On Kissing and Pooping.... (for reals)

Kids say the darnedest things...  my kids are no exception. So often I say, "I need to write that one down!" but never do, and I forget what cute things they both have said over the years. I did do one post (click here) on some Evelyn funnies when she was 3 but haven't yet for Matthew, who has come up with some doozies in his short (almost) 4 years.

Here are the lastest funnies from my sweet kids..

So.. in Evelyn's class they are encouraged to write a "letter" to a classmate once a week. Mrs. Beltran has a template they use to do it. A few weeks ago she wrote this to her friend Josh. His mom texted me this picture of it because she thought it was so awesome.

A little background.. Joshua is frequently chased at recess by a girl who really likes him and wants to kiss him. He puts up with it, bless his heart. Evelyn sometimes is encouraged to chase/kiss him, too. She isn't "boy crazy" yet (sheesh... thank goodness. That can happen as LATE as possible. Amen.) and has told me that she won't kiss a boy until I tell her she can (again.. AMEN...love this kid!)!

This is the letter she wrote Joshua:

 Dear Joshua, I hope you never marry Minley because she will kiss you every second. And don't let her kiss you at school either. But I bet you can find someone else to marry I'm sure. Have a great weekend. Love, Evelyn

Oh. My. Word. Funny!!

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And Matthew... oh, sweet Matthew. Potty training has gone SO well.. I could not be more proud of him. He hasn't had an accident in at least 4 weeks (night included). He has his own brand of "potty talk" now.. and it is so funny!

My favorites are..

"My pee comes from my right knee, and my poop comes from my left knee!" .... who knew? :)

He usually calls his poop a "big snake".. cuz he thinks that's what they look like. Last week he was a bit constipated and had a hard time. When he finally finished, he told Doug, "that was a mean snake.. and it had really beady eyes!" I think Doug and I were in tears laughing at that one.

My boy... he's got his own style! LOVE him!

I am sure they both will kill me when they are old enough to be embarrassed by this post, but I just had to share.. mostly so I won't forget how wonderfully funny my sweet babies were!

Happy Halloween!!

Every year I say I am not going to get sucked into Halloween (I really don't enjoy the whole event much at all for various reasons) but once again we ended up getting into it and had a busy and super fun day. That coupled with Matthew and I both having colds and not feeling great made it just that much crazier! But.. over all the kids had a GREAT day.. and really, that's what it is all about!

I helped out with Evelyn's "Harvest Party" at school. Most of the kids dressed up and looked so cute. She has a great group of kids in her class this year, and an amazing teacher. It was fun to hang out with them for a while this afternoon, even if they were super excited and kinda crazy! :)

Joshua and Evelyn were in kindy together last year and sit next to each other this year. They really get a long well.. and I think he is such a sweet kid!

Ev with Josh and Noah... they both sit next to her at her table and it is sweet to see how much they enjoy her and vise versa. I think they like that she isn't "boy crazy" like some of the other girls (it is starting earlier.. yikes! Thankful she isn't there yet!).

This is Sarah, a friend and another mom, is a former teacher herself and she totally rocked it in the classroom today. She got the kids excited and kept their attention while explaining our activities. I vote her to lead up all the class parties this year.. and I want Jack to be in Evelyn's class every year. Amen!

Note to self: take pictures of the kids in costume BEFORE dark. We had swim lessons in the afternoon and then it was a mad scramble to get the kids fed, bathed and costumed up. The lighting is just not great for pictures when it is dark so sadly mine didn't turn out so great. At least my subjects were adorable!

My Larry Boy. Matthew said he wanted to be Larry Boy for halloween and we didn't find a costume that we liked, so my handy husband just went all crazy and made one. He did such an AMAZING job.. all I did was by a shirt! :) Matthew was so proud and excited to be his favorite super hero!

Evelyn REALLY wanted to be princess Sophia (the First). Doug found a costume on sale and we surprised her with it a few weeks ago. She has been so excited to wear it. I did her hair all up (she did NOT like the process but loved the end product!) and she was all set.. and beautiful!

My favorite trick-or-treaters!

Daddy and his (Larry) boy.

Ready to head out.

Off they go! Technically it was my turn to take this kids out, but my sweet Doug had pity on me being sick and let me stay home. Love him for that!

Since both the kids aren't feeling great either (Evelyn isn't as bad a Matthew, but she still isn't 100%) we just went around the neighborhood for a bit. The kids had fun and ran into a few friends. Right before they got home I got a text from Jody *hinting* for us to come visit her. So I piled the kids in the car and we headed over to her place for a bit.

Yes.. her dog Atlas Mae is a "rufferee"... so cute. . Love these 4!

Even cuter is Matthew and Attie in this picture. He usally is scared of her (she is a jumper and licker.. he isn't a fan of that!) but tonight he was so sweet with her and even gave her a hug before we left. I love how they are both looking at each other in this one!

Overall a busy day and a fun day. Now off to eat candy and try to kick this cold...

Happy November All!!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

Evelyn didn't have school Friday, and Doug surprised the kids by taking the day off as well. They were so excited to have an extra day with their dad, as he had been working a lot last week and some days they didn't even see him. We enjoyed a quiet morning around the house then went to the pumpkin patch. It was a lovely afternoon spent at one of our favorite places!

I happen to think she is beautiful! :) And she has worn that clip in her hair for every pumpkin patch trip since she was 2!

Silly faces from my boys...

She loves selfies!

In the past, the kids liked to wander around the sea of orange and take a while to pick out their pumpkin. This year, both kids actually found their pumpkins quickly and were ready to head back and play up at the farm.

 Matthew's pride and joy...

Evelyn found a really big-for-her pumpkin that she just had to have. She was determined to pick it up all by herself, too!

 She got it! :)

My pretty poser!

My other "poser"! ;)

Precious moments...

She looks way too grown up in this picture, but I love it (and her) just the same!

Someday he may take a normal picture with me. HA!

Throwing rocks waiting for our ride back to the farm. Good form, eh?

Back at the farm the kids ran around and did fun stuff on the farm.

Playing on the playground. I love this picture. Matthew is trying to cut in front of his sister, and she is getting annoyed. It makes me laugh every time I see it!

Playing on the old tractor

Another fun fall adventure for my sweet family!

This Boy

Just in case you didn't know...this boy has had my heart since the day he was born. :)  This past month has been a big one for Matthew, and he has navigated his way through some big stuff with charm, determination and courage.We are so proud of him!

Having his sister gone ALL day has been one of the bigger transitions for him (for all of us really!).  He truly misses her companionship. There have been tears ("I want sisterrrrrr!!!) and he frequently asks "Is it time to go get Evelyn from school?"   Weekends are spent catching up on playtime and Evelyn has been pretty good about that (she misses him too!). I love that their relationship is strong and good, and I think this change has made it even more so!

This happens a lot these days!!

 Since he has been on his own more, I have seen his personality develop so much! He has always been a silly kid, but out of his sister's shadow he is finding his own way and is even more silly than ever.. almost too silly. And onery! He has also blossomed in his learning and I am finding that he is one smart kid. He may not speak as well as his sister (we actually started speech therapy last week, but I'll save that for another post!) but he knows so much more than I thought he did, mostly because he didn't have to do much with his uber smart sister around! It has been so fun to see him become his own little person so much this past month!

With Evelyn in school, it was time to start some "only Matthew" things. If you know my boy, you know he is pretty attached to my hip. We decided to do two big things to get Matthew used to being away from me: swimming and AWANA.

We just finished our first round of swim lessons. He cried hysterically most of the first swim class, but his instructor Caitlyn did great with him and by the end of that first class he was smiling. There were a couple more small bouts of tears here and there, but mostly he would just go and have a great time. And he made great progress in his skills, too! I am so proud of him!

Teacher Caitlyn and Matthew.. she was so sweet!

His little buddy Rowan (or "Wowin" as he called her). They often were the only two in class and had lots of fun!

AWANA time! This is Matthew's first year and so far he is enjoying most of it. Doug (who is a leader for the older kids) has taken a break from his duties and has been with Matthew in his group to get him settled. Every week he gets more and more independent and has more and more fun, so hopefully he can be fully launched soon!

My Cubbie and my Sparkie (this is E's 4th year and she loves it!)!

Although he is not 4 yet, he had pretty much outgrown his 5-point harness car seat. I really wanted to wait until 4 to get him into a high-back booster, but there was no way that was going to happen due to his constant growing! So last week we switched him  over.. and he is so proud and happy to be in a real "big boy" seat and do his own seat belt!

He looks SO big!! Sigh....

Our biggest goal for Matthew after Evelyn started school was getting him potty trained. Both Doug and I have wanted this to happen, but Matthew has been quite resistant to the idea. Finally I just decided that we were going for it, whether he wanted to or not! Trust me, I wasn't exactly looking forward to it either, knowing it could be a very long process. 

But you know what? My boy rose to the challenge and after 4 weeks I am happy to report this:

We have had only a few (and I mean a few) accidents and he has been dry at night about 75% of the time. I could not have asked for a better outcome in such a short time. SO proud of my little man!!

Matthew, you have had such a big month of change and have come through with flying colors. I am so proud of you. You make my heart smile. You bring joy to everyone you meet. You love deeply and feel deeply. You are sincere and kind. You are hilarious.You are crazy. You are God's child. You are my son.

 How thankful I am for that.... 

I love you, Matthew!