More videos - karate and a book

Another karate video for your viewing enjoyment. This one is from Justin's class tonight. Did I mention that Justin and Evan attend one night a week together and two nights a week each separately. If you need to reach me, you know where Ill be most afternoons and evenings from this point forward. Justin was in the 7-9 year old class tonight, so boys his own age, it was a nice small class. He told me it was "awesome" afterwards and was beaming the whole evening. I love to see him so happy.

Here is a sweet video of Nathan reading a new book he got for Christmas (thank you Aunt Mary and Uncle Tom - he LOVES the book) with G. He really is talking quite a lot now. He says three and four word phrases now. Some of his favorites are "here it is" or "where did [whatever he is looking for] go?" For a boy, and compared to Evan and Justin when they were this age, I feel like he is very verbal. He must take after his mommy :) I like to talk alot too, if you haven't already noticed!

Karate

The boys started karate tonight! Karate was their Christmas present from Santa. After many years of begging and pleading I finally relented. But, the best part is that *I* didnt have give in, Santa did! Both boys were beaming the entire time. It was so nice to watch them enjoying themselves. I am especially excited about karate for Evan, to continue work on his gross motor skills and help him with some sequencing issues that he needs help with. The best part about the studio we chose is that once a week the boys can be in class together.

Here are a couple videos of the boys at their first class. Evan is the back row, left boy, Justin is the tall blond, back row right. The yelling is the baby who was pretty darn excited to participate from the sidelines watching and yelling when the class did which was very cute.

Videos!!!

A video of Nathan jumping on our memory foam bed. Poor kid. They are designed NOT to bounce Nathan.

More of the questions....where are Nana and Pa and WHY?!?!

Nathan getting undressed. This is a long one, but, quite cute. He is so persistent and determined and has ALOT of patience for a two year old. You can also hear how he calls himself "Naten" which is cute.

Short clip of Nathan with two cups drinking at the same time.

Ah, that poor little kid didnt even have a chance racing against my boys.

Photo Catchup

Last weekend Scott and Molly and Andrew came over for cookie decorating - our second annual extravaganza. This year Nathan was involved! The kids all had alot of fun and made tons of yummy cookies. I made Nathan special dough to use so that he wasnt handling all the things he is allergic to and then could actually eat the cookies he made. It worked out really well.

I wanted to add here, since Im talking about the cookies and special recipes, (I dont think that I ever actual blogged about this) that we had Nathan retested for all his allergies. I was hopeful that he had outrgown a few of his food allergies because we had been giving him milk products in limited quantities and not seeing his typical reaction (which is hives on his face and/or throwing up). However, Nathan has had a runny nose for the past 3-4 months somewhat constantly and his excema has really flared up on his legs, a spot that usually isnt that much of a problem for him. So, I was suspicious about the new foods we have been introducing but hopeful. Unfortunately the blood worked showed what I feared, he has not outgrown his food allergies. In fact, he has actually developed a couple additional ones that are pretty unsettling and difficult to tackle. Nathan is allergic to milk, eggs, all nuts, coconut, sesame seeds, soy, and corn. CORN. Corn, if you dont read food labels you might not know, is in every single processed food. Ketchup? Yup. Crackers? Yup? Cookies, cakes, brownies, bread, yogurts, pretzles, juices, some milks that are flavored... Its mind boggling. And soy? Well, its pretty much in everything too. Obviously the kid has to eat SOMETHING. So, right now we are working together to decide what to feed him off that list and what not. Im doing alot of his food preparation and allowing him very few processed foods, until we get a better handle on how much he can tolerate and in what form, of these ingredients. We obviously wont be offering him corn on the cob anytime soon :)

Anyways, here are some pictures of the kids making their cookies. Justin was a little cookie making machine this year!
Molly and Andrew. I think Molly enjoyed it just as much or more than Andrew :)
Shake, shake, shake.
Good fine motor work for Evan.
And Nathan!

We took the kids out of school...shhhh...and went to the science museum for the day on Monday. It actually worked out fabulously because as luck would have it Justin's teacher was out on Monday in Boston as well! We didnt run into her or anything but he also didnt miss much at school. The boys had an absolutely fabulous time at the museum. There was so much to see and do. We didnt even get to half of it! The day went by so quick. The boys were all amazingly behaved, even little Nathan who had to skip his nap and (pretty much) held it together until 3pm. At which point de had an absolute meltdown and had to leave. Immediately. Still, it was a really good day, and motivates me to start taking all three kids places again! We havent been anywhere with Nathan ever, usually my parents watch him or we dont go. So, come Spring, hopefully we can keep up with activities and outings with Nathan.

Anyways, here is a cute picture of Nathan pressing a button on a display. He was amazed that we let him touch anything and everything. At first he was shy about it but soon, anything that had a button Nathan was there to push it.

The boys worked together to do alot of the activities. I really enjoyed watching them work as a team and explore together. Its so nice to see them still really close, even though they are apart most days because of school.
Evan loved the bodies in motion exhibit with all the physics and whole body movement. It was by far his favorite area. We spent alot of time there. Here he is racing the lights that are timed down the track. He told me as we were leaving the museum that we NEED one of these for our house. Cute.
We toured the butterfly exhibit. It was small, but, nice. Nothing compared to the fabulous butterfly exhibit near our house. But, the boys loved it, it was one of their favorite things. So, we will be definitely adding a trip to our butterfly exhibit to our list of things to do this Spring! Here is a picture of Justin studying the butterfly guide.
A butterfly landed on Justin's head.
Justin took a picture of us! See, I WAS there, here is picture proof, something we rarely get!!
I love this shot of the city with the butterfly on the window.
Nathan really enjoyed the butterfly exhibit. But, you had to be right.on.top.of.him to make sure he didnt touch the butterflies. Here is a transcript of my conversation I had with nathan 25 times at least while in the butterfly area:

Me: Nathan, dont touch the butterflies.

Nathan: Why?

Me: Because it hurts them.

Nathan: Have boo-boos?

Me: Yes.

Nathan: Why?
Nathan loved the water table play area in the kids section. He and I hung out there while the boys and G went to the 3D show.
Nathan got to play with some bones from animals twice his size.
We saw a lightning show that Justin loved and Evan hated. Hated so much that he was hiding under the bench the entire time in fear. Until he left. My boys couldnt be more different.
I think one of Justin's favorite exhibits was the rock collection. This is a beautiful giant amethyst. Wonderful.The boys were BLOWN AWAY by the size of the stuffed lion and tigers at the museum. Justin didnt want to get too close :)
Do yourself a favor, click right on this next picture of Evan next to the dinosaur bones. Its the funniest thing you will see today. Evan roaring like a dinosaur. Cute, cute, cute.
Even the dinosaur was dressed for the holidays!!!!

On Tuesday night I brought Justin to Cub Scouts and helped out with their holiday night. The kids decorated ornaments shaped like wreaths. Here is Justin decorating his. I cant get over how cute he looks in his Cub Scout uniform.

As room mom for Justin's class I get to attend all the special parties which is so much fun! On Thursday I helped with the Holiday party. We played BINGO, pass the Santa, ate food, decorated ornaments and pretty much had the best time ever. This is Justin's class. He has 22 students this year in his class. He is the one almost standing up in the red shirt, he was helping me pass out supplies and had just made it back to his desk before I snapped the picture.

The Beginning of the End - The 365 Blog

You may follow us on: http://onemomthreeboys365.blogspot.com/ and know that for the last year Ive been really busy fulfilling my New Year's Resolution to take a picture a day and post it on the blog to share a snapshot of our days with our family and friends. Or you may not. Either way, its all changing soon!

Ive been thinking long and hard (read: just realized this week) about the end of the year and the end of our 365 blog. And while its been a ton of fun and really inspired me to take ltos of pictures of the boys, its also been ALOT of work. And occassionally Ive been a bit stressed out about getting the pictures up in a timely manner. Ive decided that I dont need any more obligations that are not fulfilling in my life.

Something I love to do that I never have time for is scrapbooking. I have piles and piles of pictures that I would love to get into albums. So, I decided that Im going to concentrate on scrapbooking some of our favorite memories instead of blogging them. But wait, its not the end really! Ill post the scrapbook pages on a new blog! And then everyone can share in our memories and pictures. Now obviously this wont be every day, because, well, let be real, I dont have that kind of time (I have three kids remember). However, my goal is going to be one page a week! 52 pages in a year would be a phenomenal achievement since in two years I dont think Ive scrapbooked more than 10 pages. Sigh....

And of course Ill post occasional photo updates here too. So, keep coming back!!! I love sharing our lives with our family and friends and that, will never change.

Fa La La La La...and a little non-Christmas stuff...

This year I coached a lego team for second graders through Justin's school. It was a really fun and great experience working with Justin and his teammates on solving a problem using Legos. This week was the finale event at the school, the kids met with Judges and explained their project and also got to see how the other teams solved the same problem in a different way. The FIRST team was also at the event showing off their robotics problem. Justin was FASCINATED by the FIRST team. He spent well over a half hour over at their exhibit, asking questions and watching their robot. He told me that he HAS to be on a team like that when he is old enough. Its not surprising that Justin takes an interest in all things engineering and robotic. He is such a "math kid" and loves building, tinkering and exploring with his hands. This has been a wonderful program and experience for him and I!

Our team were the Angry Germs. Our problem this year was showing how to keep food safe to eat. The kids designed the shirt and the poster as well as the Lego project.
Justin got sick this past weekend. Turns out he caught strep throat and was feeling much better on Tuesday after we got him antibiotics. He missed school for two days though and spent the majority of the early week looking like this:
My friend hosted a Christmas party at her house this past weekend that I brought the younger two boys to. G and Justin opted for a movie instead because the crowd was mostly under 6 age and Justin was a bit too old. The younger boys had a blast at the party, which was complete with a visit from the big man himself, Mr. C.

Evan enjoyed the cookie decorating, the frosting on his face tells me this.
Nathan did some winter themed coloring.
Both boys sat with and talked to Mr. Claus and got a little present from him.

And everyone enjoyed some stories around the fire place read by my friend.

Our elf Jevin has been having quite the adventures this season! Today Nathan found him hanging from the front door chain! Silly elf. Christmas cards have been coming in from friends and family and we happily hand them on the inside of our front door to enjoy for the month.
We finally got our tree decorated! It has been up with the lights on for over a week but we werent able to find a relaxing time to decorate it until this weekend, while the baby napped. We decided to place the tree in the entry way for one more year. Just until Nathan is old enough to know better than to pull every single ornament off it or topple it over. Im hoping next year will be the year that we finally bring the tree in the house! In the meantime, the older boys enjoyed decorating it and looking at all their favorite ornaments, its fun for them because now they can remember the ornaments from year to year and the stories behind each. Justin's height is coming in handy now! He can reach much higher this year to place the breakable ornaments on the top section of the tree!



My mom's group hosted the annual gingerbread house decorating party. Always a fantastic time with a wonderful group of ladies. Its fun to get out for the night and do something mindless while hanging out with friends. My house is the first row, second from the left (looking at the picture) with the "stone" front.

Where Did Pa and Nana Go?

This is pretty much the conversations I have every day with Nathan re: his Nana, Pa and brothers. Cute.

Santa, An Elf, Gingerbread Houses, Parades...Oh My!!!

Oh that silly elf! "Jevin" has officially been with us over a week now and he is having fun making the kids laugh and causing some trouble while he watches over them and reports back to Santa. Its fun to see the boys search for him every morning when they get up. He has found some pretty silly places to hide! On the toilet paper holder.Playing with the Wii remote in the playroom.
Using the toothpaste.
One day he even packed Justin's "lunch" for him for school. Heehee...
The annual train building has begun. We took the boys to Lowes for the first of three sections of the holiday train. Last year the boys had so much fun making the train that we knew we had to go back this year. It was fun to have Scott and Andrew there too this year!

The boys made their annual gingerbread houses this weekend! Its always a favorite holiday activity in our house because the kids are allowed to munch on candy while they work. Its really cool to see them improve their decorating skills from year to year and watch their creativity blossom. I can't wait until Nathan is old enough to join in the fun, this year though, we did it while he napped. I dug up my picture from last year of the awesome pre-built houses that I bought last year and hunted them down again this year. Not only are the houses prebuilt but the icing is premixed. No more struggling with too thin icing and sliding sides, roof, walls. The kids aren't allowed to eat their actual houses until after my mom's birthday Dec 19th. Its just been the arbitrary day Ive chosen in the past that has now become tradition. This way I dont hear lots of begging and pleading every day. And also, the houses get nice and stale and the kdis are less likely to devour the whole thing!




On Sunday Justin walked in the town parade with his Cub Scouts pack. G, my dad, Evan, Nathan, Scott, Andrew and myself all came to cheer him on and see the parade. Nathan LOVED the firetrucks at the end. Evan and Andrew liked the candy that the kids threw. We also got a glimpse of Santa in the parade which is always a crowd pleaser :)




You might remember from last year here (http://onemomtwoboys.blogspot.com/2010/12/santa.html ) my montage of Santa pictures. This year we had one more to add to it! The boys really enjoyed their Santa experience this year. Except that neither of the older boys knew what to ask Santa for. Actually this is not entirely true, Justin did tell Santa, "I have two things I want for Christmas this year but mommy told me Santa wont get them for me. A skateboard and a DS." Santa just smiled and laughed, "hohoho". Justin took that as a big fat agreement with mom. Shhh...what they dont know is that Santa already knows what he is getting the older boys for Christmas: karate lessons. Ive been systematically exploring all the local karate places to see which I think will fit our schedule and needs. I plan to make my final decision next week and buy and wrap the karate uniforms for Christmas morning. The boys are going to be out of their mind with excitement. I have been long since telling them that karate is just not going to happen. I finally think they can handle it and not kill eachother with what they learn.