Funny Lookin'

Terron was teasing with Dallen the other day and Dallen's response was, "Oh, Daddy, you're the funniest guy I've ever seen."

Ditto. Hehehe.

Loving these boys...

The Devil's Team

Awhile ago during a family home evening Terron used the analogy of us being on Heavenly Father's team or the devil's team. We choose everyday who we want to win by how we act, even though we all know who's going to win in the end. Whose team do we want to be on?

So yesterday we had tithing settlement. We sat down in the bishop's office which was hotter than the sun.

"So how is the James family?" asks the bishop.

"Well, we've kind of been on the devil's side lately, Dallen answers. "We just like to hit each other and fight a lot so we've been choosing the devil."

The bishop's expression was priceless. :)

Loving these crazy boys...

Pretty Boy

Dawsen went upstairs after breakfast one morning to wash his hands. Shame on me for actually thinking I didn't need to chaperone him! My make-up was still sitting on the counter waiting for me. He DID wash his hands, then decided he wanted "pretty eyes" like mine. YIKES!! The funny thing is that his eyelashes beat mine anyday, even without mascara!

Loving these boys...

Nonsense

English is such a weird language! I guess I never really thought it through until I started watching my children figure it out for themselves. They say so many silly things that after reflecting on I realize, they're exactly right!

One that is both making me laugh and driving me crazy at the same time comes from Mr. Dawsen. He's constantly saying "I amn't" instead of "I'm not. " He's RIGHT! We always take the O out of not, but for whatever reason not in this circumstance. Or could we abbreviate both "I am" and "not" and make it "I'mn't?"

Something to consider!

Loving these silly boys...

Spacey

Last night we were reading a book about outer space and it mentioned that if you screamed something in outer space to the person right next to you they wouldn't be able to hear you. Terron said to Dallen, "Did you know that?" To which Dallen replied, "Ya, that's because they're both wearing helmets."

What a wise child.

Loving these boys...

I Spy

One of my favorite games to play with the kids is I Spy. It's perfect to distract them -- changing the subject, stopping whining, etc., as well as occupying their little minds while we're waiting for something. It's also a great way to teach numbers, colors, shapes, new objects, etc. Last month Terron ran inside a store while the rest of us waited in the van. The kids started to complain so I headed up an awesome game of I Spy. We were parked right by a handicapped sign. I wanted to use that for my turn, but knew my kids didn't know what it meant. After playing for awhile Dallen said, "I Spy a sign that is a blue rectangle and has a picture of a guy sitting on a toilet."

I knew exactly what he meant. :)



Loving these boys.

Are You Smarter Than A Preschooler?

Apparently I'm not!!! A few weeks ago Dallen saw a table that had five sides.

He counted, "One, two, three, four, five...it's a pentagon, Mom!"

"Hmmm...I actually think it's a hexagon. A pentagon has six sides."

"No, Mom. It's a pentagon."

So I ask, "Where did you learn about pentagons anyways?"

"Blues Clues."

Come to find out HE was right and I was mixed up. Nothing like being shown up by a five-year-old!

PS - Thanks Blues Clues!

Goggles

Although I only got a pic of #2, both boys have recently decided that wearing goggles all day is cool. It cracks me up when I see peoples reactions at the store or simply watching the boys as they watch a movie through their goggle eyes. So weird. And yes, we're perfectly aware the goggles are on completely wrong - they both prefer the strap either on or under their ears and down low on the back of their heads. Looks terribly uncomfortable to us, but they're happy so whatever!!!!

His Brother's Keeper

One day during Dawsen's nap I checked on him only to find a random piece of bread on his head. When I asked Dallen if he put it there he quickly admitted it was him and said, "I was watching him sleep and thought he might be hungry when he wakes up so I got him a snack." Ahhhh... Eneryone needs a buddy like that. :)

Bottom's Up!

A few months ago we got a new couch for the family room which has become Dawsen's favorite place to crash (and drool) each afternoon. He's a BIG boy, but still seems so small when I find him in positions like this!

Laundry Surprises

When I wash Dawsen's laundry it's perfectly normal to find a random object or two thrown in with the clothes, but this week was a doozey! Check out all this loot from his laundry hamper!

Prayers

Dawsen has taken to clasping his hands together during prayers instead of folding his arms. Dallen also did this for awhile and I'm not really sure where they picked it up other than maybe church pictures. A few weeks ago Terron was praying and I gave him a signal to stretch it out a bit longer so I could quietly snag the camera and snap a picture. Okay, so it wasn't the most reverent by me, but it just had to be done. :)

Dallenisms

Every child seems to have weird words or phrases that they struggle to pronounce correctly, right? I think they're cute. They add personality. Terron and I decided early on that although we would continue using the CORRECT words ourselves, we WOULDN'T correct them (unless they asked) until it got to a point that it actually mattered.

Dallen's going to Kindergarten this fall and it's starting to matter to me. I mean, how's he going to learn how to spell things if he thinks the word is pronounced completely different? The second thing is that Dawsen is picking up on some of his mistakes, thinking that's really the way something should be said. We certainly don't need that.

From the beginning Dallen called girls grills. "I LIKE grills, Mommy!" "You're a grill and I'm a boy." Awhile ago he started catching on (on his own) that the pronunciation was different. Now he pronounces girl just right. The problem? We now have "girl-cheese sandwiches for lunch. Oh dear...

Easily his favorite mispronunciation is making the first syllable of a word "be." "I'll betect (protect) you from the fire dragon!" "I'm so becided (excited) and beprised (surprised) that we get to have our friends over!" Let's betend (pretend) you're the student and I'm the teacher." Rest assured that there is no "be" added to the majority of his sentences, but when we do here them, those are the words we hear the most.

The day will come when there will be no more Dallenisms. And I have to admit that as much as they occasionally drive me crazy, I'll be the first to miss them.

Loving these boys.

Aw...crap! :)

Last Saturday Terron was working on framing the basement and left the garage door open. Dawsen escaped (of course) and I found him standing on the grass in the front yard. After a quick rebuke to get inside he said, "Mommy, there's poop on the grass!"

"Dog poop?" I replied

"No, MY poop!"

His underpants proved perfectly clean, but there was a little on his foot so I'm led to believe that he seriously dropped his drawers and unloaded in the front yard.

We are SO white trash. :)

Loving these boys.

Only In The Land Of Pretend...

The boys were pretending this morning that they were planting a garden. Their pretend garden included all of the usuals, but at some point Dallen asked Dawsen to hand him the the noodle seeds. Noodle seeds? Only in the land of pretend. To tell them or not to tell them....hehehe.

Loving these boys.

Privates

So here we are, seven months later. I decided awhile ago that I don't really need TWO blogs to capture memories like the ones I intended for here so I've been trying to write them on the other one. The problem is that I'm having some issues w/....hard to explain...so I need to use this blog again...at least for awhile.

So...we've been having some interesting conversations and situations involving private parts. Our boys have had super dry skin this winter and despite adding pellets to the water softener (we've always had one downstairs, but never chose to use it before now) and lotioning them down after every bath, they've STILL had itchy (they call it scratchy) skin on their bottoms. A few weeks ago an hour or so after putting them to bed we heard Dallen cry out, "Mom! I can't sleep because my penis won't stop itching!" I don't have one of those and I wasn't really sure if this is normal or not. Itch it? Air it out? Lotion? I don't know.

Since then Dawsen has also been claiming an itchy penis fairly often. My favorite was looking for a shirt for Terron in the men's section of Ross (surrounded by men) when Dawsen screamed (or at least it felt like a scream), "My penis itches so bad! Help me, Mommy! It itches!" To which Dallen had to add that his was also itching at the moment. All the men were either smiling or laughing right out loud.

Last week at McDonalds Dallen was chasing Dawsen around in the tip top of the playland pretending to spank him. Dawsen yells out from the very top, into a very echoey room might I add, "Mom! Dallen won't stop touching my privates!" The chase went on with occasional cries from Dawsen, "stop touching my privates, Dallen!" Oh dear. I'm six months pregnant and completely unable to climb to the top to have a chat with them, nor am I going to yell my rebuke in front of EVERYONE. They finally came down and we had a pow wow.

Dawsen has also figured out that when he and his bro are wrestling the private parts will get a surrender every time. Not fair and definitely against the rules, but it does get a quick reaction. When the boys are bathing together and Dallen's head is all soaped up w/ closed eyes, Dawsen also thinks it's funny to try poking the unexpecting Dallen's privates. Again totally against the rules. Unfortunately the problem is still in process of being solved, but alas...

What IS IT with boys and privates?

Loving these boys.