Colorado Weekend

Last weekend we went to Colorado.  It was a fast, very busy trip, but lots of fun! Our main reason for going was the annual Autism Walk.  We went last year also and it was fun, so we thought we would do it again.  

First thing Friday morning James asked if we could go "to the Great Granny's house".  Doug's Grandma has a trampoline and some really fun toys so James loves to go there.  

First thing Saturday morning we took "Grandpa's Ship" (James' name for the boat) out to Cherry Creek.  Mikey talked and made up songs the entire way there about the boat.  When the boys saw the reservoir they immediately thought it was the ocean.  Once we actually got on the boat Mikey got pretty nervous and didn't say a work the rest of the time.  James thought it was the best thing ever!  Uncle Tim and Dad went water skiing even though the water was freezing.  While Doug was skiing I asked James if he wanted to try.  He didn't even hesitate.  Once Dad was done James just stood up and went to get in the water for his turn.  We strapped him on the knee board and Doug held on to the back.  He LOVED it.  When he got back in the boat he proudly said "I skied!"  

Later that day we went to the Autism Walk.  It was at Mile High Stadium this year and the big boys couldn't be more excited about that.  I will admit it was pretty cool to see since we have never been there.  The boys loved the bouncy castles, but they were so crowded I think they could have done a better job running them, but they boys had fun.  Mikey threw himself halfway down the slide before he even started sliding.  

James got his face painted with a green balloon.  I don't think he really understood what was happening, he just wanted the green paint.

After we looked at all the booths they had, and bought James an awesome centipede thing we though would be perfect for church (He lost it the next day at church) we decided to look around a bit until the walk.

Dad and Mikey

James wishing we could go back to the bouncy castles

Me and Grandpa and the boys waiting for the big boys

The walk was around the stadium then it went into the stadium and around the field.  Again the bigger boys were in heaven.  They all took turns taking pictures of themselves Tebowing.

That night we went to an open house for Doug's little brother who just graduated.  And Sunday night there was an Eagle Court of honor for him.

Scott getting his Eagle

Grandpa telling about Scott's Eagle project which was titled
"Project James"  They did a book drive for the Autism Society
of Colorado and collected over 1500 books. 

Doug reading the Eagle Charge 

Monday Doug went golfing with his Dad and brothers and we packed up, made a feast for lunch then headed back home.  Overall it was a super busy but fun weekend.

Fun with Doug

So a few weeks ago I saw this idea on Pinterest.  The funny thing about Pinterest is you find lots of things you like and you pin it to do it later, but you never actually end up using most of the ideas.  But this one was different, I knew I had to do this one, soon.  I thought about how I would do it, and knew I had to get my husband to help drag my washer and dryer out to the garage.  So that night I showed him the picture and said "I want to do this sometime."  I never dreamed he would be as excited (maybe more) as I was.  He insisted we do it right away.  Only he wanted to do it "right" of course.  Doing it "right" means we use a spray gun to paint rather than a brush or roller.  The paint goes on much smoother this way and you don't get any brush or roller marks.  So that night I did all the laundry in the house knowing that would give us a week to get these done. 

Doug got them out in the garage, than sanded
them down so the paint would stick a little better.

We taped them all up and Doug got to work with the spray gun.

I made a stencil with my Silhouette.  And Doug painted on the brown.

We added more stencils and more taping and more painting.

Finally we were done and are very pleased with the result.  The idea for it just came to me as we were looking at what colors we wanted to do and evolved from there.  It makes me smile every time I open the "laundry room" to do laundry.  

Graduation

He did it.  He finished preschool.  We have LOVED having James at this school for the past year and a half.  He has made incredible progress and it has been amazing to watch.  We love his teachers and basically everything about his school.  I am really going to miss having him go there, and am already having nightmares about Kindergarten.  

It is fun to hear James' teacher talk about James.  We can tell she really loves him and cares about what happens in his future.  We have felt truly blessed having him in her class.  

Here are a few of the priceless things she has taught James

• His name, first and last
• His age (although he did fight us a little when he turned 5)
• The difference between boys and girls (not the real difference, but he can now correctly identify girls and boys)
• Letter sounds
• How to count
• Numbers 0-20

I am sure there is lots more that I am forgetting, but these are pretty big things.  Graduation was a pretty fun day.  It was so neat to see James with his class and when he saw us there he got the biggest smile on his face, he was so proud to have us there.  They had the graduation out on the playground.  There are 4 classes and they all walked out and too their seats.

James walking to his seat with his class

Then They had the classes come up one at a time to shake hands with their teacher and get their "diploma".  It was amazing to watch how well James waited for his turn, and just sat in his chair.
Here is James getting his diploma.  Although I think I need to be fired as the official video taker for the family.  I stopped it too soon to try to get a picture, then I didn't even get a good picture.

After the class was done they had then stand together for a class picture before they went back to their seats.

James waiting for them to finish, I love his face.

Now he sees me.  Much happier face.

Once all the classes were done we went back inside for a program the kids had put together.  It was really cute to watch.  James did awesome!



During the end of the last song Michael kind of stole the show.  He started singing with the kids and all the parents smiled at cute Michael.


After the program they called the kids up one by one to give them their real certificates and have a picture with their teachers.

I am really sad to have James be moving on.  We have loved being at this school and we will miss his teachers and all those who worked with him.  

Tiny Michael Turns 3

Yesterday my cute little Mikey, I mean Michael, turned three!  He is such a fun little guy, we really love him.  Some things about Michael right now:

• Favorite food: Pizza
• Favorite movie: Sandlot
• Favorite cartoon: Go Diego Go!
• Favorite color: Yellow
• Best friend: James
• Favorite book: Barney Sharing is Caring (it really is a dumb as it sounds)
• Favorite toy: A ball (any ball)
• He loves to talk and talk and talk and talk
• He loves to make up songs, and when he isn't talking or asleep he is singing 

We had a really fun day yesterday for his birthday, and even though we kept it low-key we all really enjoyed it.  First thing in the morning after he woke up he choose french toast for breakfast.  Then we got his presents out (we didn't dare put them out the night before because we were afraid they would open them without us).  He picked one to open and it was the biggest one from Grammy and Grandad. And what was inside.....

A Trampoline! 

Dad and Billy putting together the trampoline

This was a pretty big hit with all three boys.  They did a lot of jumping yesterday.  He also opened the littlest present which was this really cute Despicable Me shirt.  He loved it and wanted it on right away.

MIkey jumping wearing his Despicable Me shirt. 

After opening a few presents they boys decided to go ride bikes.  So Dad headed out with the boys.  They ended up at a big dirt hill near our house.  After a while I got a call from Doug who just said to come pick them up right now.  I was a little nervous because it really isn't that far so even if James was having a complete meltdown he should be able to get them home.  When I got there I took one look at Mikey and thought for sure we were headed to the hospital, he was COVERED in blood.  I had no idea where he was even hurt.  Doug put him and James in the car and went back to get the bikes while I took the boys home.  When I got home James was crying so I asked James why he was crying and he said "Mikey turned red."  When I got Mikey out of the car I finally saw where he had been hurt, the back of his head was completely covered in blood.  His hair, and shirt were just red.  I got him in the bathroom and started just dumping water on him to try and wash it all off so I could see where he was cut.  When I finally got it all cleaned off this is what I found:

I could not believe this tiny little cut could bleed so much!  So no trip to the hospital for us.  We were really wishing we had got a picture before we washed him all up, because it is so hard to believe how bad it looked.  

After we got him calmed down we asked if he wanted to open another present.  Of course this cheered him up right away.  He opened his life jacket from Grandma and Grandpa, and wore it for a long time!

Then it was time to take James to school.  After we dropped James off we asked if Mikey wanted to go to Pizza Hut for lunch.  It is his favorite place to eat.  He said "How about tomorrow so James can come."  So cute!  After lunch we headed back to the school for graduation (more on that later).  Not sure Mikey really cared too much, but I think he had a good time.  

After school we went home and Mikey had a short nap, then opened the rest of his presents.  He also got a baseball glove and a automatic pitcher.  It was so cute watching the two boys trying to play catch. Not sure they really get it yet.

We had Hot Dogs for dinner then the biggest part of the day: cake.  I don't think I have ever seen anyone so excited for a cake. He has been talking about his cake for months.  We finally decided on an airplane, but I am not sure it measured up to his expectations.  Oh well, maybe next year.

Look Who's 10-Months-Old!

 Billy is now 10 Months.  However if you ask James he will tell you that Billy is "9-months-old".  I missed his 9-month old post, so this may seem like a big jump.  I am not too sure of his stats right now, but I do know from 9-months:
Height: 31 inches
Weight: 19lbs 2 oz
I was just realizing that at 9 months Billy was probably bigger than Tiny Mikey was at 12 months so I checked.  At 12 months Mikey was 28 1/2 inches and 18 lbs 4 oz.  How is that for having very different kids!

Some things Billy is doing: 

• He finally started to crawl like a normal human being.  Up until a few weeks ago he learned how to push himself around with his arms and one leg, and that was good enough for him.  He needed to move on to standing.  I think he finally realized that if he would figure it out, then he could get around much faster if he got up on his hands and knees.  Mikey told me one day "Billy is crawling like a bug." 
• He has 6 teeth.  The top 4 all came in at the same time.  He was not a happy camper about that one.
• He pulls himself up on everything! 
• When Dad gets home from work Mikey always runs to him to try and tackle him.  Billy tries to get there as fast as he can, but usually doesn't make it in time.  A lot of days I have to tell Doug that Billy is trying really hard to get to him, so Doug will go and get Billy so he can have his Daddy time.
• Billy LOVES his Dad.  
• He says basically two words.  Dad and Boom.  I know it is crazy to think he is saying words right now, but it seems like he is purposefully saying those two words.  One day I was feeding him and Mikey fell down so I said "Boom".  Billy whipped his head up so fast and just looked at me in wonder.  It was like I had just said the most interesting thing he had ever heard.  So I said it again. And he laughed so hard.  So I said it again and again.  Loved the giggles.  Then he said it, and was so proud of himself. 

• Mikey is Billy's favorite person to play with.  Mikey loves to get Billy and drag him over to the couch or chair and have Billy watch him to "flips" off if them.  Billy loves the attention and laughs and laughs at Mikey. 
• He only likes to eat things he can feed himself.  And yogurt.  But only when Dad is feeding him.
• He has learned to go down the one step out the back door.  Up until now it wasn't a big deal when the bigger boys went out to play and left the door open, Billy would just crawl to the step and stop.  Now he goes out.
• He waves at everyone.  Sometimes while he is crawling across the room he will just stop to wave at me. 
• He claps all the time.
• He loves taking baths with his brothers.
• Billy is still the happiest, easiest baby in the world.  He is so easy going and just smiles at everything and everyone.

Catching Up

It seems like lately I do a blog post, then time passes, and passes, and passes.  I think to myself a lot "oh, I better blog about that I don't want to forget it."  Then I realize, Wow!  It's already been 3 weeks, I haven't blogged about any of that stuff and we have more big stuff coming up!  So I decide it is time to blog about all these little things I don't want to forget, but one long blog post is not the ideal situation.  But what can we do?  So here is what we have been doing this past three or so weeks.

JAMES

James is pretty awesome.  What can I say.  We love having him in our family.  James made up a song for our family it goes like this; "James is a Cutie!  Michael is a cutie!  Billy is a little!  Dad is in Charge! Mom is a speedy!"  I don't really know why I am a speedy.  Doesn't even make sense but what can you do.

For his birthday he used the money he got from his Great Granny and Grandpa to buy a swimming pool.  He was so, so, so excited about it all day.  I told him we could go to the store when Dad got home from work, and there was no way I was getting out of that deal!  So he has been swimming almost every day.  And he is sure imaginative.  One time he pulled the lid to his sandbox into the pool and made a boat.

James in his boat

He likes to have Doug spin him around in it.  He loves to have Doug get in the pool with him almost all the time.

James has also been much more talkative lately.  Sometimes he just talks and talks and talks.  It is a lot of fun.  The other day at church was fast and testimony meeting.  Doug noticed a few of the kids from their primary class on the stand waiting to share their testimonies.  So he pointed it out to James.  Probably 5 or 10 minutes later James announced to Doug "My turn" and left to go take his turn.  We really weren't sure what to expect.  He went and waited behind the person at the pulpit (instead of waiting behind the 20 people in the chairs) then he got up to have his turn.  He said very clearly in to the microphone, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for today.  (Mumble mumble mumble mumble mumble) In the name of Jesus Christ Amen!"  Then he turned to leave.  But he noticed the Bishop holding his hand out (I am not sure if it was for a high-5 or just a hand shake) so James gave him a very enthusiastic High-5.  I think the entire congregation heard it.  Then he marched happily back to us.  As soon as he got back in the pew he stated (again very loudly)  "I said a prayer!"

Later after church we were waiting for Dad to find some parents to drop kids off with and James said "Come on M. O. M."

Today James and I were putting together gifts for teacher appreciation week.  I wrote out "Thank You. James" on a card for him to copy.  He did an amazing job.  Then I asked him to draw a picture of himself on the back.  This is what he came up with:

A picture of James.  He started out basically, head, feet, arms
hands, fingers.  Then I told him to draw a face.  So he drew eyes
and decided it needed eyelashes and eyebrows.  Then he studied
it for a while and I suggested a nose.  He thought about it for a
minute and then drew "a circle and another circle" I realized he was
drawing nostrils.  I laughed a little.  Then he put a dot in one
and said "a booger"  the the other nostril got a booger too! 

MICHAEL

Michael gets bigger every day.  He even has a song he sings "Everyday I'm getting bigger...everyday I'm running faster... Everyday I'm climbing higher....Everyday I'm jumping farther."  And it is true he is growing up.  And he has become the informer of everyone else's activities.  At the store I often hear him say in a tired worn out voice, as if he just can't bear asking one more time "Come on James."  And I think "man I must be a broken record."  Potty training is very unsuccessful.  He now thinks it counts as "pooping in the toilet" if he takes his poop from his underwear and puts it in the toilet. 

He loves playing with Billy.  Mostly because he is the boss when they "play"  but Billy doesn't mind, he loves the attention.  His favorite game to play with Billy is to do "flips" off the couch while Billy watches and laughs hysterically.  

Mikey trying to keep Billy out of his room

 Michael's favorite movie is Sandlot.  It cracks me up when he pretends to be characters from the movie.  This is Michael being Squints.  He is saying "Listen to me Smalls. This is a matter of life and death.  Where did your old man get that ball?"

One day Michael decided that this would make a fun bed.  So I had to go get him his penguin pillow and blanket. 

Michael in the planter box

Look at my cute face!

One day we went to Walmart to get the boys hats for the summer.  Not a great selection, but there really aren't that many options here.  So Michael choose this Angry Birds hat.  And of course he choose the green pig one for James!

BILLY

Billy is still the happiest, calmest baby every.  He just loves life.  His favorite person has to be his Dad. And his favorite place in the world would be on his Dad's shoulders.  We went for a walk one night a few months ago.  The plan was to have James or Michael walk and put Billy in the bike trailer.  But neither of the bigger boys would get out, so Dad threw Billy up on his shoulders.  He LOVED it!  It was so great.  So a day or two later Doug was home for lunch.  He was laying on the floor while we were talking and Billy wiggled himself over and positioned himself on Doug's shoulders.  Umm, can you take a hint Dad!

Billy is also into EVERYTHING.  He is probably the messiest person in our house right now.  He crawls over to something and pulls it out if he can reach, and if not he pulls himself up so he can reach. Doug was getting very frustrated every night because the play food was always out all over the floor.  And his guess was that the kids weren't even playing with it, just dumping it out.  Then I realized, it wasn't the bigger boys, it was Billy.  It is his favorite thing to dump out!  

Billy's favorite place to sit is right by the back door.  If the big boys are outside he likes to watch them playing.  And lately he likes to go there to catch moths.  They fly around on the window and he likes to try his hardest to catch them.  He did actually get one once,  and immediately put it in his mouth.  That is when I stepped in a put all the moths outside.  He was pretty mad at me.

 DAD

Doug has been having fun playing with his boys.  He loves his boys.  Michael loves to tackle Dad, and as soon as Doug walks in the door he is pushing him down.  Billy loves Dad more than anything and as soon as he hears his voice Billy is whipping his head around trying to find him.  And James...well I think he says it all when he says "Dad is in charge!" 

Doug watching a movie with his guys

The boys have been obsessed with these plastic balloons lately.  Doug claims to never have done them as a kid, I couldn't believe it so we got some at the dollar store.  Doug is the best at it.  And the boys are the best at popping them.

 Doug LOVES working in his garage and having things to build.  So he used the rest of the wood from the toy shelf to build treasure chests for the boys.  They were supposed to be for their birthday's but because of our unplanned trip to Utah he didn't have them done in time for James' birthday so decided to give them to them halfway between their birthday's.

Inside the treasure chest, Doug put their best treasure in the
bottom, a picture of Jesus and a picture of their family.  Then
he made some gold and jewels and a treasure map, and we
covered it with resin so it would be smooth and hard.

James' treasure chest

Michael's treasure chest

MOM

And me...well I have just been having fun being a Mom.  I love that I don't miss anything cute that these little guys do.  Except for what Ms. Ginger tells me about James.  Like the fact that he pooped in the toilet at school, with NO prompting, and then proudly displayed it to her.  
I also LOVE my calling in the primary, and James is singing again!  I love to hear him sing the primary songs I am teaching.  Plus I feel like a bit of a celebrity in the ward.  To the kids at least.  One day we were walking in the building and the little boy in front of us whispered to his mom "That's Sister Allen" pointing to me.
I have also been trying to come up with unique cute ways to decorate our house.  That is my new hobby.  This sign/picture frame has been in the works for months but proved to be more of a challenge than I thought it would be.  I had it all done and ready then I thought "oh lets try the word Small in red. So I did it, but rubbing it on made a shinny spot.  So I thought I could just leave it or I could try to fix it.    Well that made it worse.  I ended up having to take all the letters off, sanding it down and repainting it and basically starting over.   Oh well, it is done now, except for I have to replace the pictures on the side.  I love having it hanging over my bed, reminding me how important my work is.  

Also today James and I made gifts for his teachers.  

Ms. Ginger's flowers.  She said this was her
very favorite kind of flowers.  It's mine too.

Magnets we made.  James drew some of them, some of them we
used scrapbook paper.

 So now I am all caught up!  Just in time for Billy to turn 10 months, Mother's Day, James' Preschool graduation, Michael's birthday, a trip to Colorado then a trip to Florida.  I don't think I will every actually be caught up!

Happy Birthday James

James turned 5-years-old yesterday.  He is such a joy to have in our family.  I love his creativity and how he says it like it is.  Some things about James:

• he weighs 40 lbs and is 36 inches tall
• He loves to go to school, and his teachers love having him at school.  Ms. Ginger says the other kids like James too. 
• His favorite color is green
• His best friend is Michael
• His favorite toy is Scout
• His favorite movie is The Sandlot
• His favorite song is "Choose the Right"
• His favorite food is Cheese Its or Doritos 
• He knows all of his letters and letter sounds and can count to 29
• His favorite book is "Zoomer"
• He loves balloons, "8-balls", water, marbles, and baseball.

This year we decided to have a birthday party for James.  Since one of his very favorite things is balloons I figured a balloon themed party would be just the thing.  So we sent out invitations:

Birthday party invitations

I got a ton of balloons, and used Doug's air compressor to blow them up.  Then Doug hung them up all over the house.

We had lots of balloon themed games to play.  Bouncy Ball Balloons, Ballon Ping-Pong, Balloon Popping, Balloon Pinatas, and Balloon Painting (although we didn't get to that one).

James and a water balloon pinata, unfortunately
they didn't pop so we had to just throw them on the ground.

We had lots of balloon decorations too:

Happy Birthday banner

Balloon Cupcakes, plates, cups and napkins 

Balloon wreath, I am going to use this for all our birthdays
but it fit right in with the party theme.  It will probably
end up with a picture of the birthday person in the middle.

James really enjoyed the party and his friends did too.  He had one friend from school come, Anna, who we learned talks about James all the time.  And only James.  So her parents wanted to find out who James was.  She even gave him a hug and a kiss (on the cheek) before she left.

James blowing out the candles

Sunday was a big day too.  In primary on the kids birthdays they get to put a quarter in the candy machine and get some candy.  James has been waiting for this, not very patiently, all year long!  He was so excited to finally get his candy.  

Monday was his birthday and we had a long busy day.  First in the morning we had to register for kindergarten.  I can't believe he is getting so old!  Then we went to the park with some friends.  Lunch, then off to his school for his IEP meeting.  He and Michael just got to play in the classroom while Doug and I met with his teacher, speech therapist, and Occupational Therapist.  They had so many good things to say about James.  It was really fun to listen to and we could really tell how much they enjoy working with James.  He teacher just keep talking about how much progress he had made from the beginning of the year.  He is super smart, and she even talked about having him tested for the Gifted program in second grade.  He is also almost to the point where he wont need to go to Occupational Therapy anymore.  His only goals there are to hold scissors correctly and to learn to hold a pencil correctly.  

James has been asking for a "Scout" cake.  So of course we had to figure that out.  He helped me decorate it, and he really loved it.  I have to say I think it turned out pretty good. 

When Doug got home from work that night we had James' favorite dinner, Steak, Corn on the Cob, Green Jello and Salad (for Doug and Me)  I don't know if I have ever seen James eat so much!  

After Dinner we went outside to open presents and have cake.  This was the first time James made it through opening all his presents without getting burned out, and he was really excited about every one of them.  

James' new sleeping bag

Opening a present from Grammy

Finally we got to blow out the candles.

James had such a fun birthday, and we really enjoyed making it a special day for him.