"Don't mess with the bull, because you'll get the horns"

Thanks, Daddy.

Staring into a cold glass of milk tonight, during dinner, Jason shared that one thought.

No emotion. Just matter-of-fact.

Later, I asked him where he had heard that phrase.

"Daddy," he said.

Of course. He's 4. How many people can he know?





Nevertheless, we were thrilled that Daddy could join us for a party for Amah. Uncle Frank and Aunt Cora were wonderful hosts! It was so nice to see Cousin Andrew, Jeannie, and Jonathan, as well as Cousin Abigail, Alaric, Uncle Jose, and Aunt Elisa. Baby Danica, Debbie, and Godfrey came out for the family reunion. We appreciate everyone driving to see us!



On our visit, Michael and I took a special trip by ourselves, to meet our friends, Lisa and Austin, at the mall.
As you can see, Michael is extending an olive branch to his new friend. Too cute! They pretty ignored each other, until food got involved.



I was caught unprepared by the cold weather that came into the area during our mini-vacation. Scrounging around, we found a couple of Tim's old hats. At one time, like in the 1970's, I'm sure they were the height of cool. In 2007, not so much. But, the boys didn't seem to find. The outerwear meant Amah would let them leave the house. Cheese!

The Good Life

Bubbles are still big fun at our house. During bath time, they are a nice diversion. In the beginning, they scared Michael, who desperately tried to escape when the bubbles started forming. No more. As you can see, he splashes around just like his big brother when they're in the tub.



Michael continues to sort through the tough time that is the "terrible two's." We're all working through it. Some days, he just screams, trying to get some understanding from us. Other times, it's us doing the screaming. But, more often than not, Michael finds comfort in his big brother. They play together, fight each other, and can carry on some entertaining conversation.

Most of the time, it consists of Michael echoing some key phrases, like "Do it!" "Did it!" or "Look!"

Jason makes us laugh constantly.
The other day, he was playing with a race car set he got for Christmas.
He wanted to capture the moment, if you will.
He pulled out a camera that uses FILM. We gave it to him a while a back.

He clicked and and clicked for a few minutes. Then, frustrated, he threw it down.

"Mommy, what's going on? It's not cheesing!"

Tumbling Tots

A room full of parents and wiggly kids, and I was the ONLY one with a camera. As you can see, I snapped quite a few pictures of my athletic little ones. Jason just started a two-month set of tumbling classes. He loves it.

He gets to climb to his heart's content. I'm so glad he has this outlet, especially now that it's getting cold, to get all that energy out. Today, he went straight for the climbing wall, which I've never seen him even notice before. He did so well!




He's learning some stunts with the rings. Not bad!!!



He's actually in a class with kids half a year older than he is. The class he was originally scheduled for didn't have enough children enrolled. I have to say, he is holding his own pretty well.



Except in one area. The warm-up. The beginning of each class starts with circle time, and the kids gather to listen to the instructor, who will do some sort of "simon says" routine. Jumping jacks, hopping, wriggling around, stuff like that. Everyone participates, except Jason. Stone-faced and not moving, Jason watches the group. So tonight, I asked him why he doesn't take part in the adrenaline-pumping activity. He told me, "I just don't like the things they ask me to do." I guess you just have to be happy he won't do what he won't do! I would have had pictures of his non-movement, except I was running after Jason's brother!



Michael doesn't believe there is an area he is allowed to be excluded from. All through Jason's class, Michael kept himself in the middle of the action. While his brother may not have moved much in the beginning, Michael did no such thing. The audience of moms and siblings watched Michael go through the entire room, climbing and pointing to "bruh" (brother).

Word Play

Over the last few weeks, Jason's interests have definitely expanded. These days, he talks about even/odd numbers, fractions. His new game is to throw many letters at you, with only a few vowels, and to ask you to quickly produce a pronunciation.

So, for example:

rktvjsjasontop

Quick, how do you say it?

A lot of times the letters in the word, "jason," play an important role. At least those letters form a word!

He loves to rhyme these days, too.

We had salmon for dinner the other night, which, thankfully, the boys really enjoy. He said to me, "Mommy, don't you think it should be tammon, instead?" "Tammon rhymes with salmon, right?"

Of course it does.



You may be wondering how many pictures one can take of children in the park. Apparently, many. And the boys have enjoyed getting outdoors lately. The weather has been incredible!



It has been a busy few weeks for us, but, there's no contest. Our friends are EXTREMELY busy. We are having to say goodbye to Craig, Michelle, and Kaylie, and Sheila and Abree. We loved the chance to get together with everyone one last time. We had the pleasure of getting together with Ramona and Jimale, and Simon and Amy, as well.




To a prosperous and happy 2007!!!

Happy New Year!!

What a wonderful, whirlwind couple of weeks. Everything is slowly moving back to normal, after having visitors all last week. Amah, Akong, Uncle Tim, Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to celebrate Christmas and the end of the year with us. It was a blast! The kids were smiling the whole time.

Of course, you have to wonder if there were other reasons to grin.



And that was just half of it.

The boys are so very lucky to have such generous friends and relatives. Michael and Jason are swimming underneath new remote-controlled toys, games, cars, and clothes (hey, those were great presents for me!)

One of the really BIG hits, and who knew? is a board game. It's called Mousetrap, and Jason first got hooked when we visited Grandma and Grandpa last year.

We play this game almost every day.

The smiles are the same each and every time.





It wasn't all indoor fun and games. Jason got his first experience with ice skates!




Scared at first, Jason quickly got into the swing of things and started to really enjoy himself.
I think Doug did, too.



Well, they made it all home safely, no scratches. They say they want to return.