floor, etc.). 

Lincoln is seriously so awesome to hang out with at this age. We are really loving 4 years old, and of course we really love this kid!

First Day of Preschool

Let's pretend it's September! Lincoln started preschool way back then, not now, as evidenced by the wearing of shorts, no coat, and last, but certainly not least, the date written on the chalkboard. The picture on the left was on his first day of Mother's Day Out last year, and obviously, the one on the right is him this year. As you can see, he is now a teenager. Seriously, that is a huge change, is it not??

Lincoln LOVES his preschool. L-O-V-E-S it (and so do I!). He asks every day if it is a school day (he only goes 3 days a week), and for awhile he was nearly in tears when we picked him up after school (a good problem to have, I suppose). He attends a play-based parent coop, so there is no formal academic component (which I love), and Lucas or I get to help out in the classroom once or twice a month (which Lincoln loves). They can go outside in any weather (and have...rain and snow just mean bring your boots!). A few weeks ago they were grinding whole grains into flour and mixing up "pies" (water and flour) with their freshly ground flour with the hose outside. There is also a fair amount of ghost and zombie chase, but I suppose that comes with the territory in a class of 6 boys and 1 girl.

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure I got these pictures posted and mainly wrote the above text as filler space. So there you go :)

Lincoln Quotes Again!

L: Mama, Daddy's going to open this box for me!
M: I can do it, Lincoln. Hand me the (closed) pocket knife.
L: No, Mama. This tool is for Daddies. Not for Mamas. You can't use it."

Bennett and Lincoln are playing "sleep" (best game ever-they just lay in bed and pretend to sleep). Bennett gets up to leave. Lincoln-"Beebs, are you going to go downstairs?" Beebs-"uh" Lincoln-"Ok. I will not miss you." Bennett leaves, walks into the hall, turns around and goes back into Lincoln's room. Lincoln-"Beebs, I love you. Do you want to share the covers?"

Waking up in the middle of the night: "Mama, where is the hair book you got me at the haircut store?"

Taking a sticker off B's arm. 

L: Beebs wants to trade! 

Me: are you sure? It looked like you just took it.... 

L: Yep. 

Me: Well, what are you going to give him for the trade? 

L: Um, Beebs could have..... a shoe!

L: Daddy, what's this? (grabs his crotch)

D: Ummm, that would be your scr*tum.

L: My grout? My grout! My grout! My grout!

D: Not grout. Scr*tum.

(10 minutes later)

L: Daddy, that's my walrus?

Lincoln went through a phase where after every bath or any time he was getting dressed, he would look at us out of the corner of his eye and slyly ask, "Do you want to see something new? Just take a look!" He would then expose himself while shouting, "PEN#S and GROUT" as loud as he could. Crossing our fingers we don't have a flasher in the making...

(Note: the above words have symbols in them because I don't want my blog showing up in search results for any weirdos out there)

Bennett comes to the back door completely covered in dirt. 

Me: Bennett! How did that happen! 

B: uh. 

Me: Lincoln, how did Bennett get so dirty?? 

Lincoln: Oh! I was just tossing dirt on him. That's how.

I am in the kitchen listening to the boys play in the backyard and hear Lincoln say, "Open your mouth wider, Beebs. I can't fit all the dirt in." :X

(After a day full day of Halloween activities)...Me: Lincoln, we are going to make our pumpkin pizza, then get our costumes on, then go trick-or-treating for Halloween! L: HALLOWEEN! I didn't know it was Halloween! (Looks out the back window). Look, Mama....people are driving on Halloween! hahahahaha!"

Halloween!

We went all out for Halloween this year!

Pumpkin carving:

 Beebs thought the pumpkin guts were awesome. He would pick them up and go "Ewwwwww!"

 So happy! Pumpkins!

 Ewwwww!

 Team effort.

 We did it!

 Bebo and pumpkin

 We also painted a pumpkin (and hair, face, and arms)

 Hat tip to Pinterest for candy corn parfait, mummy hot dog, and bone bread stick.

 This was supposed to be a jack-o-lantern pizza. Lincoln laughed and said "No it's not." Fail.

 The costume that keeps on giving. Third year in a row, this year featuring Beebs.

 Robot! Antenna, working dial, glow stick panel, and CLAWS.

We got multiple comments while we were trick or treating that Lincoln's was the best costume of the night. Woohoo! They were troopers while trick or treating. We walked since there was no way Lincoln could sit in a wagon this year. It also came to our attention after the first house that he could not reach his bucket because there was a giant box in the way. Oops. Design flaw. By the end of the night, they were both exhausted and whining to go home. At one point, Lincoln actually said, "I just want to go to sleep right here in the grass." Lucas made them power through the last block home. No giving up! It's free candy!

 Gigantic pumpkin.

 At our local rec center Trick or Treat night. Robot costume wasn't ready, so we improvised with "The Squirrel." 

I love that squirrel.