The Good, The Bad, and The Adorable

The Good:

First item of business. This morning, out of the clear blue, Joseph looks at me and says, "Mommy -- Jesus created the whole earth." Apparently he is retaining the information he learns in Primary, and I'm glad that he is willing to share it with me!

Second. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Joseph is already a fantastic artist. Here is some new artwork!

A drawing of his cup.

A drawing of our fish in his tank (which died this week, by the way...eek).

A drawing of our home, which he labeled appropriately.

And this is my favorite. A message for daddy. It says: To daddy, Love (a heart) Joseph. The big red circle in the center is the Target symbol. He told me that this was a message to tell daddy that he wanted to go to Target. Ha!

The Bad:

If I had a million dollars, I would give it to whomever could tell the difference between these two place settings.

To the naked eye, there is no difference. But apparently to the toddler eye there is. My children fight every day over who gets what plate, what cup, what fork, spoon, high chair, etc. I bought them exactly the same for a reason, and yet my children still fight over them. This goes for things other than place settings as well -- clothes, bed...the list goes on and on! So, if you can find any difference, I pledge to give you something (not a million dollars) for solving all of my problems!

And now for...

The Adorable:

Even though my children are terrified of dogs (animals in general, really), they love to pretend that they are dogs. These are their "dog houses," and they played in them all last week.

How can you resist this sweet little face?

And, even though they fight over things they really are best friends. They love to play together, and they love each other!

Country Roads

This is quite possibly the best moment EVER on The Office!

Almost Heaven

I just wanted to let y'all know that I've started another blog. Read it so that you can make fun of me when I can't keep up with any of my goals!

http://almost-heaven-wva.blogspot.com

Spring Break - Take Two

The past week was the best week ever! Berkeley County schools were on spring break, so Brad was home all week long. I loved having a little R&R time with my family. We were able to get some spring cleaning done, go to the temple, and Grandma and Grandpa came to visit on Saturday.

I always enjoy visits from my family, and my mom likes to spoil us just a little. Who doesn't like to be spoiled? She brought me a cute little antique syrup pourer filled with candy, and we went to an antique shop where she bought me some serving dishes to match my china. And, she brought Brad a big ol' bag of candy, and easter baskets full of goodies for the boys. I made a really nice dinner and lots of yummy baked goods for everyone to enjoy (and they did). After Grandma and Grandpa headed home we went for a walk on the C&O canal trail.

The only part of our week that we didn't enjoy was Easter Sunday. It always seems like the more spiritual the occasion is supposed to be, the more my kids misbehave. Brad had to leave before the sacrament was even passed because our children were being such terrors, and I wasn't able to offer any help because I had to stay to lead the music and sing. So, I was a little disappointed that we didn't really get to focus on the sacred meaning of the day. I just have to remember that they're little kids, and they were still wound up from the day before. But overall, we had a wonderful week, and we were all sad when daddy had to go back to work on Monday.

Here are some pics of our vacation:

My culinary creations

Andrew carrying his bike around a mud puddle.

Crossing the aqueduct over the Potomac river.

Daddy helping his boys.

The handsome hubby!

Me and my boys!

The Blessings of Temple Attendance

I am so thankful that Brad and I had the opportunity to visit the temple today! It was such a beautiful, peaceful experience. It's difficult to say much more, as going to the temple affects everyone in such a personal way. I can say that every time I attend the temple, I feel my testimony of the gospel strengthened, and I learn so much more about Heavenly Father's plan for his children. I am reminded of how much He loves each and every one of us, and I know that He hears our prayers.

I also wanted to express my gratitude to Kathi and Chris for babysitting for us. This is the first time in four years that Brad and I have attended the temple as a couple. Usually we take turns, so that one of us is watching the kids. It was so much more meaningful to attend together, and the experience is so much more spiritual when you aren't stressed out from chasing children all over the temple grounds. So, to the Johnson family, we are incredibly thankful for your service. I hope that we have the opportunity to return the favor.

Some photos to remember the day:

Happy to be together!

The only downfall of the day: It was freezing!

Fun with the Keckley Family!

I am really enjoying staying at home with the boys. After spring break, going back to school was just too much for me to handle. I missed my kids so much. I love being able to devote all of my time and energy to them.

I want my children to be able to enjoy the company of other children their ages, so we decided to take a road trip to Keyser, WV to visit our good friends, the Keckleys. It's been a long time since our last get together, so we thought that we would take advantage of the beautiful weather and our children had a blast. Bonna and Chris have two little boys, Garren and Calvin, but Calvin is missing from all of the photos because he was taking a nap while we played outside.

So here is a summary, in photos, of the afternoon in Keyser:

First, we played with sidewalk chalk.

Then, Andrew went down the slide...

...followed by Joseph.

Garren thought about going down the slide, but decided he didn't want to get all muddy like Joseph and Andrew.

The highlight of the afternoon was throwing rocks in the creek.

Joseph and Andrew had never thrown rocks into water before (surprisingly), so Garren showed them how it's done!

Andrew put all of his energy into throwing those rocks into the creek.

And Joseph enjoyed jumping over the creek. He later fell in, and we had to make a trip to Walmart to buy some shoes and pants for him to wear home. I didn't mind so much...he'll only be four once. And he had the time of his life jumping over (and in) that water.

Garren informed us that Joseph and Andrew are his best friends (soooooo adorable). I guess that means we'll be making a trip to Keyser again sometime soon. Bonna, a million thanks for having us! We really had a great time!

Potty Humor

My three-year-old is obsessed with farting. Seriously. He cannot go for more than twenty minutes without talking about flatulence. He has gotten to the point where he forces himself to fart so he can talk and laugh about it. Here are some fart stories:

• Last night, we went to Golden Corral for dinner and while we were waiting in line, Andrew began passing gas and telling everyone behind us that he had "stinky farts." When we sat down at our table, Andrew kept trying to talk to everyone at the tables around us about it too.
• A few days ago, the boys and I were at Target and Andrew started letting stinkers. This is what he told everyone in Target, as loud as he possibly could: "Mommy, I just had stinky farts. Why do my farts smell like poop?"
• When I am trying to change his diaper, he will put his hand under his butt so that he can feel the fart come out. No joke - the kid is crazy about his gas!
  

I'm pretty sure that he is amused by all bodily functions, and by private body parts as well. Yesterday I burped, and the kid seriously laughed about it for ten minutes, and tried to mimic the sound. And, tonight at dinner he started talking about his butt, which caused him to laugh hysterically. It's pretty disgusting that he was talking about his butt at the dinner table, but he was laughing so hard that everyone else was laughing too.

Obviously, it's inappropriate for him to talk to people in public about his bodily functions, and I have been trying to discuss this with him. I'm convinced that only a little boy could find farting this funny. I am hoping that this is just a phase that he'll grow out of. Right now it's still kind of funny, and there have been a few embarrassing incidents (like Target and Golden Corral), but most grown men are still amused by their own flatulence, so who knows? He may never grow out of it. Hopefully we can just control it in public situations. Oh boy.