Riley's Tag

We saw the following tag while reading Janine's blog.  It's for kids so Riley did it.  He really liked doing it.

Q:  What's something that Mommy always says to you?

A:  I love you.

Q:  What makes Mommy happy?

A:  When I make good choices.   And get in my seat(booster) when you don't have to tell me.

Q:  What makes Mommy sad?

A:  When I don't make good choices.

Q:  How does Mommy make you laugh?

A:  When you tickle me and say funny words.

Q:  What was Mommy like as a child?

A:  I think you looked the same.

Q:  How old is your Mommy?

A:  6.  Are you 6?  I told him no that I am 27.

Q:  How tall is your Mommy?

A:  Taller than the fridge.

Q:  What is Mom's favorite thing to do?

A:  Play.

Q:  What does Mommy do when your not around?

A:  I don't know.  Go to the store and buy stuff.

Q:  If Mommy was going to be famous, what would it be for?

A:  What?  I don't know.

Q:  What is your Mommy really good at?

A:  Doing computer games.  (funny thing is I don't like computer games.  Riley does.)

Q:  What is Mommy not very good at?

A:  You are very good at breaking boards.  (so I asked again and put emphasis on NOT)  Breaking purses.

Q:  What does Mommy do for her job?

A:  You did firefighting.

Q:  What is Mommy's favorite food?

A:  Macaroni and cheese and vegetables.

Q:  What makes you proud of Mom?

A:  Uh, I don't know.  when you buy me new toys like a light saber that goes down.  (FYI that's what he's hoping I will buy him)

Q:  If Mommy was a cartoon character, who would she be?

A:  Super Girl

Q:  What do you and your Mommy do together?

A:  play and sometimes go shopping.

Q:  How are you and Mommy the same?

A:  We both have green eyes.

Q:  How are you and your Mommy different?

A:  Because your not a boy.

Q:  How do you know Mommy loves you?

A:  Because your my mom.  I'm good at this.

Jeremy and Tyler were having so much fun riding around in this fire truck.  Jeremy was really excited because in the past Riley was always the driver.  Riley had was sick and in the house sleeping on this particular day, so it was all Jeremy.  Tyler was beyond excitement too.   I have all of these great videos to post but every time I try, I get an error message.  Anyone know how to fix that?

Surgery

Lane had a mandibular advancement on Tuesday.  What is that?  A surgery where they break your jaw and move it forward.  As you can imagine, poor Valane has been miserable!  His mouth is banded shut and will be for 2-4 weeks, which also includes being on a liquid diet for equal time.  Fun times!!  My favorite part, trying to translate the grunts.   I say that in sarcasm, but really last night was quite comical.   At any rate, it has been a hard stressful week on all of us.  I"m just glad it's over.   

Happy Father's Day Valane!

To start off the day, we let Lane sleep in.  Meanwhile, I was making this.  Crepes stuffed with a sweet cream cheese filling and tons of strawberries.  Mmmmm!  What isn't showing in this picture is the piece of gum the boys thought he needed for after his meal. 

At about 10:45, we took him breakfast in bed.

After our computer crashed, and was told it wasn't fixable, we had to go get a new one.  At the same time there was a student promotion with Apple.  When you bought a computer you got a free IPod touch.  Lane didn't know about that part.  It actually started 7 days after we bought the computer.  I took in my receipt and they honored it.  So for Father's day I we gave him an Ipod compliments of Apple that I loaded with music, pictures and contact info of all his family.

So here's to you Valane!  Thanks for being an amazing husband and Father!  I'm grateful everyday that I am so blessed to have you for my eternal companion!  You are my best friend, my confidant, A wonderful father, the Love of My life, and oh so much more!  I couldn't have dreamed of a better man than you!  I love you forever and longer!  I hope you had a great Father's day and I hope you know just how much we love you, and how grateful we are to you for working so hard to take care of us!

I Love You!

Riley wanted to know

So yesterday Riley asked me in a very contemplative way these three questions.

• Do you play in heaven?

• When I go to heaven, I"m going to bring a toy.

• When we go to heaven, will we have any toys there?
  

A couple of days ago, while reading On the Moon, Jeremy informed me that he was going to be an astronaut.  He frequently says he wants to be an astronaut.  On the other hand, Riley always says he doesn't want to do that because it's dangerous.  This time he said, "I just want to go on my mission and be a dentist."

Speaking of things being dangerous, a remembered something.  This is random, but since I use this as a form of journaling, I will share.  When Riley was younger he always said dangerous 'dane-yur-ous."  I'm glad kids grow up and learn how to talk correctly, but I sooo love hearing them while they learn.  It is just to precious.

When the boys wake up on weekend mornings they come into our bed to snuggle, talk, sometimes goof off until Lane and I get out of bed.  We like it because we're not rushing out of bed to get to school or other things.  This morning Jeremy was trying to play with Tyler.  The boys love to play with Tyler.  As you might suspect, sometimes they get too rough, or crowd him too much.  This morning, Jeremy tried to stick his finger in Tyelr's mouth.  I quickly told him no and moved his finger.  Jeremy's response, in the I don't know why you have to be so unreasonable tone, 

"I just want his breath."

Tyler is all over the place.  He's still doing the army crawl and he's quick.  He's been pulling up on more and more things.  This morning it was a toy bucket.  Looked at his toes.  I love how they're curled.

Good deal?

Lane brought an Indiana Jones lego set home for Riley the other day.  The rule:  You have to play with it at the table so Tyler doesn't choke on the little pieces.  

The boys had played with them and moved on to other things.  Lunch time came and I told the boys to clean them up.  After being ignored a few times I said, "If I have to put the legos away, you can't play with them for the rest of the day.  Do it now!"

I ended up picking then up and putting them on a high shelf.  About an hour later he wanted the toys and was upset that he couldn't have them.  

After dinner, I was cleaning up the dishes and Riley says to me,

"How about we make a deal that I can play Indiana Jones whenever I want to."
For obvious reasons, his request was denied!

Fun day with friends!

FYI :  My boys woke up right before Ethan and Cole came over, in case you wonder why they are still in pjs.  I"m a little embarrassed, but hey that's how it goes.  

It all started with Kung Fu.  Apparently both our families saw Kung Fu Panda this weekend.

Before long, they had the race track laid out.  It was awesome the cars flew down the stairs and jumped over the couch.  The boys loved it!  We all had a blast doing it.

Then came the dancing.  Ooooh the dancing! 

It appears that Riley is into Break, Jeremy and Cole like to roll, and Ethan...

Well they tell me this is called the Hula Hoop.  I couldn't stop laughing.  

Then they played with toys, had lunch, watched most of Cars (the movie), and a couple of the boys started doing some art projects.  All this before 1:30.  It was a great day!  The boys had a blast!

Tyler and Dad

Riley

Riley is such a sweet boy. I just love him to pieces! Here are eleven things I love about him:
1. Making good choices is very important to him.
2. He is sensitive (his own feelings and to other people's feelings).
3. He is a chatter box.
4. He is conscientious
5. He has a willing heart.
6. He is artistic like his Dad. He is always drawing and doing projects.
7. He's very imaginative.
8. He adores his brothers.
9. He's generous and kind.
10. He is a snuggle bug.
11. Since I"m writing this, I can say it....He is a Mama's boy! : )

I love you forever Riley!!!

Vance summited Everest!!

This is Lane's brother Vance. He just got back from Nepal. He summited Mt. Everest!

We're proud of you Vance. We are so glad you made it and we're so happy you are home safe with your family! We love you tons!

In case you couldn't make it out, Jeremy was talking about Jar Jar. You know, Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars. Then there's Riley who is notorious for correcting Jeremy. We're trying to break him of that but as you can see, we haven't had success.

One day, Jeremy was just talking to me and he blurts out,
"One time, I fought Darth Mall and I used The Forest!"

He always calls it the forest.' I love it! It's so cute!

Tyler's nine month doctor appointment was yesterday. You know the drill while your in the waiting room. A nurse opens the door and calls, "Anna?"
Jeremy looks up and furrows his brow and hollars, "It's Tyler........It's Tyler..........It's Tyler."

Then we went into the room. While we waited for the doctor to come the boys started to get rowdy and beginning to get too loud. Jeremy got upset with Riley and yelled, "Rii-waaay!"

Me: If you yell in here, you won't get a lolly pop. Use your inside voice!

Jeremy: There's not an inside park here. (the inside park is the play park inside the mall) That's why I don't.

Weeks gone by....

It has been way too long since I have posted. The last month has been crazy. Our computer crashed. We took it to a computer guy to fix. He had it for almost a week. The verdict, he couldn't fix it. On a good note, he was able to recover the hard drive. So we didn't lose our pictures. Thank goodness for that! We still had three problems. One, how do you live in this day and age w/out a computer? Two, Lane is right in the middle of Ortho applications. A computer is an integral part of that. Three, I rely on a computer to do my church calling. Not to mention the fact that its my connection to oh so many things.

Then our breaks went out. Breaks we had done only 3000 miles ago. Let me tell ya, I was not happy about it. In the midst of trying to get the car to the mechanics our water heater went out. The rest is a long story, and well, it's really quite boring. So I will spare you all and skip to the good stuff. Kids!

For those of you who don't know, I have four brothers. I fall right in the middle. My baby brother's given name is Andrew. My brother Tom nicknamed him Biff and it stuck. He went by Biff when we were kids and he still does. He just arrived in town from Iraq last night. I got to see him today and it was great! He is just home for a visit and then he is back to Iraq. This has been his second deployment. When he's through, he'll have spent three years there. So, here is a a special Thanks, to you Biff, for serving! Thanks for fighting for our safety and freedom!!!

So as soon as Riley saw him he wanted to wrestle, and wrestle they did. This evening while the boys were getting ready for bed Riley says to me,

Riley: Mom? Sometimes I just touched Uncle Biff and he said, 'You got me.' Why did he say that?

Me: I don't know. You will have to ask him.

Riley: I think it's because I have 'THE FORCE!'

It was so cute because he was so serious and so believing. I love that about kids.

This afternoon Jeremy was building with blocks. Tyler and I were watching him, just as requested. Then I stood up and told him I had to go get Tyler some sock. Jeremy says,

"Is that because he has naked toes?"

It brought a smile to my face.

Buddies

Today was a fun day. This afternoon Ethan and Cole came over. We played at the park for close to 3 hours. It was great!

Jeremy cracks me up sometimes. Last night he woke up around midnight and called for me. I went in. He asked me to lay down with him for a little bit. I did. Not three mintues later he says,

" I"m done with you now."

I asked if he wanted me to leave. He said yes.

The other day Riley said to me, "Mom, I don't play at school."

So I asked him why. (it is preschool and I know they do some playing.)

He replied, "I don't play much because I just love doing projects. I never want to stop."

Riley is super artistic and doing projects is one of his very favorite things.

Tyler loves to swing.

I love it when it takes his breath away.

Tyler is getting so active. He is 8 months old now. Time sure flies. He isn't crawling but it won't be long. He is all over the place, rolling and scooting around. He is so sweet. He loves his brothers so much. He gets so exciting just seeing them, even if they aren't looking at him. When they look at Tyler and talk to him, Tyler is beside himself. He is completly elated. It is so very precious.

This picture of Tyler reminds me of Jeremy.

This one reminds me of Riley.

Brothers

not yet potty trained

Some time ago, Jeremy was completely pee potty trained. Since he refused to do the other, we postponed. For the last month we've been talking about how when Jeremy is 3 he will go in the toilet. Before that day came, he was excited about it. He turned 3 yesterday. He informed me this morning, 'I'm not 3, I"m not. I"m 2. I'm not big, "Im small.' He keeps telling me that. As a result of him still being 2 : ) , He is not using the toilet. So I guess we're at square one again. I knew it was wishful thinking but hey, what can I say.

Return of the Spiders

During the last month and a half, we have been hearing a lot about 'the spiders.' They seem to be the explanation for when Jeremy doesn't know how something happened.

One day Jeremy was looking for a costume. It wasn't in the costume bucket downstairs or where he left it. I told him to check in the basket on his bookcase (in his room). He says, "noooo!" like it's not there. I told him again to go check. He did. Then he exlaims, "The spiders put it there!"

We have a side table that sits in our hall upstairs by the kids bathroom. I keep Jeremy's diapers and wipes it. I frequently send Jeremy to go get a diaper for himself. The last time he had done it that day, he left the drawer open. When I noticed it, I closed the drawer. Jeremy discovered, some time later, that it had been closed. He said while nodding his head, "The spiders closed it!"

On this same day, when Jeremy had last been in my room, there were no toys on the floor. While Jeremy was playing downstairs, I took Tyler upstairs with me for about five minutes while I put a load of clothes away. During that time, I put a few toys on the floor for Tyler to play with. We left them there. Later when Jeremy went upstairs with us he saw them. In surprise he said, "Look! The spiders got these out!" The rest of the conversation goes like this.

me: Where are the spiders?

Jeremy: (eye brows furrowed, you can tell he's thinking) I'll show you!

I follow him into the bathroom. He points his finger all around as if he's deciding as he's telling me. Then he points into the toilet.

Jeremy: In there.

As you could probably imagine, those spiders get the blame everytime Jeremy discovers that the toilet hasn't been flushed.

Jeremy: The spiders did that!

Jeremy is very expressive and contemplative when he talks. Today, I decided to ask him about those spiders again. I didn't realize until after it was done that the file is too big to upload. Does anyone know how to make it smaller? If there is a way to make it smaller you will hear more about where 'the spiders' live. They have a new home.

Jeremy cracks me up!

I haven't been blogging for way too long. I have been writting little stories down on scraps of paper here and there. So I have a bit of catching up to do. Here is a start.

Before I tell you this story, there are a few things you need to know.
1. We can tell Jeremy has had too much dairy by his diaper. Enough said, right?!
2. Riley is a hall monitor
3. You have to really choose wisely when picking battles with Jeremy.

I was holding Tyler while I was trying to throw dinner together. Jeremy recognized the opportunity, and acted. As he goes for his thrid gogurt, Riley is frantically informing Jeremy and I that he can't have anymore. The conversation goes like this,

Riley: Jeremy! You can't have anymore yogurt.

Jeremy: Yeeees! I CAN!

(meanwhile I'm trying to decide if I want to let this one go or not)

Riley: It will make you sick!

Jeremy: Noooo

Riley: It will make you sick Jeremy! Right Mom?!

Me: Weeeell. It won't make him sick but it will give him diahrea.

Riley: Yeah Jeremy, it will give you diahrea!

Jeremy: Noooo

Me: Yes it will give you diahrea!

Riley: See Jeremy!

Jeremy: I want diahrea! I do!

He said it as if, "I"m aware of the risk and I"m willing to take that chance." It made me laugh. Jeremy is so funny!

Happy Birthday Jeremy

Jeremy had to have these 3D glasses for his party!

We had tons of fun! Jeremy wanted a pinjata. I was surpised that when it came down to doing it he only took two hits and was done. He woke up at 5:45 am. I think he was tired. We still had fun playing, opening presents and eating cake and ice cream. Jeremy is 3 and so excited!

Still under construction...

I was searching all over the net for cute backrounds. This is the cutest one I could find that isn't too girly. I love things that are really girly but since I have three boys, I thought I should avoid that route. Sorry to copy you Mahina. It was my favorite one. But I did pick one that was a little bit different. What can I say, You have great taste!

I'm still working on making some changes. I will be back blogging soon. I"ve been in a stand still since January. Too long, I know. My excuse, my camera battery charger broke. I didn't replace it right away because I wanted to see if it could be fixed. Now here we are in May and I just got it replaced. Soooo, I'm back. I will be making more changes and adding more posts very soon. So stay tuned!

I found this great backround at
http://www.leeloublogs.blogspot.com/
They're super cute and Free!

A couple cute stories from the week.

We let Riley stay up late one night. We had a movie night whith him. While getting everything set up he says,

"I can't wait until my sister comes!!!"

Now just so you know, I am NOT pregnant. Nor are we even talking about having another one righ now, not for a couple of years anyway. Riley continues,

"If anyone tries to be mean to her, I won't throw them down the stairs!! I will just beat them up!!"

It's good to know he'll watch out for the sister he has been longing for since I was pregnant with Tyler. For those of you who don't know, he was convinced Tyler was a girl. He was even making her stuff at school.


Jeremy was playing with a superman action figure. He held Superman up towards me, as if Superman was the one talking to me, and in a deep voice he exlaims,

"I'm superman! I"m child of God!"

It was soo cute! Jeremy is so sweet. He is always telling me,
"Tyler's my best friend!" Jeremy loves to sing and frequently he sings to Tyler while he holds his hands. Tyler gets so excited and he laughs the whole time.

Our whole family was in the car on friday night headed to the store. Riley says,

"If there is a bad guy in our house, I will just get him with my light saber!"

The cute thing, we could tell when he said it, he really believes that he would take care of him with his light saber! I just love the imaginations of kids and how they are so believing!

It snowed last night!!

Mmmm. Tastes good!

He's so cute! I can hardly stand it!

Riley's 5th Birthday

In years past, the age your turning is how many friends you get to invite to the party. This year, I asked Riley who he wanted to invite. He rattled off nine names. I told him, "Oh I think we should pick five." He was so upset and replied, "But Mom, I have so many friends. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." It was very sweet. So needless to say, we invited all nine. We had a great time. We pinned the life spark on the transformer, brpke into a pinjata, had cake and ice cream, opened presents, and even did a little coloring.

The night before Riley's birthday, I hung streamers while Valane did a "quick sketch" (as he would call it) of a transformer. It's crazy I know! He actually colored it with crayons. But shhhhhh, don't tell him I posted it. He doesn't like people to know. : ) We needed a game. So we thought, pin the life spark on the transformer.