Boys will be Boys

I recently read in the book Bringing Up Boys by James Dobson that any minute you do not keep a little boy busy- you deserve whatever happens to you.

I believe it!

I sometimes envy moms whose children will sit down and watch a movie- oh the things I could get done!! But then I remind myself how thankful I am to have two crazy, energetic little boys.

How relaxed bored I would be if I didn't have two little stinkers to chase around Constantly!!

This post may get rather lengthy- I haven't blogged in a while!

(refer to the first sentence of this post if you are wondering why)

But this blog is suppose to be a way to record our life- something I can look back on in a few years and hopefully laugh about. And in the chaos of raising my little men, I am realizing how easy it is to forget all of the funny things they do.

Lincoln is the closest I get to having a TV watcher. He will sit down for 15 minutes (gasp!) if something catches his attention.

But he is also TROUBLE!

This little boy is pure orneriness! And what's scary is that he is SO sneaky! You turn your back on him for 1 second and you will find him several feet away into something naughty. Hugs and kisses do not come easy with Lincoln so you know that if you get one, he really means it! He is my momma's boy so he usually keeps a pretty close eye on me. He is talking Way sooner than Kallen ever did! At 16 months he is saying full sentences and repeating everything he hears.

On Mondays and Tuesdays I watch my 5 month old nephew Cru. He is such a sweet boy and we have so much fun!

Because we have been able to pass down all of our clothes, the boys have a lot of matching outfits. Lincoln and Cru have a love/hate relationship...

...but Kallen and Cru have a special bond. It seems like Cru will always smile for Kallen and K is SO good with him! It gives me hope for someday when we have another one. :)

(yes I realize cru is crying in this pic but it shows how proud Kallen is of his cousin)

I have come to accept the fact that the Iowa Deer Classic will forever be a part of my life, so this year we made our annual trip downtown with my boys decked out from head to toe in camo.

They LOVED it and spent the entire time "shooting" deer with their little fingers. :)

A while back we found a deal on Living Social for the Ramada Inn here in town. Our voucher included a 1 night stay, pizza, breakfast, the waterpark, and a little pirate-themed gift bag full of goodies. The boys had a Blast and now everytime I say the word park Kallen screams "Waterpark?!".

They even slept in the same bed for half of the night!

My kids were born to be outside. I'm pretty sure we just survive the winter in anticipation of spring and summer coming.

 My boys spent all of  last week running around barefoot and playing in the dirt! (they were in heaven)

Lincoln's favorite place to sneak away to is under the deck.

When we decided to have our children so close together, I pictured them being best friends and it is finally happening!! I'm pretty sure my boys don't know what to do without each other. When Lincoln wakes up in the morning the first thing he says is "Bubba!" (his name for Kallen) And when Kallen wakes up from his naps, usually an hour before Lincoln, he spends the entire time asking for Lincoln. While they do fight several times a day, they are beginning to play so well together and I love watching a strong bond form between them! The only negative thing is that my boys play Rough! I am finding that it's hard to find other kids to play with because they usually end up getting hurt. This is something I am really working on- learning that it is ok to play rough with your brother but you need to tone it down if you want to have friends. A lot of the problem is that Kallen just gets so excited to play and doesn't know how to control his excitment.

Now for this boy:

He is at such a fun fun age!! The things that come out of his mouth keep us laughing constantly. He counts to 13 (odd # I know) but usually forgets the # 8 so now his counting goes like this: "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10...oh and I forgot 8!" He recognizes several letters in the alphabet and knows some of their sounds. Kallen is getting to be very helpful around the house! He is able to do small jobs and is very assertive.

Potty training has been a NIGHTMARE! He will go potty as long as we remember to take him but does not go on his own, and going #2 has been a loosing battle.

Last week we were having dinner at Pizza Ranch with all of Shawn's family and the kids were all done and getting up to play but Kallen would not move. I asked Kallen if he needed to go potty and he quietly said "I pooped". So I hopped up to take him to the bathroom and clean up the mess. (gross) When we came back to the room, Shawn walked up with a smirk on his face and asked me if Kallen had pooped. I said "yes. why?" Shawn proceeded to tell me that he looked down and saw something that looked like poop on the floor out in the main room on the way to the bathroom. My son left a pile of poop in the middle of pizza ranch right beside the pizza buffet!! I was mortified!

Aside from our potty training issues Kallen really is a good boy! He is becoming very responsible and obedient and it's nice to see our strictness (is that a word) and hard work start to pay off.
I feel so blessed to be able to stay home and raise these crazy little boys!
I love seeing life through their eyes and am amazed at how much I learn through them everyday!

I'm pretty sure this is how we will look at the end of every day this summer....

...just proof that we have had a good day!