A mompreneur's chronicle of life with her boys.
Every time I look at Will’s moose jammies do the moose face. You know when you put your hands on either side of your head with hands open and say “Moose!” (like my friend Kim and I used to do to each other) I tried to teach him to do it. Isn’t he funny!
Today we took the boys up to the pass to ski. Jack had a lesson and Will got to try out the magic carpet for the first time. We had no expectations on what Will would be able to do on skis, but hoped that he would be able to stand up and balance. He did great with both, but has no concept of how to stop. Jack is doing well with his lessons too and working on making parallel turns.
This year I wanted to try to take a photo each day. The photos didn’t have to be anything amazing, but would get me to think about photography each. I was doing great until I got sick last week, since then I don’t think I have taken any photos. So in an attempt to get back on the horse I am participating in Fat Mum Slim’s February Photo-a-day Challenge. I will post my daily photos on our Facebook page. Please like our page and check out the photos.
Will looks so cute in his hoodies. He doesn’t mind having his hood up. We were finishing folding laundry the other day in my room and he was playing in the curtain.
I was looking through the last several years of Santa photos. We have a frame that holds three years worth. It is really fun to see how the boys have changed.
Jack has grown up a lot in the last year, but still has the same cute smile. I am so glad we took the photo for this year when we did. Although you can see the bruise on his forehead, it hadn’t started to give him black eyes. Will has yet to smile in one. He gets closer each year, but no smile. I love the one of him as a baby with his huge cheeks and upside smile.
We don’t have any screaming Santa photos (don’t hate me), just very serious faces. We haven’t been consistent about going to the same place for photos, so we have had some really good Santas and some not as good. I like the ones from the last few years. Enjoy the last five years of Santa photos.
I am participating in Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop this week.
Photo Friday – Polar Express Train
One of the boy’s highlights of decorating for Christmas is putting up the train under the tree. A few years ago Jim built platforms for it to sit on and we now are creating a village too. Each year we add another building. Jim inherited his family’s original Lionel train set and we bought the Polar Express a few years ago. They love to watch the train go around the track and blow the whistle.
For this week’s Monday Listicles at Northwest Mommy, we were tasked with picking our favorite photos. I decided to pick mine from the last year. Some you may have seen before and others are new. Enjoy!
10. Watching Football – On Thanksgiving the boys were watching football before we left to go to friends for dinner. I heard Jack ask Will if he wanted to sit on his lap.
9. Rocker Boys – After Jack’s dance party birthday the boys loved to dress up and rock out.
8. Hiking in Hawaii – We were hiking in Hawaii near a lava tube. I love the look on Will’s face.
7. Husky Boys – This is the morning after the Husky’s big Holiday Bowl win. The boys slept with their shirts over their jammies.
6. Boat Ride With Molly – While Oliver was visiting over the summer we went down to the lake and went on a boat ride with Molly.
5. Jack at Grand Coulee – Over Memorial Day we went camping near Grand Coulee Dam. The boys loved playing on the beach. Jack looks so sweet in this photo.
4. 1st Day of School – I love this photo of the boys as we were leaving for the bus on the first day of school.
3. Reading With Grandma – When we were in Lodi for spring break, Grandma and Grandfather came over for the day. It was fun to see the boys with them.
2. Will in the Snow – Last February we got our big snow storm of the year. Will and I went exploring in the backyard while Jim and Jack went skiing.
1. Chatting – I think this is everyone’s favorite. I had so many comments when I posted this for Photo Friday. The boys were waiting for Jim to come home and parked their dump trucks like that on their own. I had to sneak up behind them to take the photo.
You get two for the price of one today. Last night at dinner Will started playing “Where’s Will?” by covering his eyes and then peeking out. I just could pass up capturing these two amazing smiles. I know I am bias, but can you get any better than these?
I am starting a new series called “SEE.” It is inspired by our name, The Will to See, and seeing aspects of the world through your eyes. I will periodically write SEE posts (it could be about someone, something or some idea) and I may even invite others to write guest SEE posts.
To kick off this new series I thought I would give you a “glimpse” at some of the people in my life through my eyes. First up is Will.
– will power. Some might call this strong willed, but he is determined and it will prove to be a necessary skill in the future given his vision impairment.
– individual. He has his own unique and distinct personality even at this age. Also, he can make the perfect frown face. I have no idea how he does it and haven’t been able to capture it on film…yet.
– lovably cute. Most people want to eat him up and ask me how we discipline him when he is so darn cute. Will is a hugger. So when you meet him, beware, he will get you.
– lefty. He is left handed without question. He throws, swings a bat or club, eats, writes and even kicks as a true lefty.
– imagination. Just like his brother he can take his toys and play for hours by himself, making up stories and scenarios.
– adventurous. Will just goes. He has no fear and will just walk right into the middle of anything — of a group of kids, a swarm of bees, a pool…
– male. He is all boy. He loves his cars, Transformers, swords, and balls.
– style, as in his own. He has a distinctive run that made our friend Allison, who is a PT, say one day that she wanted to video tape Will running so she could show everyone what the range of “normal” is like.
– taller, much taller than Jack. I feel bad for Jack because someday, not too many years from now his younger brother will be taller than him.
– animated. He loves to dance and sing, especially in the car.
– nutty. The other night while I was getting him ready for bed he said “I William! I crazy!” He is a complete ham and loves making all of us laugh.
– tenacious. He doesn’t take “no” for an answer and is determined to get what he wants. See letter “W.”
– outgoing. Ever since he could talk he would say “Hi” to people in the grocery store until they would acknowledge him. Today he even called out to multiple groups of people and everyone said “hi” back.
– noisy. His voice has a way of carrying a long way, except when you need to find him. He also likes to hum or sing when you are on the phone.
For us Halloween is a marathon, not a sprint. That isn’t to say it is bad; it is just long, stretching over days or weeks if you count all the preparation.
It all starts months in advance when the boys decide what they want to be for Halloween. I have a sickness that prevents me from buying pre-made costumes (I know, but at least I acknowledge it.) This year Jack decided he wanted to be Sam Flynn, the main character in the movie, Tron Legacy. Since Will doesn’t have an opinion yet, the plan was for him to be either the character, Tron, or Rinzler. I was going to try to make Jim and I costumes too, but that idea got thrown out due to lack of time.
Jack’s costume came together well and I even found some glow in the dark Frisbees that look like the disks. However, Will’s was just too plain. After I saw it together on Friday I knew he needed something different.
Last Friday (like last year) we chaired the haunted maze for the Halloween Bash at Jack’s elementary school. Since we did so much of the building work last year it made sense to take it on again. We were able to add more black lights and decorations to fill the space of the maze better, including a second coffin, jail, mummy man and zombie. We were able to get some photos from inside the maze this year, thanks Jerry Ann from Deddo Arts.
Since we build the maze in the gym, we have to build and decorate it on the morning of the event, then take it down that night. Luckily we had amazing crews of people throughout the day to help us, including Alan and Dennis who were there all day (they were rewarded with beers afterward.)
The Halloween Bash followed a walk-a-thon. Unfortunately the weather gods were not smiling on us and it poured rain, prematurely ending that part as people headed inside to get out of the garden hose that was coming out of the sky. I think everyone still had fun at the 2nd annual Halloween Bash.
Saturday morning I decided to make Will a skeleton (“skelskin” as Will says) costume. Yes, two days before Halloween. It actually came together well and he was happy with it.
Sunday night we carved our eight pumpkins with Allison, Dennis and their kids; well technically Dennis, Jim and I carved pumpkins while Allison cooked and the kids played. Next year Jack is going to help with his pumpkin. It is a memory I want him to have like I do.
Then Monday arrives… Halloween on a weeknight is hard. It feels like such a race to get through everything, get the kids in bed at a reasonable time and remember to enjoy the night. The teachers were great and didn’t give homework. We trick or treated through the neighborhood in a group of 11 kids and eight adults with cocktails. The bigger kids quickly moved from house to house, while Will took his time. He just moves to his own beat and does what he wants. By the end of the night he would just ring the doorbell and say “I get candy now,” instead of trick or treat. We will work on his manners.
We survived our Halloween marathon and may even sign up to do it all again next year. As Jim likes to say, “we are on a year-to-year contract renewal and next year we qualify for free agency.”
One of the new props for the Haunted Maze at Jack’s school is this zombie (or zobee as Jack says) that Jim and our friend Dennis made. He has been standing in our living room waiting for the last week and is really creepy to see out of the corner of your eye in the middle of the night. I think the boys make pretty good zombies too.
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