Ever have one of those days?

The kind of day when your three-year-old . . .

* Sneaks out of his room during naptime and pumps your new lotion all over your dresser?

* Is supposedly potty-trained, but somehow has three accidents?

* Finds a mudhole in the backyard that Mommy didn't know existed, and gets both shoes stuck in it?

* Turns off the water under the kitchen sink (unbeknown to us), forcing a bewildered Mommy to call maintenance for no good reason?

* Gets into the tub for bathtime and promptly pees all over his little brother?


And your two-year-old . . .

* Happily joins his big brother in playing in the mudhole?

* Throws a tantrum when Daddy takes a pen away?

* Throws a tantrum when Mommy takes the pepper shaker away?

* Throws a tantrum when Brian takes an airplane away (but Mommy did get it back)?

* Chews up fruit snacks and spits them all over the playroom floor?

Ever have one of those days?

Sunday Best

Here are the boys looking so handsome this morning in their new outfits from Grandma & Grandpa Monks. Now if only we could get them to smile. Below is one of Clayton smiling cute, while Brian is meditating.And this one cracked me up; they are both making a weird 'rabbit' face. Was it planned???
Hard to believe that out of about 50 pictures those were the best.

Here is Andrew's Christmas present from his Dad- it is a green laser pointer (much higher power than the little red ones) made specifically to point out stars! This picture is from Andrew's star party here in Abilene last night.
If anyone out there is curious (as was I) about how a laser can point out stars- it works by illuminating the water/dust particles in its path, and creates a long enough line to effectively point out a star's location. It does not actually reach all the way to the star.

Redundant Blog Post

We went to the Abilene Zoo as a family today- and since I went with Clayton and my friends in November and blogged about it, this post is pretty unnecessary. But hey, we got some cute pictures of the boys and had a great time . . . I think the Monks family feels right at home in a zoo.


Andrew and Brian have not been here before, and we all had a great time. Brian was so excited about every animal. He especially loved feeding them.

Here is Brian quite close to a Black Bear.
And feeding the giraffe- he was terrified and thrilled at the same time.
As we drove home, we asked Brian what animals he liked at the zoo. He thought for a bit, and said "Zebras!". We asked him what else he liked, and he said "Turkeys!". Um, we didn't see any turkeys at the zoo . . . however, we do have flocks of wild turkeys that live on base, so he sees turkeys pretty often. Whatever. He loved all the animals. Clayton really likes the fish and birds.

Merry Christmas!

What an awesome Christmas! The boys had SO much fun (minus a couple of tantrums from Clayton when he did not understand that not EVERY toy was for him). Here they are coming down the stairs to see the tree. Brian stood there enthralled . . . but Clayton did not waste any time.


Some of their favorite presents were Clayton's cell phone:'Cars' books from Grandma & Grandpa Monks:Both boys loved their vehicles from MorMor and Papa:Brian got a castle with balls that roll down the chutes- big hit:

And an air rocket set; HUGE hit:


Best of all, Santa bought the castle and air rocket (brand new in the boxes) from garage sales for 50-80% less than retail! Yay Santa!

We had so many fun gifts to open that we took a break in the middle, had some breakfast and watched "The Grinch who Stole Christmas".

Oh, and Clayton LOVES his little blue airplane from MorMor and Papa that he opened yesterday. He seriously played with it/carried for about 5 hours straight last night. It was so funny. Here he is with the airplane in one hand, a chicken nugget in the other. Life is good.Although having an airplane in each hand is also good.Here we are with the airplane making a WEIRD face.And a not-so-weird face.And snuggling with Daddy, the airplane guru.

Christmas Eve

In my family, Christmas Eve is the big celebration. We would have our big dinner, open family gifts, etc.

So today we got to open presents from the Trunnell gift exchange. We were on the phone with my family too, which made it more fun! This worked out great for our boys- spreading out the excitement is much better for them.
Thank you for the wonderful gifts, fam! We love you so much and miss you!!

Take me to the Pilot

Today Andrew had a training exercise that required his flight helmet. The boys were endlessly fascinated with it. Here is Brian with Daddy's helmet and jacket. I know it's hard to tell with the visor down, but Brian is bursting with joy.

Here are Daddy and Brian in the bathroom, so Brian can see how cool he looks.


And of course Clayton wanted in on the fun. He LOVED the helmet, but immediately after putting it on he wanted it off! Oh, and apparently I had the camera on the wrong setting for the rest of the pictures- so they don't have the best color.
Here are the boys helping Dad put the helmet on.

Daddy Teaching the Boys a Thing or Two

Above is Andrew watching an astronomy video with Clayton. Clayton is pointing out the Cygnus X-1 star system. Or trying to push the power button on the laptop. I'm not sure which.

Below is Andrew helping Brian with his "Busy Bugs" math activity. It is from Discovery Toys (BEST toys ever!) and it's awesome. It comes with 36 little bugs that can be sorted by type or color, and lots of activity cards to work on. Apparently Brian works better when he has no pants on.
Clayton has made a little communication 'breakthrough'. He has always loved to play with cars, and more recently airplanes, but he has never made any sounds to go with them (vroom-vroom, etc). But he has just started making airplane noises! This is a good sign for him, speech-wise. His airplane sounds like whiny humming, but I'll take it. Unfortunately, the sound on this video did not come through as well as I'd hoped.

This one is just the boys (all three) playing with airplanes.



And to cap off the evening, here is Daddy sharing his airplane 'spotting' book with the boys. Brian can already name a few.

Strike a Pose

Is it just me, or does my husband take some A-MA-ZING photos?? Here are some snaps Andrew took of Brian today.



Here are some more from later in the afternoon. Check out ol' blue eyes:
This one I have saved on the computer as "Glamour Shot":

Oh, and did we mention that Brian is definitely dreaming of a White Christmas? He is obsessed with "snow" lately. I use quotation marks because there is NO SNOW in Abilene! So, Brian has been pretty resourceful. Here's what he did two days ago:

1. Found the salt shaker and proceeded to shake salt ALL over the play room. It's amazing what a mess a couple tablespoons of salt can make.

2. Pumped our foaming handsoap all over the bathroom and called it 'snow'. We started catching on at this point.

3. Found a square of batting from a little cardboard jewelry box, ripped it apart and said "It's snowing!".

So tonight I dug up a bag of old batting in the garage, and let Brian go nuts. He was thrilled! Seriously, if we got some real snow here, that boy would be in heaven.
Clayton wandered around with his magic bowl while Brian played with the batting. I think he's protecting himself from the blizzard.

Preschool Christmas Party . . . or is it herding housecats?

Today was Brian's preschool Christmas play and party. It was the cutest, funniest thing ever. Brian's class was all donkeys. He is wearing a red/white plaid shirt and red vest; that might help you find him throughout this post. Or, you could just look for the one little donkey who is never doing what he is supposed to be doing. See the donkey on the left, who is standing up when all the other donkeys are sitting? That would be Brian.And here are all the donkeys standing and singing- except Brian sitting down and peeking around the boy on the left.
Here is Brian laying on the floor (far left) while the other donkeys are sitting.I suppose you might be thinking that Brian was not the best donkey today . . . on the other hand, one could argue that Brian was an AMAZINGLY talented actor- I mean, isn't a donkey supposed to stubbornly resist everything you want it to do??? I say he was just dedicated to the part!! Anyway, here is one of the songs (Brian, you will note is staying true to the character of a donkey and not singing).


I could include about 6 more videos of songs with Brian standing silently, but why? After the play they took off their costumes and sang more songs. Here is one where he actually participated!


I have to give him credit though- he has been singing the songs at home (somewhat), and was probably nervous in front of the huge crowd of camera-laden parents. He did clap enthusiastically after each song:


After the play they had their class party. I was fortunate enough to help with the craft portion. Whatever they are paying these teachers, it is not enough. Here they are making ornaments:

And opening their presents. The parents all brought their kids a wrapped book. Brian's is about space, of course.Playing Alphabet BINGO:And finally enjoying pizza and cupcakes! What a party.

Walking in a Walmart Wonderland

Clayton and I took Brian to preschool this morning, then went to Walmart to pick up Clayton's portraits. It was about 8:50 but I thought the portrait studio opened at 9; turns out it opens at 10. I did not want to make another trip, so we just hung out at Walmart for an hour. Funny how the longer you hang out at Walmart, the more things appear in your cart??

After 30 minutes, Clayton was getting antsy, so we went up front to the arcade and I put him on the airplane kiddie ride. Not this exact one, but close:I figured a few minutes of peace was worth $.50, so I paid for a ride. Clayton of course loved it. And then after the ride was over, he kept pushing the buttons and playing in there- and the ride started again! And again. And again. Turns out Clayton got 6 free rides on the airplane. My conscience finally got the better of me, and I told one of the managers who walked by about it. Anyway, it was nice to have Clayton so happy for so long. But when I dragged him off the airplane he threw the mother of all tantrums- kicking, screaming, red face, tears & snot. You know, the kind where Mommy gets all those sympathy half-smiles from people who are thinking 'Glad he's not my kid!'. Yeesh- good thing we weren't taking the picture today! Finally the portrait studio opened, and we got Clayton's picture:

Yep, this is the one we got with the magic blue bowl. Not bad! The quality doesn't look so great here because apparently our scanner has some smudges, but you get the gist. And speaking of portraits, here is Brian's school picture.

Dream of Space, Part 4 - Galactic Garage Saleing

Well, I have to hand it to Lisa, she can find the good deals. For a little while now, I've been considering a new telescope. OK, OK, I can hear the collective groan, but this is different. I thought it would be cool to get a "cheap" department store telescope for Brian to play with, learn about astronomy, and mimic Dad with. A model at Target I found ran about $70. Lisa found similar one for $10 this morning at a yard sale. Needless to say, both boys are excited about their early Christmas present.







Also, here are few quick shots of Venus, Jupiter, and the Moon (with one of my scopes):

Venus appearing in "phase" because it's between us and the Sun:

Jupiter, a little hazy and dim because of some wispy clouds:

A long exposure of Jupiter to show three of it's brighter moons:

A "close" Moon:

Clayton and the Magic Bowl

We have a large blue salad bowl that Clayton loves. Andrew put it on his (Andrew's) head one day, let it fall off, and Clayton busted his gut laughing. Now he plays with it all the time, and of course puts it on his head. It is a nearly sure-fire way to get a laugh out of Clayton.

I actually took this bowl with me to Walmart last week, because Clayton was getting his portrait taken. I'm sure the lady thought I was completely nuts putting an old mixing bowl on my head, but it worked! He was tired and not in the best form, but we still squeezed a smile out of him with the magic bowl. Anyway, here are some other pictures Andrew snapped . . . within about a 60 second period. Clayton was sitting on Andrew's lap and being goofy as ever:
So am I weird for taking the magic bowl to Walmart to get this kid to make a halfway normal face?? I think not.

You've seen the 'Good' . . .

Now it's time for the 'Bad' and the 'Ugly'. I've been lucky enough to find some stellar garage-sale deals . . . but believe me, it's not always easy! I've had to wade through plenty of junk to find my treasures. And I've wasted time and gas driving to plenty of houses with nothing I wanted to buy. Here are some of my WORST finds ever. Since I did not actually buy them (except the last one), I don't have pictures of the actual products- but these will give you an idea.


1. Hideous Monopoly Sweater: Kelly and I found this one together at what I affectionately refer to as an "Old Lady Garage Sale", or OLGS. You know, the kind with ancient glassware, dusty Christmas decorations, and a couple of end tables. Her asking price for this little beauty? $30! Kelly and I could hardly contain our laughter before running back to the car.
2. Old Green Sofa: It looked something like this picture I googled, except in worse shape. The cushions were getting threadbare. But it wouldn't have made this list except for the asking price: $500. And yes, it was another OLGS.
3. Tractor Toy: Another 'find' by Kelly and I. We went to a garage sale that was inside a barn, and I found a fairly cute toy tractor. It was plastic, nothing spectacular- I was expecting it to cost maybe $1. She was asking $10. Seriously people- your kids' old toys and clothes do NOT appreciate in value! 90% off the new price is a good starting point.4. Wooden Play Kitchen: I went to a sale in Enid that was advertised as a 'Daycare Closing'- those are almost always great! Lots of stuff, educational toys, etc. Well, this sale had some good toys- but they were all absolutely FILTHY. Now, when I buy my garage sale stuff, I expect to wash/sanitize it- no problem. But I do NOT expect to look at a wooden play kitchen and find it covered with dirt, dead spiders, and mouse droppings. It was obviously a nice set- probably cost at least $200 new- and out of curiosity I asked the lady how much she wanted. Since it was so gross and not priced, I figured she was not expecting much. If it was like $10 or less, I might have bought it and gone to the trouble of cleaning it. Um, she was asking $75 for the set! Wouldn't you think at that price she would have brushed it off a bit? My last thought driving away was "Gee, I wonder why her daycare closed down???".
5. Broken Jumperoo: While in Enid, I ended up buying three of these Jumperoo's. My friends Krista, Laurie and I all wanted one, and I was happy to look for them. However, after moving here I got my Jumperoo out of the garage and tried to set it up for Kelly's twins to play in- and the straps that hold the cloth seat onto the plastic frame were broken!! It was pretty deceitful of the people selling it- they would have definitely known. I should have been more cautious buying it . . . lesson learned. Oh well, at least I only wasted $10 (they are like $60 new). And I ended up finding a really nice one here in Abilene anyway. Another happy note- I posted my broken Jumperoo on the Free section of craigslist- and another lady needed the parts and picked it up! So that was good.
So, those are just a few of my not-so-great finds . . . but, it makes the treasures that much more fun to get!

What's your sign?

Here are a couple of short videos of Clayton doing signs. In the first one he is signing "shoes", and the second one "car" (and he is very excited about it). He is watching one of the Baby Signing Time videos.






And here is Brian's latest treasure from my garage saleing; a motorcycle! It is so cool-looking, and he loves it. It does not run, but Brian enjoys pushing it around with his feet. And hey- it was only $2.

In case anyone noticed, several of Brian's recent pictures here have been in his 'Incredibles' pajamas . . . it is just a coincidence. He LOVES these pajamas, and since he is still working on potty-training we do LOTS of laundry. So, they get washed at least twice a week.

Or maybe nobody had noticed that. Whatever.

Many Moods of the Monks Boys

We went to our ward Christmas party tonight. We snapped several random pictures in the very dimly-lit cultural hall, and I thought we captured a good showing of my boys' different moods (or perhaps I should say degrees of photogenicity). Here goes:

Happy.
Amused by something in the distance.
Curious. (don't worry, it is a fake candle. Sheesh, how neglectful do you think I am?)
Ticklish.
Deer in the headlights.
Still happy, but getting bored with the camera in my face.
Engrossed.
Distracted.
?????????????

Oh, and I have to share a cute moment of Brian's. Since my boys are late talkers, I've had to wait a long time to share funny stories of things they say. Tonight at the party when they said the blessing on the food, Brian said loudly- three times- "My eyes are CLOSED!" Brian, I have to say I'm proud of you for not only remembering how to be reverent (in theory at least), but for practicing using complete sentences.

Show and Tell

Brian has show-and-tell every week at school. I thought his item this week was cool. They had to bring something green or red, so he brought his favorite airplane.
The cool part is that this airplane is the one Andrew got for Christmas when he was three! And now Brian is three, and it is one of his favorite toys. The propellers have broken, but it's in remarkably good shape for a 25-year-old toy that has gotten lots of use!And here are a couple of pictures from last night- the boys climbing the stairs for bed.

Artwork: It's Art for the Boys. It's Work for Mommy.

Last night was one of those nights . . . since Clayton's been sick and it's been quite cold, we have not gone outside much. It felt as though we had played with every toy, read every book, and were out of ideas. So I decided to let the boys paint pictures- they had SO much fun. Brian did awesome. Clayton was very . . . 'hands-on', I guess you could say.
Brian filled his painting with "Circles!" and "Sprinkles!". He also was quite interested in mixing colors. Clayton had a blast, until Mommy told him he was "All Done!".
Here are the finished products. I thought that painting with Q-tips worked well- no brushes to clean.

Horsin' Around

The other night the boys were playing 'horsey' with Daddy.Clayton helped by pulling Daddy's hair . . . and covering his eyes. Then Clayton tried to play 'horsey' with Brian! Didn't work quite as well.
And Brian is over his nudist phase- whew. He looks so cute in the pajamas he hasn't worn for 3 months.

Oh, and I wrote earlier that I bought the desk for Brian . . . turns out that Clayton is enjoying it more! He loves to color (in or out of the bathtub). Clayton's speech therapist is very impressed that he is ambidextrous (see below). I don't know if it will last, but he uses both hands to eat, color, throw a ball, etc. She says it is a sign of high intelligence! Have I mentioned that I love her? I try not to worry about what other people think of my kids, but I have to admit it is so nice to hear someone say that Clayton is smart!