Ryan's Thoughts

Ryan has been so funny lately. He has such a great sense of humor and likes to find ways to make people laugh. His favorite joke that he tells at least five times a day:


Knock knock
Who's there?
Red
Red who?
Knock Knock
Who's there?
Red
Red who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad I wasn't another red?


I was making a grocery list the other day and left it on the table. When I came back Ryan had written his name down and was waiting with a gleam in his eye. "Mom - I thought you might want to get another Ryan at the store!" He was so proud of himself. I assured him that one Ryan is just enough for our family.


One day we were headed to Salt Lake. Kevin likes to take the Alpine onramp to I-15 like he is driving a race car. I guess the g-force was a little higher than normal because Ryan said, "Wow! Did you go on two wheels Dad?" He was really impressed.



And although these two know how to push each other's buttons, they really do love each other.

Like Mother Like Son

I've never been a great sleeper, so when I was younger I used to sneak out of my bedroom and hide behind the couch so I could watch TV with my mom and dad. One night Kevin was watching a football game and it extended into Matthew's bedtime. We usually tell him that we will give him the score when he wakes up the next morning. After we put him to bed Kevin and I went into our room to change into our jammies and then came out to finish the game. We watched the game for about five or ten minutes when I got the sense that we weren't alone. I stood up to go check on the boys and ended up stepping on what I thought was only a blanket crumpled on the floor. What was hiding beneath that blanket might you ask? Yes, Matthew, who had sneaked out of his room and was hiding very carefully under the blanket to watch the rest of the game. I guess I deserve a little payback.

Zach's New Bed

This is pretty late in coming. We've been trying to get things ready for the little guy and of course I haven't been very on top of the blogging thing. About a month ago we moved Zach from his crib to a new bed. I was pretty nervous because we had to work hard with Matthew and Ryan, but Zach took to it right away. He only got out of his bed a few times the first night and has stayed in it ever since. I think he enjoys being a big boy. Now if only I could convince him to potty-train!

January

January is already over? I feel like this whole month has gone by in one big blur. The weeks have been pretty much the same - school, work, errands. And I have to admit that I haven't done my best lately at documenting things. Here's a quick run-down of some recent goings-on before I forget.

Kevin: Keeping busy with work and church responsibilities. We are busy trying to get one of the downstairs rooms painted and the carpet put back in after our water leak at the very beginning of the month. We were thinking of trying a new color down there (instead of pastel purple) and although the boys wanted blue or green we decided to just go with the neutral color already in our house. We may be kind of boring, but at least the name of the color is Tequila. :) That ought to add a little spice to place. Kevin has also enjoyed watching a few football and basketball games. And he even got some time to play Civilization last night. Woohoo!

Amy: Still pregnant and going strong. We are down to single digits on how many weeks left for this little guy to come to our family. I am hitting the big and awkward stage, making it hard for me to bend down for too long. Kevin thinks I should get one of those sticks with the grabbers on the end. Who needs those when you have kids to do it for you? :) We are in the process of getting some new baby gear since ours have started to expire. We are also still working on a name. Both Kevin and I have our lists, but no consensus yet. Hopefully sometime soon!

Matthew: Loves school, at least going and participating. At the beginning of the school year he was very excited to do homework, but has recently changed his mind a little. He loves to read; his new favorites are the Magic Treehouse series. We can't keep them around fast enough before he devours them. I guess he got that from his mother. He loves playing freeze tag at school during recess and apparently sets "freeze traps" on the playground, a fact he is very proud of. He loves watching football and basketball games with his dad and usually chooses a team to root for. He can't wait to start soccer in the spring.

Ryan: Just as funny and crazy as ever. He loves to sing, but doesn't want anyone to pay attention to him while he is doing it. He is very creative and loves to show off his drawings (usually some form of bad guys vs. good guys) as well as his Lego concoctions. He finally learned to write his name with a capital letter at the beginning with lower case letters following. This has not been his favorite thing since he thought everything should be written in uppercase. He takes joy out of the simplest things and has the cutest laugh and sense of humor.

Zachary: Growing and learning more everyday. He loves to be like his brothers, so much so that he will change what he is having for breakfast just so he can be like them. He is learning how to go in the potty and just transitioned to a big boy bed. So far both are going relatively well, although I know as soon as I say that we'll hit a snag somewhere. He is a typical two-year-old - strongly independent and very stubborn. He has a great imagination and loves to play with cars and Imaginext guys. His very favorite thing has been the Nerf ball-popper gun he got for Christmas. He thinks it's great to get the monsters.

That's about it for now. More adventures to come!

Outsmarted

I oftentimes find myself being outsmarted by my kids. Sometimes it's because I haven't thought things through, and sometimes it's just simply because they really are smarter than me.

Case #1:

Today, Matthew was playing with his new Star Wars Lego set from Christmas. It's a big star ship with wings that can open and close when you spin a gear on the back. (For those of you interested, it is the ARC-170). For some reason, one of the wings wasn't opening like the other. Matthew brought it to me and as I started looking at it with my advanced knowledge of Lego engineering I deduced that a gear had fallen off from one of the wings. Matthew went and found the piece and I put it back together, thinking (very proudly in fact) I had solved the problem. But when Matthew started to turn the gear in the back, one of the wings opened while the other didn't. When you turned the gear the other way, the wings did just the opposite, the other opening while the other stayed closed. I started looking over the thing again, trying to figure out what I had done wrong (admittedly, my Lego engineering skills are more mediocre than advanced). That's when Matthew whips out this little gem of advice:

Matthew: Mom, I have a hypothesis. (A hypothesis?)
Mom: And what's your hypothesis? (As I'm still fiddling with the thing...)
Matthew: I think when you put the wing back on the other wing was still open, so when you turn it they don't open at the same time.
Mom: (A little surprised at the logic of his answer) You know what, you're probably right. Let's try it and see.

So we took off the wing, closed the other wing, reattached the first, and voila! Matthew the Mastermind figured it out light years ahead of his mediocre mom.

Case #2:

I was munching on some M&M's from my stocking when Zachary caught me with my contraband.

Zachary: What you habing?
Mom: Some M&M's.
Zachary: I need some (with a HUGE smile on his face and those puppy dog eyes). Pleeaase?
Mom: Okay. I'll give you a few, but only because you are so cute.
Matthew: (running in from the other room) I'm cute too. Can I have some?
Mom: Sure.
Ryan: (waiting at the side) Well mom, I'm not cute, so that means I can have A LOT. (I had forgotten that Ryan refuses to be called cute, preferring instead the term handsome. Well-played my boy).