Tyler loves baths . . .Finally!

The first time I gave Tyler a bath as a newborn baby he screamed. And EVERY bath after that (no exaggerration) for two and a half years he screamed bloody murder. It was baby shampoo and a washcloth, but anyone could easily have mistaken it for thumbscrews and the rack. Then this summer we went to visit my brother Mike in Idaho. We'd been there a few days and the boys had been playing pretty much nonstop in a huge pile of dirt with cars and shovels and stuff, so needless to say they looked like neglected orphans before too long. With a huge sigh, bracing myself for the worst, I announced the bad news to him: time for a bath. He cried before I even started peeling his clothes off. I had top pick him up and carry him so he wouldn't make a hasty getaway. Then a miracle; my sister-in-law keeps a well-stocked bathtub; squirting frogs, rubber duckies, boats, fishing games, wind-up sharks . . . in other words, a floating, squirting toy store. An hour later he screamed and cried when I made him get out. I guess all those years he was just bored.

Some of the boys' favorite things . . .

Picnics

Even if it's only on the front steps.

Forts

Remember building forts? It's one of their favorite things to do, and it keeps them busy for hours at a time. It reminds me so much of my childhood. I love it. Although I hate having to fold all the blankets again.

The marble run

This was one of my most creative ideas, if I do say so myself. I like marble runs, but I didn't want pieces all over the house, and I thought it would be fun if it were magnetic and could stick to the fridge. I got a bunch of PVC pipe and plumbing pipe pieces, cut them up, spray painted them and glued magnets on the back. Actually, that makes it sound simple and easy, but really it was a big pain in the butt. Worth it, though because the kids love it. And I admit, I've probably played with it as much as they have.

"Sleepovers"

For some reason my kids LOVE sleeping on the floor. I don't know how it started, but every Friday night now they sleep on the floor, like it's a sleepover or something. I put the laptop in there and they watch a movie, and play, and fight, and completely destroy their room. I think it's really cute, and I'm glad they have fun as brothers. I'm also glad that the thought has not occured yet to Joey to have a sleepover with one of his friends. Does anyone else think that it's scary to send your kid to sleep at someone's house? Or even to have someone else's kid over? It scares me, and I'd like to just say no sleepovers allowed, but I don't want to be a mean old meanie, either. What are your thoughts on sleepovers?

Carving Pumpkins

We usually go to a pumpkin patch, but because we ran out of time this year we went to the Wal-mart pumpkin patch. The kids couldn't wait to carve them. Jared had class every night, so he wasn't there to help, which was unfortunate because carving three pumpkins turned out to be rather exhausting for me. The first mistake I made was telling Joey to scoop out the guts. "What?! Are they really guts? Gross!!" I assured him that they were merely seeds, and so he helped a little bit, but since I wouldn't let them weild the knife, all three soon lost interest and I ended up by myself while they went outside to play hopscotch. Joey had drawn the face he wanted on his pumpkin, but had a meltdown after it was carved because it "wasn't scary enough." I dripped red food coloring on the teeth to look like blood and made some angry eyebrows, and that appeased him somewhat. In the end they turned out OK, and I'm glad we did it, because Halloween is no fun without Jack-o-lanterns :)