Halloween.

I have been such a horrible blogger. But I have three and sometimes four excuses. My family has kept me very busy these last few weeks. Here are some things we have been up to.

• Today we had a Halloween party with our cousins. The boys had so much fun. This is an event that they look forward to every year. The boys really enjoy trick or treating with all the kids. Sometimes I wonder what the people think when 14 kids stop by a their door looking for candy. Jason went as Aniken Skywalker since the costume still fit from last year, I thought he could wear it one more year. Matthew was Superman. Gavin was our duck. We have had our dear duck costume for seven years now. It is a tradition t everyone has to wear it at least once. (this was not the best picture, gavin was super tired)

On Friday we celebrated Gavin's birthday. It was just a small family party.(due to exams) We will have a friend and family party later. This is last time I will make a Red Velvet cake, well at least until my kids are older. Red stained the carpet and was all over the place. The cake was pretested by a certain toddler so I had to re-frost it and the top looked so red.
The older boys and Brian carved a pumpkin. It turned out really nice, even though the pumpkin was green it did not look too bad. While they were carving the pumpkin I was trying to keep Gavin entertained. For some reason he decided that he was going to go crazy. I guess carving pumpkins is not his thing right now.

Gavin 1st birthday

I can't believe that Gavin is one already. Time goes by so fast. He is growing up along with the older boys so quickly. He has been such a wonderful blessing in our family. I am truly learning that I need to treasure every moment with them. Also, my boys have taught me that parenting is hard but sometimes I make it harder then I need to.
Here are somethings that Gavin has been up to.( I just love his name)

• Gavin loves to go outside. Whenever I open the door he comes walking as fast as his little body can go. Sometimes, I have to close the door before he gets there. He usually cries, but the weather does not permit him to go outside all the time.
  
• About a month ago I started giving him cow milk. To my surprise he has taken to it pretty well.
• Gavin's loves sandwiches his favorite are PB&J and Grilled cheese.
• I started having the boys watch "Signing Time" videos mmainly to help the younger boys learn to communicate better and hopefully help Matthew with his temper. Well, Gavin has caught on to some of the signs which is pretty incredible for me. He can sign "baby" and "all done". I know this is not a ton, but it is a start. We will still have to work with Matthew on his temper.
• He loves to grab Jason's glasses. Two Saturdays ago I had to get Jason's glasses repaired because Gavin grabbed them Jason tried to grab them back and it was a big fight and the glasses lost. So we had to get the glasses unbent. We were home not even an hour and they were fighting again. So, I guess I will have to back to Costco to get them fixed. Sheesh who knew a one year old could be so destructive.
• He has learned how to go up the stairs. Now all we need to is work on going down without hurting our self in the process. Face first is a big no-no.
• Gavin enjoys looking at books but when it comes to me reading a book he only can stand may be a minute then he is off and running.
  
• I no longer need an alarm clock. Gavin goes to bed by 7:00 and wakes up by 6:00. If he goes to bed later than 7:00 he is a disaster.
  
• He loves eating with a fork. Well, I should say a fork or spoon in one hand and the food in the other. The food and spoon/fork never meet he just likes having one like us. His philosophy is no fork/spoon no eat.
• Gavin is like a tornado. When he is asleep our house a little cleaner. As soon as he wakes up there are pots and pans all over the place and if he can help it food from the pantry too.Sometimes I wonder why I even bother cleaning up.
• His favorite toy is a leaf. He loves to just look at them and walk all around with one in his hand.
  
• Gavin loves his older brothers so much.
  

Potty Training Break

Over the last few months we have been working with out dear sweet Matthew on potty training. We have tried everything. I started offering M&M's that worked for a little while. But, it got kinda expensive when other people kept eating them. Then, I tried the look at clues one. Well, that only works if we are always in the same room. Our new place has more than one room, so that got a little difficult. And there is no way I can be with him all the time. So, I thought well maybe I will try taking him every 30 minutes to use the potty. That worked for a half a day. Then, he went on strike. Every time I would take him to use the potty it was like I was taking him to timeout or something really horrible. He would scream and run away. And for anyone that knows Matthew his so stubborn, if he does not want to do something there is nothing that you can do make him. One example of his stubbornness. Every morning I offer him two outfits to chose to wear that day. After waiting for what seems for ever he goes into his dresser and picks something totally different out. And usually it is not weather appropriate.
So, I was reading my friends blog and she was explaining what they are doing with their wonderful toddler. She does not even say the word "potty" until he can wake up from a nap dry. Then, once they wake up she takes him to the potty. I think this is a great idea because you know their little bladders are so full. I have a feeling this approach will work. Now, all I have to do is remember to not say "potty" in our house for a while. I think that is going to be the hardest because we have been working on it for so long. I think this will be a good thing, I need a break from the stress and I also need to find Indiana Jones Underwear. I promised him I would buy him some when he was potty trained. I should have looked before I promised dang they are super hard to find.
Well, he may not be potty trained but he can sure ride his bike very well. (when his helmet is not covering his eyes) I was told he makes the best lego buildings in nursery. So, I guess he has those things mastered.

Bug Killers!!

Since I am such a good blogger I thought I would post something that happen a month ago. I meant to post it earlier, but just forgot. Kaylee, Caleb, and Ethan were over at our house playing with the boys when this happened. I had to run inside to grab something when all of a sudden I heard Caleb and Matthew screaming in the backyard. So, I dropped what I was doing and came running when I saw them stomping on this poor little bug. As they would stomp they would scream. They were not really screaming as much as laughing as the bug tried to run away from these wonderful toddlers. If our camera was not such a pain in the butt I would have video taped it, but oh well. Pictures will have to tell the story.Here they are examining the bug (it was a big bug)
Then they both started stomping on this bug



Then they had to double check to see if it was dead. Nope!

Then Matthew coached Caleb on where to stomp

Then they called me over to make sure they had killed it.
They did. It took like 2-3 minutes for this bug to die. It was so funny. By the time
they were done killing it Ethan was the only one that still wanted to see it. I think
he wanted to stomp on it too he even went to put his shoes back on.

Teddy Bear Parade

I have been a horrible blogger. But, I have a good excuse my three wonderful boys keep me so busy that by the end of the day I am beat.
The boys and I went to the Teddy Bear Parade in downtown Gresham. It was pretty fun. This is the second parade that I have taken Jason too. The other was in Iowa in November. The one here in Gresham was a lot warmer. The boys really liked watching all the kids walk by with their little teddies. We went empty handed. I guess ours are still packed away. Oh, well. Before the parade started everyone decided that they were hungry, even though they had eaten a big breakfast just an hour before. So, we all walked across the street to the Farmers Market and bought some donuts. I heard they were good! Gavin even liked them. To no shock after the parade they were still hungry an hour later.