Whistling

For a long time, John has wanted to learn how to whistle. We have tried to teach him, but he never quite got it. But recently he has figured it out. I'm not sure when it happened. I heard him doing it the other day and I asked Daddy how long he has been doing this. Daddy said "He does it all the time." I guess I didn't notice it before. This morning he woke up (with his alarm) and I caught him walking down the hallway whistling. He is so funny. He is like a little old man whistling while he is working.

Trucks!

The kids had a truck-filled weekend. On Saturday, Mimi took them to the Touch a Truck event in Wall. During Touch a Truck, the kids get to climb into all the township trucks and learn about them from township employees. Both kids looked exhausted when they got home on Saturday afternoon. I asked them to tell me about their adventure. John told me "We didn't get to drive them. But we got to honk the horn!" I asked him which truck was his favorite. He said "The crane! It was super tall!" He asked Daddy and I what we did all day long, "Did you go to Touch a Truck?"

Bright and early this morning, Uncle T and Chucky (Daddy's cousin) arrived at our house. Uncle T and Chucky came to help Daddy trim some of our trees. In order to help them reach the branches, they brought Poppy's bucket truck. The kids were so excited. They couldn't wait to ride in the bucket. But they first had to do a little work. Uncle T was up in the bucket and he trimmed a few branches. When the coast was clear he would tell the kids. They would run and pick up the branches and move them to a pile. They were very helpful. Then it was John's turn to go up in the bucket. He went with Uncle T, and he was so short that you could only see the top of his head from the ground. The whole time he was in the bucket, Gillian was saying "Is it my turn? I go now!" Next it was Gillian's turn. She went right to Uncle T and then she started to cry. He didn't even move the bucket. She just didn't like it.

Look what I can do!

This morning, John came running into our room. "Mom! Dad! Look what I can do!" And he holds up both hands and snaps. He snaps a few times. We say, that's great! He turns around and walks out of the room. Gillian, who was behind him the whole time, walks up to us and says "I no can do that!" She looked so sad and tried to climb up on our bed. Then John started calling her. And she says "I gotta go. John needs me!"

Bedtime secrets - take two

My post on Monday night was about Gillian and how she admitted that she was a little bully. She told me that she his Dorlisa with her lunch bag and she pushed Gavin. On Tuesday, she told me that she pushed Gavin again. I was a little concerned that she was having a problem with Gavin. I asked her teacher on Wednesday morning how Gillian was behaving in class. She told me that Gillian was doing great. I asked her about Gillian and Gavin. She laughed and said "Gavin is on vacation. He hasn't been in all week!" I laughed and said did she hit Dorlisa on Monday with her lunch bag? And her teacher said, "Yes. On Monday!" Not sure why Gillian would tell me she pushed her friend when he wasn't in school. Daddy thinks she just makes stuff up.

Today, Daddy picked up the kids. In the car, Gillian told Daddy "I go to timeout today!" Daddy asked her "What did you go to timeout for?" Gillian replied "Two minutes!" She told me later that "I hurt Dorlisa. Because Christian a monster!" I'm guessing that Christian was pretending to be a monster and Gillian got scared and Dorlisa was in the way. Poor Dorlisa!

The Lizard Guys

The Lizard Guys went to the kids school today.  John loved it when they visited last year (check out last year's blog post "Monday").  I couldn't wait to pick the kids up from school today to hear about all the animals that visited.  Check out the video below.  It's the kids telling me about their visitors. 

When Daddy got home from work, I had the kids tell him about their day.  Gillian changed her story and told Daddy that she didn't touch the snake.  And again, she said "There was a caterpillar!"  She also got mad at John when John corrected her and said "Gillian, there wasn't a caterpillar!" 

Bedtime secrets

I climbed into Gillian's bed tonight to snuggle with her. She told me "I've got two friends. Daddy read two books and I got two friends." She was referring to her two stuffed animals that were under her covers. I moved them over and we snuggled. I asked her about her day. She said "I hit Dorlisa with my lunch bag. And I push Gavin with my hands." She giggled as she told me about pushing Gavin. I told her that wasn't nice. She tried to justify it "It was only with my hands." Again I told her that it was not nice to hurt our friends. She got really sad and said "I promise not to do it again." She gave me a hug and said "Thank you Mommy. You best ever!" I hope that she behaves tomorrow. But we will see.

The Boat

John and Daddy went to help Uncle T with his boat today. Well, Daddy went to help. The boat is on a trailer in Uncle T's yard and has some engine problems. John mainly played on the boat while the boys were diagnosing the problem. The first thing John did when he got on the boat was to go to the bow and say "I'm king of the world!" John also stood on the boat, looked around and said "I can see Russia from here!"

Uncle Kevin came to help too and he brought Little Kyle. John and Kyle played on the boat. At one point, Kyle was "driving" the boat and John was at the bow telling him which way to turn. They also irritated Uncle T (and everyone else) by running around the console and taking turns honking the horn. Uncle T ended up unplugging the horn from the battery, but the boys thought that the horn wasn't working because they didn't have the keys to the boat. So they got off the boat and found the keys in Uncle T's garage. They were very disappointed to find that the keys didn't help them make the horn work.

After "helping" with the boat, John carried pavers for Aunt Missy. John got a small cut on his hand while playing on the boat. But he said to Aunt Missy "I'll help with my broken hand!" He carried the pavers one by one to the garden. When I asked him what his favorite part of the day, he got up and reenacted picking up a paver and walking to the garden.

Dinner conversations

Tonight at dinner, Gillian was being difficult. She didn't want to eat dinner. So she would talk to us or talk to the dog, or drop her fork or drink her milk. Daddy and I must have said "Gillian eat your dinner!" a dozen times. One time I told her to eat her dinner, she responded "Wait a minute. I'm talking."

Also during dinner, the sun was shining on John. I tried to block it from shining in his eyes, but that didn't work. Daddy suggested that John wear his sunglasses while eating. He loved that idea. He got them and came back to the table saying "This is the best part of a sunny day!" When he sat down with his shades on, Gillian asked him "Can you see me?" John said "Yea! I can see everything just darker!"

After dinner, John asked "Is today Friday?" I told him that it was Saturday and asked him if he knew what day tomorrow was. John said "Tomorrow is Sunday. I don't like Sundays, unless it's one you can lick."

These two crack me up and keep me in my toes. Love them.

The mountain and the Bluetooth

On our way home from school, I drove the car over a bump in the road. One of those bumps where for a split second you feel like you are in a roller coaster. After we went over the bump, Gillian giggled in the backseat. I asked her why she was laughing. She said "We go over a monkey!" (At least that's what I heard). I questioned her again and she said "We go over a mountain!"

Yesterday, John said to Daddy, "I want something like a walkie talkie. You know. It's little. It's just on your ear." Daddy said "A Bluetooth?" John said "Yeah! So I can talk to my family on it!"

The Alarm Clock

We recently painted Gillian's room and rearranged the furniture. Next to her big girl bed is her nightstand. On top of the nightstand is a princess alarm clock. Daddy bought this clock when Gillian was first born. I asked him to get me a clock so when I was up with her in the middle of the night I knew what time it was. It has been in her room since then on top of her high dresser.

Anyway, John saw her clock (now that it was low enough) and wanted to know if he could have an alarm clock. Not just any alarm clock, he requested a Kai alarm clock from Ninjago. Daddy finally found one (I guess everyone loves Kai). John started using it on Sunday night. We told John how to turn the alarm off and that when he woke up he needed to get dressed and then brush his teeth. Monday morning, Daddy and I waited to hear the alarm go off to see what John would do. The alarm went off and we could hear John jump out of bed and turn it off. He got dressed and went to brush his teeth. Tuesday and Wednesday morning were very similar.

This morning his alarm went off, Daddy and I saw him walk past our room and he went into the bathroom. He finished his business and came into our room. He said "I don't know if today is a stay-at-home day or a school day." Daddy told him that there were two more school days this week and then it would be a stay-at-home day. John looked a little said. So I told him, on stay-at-home days we don't have to set the alarm. He smiled big and said "Yes!" Then ran into his room to get dressed. His is growing up top quickly!

The boo-boo

At dinner tonight, Gillian says "I got a boo-boo today!" She picked up her foot and showed John and I her bandaid. We asked her what happened. She said "I was riding a bike and fell. Then Miss Margaret saved the day! She give me bandaid!" John and I were a little confused. We asked her what happened, and how did she fall. She responded in typical Gillian fashion, "I know!" When she says that she means I don't know. John and I giggled. She then started to tell us that she was riding a bike and Miss Patty knocked her over. Again, not a likely scenario. I will have Daddy talk to Miss Margaret tomorrow to find out what actually happened.

Dessert

Daddy picked up the kids. On the way home John asked "When we get home, can I draw a picture of what I want for dessert?" At that moment, Daddy thought John was reading his mind. They had just stopped at the light on 520 by the Ralph's Italian Ices. Daddy was debating stopping a picking up some Italian ice for dessert when John asked to draw a picture. John got home and drew the picture below. When I got home, John came running upstairs to show me his picture. "Let me show you what I want for dessert!" It only took me seconds to realize what he wanted. My creative little man.

Water, Baby and Dancing

Today was the baptism of Daddy's cousin's baby Riley. We went to the church to watch the baptism. The kids were well behaved, considering the fact that the priest was a little long winded. At some point, the priest said "Next we will anoint the babies with water." Gillian heard that and said "I like water! I get a drink?"

I got to hold little Riley for a little bit today. I was actually surprised Gillian didn't fuss or try to get my attention at all. I bent down so that John and Gillian could see her up close. Gillian tried to touch her, but John stopped her. He said "Gill, you gotta be careful. She's just a baby!" He touched Riley's head gently and again pushed Gillian's hand away. He was so sweet with the little baby.

After lunch, John got up from our table and started dancing with his cousin Lorenzo. John showed off his break dancing moves along with some new moves. Gillian joined them and did some twirling. Gillian would close her eyes and twirl and twirl and twirl until she couldn't stand straight.

No Ironman

John has two posters hanging in his room. One is Marvel Super Heroes. The other one is Marvel Villains. These posters have been hanging in John's room since we painted his room. Since the posters have been hanging over his bed, the corners have gotten torn. Daddy bought some frames for the posters and framed them today. Daddy showed John his handiwork today. John looked at the framed posters and said "You know what's weird? Ironman is not on the poster!" He's right of course, there is no Ironman on the Heroes poster.

Shuttin' 'er down!

This morning I got John ready. When he was dressed, I him to go in the bathroom and brush his teeth and tell Daddy to get out of the shower (or as John says "Shuttin' 'er down!") John looks at me and says "I know just what to do!" He goes into the bathroom and I hear the shower stop. I checked on them and John was prepping his toothbrush while Daddy was drying off. Daddy told me that John went right into the bathroom and reached into the shower and turned off the water. He didn't say anything just turned the water off. Daddy was facing away from the faucet so he didn't see anything. Daddy said he thought it was me, but then he heard John giggling. Daddy was shocked by the water just stopping. I was pleased because John accomplished everything I asked him this morning. And John thought it was hilarious.

Outside

I picked the kids up from school today. Both of them had red cheeks. I asked John how many times he got to play outside today (normally the highlight of his day). He said "No nap today! You know what that means? We went outside three times today!" I asked Gillian the same question. She said "One, two, three...five, six!" I said, you went outside six times today! She nodded. John shook his head.

We got in the car and I asked the kid if they wanted the air conditioning on in the car or the windows open. They both opted for the windows down. Gillian looked out her window and told me "I see a tree! Mommy look a house! Mommy! I see cars!" The entire car ride home I got a play by play of everything we drove past. At one point John said "There are trees everywhere!"

Traffic and cookies

Driving to work this morning and I got stuck in a little traffic. I completely forgot that there was construction on 520 and that it was the first day back from spring break for some schools. Anyway, I got stuck in some traffic. John says "I've never seen these houses before. They are creepy!" I explained to him that we see them everyday but today we got stuck in some traffic so we aren't going past them quickly. And that they might look creepy because the trees have no leaves. He said "Maybe you should have gone the way with no traffic!"

After dinner tonight the kids had chocolate chip cookies. Gillian took her second cookie downstairs and brought one for Daddy too. She came back upstairs and I caught her grabbing two cookies. I asked her who those were for. She said "Me and Daddy! Daddy need cookie!" I told her that she could bring a cookie to Daddy but she could not have another cookie. She disappeared downstairs with one cookie. I finished cleaning the kitchen and went downstairs. I found the kids in the basement. Gillian was eating a cookie. I asked her why. She said "I eat cookie! It's my cookie!" Sneaky little girl.

Chopsticks

I ordered Chinese food for dinner tonight. We don't get Chinese food often, maybe once every six months. We always order sweet and sour chicken so the kids have something that's easily identifiable. We gave the kids chicken, rice, and some lo mien. Gillian started eating right away. John watched Daddy eat for a few minutes and said "Can I have some chopsticks?" Daddy and I have our own sets of chopsticks we acquired while living in Hawaii. Unfortunately we could only find one set tonight. Daddy showed John how to hold the chopsticks (not easy to help a lefty). John struggled for a little bit. Daddy ended up putting a little football eraser in between the two chopsticks and tying them together with a rubber band. It gave John just enough space to pick up his dinner and the confidence to continue using the chopsticks. He ate all of his chicken and then said "I'm going to try to eat my rice with the chopsticks!" He attempted to pick up some of the rice and gave up. "I'm just going to use my spoon. People that live far away in china, we should bring them some forks. We could show them how to use them. And they could give use food."

At the end of dinner, John was enjoying a fortune cookie. But Gillian still had more chicken to eat. I told her to eat more chicken so she could have a cookie too. She looked around and said "I need chopstick! Where chopstick?"

Little stories

Tonight at dinner, John wanted some ricotta cheese on his pasta. He pointed at the cheese and said to Daddy, "Will you do the honors?"

Tonight I told John that he could get two Hersey kisses for Gillian and himself for dessert. John brought the kisses upstairs into Gillian's room. The kids enjoyed their snack and then Gillian disappeared. I asked Daddy where she went. He didn't know. She came back into the room with two more kisses. Sneaky girl went downstairs and got more kisses!

Yesterday, John found a quarter. He brought it to me and said "I found this coin. But I don't know what it is! It doesn't have an eagle on it!" I examined the coin and realized it was a state quarter for Iowa. I explained that to John and told him that it was still a quarter and worth twenty-five cents. He said "Yes! It's going in my piggy bank!"

John 0, Slide 1

John was playing outside at school today and fell down the stairs to the slide. He said "I was going down the stairs and I think I missed a step!" Poor boy scraped his cheek and forehead and fell into the mulch.

While he was in the shower tonight, he complained that his eye hurt when the water hit him. We soothed his eye pain with a cool washcloth. He said "Now the funnest guy in town is the boringest guy!" I must have looked confused, because he followed that statement up with, "I'm the funnest guy in town!" Apparently his injury will make him boring. He then told me "My eye hurts really bad and my cheeky and my forehead. You know what! There's a pipe that takes blood to my forehead and my cheek. Maybe we can figure out which pipe it is and fix it!" Love the way he thinks. We cleaned up his face and got him out of the shower. My poor little boy.

Creepy

This weekend Gillian had to go potty. I quickly rushed her to the bathroom and helped helped her get on the potty. While I was waiting for her to go, she says to me, "Mommy! Turn on the light!" I guess when I was rushing I didn't turn the light on. It was the middle of the afternoon so it wasn't dark in there. I guess I didn't move quick enough, because she said "Turn on the light. It's creepy in here!"

Easter

On Easter Sunday, we went to Mimi and Poppy's house in the morning. We arrived and waited for the neighbors to arrive. When the neighbors arrived, we sent the kids outside for an egg hunt. The kids eggs were hidden by the deck. John was the oldest and we told him to not go for the easy eggs. We didn't realize that by telling him that he wouldn't get many eggs. He walked past all the easy eggs so that Gillian and Nolan could get them. Gillian loved the egg hunt. She was very competitive. At one point, we caught her stealing eggs from Nolan's basket.

Mimi also set up an egg hunt for the big kids! I was smart and teamed up with John. He is really fast and he found more eggs than I did. Gillian teamed up with Aunt Missy. But that didn't last long, because the first egg Gillian saw John grabbed it and she cried. So Daddy took Gillian. But Gillian was able to find a few eggs that the big kids missed! After the hunt, we had some yummy breakfast.

Then we went to Aunt Trish and Uncle Kevin's house. Gillian was super excited to go and see Sammie. "I see Sammie. Sammie my cousin!" The kids got to play a little while then it was time for the next hunt. This hunt is set up so each kid has specific eggs to find. John had dinosaurs and orange eggs to find. Gillian had purple and animal eggs to find. Justin had camo eggs. Kyle had sports eggs. Sammie had flowers and yellow eggs. Since the kids ages range from, 2.5 to 10 this hunt can be made more difficult for the older kids and easier for the little kids. The kids had so much fun! We timed it well, because it started to rain just as we were going inside.

The kids had so much fun with their cousins. Gillian cried when it was time to leave. "I don't wanna go!" She refused to put her coat on. She wanted to stay and play with her cousins.

Here are some pictures of the kids Easter