Rhyming...Byming

My kids, especially William, are in such a rhyming frenzy. I never thought that I could go crazy because of hearing rhyming all day. I seriously feel like I've hit the Dr. Seuss Twilight Zone.
In my head I hear the famous words from Princess Bride:
"No more Rhyming...I mean it!"
"Anyone want a peanut?"

My boys are also that...boys. They think that potty talk is just plain hilarious. They would talk about pee all day if I let them, all the while laughing their heads off.

After asking them to not use potty talk, which also includes talking about stinky diapers (why? I do not know...sometimes I do not understand their humor at all), one day I decided to put a stop to this talking. I grabbed some soap and put it on each of their tongues.

This they did not like. William and Roger cried while Mikey, who did not like it but understood that he had earned it, had a sour look on his face. But, I will tell you, it worked. They stopped their potty talk.....almost.

The thing one has to understand about kids is that they are terribly intelligent. They will figure out what the rule is, and as they may obey the letter of the law, they will not obey the spirit of the law.

Now my kids, especially William and Roger, will say, "A bad word rhymes with 'I love you', it's 'I love poo". After me getting on them for still saying potty talk, they have compromised.

"Mom, a bad word rhymes with 'shoe'...but I not gonna say it."

Ummm....then why are you bringing it up?!

Then they will make up words to rhyme with "bad" words, for example:

"Buzz Lightyear to the zee....Mom, a bad word rhymes with Buzz Lightyear to the zee"

Really? Why?

But what upsets me the most is that whenever Todd is around and hears it he snickers about it like a little kid, then he will even add in his own Potty Rhyming word!!!

Boys never change do they

My Duty

I have to get up early tomorrow......I just have to look good....at least that is what Roger asked for and is his expectation.

Yesterday he told me that he wanted me to look "so, so, so beautiful at church...that he can hardly understand it"

That's a high standard....hope I can reach it.

William's Perception

"When I was a baby, Grandma Patty wasn't old....but now she is"

Yes, Four years is a LONG time!

A Lot of Work

With Todd working nights, I let my boys take turns sleeping with me. This is a real treat for them (and me). Even though I usually have many things that I need to get done between the time the boys go to bed and when I go to bed, I make sure to spend time with whoever is sleeping in my bed before going about my chores.

Last night it was Mikey's turn to sleep with me. He read me a couple of books and we cuddled and chatted for a bit. Then he asked, "Mom, are you going to go to sleep right now?"

I told him that I had to clean up the kitchen, fold some laundry, and other things before I could go to bed. I then got up and started folding laundry on my bed so we could continue talking.

Mikey looked deep in thought then asked, "Mom, what can boys do for their moms?.....What work can I do so that you don't have so much much work?"

I was touched with his compassion for me.

Mikey then offered, "Instead of you grabbing my toys and putting them into a pile, I could pick up all my toys and put them away."

It's so amazing to see him getting older and more mature. And I love how he thinks about other people, that cannot be taught.

When I was done folding laundry I had to go down and finish cleaning the kitchen. I asked Mikey if he wanted to join me because I did enjoy his company, and plus we Homeschool so that we can do things like that. He said, "I think that since you want me to go down with you, I should go down with you". If only I could bottle up that obedience and give it to him in 10 years.

After being so impressed with all of Mikey's contemplations, he said, "Mom, when we go to swimming, it's a break for you, 'cause the teachers teach us, and you don't have to teach us...you just have to watch the little boys".

Mikey, I was very impressed until mentioned that it was a "break" or that it may be easy to get 4 kids bundled up, drive to the rec center, walk the kids inside while carrying multiple bags, a child, and pulling another resistant child all in the snowy cold, getting into the locker room, helping 4 boys get dressed into their swimming suits (and for some reason they all think they HAVE to have their swimming shirts on), entertain William and Grant while Mikey and Roger's lessons start 20 minutes before William's, entertain Grant while William goes into his swim class, allow the four boys to swim after class and sometimes that includes me getting into the water, fighting at least one kid to get out of the pool when it is time to leave, take the four boys into the locker room, shower, wash, and lotion 4 boys, get them bundled up, then make the trek out to the car again. EASY.....BREAK.....I DO NOT THINK SO!

Ummm.....I'm officially scared

As of today, there are 100 days until I attempt the St. George Ironman. That is a 2.4 mile swim at Sand Hallow, a 112 mile bike ride doing the Gunlock loop - twice, and a 26.2 run up and around the Dixie Rock a couple of times.
I won't lie, I am nervous. I question whether I am on course to do this. But then I got really nervous when I saw this:


Are you kidding me!?!?!! Why did I not see this before I signed up?
This was a comparison of the difficulty of each Ironman based on the average time it takes people to complete it. Now I understand why St. George has not sold out yet....not very many people are stupid enough to try to conquer those mountains!

Regardless of which Ironman I chose to do, 140 miles is going to be hard no matter the course and no matter the weather. I do start questioning why I would do something like this, but then I remember that life is all about experiences, about learning, about being masters of our own lives.
If life had a soundtrack and we all had our theme songs, I think mine would be "Standing Outside the Fire" by Garth Brooks. To me it says to live life to the fullest, live to your standard, don't be afraid to be hurt or to fail, for that is when we are the strongest, the happiest, and the most successful.

Wish me luck for the next 100 days....I definitely am going to need it!

There's Something

so incredibly special about the bonds of brothers.

Mikey and Roger are not the typical brothers. Whereas a lot of brothers, especially being so close in age, fight with each other, compete with each other; Mikey and Roger are truly best friends. There is nothing that warms my heart more than seeing them treating each other so well. I hope they continue having such a great relationship.

William is Four

Today is a day I have not been looking forward to. Yes, I do love celebrating my children's birthdays, celebrating them, having an entire day to focus on just them...but I hate having my boys getting older. I wish that I had a giant life remote that I could push the "pause" button, or even "slow-motion". I feel like they grow so fast and I just cannot seem to inhale it enough.

Now my boy is four. FOUR!!! That seems so old (I know I'm going to laugh at that when he's 14, but hey, this is my life now). My babies are no longer babies! It doesn't help that for the last month William has insisted that once he's four, he's a big boy.

William is such a great boy, and here's some stuff about him:

He loves to be loved. He loves to sit on my lap or cuddle next to me. He and Grant will have power struggles to determine who gets to sit with me. He is a little small for his age, which allows me to snuggle him even more. He loves for me to scratch his arms and legs, and he use to fall asleep to scratching his own face.

William runs his own show when he wants. There are times that he will claim that he cannot do something because he wants help with it, then there are other times that he insists that he does something that he cannot do because he wants to be a big boy. This can be incredibly frustrating, for both of us, but I guess it is very "age-appropriate".

William does not like rules to be broken. He will call someone out...anyone. Left is left, right is right, and you do NOT vary from that!

William loves healthy foods, and has a keen sense of awareness for them. He, like Roger, asked for a vegetable cake for his birthday cake. I no longer buy skim milk, only whole milk because William would always prefer the skim milk to the whole milk. We would change the caps (the color of the milk) and he would still point to the skim, wanting the skim. Now he requests that he has "water-milk" - water added to his milk. Don't say anything, but when I go to the sink to put water in his cup, I just turn the faucet on and do not add in the water. THIS BOY NEEDS CALORIES!!
While visiting my mom, my mom purchased a big box of cream puffs because she was convinced that William needed more calories. I sat him down to a plate full of cream puffs. He took one bite, put it down and pointing to a package of blueberries on the table, said, "I want those". I need some pointers from him.

Speaking of his size, William is always "so fweekin cold". I don't know why he has to include the 'freaking'. I don't know if it's because of the lack of fat, or poor blood circulation, but this boy is usually chilled and will be found by the heater getting warmed up.

Speech is not his strong point. He mispronounces a lot of sounds...but he has a very big vocabulary and is very smart. He knows a lot for his age. He has always been very smart and figures things out easily.

William hates, hates, hates it when you sing a song or rhyme a rhyme with his name in it, even if his name is in the original version. This is incredibly hilarious considering that the first two years of his life his theme song was, "We Love You Baby William" repeated three times.

William is very sweet. He has always made me so happy. He will always tell me, "Mom, I love you one-hundred-one-hundred" (I guess that means a lot). Now he says, "I love you one-hundred-one-million" - his love has grown.

The next Ironman champion is William. Not only does he have the build for it, but he is wiry, fast, and has great endurance. He has run an entire mile with me in 20 minutes! He has great speed and great form.

I am so glad that I get to have William in my home, to be my child, to my children's brother, and to be an example to all of us.
I love you so much Will-dog!

WHAT Did You Say?

I had awoken William to use the bathroom when he had fallen asleep on the floor. This was necessary for if I didn't, he would wake up crying at 2 in the morning, waking me up, because he had wet himself.

William does not get woken up very easily. He was crying and shouting at me the entire time. He yelled, "I hate YOU" and "Mom, you are dumb!"

Todd was in the other room with Mikey and upon hearing this, Mikey got wide-eyed and all concerned (for William's safety) said, "Dad....William called Mom dumb!"

I didn't punish William, he wasn't even really awake, but then the next day, this is what he said to me:

Now, even though it does sound like something else, he was crawling across my legs while saying that I was a bridge.

I hope those speach classes work....if not, he does have a cute little voice.

Guidelines

This is why you should never allow your parents to take a picture of you

And this is why you should never allow your children to carry your camera