Bad hearing?

This morning, as we were finishing up breakfast and getting ready to head out the door to church, Kenan and I had this conversation... it went a little like this:

As I am happily putting clean dishes away and loading the dishwasher with breakfast dishes, Kenan gets up to bring me his cereal bowl with the spoon, and his cup.  He struggles to get through doorway and balance the spoon in the bowl.  He's hoping the spoon doesn't drop on the floor, but alas, it can't be helped.  The spoon crashes to the floor and the couple pieces of cinnamon toast crunch that were stuck to spoon are now on the floor.  I help by picking up the spoon and taking the other dishes away and he apologizes to me saying, "I'm sorry mama."  I reply, "it's okay, don't worry about it.  Would you please pick up the pieces of cereal?"  Little did I realize that he was off and running to go play with the manger scene as I said this.  When I did realize this, I said under my breath "thanks for the help Kenan."  As Kenan sits there playing he says to me, "I didn't hear you mama, I have bad hearing."  That made me smile - the things he comes up with.

Extreme Makeover-Spongebob Edition

Before....

After...

The walls still need a coat of paint and we have an ugly floral wall boarder up near the ceiling that needs to come down.  It's almost a joke to just keep it up.  It's been up since before we moved in.

We swapped beds with the boys.  Kenan got Timmy's bed and Timmy got Kenan's bed.  Micah ditched the crib mattress on the floor and now has a bed underneath Kenan's.  He looks so small now on the big twin size mattress.  They slept so good last night though.  It is such sweet moment to watch your little one snoozing on their very first big bed.

Here is a picture of the boys' beds with Micah in the foreground.  We've talked about decorating the walls with spongebob decals and painting the walls blue.  The white part of their bed, we might write something on it to add a little personal touch.  Maybe the S.S poop noop.

Kenan's bed

When we brought home the Spongebob pillow, Kenan went through the house making everyone shake hands with Spongebob and introducing us to him.  Micah was so happy to see "BobBob" that he danced around the living room with him.

Micah's bed

The book nook

Matching dressers and toy storage with colorful cubes.  Micah loves to open the cubes and see what is inside.  Never the same thing.

A view of most of the room from the door way.

Kenan's old bed now in Timmy's room

Another view of Timmy's "new" bed.  He slept in until 8:30 am because he said the bed was so comfortable!

There you have it - part one of the great room redo!

family movie night

Since Thanksgiving is nearly upon us and Kenan will having a Thanksgiving feast tomorrow at school, we thought it would be fun (and a little change of pace) to have a family movie night.  We watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and Charlie Brown in the Mayflower Voyagers.

To kick off our movie night we all made cocoa with marshmallows and headed down to the family room.  You'll have to forgive the blurry shots.  I'm still getting used to my new camera.

I had to put this picture in even though it's blurry.

This one is much clearer but Kenan isn't looking.  Oh well.

Micah, pick out your cocoa

Timmy making his cocoa.

"I want just a little whipped cream"  and this was the third time he said that.

I love this shot.  Hannah is helping Micah make his very own cup of cocoa.

pouring the hot water into the mug

I got all five of them in the shot.  Yay me!

Kenan and Papa helping stir his cocoa

Micah is so excited for his "hot" water to poured into his mug

stirring the cocoa

bumpin' down the stairs with his cocoa and marshmallows

all four enjoying their cocoa, while Papa gets the movie ready

2 brothers enjoying fort/watching a movie/being silly

enjoying his cocoa

captivated by the movie - the cocoa can wait

It was nice to be together as a family after three days of Jeff working long hours.  He put in 12 hours on Friday, 13 hours on Saturday, and 14 hours on Sunday.  He and I were both very tired but it was nice to just be together enjoying cocoa and a movie - even if it was filled with "ssshh!" and "sit still", and "just let him have the pillow!"

through the eyes of a two year old

The other day my mother in law came over to watch Kenan and Micah while I took Hannah and Timmy to pageant practice at our church.  She brought over some thanksgiving decorations that she used to put up.  Jeff remembers these things from when he was a little boy.  I figured that since she gave them to us, it would be a fun tradition to continue.  The table centerpiece is a scene from the first thanksgiving.  (Well not an actual scene, my in-laws aren't that old) It's depicting a scene from the 1st thanksgiving.  Micah thought it would be so fun to look at it, and by look at it I mean park his cars in the scene drive them around.  They had cars back then right?

Cheese!

Seeing Micah do this with the Thanksgiving scene reminded me of when Kenan did the same exact thing with the Nativity scene when he was the same age.  Coincidentally my niece did a similar thing with her nativity scene the other night as well.  She will be two at the end of January.

But mom...

everyone has one on the bus!  This morning I had a conversation debate argument discussion with Timmy about whether or not he could bring his Nintendo DS to school.  The rule has been the same since the first day of school.  No bringing your DS to school because it can get lost, broken, or broken, or even comfiscated because it's being a distraction or being misused.  Any number of reasons that are perfectly good and reasonable.  Or so I thought.  I guess to a nine year old boy, the rule seems strict, mean, unfair, or untrue.  Or maybe he means me.  Oh well, I'm the mom, it's my rule and it's my job to see the bigger picture.  I can see what the consequences are and have experience under my belt when it comes to these things.   But what do I know?  I'm just mom.  Timmy's biggest argument?  Everyone else has one on the bus!  Really?  I know for a fact that Hannah and Kenan do not even own a DS and the two other kids that are at our bus stop don't have one.  I know that a couple of Kenan's friends on the bus don't have one either.  If they do, they don't bring it.  Timmy said, "Mom, not everyone, but alot of people bring theirs on the bus."  I said that was great and it was also their family rule that they can bring it on the bus.  I don't want him bringing it on the bus for any of the reasons I listed above.  End of discussion.  And it was.  Timmy didn't argue or debate with me anymore.  Which I appreciated.

Boy do I feel mean now.  I mean, I know that this said rule is very fair and I'm not being mean by any stretch for not letting him bring the DS to school.  BUT maybe since he purchased this DS with his birthday money, I should let him bring it to school and let him be responsible for it or not.  I think it might also serve as an incentive for him as well.  If he can go a week without annoying his siblings in the morning maybe he could bring it.  That way it's a treat to bring it, but it's not everyday where he's more apt to be careless.  hmmm...maybe this isn't the end of the discussion.

Strategy vs. Trust

Today I brought Kenan down to the U of M to participate in a child development study.  We had a lot of fun. We got down there early so we played at the playground for a little bit.  I was watching Micah and Lucy go down the slide and all of a sudden Kenan was out of sight.  I looked for him and then I heard it.  The sound of him peeing on the playground!  He was just standing there, pants down just going unabashed.  I couldn't believe it!  I felt like every student in each of the buildings could see him.  I had to do my best not to laugh at him, lest he think it okay to keep doing this at every playground we visit.  He just smiled at me and said, "I had to go mama! I couldn't wait"  Oh Kenan.  So we played for a bit and then went in for the study.

 The Study was basically to find out if children will automatically trust a speak or will they doubt the speaker's motives.  Here is a description from their website:  In this study we are looking at learning in young children and their ability to trust or doubt a speaker. We are interested in seeing if children can recognize motive and if they use this information to make decisions within the context of a game. You child will play a short game with the experimenter where the objective of the game is to collect the most treats. These are hidden behind one of two boxes. Your child will be given information from the experimenter, who can see the contents of each box, as to the location of the treats. Your child will then be asked to choose a box. If the child chooses correctly, he or she will get the treats. If your child chooses incorrectly, the treats go to the experimenter. We are interested in seeing whether children are willing follow the testimony of the speaker who has a motive (i.e., they would like to win the game) to provide them with false information.

It was quite entertaining to watch.  I kept laughing to myself because it was funny to watching Kenan close his eyes really really tight and then try to peek.  I kept having to tell Kenan to keep his eyes closed.  The first game was done with stickers.  The two researchers were Emily and Ali.  Emily explained to Kenan that she was going to teach him and Ali how to play a game.  Kenan and Ali would close their eyes and she would put a sticker in one box and a rock in the other and then they could open their eyes. Kenan would pick which box he thought the sticker was in.  If he picked right he got to keep the the sticker.  Then it was Ali's turn to guess which box the sticker was in.  If Ali guessed the rock then Kenan got to keep the sticker.  They did this for about 5 minutes and Kenan collected quite a few stickers.  Then Emily said they would used candy instead of stickers and Ali (knowing what was in each box) would put a block on one of the boxes and Kenan would then get to guess which box had the candy.  Every time he picked the box with the block on it and every time the rock was inside.  I was waiting for Kenan to figure that out but he didn't.  He just kept trusting them that the block was showing where the candy was.  Ali's motive was to win the candy so he was tricking Kenan.  This is where the main point of the study comes in.  Does Kenan trust Ali, or will he notice that he gets it wrong when he trusts Ali and then decide to pick the box without the block.  They switched roles and Kenan got to put the block on the boxes.  The first time Kenan put the block on the box with the candy and and Ali picked the opposite box so Kenan won his first sucker.  And his only sucker.  The rest of the time he kept putting the block on the one with the rock and Ali would pick the opposite box.  He is still so honest and trusting at this age and I think the concept of strategy is not quite grasped yet.  That's okay with me.

Another game they did, that Kenan didn't quite get was a game where he had to say whatever Emily said  but he had to say it backwards.  If she said ball cup, Kenan had to say cup ball.  He just kept repeating her so they moved on to the last game.  This game was a sticker contest.  Ali and Kenan each got 5 stickers to take out of their box and put however many into a bucket.  Whoever put the least amount of stickers in the box got to keep their stickers.  Kenan kept putting 5 in and Ali kept putting in 4.  Kenan was starting to get frustrated that he wasn't winning any stickers.  To be fair I don't think they made sure that the instructions were clear to Kenan.  He did get to keep 2 stickers at the end for being a good sport.  Kenan had fun and we helped these students with their research.

not gonna share

All the boys have gone through this stage - a very possessive of mama stage.  It started about 2 or 2 1/2 and it's quite cute and funny.  With Timmy, every time Jeff would give me a hug Timmy would start to cry and then he'd smile when Jeff stopped hugging me.  Jeff would say something like "this is your mommy and my wife."  Timmy would cry "my life!  my life!"  It was pretty cute!

With Kenan, he would just wiggle in between us.  Without fail, he would know if we were hugging and immediately want up and not just join the hug, but be sandwiched in between us. We could be in the other room and it's like he had hug radar or something.  He'd come running from wherever he was and want in on the hug at that moment.  Of course we'd hug on purpose just to see what Kenan would do.

With Micah it's a little more extreme.  Micah won't let Jeff near me after a certain time of day.  Usually after dinner, but sometimes it's late afternoon as well.  Micah talks but not a lot, though he certainly can communicate.  He usually points to papa, then grunts and shakes his head no and points to the other couch.  Jeff will ask him if he should sit on the other couch and Micah bounce up and down excitedly and nods his head.  If Jeff and I happen to be sitting next to each other Micah has to be right in the middle.  If Jeff lays his head on my shoulder, puts is arm around me or holds my hand Micah will push it away with all his might.  He's very particular about how close Jeff can actually be to me before he gets upset.  There have been times when Jeff has gotten up off the couch to go do something and Micah will take his spot.  He will lay across me on so there is absolutely no way to share mama.  He will sprawl out as much as he can in the spot the Jeff was sitting so Jeff cannot sit there at all.  Recently, Jeff and I were sitting on the couch and Micah was on my lap.  He looked at Jeff, looked at me, kissed my shoulders and told Jeff "no."  Then he hugged me as if he was trying to hide me.  Of course there are many times when Micah could care less if Jeff and I are sitting next to each other much less hugging.  It's cute to see his reaction, as it was to see Timmy's and Kenan's reaction.   Sweet Boys.

Trick or treat!

On Saturday, it was Halloween and we had a fun day!  We went to our church's fall harvest festival in the late morning/early afternoon.

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Micah was little Obi Wan Kenobi and wasn't too sure of the whole Halloween thing.

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Micah was more fascinated with the water than anything else.  The lady kept giving him little toy spiders and all kept trying for was candy.  Her prizes weren't candy but she snatched a sucker from a nearby game to give to Micah.  He still wouldn't leave the game until the lady got after him that his sleeves were going to get wet.

Trick or treating in the link.  Each table was set up like a "house"

Timmy did the mini golf game.  His ball made it up the ramp and... it rolled back down.  He still got a "good prize"

Micah was overwhelmed by the whole thing that he turned into a pumpkin boy.  No just kidding.  He was tired and he really was overwhelmed and Jeff just brought him to the car to wait until we finished up.  Here are Hannah, Timmy, and Kenan next to the fake pumpkin boy.

Super girl!  Super super girl!

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Later on that night...
Hannah started to feel sick.  Sure enough she ended up with a fever and felt bad that she wasn't going to get any candy.  I told her that her brothers would share their candy with her.

Papa and his boys waiting, waiting, waiting to go trick or treating

At the neighbor's house.  They had a scary thing with a motion sensor on it that scared the jeepers outta Kenan!

Micah with his candy bucket on his way home to help hand out candy.

Micah ran inside, ran to his chair and said "candy".  He knew exactly what comes next.  He sampled everything in his bucket, which wasn't very much since he only went up to 4 houses.  His favorite part was helping hand out candy to all the trick or treaters that came to our door.

Timmy and Kenan eating candy and getting so excited to go get more candy!!

Hope everyone had a happy, safe Halloween!!