Brothers

Games with Dad

2010-11-29T20:50:00.001-08:00

Jeff was playing cash register with Conner the other day (one of Conner's favorite games) and was buying many things from Conner's store. After Jeff would pay he was trying to get Conner to figure out how much change he should really get back. Dad decided it would be a good learning game. After a few rounds of this Conner says firmly "Dad, please sit down. You will get what I give you." in response to Jeff trying to tell Conner that he should only get $1 back from $5 instead of $24.

Legos

2010-10-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight the four of us were playing Legos in the living room with some of Jeff's legos from his childhood. Jeff noticed on the bottom of some of the lego guys it had the date 1974 printed on it. I told Braden that was when I was born. He said "Wow, was that when dinosaurs were alive?". The sad thing was, he was quite serious.

Big Reader

2010-10-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Ever since Conner has started preschool (in September) he has decided he is going to be a reader like his brother. He "reads" books to us all the time and I love it. He follows the words with his fingers and tells us some great stories. Today while we were exercising in the workout room Conner was "lifting weights" on his favorite of daddy's machines. He decided to "read" the words on the machine to me. This is what is says on our workout machines "Exercising is good for you. Even grown ups can do it because it is so good for you." He then looked up at me with such a proud face. What a sweet boy....

Grown ups

2010-09-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Braden has always been so anxious to "grow up". He's always talking to Jeff and I about when he can get a car and move out. You'd almost think he didn't like us but I think he is just a natural born independent. The other day he was talking to me about when he would be a grown up at 26 or 28 (normally he uses the 18 age that he got from someone). Conner heard this and was talking to us about then he could be a dad. We said that we hope he does become a dad someday. Conner then replied "Yes, then we'll all be so big we'll need to live in a castle". I can't wait until we get to move to that castle....

What do people do all day?

2010-08-24T21:52:00.001-07:00

While Jeff was reading the book "What do people do all day?" with Conner ( a book about people's jobs), Jeff asked Conner what mom and dad did for jobs. Conner said mom goes running and dad goes fishing. Our jobs must seem cool to him......

A new bed finally.....

2010-08-24T21:47:00.001-07:00

We finally (yes, finally) got Conner a big boy bed. He has been happily sleeping in his cribby until now. Last winter we bought him a really cool car toddler bed and he wanted nothing to do with it. Jeff and I figured if he was happy in his crib we didn't care if he still slept in it. This summer I was talking with him and asked him if he wanted a bed and he decided he did. However, I needed dad for this and unfortunately dad has been very busy building our beautiful new addition. This week we finally had a free afternoon and we went to the furniture store to let Conner pick out his bed. The sales lady talked to Conner and asked him if he was excited to get a new bed. He said yes and then continued to tell the lady how his crib is so uncomfortable and he hardly fit in it (this is not true of course) but he put on a good story for the sales lady. We looked like champ parents that day! Anyway, Conner got his new bed and picked out cool Cars bedding for it. I'm a little sad that we are now a crib free household.......Where did my babies go?

Two Wheels

2010-08-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

We have been meaning to teach Braden to ride a bike without training wheels all summer. However, we do not have any good places to ride bikes right by our house besides our driveway. Luckily, our driveway is super long and good for scooters and bikes with training wheels but not ideal for teaching balance since it is all sloped. Our streets are horribly graveled and would rip a kid to shreds if they were to fall. Finally, this week we decided it was time. We put on the helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads, and headed off to the school playground up the street. I was expecting a lot of falls along the way but Braden picked it up after about 3 tries. Jeff held him up while he tried the first few times and then he was off and riding! He loves it and was so proud that he learned so quickly. He got a little cocky the second day of riding and was ripping around and riding with one hand. Then, he fell. He didn't get hurt but I'm hoping it was a good lesson early on to be a little more careful. A mom can hope anyway........

The beach

2010-08-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our summer has been a fun never ending string of playdates at the various parks and beaches around Skagit County. This last week we had the pleasure of meeting our buddies at Washington Park which is a great park that has both a beach and a playground. Conner excitedly called me over to him on the beach and showed me a tiny little bug he had found. He was so pleased with himself. I said"Oh nice, you found a bug" Conner, "Yes, I love him. Do you want to hold him?" Mom, "Um no, I don't like bugs very much" Conner, "Why? He's so nice.". I love that he is so kind to the insects. I just hope he doesn't start bringing them indoors.

Llama Llama

2010-07-09T15:47:00.001-07:00

Conner really loves the books Llama Llama mad at mama and Llama Llama red pajama. We read them almost every day right now. My favorite part is he calls them Llama Llama mad at mama and Llama Llama has some jammies. Even though we read the title every day that is always what it goes back to.

Good things about being a boy

2010-07-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

My boys HATE getting their fingernails cut. I mean hate it.... So I just got back from a 5 day trip without them and of course their fingernails are now ridiculously long. This morning as I was having my morning cuddle time with Braden on the couch I told him that I needed to cut his fingernails. He grabs my hands and states that mine are long too. I told him (once again) that girls can have long nails but boys do not. Braden says "Well, when boys get hot they can take their shirts off and girls can't so I guess there is one good thing for both of us". Well, he's got me there.....

sweet boy

2010-06-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Tonight when I was putting Conner to bed he leaned up to give me a hug and a kiss and he said "Mom hugs are always attached to kisses, right?" "They are supposed to be together." He is such a sweet boy. Even if you can't tell from this picture, he really does love his mama (just like llama, llama).

Seattle Vacation

2010-06-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

This week we decided to take a mini-vacation down to Seattle. The kids were so excited to stay in a hotel and Braden had been counting down for about a week. We stayed at Lake Union and they had a pool that was shallow enough they could both touch the bottom which made swimming a lot of fun for them. Braden can swim ok now but not for very long and Conner is getting pretty comfortable in the water also.

Monday morning we went down to the Woodland Park Zoo with Aunt Julie and the cousins and Grandma and Grandpa Thomas. We spent most of the day at the zoo. The highlights were the dancing elephant (you can see in the picture how his foot is picked up a little). He was crossing his feet in front of him in a dancing motion and bobbing his head in the same pattern over and over again. We also saw a bear doing a similar thing with his head. The kids (and Jeff) thought it was very funny. Another highlight was the otters and the penguins. Everyone had a great time. Then we went back to the hotel to swim and out to dinner at the Spagetti Factory. The next day we went to Gameworks and played video games for 1 1/2 hours (Braden was in heaven). Then lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Afterwards we went to a place in Bellevue called Sky High Sports. It is a giant building filled with trampolines. They jumped and jumped and jumped. Braden's favorite spot was the trampolines that you could jump into a large foam pit and Conner liked to race in the 8 and under area. Dad liked to jump high and far. He was the sweatiest one at the end. Then we got ice cream cones on the way home. It was a great mini vacation.

Last Day

2010-06-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

This year marked the end of several things for my kids. Braden had his last day in Pre-K and will be moving on to be a Kindergarten next year at his daddy's school. He is very excited for the change and couldn't get older fast enough. According to Braden, he is already pretty much a grown up. He is so independent and would like to do everything himself. His first day of Pre-K this year all the parents were asked to attend and introduce the school to the kids. As I sat down in the classroom, Braden looked up at me and asked me why I was still there? I told him that all the parents were supposed to stay and he looked around to make sure I was telling him the truth. Then as the year progressed he kept asking to do more and more by himself. His grandparents take him to school during the week. Tuesdays and Thursdays I drop him down at Grandma and Grandpa Thomas' house. I started off walking him in and saying goodbye. Then, I was asked (by Braden) if I would stay in the car and let him go in the house by himself. I agreed and waited in the car each day until I saw Grandpa wave at me. Then after a few weeks of this he got out of the car and told me to drive off before he went inside. This is where I drew the line. I told him I would not leave before I knew Grandpa was there. Geez....he's growing up quickly!

This June also marked the end of a very important person in our lives. Sandy, our daycare provider, left her position as a daycare. Last week was the last day and I cried my eyes out on that last day. We have been going there since Braden was 8 months old. Braden, the independent child, seems totally fine with the idea of not seeing Sandy any more. He is ready to start Kindergarten and move on. Conner, however, is a little sad. He loves Sandy like a grandma. Luckily, he is starting an am Pre-K program next fall so he would not need as much daycare anyway. We hope our new provider, Miss Andrea, will be just as wonderful as Sandy.

t-ball

2010-06-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

Braden played his first year of t-ball this year. Jeff and I ended up helping coach the team and this worked out well for Conner. He decided a few practices into the season that he wanted to play. Since both Jeff and I were helping coach Conner was allowed to play just like all the other kids at all the practices (we had one practice and one game a week). He was very good about understanding he couldn't play during the games (you have to be 5 to play t-ball legally). He even got his own jersey at the end of the season.

Braden really enjoyed t-ball at first. He loves playing "pitcher" and first base because that is where all the action is. Most balls are only hit between these two positions in our league. He was all over fielding those balls and he has a pretty good arm. His batting on the tee could use some work but he is a lot better about hitting a pitched ball. We think we will try putting him in coach pitch next year. He enjoyed the season but it was long 2+ months. By the end he would tell me that he was glad we got rained out because he needed to rest his arm. He would say he still enjoyed the game but his arm needed rest. He still loves sports and we are interested to see which ones he will decide are his favorites once he is in school sports and has to make some decisions. Hopefully his sports enthusiasm will stay with him until then!

Row, Row, Row your boat

2010-06-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

Conner was singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat and trying to think of the right words. This is what he came up with:

row, row, row your boat
carefully down the lake
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
it's a piece of cake...

Hey it made sense and it rhymed. I think I like it. I also like the replaced gently with carefully....

Commercialism

2010-05-14T21:28:00.001-07:00

Braden sporting the scared ninja look with the birthday present ribbon....

Braden is so funny about things he sees in commercials. We really do not let him watch much TV and he is only allowed Nick or Disney Channel. However, he always pulls these products from commercials out of his pocket of knowledge and tells us we need to buy them for various reasons. A while back it was a conversation about why we couldn't buy just anything we want all the time because it costs too much money. Braden quickly comes back with "Yes, we can't even afford to buy a Sunsetter retractable awning with a $200 certificate". A conversation was then had about what he was watching on TV. Then one night when we were brushing out teeth he informed us that we needed to buy one of those no touch toothpaste dispensers to help with our toothpaste needs. My favorite though was tonight. Braden was in his spring concert for preschool. On the way home it was just Braden and myself because Conner rode home with dad. I was telling Braden how proud I was of him and what a good job he did at singing. I told him how much I loved him. He asked me if I loved Conner more than him. I said no, I love you both the same. Since he didn't seem convinced for some reason, I told him that I even loved him first because he was my first baby and I loved him and Conner more than anything in the world. He then responds by telling me the following: "Yeah, I knew that even when I was a baby and couldn't talk. You know mom, you should have bought me that thing that helps babies to talk and read (I think he was referring to Your Baby Can Read DVDs) because then I could have told you how much I loved you too even before I could talk. It was so sweet and yet so funny at the same time. What did I do before them?

Funny words from cute boys....

2010-05-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

Conner was playing trains with me last night and he took my train and said "uh oh mom, your train just chooched away." He must have decided he really liked his new word chooched because he kept using it again and again. "Look at how them go mom, watch them chooch." Oh yes, also he never uses the word they, he uses them like to say "What are them doing?". He has other funny grammar issues still too like saying "Mom, where you are?" Could I correct him and teach him the correct way to say it? Yes. But am I desperately trying to hold onto to his babyhood with his cute language? Yes. Don't judge me too quickly. I teach him many things: he can count to 100, he knows all his letters and there sounds, he can spell his name and his brothers name. But for some reason, I can't bring myself to correct his grammar. I just love it too much.

Braden really wants to go see Iron Man. It is PG 13 so I was fairly certain this would be inappropriate for a 5 year old. Jeff and I went to the movie and I told him we would see if it was ok for him to watch. Afterwards when I told him it was not appropriate for kids I was shocked that he didn't try to argue. He just said "Ok, mom, does it have lots of stupid words in it?" (Stupid is a word that both of my boys have declared to be a REALLY bad word.) I love to see their minds work. The only bad thing that could possibly be in a movie is the word stupid.

I love you mommy

2010-04-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

Conner has developed this very sweet (and very smart) new habit. Everytime he thinks he is in any trouble (louder voice from mom, drops something and makes a mess, brother telling on him....) he will immediately come up to me and say "I love you mommy". I know exactly what is going on but I have to admit I like it. Pretty cute.....

Tulips 2010

2010-04-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

I love living so close to the tulips. They are so beautiful and I enjoy driving by them everyday (well everyday that I don't have to fight the tulip traffic). I try to get some family pictures each year in front of the tulips which is always a bit of a challenge to get everyone looking at the same time. This year we went on a particularly sunny day and the boys were wearing their sunglasses in the car. I told them they couldn't wear them in the pictures because I like to get close ups of them in the flowers and I wanted to see their beautiful eyes. Jeff, hearing this, took his off too. I didn't realize this until I saw his poor squinty face in all the pictures. His light blue eyes are very sensitive to the sunlight. When I asked him why he didn't wear his glasses he said well you said we weren't supposed to wear them. Oh well, we got a couple of good ones. Tulips make a beautiful background.

Lost Tooth!

2010-04-06T19:47:00.001-07:00

Braden lost his first tooth today. It has been loose for some time now and he finally got it out today. His Papa came over and took it right out. He was so happy and it didn't hurt at all according to him. I'm not sure if we will have any other ones so soon. The dentist told us after his last X-Ray that this tooth didn't have a very long root so it would fall out soon. Sure enough, out it came! Now, let's see if the Tooth Fairy will be successful tonight without waking him up....

Sicko

2010-02-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

The blog has been neglected because our family has been drowning in sickness. Ok, not the whole family, just Conner who has pneumonia. It seems like the whole family, as we have all been so stressed out. Conner had a high fever from pneumonia for 12 days. We took him into the ER last Sunday when he woke up with a 105.5 fever in the middle of the night. The diagnosed him with pneumonia and gave us antibiotics. Two days later he still had not improved at all, but actually gotten worse. We took him back in and they did another chest x-ray and discovered the pneumonia had gotten worse and now had taken over a lot of his left lung and he was having difficulty breathing. He was so sick that he didn't want to do anything but lay on our laps. He couldn't even get himself to watch cartoons. He complained that his back hurt all the time (which the doctor told me it was because the fluid was pushing on his organs causing them to ache.) He also said each day "I not feeling so good." The sweetest thing was that all day long as he was sitting with me he would tell me how much he loved me. "Mommy?" "I love you" "I love you a whole lot". He would say this to me over and over. He even said it in the car on the way to the ER. What a sweet boy I have. He is finally starting to recover and we are all breathing a sigh of relief. (Even Braden as he was getting tired of being the 4th wheel. He was a good sport through it all though.) It's times like these that you see what great family and friends you have.

Swimming Lessons

2010-01-19T19:48:00.000-08:00

The boys have started their first swimming lessons (with the exception of Aqua Babies when Braden was about 6 months old). I knew Braden would love swimming but I was a little nervous about Conner liking them because when we went to Chelan this summer he wouldn't go in the pool unless I was completely hugging him and he would only let mom hold him and not even dad. However, after a couple trips to the Great Wolf Lodge, Conner seems to have warmed up to the idea of swimming. He went right into the pool without hesitation.

Both boys are enjoying the lessons quite a bit. They aren't swimming by themselves yet but they will both go out by themselves with a noodle and they are learning a lot about water safety. There are about 6-8 kids in the class and there are two teachers and one "helper". They are excited each day to go into the pool and our friends Ryan and Jack are in the lessons with us so that makes it even more fun!

Conner's 3rd birthday

2010-01-04T20:19:00.000-08:00

Conner had his 1st friend birthday party this year at Jungle Playland. We decided to invite just a few friends and go to Jungle Playland. This is one of Conner's favorite places. He was really looking forward to his birthday and kept counting down the days until his party. It was very lowkey and it was just perfect for him. He felt very special having people sing to him and open a few presents. He also really enjoyed running around for a few hours with his buddies. We go to Jungle Playland a lot and this was the first time he was able to climb up all the levels on his own. Normally mom or dad has to climb up and help him up because there is quite a jump between some of the levels. This time he had his big brother drag him up a few times and then he decided he was going to keep up with all the other kids and just figured out a way to drag himself with all of his might. Yippee! We are looking forward to future visits where we don't have to assist so much in the climbing.

Hey, look at my cool fork.....

This is Conner and his best friend Rylan hugging in the ball pit. They go to daycare together and they run up and hug each other all the time.

Jack helping Conner blow out his candles on his monster truck cake that he didn't eat any of. I might have the only kid who doesn't like chocolate or dessert of any kind......(except Starburst and Airheads) I guess I should have made a cake out of Starburst...

Potty Training

2010-01-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

We finally got Conner potty trained the week before Christmas. Conner is a child that does not enjoy change. He was happy in his diapers and wanted nothing to do with the potty. We decided just to wait until Christmas break to do it when we would be home from school and could work on it all day. We gave him a lot of notice and told him that there would be no more diapers. It took a few days ( I think mostly due to the fact that he was sick) but we had told him we were starting Monday so we were starting sickness or not. He never had an accident but for the first few days we would spend an hour or so on the potty sometimes before we would get any pee pee. Finally, Christmas Eve he sat down, went right away, looked at me and said "That's not hard at all!". Then, he was completely trained. We went to the Great Wolf Lodge right after that and even with a 3 hour car ride we did not have any accidents. (We put the little potty in the back of the SUV and away we went!) Yeah Conner!

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-12-30T14:26:00.000-08:00

We spent two days at the Great Wolf Lodge this week with Braden and Conner's cousins and his Grandma and Grandpa Thomas. We have been there once before so Braden was VERY excited about this trip. Conner, on the other hand, was not as excited. He did not so much enjoy the trip last time at about 2 1/2.

This time Conner loved it just as much. I guess being almost 3 now he was much braver! Conner even ventured away from the baby/toddler area and enjoyed a continuous loop up and down the bigger slides. He still isn't tall enough for the really big slides that Braden very much enjoys but he was very brave on the big ones. He would climb up by himself and even go down himself after mom went first to wait for him at the bottom. It was so fun to watch him sit at the top by himself and wait for the slide worker to tell him to go when I could see him across the park from the line to the big slide with Braden.

Braden loves all things at the Great Wolf Lodge. He goes on all the slides except for the howling tornado (because he isn't 48" tall yet) and the faster the better. He is fearless and loves the water. He loves to go with his older cousins and feels like a big boy! Every time we would go down and splash he would say "that was the best one!" He also really likes the quest wand game that he would play with his cousin Jeffrey.

Both boys stayed up until 10:00 that first night which is a big deal in this household of a strict 7:30 bedtime. They both did well the next day though because I think the pool and slides were enough of a distraction and they did sleep in until almost 8 (yippee). Here they are watching a little Phineus and Ferb before bedtime to unwind. We all had a great time!

Christmas Tree

2009-12-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

The boys enjoyed decorating our Christmas tree this weekend. This is the first year Conner was really excited to put up the ornaments. He was very careful and thoughtful about his placement of each one. They ended up all being placed about 4 feet and under so dad and I had to do a little reorganizing afterwards. Braden really enjoyed decorating too. He enjoyed finding all the cool ornaments with cars or sports on them. They want the Christmas tree lights on all day now that the tree is up. Next event, Gingerbread house and gingerbread train decorating!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

2009-12-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

Conner replied "Um, I guess just bigger...."

Santa Train

2009-12-01T21:03:00.001-08:00

This last Sunday we visited the Santa train in North Bend with a great group of friends. It was a lot of fun and the boys enjoyed playing on all the trains, seeing the other kids, playing with the train set and enjoying cookies and hot cocoa. Conner also loved the music that was playing by the small band while we were waiting in line to see Santa. He is completely obsessed with all things music and he loves singing. I liked watching him stare up at the musicians in awe. This was also the first year that both boys sat on Santa's lap without any tears. Conner even told Santa that he would like "Thomas" for Christmas. However, Braden froze when he was asked what he would like for Christmas. (This is unusual as he normally has a list of toys a mile long for mom). It was great to see our friends that we don't get to see very often and I think the trip was almost more special for mom than for the kids. It was great to see everyone and their adorable kids!Now you would think that with all the pictures that we took on this fun trip that we would have one good picture of all four of us for our Christmas card. Nope. Oh well, I did get some great pictures, just not of all of us! Maybe it is me that ruins the pictures as I got several cute ones of the 3 boys. The one of Jeff and Conner is my favorite of the whole day.Here's a picture of us on the train with our 3 kids (isn't our daughter cute?)

Braden and Conner loved playing on all the machines.
No trip is complete without a game of ring around the rosie.....and of course a little solo dancing by Kyla "bootie shaking" Perry.
Merry Christmas!

Pancakes, Waffles, Biscuits

2009-12-01T20:54:00.001-08:00

At a family wedding this summer they held a large rock, paper, scissors tournament where everyone was competing in this action packed game. This was Braden's first experience with rock, paper, scissors and he LOVED it. He still asks to play it with me every now and then. Last weekend he came to me and asked me if I wanted to play pancake, waffle, biscuit. We have family breakfasts every weekend with the four of us and Jeff always makes either pancakes biscuits or waffles because that is their favorites (especially pancakes). I guess this is where he came up with it.

Basically Braden's version of the game is very similar to rock, paper, scissors. The pancake is the paper, the waffle is like the scissors and the biscuit is the rock. The hand motions were the same for pancake/paper or biscuit/rock but the waffle sign was some funky crinkly version of pancake/paper. He really loved it and was very proud of his new game invention.

Funny statements overhead.....

2009-11-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Tonight Conner was cracking us up. He is just at that age where most of what he says is hilarious even if he isn't trying to be. During dinner the boys were singing the days of the week song together. Then, Braden was trying to be a good teacher to his little brother when Conner got part of the song wrong and said "Conner, now what comes after Tuesday?" Conner promptly said "November" with a lot of confidence.

Then later during an exciting game of Candy Land, Braden was being his ultra competitive self and we were trying to teach him good game playing manners as Conner was losing by a lot but still happily moving his piece along the board. Then, Conner picks the coveted ice cream cone card. Now, for those of you that play Candy Land know that is the best of all the cards and can move you almost to the end of the game. Conner was so excited and as he moved his piece up to the ice cream cone square he says "Candy Land" in a low, sing-songy, voice that let us know that he was being cocky. It was quite hilarious......

What did we do without them?

Halloween

2009-11-11T19:59:00.000-08:00

This was the first year that both boys were really excited about Halloween. They LOVED decorating the house. They both enjoyed dressing up this year (last year Conner wouldn't get anywhere near his costume) and they loved trick or treating. Luckily we had several Halloween activities before the actual day since Braden was sick on Halloween night and was quite sad. The first words out of his mouth were "I'm not going to get to go trick or treating am I?" followed very quickly by "Oh no, am I missing school again too?" Missing school is not acceptable to Braden.

First we enjoyed the annual Halloween carnival at Fidalgo School. It is always a lot of fun but very crowded. The biggest hit is the big bouncy house but it is a 5-10 minute line each time and then 3 minutes of fear as I worry Conner will have his neck snapped by the elementary school kids bouncing.

Then, we had Braden's school party. This was one of the many mistakes I will make as a parent. Braden informed me as we were getting ready that it was a costume party. I told him no that it didn't say that on the note and assured him we were to just go and decorate pumpkins and eat pizza, no costumes. Well, we get there and I was very wrong and Braden was very sad. Luckily, Miss Louise was there (Braden's teacher) and she helped Braden to the dress up corner in her room and made him quickly into a pirate. This was acceptable to him and I convinced him it was actually cool since now he got to be a pirate and a power ranger. They loved decorating their pumpkins here since it was with these sticker kits.

Decorating at home with carving was not quite as interesting to them and they both ended up leaving to play geotracks before Daddy was done. (After daddy had already saved me from my pathetic efforts at carving)

Then, we went trick or treating to all the stores in La Conner on the 30th. They both enjoyed this and we got lots of candy. Conner said no thank you to everything chocolate and would just walk away if they didn't have starburst, suckers or airheads. This was quite embarrassing to me but luckily he is still little enough that it was cute and not obnoxious.

On Halloween, luckily we had our fill from other events and Braden got past his sickness pretty quickly. Conner and I still went to our friends house where many children were gathered for a party and trick or treating. The first house Conner walked right up and tried to open the door. Then, after a bribe from Papa we were able to get Conner to take chocolate from the houses that only had chocolate (which were almost all of them) only because he knew he got to trade them to Papa later for starburst. And although he took each one and said thank you each time he still would not put them in his bucket so mom had a bag full of candy by the end of the night. Conner ended the night with 3 things in his bucket. One thing was a movie size box of Starburst so he was fine with his haul.

I am looking forward to Christmas. Halloween was a lot of fun!

Soccer

2009-10-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Both boys have had soccer this spring and loved it. It looks like both of my boys will be pretty excited about sports which will make their father quite happy.

Braden is now old enough to do some soccer that actually involves games and it is very cute. He is pretty aggressive about getting the ball and wants to be in the action all the time.

Conner is just starting his taste of sports with tot soccer for 2 and 3 year olds. This is very slow and really most kids just do whatever they want. Conner is not into trying to get the ball and would really rather just kick his own ball. Luckily, most of the time spent in tot soccer is with everyone having their own ball. They do a lot of practice kicking and they play red light, green light at the end of every practice. This is Conner's favorite part. They are supposed to kick their ball and run when it is green light and then stop and "trap" their ball when it is red light. Conner loves this new skill of holding the ball still with his foot on top. However.....every time he goes to stop his ball this way he falls and rolls over the ball because he is not tall enough to get that leverage on the ball. It is so funny but he just gets up and puts his foot on top of his ball everytime with a big smile.

Words of Wisdom from Conner

2009-10-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Braden got very upset because he didn't get to do something first (this is a very big deal in our house lately). I explained to Braden that he didn't get to go first because he was whining about it. Mom's do not like whining. Then Conner calmly says "Yea, I don't have much whine". Ah, brothers......

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

We spent a beautiful sunny day at Gordon's Pumpkin Patch today. The boys both picked out a pumpkin.

Conner was overjoyed at his choice.

Braden picked the biggest pumpkin he could find but my picture of it didn't turn out.
We enjoyed all the photo opportunities (most of which I had to bribe my children to pose for) and went through a small "haunted area" with pumpkins, skeletons and ghosts.

Here they are dancing with the skeleton.

Conner told all the people that came in that it wasn't scary because it was just pretend. He came to this conclusion all on his own and seemed very proud of his bravery. He was more afraid of any dog he encounted, even though they were all leashed. The kids had a great time with mom, grandma and papa (thanks for the pumpkins and apples), and their aunt Tina and their cousins.

Oh my goodness sakes....

2009-09-12T19:42:00.003-07:00

This is Conner's new favorite line. He'll say it over and over again. It's pretty cute though.....

Woodland Park Zoo

2009-09-05T08:48:00.001-07:00

The last week of summer we decided to take the boys to Woodland Park Zoo. Conner LOVES animals so we had been wanting to take him before school started. Now, he loves real animals but detests the stuffed walking kind like Chuck E. Cheese (we've found out from experience). So who is at the zoo on the day we decide to go? Yes, the Tillamook Cheese cow as it was Tillamook Cheese day and he was handing out little stuffed cows and cheese sticks. Since he was at the front part of the zoo this was one of our first experiences. While both boys loved the zoo, Conner still talks about the "Cow scared me". People are confused since you don't normally see cows at the zoo. Conner's favorite part was the elephants. Braden's favorite part was the lions and of course the cow game (Conner's least favorite part). My favorite part was the otters and I think it was Jeff's too. It was a great way to end the summer.

Chelan

2009-08-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

We had a great family vacation last week in Chelan. We stayed for 4 days and this was the first time Conner and Braden have been away with us for longer than 1 night (we went to Great Wolf Lodge earlier in the summer for one night). They were both so excited the day we left and the morning we were leaving as we were packing up to go over we couldn't find Conner for a few minutes. I looked in the garage and he had got himself in the car and buckled himself in his carseat and was quietly waiting for us. I guess we were taking too long for him! The boys slept in the same room and did great! I was so proud of how well (and late) they slept. I guess it helps to tire them out so much during the day. We did a lot of swimming and Braden loved it. He swam the whole time by himself with the help of arm floaties of course and loved jumping in the pool. We don't go swimming very often (maybe 3 times in his whole life....with the exception of kiddie pools) so I was proud of how well he did. He went under water, jumped in, the whole 9 yards. He also swam in the lake which was very, very cold. Conner also enjoyed swimming but insisted mom hold onto him the whole time. The boys enjoyed having us at their beck and call for 4 days. We swam, played at the lake, played basketball, trak ball, soccer, on the playground, went on walks and enjoyed our family. It was a great weekend! The day we left Braden asked "Now, does everyone have to leave today?" When I told him people would come and go at all different times he was wondering why we should have to go and begged we could come back again another time.

Mini golf

2009-08-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Today we went to play mini golf with our friends Ryan, Jack and Kate. We had a lot of fun. I shot a 58 (yes, I"m awesome), Jeff shot about a 42 I think and Braden continually told me he was better at golf than I was (yes, modest). Conner played a few holes but eventually entertained himself in other ways like rolling on the ground, picking weeds, you know fun stuff like that.

Carefully sizing up his shot.

A great golf stance.

Ryan and Braden

Are we done yet?

No? Well, let me just roll around for a while on the green. Yes, he did not fall here, he is actually doing this very much on purpose. Oh it is fun being 2.

Potty Time

2009-07-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

I'll just read this boat catalog while I'm sitting on the potty. Good thing dad left it here on the shelf for me.

I left the bathroom for a minute to check on Braden while Conner was trying to go potty. When I come back he is reading a magazine. Just like dad......

A Day at the Beach

2009-07-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a day out at Alexander beach with the cousins yesterday. The weather has been so warm and pleasant. The kids had a great time playing in the ocean, digging in the sand, and finding all kinds of sea creatures.

St. Merry's Fest

2009-07-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at St. Merry's Fest! Conner loved all the little rides and his favorite was the big tall slide. He would go down and then when he reached the bottom he would yell "Again mom, again". My legs were sore the next day from all the stair climbing because even though he went down the slide by himself, I was too afraid to send him up the 50 or so metal stairs solo. Braden loved all the rides and went on all but about two. A big thanks to Mr. Russ for taking him on the rides that required you to be with a grown up if you were shorter than 48"!

Braden's first salmon!

2009-07-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Braden went out fishing today with his dad around the San Juans. He caught his first fish, a 9 pound salmon. Yes, they also caught about 10 dogfish but we are excited about the salmon. Yum.....dinner!

Daddy Did It

2009-07-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here is a recent conversation I had with Conner:

Mom: Did you draw all over your arms Conner? (He had purple marker all over both hands and arms)

Conner: Looks down and says huh?

Mom: Did you draw on yourself?

Conner: No, Daddy did.

Already blaming his dad for things. Uh oh......

All Comers Track Meets 2009

2009-07-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

This summer is the 3rd year we have done the All Comers Track Meets in Burlington. The boys love it. They have a lot of fun events for the kids each week and they love everyone cheering all around.

They have 50 yard dash. (As you can see, Braden likes to socialize while racing...)

The 100 yard dash.

The 50 yard hurdles (yes, those are the hurdles and up until last week Conner made me run every race with him. Last week he did it all on his own though!)

The Long Jump.

The High Jump. (This is about as "high" as we get here).

The softball throw (This is Braden's best event. He has a great arm and is just a few feet from the age 4 and under record for distance at 40 feet.)

And the shot put (honestly just another ball, but they have the kids push it up like a shot put).

Conner is a pretty fast runner for a two year old so he does very well in the races. Braden doesn't race as fast, mostly because he is constantly trying to get the attention of the runners next to him and watch what everyone else is doing, but he loves the throwing events and can throw quite far. This makes his Papa (Grandpa Acuff) very happy as he is hoping for a baseball star in a few years. We have three more meets left this summer. The kids love it. Each night before bed Conner asks when he gets to race again.

Soccer Camp

2009-06-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

Braden had his first day of Sports Camp and the first day was focused on soccer. Braden went to a week long soccer camp this spring so he LOVED it. They do a really nice job through parks and rec in Anacortes. They were split into different stations and focused on kicking, footwork and scoring goals. Braden was on the same team as two of his best buddies so he had a great time.

Here he is playing a game where they had to kick all the balls to the other teams half of the field.

Here he is doing some sort of dance move while playing, I believe.

And here he is playing a soccer game at the end. It was a great day. Next week....basketball!

Bubbles

2009-06-01T20:23:00.001-07:00

Bubbles are fun......

I-Pod

2009-05-26T20:14:00.001-07:00

Braden found my I-Pod today and asked if he could listen to it. He figured out how to work it right away and then continue to bop around the house to the music for about an hour. He seems to really like Matchbox 20, Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson. He did not care for Enya or any other slow music. He even sat and ate dinner while dancing in his chair (surprisingly calmly). It was peaceful (and pretty cute) so I allowed him to do it at the dinner table.

Waterfront Festival

2009-05-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the waterfront festival in Anacortes. The best part of this every year is the boat building.

They have wooden boat pieces and the kids get to glue and nail them together and pick out a sail. It is very fun! Mom was proud that she could make the boats without dad, since dad had to be gone at a tennis tournament. A big thank you to Grandma Marge for helping us out on our adventure!

After you finish building your fabulous boat creation, you get to go try it out in the "ocean". Conner's did not float very well this year (luckily we had balloons as a distraction) but Braden's turned out to be very sea worthy.

Conner even ran in to his little girl friend Olivia. They greet each other with a big hug everytime they see each other.

Braden ran into his friend Ryan who made himself a pirate ship this year.

We finished off the day with a trip to Read Me a Story and McDonalds with Grandma. It was a great day!

Sports Helmets

2009-05-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

We figured with the poor economy we should look for ways to save money. The kids thought they would help and they found their Easter baskets also doubles as great helmets.

It's Tulip Time!

2009-04-24T20:28:00.000-07:00

It's tulip time here in the Skagit Valley. I love the big field of tulips this short time of year and I always think "wouldn't tulip pictures with the boys be so cute". In theory, yes, but each year I try, the boys are somewhat less than cooperative. After a few minutes of begging and a bribe (notice the dollar bill with Conner), I was able to get a few pictures thanks to the fabulous Grandma Marion. We are so lucky to have such a nice grandma!

They are so beautiful and smell so good....

I will only look at the camera for a dollar, mom....

Ok, maybe I will look this time but only because you promised there was a bird on grandma's nose. There is no bird, only that camera again.....

And with the promise of "If you sit and smile one time that will be the last picture, I promise". Then mom finally gets Braden and Conner to sit and smile.
It was a beautiful day and each boy picked out a bundle of tulips. Braden picked yellow with red specks and Conner picked a bundle of red and yellow tulips. And boys being boys, here they are pretending the tulips were swords.

Happy April!

Easter Fun

2009-04-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Braden had a great Easter! He LOVED hunting eggs this year at two different egg hunts but he was not fast and furious like I predicted. He took his time picking out eggs he liked and was very careful not to pick up any pink eggs at all. He is very serious about his anti-pink beliefs. Braden was also very excited about the Easter Bunny this year (which is funny because the Easter Bunny really didn't visit our house before this year). I think the bunny may have only chosen to make a stop this year because Braden kept going on and on about how cool it is when the Easter Bunny leaves you an Easter Basket. I guess it is a good thing he left one for him this year! Conner, unfortunately, was sick all weekend so he did not enjoy the Easter weekend as much. He did one half-hearted hunt but then was out for the count on Easter. So, we do not love Braden more as it may look from these pictures but Conner did not feel up to being photographed. We are ready for this season of sickness to end!

Soccer

2009-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

I signed Braden up for soccer camp over Spring Break and he LOVED it. I can tell he is going to love all sports as he grows up. I asked him "Braden what sport do you like better, basketball or soccer?" "I like all the sports mom" "I like them all the most". Conner really loved it too and luckily the nice coach let him play along the first day of camp.

Conner liked playing catch with his mom while Braden was doing soccer skills.

Conner's favorite part of the camp was kicking over the cones and picking them back up without using his hands. The coach called this game King Kong.

Braden listened to his coach Oscar very carefully about how to kick the soccer ball.

Both Braden and Conner loved playing soccer and can't wait for the next camp!

Thanks to Grandma Marion and Grandma and Grandpa Thomas for taking them to camp two of the days while mom and dad were in Las Vegas!

Bunk Beds!

2009-03-27T17:33:00.001-07:00

Braden and Conner just got bunk beds. No, they aren't sleeping in them together yet. They are still in two separate rooms until Conner is a little older. For now they are just for Braden to sleep in but the top bunk has offered hours of entertainment for both boys!

The boys haven't stopped playing up there since we got them last week!

Kyla & Kim come to visit

2009-03-07T13:42:00.000-08:00

Kyla, Kim and JJ came to visit today. Conner had a great time playing and reading with Kyla.

They sang a little song together (it is amazing they both seemed to instantly know the tune to a song I didn't know) and "played cards".

Braden enjoyed showing off and telling Kim and Kyla all sorts of things but he was obviously too cool to pose for any pictures for us. Kyla and Conner discussed together why Braden was being difficult....

We are so happy they came up to visit us today! We had a great time.

Mr. Potato head glasses....not just for potatoes anymore

2009-03-01T13:19:00.001-08:00

What do these glasses not fit me correctly?

How about this hat?

Braden is 4

2009-02-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

Braden celebrated his 4th birthday this month and had a lot of fun at all of his celebrations. He got to go to the Children's Museum with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Tina, Uncle Lance, Toby, Zach, Sammie, Conner and mom and dad. It was a great time as always at the museum! Then we celebrated with the Thomas family the next day and Braden had the honor of sharing his birthday with Tasha, Steve, Shannon and Cody. It was quite a party! Then he got to have his big boy party at Chuck E. Cheese with all of his buddies. He had a great time and everyone was exhausted at the end. We are now done with birthdays for a while here in the Thomas house (much to Braden and Conner's dismay). The constant parade of toys the last 3 months for them has been exciting. Here are a few pictures from all of the festivities.

Brotherly Love

2009-02-03T20:10:00.000-08:00

Braden and Conner have reached a milestone recently that makes me a very happy mommy (most of the time anyway). They will now go and play together pretty regularly. Now you may be asking yourself "Didn't they play together before now?" and yes the answer would be certainly. However, they will now play together without my participation. Braden actually enjoys being the big brother and taking Conner into his room to play tools, out on the deck to push cars or downstairs to play basketball or jump in the bouncy house. I have actually been told on a few occasions recently that they would like me to leave so they can play by themselves. This leaves me torn. One the one hand I am so happy to see this independence with them, I love that they enjoy each other's company so much and I love to have a few minutes to clean, cook or just sit on occasion. However, a part of me is sad that my babies are growing up so fast. Braden is such a big boy now and Conner is following close behind and always loves to imitate his big brother. But for now I will enjoy this new development and figure out a way to deal with the increased competition that has arrived with both of them for everything.

Going pro...

2009-01-25T13:24:00.000-08:00

Braden had his first day of peewee basketball on Saturday. He loved it! They practiced shooting, dribbling and rebounding. He was really into it and listened so well. We were so proud of him. We are expecting him to go pro anyday now....

Oh, he almost made it....

It's going in this time...

I got it!

Preschool Christmas Program (rescheduled)

2009-01-18T08:08:00.001-08:00

We had sooooo much snow over the holidays that Braden's Christmas program from preschool had to be rescheduled for January. He was an angel (which his teacher pointed out for the boys that angels were warriors).

As you can see our little angel can groove.....

And he has the rhythm......

But he never forgets his loyal fans in the audience (mom, dad, Conner, and grandparents) with a big wave when he finally sees us out there.

Look Who's Two!

2009-01-12T19:27:00.001-08:00

Conner turned 2 on January 3 (yes, mom's a bit of a slacker with the posts).

You can see he had a great time! He had two parties with the two families and got lots of presents. He likes to open the first present and then play with that toy. The other presents would then become forgotten as he played with the toy lucky enough to be opened first.

Cars were very popular!

As you can see it is very tiring opening present after present.....
Oh, wait that's right I have more presents to open! Awesome.....

Then it was time for cake. Homemade (boxed) cake with cars on the top. I'm pretty sure my cake put all Laura's delicious homemade blog foods to shame. Ok, well, maybe not but the cars were sure cute and did I mention they were surrounded by M&M's? Those were tasty as well.....

Happy Birthday Conner!

Decorating fun

2008-12-23T12:35:00.001-08:00

The boys really enjoyed decorating the tree and preparing for Christmas this year. They really loved picking out the Christmas tree at the tree farm.

The tree farm we went to had "reindeer" and hot apple cider and a sleigh for fabulous picture opportunities

When the tree finally got home the boys were very serious about decorating, especially Conner......

They have both enjoyed opening their advent calendars from Grandma and Papa ( I mean who wouldn't enjoy chocolate every day!) and decorating gingerbread houses and of course decorating cookies!

Now just a few more days until Christmas!

Snow!!!!

2008-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

We cannot believe all this snow we have been having! Braden loves it!

He especially loves riding the quad around in the snow. (yes, he has a grownup with him except when posing for awesome pictures)

Conner is interested and tolerated a few sled rides with mom but mostly wanted to be held.

We have had some fun days away from school!

Santa Breakfast

2008-12-10T15:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend we went to the Santa breakfast here in Anacortes. Braden and Conner got to go with Grandma and Papa Acuff and Grandma and Grandpa Thomas and of course mom and dad. We had a great pancake breakfast although Conner mainly played with balloons.

We decorated cookies...

and really, really enjoyed eating them (yes, even after a non breakfast of balloon playing)

It was a good day of family bonding! Merry Christmas!

Simple Pleasures

2008-12-01T17:03:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Braden and Conner enjoyed a celebration with each side of the family so they had their fill of turkey and fun! Now December is definitely here with the cold weather. Here is a picture of the boys gearing up for the cold (thanks for the Wilder cap Kim!)

These hats gave Braden and Conner a good 30 minutes of entertainment. Oh the simple things......
Yes, it is fuzzy because they were jumping up and down for a good half an hour throwing and catching their hats. It was quite funny......

Halloween carnival

2008-11-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

Braden and Conner enjoyed the annual La Conner School's Halloween carnival. Braden has acquired quite a good throwing arm and is showing great potential as a future baseball star. He even won his mom a 10 lb bag of potatoes by throwing 4/5 potatos at a target. We are so proud.

And he was not to proud to cheer himself on as well......

Conner really loved trick or treating.....

But as you can see he is much more stubborn than his older brother and this orange spiderman shirt was all the costume he would tolerate.

We hope everyone else enjoyed their Halloween as much as we did!

Class Field Trip

2008-10-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

Braden's preschool class had a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday. Braden had a careful method of selecting just the right pumpkin. Luckily he chose a nice big orange one instead of this little green one.

Braden and Conner shared a hug on the hay ride in from the pumpkin field.
We then went on to see all the animals in the petting zoo. Conner loved feeding the chickens corn.
But Braden was brave enough to pet the chicken also!
There was story time, coloring and apples after we got to meet the animals. Conner joined right in with the class to enjoy a good story and a few apple slices.

Thanks to Grandma Marion for driving the kids to the pumpkin patch so mommy could meet them there from work. We all had a great time!

Sad to see summer go.......

2008-09-21T20:58:00.001-07:00

Well our nice summer (well September anyway) has seemed to end. We are sad to see the nice weather go...... Hopefully we will get out in the boat a few more times before we have to pack it up for the summer. Both boys seem to love the water like their daddy.....

Vegas Dancers?

2008-08-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today I was trying to call some preschools on the phone so I wasn't paying attention to the boys while they were playing for a minutes. When I got off the phone I found my handsome boys with stickers in interesting places...........

Training for Future Husky Tackles

2008-08-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

One of Conner's favorite activities...............tackling his big brother.

Children's Museum

2008-08-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

We went to the Children's museum last weekend with Grandma and Papa and Braden and Conner's cousins Sammie, Toby and Zack (of course Aunt Tina too!). It was very fun! Conner is in love with his baby twin cousins Toby and Zack and wants to hug and kiss them constantly (much to their dismay!)

They loved the upstairs playground and digging with the dinosaurs!

Braden loved pretending to be a restaurant owner and building with his Papa!

A good time was had by all! But with a 3 year old, 2 year old, 1 year old and two 4 month olds all I can say is thank goodness for grandparents!

A Day at the Zoo

2008-07-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Braden and I enjoyed a fun first day at the Woodland Park Zoo. He has never been there before and he loved it. It was a fun day! Braden got to see all sorts of animals he had never seen but I still think his favorite part was the petting zoo. That and milking the fake cow of course!

Track Meet Superstars

2008-07-24T14:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Kim has been trying to get me to start a blog for a while now. So I decided if I can't do it now in the middle of summer when will I do it? Well, what better a time than the day after my two track stars kicked butt in the latest track meet.

Braden has been so anxious to start any kind of sport that he has loved running in these track meets. He does the 50m hurdles, 50 m dash, 100 m dash, long jump and softball throw. He got 3rd place in both the 50 and 100m dash last night and may have placed in softball but we left before we could find out. We are so very proud!

But the real surprise of the night was Conner.

He really wanted to join the fun but the first racing group is for 2 year olds. We decided to be rebels and let our 19 month old run with the 2 year old group. Conner got 3rd place in both the 50m and 100m as well. He smiled the whole way! We expect next year when he really is 2 he will clean up in all categories!

Now I realize my pictures are not where they should be in my post so I'll have to have a little posting tutorial. But hey, at least I started Kim!