We are counting down the days til Santa comes at our house. On Sunday morning at breakfast Tyler told Andy "I've been waiting a long time for How to Train Your Dragon (the movie he asked Santa for)." A few weeks ago at breakfast Tyler and I had the following conversation that I just had to write down afterward to capture the extensive imagination Tyler has at this age. Here's Tyler's plan for giving Santa a present this year:
12/11/10
Tyler: I think Santa’s sad cause he’s never had a present. I’m going to give him a present. I think I’ll build him a rocket so he doesn’t have to use his sleigh or his reindeer anymore. I’m going to need a lot of wood and paint though.
Julia: Don’t you think the reindeer will be sad if he doesn’t use his sleigh anymore?
Tyler: He can just use the rocket sometimes. Well…maybe I’ll make him something smaller. I’ll build him a house! I’m going to need A LOT of wood, paint and glue. Like 5 woods, and 5 paints and 5 glues.
Julia: Don’t you think he already has a house at the North Pole?
Tyler: Yeah, but he doesn’t like his house anymore cause he doesn’t have any doors. So I’m going to build him a new house. We’re going to need to take the windows and doors from our house.
Julia: Won’t we be cold?
Tyler: Yeah, maybe we can take the windows and doors from the neighbors instead. Or we could buy them from the window store for $5.
Julia: Where are the reindeer going to sleep?
Tyler: They can sleep in Santa’s bed. Or…maybe we could make A LOT of beds. Like 5 beds for the reindeer.
Julia: How are we going to get the house to the North Pole?
Tyler: We’ll have to use a lifter. Maybe Dad could use the lifter to get it there. Its going to be dark in the woods going to the North Pole though. We’re going to need a flashlight. We’re going to need A LOT of flashlights. Do you know where Dad got my flashlight?
“Guess what dad? We’re going to make Santa a house. We’re going to lift it up with the lifter and bring it to the North Pole. I’m great at using the lifter. But I think I’m going to need a little help from you guys.
Bryce wasn't too sure about the man in the red suit. Even standing close to him was a little risky.
Tuesday morning we awoke to about a foot of snow on the ground here in Provo. Andy had been praying for a good snow storm for awhile so he would have an excuse to use his step-dad's ATV snow plow on the driveway. He's like a kid with a new toy.
Tyler loves playing in the snow. He has his dad's skier blood in him I think. Bryce isn't too sure and although I bundle him up with boots and snow pants he won't walk in the snow and I have to shovel a path for him to get around. I meant to gently lob this snowball at his stomach. At least it missed his face. Sorry your mother has terrible aim Bryce.
This morning at breakfast Tyler walked in sat down to eat his toast and said "Does Jesus have a computer?" I said "I don't think Jesus needs a computer." Before I could expand on my reasoning Tyler says " I think he does have a computer and I have a computer too and I think thats how he sees where I'm going and what I'm doing all the time." Its the only rational explanation his 3 year old brain can comprehend I guess.
After a lengthy picture taking session today Tyler saw some Halloween candy sitting on my bed and asked Andy "Can I have that?" Andy said "That candy was for if you were good during pictures." Tyler responds "Well I did great. So...."
This next part is actually Bryce but I'll have to describe it since I didn't have a camera or video ready at the time. Bryce is usually really good about going to bed at night and as soon as I say "Its time for bed Bryce." He puts on a big smile and starts waving to everyone in the room to say good night. Last night it was getting pretty late and I could tell Bryce was ready for bed. He was already in his jammies and I had just given him a sippy cup of milk when I said "Are you ready for bed Bryce?" With his back turned toward us, drinking his sippy cup with one hand, he doesn't even turn his head around but waves behind himself at us and walks down the hall, around the corner and to his room all by himself. No need for words.
Tyler has been asking me to make him a super suit for months now. He has greater confidence in my sewing abilities than I do. A good deal online seemed more like my style. He's probably worn his Halloween costume half a dozen times already since it arrived at the beginning of October and last night probably won't be the last either. Tyler says he can run faster with it on. And Bryce was just about the cutest tiger I've ever seen complete with growls and roars.
Andy wore his Cat and the Hat hat and at the last minute I decided to be Kate from the T.V. show Lost, complete with staple gray shirt, jeans, hiking boots and curly hair.
And yes! Bryce finally started walking this week! He just flipped the switch and walks everywhere now and pretty fast too. True to his personality Bryce takes his time reaching milestones and does things on his own time table. He can now get into trouble twice as fast.
Bryce helping us pick tomatoes. We ended up with such a great garden this year. Tons of squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and green peppers. About 12 butternut squash and around 15 pumpkins. We decided to pick all the orange pumpkins today to put on the front porch. Too bad none of them are big enough to carve but I was pretty proud of myself for growing them all!
Tyler was a great help in the garden this year. He was always careful to only pick red tomatoes and big green peppers. I read that gardening teaches kids patience. I hope so.
A rare shot where both kids are looking and happy.
As Andy says - Bryce has a little bit of 'tude (attitude). He says his feistiness (sp?) comes from me. He was upset with me here for not letting him play in the mud.
At least he gets over it fast.
Sharing is also still tough for Bryce, especially with his brother.
For the past month Tyler and Bryce have been taking swimming lessons at the Provo Rec Center. Tyler is in his own preschool class and Bryce and I are in the Tot class. At the beginning of the summer we took the boys to a pool and Bryce cried the whole time and Tyler wouldn't let go of us in the water. I knew they just needed more time in the water. Although neither one of them likes putting their head under the water yet, they're both so much more comfortable in the water and have loved swimming lessons. I'll add some videos once I figure out why blogger won't load them right now.
As many of you know I grew up outside of Chicago. My parents moved to Maryland after my freshmen year in college and sadly I have not returned to my hometown in almost 9 and a half years! Each year I say - We have to go back to Chicago this year. But it just gets more expensive and harder with more children. This year seemed like a good year and I talked my parents into meeting out there. We had a 6:55 am flight Friday morning which meant we had to wake up at 4:00 am. With all the excitement of leaving the next day I only slept 2 1/2 hours the night before. It made for a very sleepy ride to Chicago with a baby who didn't cooperate with my napping plans.
When we arrived in Aurora and pulled into our old neighborhood - a bunch of our old neighbors were standing out in front of my old house waiting for us! It was so good to see everyone that I knew growing up. We had such great neighbors where we lived. The first thing I noticed were how big the trees had gotten. Everything else pretty much looked the same.
The house I grew up in from the time I was 3 years old til I left for college.
Friday night I met some of my high school friends at Carraba's for dinner. Two hours just didn't seem long enough to catch up on nine years. I wished I could have spent more time with them.
On Saturday we went into the city and showed Andy and the boys some of the sites. They have a great new park called Millenial (?) Park with great sculptures like this giant reflective bean thing. Tyler really liked it.
We walked up and down Michigan Ave. I was bummed that some of the stores weren't as cool as I remembered and the big toy store FAO Swartz wasn't even there anymore. The kids were worn out and fell asleep.
Andy and I on the Chicago River near the Wrigley Building
Another cool art exhibit at the park. There's two of these towers that reflect different faces and have water streaming down them.
Tyler really liked these lions at the Art Museum. After all that walking we went to my favorite restaurant in Chicago - Chicago Pizza and Ovengrinder. They've been around for 40 years and have these great Pizza pot pies. I also love their Great American salad with sweet and sour poppy seed dressing and Mediterranean Bread. I wished I'd taken a picture.
That night the boys swam in the hotel pool with my dad and Andy while my mom and I went to the Relief Society broadcast at our old Stake Center and saw more friends from church. On Sunday we drove around my hometown more and saw my old highschool, elementary school etc. We went to our old ward. It was great to see so many families I knew growing up that are still there. We visited some family friends in Prestbury after church. Tyler and Bryce loved sitting on their bench. We took the kids to Prestbury pond after dinner. I'd forgotten how many ponds and lakes there are in Illinois.
I like this shot of Andy and Tyler at Prestbury Pond.
Monday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry before we went headed to the airport. The kids really liked this Museum since there's so much hands on stuff. We were there 5 hours and still didn't see everything.
The kids really liked this Farm exhibit. Tyler got to drive a simulated Tractor.
I loved Bryce's enthusiasm over this exhibit.
On the Main level was a great exhibit for the kids called the Idea Factory. They had fun science like toys for kids of all ages. Even this little climbing gym for Bryce.
It gave me some ideas for Christmas....
Tyler steering the ship. Overall it seemed like a whirlwind trip but we're really glad we did it. Now I just wish I lived close enough to go back more often. There were so many more things Andy and I wanted to do in Chicago. We'll just have to plan another trip I guess! The boys are at a great traveling age too. They were always so good. They even both slept through the night every night at the hotel! I can't remember the last time we took a vacation where I actually got sleep too! That was the icing on the cake for me.
I've become a fan of the t.v. show Glee this past month. Although the kids don't watch it with me they like listening to the music during the day. They're some of Tyler's favorite songs now and they love dancing to them. Here's a video of Bryce dancing to "Don't Stop Believin'" . Notice the dramatic fit at the end too. He's becoming good at these lately. The other day after nursery I asked Tyler if he sang during singing time this week. He said "No, they didn't sing any of my favorite songs." I said "Whats your favorite song?" "Don't Stop Believin." Yeah I'm guessing thats not a regular among the 18 months-3 year olds in nursery.
