Boys and Girls

     So here we are again talking about what the twins are into....feel free to skip if you've read this post way too many times on my blog.  Every once in a while it seems like the twins grow new eyes.  They start seeing things they've never seen or thought of getting into, that's when the twin storm hits at the Larrabees.  This time they pushed their heavy rocking chair over to their dresser and got into the Eucerin which Avery proceeded to style Brecken's hair with.  They both got baths and Breck got a Dawn hair scrub, but he woke up greasy still. 
     Our latest mishap has directed my thoughts to the differences between boys and girls.  I know we have  little to go on since we have very little in the pink department here, (and every time Avery does something different from her brothers we say it's because she's a girl) but I really think there are some amazing differences here. 
     Take the first picture.   Both 2-year-olds heard the same (mouth covered to hide my amusement) rebuke for getting into the Eucerin. Notice the level of guilt here.  Brecks looking straight forward, Avery's eyes are averted.  Picture #2 makes the point even further.  Avery (whose face looks angelic by the way) is shamefully displaying the reason for her guilt while Brecken is energetically exclaiming "wook boys I got cwazy hawr."  I do believe girls feel more remorse than boys. Hmmm. 

     Another thing I've noticed is that girls see messes, boys don't.  Very often I've asked my kids to clean up their rooms or the living room or clear the table and to their credit they try.  They really do, but.....it's rare that I don't go in and show them what they've missed.  I try not to be upset or critical, since I realize this is in their DNA as a boy, they really don't see it.  This is very valuable information when dealing with boys and men alike.  To my amazement I've walked into a room and found Avery singing the clean up song picking up toys or other mess...it must be a girl thing. 
     Sound affects.  This is one of Corey's favorite ways to tease me.  Picture this...the boys sitting around making sound affects for cars, airplanes, missiles, etc. and Corey says "hey guys, lets see if Mom can sound like a motorcycle."  He knows I can't, as a mother of four boys I've really tried and failed but my youngest boy started doing it probably before he could actually speak words. 
    Lastly, wrestling.  A few years ago Corey was pulling 24 hour shifts at the fire department.  Our boys didn't get to see him as much as they wanted to so I decided to try and "fill in."  One night after dinner I told the boys I'd wrestle with them.  I'd watch them do this every night their Dad was home and it seemed pretty straight forward.  So I gave it a go and thought I was doing good until Keaton stopped and said "no Mom, lets wrestle." 
     Thankfully Corey comes home each night and I can do the dishes and see all the messes and take care of them while he makes sound effects and wrestles, it's an arrangement that's working well for us.

Late Night Gone Awry

     A few weeks ago the kids decided they wanted to have a "late-night."  For those of you who are un-enlightened about this it's basically a sleepover without the sleeping over part.  Kids come over and play and watch a movie, eat pizza and junk food and then go home to sleep.  Very fun, right?? 
    Since we had three age groups present I decided to try and organize some activities beyond watching a movie.  After everyone got their fill of pizza we had a lego competition.  It turned out really cute and the kids had a fun time.  Here are the results....

Tate and AJ made it clear they were not in it to take part in a competition, but made a "cool car" nonetheless.  These two are such awesome buddies, I love AJ's arm around Tate!

 McKay's friends Kalen and Keison made this very cool warrior ship.  McKay's awesome at legos and went off on his own to create & didn't finish in time for pictures.

 Sydney and Keaton were my favorite.  These two (along with another friend Moses) have spent the last two months scootering.  Every spare second they can find they're riding.  So it wasn't suprising that they created a "guy on a scooter with no hands."  Super cute.

The grande finale of the night happened when a very heavy trophy of Corey's was knocked off the mantle and landed perfectly on McKays head.  He got a good gash and we had our nice neighbor doctor over to check him for a concussion.  Thanks to our neighbor and a bit of super-glu (seriously), McKays great!



Christmas Pics

     Probably my favorite holiday picture of the year....Brecken and Avery giving me their "sweet faces."  Like they weren't just planning to eat the gingerbread house in front of them.  They're sporting their new pj's from Great Grandma and Grandpa Gough. 

 Our Christmas Eve Nativity

Christmas Morning Faces...Christmas is magical with kids

Adam, Hayley and Wyatt (Adam got that sweatshirt from my parents and his wife....funny)

     We had Christmas breakfast at my Mom and Dads, our traditional Swedish pancakes and breakfast casserole...yum.  Then we were spoiled by my parents.  I snapped a picture of Adams' family and then didn't take another picture the rest of the day, too busy having fun I guess.  

     Mid-day we went to church and enjoyed a beautiful choir program.  At first I thought it'd be a bit crazy having Christmas on a Sunday, but it was so nice to be there and feel such a strong Christmas spirit.  I loved being able to wish all my friends in my ward a Merry Christmas too.  

    After church we went to Corey's parents for dinner where we were spoiled again and enjoyed being together.   Hope your holidays were as wonderful as ours. 

I hate to admit it....

     I know what you're thinking...why is she posting a Halloween picture in January.  Please note the winter sweater beneath the vampires cloak...I took this picture in December. As you can see Tate was not too happy about it, but I couldn't resist.  I'm one of those parents who occasionally put the (not so pressing) needs of my children on hold for my own enjoyment and I couldn't resist this one. 
     Tate was playing dress ups, a very common occurrence at our house.  He was jumping around and got a little over exuberant and bit his lip and started to bleed.  He came up to me crying and I said "Tate! this is awesome! You've got REAL blood coming out of the side of your mouth and your dressed up like a vampire!  You look great, lets get a picture!" 
     As you can tell by the picture Tate wasn't nearly as amused as I was.

Why I LOVE Christmas Cards...

     Aren't Christmas Cards great??  I love them.  I love getting "fun" mail almost every day in December.  I love seeing pictures of friends and their families and how they've grown.  I've actually gotten a Christmas card with a pregnancy announcement...very cool.  We got a card from our Bishopbric, our insurance agent and our dentist.  My Mom always sends a beautiful card from an art gallery my parents love.  There are simple, traditional and very artistic and contmporary cards.  One amazing friend of mine sends a CD of cool Christmas music with their card. 
     Mostly I love getting cards from people who I haven't spoken with for years.  There's something about a Christmas card that gives you a free pass when it comes to that awkward.."I haven't done a good job keeping in touch with you moment."  When I send Christmas cards I send them to our close family members and old friends.  I love sending a card to someone that we loved once in our lives to say just that "we loved you once and we remember that at Christmas."  So thank you for all the Christmas cards!  Our door is full to the brim and I'll keep them up as long as I can get away with it! 

Draper Lights

  

    I love where I live. There is a huge sense of community here that I've never felt anywhere else. Last year they started putting Christmas lights on the trees at Draper Park.  This year they started it all off with a lighting ceremony.  It's so nice to live within walking distance of this awesome park.  The pictures don't do the lights justice, seriously this white tree is huge! I guess you'll just have to come see them yourself.  Just be sure to stop by at our house for some hot chocolate afterwards! 

 Funny Fact: My running partner and I have watched these lights go up as we run by in the mornings.  They'd usually have about one tree lit at a time for us to admire.  It was funny to cross paths with each other that night to find out we were wearing the same shirt...a must-photo moment. 

The Path of Destruction

Exhibit A: Breck & Avery in the flour/pancake mix in the pantry

Exhibit B: Three boxes of pasta pulled off of the storage shelf (at MY eye level...I still don't know exactly how they got them down) and dumped into the living room.

Exhibit C: Avery "painting" Tate's homework with mustard.  

Exhibit D: Brecken drawing with a sharpie on my favorite peice of furniture in my house, my bed.
 





FYI:

• All of these pictures were taken in the last two weeks
• I really DO watch them, they're fast and deceptive with their sweet 2-year-old faces. 
• Both found guilty as charged for making our home a wonderful yet crazy and messy place to live.