Snowmen

After each of our little snow storms this winter, we made a snowman.  Today, Gabe basically made the whole thing by himself!  I'm extremely proud!

our first snowman of the winter!

he was a big guy

our second snowman (still in progress)

he was a (cute) little guy, and Gabe made most of it on his own!

see how little he is?

Penguins

The boys have been learning a lot about penguins at school this winter.  Gabe brought home two different penguin hats.  He looked really cute with them on!

Macaroni Penguin

here's a class pic of all of the kids in their hats!

Mama Turned 40

A couple of weeks ago, I spent my birthday surrounded by the perfect "little person" crew - my guys plus Auntie "Wanna" and her boys!  We watched the Patriots game, the boys played nicely together, and I got a lot of baby Cody time.  Perfection.

dancing!

Zach was really into baby Cody

going in for a kiss

so cute!

the boys having dinner together

cake time!

oh, yum!

these boys and their frosting!

he's just gazing at his new cousin

rubbing his cousin's back!

You're A Beautiful Singer

I'm not sure if Zach knows what a singer is.  You see, lately, (and he's already said it three times today), he's been saying:

"I love you, Mom.  You're a beautiful singer."

Gah! 

Christmas Eve On January 28

So, it's snowing tonight.  When got out of OT this afternoon, Zach reported, "it's Christmas Eve!" (because of the the snow.  It snowed on Christmas Eve; and now he thinks that whenever it snows, it's automatically Christmas Eve again). 

As we were walking to our car, he said, "Hello, Christmas Eve!"


It might be a sad morning tomorrow when he sees that Santa didn't come....

Refreshing

Lately, both boys have been asking for a snack in this way:

"Mom, do you think it's time for a nice, refreshing snack?"

I wonder if they're talking about "refreshing" snacks at school or something?  Who knows.  All I know is that it's super cute to hear the word, refreshing, come out of either one of my boys' mouths.

Beautiful Mama

When Zach woke up from his nap today, he said, "Mama, you're a beautiful singer.  You're beautiful.  I'm going to give you flowers.  When I'm a big boy, I'm going to give you flowers."

I'm a lucky Mama!

A Magic Fairy Wish

Gabe and I were reading a book today (Harold & The Purple Crayon's Fairy Tale), in which a fairy granted Harold one wish.  I turned to Gabe and asked him what he'd wish for if a fairy gave him one wish.

He said:  "I'd wish to play with Christian, Joseph, and Sean more (his school buddies)."

So sweet.  I'm going to message the moms tonight and request a play date soon!

God Is Perfect

This is a post for my blog audience.  I want you to know that I promise that one day my boys will know that God is perfect.  Right now, however, it's more important that Gabe learn that it's okay to be imperfect.  He's an extremely perceptive child.  And he likes things to be perfect.

I learned recently just how important my role is in helping him to accept imperfection.  You see, last month I hung some Christmas lights around our pool fence.  About a week after putting them up, some of the lights on one of the strings stopped working.  Gabe, of course, was the first one to notice the broken lights.  One day when were playing outside, I tried to fix them; but I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  The thought of going back to Home Depot to buy more lights was just so unappealing (I'd already made so many trips to buy the lights, extension cords, etc.), so I just decided that it was okay that not all of the lights worked.  At that time, I had absolutely no idea just how tuned-in Gabe was to this issue.

When he mentioned the broken lights, I just told him that I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but that it was okay that they weren't working.  I told him that there were enough working lights around the fence, and that everything was still beautiful.  A couple of weeks went by.  There was no more discussion of the lights.  A few nights before Christmas, out of the blue Gabe said to me, "Mom, it's okay that not all of the lights on the fence work.  It's still beautiful."  At that moment, I felt so thankful that I hadn't rushed off to the store to replace the lights (like I'd normally do).  I'm assuming that my ability to relax with the broken lights allowed Gabe to do the same.

And then last weekend when we were painting with water colors, Gabe told me a story about how one of his classmates ate paint when they were using paints one day at school.  I asked him if the teacher was nervous when the student ate the paint, and he said that she was.  I then asked if he felt scared about it.  He said:

"I didn't feel scared.  I was too busy trying to make my picture look perfect."

So, for now, I believe that even God needs to model imperfection.  Thank you for your understanding.

Mom Can't Wait

I can't wait to see our new nephew tomorrow!  Luckily, I found a way around the picture-posting issue on this blog!

This is what we get to do tomorrow:

seriously?

Wenham Train Museum

Last weekend we took a trip to the Children's Museum in Wenham, where they have lots of train exhibits.  We hadn't been there in about a year, and both boys loved it.

mouth agape

Thomas!

taking a rest after all of the train watching

Silly Boys

It was my morning to sleep in the other day.  When I woke up, this is how the boys looked:

fixing my mustache

Dad and the boys had some fun with the watercolor paints.

A Friend For The Seagull

We were in a parking lot yesterday when Zach saw a seagull.  He pointed out the seagull to me and then found another seagull.  He said:

"Look, Mom.  God made a friend for the seagull."

I love that my boys think and talk about God. 

You Say Tomato, I Say Potato

No matter how many times that I tell Zach that a tomato is a tomato (not a potato), he calls a tomato a potato.

Maybe it's because he's never eaten a vegetable in his life (aside from a french fry)....  Jamie Oliver would be horrified by the eaters in this house and their lack of fruit/veggie recognition.

Cousin Excitement

On Sunday, baby Cody and cousin Drew are coming over for a visit.  We're very excited!  I told the boys this morning, and they were thrilled.  Right away, Zach asked if he could touch baby Cody and when I said, yes, he then asked if he rock him.  How sweet is that?  Zach then proceeded to inform me that baby Cody needs a lot of milk; and Gabe asked if we had any bottles for him.  I think it's so sweet that they're so thoughtful of their new, little cousin.

I'll have lots of pictures to share (and wanted to share one that Alanna sent the other day of Cody smiling widely); so hopefully Blogger will resolve their picture-posting issues.  Grrrrrrr.

The Sweetest Thing That Gabe's Ever Said

So, par usual tonight, Zach wouldn't eat dinner.  It's getting so old, people!  Trying to get this child of mine to eat a meal...  Grrrrr!

Anyway, Zach knew that I was disappointed and frustrated with him, so he turned on his charm (and he's really sincere when he does it, too, which kills me).  He said, "Mom, I love you.  You're beautiful."

Upon hearing Zach tell me these things, Gabe said the following words that I will never forget:

"Mom, you're beautiful.  You don't even have to paint your eyes.  You can just be regular and you're still beautiful."

Seriously?  I told him that that was the sweetest thing that I've ever heard.  Made my day!

A little back story:  I had to renew my license in-person yesterday.  So, I put on some eye make-up (something I never do anymore).  And when I had to go to the school today to facilitate an enrichment program, I decided that if I could put some make-up on for the RMV, then I could do the same for the kids' school.  So, the boys have recently seen me with "painted eyes."  And I love that Gabe and Jay both prefer it when I don't wear make-up.  They are loves!

Your Noggin'

We were playing with toy people the other day and when I said something in my pretend talk, Gabe responded, "well, that's using your noggin'."

Seriously?  How old is my son?

Gabeisms & Zachisms

Lately, Gabe has been saying:  "speaking of which" as a way to start a conversation.  It's pretty cute.  Not always used correctly, but cute nevertheless.

Zach has been saying:  "are you joking, or what?" a lot.  It's also super cute.

God & Mistakes

We were driving in the car today, listening to Veggie Tales, when the following conversation ensued:


Gabe:  Does God make mistakes?

Me:  I think so.  Everyone makes mistakes, right?  No one's perfect.

Gabe:  Did God make himself?

Me:  I think so.  God made everything, right?

Gabe:  Did God make bad guys?

Me:  You ask some good questions, Gabe.

Gabe:  My teacher told me the same thing.

Who I'm Going To Marry

Jay and I just got back from a week in Florida, where we celebrated my 40th birthday.  We were gone for 5 days, which is the longest that I've ever been away from these cute little guys.

So, tonight I put Gabe down for bed for the first time in a week.  The book that he chose to read was, The Boys Of Stanton Road, an adorable picture book with words that Auntie Auntie made for the boys 3 years ago.  When I saw which book he chose, I said, "well, that was a good choice to read tonight."  And Gabe replied, "yea, it's a good book for when you're away, too."  I wonder if anyone read it to him....

Anyway, after we read the book, I reminded him how much I missed him while we were away, how happy I was to be home with him, etc.  This was his response:

"I don't know who I'm going to marry, yet.  ****big sigh****.   Everyone's pretty, but I don't know whom I'm going to marry.  ***another sigh****


I told him that he didn't have to worry about that, yet.  And then it was over.  But it was SUCH a cute moment.  Was it the book that we read?  Was it all of his family members who were here in the house caring for him while we were away?  What was it that brought on that sweet question?  Whatever it was, it was perfect.  And it was such a sweet reminder of just what I'd missed while we were away - this sweet little guy, with his sweet little mind.