Reid, I'm Spiderman

The boys are so funny sometimes. Gage has taken to "becoming" whatever superhero or thing is depicted on his clothing. Therefore if he's wearing Spiderman underwear he is Spiderman. Gage has a Spiderman hoodie he likes to wear, and the other day he was wearing it on the way to the store. Reid was in a hoodie that had a bear on it (he didn't want to be Spiderman too). Gage insisted he be called Spiderman and he was calling Reid "bear." So the car ride sounded kind of like this:

Gage: "I the mountains! Bear, I see the mountains!"

Reid: "Spiderman, I see a temple. See, over there!" (Anything with a spire is a temple for them).

Gage: "Bear, I see it too!"
Reid: "I'm not Bear, I'm just Reid."

Reid gets tired of it pretty quick, so he tells Gage he's "just Reid" quite often.

Gage has also picked up the word "amazing." So, yesterday, we had this exchange:

Me: Guess what today is? Monday! That means it's family home evening tonight.

Gage: Monday? Wow! That's amazing!

And Nick has been trying to teach them words he thinks will sound funny when they pronounce them. I know, they'll probably need therapy. So this week he taught them that they are "synonymous with handsome." I'll post a video of that one.

And, finally, yesterday I thought it was weird there were little dog hairs all over. Oh, wait...scissors. Yep, they were cutting each other's hair. Luckily, I can't even find the spots they cut. We're going to have to jealously guard all the scissors around here.

Sorry, I need to start editing the red-eye out before I post...

Watching the original "Grinch Who Stole Christmas" cartoon. I don't like live-action Dr. Suess. Whos are creepy when not 2-D.

The pictures are still in the camera...

But I will post anyway! I persevere. That's the theme of my life right now.

(btw, there are at least four urgent tasks I need to do right now, at least two on the computer, but I choose to blog. Maybe I should reevaluate my decision-making paradigm?)

I was thinking the other day about what it takes to get offended. I know people (I'm not talking about you) who get offended all the time. I'm hoping this isn't me. It seems to take a lot of energy, to assume people mean the worst or to take everything personally. Still, sometimes things do get under my skin. There are lots of good quotes about how to deal with these types of feelings (don't hunt down the rattlesnake that just bit you...) but when my feelings are really hurt, or I'm angry or whatever, I find it difficult to just let it go. I have a ritual: gossip, complain, and whine. After some time spent in these three steps, I can usually let it go. But, maybe I've caused more harm? And, I'm not sure I've totally forgotten. Let's be honest, most people who annoy us are repeat offenders. When they again do something that gets to me, it is often much worse because of the earlier infraction.

To sum up: I'm totally falling short of perfection (in this area...let's not extrapolate this) and I need to improve. I don't want to be the sort of person who never actually changes or manages to overcome my weaknesses. We all know them. People who were petty as teenagers and are petty as adults. People who can't learn from past relationships and mistakes. People who sabotage themselves over and over (hmm, while I'm at it, maybe I should work at not seeing the worst in others?)

I guess the title of this post should've been: this isn't related to something that happened between me and you, so don't assume I'm angry/and or offended by you. I'm honestly not. I've just been thinking about it lately.

How do you deal with this? How do you manage to be unoffended when people are offensive?

Potty Training

As most of you know, we've been trying to potty train for a bit. Nothing happening. So...I got serious this week. I googled. I plotted.

We had naked day.

According to google, you should strip your little men down and let them go nude for a day or two, so they learn to catch themselves before they go.

Guess what? It worked--sort of. Reid had never successfully gone in the toilet before, and viola--he's figured it out. After naked day it was a challenge to start wearing clothes, but I think we've overcome that too.

But, we are not home free yet. Nope, nope, nope.

First, (and trust me, this is probably too much info) the boys can't figure out how to do a #2 in the toilet. It's the whole standing/sitting issue. They like to stand. They dislike sitting. I actually think Reid would be fine, but he's struggling with a little constipation at the moment, and that requires special technique...

Second, Gage forgets. He just forgets. Then, he starts to go and thinks its funny. So he's peed down the stairs, in a puddle on the chair, on the couch. He'll do great all day, then...oops! Hilarious, if you're a three-year-old boy.

Third, I haven't even attempted, nor do I know how to attempt, the night-time thing. I'm open to suggestions.

We're going to rent a carpet cleaner when we're done with this. But we were due for that anyway. I'm cautiously optimistic that by the end of next week, if we continue at our present rate of improvement, we'll be doing great! Say a prayer that this actually works, because geez...I need them to be potty trained.

Danica continues to be a joy. Seriously, how fun is having a little girl? Hard to believe she'll shortly be testing our patience like the boys do. Patience. A challenge.

Dani had some major milestones this week. She rolls! She holds on to toys! She's so cute it's illegal in 42 states!

Bless their hearts...the slide is a little small for them now, so they found a way to have fun with it. A few bruises? Not worth worrying about!

Naked day spawned a great desire to bathe.

Almost a roll:

And she does it:

Trick or Treat

I love Halloween. Not the candy--although I love candy. But I love that a simple light on your porch, for one magical night a year, signals you can approach total strangers and ask for candy. That a neighbor you never speak to is suddenly your friend. I love that you get to exercise creative muscles and create costumes. Or buy them at Wal-mart. Whatever. I just love the dressing up and being something different for a night.

That said...

I'm glad Halloween is only once a year. Yesterday was not my finest hour as a mother, I'm afraid. Some days the kids just push all your buttons. By the time we got to trick-or-treating (an hour late) I was pretty much ready to send them to bed. But, they were super cute. So maybe I'll remember it differently when I look at the pictures.

Here's our funny moments list:

• Gage got his haircut recently. He looked in the mirror at the hair salon and when we told him how cute his hair was he said, "I'm Reid." I guess Reid's hair really gets commented on a lot more than Gager's. He was cute.
• Gage sometimes calls Reid "Reid-man." As in, "Nice throw Reid-man."
• Reid said the other day that his stomach hurt, and Nick and I were discussing it. The word "diarrhea" came up, and Reid said it was throw-up out your bottom...

I know there were more. I'll add to the list if we remember.

Danica is getting a cold. I'll let you just ponder on how miserable it is for a baby to have a cold and fill in the rest.

And, what you've all been waiting for...Halloween Pictures! Yes, I made the boy's costumes. No, they couldn't walk well in them. Yes, it did make trick-or-treating pretty interesting. But, I would do it again. I love them.

I didn't edit the red-eyes first. Sorry :)

Getting ready to trick-or-treat:

The side view:

Gager

Wait for it...a bunny in a pumpkin patch!

Just in case you missed the coolness of the boy's costumes. Note the serial number & cool "air force" on the wing. Thanks to Kari for cutting those on her cricut machine (the one I covet)

The other side

Gage has the best bed-head

Still handsome...

SO CUTE!! I think this dress is from the Childress collection. SO CUTE. Say it again. SO CUTE...