Mr Builder

G-man has been dying to get something that he can build, more than just LEGO. We showed him Erector set at Toys R Us, and he was interested in getting it. This is, by far, more complicated than mere LEGO, and the first model has yet to be completed.

Maybe this is too hard for his little fingers, but we have the week to work through a model. Hopefully, it will work for him, and teach him a little patience.

The Perfect Gift

This is Mr. S with his Garbage truck he got for Christmas (or the day after Christmas. We opened gifts a day late). It's even cooler than mommy and dad thought. The arm that lifts the dumpster is motorized. It's now broken, but it was cool for about an hour. We couldn't get him away from it long enough to eat breakfast this morning. He threw a fit when we made him go to church.
Here he is yelling at me when I asked him to look at the camera. I think his words were "mommy, I don't want to smile!!!!" Can you see the pile of Christmas wrappings he is using for trash? I don't think he has touched his other gifts. I guess the nice thing about an obsession is it's easy to buy presents that will be loved to pieces (literally). We love you little S boy!

What Happens in a Month

We haven't blogged for a while. I just downloaded pictures from our camera. It's been over four weeks since we did that last. There were 128 pictures. We've done a lot in the last few weeks. Here's a few items of note:

We traveled to Phoenix for the first time in over 5 months. I've since been back and we will be going again soon.We went to a zoo and fed the giraffes, pet the goats, turtles, deer, and stingrays.
We traveled 200 miles in one day without actually leaving the metropolitan area we were in.G-man went to his first Professional basketball game.
JW learned to roll over, found his feet, found his voice, found that his mouth is full of water and spends most of his time trying empty his mouth of said water. He spent the other day trying to figure out how to get his dang binky back in his mouth and was quite upset that the stupid thing wouldn't do what he wanted. He is rolling across the floor and the other day I caught him trying to scoot on his tummy to the Christmas presents under the tree. This kid is trouble.
We put up the Christmas tree. We did not put up Christmas lights. I'm boycotting this year. But I am buying Christmas presents even though some little boy told some little girl that a certain bearded figure dressed in red is actually imaginary. He's not supposed to do that. That's my job!
We sold our first table that we've had since we were first married. We stripped of it's bright turquoise paint and sanded it together before we got married. This was a hard one to let go, but that's what picture are for right? (repeat after me:I will not become a hoarder, I will not become a hoarder, I will not become a hoarder!)

School is almost out for the quarter. At school in the last four weeks we ran some laps, did some homework, and danced in an assembly. In the next two days we will go on a field trip and get an award for being awesome (that's Kiwi. She's everyone's friend and the school wants to honor that fact. She's my social one. I don't know where that came from).

So, we're busy. Kiwi's dancing in the nutcracker this week. This involves two rehearsals and two performances spanning four nights. So I figured I'd better blog now, otherwise it may be a month before it happens again.

First Bobcat

G-Man is finally old enough for Cub Scouts. He is excited to get into scouts. Who wouldn't want time to play with friends and get out of the house for non-school activities from time to time? Here he is in in brand-new scout shirt, that Mommy stayed up late to sew on the patches.

 At the pack meeting, they introduced G-Man as the newest Bobcat. He got to the front of group, and I got to paint his face with the Native American inspired face markings.

But what about the baby?!

Chad failed to mention in the last post that there was another star this past weekend. We blessed Little J at our church the day after G-man's baptism. He IS a rock star, mostly because his faux hawk has grown to be a good three inches long. And it stays standing straight up.
This is how his hair stood for the entire baptism. I was left at home with the task of getting three kids to the baptism on time. When Chad left (about 35 minutes before it was set to start), JW wasn't dressed, Kiwi's hair wasn't done, and S was still napping. Luckily my brother and his family came by to get themselves dressed and Lacy very kindly helped. I wouldn't have made it there on time without her. But J's hair didn't get combed. Oh well, that's life. The more it sticks up, the more head rubs he gets from complete strangers.
Here he is in his outfit. I didn't get a good picture of him dressed up at all. I ordered the suit online and the neck and tie were way too small. So I went to some stores in town trying find something that would fit. Nothing would. He has no neck due to his copious amounts of neck fat. So the top button was left undone and the tie was held on by a safety pin. I think it kind of makes him look like he's sporting some bygone disco fashions. This picture was actually taken after the baptism. Since all the family pictures from the previous post were actually taken after the blessing, I thought it would be appropriate to put this one on. Plus, I love it. My SIL Liz took all the pictures except for the top one (you can tell by the picture quality). I am so grateful to her for bringing her camera and being willing to take pictures. It's so hard to think about busting out the camera when you're busy trying to organize two large extended families. Thank you to everyone who came and for traveling to see the momentous weekend in our family.

G-Man's Most Special Day

G-Man hit a milestone in life: baptism. Since this is such a major event, that nearly all of the extended family on both sides came down for the event.

But the main event was the baptism. I am so proud of my oldest and the choices he has made. The best part is that the water level in the baptismal font was so low, that G-Man had to lay flat, and I had to push his feet under the water to get him fully immersed. But still, a memory to cherish.

Halloween, 2010

Halloween: Best time for a sugar high and the resulting crash.

G-Man wanted to be a ninja for Halloween. He has to clarify when people ask that "it is a red dragon ninja." Yes, you have to be specific with him.

Kiwi has to be something really girlie, of course. She was a Fairy Queen or Fairy Princess, depending when you asked and if G-Man was around. We forgot the wings for actual trick-or-treating, so mostly it was a princess. There isn't a picture of the hair, but trust me, there was much screaming involved, so it was ornate. :)

Mr S was very adamant about not getting his costume on when we were getting ready to go to the trunk-or-treat. Once we got there, he was willing to put it on, for the sake of getting candy. The tradition for the boys is to be Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.

And last but not least, our cutest candy-grubber, JW. Who knew Skeletons could be so darn cute? I think he senses that he wasn't going to get any candy.