Teaching moments

Tonight we were saying prayers with the boys. Nolan was irritated that Kale was humming when he was saying his prayers so he said "Kale, be quiet". He sat there for a few seconds and then said "just shut up". Adam and I were shocked, as he's never talked like that before. We quickly told him that it wasn't okay and we don't say that. Nolan put his head down and I could see tears in his eyes - he knew what he did was wrong. I certainly shouldn't have felt bad but I did. Nolan said he was sorry and we continued on with prayers and our routine. I climbed up the ladder after Nolan was in bed to say good night to him. He looked at me and said "mom, I'm really sorry I said that". It made me realize how little time you actually have with your kids before you start to lose a little control. It's not bad, it's just going to be different. As my mom told me, you'll have many more of these teachable moments coming up!

Let me see that . . .

A few months ago I introduced the boys to the song Tootsie Roll. Kale immediately took a liking to it. After dinner tonight the boys each got a treat for eating so well. I hid a tootsie roll in each hand and said to Kale "let me see that", and opened my hand - and he excitedly jumped up and down and yelled "tootsie roll!" Proud parent moment!

Another Dells vacation in the books

We had so much fun in the Dells! The house was great, the kids were overall good, and the weather was fantastic. I loved the wrap around deck on the house - lots of room to soak up the sun! The boys loved swimming, mostly at the indoor pool at the resort because it had the perfect kiddie pool area, complete with a waterslide. We kept busy, visiting Jellystone waterpark, riding the safari train at Timbavati to see giraffes and camels - and feed exotic deer, mining for "gold", taking the now traditional old time photo with the cousins, riding the same train as 2 years ago, feeding the bucks and doe at the deer park, and playing at a local Dells park. The boys also had fun playing baseball, riding bikes/trikes/scooters and eating smores and singing songs around the bonfire. The boys slept good every night and took loooong naps almost every day (with the exception of one day for Kale). The bros-in-law spent a day golfing and tubing, and the girls spent a day taking a riverboat tour of the lower Dells and shopping at the outlet mall. Why does vacation always have to go by so fast?

I want to go on vacation!

We spent the morning and early afternoon at Jellystone water park today. When we were leaving I told Kale we needed to go take a nap. He looked at me and whined, "but i want to go on vacation!"

That really freaked me out

Nolan dipped his toes in the hot tub at the resort yesterday. He did not like how hot it was. A little while later he was in the bathroom and I was waiting for him to finish. All of a sudden he says to me, "mom, that hot tub really freaked me out."

You're getting bigger

Nolan told me this morning that my belly is getting bigger. He then pointed at my chest and said, "those are, too."  All I could do is laugh!

Oh booty

We're not sure how the boys came up with this, but it's their new saying whenever they don't like something. For example, "we're having chicken and green beans for dinner", or "it's time to get ready for bed" results in an "oh booty" from one or both of them. Adam asked Nolan if he could say something else instead, so tonight he said "dang it". What a good listener!