Water, Parks, Bball and O's

I got this idea from a friend and Kason loved it. We mixed colored water and saw what colors to mix to make new colors. He thought it was so cool. He really picks up on things quickly and loves to learn right now. I tried to help him while also trying to, unsuccessfully, keep Asher from drawing all over himself, his clothes and the walls - his new favorite pastime.

We took advantage of a break in the rain to go to a new park. One thing Eugene really has going for itself is its great parks.

With all the march madness going on there has been quite a bit of basketball, or shot as Asher calls it, going on in our house. The boys love it and will run into the apartment whenever we are getting home and start shooting. They both are actually pretty good. Yesterday Asher went up to some older boys who were playing outside, got right in the middle of them, and held his hands out, fully expecting them to give him the ball so he could make that shot. It was so funny. A common scenario when Isaac comes home goes like this:

Kason: "Wanna play PIG Daddy?!!!!"

Isaac: "I don't know, are you ready to be the PIG?!"

Kason: jumping up and down with uncontrollable excitement "No, YOU'RE gonna be the PIG"

Asher loves wearing other people's boots

We went to a UO ducks game on the new court last night. It was pretty cool, we got great seats to have with kids and Kason and Asher loved it. Kason would do some pretty amazing dance moves and do the "O" every time there was a timeout or break. He made it on the jumbo tron, which was pretty exciting. :)

I have to write down about Asher and O. Maybe it was because Kason learned the alphabet and Asher would be listening in or because everything is O around here and there are a bunch of them everywhere, but Asher loves the letter O. He knows the sound it makes , along with a few others, but O is his definite favorite. He can pick one out anywhere, in the car, in a store, driving past a sign or store, on a drain grate...anywhere. It usually goes something like this:

Asher: (always in a very loud voice) " O MOMMA, O MOMMA!!!! O, O, O"

Me: "where?"

Asher: "RIGHT THERE O, O RIGHT THERE, O MOMMA"

Me: "Oh yeah, I see it, good job"

Asher: "O MOMMA, RIGHT THERE, O! HI O!! HI

Me: "yup, ok"

Asher: "O, HI O, RIGHT THERE"

Me: "shhhh"

Asher: "BYE O, BYE BYE"

It cracks me up.

Kason is 4!!

Kason turned the big 4. He was pretty excited for the day and had been counting down the days from a paper chain we made.

He got to play with a friend and then had a big treat when Dad came home to take him to lunch!! We realized he has never had a happy meal. So (and I'm not sure that this is a good thing) he got his first one! When he saw that there was a toy in his meal Isaac told me he said he didn't need any more presents. Mostly, he was just excited to play on the play place.

That night we opened presents(we have such good friends and family who spoil him!) and had cake and ice cream! He really likes army guys right now so we attempted a tank cake.

Asher has the stance.

Other than us convincing him to take this off to sleep in, he really hasn't taken this off since he opened it.

We had a good day.

Kason is such a good boy and I can't believe he's 4. 4 sounds so old, but he seems so grown up lately. A little bit about Kason right now:

-He is such a sweet, tender hearted boy. He is so compassionate and notices how others are feeling. He can be somewhat sensitive himself, but he is so empathetic towards others and he will just say random things that are so sweet.

-He has an amazing memory and can pick things up so quickly and remember things from such a long time ago it surprises me sometimes.

-He knows all the letter sounds.

-He loves Primary and always wants to answer all the questions and be picked all the time...(which has led to a couple tears).

-He's pretty mature (yes, maybe it's just the biased mom in me talking)

-He really likes army guys, guns, dinosaurs, and airplanes right now.

-He's my friend during the day (usually), and I love that we have real (as real as it gets) conversations with each other.

-He always has to pick something out to sleep with at night. Usually it's an army guy, dinosaur or plane.

-When he gets excited his brown eyes just light up.

HaPpY BiRthDaY KaSoN!

Eyes

I know I might be just a little biased, but I think my boys have beautiful eyes...except when they look like this:

Yep, we had a little bout of pink eye. They both woke up one morning and had green goop coming out of their red eye. Now, this might not look so bad, but I HATE eyes. In all of my Health Science degree stuff I was ok with the blood, the needles, the cadavers, etc, but eyes just get me. I've never even really been able to touch my own eye. It's a good thing I don't need contacts, because I really don't think I'd be able to do it. When I was little I saw my cousin's contact get "LOST" in her eye and I've never gotten over that. Anyway, now that it's over, it really wasn't that bad. The boys felt fine, and it is easy to get rid of, so not that big of a deal and it helped me get over my eye phobia a little bit. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get it! Now we are back to normal:

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears

We've never taken a family vacation where it's just us. Isaac found a deal for a cheap one night stay in a hotel suite, and 4 free tickets to the zoo. He just turned in a huge project for school that he has been working on for a good 6 months so we jumped at the chance to have some time together.

At the hotel pool

We learned that $3 Target floaties really do nothing to help you keep afloat. When Kason wasn't grinning from ear to ear and swallowing tons of water he was like this because we kept telling him to keep his mouth closed and hold his breath.

Ready for bed. It's a bit tricky getting kids to go to sleep in the same room as us, but it went pretty well.

At the Zoo! The boys were SO excited. The bears were one of the highlights.

So pretty! I am really getting to like Oregon's trees, and moss, and "misty-ness". It was a little bit chilly, but it was great because there weren't very many people there at all.

Asher's favorite might have been the ducks. He was sitting in the stroller right next to a window looking at the water with little turtles swimming in it. A turtle swam right up to the window. Asher saw it coming and leaned back as far as he could in the stroller and let out a piercing, terrified scream! He's never done that kind of thing before, but it was pretty funny.

We've seen sea lions around here and at the coast before, but not like this one. This picture doesn't do it justice, it was monstrous.

Isaac had a birthday!! This year he actually got to come home from school and be home for the evening, the last couple years he hasn't been able to do that.

Eager helpers

Cheesecake after his soccer game.

Happy Birthday!

Randomness

The boys love books. It doesn't always work to read one to them together because Asher usually wanders off or there is pushing so each can see better, but sometimes it does.

Isaac likes red meat. He got some T-bone steaks that had been in our freezer for a little while and cooked them up. Then we had a nice dinner where he taught Kason and Asher to bite the meat off the bone like a carnivore and then, of course, the bone was a perfect gun...boys...

Asher needs some time to wake up after nap. He requires his doggie, blanket, and Mom or Dad's shoulder.

Trying to get a good picture to send to the grandparent's.

This is about try #15, we finally got one where they are both looking at the camera, both holding still for one second and both are making a pretty normal face.

Hanging Out

It seems that we have been keeping busy just hanging out lately.

Kason has been learning the letters and sounds lately. He is so smart and remembers things so well. Asher loves to join in on the fun and has learned a couple letters too. He must always be doing what big brother is doing.

This boy likes TV way too much. I have to unplug it so he won't turn it on.

The boys have been playing together so well lately and it seems like they are really friends now. Their favorite game right now is for Kason to call Asher and say "nigh-night Asher, nigh-night", then they both run back to their room giggling and roll around in the covers on Kason's bed. So far, Asher has only fallen off once.

We made a fort out of all our blankets one night and watched a movie. Asher found a blanket and pillow before the fort was built, plopped down, lifted his shirt up and was ready.

Kason went into sunbeams at church! He was really excited. The first day he was pretty intimidated and his eyes were really big, but he went just fine and I think he was pretty proud. I am in primary too so I sit in the back with my class and during singing time Kason turns around to find me and whispers (loudly) "Momma, am I sitting so still?!". He also was picked to go up to the front and pick out a picture. He picked one of the three wisemen. The teacher asked the class what gifts the wisemen brought Jesus and when she got to frankincense and mur Kason blurted out "smelly stuff!"

Pulling out all the clean laundry and putting on Dad's shirts.

Kason still takes a nap every other day or every couple days, which is so nice. But, when he doesn't take a nap building towers is a favorite activity.

It has been sunny and pretty warm in January in Oregon! It has been amazing and we have been taking advantage of it. Basketball is taken pretty seriously here - well, pretty much any sport with a ball is.

One of my favorite things is to see the boys just give each other hugs. They walk up to each other with their arms open and hug. Asher started initiating kisses now too. He puckers up (kinda) and says "mmm".

Bath time