A Boy and His Toy

Our little rocket scientist asked me to take a picture of how much he loves his new toy. 

Precious!

It is the simple things that matter

Two days of tooth-pain-induced tantrums aside, Alexa was an absolute wonder to watch this Christmas.  I suppose I didn't know what to expect from her-this is the first year she's been able to recognize Santa and reindeer, however I'm not positive that she understands the concept.  Religiously she's right there with Billy and his Baby Genius beliefs.  However, she showed little interest in the gifts that sat under the tree all month and instead opted for naming the colors of each Christmas light.

On Christmas she simply melted my heart with the sweet, innocent joy she got from the simplest things (my heart was either melting, or simply relishing the break from the constant whining and crying she otherwise did all weekend!)  On Christmas Eve morning, she saw her baby doll toys and wanted nothing to do with opening more packages.

At Uncle Randy's she sat fascinated with the gift tag, which she admired and sang "Winnie the Pooh" to the teddy bears printed on it.  It took her a few minutes to even think about the gift inside.

When she opened her My Little Pony from Aunt Brenda and Uncle Dustin, she kept telling them "I love it! I love it!"  What a time to pick up that phrase!  She later refused, however, to tell them she loved them or goodnight, opting to profess her love and best wishes for the Christmas tree instead: "I love you, Christmas tree.  Good night, Christmas tree!" (could she really be doing that from spite already!)

 She loved playing bubbles with Grandma.

And stomping on the bubble wrap!

Storytime with Papa

Billy and Alexa are blessed with the most doting grandparents around.  Papa Bill can even be spotted enjoying a good story of Strawberry Shortcake on occassion :)

Deck the Halls

Earlier in the month the kids had a blast making dough ornaments.  After we FINALLY got them cooked (the oven started leaking gas as they were baking, so we had to wait about a week to finish them), I gave them cups of paint and sprinkles and turned them loose.

 

Billy made a fantastic gingerbread man and several striped candy canes.  Alexa did a fantastic job of making sure the stars were super-sparkly!

Speech Geek

Although my dreams for my little princess to become Montana's best debater might be thwarted by her obsession with cheerleading and gymnastics (those pictures will come later), I'm still going to try.  I brought her along to our speech and drama meet in Red Lodge (not her first, and not her last).  She had a blast hanging out in the library jumping off of chairs and dragging the other coach, Kimberly, up and down the stairs (over 20 of them each way-we know because Alexa can count each one!) 

She is well on her way to being able to give a first negative constructive-for the past week she's been trying to speak in sentences.   Now she's speaks in sentences more often than not!

For now, however, she's content to just drive the bus.

Boo Was Here

During hunting season my aunt Mary Lou (Boo) came for a visit!  Billy was super excited that he knew how to write her name!  We enjoyed a good meal with a bunch of family.

Charming.

Mom and Boo.

Transformers book and hot chocolate.  This boy is set!

We're Going On A Tree Hunt . . .

. . . in our backyard.  So maybe it isn't a tradition we can keep year after year, but "hunting" for our Christmas tree in our yard sure was easy!

Now, before you think "Wow-just when I thought I'd seen it all in redneck Montana," let me defend ourselves.  See, this tree was planted right next to our storage shed and fence.  And if the four story tall pine tree under which I took this photo is any indication of the tree to come, it had to go.  So, we decided to keep it until December.  Why not?

And Mom, we didn't even use a steak knife to cut it down!

Deer Me

When Rocky brought home his deer this hunting season, I warned him not to let Billy see it.  Billy's pretty sensitive to things being hurt, and he's recently been concerned about the variety of animals we eat.  Flashback's of my cousin Jennifer's "Deer Murderer" complex kept running through my head.

OK-Helicopter mom.  Butt out. 

The kids were facinated by the deer.  Billy watched Rocky skin it and made deer tracks all around the yard with a hoof.  Alexa even dared to touch it.  She did keep calling it a puppy, though.  It turns out the only one afraid of the deer was Dodger (who, ironically enough, is a tough dog when he's chasing them through the mountains). 

Daddy's A Cop!

Tonight Rocky was sworn in as an Officer of the Manhattan Police Department.  Billy had been looking forward to this day for so long.  He idolizes his Daddy like nobody else.  Rather than counting down the days until Christmas, he's been counting down the days until we get to watch Daddy become a cop.

 The kids also made some new friends.  Billy and another boy were talking about all of the things you can do when you are five.  The top of Billy's list was making his bed.  I'm not sure the other boy knew what to say.

Alexa chased a fellow officer's two-year-old little boy around all night calling him cute.  Lordy, I can't believe she's starting this so early!

Rocky, we are so very proud of you!  Congratulations!  And our entire family is looking forward to our future adventures in Manhattan.

Yo Soy Billy

A super-awesome friend lent us the Muzzy Spanish program (learn Spanish from cartoons).  The kids LOVE it!  Billy has picked up so much and recognizes Spanish (or at least another language-I think he believes Spanish is the only other one out there).  He has also made up his own language-or word.  "Mooska" originally meant "I love you."  However, it has meant everything from "Watch out!" to "That's weird."  I'm pretty sure Alexa has some Spanish vocab too since she asks to watch Muzzy every day.

Oh, and Billy's favorite word (he'll be so excited to ask you):

What's the Spanish word for "no"?

NO!

Baby Genius

Billy is smart.  Very smart.  And he knows it.  But I'll get to that story in a second. . .

A few weeks ago I found this activity on a blog and have been wanting to try it.  It just so happens when Billy came home from his mom's on Sunday, he wanted to play music with glasses.  Perfect.  So, I busted out the glasses, food coloring, paper, crayons and knives (because when you are five, it is such a big deal to be able to use a knife rather than a spoon).  This is the BEST activity ever-so much practice for so many skills:

1) He lined up the glasses from most water to least.

2) Tried out all of different glasses to see what sound they made.

3) Learned to draw musical notes.

4) Made a pattern with a black note, yellow note, black note . . .

5) Made the one-to-one connnection between the note on paper and the note being played.

6) Named the songs.

Here are his songs:

I'd show Alexa's songs, but she drank hers before I had a chance to show her how to play them.

And Billy has such ingenious ideas.  He thought to use this idea with our colored jingle bells in preschool.  And he had another great stroke of genius when I was explaining to the kids that their compasses point north, and he pointed out that they are actually pointing to Santa.  Of course!  How boring is north, when it could always be Santa's house.

But here's the funniest part-and how I now know I may boost his intellectual ego a little much.  Tonight we were driving around town checking out Christmas lights.  We drove by a nativity scene and Billy asked what it was.  I told him it was Baby Jesus and it is Baby Jesus's birthday and that's why we celebrate Christmas.  He said, "It's not my birthday."  I replied, "No, it is Baby Jesus's."  He responds, frustrated that I'm not quick enough to catch on to what he is telling me, "NO-I'M a baby genius [baby Jesus] and it is not my birthday!"

Touche.

3, 2, 1 . . . BLASTOFF!

My kids are out of this world.  Literally.

Ever since I broke out the 99 cent post-Halloween special space suits, landings back on Earth have been few and far between.  It would seem the food in space is far superior to the food in my kitchen.

Alexa returned, however, to gear up in some winter-ware.  They must have been headed for Pluto (which, I will say, my kids have been taught IS a planet.)  Oh, and it looks like she's tucked away a space burger in her belt for later (my cooking must REALLY leave much to be desired.)

Billy's a great Captain.  Somehow he can keep his little co-pilot entertained for hours shut away in their pack-n-play turned rocket.

Now that Alexa's pretend-playing skills are rivaling her brother's, I'm not sure if our kids will ever make their final landing back at home.

(Another) Day at the Park

Billy was SO excited that he could swing on these swings now that he is FIVE (ok-he has been able to swing on big kids swings for years, but for whatever reason he became terrified of them and refused to try about a year ago).  Naturally, his little shadow to the left had to try too.  I guess all the squealing and giggling sounded too tempting! 

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

OK-so upfront I should apologize to my little guy as this should be his post.  This was actually the first non-family birthday party he has gone to, and I couldn't keep up with him long enough to get a decent picture!

So, despite from my lack of appropriate historical record-keeping, I will go on!  Billy got invited to his friends' (Benjamin and Phillip) 4th birthday.  After kidnapping Daddy because I was not comfortable driving our boat of a car up an icy mountain road, we made it to the sledding party. 

Billy jumped out of the car and was up the mountain with his friends in seconds.  Alexa, this being her first time in deep snow as a walker, stood there, tipped over, and just looked at me :)  She's still very unsure of the snow and (unbelievably) asks to be carried when she sees it.

Don't Tell Emily Post

Rocky and I expect our children to be polite, and for the most part they have excellent manners.  Well, Billy does.  We're still working on "no feet on the table" with Alexa-and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  But somehow, after five years, I don't think it has occurred to either one of us to teach our kids how to set the table.  Yikes!  How did that happen?!  Our kids eat every meal at the table with no TV, but unless we are at Grandma and Papa's, they get rounded up from their busy busy lives, plopped down in their chairs where their food has magically appeared already portioned out and ready to eat. 

So tonight Billy helped me cook breakfast dinner, his favorite.  He loves to help cook.  And I thought maybe it would be nice to actually put the mail away rather than shove it aside, and have a nice Leave it to Beaver kind of dinner.  Billy set each placing (see, I don't even know how to use the proper terminology for setting the table!) and carried the food out.  Then he asked if we could have candles.  Geez!  We should probably do this more often, if simply setting the table is THAT big of a deal!  So we turned out the light, lit the candles, strapped the toddler into her chair after she grabbed the candles, re-lit the candles, put on some authentic castle music (Dave Matthews Band, of course) and had ourselves a Medieval good time!  And the new joke is "pass the peaches, please", which apparently is a hilarious alternative to "I'm out of peaches."

And, if you can believe it, the kids played much more calmly after dinner and have been sleeping peacefully in their beds for over an hour now!

Tricycle Update

Alexa will now put her feet on the pedals!  Sometimes she'll let Mommy or Daddy push her a few feet, and other times she'll pedal two full rotations before her feet go flying off of those magic little steps that move.

She's still afraid of the fire truck that drives with the push of a button, remote control cars, and shake-n-go cars.  It would seem she's afraid of anything that moves on its own, but she loves zhu zhu pets (which she can say as clearly as can be).  Oh, to spend a day in the mind of a toddler...

If you are just tuning in to this post, be sure to check out the other few I've posted tonight.  I've had all of October to catch up on!

Trick-or-the-Treat

When Billy was two we took him trick-or-treating in East Helena down one street until we found Bubby's house.  Then it was game over and he quickly ran downstairs to play with toys.  Not much has changed, I suppose.  Instead of saying trick-or-the-treat, he says trick-or-treat, though.  Alexa simply holds out her hand and says "treat!"  Like 2-year-old Billy, she would rather play than collect candy.  At each house she'd try to sneak through the door saying "play, play" and then throw a tantrum when we left.  Two birthday parties and two nights of Halloween fun were a little too much for our little miss.

Billy, however, couldn't get enough Halloween!  On Saturday, we went down to Three Forks to Trunk-or-Treat with Tiffany and Zak.

On Halloween we went trick-or-treating with Alex, Allison, and Brandon.  Billy's favorite house was "Vote for Bob's".  Alexa stopped crying briefly to figure out why eerie noises were coming from a pumpkin and Billy, well to hear him tell it is much more exciting.  But Bob (Brastrup) had a candy bowl with a hand that came down on yours when you went to take candy.  Billy thought it tried to get him because he said "Give me all of your candy" instead of "trick or treat".  Thank goodness Bob knows our kids are polite, because Billy always dishes out the flack to Bob before Bob can do it first!  To everyone else, of course, he said "thank you" and "have a happy/great/even fabulous Halloween". 

Alexa also wanted to go home with a little kid dressed as Elmo.  I guess to her the little kiddo was about as real as Elmo could be.  And back at the house (or during our dinner break, anyway) Billy handed out candy.  When traffic slowed, he and his sister stood out on the sidewalk recruiting kids to come get candy.  I think next year he should dress up as a salesman, for sure.

Circles and BOOs, BOOs and Circles

The kids love to draw and write.  The white board is their favorite (and I recently found washable dry erase markers-kids with nerdy office-supply-loving moms have the best stuff).  However, we've been taking advantage of the warmer weather to draw on the sidewalks before they are covered in snow.  Yuck, snow.  It is amazing that two kids and their endless need for movement can turn a winter person into somebody who prays for enough sun each day to usher the kids out of the house! 

But I digress.  One day we were drawing Halloween pictures on the sidewalk (no doubt because his buddies William and Scout did it the day before across the street) and I wrote "BOO" next to a ghost.  Then I went off to help Alexa draw her circles and when I went inside I noticed this "BOO" by the door.  I hadn't even mentioned to Billy that I drew it, but he took it upon himself to copy it and to figure out what it said.  He wrote his first word!  So we've discovered the best way to learn letters is to copy themed words.  Spelling and letter recognition at once.  Heck yes!  Rocky was a little nervous when he came home that night to find RIP DAD by the front steps, but hey-a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do to entertain her kids.  And if creating our family plots is what they want, family plots are what they get!

Alexa loves circles.  She'll trace them in the air saying "Round and Round", on paper anytime she can sneak a marker from somewhere (and let me tell you-I LOVE that she takes it upon herself to also sneak scratch paper from her desk...what one-year-old does that?), on the sidewalk and in her barbecue sauce.  She also drew a "A" unprompted on the sidewalk.  Guess it pays to hang out with the preschoolers.

Monsters vs. Superheroes

If you were to say our kids are spoiled, I'd have to argue with you.  See, Billy wanted a birthday party and a Halloween party and I said no.  Instead he had a Monsters (Halloween) vs. Superheroes (Birthday) party.  See...not spoiled!

It was a hit!  After planning and replanning, then replanning again; spending 7 hours making a masterpiece cake (well, at least I didn't have to send Rocky on a last minute Fruit-by-the-Foot run to cover up the mistakes this time), and tons of games which we never got around to playing once the Kung Zhu pets came out, Billy had, yet again, "the best birthday EVER!"  Which, as it turns out, really isn't a compliment on the planning after all.  Simply a phrase he picked up from an Elmo book.

A little cousin rivalry on the doughnut eating contest.  Billy abandoned his doughnut as soon as I snapped the photo.  Tiffany, however, kept at it for a few full minutes.  In fact, only the two girls finished!

Best daddy ever!  Even if he is on the Monster side.  And even if Alexa is terrified of Daddy Frankenstein.

The hit of the party-Monster Body Parts.  Billy is not gullible.  In fact, I was just thinking how I'm hoping he doesn't blow Mickey Mouse's cover to Alexa when we take a trip to Disney Land someday.  However, judging by the squeals and shrieks, he and his friends really were fooled into thinking the far of grapes were monster eyes, that the spaghetti and oil was monster brains, and the Jell-o was monster guts.

And of course, because this is how things go, I spent hours making a pinata for each kiddo after failing to find a suitable Halloween/Superhero themed one in Helena.  The next day I go to Helena and find two.  However, each kiddo got their own monster to hit (in Billy's case-the ghost with the one black eye from his favorite scary story).  In some cases, the monsters were brought to the ground and pulverized with the broomstick!

I'm going to have to start thinking now if he's going to be having this much fun next year.

Happy Birthday Billy!

He's 5!

With the Monsters vs. Superheroes party's guest list growing every time we walked out the door (Billy is just SO friendly!), we definitely were in  need of a sane, quieter way to celebrate out little boy!  Grandma and Papa let us invade their house with balloons and test tubes and the scientist party was on!  All day Billy just kept saying "This is the BEST birthday ever!  Thank you!"  He loved his "dangerous" science kit and now we have a new science experiment to do EVERY day of the year!

Being five means you get to do all sorts of things (even if it moves too slowly-which is Billy's biggest complaint).  He can swing by himself now because he is almost five.  He can run fast because he is almost five.  He can write words because he is almost five.

Little Miss Personality

 Look at this precious little girly-girl.  She looks dainty and maybe even frail.  She looks like Alexa, but that's not really Alexa.  Or that's not an accurate portrait, anyway!

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.

.

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THIS is Alexa.

She's doing what I can best call back-flops (as opposed to belly-flops) from the top of her pack-n-play.   In her other Halloween portrait, she is sitting on, rather than delicately holding, the pumpkin.  She climbs and jumps from everything in sight.  In fact, she was hanging from the edge of the desk at the portrait studio, walking her legs up (similar to the picture above) and letting go to imitate (as best as I can tell) Big Brother during his gymnastics classes.  And when she'd fall on her back, she'd just laugh and do it all over again!

This little princess has beauty, brains, and brawn.  Watch out world!

Bubby's!

I think there is nothing Billy gets more excited about in his world than his grandparents!  He starts bouncing off the walls, ceilings, floors, and me at the very mention of them.  He got to spend last Saturday night with his Bubby and Papa. He was excited to tell us about all of the things he got to do there that he doesn't do often here, such as watch TWO movies and to show her his new soccer skills.

He's been having some reservations about the monsters that supposedly hang out in his room at night, but after a good night at Bubby's and a heavy dose "love-your-monster" books, he seemed to do much better last week! 

GO DOGS! and Wolves, and Tigers, and Boulder...

Kids will always keep you on your toes.  And laughing.  Friday we took the kids to the football game against Manhattan.  Billy and Daddy had gone to the Homecoming game against Three Forks the week before.  They stood on the Three Forks side, and Billy, of course, was the only one cheering for the dogs.  Well, as we were walking in with our Batman-costume-clad Billy on Friday, he starts cheering for the Tigers.  Hopefully the Batman costume was proof enough of his innocence! 

But was it?  Later he wanted to start cheering for Boulder! 

WINNER!

We finished soccer today and Billy had an AWESOME season!  He loves playing and says he can't wait to play again.  The best part, he says, was the ice cream party with some of the kids at the Hot Spot tonight.

He's very proud of himself and his new medal.

Alexa just can't wait to be big enough to play, too.

Fall Day!

Fall is my favorite season, and I've spent quite a bit of time exploring the sights, sounds, and smells of the season with the kids in preschool.  So each morning Billy looks out the window and is excited to see the leaves on the ground and proclaims it to be "Fall Day!"  He loves the cider, hot chocolate, pumpkins, and most of all, they both love making it rain leaves!