Saturday, June 25, 2011

Missing Daddy....

1, 2, 3 JUMP!!! Playing with some twin friends and neighbor friends.
Did somebody say Ice cream?
There are some days that I always seem to be a step or two behind...Liam is getting drinks for everyone, even me!
I forgot to post this one last week, but Liam is showing me the tie that he and Luke made at school for John's father's day gift.
The boys and I had a busy week while John was away on business in Russia. Yes, Russia. The boys have gotten very good at finding where Daddy is on his trips with their placemats that have maps of the world and the United States. They know how to find where we go on vacation, where Grandma and Grandpa live, where our cousins live, etc... They ask daily "how many more minutes" until Daddy returns so we count them down with our calendar. We were missing Daddy this week and will be happy for his return.
Luke and Liam talk from the time they get up until the time the finally fall asleep at night. When we are driving in the car, they always point out any motorcycles (they call them motor-bicycles), trucks, bulldozers, etc...Even Aiden screams when he sees a school bus or fire truck. They are always quick to mention whether or not the person on the motorcycle was wearing a helmet since we require them to wear helmets when they ride their own bicycles. The other day when we saw someone who was not wearing a helmet, Liam said, "Look, that guy is NOT wearing his helmet. That does not make his Mommy happy." Then Luke added, "or his Daddy happy either."

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day!

The boys and I gave John a new waffle maker for Father's Day because this is a Sunday tradition for us to make waffles or pancakes. The waffle maker would have been a surprise until Luke told John that the present he helped me wrap was pancake/waffle mix!
Daddy and his Boys
John holding AJ after the diaper mishap that sent us home pretty quickly. Note the spot on John's shirt....
Liam is laughing because the goat keeps taking his cup as he is feeding him at the fair
Feeding the animals at the fair
This picture is the epitome of Luke with his legs crossed eating an ice cream cone
Aiden loved the animals
Riding a few rides at the fair with our neighbor friend, Jack. This was AJ's first time to do anything like this and he loved it.
Aiden really had NO fear of any of the animals, even the biggest ones!
Playing on a big slide with some of our friends earlier this week.
We had a very nice Father's Day weekend with lots of fun things planned with John. With all of his business trips, time with Daddy is precious and something that the boys enjoy to the fullest. We went to a local fair in Hennepin County that is right down the road from us. It is a very small fair with some some interesting sights, but the boys really enjoyed petting the animals and riding a few of the rides. On Father's Day, we went to a BBQ at a local vineyard that I saw advertised in a magazine. In theory, it seemed like a good idea and I called ahead to make sure it was "kid friendly." Due to some recent rain, some of the activities they were planning to have for the kids were unfortunately cancelled. While the food, music, and tour of the winery was all very good, it ended up being a very short lunch for us. Shortly after the lunch, Aiden had a massive diaper issue. I always bring extra clothing for myself, but not usually extra clothing for John! Anyway, the incident sent us home pretty quickly, but we enjoyed laughing about it and I am pretty sure it will be a memorable Father's Day story for many years to come. Happy Father's Day John! We love you very much. We also want to say Happy Father's Day to our Grandpa Carrithers and Grandpa Morse!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Unforgetable Stories (cont.)

Here is Aiden stretching to go run with Daddy
One more picture that I could not seem to get on my post the first time around.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Unforgetables

The boys playing together
Liam is supposed to be taking a nap, but he heard us talking outside and is peaking out his window and waving
Liam (doing the same thing that Luke is doing below...see story)
I asked Luke to put on his big boy pants for school and this was the result. I didn't mention taking off his pajamas first, of course. Pretty soon, Liam was doing the same thing and Aiden was putting pants on his head.
There are lots of times that people ask about the different personalities of the boys. One of the purposes of our blog is to document their development since I can't seem to remember all the details of our chaotic lives! So, with that being said, here we go...
Luke is dramatic, animated, silly, and loves to do everything that Daddy does. He constantly asks if he will be able to do something when he is as big as Daddy. One recent evening after we put the boys to bed, they were playing like they normally do in their beds when we heard Luke screaming. John went upstairs to find Luke's stuffed dog on the floor pretty far away from their beds. John asked if Luke threw it on the floor and Luke replied, "No." He then asked Liam if Luke threw it across the room and he also responded, "No." John was of course thinking that Luke was not telling the truth so he asked him once again how the dog got across the room. Apparently, after going in circles with several more questions, we discovered that Luke threw the dog down to Liam (one the bottom bunk) and then Liam threw the dog across the room. The boys answered our questions correctly, but seemed to know just how much information to provide.
Luke is also a big helper and plays very well with his brother Aiden. He is quick to help Aiden or do things that I ask him to do.
Liam is independent, a very hard worker, and a perfectionist. He is very particular about how things are done and notices any type off change that occurs in our routine. Liam plays very well on his own and can easily entertain himself. Liam's preschool teacher sent a report for the school year that graded each of the children on various tasks, one of which was "concentration." The grading scale was: N=Not ready to achieve a task, E=Needs Encouragement and Guidance, P=Positive Progress, S=Satisfactory, and G=Good. Liam earned a "G+" for concentration with a special note from his teacher saying she was impressed with his level of concentration and attention to detail at such a young age. This characteristic of Liam makes it very challenging to do projects with his brother Luke since he is right the opposite!
In a recent conversation with Liam and Luke, we were discussing first, middle, and last names. We explained that Luke's middle name is the same as Daddy's (Luke Allen). Liam's middle name is the same as Grandpa Morse's (Liam Carey) and Aiden's first name is the same as Daddy (Aiden John). We then asked Liam his full name and his response was "Liam Grandpa Carrithers." From there, the conversation went to the boys saying their names were Luke John, Liam Allen, etc...
Aiden is really developing a unique personality of his own. He copies everything he sees his brothers do. When John stretches for a run, Aiden goes and gets his crocs and stretches right beside John to get ready to go with him in the stroller. Aiden has a weird obsession with with electronics and goes crazy over i-pods, i-phones, remote controls, telephones, etc...
On our way to take Luke and Liam to school twice a week, we pass John's office. Luke and Liam always point it out and say, "that's where Daddy works" and we look for his car (even though it is on the other side of the building). On a recent trip in the car to pick up Luke and Liam, Aiden suddenly screamed "Daddy! Daddy!" and pointed at the building where John works. He has definitely been listening!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Summer Fun

Swimming with Luke
Liam
Aiden and Mommy
Luke
Bouncy House (outside instead of in the basement!!)
Checking out a big frog
On the "beach" with some of our twin friends
Walking/Running to the beach with three sets of twins plus two kids (8 total). The hard part was getting that many kids to leave the beach to go home for naps.
It was a little tough to come back to reality after such a fun vacation at the beach, but we were happy to finally have some nice summer weather this week and we took full advantage of it. We spent many hours swimming in the pool, playing in the yard, and doing other fun stuff outside. It actually got hot and humid this week and was ideal for swimming outside. The boys seem to have an endless amount of energy so we are happy to spend some of it outdoors. I am posting a couple fun pictures from our week.