Commercialism

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....

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

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.....

Children's Museum

Last week was Spring break for mom and Braden so we decided to take a trip to the Children's Museum in Everett. We love it there and wish we lived closer. It was very rainy that day so unfortunately we didn't get to visit the rooftop but we still had a lot of fun! Some highlights were the water room which both boys loved. Braden managed to stay pretty dry but Conner was super wet! Conner also really loved the farm. He stayed in there and milked the cow and organized the milk bottles for probably an hour. (He really loves to organize. He is not like his mother.) Then all 4 boys played in the theater for quite a while. Ryan and Braden liked to run the stage lights and sell tickets. Conner was the show singing the ABC song and also enjoyed selling tickets. It was a great day.

Tulips 2010

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.

Easter

We had three great days of Easter celebrating this year. Friday night we went to Grandma and Grandpa Thomas' for Easter egg dying with the cousins. That was a fun and messy activity.

Then we had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday with Grandma, Papa and cousins Sammie, Zach and Toby. Both boys were pretty excited about the hunt this year and scored many eggs. Braden was very quick this year and was willing to pick up pink eggs. Last year he didn't get many eggs because he would touch any pink eggs (too girly I guess). But he was in it for the loot this year. Conner was also quicker this year but halfway through he asked to stop because he was cold. We went in to get his coat and he says"Um, mommy, I think I'm done." Since he doesn't like chocolate at all I guess chocolate filled eggs aren't a big deal. We filled a few eggs with Starburst and gummies (one of only a few candies he likes). However, he still wasn't too interested.

Then Sunday we had an Easter egg hunt with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas and cousins on Sunday. Poor Conner had a horrible allergy attack this day and looked like he had been beaten. Braden had fallen on his head on the concrete earlier that day and had a big scratch on his head. Needless to say, this was not a day where we were looking for family photos. Conner and Braden both got lots of eggs and enjoyed playing with all the cousins. It was a great weekend with family.

Lost Tooth!

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....I also love that Conner was happy for his brother but asked very quietly "The tooth fairy isn't going to come into my room is he?"