Growing into a Gentleman

Charlie is growing up so fast! Today he opened the closet door for me to get the vacuum out, then again when I put it away. He says please (most of the time) and thank you. He told us Jesus love him tonight, then went into a medley of twinkle twinkle little star and the itsy bitsy spider. I love this boy so much! He gets sweeter every day!

What it means to be dressed around here...

Charlie and Noah are pretty particular these days on what it take for them to feel dressed. Charlie HAS to wear tennis shoes and socks..he will not wear sandals at all these days. Noah has to wear shoes if Charlie has shoes on...so they get dressed by 7:30 am most days.

Along with shoes, the boys like to have money in their pockets. I put that on Facebook a few days ago, and Grandma Haag sent the boys these in the mail:


Little envelopes with change! How sweet is that?


The boys like to but their coins in their piggy banks at the end of the day (also a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Haag.)

Noah's All Night Bread Party

So, the other morning Noah woke me up by running in our room and throwing a loaf of bread at me. A little later I went to check on Charlie (he was sleeping in later than normal) and found this loaf of bread next to him.

Every night before I go to bed I check on the boys and leave their door open, so if they need me they can come downstairs and get me. Not that they have ever come to get me in the middle of the night, I just want them to have that option. I think Noah is abusing this open door policy by sneaking out in the middle of the night and bringing random things back to his and Charlie's room. Charlie woke up when I took the picture and looked as confused about the bread in his bed as I was.

In other sleeping news, last night when I checked on the boys, I found Noah sleeping like this:
Yes, Noah has a baby-attitude even when sleeping these days.
...and in other, very random news: I am so excited for Madison's sweet 16 party!! I am in charge of her cake and cupcakes. I made this stand for her cake:
These stands are for cupcakes:
Thank you Jen for passing your epoxying knowledge to me! I think the stands turned out super cute!

Meet Noah, My Giant Two Year Old

Last week I took the boys to the store with me. The current system I have for taking the boys out is Noah rides in the front of the cart and Charlie either walks holding on to the side of the cart or he stands on the cart and rides. (I know, it is a hazard and 23,000 kids a year get hurt with shopping carts a year, but sometimes I need bread and a gallon of milk!) While I was waiting to check out, the lady behind me asked if they were twins. I told her no and that Charlie was 3 and Noah was 2. She looked shocked. She looked at Noah and told me she had never seen a two year old that big before. She kept going on, and on, and on….. As I was walking out of the store she and the lady behind her were talking about how they had never seen a two year old that big before.

When I think of Noah, I think of a baby. I honestly still see him this size when I look at him:

….but then I took this picture of Noah and Charlie:

Maybe he is a giant after all!

Life with Charlie

Charlie is at such a fun age. You never really know what is going through his head. Lately I have just had time to grab my phone to take a quick picture to document some of the silly things he does.

Yesterday none of us were feeling great, so Sam and I took a nap while the boys took a nap. I was the first one up and found Charlie got out of bed and slept on a step with his feet poking out through the rail. He woke up when I took the picture and asked, "Mommy, is that you?"

Charlie insists that he needs a book to look at while he is on the potty. He was also struggling to poop and told me, "I can't open it!"

Last week I went to check on the boys before I went to bed and found charlie brought his pillow and bob-bob and fell asleep in the hall.

The Gents have a New Home

Two weeks ago we decided to up and move to town. We are enjoying our larger place and living in town with nice, treated water. (If you have ever had the privilege of enjoying the well water on the farm, you know what a treat city water is!!) Charlie and Noah especially love having stairs to play on and more room to drive their trucks around in. We are also super close to the primary school, which is nice because that is where Charlie goes for speech.

Last week Charlie asked about the ‘blue house’ a few times, but over all we think moving was the best decision we could make!!

Here are some pictures of the boys’ new room:

Charlie Loves the Alphabet

I know all mothers think they have brilliant kids, but lately Charlie has really been surprising me with what he comes up with. This afternoon while playing with blocks Charlie would pick up a block and say what letter it was. When I got out the camera he would hold up a block and want his picture taken with each letter.

It is official: we are a choo choo train family

These days, most of my time is spent playing with trains and trucks. Charlie and Noah love anything with wheels! They have such imaginations that anything can become a train track. This afternoon Charlie lined up his blocks to make a track.

We live near some train tracks, and we can hear trains throughout the day. Whenever they hear one, Charlie stops and puts his hand up to his ear, and says, “Listen, shhhh, listen, choo choo train!!”

I love this age! They are so sweet!

Naked Noah

Every night before I go to bed I check on the boys. Tonight, one of them turned the light on before going to sleep...good thing they did!
First, I noticed they fell asleep on the same pillow...cute!
Then, I noticed a diaper and a pair of pants...
...and a pajama shirt. That is Noah's pillow and pillow case, too. Apparently he does not like for his pillows to be dressed either.

And that is a very naked Noah fast asleep. I was lucky that he didn't wet the bed before I found him!!

What We Did Today?

What did WE do today????

Charlie found a cool new place to keep a pen...

...Noah drank a few sippy cups...

and drew some lines...Charlie actually drew the lines, Noah just scribbled with the marker...

...Charlie worked with his scissors...

...and we had lots...

...and lots...

...and LOTS of fighting over big tractor...

...took a bath and wore Buzz towels while watching Buzz...

...and it was bed time when Noah decided he liked sticking Mr. Potato Head parts in HIS head more than in the toy.