Operation Christmas Child...

The last few years Mormor has taken one or both of the boys out to gather toys and other items for charity. Operation Christmas Child you fill a shoebox sized box with small toys, markers, toothbrushes and other small items on a list for kids of certain age groups. The boys like picking out stuff and hopefully understand that it's going to a kid who doesn't have as much as they do. We try to talk about others in our daily life and clean out their toy boxes at least once a year. But filling the shoeboxes is a great way to show them that others like new things as much as they do, not just hand me downs. We love this tradition.

Last Saturday it was drop off day. We met up with Auntie Mick and Auntie Em to give all our shoeboxes to the volunteers at KTIS radio station office.

We walked our boxes over to the collection table and semi truck.  Then went inside to warm up, play a few games, and had a cookie.

We didn't need all the hoopla, but I guess it makes giving a little more fun for these six littles. Thanks mom for a fun tradition of giving.

Quotable: Babies...

Another baby came over tonight, shortly after sending home the two extra kiddos I had all day. O looks over and excitedly says "more babies to watch?!"

Then L screams happily out "I love BABIES!!"

Lego Creations...

The Lego creations that Oliver's been making lately have impressed the socks off me. He can build them using just his own imagination. I need instructions to build anything worth building, I guess I need some imagination lessons.

Here's three things he built this morning. A ship, a house and a robot...

 

 

Turns out a kitchen silverware divider makes a good lego guy sorting station. The boys enjoy making miss matched guys, so I helped them sort them out this afternoon. They made a few new guys and then played with Oliver's creations together. 

We love legos!!

Quotes: Spelling

Oliver's been spelling words out loud a LOT lately. I think it's because for a long time Daddy and Marmee spell things out loud to keep some things secret from little ears. Those days might soon be coming to an end.

In the last few days I've heard him saying these sentances:

"Having P-I-Z-Z-A makes me H-A-P-P-Y!"

"That was N-I-C-E of me to let him have that"

Also, the other day while raking leaves in the neighbors front yard Oliver stops and told me:

"My brain muscles hurt (pointing to hip) but I'm not going to worry about it cause it just means I'm growing!"

Photography: Grandparents...

A few weeks ago (when it wasn’t quite so chilly), my parents and sons went for a little walk on the boardwalk near our house. I went along to capture a new photograph of the boys with their grandparents. I don’t have too many photos with my own grandparents, so it’s important to me to capture these moments when I can.

Timber!!!

The other day while Oliver was at school, Lucius and I sat in the back yard watching the neighbors tree be cut down. It was almost an hour we watched them trim tree branches and limbs. Eventually Oliver got back from school and we told him they were still cutting the tree down.

What's more fun than a picnic lunch while watching a big tree fall down. Of course, it was quite cold out so we bundled up in a warm blanket.

 

A day full of alarms...

These days our lives have become a series of alarms. Times during the day that need to be kept track of.
6:45am alarm (nature sounds) signaling the boys can play, 11:25am a song plays letting Lucius and I know Oliver's getting on the school bus on his way home, and an 1 hour & 20 minute timer for Quiet time.

These alarms have somehow given an unspoken peace to our day.  All the early morning "Marmee, can we get up and play" at random, far too early morning hours have completely ceased. In fact I occasional am awakened by my own alarm clock and not little misters. Crazy fun!

Lucius has stopped asking when Oliver's done with school. When we hear my phone play a song, he runs to the front door to greet him with a big grin.

Quiet time used to be an endless game of "Marmee, when's quiet time over??!?!" Not much fun for any of us. Now, letting the timer tell them, the questions are no more. Quiet has truly become a mostly hushed time.

It's interesting how a little planning and these unspoken ques can lead to so much extra calm of our family.