March's Happenings

We didn't take many photos this month, and really, not much happened, but we still had a good month and there is stuff to report. Mainly that Elise is walking! Oh what a fun and funny girl. She is so proud of herself. It seems that she decided to do it and now she has taken off. Same with going down the stairs, she is now a pro. And we didn't really even try to teach her. A few times I have showed her how to turn around, but she had never really done it on her own and then one day I left her upstairs and a minute later she was halfway down the steps! She is really growing up in such fun ways. She grabbed a book and headed over to Scott, handed it to him and situated herself on him lap. And when he finished that, she repeated it! Ahhh, cute! She loves to play with her brothers, but unfortunately for them she hasn't learned how to play nice... She is trying to be a helper to me, pulling out pots and pans, trying to clean toilets with her bare hands, and cleaning glass with her tongue. So nice. She also has a really funny fascination with shoes. Anytime she sees a shoe she tries to put it on--at first she'd put them on her hands and crawl around. Now it is her feet. Since she can't necessarily walk well yet, she just puts them on her feet and sits there, or she drag them around. I keep finding random shoes in random places. She loves patty-cake, looking up (I am not sure why), and hugs from mom, and we love her! Brennan has become my little helper. Once Aidan gets off to school we set out to do some projects and he loves to help me. Today we updated the 72 hour kits and he did most of the work! And daily he thinks we are supposed to make some kind of treat. Unfortunately, he is not doing too well on eating dinner, so he doesn't often get that treat. Aidan and Weston are busy in school and have started soccer games. Since it is cold still (there is snow outside right now), it doesn't make me too happy to sit outside every Saturday morning, but it gives me hope that spring is around the corner. Aidan was star of the week and we made a lovely poster for him. He loves being the star! He also hit 100 days of school and there was a big party filled with HUNDREDs of things. We had parent teacher conferences and Aidan is flying high in Kinder. He is really reading well, although he tells me he doesn't like to read. But, still he does well. And since he found out that being a writer when he grows up requires lots of reading when he is a child, he has changed that plan... Weston does love reading and likes to stay up late at night--way too late. Right now he is reading "Half Magic" and he really loves "Calvin and Hobbes". He is doing well in school and finished up the Math Program first in his class. He got to go to a Jazz game with his dad and it was a highlight! He and I also went on a date to McDonalds and IKEA and at the end of the night he said it was the best date ever! With our little family growing--not so little, life is busier and costing more! We run the dishwasher daily, I do a load of laundry a day, and our grocery bill for one weeks food is enormous! We run from thing to thing, trying to make sure the kids are "well rounded" by being part of several activities, but hopefully making time for all the important stuff. Like Mr. Leprechaun. He visited and made a mess as always. But other than that, we are happy!

Elise makes a mess

Big headline. She is so messy! Scott thinks that because she is a girl she won't be as messy as the boys. Wrong!

Dinner time has turned into a fiasco trying to keep her clean. We just hope that she eats by osmosis!

When it isn't going in her mouth.... it comes out!

But here she is bright and clean--with funny and crazy hair!

More Brennanisms

I love to watch Brennan play. He is so fun and funny. For the past hour he has been playing by himself in the toy room --I am not sure what he is playing. He has random toys out, he is whispering to himself and then he plays a bit, runs a bit, whispers some more. He, by far, has the most active imagination of all the kids.

He also really keeps us on our toes about being nice. If I ever use a slightly raised voice (... because I never yell... hmm) his hands immediately cover his eyes, his mouth pouts and he says, "You're being mad to me!" or "Stop being mad to me!" It is so cute, usually that is just enough to calm me down! And, I don't know what to call this or how best to explain it, but if I (for example) remind him to eat his dinner before he gets a treat, he says that he did finish it. Even though it is sitting right there in front of him! Or I tell him he can't jump on the couch, he'll tell me "Dad said I could!" And, if I tell him to do something he doesn't want to do, he'll say, "You're not mom, Dad's mom!" It used to be that I wasn't the boss. He knows "mom" is the boss, so now he is telling me I'm not the mom... :)
He loves to color and spends a good hour of the day coloring. I go through paper quickly! And whenever he colors tape, glue, and scissors are always included! Puzzles are also an almost daily deal. We have probably six puzzles he can do (the big pieces or the big floor puzzles) and we do each one at LEAST once a week.

Although he talks all the time, his speech needs some working on... He can't say an S with another consanant. Such as snake. It comes out "nake". It is so cute! His Rs are a big soft making things even cuter! And he loves to sing (like Aidan) and right now his favorite song is "Eye of the Tiger", which he somehow mixes with the song "I am a child of God". Not quite sure how he does that. We catch him singing some Journey... Instead of "singer in a smokey room" he sings, "I see her in a mokey room."

He loves playing with his brothers and is very protective of Elise. He helps his mom work all the time, especially with vacuuming and dusting. What an absolute LOVE!