Wind and Rain

It seems like the case everywhere, winter has finally come. We've had more rain than snow, that's okay by me. The wind has beat furiously on our windows. We've battened down the hatches and sequestered ourselves inside, going out only for necessities.
Saturday I decided to let the boys get out and have fun doing what they do best; getting as wet as possible. Our parking lot/driveway has some great puddles.

Here's some random things I always want to remember about the boys; They love reading. There are several books that Kaleb will "read" cover to cover all by himself. A few favorites: 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear', 'There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly', 'No, David!', ' Go Away Big Green Monster', plus several more. They also love music. I hope they always love music. Whenever one of us plays music Xander starts dancing. Both boys love to sit at my piano, with or without me. They will pound and sing random mismatched songs. They often sing as they play, eat, or whatever they happen to be doing. I noticed after preschool that their song knowledge exploded.
A few of their favorites: 'the alphabet song', 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star', 'We're Goin' on a Bear Hunt', 'I Had a Little Turtle', '5 Little Monkey's Jumpin' on the Bed', 'If Your Happy and You Know It', 'Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam', 'Popcorn Popping', a lot of primary songs. We sing a song with the boys every night before they lay day. Kaleb has gotten really good at singing along with us. He tries so hard to sing whatever we are.
Here is Kaleb singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. He will sing it by himself, at this moment he was watching music videos on the computer:


I will leave you with the hilarious image. I'm sure some day Alexander won't appreciate me sharing this with the world. For now, you can all laugh with me. Alexander decided he needed to wear an extra pair of underwear over his pants. This was funny in itself, but then he added one of my purple fuzzy socks, outfit complete.

 Superhero in the making

Back in the Grind

Not much has been going on around here. We're back to the daily grind of life. It's kind of like walking into a screen door (not quite a glass door), when the holidays are over. All the sudden you are at a halt. No more parties, no more being surrounded by family, no more vacation. Back to school, dishes, loads of laundry, and always, the after holiday sickness.
Jake seems to have a slightly easier school load this semester. It still keeps him plenty busy with time spent in class and hours of homework. On top of that he keeps busy with his church calling.
I got a new calling at church. Emergency Preparedness Specialist for the Relief Society. I better get this family prepared for an emergency so I can be a 'specialist'! I'm kind of nervous taking on this challenge. I know I will be learning a lot.
Also; I am half-way done with this pregnancy! I hit the 20 week mark according to my estimated due-date. It always seems to go by so quickly. I am feeling great now, aside from being constantly tired. We have an ultra-sound scheduled in a few weeks. I hope we can find out who this baby is. It's always fun to get a peek into babies world, I can't wait!

After the boys got over sniffles, runs, and pukes we took away all their diapers. My sister gave me a great idea that helps you potty train in 3 days. Last week, Wednesday, the boys threw away all their diapers and put on underwear. It is taking them longer but they are doing great! I am refusing to ever put a pull-up or diaper on them again. Sunday at church wasn't such a great success but I know we'll get there. I know we have a lot of work and patience (and laundry) ahead of us but I'm prepared for it. I remember the first time we tried; I was so stressed, which rubbed off on the boys. There was a lot of yelling and punishing, and tears. This time I feel so calm and have no problem working with the boys. I know I am being blessed significantly with great patience. I am truly grateful for this blessing. I just expect to throw the bedding in the laundry every morning, and that's okay. During the day the boys have been doing pretty well with only a few accidents each. I am so proud of them and their success. Now, if we can help Kaleb get over his constipation issues, things will be beyond fantastic.
A few things we do to occupy ourselves during the day-to-day:
Grandma and Grandpa Scofield gave the boys this great kid-size folding picnic table. I realized that although it's cold outside, it would still be fun to use inside.  They loved it! I set them up with their crayons and coloring books, they spent several hours absorbed in their colors.

Alexander fights his nap. I know he still needs one because he is one grumpy little man with quite the attitude if he doesn't nap. I don't know if it has anything to do with Kaleb not napping in the bed next to him. Kaleb could also still use a nap, but, I've kind of given up on that. There are some days he crashes and is sound asleep by 5-6pm and doesn't wake up until 8-9am.
One no nap day both the boys fell asleep as I rocked them in the recliner. The doorbell rang. I scooted the boys off. Kaleb jumped up to play, Xander stayed asleep for at least an hour, looking very uncomfortable.

The boys discovered a new video favorite: The Muppets singing ma-na-ma-na. It's the silliest song that makes no sense to me. Without fail the boys are always laughing so hard I'm surprised tears aren't rolling down their cheeks. Usually if the boys are being grumpy or crying we can just look at them and say, "ma-na-ma-na" That pretty much stops all tears and turns a frown upside down.