Random Moments of Happiness

I am a mom, therefore I get frustrated and impatient quite often. Even though things get stressful at times, I feel blessed to have little moments in my life that make me realize what is really important. These moments make me smile, laugh, and thank my Heavenly Father for my boys. So, I thought I would list some of the little things my boys do that make me smile on a regular basis. (Some of these may sound sarcastic, but they really do make me smile.)

My boys busting out some hip-hop dance moves every time I turn up the music.

Their universal scamper when they are excited to go somewhere.

The request for mommy snuggle time.

The nightly hugs and kisses from boys that are mandatory or else the world will fall apart.

The fact that it takes 20 minutes to read through one short childrens book because they are so curious about everything on each page.

The wonderful communication that we have when one of us is busy and seems to be tuned out. "Mom, mom, mom (moving closer to my face), mom, mom... (eye contact) mom did you know.." "Boston will you... (no response) Boston, Boston... Boston, look at me.. (eye contact) will you put that in the sink."

When they get the giggles while riding in the car.

When they randomly sing primary songs while they play with their toys.

The first (and every) heartfelt "I love you mom."

The first smile and first random question of the day when they are getting out of the bed.

The look of excitement on their faces when they get to help bake a cake.

The fact that they will fight over who gets to scrub the sink or sweep the floor. Then adamantly refuse to pick up their toys.

The look of awe on Josh's face when he experiences something new. For example, splashing the bath water or crinkling a candy wrapper.

The thrill my boys get from watching their favorite (memorized) movie in Spanish.

The list goes on... And the laughter too!

My Baby

It is about time that I blog about my littlest little boy. My little Josh is my miracle baby. There were times, during my pregnancy, that it was uncertain if I would ever get to hold him. So you can imagine my joy everyday when I get to cuddle him. He is perfect! He is my sweet little guy and I love his happy little smile. I really don't know what our family would do with out him. He fits right in with the other little mischievous personalities in our home. I am such a lucky mom!

This weekend I went out of town for a girls weekend and left the boys to hangout with Dad. When it got close to bed time I received a call from Boston saying in a sad voice, over and over, that he needed me.

Later that evening Ryan told me that Remington had said when he thinks of me he can smell my coat and it smells like white chocolate. That boy knows his mom so well!

The best moment was when I returned home. I walked in the door and my little Josh squealed with excitement and scooted over to me as fast as he could. When I picked him up he latched on to my neck, giggled, buried his head in my shoulder and wouldn't let go. He couldn't stop giggling for the next half hour. It was so cute! It made my heart melt!

My boys are wonderful! I love their tenderness! I love their curiosity! I am in debt to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with them.

The Rules

On occasion I am privileged to see into the minds of my children. The other day was one such occasion. As we were driving in the car this was the conversation.

Boston: "Mom, Mom, Mom... (pause) Mom, where's my candy?"

Mom: "I think we left it in the diaper bag."

Boston: "No we didn't!"

Mom: "Yeah we did. Remember, we ate some at church?"

Remington: "But we aren't supposed to take candy to church."

Mom: "You are right Remington."

Remington: (mockingly) "But we did."

Mom: (smile)

Remington: "Mom, if you don't listen at church you have to talk in front of everyone."

Boston: "Yeah and if you don't be quiet you have to go in the hall where they won't hear you."


I love my boys!

Dangerous

The other morning, we were getting ready to go out and enjoy the day. As usual, we were waiting on Boston. I had asked him to get dressed at least a half dozen times. Finally Ryan gave in and escorted him to his room to help him pick his clothes. Boston decided he needed to wear shorts so he pulled out an item of clothing, inspected it, "Pants," then chucked it over his shoulder. Next he pulled out some camo shorts and paused. He looked at dad and said "these pants are dangerous".... and he put them on.

Crabs

Often dinner is cooked, if the cooking of dinner involves Dad, as little cooking as possible is involved.

One particular night, however, Mom had grilled some lovely salmon with garlic and lemon. Dads contribution to the meal was significantly simpler. He had purchased some California rolls and was happy to contribute.

Boston had never seen this dish and, like any two year old, was curious as to the content of the confection. This prompted him to ask what it was. Like any good father, Dad explained. "This part is rice, this part is seaweed, and this is crab." Dad said indicating each component respectively.

Boston's eyes focused on the roll. "This part is crab." he said, pointing to the middle.

"Yes." Dad said.

Boston's brow wrinkled slightly and his voice lowered just a bit as he said "This part here?"

"Yes." Dad said again.

Brow still wrinkled, voice lowering again and head tilting toward the morsel "And we eat it?"

"Uh huh", Replied Dad neither looking at Boston, nor seeing where this was going.

Boston has seen crabs in the store. He has also seen them on TV. Eight legs, hard shell and all the funny looking walk that you could ask for. He knows what a crab looks like. Thus, in a voice just above a whisper, and with all the sincerity that a two year old can muster he asked, "Is it dead?"

A two year old certainly sees the world as it is explained to him. Dad just needs to explain the explanation.

Potty Training 101

One morning Boston told me that he was only going to wear big boy potty pants from now on. I was a little leery to just jump into the whole potty training process at the drop of a hat, but he was so determined that I couldn't say no. So it began. A few accidents here and there for the first few days. By the fourth day he had it down pretty good and that was that. I was completely surprised at the simplicity. Remington took 3 months to go an entire day with out an accident. I had to pat myself on the back.

After week two I began to realize it wasn't going to be as easy as I had previously thought. Though Boston keeps his clothes dry, he has a hard time keeping the entire bathroom dry. Thus began the hourly scrub of the bathroom.

One evening we caught Boston sitting on his little potty and the floor and the big toilet and the toilet paper was soaked. He looked so disappointed. After a few minutes of instruction on how we keep the bathroom dry, he looked up and said, "I missed." We just stared back at him with an obvious nod. Then he pointed to the big toilet across the bathroom and said, "I missed." The realization came and we all burst into laughter. He had been trying to pee into the big potty across the room while sitting on his little potty, but... he missed. (note the dripping wet toilet paper roll)

Self Image

Sunday's are, to say the least, very busy. If I am not up and showered by seven then everything is a mad dash to make it to church on time with everyone fully dressed. Don't ask me why it takes me two hours to get the boys ready. On any other day of the week the boys are more focused and seem to float down the stairs fully clothed when I have only asked them to get dressed once. Sunday's are the complete opposite. I have to be watching their every move and keep reminding them of what they need to put on next, otherwise they they start playing with something and throw a humongous fit when I try to finish getting them dressed.

Anyway, this past Sunday I had just gotten the boys out of the tub and was getting them dressed, when Boston turned and looked at me with huge excitement on his face. His shirt was off and he was half flexing his muscles with his elbows out and fists nearly touching his hips. "Mom, I am BIGGER now!!!" Then he quickly turned around and faced Remington and said with just as much excitement, "Remington, look, I AM BIGGER!!" Remington stopped what he was doing and looked up at him from the floor and said with so much sincerity, "WOW! You really are bigger!" Boston had nothing else to say, but was completely brimming with confidence, holding his shoulders high and smiling a tough guy smile.

Ten minutes later, the struggle of getting them dressed was over and I headed to my room to finish getting myself ready. As usual, the boys or should I say baby ducks (that is another story... baby ducks following mommy duck everywhere, "Quack, Quack, Quack.") followed me. As I passed the full length mirror in my room, Boston, who was right on my hills, stopped dead in his tracks and looked into the mirror. He studied himself carefully at a distance of 3 inches. Then his shoulders slumped. He pointed to himself in the mirror and said with such disappointment, "I'm just little."

It seems as though we would all be better off not looking in the mirror!