Reading

Each night we lay in bed with Aidan and Aaron and they get to read to us.  Aaron always brings home his reading counts book.  Aaron's teacher spent the first 1/2 of the year focusing on the letters, their sounds and the 'special' word rules.  Aaron reads every word of a book - he will not move on until he knows the word.  This makes for a lot of questions, but it is a patients exercise for mom and dad ;-).

Aidan's style is totally different.  He gets big chapter books regardless of the level.  If he does not know the word he just keeps going.  I was worried he did not understand the content, but he can tell you exactly what happened even if he does not know all the words. 

Listening to the two of them read one after another makes it very difficult not to compare.  We try so very hard not to compare.  We don't dress them alike, it makes me mad when people as who was the first-born, or who is bigger....  I don't even like to refer to them as twins - they are two very different little boys.  But Aaron was starting to notice that Aidan was reading a little better than him.  It is my job as a mom to keep their confidence level up so I talked to Aaron's teacher about his reading progress.  Come to find out Aaron is one of the highest-level readers in his class and he is reading at a first grade level.  Soooo... Aaron is doing super, he just happens to live with another very smart guy.

We were very honored when Aidan's teacher asked him to read at Camp Kindergarten, which is a pre-registration for next years Kindergarten.  Only six kids were asked to read, and we are so very proud of Aidan's hard work.  Like I said he does not turn down a hard book – he is one awesome reader!

Dozer

This is going to be a hard one - but I don't ever want to forget this guy.  The day after Christmas we had to say goodbye to our Dozer.  Dozer was my very first dog.  He is the only dog I was with from the start of his life to the finish.  We had a dog growing up, but she passes away while I was away to college. I got Dozer just before Adam and I started dating.  He kind of taught me that motherly love.  I remember once just after I got him, I saw fire trucks at my apartment.  I about had a heart attack thinking something might have happened to him.  Dozer went everywhere with me.  I even used to let him sleep in the bed.  Well time when by and we had kids.  The dogs kind of got moved down the totem pole.  It’s so funny because Dozer drove me crazy.  The stink, the drool, always under foot, but when it came time to say goodbye none of that mattered.

He got very sick just before Christmas.  He was almost 10 and bulldogs have a life span of 8-10 years.  We did as much as we could with our vet, but decided not to pursue treatment beyond that. The vet put him on antibiotics and an appetite stimulant.  The day I thought I would see that big fat man on an appetite stimulant - well it makes for a good laugh in light of the situation.  We brought him home for Christmas.  That stubborn dog held on for so long, but the day after Christmas he was suffering so much that we took him to the emergency vet to have him put to sleep.  All there is to say is that it was the hardest thing ever.

One thing I want to remember is Aaron's poise.  We all got to say our goodbyes, but the boys did not totally understand.  When it was Aaron turn he stood up with tears in his eyes and pulled a tissue out of his pocket, dabbed his eyes and then turned around so no one could see his tears.  That child has such a heart and so much empathy and the way he handled that was so grown up.  Over the next few days Carter told everyone 'My Bulldog dead" - at least he gave us a laugh.

Well I am finally able to write about this now because we are so excited to welcome our next furry friend this weekend "Digger".  We had to continue on with the big machine names.  As much as I wanted another bulldog (and we will have one again) we decided a lab would be able to keep up with our family better.  We have been waiting for him for three weeks now and we are just beyond excited.  About a month ago I heard Aidan in bed crying.  When I went in he was missing Dozer.  Dozer is irreplaceable, but we hope Digger will bring a little spirit into our already very energetic home. 

Cleaning my house

I used to be a little OCD about my house.  I had nice labeled bins for everything.  The bins even had pictures so the boys would know where to find things.  Well three boys later, you must let go of some things.  And a spotless house is first on the list.  The majority of the toys are in the basement and I can go about a week and then the thought of the mess drives me crazy so I head down to the jungle.  Every time I do, I find myself smiling at each corner.  Some of the things that make me laugh.  The matchbox cars lined perfectly around the inner rim of the pool table.  The stuffed animals in various places when they play zoo.  They are constantly packing bags with Nerf guns and spy gear.  They make sure to put something in every last pocket.  Is like a never ending unpacking game.  The love to put their tool belts on and load them up with guns, walkie-talkies, swords, handcuffs... such boys!  They still play with their dress up stuff, but not as often as they did last year.  Santa still brought some cool new costumes this year that have gotten some good use.

Its so funny how we adapt to life.  Growing up with two sisters and myself I could not have imagined a house full of army guys, Nerf guns, power rangers.  But here we are.  Sometime I miss the girly toys - the baby dolls, and Barbie’s.  I did take all the boys to build-a-bear for a special date night over Christmas.  I actually let them get a few outfits for their bears - which were a small fortune.  But that's the closest thing I will get to girly toys.

And yes for the record book I did say my boys would never play with guns and swords.  But with boys it’s inevitable.  They started turning their tools into guns.  They are boys... we are embarrassing it!!! 

Aidan and Aaron's 6th Birthday

After lots of discussion, Puzzles, SIGS, Movie and the party list goes on... they decided to have a joint bowling birthday party.  A co-worker recommended Rose Bowl just off Bardstown Rd.  It was a non-smoking facility with reasonable prices and it was a laid back atmosphere.  With the boys being in two different classes now it made the guest list a little more complicated.  I would have loved to let them invite their whole class so they did not have to pick and choose, but that would have just been too many kids.  So they invited their karate fiends, Cole and Luke (longtime preschool friends) and they each got to invite 5 kindergarten friends.  Wow was that tough.  I thought keeping it an all boy party would make the guest list simpler.  Poor Aaron just loves some of the little girls in his class so this was a little harder for him.  But it all worked out and we had one wild and crazy party with 15 boys in all.

What do you get with 15, 6-year-old boys?!?!  Lots of energy, noise, excitement and even a few injuries.  We had a busted lip from a bowling ball bouncing up... I know, figure that one out.  And one set of smashed fingers.  But we sent everyone home alive and well sugared up! 

The party package included a real bowling pin for all the guest to sign - very cool!  The boys got a ton, I mean a ton of Nerf stuff.  It was like a dream come true for them.  I could not walk a step or sit down on the couch without sitting/stepping on a Nerf bullet.  I would sit down on the couch after I though I had them all picked up and one would be stick to a picture.

Potty training

Well there is not much to write about this one, because it pretty much came and went.  Aidan and Aaron both trained pretty easily.  I was all ready at 2 1/2 and Dr. Harper, who I trust 100% said I was rushing it.  He is so laid back about things, he said it would happen when they are ready.  He was so right.  Aaron trained himself, on vacation non-the less, and Aidan was quick to follow.

With this in mind I had not really gave much thought to Carter' training.  He used the potty alot on his own because he wants to be just like his big brothers.  He had been pooping in the potty for a good 6 months before he turned three.  I can hardly remember changing a poopy diaper last summer.  Shortly after he started preschool at St. Paul the teachers said we did not need to send him in pull us because he was staying dry, even during nap.  I was telling this to Adam, thinking I would want more around his 3rd birthday.  Well Adam must have missed this part of the conversation (surprise, surprise).  The next day Adam called me after he picked Carter up and said he kept his underwear dry all day.  Say what?!?!?  He went to school in undies and I did not even know about it... tear ;-(.  Well so the story goes and we never looked back.  He has only ever had one accident and it was at school - poor guy.  He wanted nothing to do with pull-ups after he got those cool undies so he did not even wear them at night. 

Hush, hush about this one, but I would have kept him in diapers until he went to Kindergarten ;-).  Each milestone means the last baby is growing up.  I have really hung on to everything with Carter.  Remember we did not give the passie up until 2. 

Carter's 3rd bday

We take full advantage of the time of year Carter's birthday falls.  I have a November birthday and Aidan and Aaron in December.  Nice weather creates so many more cool birthday party locations.  This year we decided to take advantage of our local parks.  I gave Carter a choice and with the help of the boys he chose Speed Park in Sellersburg.  Carter's birthday fell on a Sunday... bonus!  He wanted a Scooby Doo birthday.

We had beautiful weather for the party.  Our guests were the Loses, the Blanton neighbors, and Carter's old sitter Amanda and her family.  It was low key... and everyone had so much fun.  We played pin the tail on the donkey, we had sack races and had pizza, cake and ice cream.  Carter got lots of boy toys. Spider man and Scooby Doo toys... all of his favorites next to Power Rangers.

Birthday boy and Aidan... and Scooby Doo

Game time

Mom and dad face off!

Good night birthday boy

Good morning birthday boy

Awards

We just got back from the boys end of the year awards ceremony.  I am so proud to say, both boys received three (out of four award categories) each.  They received attendance awards. They both got fitness awards.  I was holding my breath on that one...cannot be the Jazzercise mom and not have the boys get that award ;-).  And lastly they both received reading awards.  Aaron actually got top reader in his class and his name was recognized in the newsletter.

The only one they did not get was a citizenship award.  Not sure what happened there?!?!?!?  Guess we have to leave some room for improvement ;-).  Adam and I are convinced they just inadvertently left them off the list - ha! 

We are so proud of these guys!!!