Madagascar...

Is it MADAGASCAR

OR.......

"OUT-OF-GAS-CAR"!?

It's "OUT-OF-GAS-CAR" if you ask Peyton. Ha ha! I love 3 year olds! :)

Corey's Spring Break...

My brother Corey came down to Texas for his spring break. My dad works for SkyWest Airlines so my family has flight benefits. It doesn't mean that it is easy to got on an airplane to Dallas, but they try anyways. I felt bad that we didn't do more fun things with Corey while he was here. The fact that we have NO money puts a damper on things. We went to the park, downtown Dallas, and to the local Baptist church. No, we did not switch religions here in the south, but the Baptists really do know how to party {at least here in Texas}. Most of the Baptist churches around here have HUGE indoor play areas that are open to the public. Which is a really nice relief in the HOT summer! This particular Baptist Church has a HUGE playground that has a 3 tiered slide. It is called "The Ark", it is so fun! Peyton LOVES it. We seriously go there 3 times a week!

Corey took Kael all the way up to the top so he could slide down. It is not an easy job, let me tell you. It is an obstacle course, so you are climbing over things and under things, and squeezing through things {that are not made for postpartum mothers! :) }. Kael LOVES to come down the slide but he does not like getting to that point!

Luckily they have a toddler area that is just Kael's size!

They have a little cubby that is filled with big exercise balls. He LOVES to go inside and push them around!

Kael in the ball cubby!

Kael stopped for a drink break. I can't keep my drinks away from him!

Peyton LOVES to say "Hi" to the octopus every time he visits.

Corey and Kael at "The Ark".

We also took Corey to the duck park where we met some of Peyton's friends. Leave it to Corey to catch a turtle! :) I was dying thinking of all the amphibious germs that were all over the turtle! :) Luckily I had a package of my antibacterial wipes in the diaper bag! :) The pond is filled with turtles, catfish, and of course ducks!

It was so fun to have Corey down for the week! Peyton and Kael LOVED it! We hope he had fun too!

Happy Heart...

Some days I wonder what kind of a crazy person I was to have two children 2 years apart. {just being honest} And I got 2 boys to boot! :) Some days I have had all the dramatics I can take, and it's only 9 a.m. {thank you diet coke} They are funny boys! But then I have moments where I look at them playing and truly enjoying each others company, and then I know why I had them that close together. I see them being great friends, laughing, and playing together...and getting into LOTS of trouble together. Even though it is hard sometimes, it make my heart happy...to see them together laughing and loving each other.
Tonight Peyton had to go to the bathroom. He likes me to be there for moral support {hope that ends soon. he he he.} and sometimes Kael likes to tag along. Peyton doesn't really enjoy when Kael comes in because according to Peyton, "Kael will fish in the toilet." The boy is right. More times than not Kael tries to get the catch of the day. But he will stand at the door sobbing if we lock him out.... so I just keep a close eye on Kael. Tonight as we were sitting in the bathroom Kael thought that it would be fun to bring Peyton anything that he could find on the floor. The first thing that he brought Peyton was a ball. Kael was so thrilled that he found it and carried it so proudly to his brother who was sitting on the toilet. At first Peyton was afraid that Kael was going to throw it in the toilet {which he has been known to do. 3 stuffed animals to be exact.} I quickly explained to Peyton that Kael was trying to give him the ball and Peyton laughed and took it. The next thing that Kael brought Peyton was a Batman mask. Kael handed it to Peyton and he gladly took it and said, "Good choice Kael. Thank you." Kael squealed with excitement and ran off to find something else. {i wish that i could capture his squeals in a bottle and keep them forever} This game went on for a couple minutes and I could tell that they were having so much fun. One was sitting on the toilet and the other one was frantically looking for things to deliver. It was adorable. Kael was having so much fun, that he stuck out his cute little face and planted a kiss right on Peyton's lips...all while Peyton was sitting on the pot! :) It made my heart so happy. I love moments like this. It's moments like this that I know how truly blessed that I am. That my Father in Heaven would give me his children to teach, love, and treasure. My heart beats for them. I love them more than anything in this world.

I am SO blessed to be able to have the opportunity to have children and to be a mother.
And that's why I have a happy heart.

Um?

Peyton and I have had MANY talks. One talk being about "where markers go". Markers GO ON PAPER....not on walls, not on floors, not on toys, not on clothes......apparently we forgot to cover the body, more specifically the face. How did I forget that? :)

I do have to give mad props to my yellow fore-headed child! He has gone #2 in the potty for
6 days straight! Woo Hoo! I am so PROUD of him! We are making MAJOR progress. This pooping business has been holding him up {literally}. :)

YAY PEYTON!!!

Funny Little Chair and Coming In Last.....

Funny Little Chair.....

The one thing that I L-O-V-E about our apartment is the HUGE windows! Well, I should say a love/hate relationship. I am a natural light girl. I LOVE the sunshine! I LOVE when my blinds are open and the little rays of sunshine are beamin' in! Bryan on the other hand likes them closed. I think he is secretly a vampire {team jacob or team edward? confession. i have NEVER read the books. i have NEVER seen the movies. don't judge. i just wanted to pretend like i had something to say about vampires!}
:)
Anyways, back to the windows. Because they span from the floor to the ceiling, I can't open them. Call me a worry wort, but I can't get the mental image of one of my children plummeting through the screen down to the ground below. So, sadly they stay shut {with the blinds open of course}. The only fresh air we get in this house is from the balcony door and the teeny tiny window in one of the bathrooms. It's a shame...I know... big wonderful windows and I can't enjoy all of the fresh air goodness!
Kael has also taken a liking to the windows, specifically the window seal. He has found a funny little chair.

He's even trying to pull his leg up and relax a little. In this picture...it totally looks like he is standing...doing a ballerina move or something. :) I find him all of the time sitting in one of the window seals just reading a book or just sitting....thinking I guess! He is funny!

******

Peyton is in Joy School this year. He loves it....I love it...when it is not at my house....we STRUGGLE with sharing our toys with our Joy School friends. It seems that he is in time out more than he is participating in the activities. But when he is at the other houses he is "so good", or so they tell me. :) Anyways, when we started Joy School, our Joy School leader, Miss Charisse brought me their name cards. I thought "Oh cute, they have little name cards...just like REAL school." No. They were supposed to trace their names...they were 2 1/2. In my mind I thought, "There is NO way that they will know how to do this." Boy was I wrong. Miss Charisse's little boy Carson could totally trace his name! What? Here is Carson tracing his name, and I look over at Peyton and he is making scribbles all over his name tag. Why would I expect anything less from Carson? His mom is SUPER MOM! Seriously. She is sweet, a great teacher, and makes homemade bread....HOMEMADE BREAD people! :) Here I am....I have a degree in teaching...and my child is coming in last...in regards to tracing his name! I have failed him. Just kidding! Ha ha! :) We are working on this. He is NO WAY close to tracing his name...but he is tracing lines...we're making progress. :)

This is the only way that we could keep him quiet during General Conference was to let him "trace" letters! He is mainly a lefty but sometimes he uses his right hand. I think he is ambidextrous!

A couple question for you.......

Am I the only one who has mornings like this:

I was getting the boys dressed for the day and Kael was a little smelly to say the least. It is always a gamble when you change Kael, you never know what you are going to find. Sometimes his diapers are not too bad {emphasis on the sometimes}, but MOST of the time they are EXPLOSIVE! {TMI?} Anyways, today was an EXPLOSIVE day. He is on this medicine that doesn't treat his already grumpy bowls not very kind! {kael has had an ear infection for literally 8 weeks. he is allergic to penicillin so they can't give him an antibiotic that is strong enough to cure it. it may be safe to say we are headed for tubes!} So his medicine causes him to be even more EXPLOSIVE! To change Kael, I have to pin his arms under my legs {it sounds painful for him, but i assure you it's not} otherwise he plays in his poop. This morning he had poop EVERYWHERE! I seriously had to use 30 wipes, plus....Kael is like trying to change the wind...he whips and twirls everywhere!

{Question 1: Is every child IMPOSSIBLE to change? Or is it just mine?}
:)

Once I got him all cleaned up, he was trying to grab the diaper and the mountain of dirty wipes sitting on top of it. I had to put it in a plastic bag because there was no way that I was going to be able to do a wrap job on this diaper! So as I ran to grab the plastic bag, I heard a trickling of water. In horror I turned around and yep, he was peeing all over the carpet! At this point I sprinted to get the plastic bag. When I came back in the room {3.5 seconds later} there was Kael splashing and playing in his puddle of pee!

In a matter of 3 minutes we both needed a bath!

Do any of you have mornings like this?
Or am I the only one?

:)