Markers and Monsters

Silas and Isaac really like to draw. As a result I'm always finding markers, pens and pencils around the house. The boys were in charge of Jude the other day and this is what he managed to do under their watch. For some reason when I stripped him naked and put him next to the wall he got pretty sad/embarassed. Almost all of Caleb's family came and visited over Memorial weekend. We didn't get out as much as we planned due to the rain but Caleb's siblings have no problem making up indoor games with the kids. Gabe's specialty is "Monster in the Mountain". He hides under a blanket and grabs anyone near and pulls them all in the mountain. We had a blast. It was so nice to have everyone here!

Isaac's Acrostic #2!

Last year in school Isaac wrote me a great acrostic poem for Mother's Day...

M -Mother
O - Outstanding
T - Terrific
H - Heart
E - Eat
R - Rabbit

and here's this year's...

T - Takes care of 4 kids.
A - Amazing cook
M - Makes doughnuts to(o).
l(I)kes kids but hates animals. Even fish!

He sure knows me well! Although I know he doesn't think I'm an amazing cook as he almost never eats what I make!

Another Silas!

Pretty much all our posts lately have been about Silas and the naughty things he does. However, this time I'm referring to Jude. Silas was a major climber as a baby. Jude is apparently no different. He climbs on all the chairs, tables, the platform on the play structure (and does spinneys once on top), the ladder for the monkey bars, end tables, top of the back of the couch (where he turns on the gas fireplace and adjusts the thermostat), on top of the baby grand piano, on the bathroom counters (no toothbrush or razor is safe), on the desk (accessing scissors, permanent pens, etc.), on all the weight equipment, on the top bunk bed, and NOW at 19 months he climbed out of his crib!!! It's been a constant challenge child proofing this house for him and I've been surprised that he hasn't even tried to get out of the crib because he's been capable of it for a long time now. I guess the easy bed and nap times could be over now. He was ticked when I put him to bed last night because he had seen Caleb's basketball and really wanted it but I didn't let him take it in his crib. About 2 min. later he came toddling out of his room with that "I'm FREAKING awesome" look on his face. I took him back and tucked him in and then ducked down to see if I could catch him going for a repeat. This time he resigned himself to staying put so then I was crouched down, totally trapped in his room. I had to wait a few minutes and then quietly creep out. I'm so not ready for my baby to be in a big boy bed!

Physics Phrom a Phour yr. Old

Yesterday during my daily Taxi duties Silas started a very educational conversation with me...

Silas~"Mom, I can have really high pressure when I pee. All I have to do is push with my belly and I can make it really high. I can also slow it down too."
Me~"When your pressure is really high does everything still land in the water?"
Silas~"Yes."

Whether it really does or not is debatable. I was impressed with his proper use of the word "pressure" in his lesson.

Later that night he had been playing out front so I went to check on him. He was climbing all over Caleb's Jeep just waiting around for Isaac to play with him. I noticed a wet spot on the garage floor. I asked him where the water came from. He looked at me really puzzled and said "What water?" I pointed at the puddle and he got a knowing, embarrassed look. I said, "that's not water, is it?" "Nope,it's pee". He then informed me that he just couldn't hold it long enough to make it in the house. I got the hose out so I could spray the mess away and he got really excited and offered to wash it up for me. Normally I would make him attempt to clean up after himself but I KNOW if I'd let him use the hose he'd be peeing everywhere in hopes that he could play in the water. Every day is an adventure with that boy!
PS~ Is it pretty sad that I think I've had the opportunity to post that very same picture with regards to Silas before?

Crystal Light... Anyone?

This evening Elias came down and said that Silas had brought a glass of Crystal Light up to his bathroom but that it wasn't spilled and looked fine. Caleb's OOT (out of town) so by the end of the day I'm worn out and I didn't think I needed to check on the situation. However, when I tucked the boys in I found a little different story than what Elias had reported. Silas had made himself a BASIN of Crystal Light (fruit punch, bright red flavor I might add)! The empty packet was tossed on the floor as proof the sink was red stained nearly to the top and there were fine, red, powdery crystals all over the place. Don't worry though, he "cleaned" it up! He opened up his soap dispenser and dumped out all the remaining soap to clean up the whole sight! He can be soooo naughty and then so sweet at the same time. Ten minutes before I discovered his mess he said a bedtime prayer that went like this..."Dear Heavenly Father, Thanks for this lovely day. Please bless the Jeffers, bless them to be healthy, bless them to have fun, bless them to never get a cold again.. etc." Also, Isaac had a MAJOR toilet overflow about 10 minutes before I discovered the bathroom incident. BOYS!!! On a good note our basement should be done in about 2 weeks! YEEHAW! That will, however, make yet another bathroom for these hooligans to destroy.

When It Rains It Pours!

Yes, we did get a lot of rain last week while the rest of Colorado got pummeled with snow but that's not what the title of this post is referring to. It's actually about 2 things.
1. No blog posts for 5 and a half weeks and then 2 in one day! and...
2. The Sex talk. Elias will be having a "maturation presentation" in his 5th grade class next week so we decided it was time to give him ALL the details before he heard it somewhere else. We borrowed a book that came highly recommended and used it as a guideline (not everything was accurate to the LDS beliefs but it is Christian based) and then branched off from there where necessary. Elias did pretty good and only tried to change the subject a couple of times. Our goal in doing this is to give him the knowledge so he'll know the truth about sex and not believe all the dumb stuff kids will say and to open the lines of communication with him so he can feel comfortable coming to us with anything. I'm sad and excited at the same time to see him growing up. It seems like the parenting decisions we make with him are getting more and more important. I'm a worrier though and Caleb isn't so we balance each other out pretty well. We're about to begin a whole new ballgame...Middle School! Wish us luck.

Blog Slackers

I was giving Tami a bad time about not blogging and she reminded me that she was the last one to post. This isn't going to be long but it will be a post and then the weight will be on Tami's shoulders.

I would like to say that we have been busy but I'm sure everyone else has been too. Tami needs a nutrition class to get on the waiting list for nursing school. It is a one credit class and she is one of those people that thinks she needs to strive for the best grade. Curve wrecker!!! I was the student who at the end of the semester said, " D means done!!!"

The silence has been broken so now it is up to Tami.