FOUR!!!

(Not sure what happened.  Thought I posted this on Sunday. )

My little Te (taty-tot to me!)  turned 4 yesterday! It's sick how fast these kids grow.  Seriously!

Top Five things I love about Te

1.  His Dimple!

2. His natural generosity.  Yesterday, we took him on a date for his birthday.  He wanted to eat at McDonalds (of course!) and then go buy a watch.  He insisted one buying on for his brother, too!!

3. His energy.  Even though he wears me out, his energy can be so contagious!

4. His affection.  He is constantly telling me he loves me and giving me kisses!  He's a super sweet kid. 

4. He is absolutely, 100% fearless. 

I love you too, buddy!  Happy 4 th birthday!   

Here are some of my favorite photos of my guy. 

 

More....yes, so soon

I have been meaning to share this story on the blog for some time.  Most people have heard it at this point, but just in case you haven't, here's the set up:

Te goes to Montessori school.  The kids are grouped together in age groups of three.  So in his classroom there are 3 year olds, 4 years old, 5 years olds and even the occasional 6 year old depending on their birthday.  This is Te's first year; he's three.  Nick Heitkamp is a 5 year old in his class.  Te LOVES and ADORES Nick.  He looks up to him, idolizes him, wants to marry him (remember, hes' three and doesn't really get how that works)   This is our conversation in the car a few weeks ago. This came from nowhere and I swear I am NOT making this up:

Te:  Mama, did you know that some poop is black?

Me: (stunned, but curious) Yes, Te.

Te: And did you know that some poop is brown?  

Me: (trying to figure out where this is going) uh, yeah, Te.

Te: You know every kind of animal and every kind of person has different colored poop.

Me: (knowing this comes from a book we read called "Everyone Poops" and thinking this is the end of it)  Yes, Te, you're right. 

Te:  I think Nick Heitkamp's poop is rainbow!

I am not making this up!!!!

Te with his new fish, which he named "Squeaky"

He's 5!!!

From this......

to this....

in the blink of an eye.   Today, my sweet Mac turns five!   Here are the top 5 things I love about  this child!

1.  His smile.  You have to work hard for it, but it could power the earth!

2. His laugh.  A cackle, really

3. How he's too big for kisses now, but without fail every afternoon if I plant myself on the couch he'll soon show up and need some cuddles.

4.  How he comes home from school every day, heads straight to his room, changes into his striped shirt and plays along to the first four songs on the switchfoot CD with his guitar.

5. Those eyes!!

I love him so!!!  Happy birthday, Love!!

Here are some of my favorite photos of Mac from the last five years:

Here's what we've been up to:

Over Christmas break we:

Watched movies and slept on the living room floor

baked and cooked and washed dishes:

worked on our music:

took lots of coffee breaks with Daddy:

AND saved the world from all kinds of evil:

and yesterday Mateo captured History for us with a Go Deigo camera Mac go for Christmas. 

Feelin' Christmasy -- Latest Adventures, Part 2

We put the tree up last week.   Of course all the ornaments were located at the front of the tree about 3 1/2 feet off the ground :-)

First, just in case you don't know, an ordinary pair of stretchy gloves from the dollar store are actually Super Hero gloves.  They are worn daily by my two superheroes to do all sorts of superhero type things....like decorating the Christmas tree. 

And here is Te's take on "stockings"

Apparently decorating the tree is very hard for a Super Hero....Mac needed to take a break. 

Latest Adventures Part One

Aaron and I went temporarily insane a few months back and decided we should drive the entire family to my sister's for Thanksgiving this year, since she was due to have a baby just before Thanksgiving.  No big deal right?   Um....my sister lives in Arkansas.  Arkansas is a 12 hour drive.  And, as if that weren't enough we decided to just go ahead and drive out to Kansas while we were out there...another 4 hours.   That makes the trip back no less than 16 hours!!  16 hours in the car with my preschool aged- children.   Just before we left for the trip -- as  I was packing up the dozens of snacks (a read a tip online that you should pack 2-3 times the snacks you think you'll need.  That's a LOT of snacks when Mateo eats just about every 20 minutes) and toys and books and all the other gear we would need,  I felt the tightening in my chest as I realized what we had signed up for.  AHHH. 

And then....to my surprise and delight our children did WONDERFUL on the trip.  They were patient in the car, kept the fighting to a minimum and were, for the most part, very good on the entire trip.  Go figure!

Here are a few pics: 

 This is my sweet new nephew Gideon.  He's a great baby! and oh, so cuddly. 

Silly Mac playing in the car:

  

Always friendly Te, made friends right away with Cousin Chase.  I think they might be BFF's now.

Stayed tuned for Latest Adventures Part Two -- we put up the Christmas tree last night!

popcorn and movies

We've starting having movie nights with the boys.  On Fridays after dinner we make popcorn and watch a show of their choosing (from a  pre-approved list of course)  It's been really fun and the boys LOVE it.   

Just one of the fun things about them getting a little older!

Also, here are some pics from the last few months that  I haven't taken the time to post. 

Te working on his Christmas list!

Mac riding Strawberry

The boy's pumpkins -- the one on the left is Mac's and he drew the tiny face and carved every part himself.  The right one is Te's.  He pretty much stabbed at his until it kinda resembled a face :-) -- maybe next year !

Te and Daddy in their matching Colombia soccer uniforms.  Te insisted Aaron wear his too.