Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Swear they love each other.

I signed on quickly to record this moment in time: Isaac and Seth lazily laying on the couch this morning, holding hands!! Being loving brothers!!

... by the time I actually signed in Isaac had Seth's hand and was doing the "Why are you hitting yourself, why are you hitting yourself?" thing. *sigh* It was sweet while it lasted..

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Birthday boys.

The boys are now SIX and TWO!! My big boy is all of a sudden huge, and my baby is no longer a baby.

Isaac's birthday was on the 3rd, and we brought cupcakes to school for all of his classmates and his teacher Mrs. Lacey. Isaac and Mrs. Lacey got "deluxe" cupcakes, which made Isaac feel extra special. I wish I could have stayed and enjoyed the party with him, but younger siblings aren't allowed in the classroom during school hours. Stupid liability laws.

That evening we had cake and let him open his present, which was the "LEGO BRAND PIZZA STORE!!!" Yes, Isaac now refers to everything lego as "Lego Brand ____" because he sits on the website watching their videos, becoming an advertiser's dream. I've had to limit the amount of time he goes on the computer because he sits there salivating over Legos.

Another huge milestone, probably more for me than for him, is Auntie Mona got him a skateboard. He has been begging for a year (at least) and I've always said no because I felt he was too young. Every time he would ask for one my mind would flash to him coming inside with a broken wrist, and then say, "NO! Not till you're older!" Well, I guess this means he's older. ::sigh::

We had his birthday party on Seth's actual birthday, which was the 7th. That morning we let Seth open his big present, which was a working Buzz Lightyear with the pop out wings, buttons, "laser," and everything. He was SO excited, and was ridiculous impatient while Kevin opened it (it took at least 10 minutes):

Their birthday party was at BounceU, which is a warehouse with tons of inflatable slides, obstacles, and games. Cousins, friends from Isaac's school, and family came, and everyone had an awesome time. Once the kids cleared out of the room with the big slide, my dad and I flew down it a few times. :)

Isaac feels so big now that he is 6 years old, it's like he's matured over night. I'm so indescribably proud of them both, my heart feels like it is going to burst with pride sometimes. They are playing (and fighting) together more and more, which is fantastic. Even when they're fighting I know it's love, because that's just what brothers do. Their current stage is "whatever he is playing with, I want."

Hahaha, that just reminded me of Seth's 2 year check up at the pediatrician's office.  I'm talking to the doctor, and Seth keeps opening the door with Isaac promptly shutting it before Seth can get out. This happens about 10 times before Seth just stops, looks at Isaac, and then starts wailing on him. Fists and feet are flying, and after I break them up the doctor says, "This is going to sound strange, but I can't believe how well Seth can kick! It shows he is very advanced in his gross motor skills." Bwahahaha I love that my boys' development can be seen in the way that they fight each other.

That's all for now... duty calls in the form of, "MOM! I'm SO hungry, my tummy needs food." 

Friday, April 29, 2011

Brothers.

I felt like I needed to immediately record this moment in time: THE BOYS ARE PLAYING NICELY TOGETHER!

There is usually some sort of wrestling or yelling about toys that goes on, but they are cooperating right now. Amazing.

AS PROMISED:

Karate master Isaac! Since this belt promotion he has been way more excited about going. I think it helped that his Grandpa, Grandma, and Grandma Peg were there. Made him feel like it was a big deal. He is now the proud owner of a white advanced belt.   =)

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

That's what I'm supposed to do, right?

Today, I left Seth alone for 30 seconds. The result? He took his diaper off and peed on it.


Not cute.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

ALSO! Bbq..

Forgot to mention in my last post that we also got to spend time with Chrystal, Scott, Doreen, and the kids over Spring Break. Doreen (Kevin's Mom, a.k.a. Nana, a.k.a. Mom-in-law) moved to Texas this past Sunday, so the weekend before we got together for a BBQ. It is always fun to get the kids together, and it was a nice send off for Doreen. We'll miss her, but thankfully we can always keep in touch through phone, facebook, Skype, email, this blog, etc. What did people do before this thing we call the interwebs?

Here is a picture from the BBQ. Kevin is getting mauled by children (as always), and Seth is looking like Godzilla. SAVE THE BABY DOLL!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Life, currently.

What is new in the Calkins household?? So much that I'm too busy to remember to update my blog, apparently.

Isaac had spring break last week and today is his first day back. Not gonna lie, it's kind of nice to have my 3 hours of peace back. Seth naps the whole time that Isaac is at school, so this is the ONLY time I have to clean, eat, THINK, BREATHE. Cleaning is useless when Seth is awake because he just follows behind me to undo everything I just did. Eating is impossible while he is awake unless I want to give him every other bite. AAaaaand when Isaac was home every day he kept me on over-drive trying to keep his 5 year old self entertained. Swear, parenting is much harder when your child can tell you he is bored.

Is this a post complaining about my children? LOL swear we ALSO had fun last week. We went and visited my mom in San Jose, which is like Disneyland for the kids because they are so spoiled. Candy at 10am? Sure, why not! There is a whole train room in their house that Isaac lives in while he's there, and every single Cars toy you could want. And we can't escape watching Polar Express at least once. The boys are in heaven while we are there, and Isaac always tries to become invisible when it is time to leave haha.

Their birthdays are in less than a month!! Cannot BELIEVE they'll be 6 and 2. My baby boy is not a baby anymore, and my big boy is a freakin BOY. Like a boy that has a sense of humor, pulls pranks, is affectionate, and is annoyed by his parents now and then. So proud of who he is. OH also.... he has a belt promotion on Thursday to get his yellow belt! I mentioned last post that Kung Fu Panda was helping his enthusiasm...wellllll Kung Fu Panda is apparently uncool now, so he hates going (again). I have to fight to get him there every week, but I just know that it is a good thing for him. Pushes him out of his comfort zone and teaches him how to deal with that. I'll take a picture and post it on Thursday. :)

I feel like this post was ridiculously random, but our life mostly feels random because it is SO PACKED. Promise I'll update more. Have I promised that before?

I'm toying with the idea of starting a separate blog that isn't only about the boys... just worried that I'll never update!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Everybody was KUNG FU FIGHTIIIING!!

Thanks to the movie Kung Fu Panda, Isaac's new favorite song is "Kung Fu Fighting." Not the original version, but the Jack Black version. It's pretty awesome. His new favorite saying, also courtesy of Jack Black, is "SKIDOOSH!" Kung Fu Panda is by far the boys' favorite movie, and Seth starts applauding and saying "panda" whenever I  put it on.

This is also helping with Isaac's weekly Tae Kwon Do classes. He used to protest every time he had to go but now that he sees Kung Fu Panda do it, it's suddenly cool.

We put Isaac in Tae Kwon Do originally to help break him out of his shell and build his confidence a bit. It seems to be helping, and he got a great report card home from school last week. We had a really good conference and Mrs. Lacey said he has shown a lot of growth in the past few months. Besides the Tae Kwon Do, he has been getting tutored every Monday and I have been working with him before school every day. Kindergarten standards are soooo much different than when I was in Kindergarten, it is really tough for boys to keep up. This is a great article about this subject.  I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with my two boys, because he would not be getting the extra support he needs if I was at work all day.

Their birthdays are coming up (yikes), and my baby is going to be TWO YEARS OLD. I'm freaking out a bit, and my crazy mommy hormones are trying to convince me I want another child. Yah, CRAZY. I'm probably giving Kevin mild heart attacks every time I mention it, haha.

Seth is going to be 2, but thinks he is 5. He says "WHY?" whenever we tell him no, and acts like Evil Knievel at the playground. It doesn't help that he is extremely tall for his age (go figure) and the same size as 3 year olds.

That's all for now, folks. Mommy duty calls.







 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Things I'm Grateful For That Children Have Brought Back Into My Life

  1. PB&J and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
  2. Playing Tag
  3. Tickle fights
  4. Fruit snacks
  5. Imagination
  6. Forts
  7. Coloring
  8. Jenga (Isaac loves it)
  9. Swings 
  10. Applesauce
...  to name a few.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Up at 6, before the kids!

This never happens. One of the kids is always my alarm clock, but today it was the cat. Yes, cat. We adopted Stevie about a month ago from our friends the Hoopers, and she is fitting in well with the family. Except for when she wakes me up at 5:30, because that really isn't so awesome. She has cerebellar hypoplasia, which is a disorder that makes her wobble like a drunkard. Even when she sits still her head sways, hence the name Stevie (Wonder, get it?). HERE SHE IS:


We went to the snow for the first time a few weekends ago, and had a great time. Isaac had been asking all winter where the snow was, so I figured it was time to take him. We went up to Dorington, which is a little past Arnold, and stayed in a cabin for two nights. Isaac had a blast with snowball fights and sledding, and maybe next winter we'll take him skiing. Seth got into the snowball fights a little, and when we first set him down in the snow he just giggled uncontrollably. Looking back, it may have been easier to leave him with a sitter for the weekend because he was a bit young and it was a bit stressful. He only lasted in the snow for about a half hour before getting mad, so one of us would have to go in with him while the other stayed out with Isaac. The cabin was also not baby proofed AT ALL, so we couldn't let him out of our sight. That all being said, we got some good video and pictures and it is one less thing for him to be mad at us about when he is older haha. Kevin and I were both babies in families, and I remember being pissed when I would look at pictures of my sister and parents in Disneyland when they had left me with grandparents LOL. The conversation would go something like this:

Me at 9 years old: "Dad, why aren't I in these pictures at Disneyland?"
Dad: "Oh, you were just 2 years old and wouldn't have remembered it anyway."
Me: "Oh, okay." (seething inside from the injustice of it all)

Anyway, here is some super cute video of my super cute kids



Thursday, January 13, 2011

YIKES! It's been too long

To make up for my lack of blogging, here is a super cute video from Christmas:



:)

Isaac got everything he could have asked for. Seth unfortunately had laryngitis and because of his respiratory problems was on steroids (RAGE!). But, we made the best of it and still got to see most everyone. Morning at our house, then over to my dad and Peggy's house for more presents and breakfast, then my mom's house for more presents and lunch, then my grandparent's house to say hello. JAM PACKED, but great to see everyone.

Some of Isaac's favorite presents:

  • LEGO CITY FIRE STATION!!
  • Star Wars Legos 
  • Stinky the, talking, eating, singing garbage truck
  • Nintendo DS. Not just any! The 25th anniversary special edition Mario DSi XL.
Some of Seth's favs:
  • Leapfrog alphabet train
  • LIGHT SABERS (Star Wars). I've gotten clocked in the head way too much with these.
  • Tonka car wash/garage
And while I'm at it....

MY FAV'S:
  • DIAMOND EARRINGS from Kevin (he loves me)
  • Black heels from Kevin (YES, he succeeded in picking out shoes for me!)
  • Running shoes from my dad, since I am training for The Relay.
Kevin didn't make out badly either... he got a sweet new Xbox wireless controller, a hunting game with shotgun that I play just as much as him, and an awesome tool set from my dad.

Although the stuff is fun to talk about, it was really about family. It was great to see everyone, and we got to extend Christmas an extra day by going out to visit the Ericksons in Tracy. It's always great to see Chrystal, Scott, and the kids, and the boys love being with their cousins. Here is a sweet picture of Isaac and Nick from that day: 


I have to go clean now (yuck), but I'll leave you with our Christmas picture from this year.. Isaac was so cooperative :P