Trying to Stay Busy

We've been trying to stay busy over here just waiting for baby sister to arrive. Barrett was dying to take the boys camping, so one weekend, off they went with a friend and his son while us moms went out to eat and had a fabulous time. Damon had a birthday party at a skating rink, so Barrett took him. Damon came home with a bruise the size of an orange on one of his elbows, but he had a great time. We've made 15 jars or so of applesauce, dipped apples in caramel, an apple pie, and a couple different nights of apple crisp. Barrett really has perfected his apple crisp recipe and it is delicious! We've been cleaning and organizing all the rooms in the house and garage too. It feels nice.

Tommy and I have been going to story time at Chick fil-A once a week, plus meeting up with friends at the park. We've been trying to do Mommy School too. One day he took a scrap piece of paper and started cutting and taping and after asking for some help from mom, he came up with this:

 He loved it and knew exactly how he wanted it. Funny kid.

Our new humongous library finally opened up last Thursday. Tommy and I met up with some friends for the ribbon cutting ceremony. It was mostly all people in suits, but there were a few families. We couldn't hear and it was pretty boring, so we walked around and looked at the police motorcycles and other cool things.

 When we got inside we were able to sit in on a story time the governor and his wife were doing.

 Then, Tommy got to explore and play. They have tons of these fun soft toy things and the kids love them! In fact, we took Damon back after school and the boys met 2 other brothers and they spent tons of time moving, stacking, climbing, and loving these things:) Barrett stopped in for a few minutes and said, "Our kids may be the reason for some new rules." Whatever, what did they expect kids to do with them?!

 More toys Tommy discovered and played and played with!

We've been having dance parties at night too. The boys have been trying to come up with new moves. They're pretty entertaining!

On Friday I took Damon to the pediatrician because he had big itchy patches which turned out to be poison ivy. Then Saturday Tommy came down with a fever and sore throat. So, Monday, back to the pediatrician's office we went. Turns out he has hand, foot, and mouth disease and is contagious. So, here we sit at home, trying to stay busy...just waiting for Grandma to come then baby sister!!

And proof that I really am going to having a baby...

Tommy Tom

Our little Tommy is such a character lately. He says the funniest things. We were getting ready for church Sunday morning and I was talking with him about behaving in Primary. He's been really rowdy and silly during class and sharing time. I asked him why he gets so crazy in Primary with his friends. His response, " Well, sometimes I just get tempted!" Damon and I had to laugh at that one! I had explained during music time a few weeks ago about what it meant to be tempted...so funny to hear him use the word and in the right context!

We've been doing Mommy School each day. It doesn't last very long, maybe 10-15 minutes depending on the activity/craft. We sing the Days of the Week song, count the number of days, say what day it is, talk about the letter (we're working on A right now), and do a little project. Tommy loves it! We started off with shapes and this month it is all about apples. Tommy stamped apples onto an A. He now loves to point out any A he sees and is so proud of himself for finding it! Last night we were driving in the car and he was pointing out all the A's. Damon was annoyed and said, "Tommy, why do you have to tell us every time you see an A?" Tommy replied, "Because Damon, we don't have that many A's in our house, so we have to look around the city!!" If my craft isn't good enough, he asks for scissors and glue and paper. He then, cuts and cuts and cuts, then glues it all onto another piece of paper. Pretty cute, yet annoying when he wants to do it every day.

Sunday he pulled out all the Scripture People and had them all placed on his Batcave. Apparently one of the "missionaries" didn't choose the right so he was in jail.

 Tommy helped me wash apples one day to get ready to make applesauce that evening. We thought it was neat that they float.

 Tommy's cut and paste creations. He calls them puzzles.

Tommy loves tying things, mainly tying up toys and swinging them around. In fact, I had to take all the pull-toys away because he'd tie them to other toys and then cut the string when he couldn't get it untied. One day he was tying toys up with a little Home Depot apron and hanging them from the banister, then swinging them. He is so funny:)

Bunk Beds

The boys have been sharing a queen bed for quite awhile now. Now that Damon's in Kindergarten, we've decided he needs better sleep...and they bumped heads pretty hard in the middle of the night last week. So, we decided bunk beds were in order! Barrett told them they could pick out their own sheets too. I took them to Target Friday and they made their selection. They were sooooo excited! That afternoon, we headed to Sam's Club to buy the bunk beds and mattresses. Since I'm not much help these days with my growing belly, the assembly took a lot longer than we had planned. Poor Damon fell asleep before they were finished. Tommy was too excited to sleep and jabbered to his dad while he finished building them. He was so excited to sleep on his bottom bunk that night. The next day they were beyond excited to climb and sit and play and inspect their sheets and straighten them and just love their new beds and sheets! Tommy still randomly tells us thank you. He'll say, "Thanks mom for thinking of the idea of bunk beds. Thanks dad for building the bunk beds."