i have a new nephew!

Sawyer Jordan Boogaard was born March 31 to Ereka and Jordan. Isn't he adorable? I wish I wasn't so far away--I need to snuggle him! This awesome picture was taken by his amazing aunt Haylee. She has more cute pictures of him on her blog.

Ereka spent some time in the hospital after his birth due to a mysterious infection (Layne said waiting for the doctors to figure it out was like watching an episode of 'House'), but she's home now and doing better. That's the last thing you need after all the changes of a new baby! We're so thankful she's okay. We sure love you Boogaards--hope everyone is getting some sleep!

killing easter eggs

James: "Mom, is that the stuff we use to kill the eggs?"

Me: "Huh?"

James: "The stuff to kill the Easter eggs."

Me: (Pause) "Huh?"

James: "That thing we're doing tonight."

Me: "Ahh, you mean the stuff we use to 'dye' the eggs. Uh, that's actually a different word than the 'die' you're thinking of. But yes."

I shouldn't be surprised that James is finding a way to make even Easter a spooky holiday. Killing Easter eggs. Check out this cracked egg he dyed. He loved it because it looked like a creepy spider web.

And I wasn't at all surprised when he came home from school with this one-eyed, fang-baring Easter bunny. Sadly, neither was his teacher. It seems he turns almost every art project into some kind of monster.

Despite trying to give this sacred holiday a Halloween spin, James was actually very interested in the meaning of Easter. He learned quite a bit about the Savior's death and resurrection in school last week, and came home with some good questions. After a long discussion about why Jesus had to die, his response was, "Mom, how come when I ask you questions you talk for such a long time?" Oops. Apparently I bored him. Hopefully something sunk in.

He was most excited about the Easter egg hunts and the surprises he was expecting from the Easter bunny. We had a fun Primary egg hunt on Saturday at the church. The boys had so much fun, but James was "super mad" that Addy found more eggs than he did. He thought it was "so not fair." But it was still the "best day ever."



Christian was on call today (third Easter in a row, poor fellow), but he made it home in time for our egg hunt. James loved his new sunglasses (he's been eying them for about a month at WalMart).

Grandma Holly got them each a book and we read them several times today. I love good kids books! These are both winners.

It's so nice to have this Earth book as a reference. James has been asking me how whirlpools, volcanoes, and lightning work, and my answers until today have not been sufficient. Now we have all the details he needs. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Of course 95% of the candy was consumed today. Here's James' candy sandwich, made from two Laffy Taffys and four jelly beans. Needless to say, the sugar high lasted most of the day.

But it really was a wonderful day. We are so thankful for our Savior and the chance we had to think about him and celebrate the wonderful gift he's given us. We hope you all had a wonderful day, too!

sybrowsky quote of the week - rhetoric

Mr. Crazy Pants here has developed quite an interesting use of language as of late.

Me: grumbling under my breath about the construction workers on our street and their never-ending traffic stops.

Adam: "Suck it up, Mom!"

Me: "What? Where did you learn that, Adam?"

Adam: "From Grandma."

Me: "Uh, I highly doubt that. Did you maybe hear it on Sponge Bob?"

Adam: "Yeah, I learned it from Sponge Bob."

Really, my three-year-old is telling me to "suck it up?" Maybe we need to limit the Sponge Bob watching for a while. Or Grandma's visits. (Although I'm pretty sure I've never heard my mom say "suck it up", but you never know, I guess.) He also responded with, "Blah, blah, blah" the other day when I was getting after him for something. However, he has spouted a few nice statements lately, too, such as "Great job cleaning the kitchen, Mama!" and "You're a genius, Mom!" So I guess that evens it out.

world's best house guest

This last week Grandma Holly came for a visit. Hooray! For the third year in a row, Christian was gone for my birthday (someday I'm sure he'll make up for it!), so my mom came up again to keep me company. It was so fun to go out to lunch and shopping with her, two things I almost never get to do anymore. And the kids were so excited they could hardly stand it! Maybe that's why they had to go to the bathroom FOUR TIMES while we were at the mall, or why Adam thought it was a good idea to take off his underwear, throw it on the floor, and then pee on it. And maybe that's why James thought it was a good idea to join him. Sheesh! I'm raising a couple of hooligans up here!

Grandma also took us to Jump Planet, the inflatable party center of the universe (their words, not mine)! We had to drag the boys out of the place. It was a blast.



I couldn't get a clear photo of Addy--he was constantly in motion, as per usual.

Not only did Grandma take us to Jump Planet to play, to lunch at Nordstrom's Bistro, to Walmart to pick out a movie, and to Costco to pick out a book, but she was the most incredible house guest in the universe (those are my words). It was like having a personal maid for a week! She watched the boys so I could sleep in on my birthday, she was doing the dishes every time I turned around, she vacuumed the house while I was picking up Christian, she fed and put the boys to bed while I went to an HOA meeting, she cleaned up urine-soaked carpet while I was doing some "secret shopping", and she cleaned her bathroom and washed her sheets and towels before we left for the airport. Not much of a vacation for her, you think? Hopefully these sweet faces and a few slobbery kisses made up for all her hard work.






We love you, Mom! Thanks for coming and making my birthday so special. We hope you can take us to St. George on your private jet, soon! After you learn how to fly it, of course. And James says, "Bring Grandpa Brent with you!"

sybrowsky quote of the week - noses and elbows

For a while James had a strange obsession with smelling everything he put his hands on. He smelled each fruit snack before he ate it; he'd put his pajama top to his nose before putting it on; he'd even stop to sniff out his Hot Wheels car during the middle of a big race. I thought it was weird, and I didn't want him wiping his nose on everything, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Jessica's son who is about the same age was doing the exact same thing, and we would watch them do it and giggle.

Christian, however, got very frustrated with all the smelling and was constantly asking James to stop. My favorite quote from Christian (and this demonstrates his parenting method) is, "James, you may not smell anything ever again!" To which James replied, "I'll never stop smelling." Kid one, Parent zero.

He's mostly stopped with the sniffing game, but he's become very vocal about the various odors he encounters. He has a super-sniffer, which he inherited from either his father or Grandma Holly. Either way, he's not stingy with his super-smelling abilities and is always willing to share with whoever will listen what odors are perturbing his senses. For instance, when we walk into a public restroom, he'll very loudly comment, "It smells stinky in here! Like diarrhea!" Once he went with Christian into Harborview Medical Center on a quick errand, and when they returned to the car, all he could talk about was how stinky the hospital was. So one day while he was talking about how he is going to be a bone doctor just like daddy,

I asked him this:

Me: James, how are you going to work at the hospital if it's too stinky?"

James (without missing a beat): I'll just have to plug my nose and do it with my elbows."

Apparently he'd already thought it through and decided, yes, this is something I can work around.

addy's his own man

When it was time to potty train Addy, I was extremely reluctant. I had a very bad experience with James, and I was dreading doing it over again. We waited a little longer with Ads and tried not to push him. He's seemed ready for a long time. So about a month after his 3rd birthday, I finally threw him a "Potty Party."

For those of you unfamiliar with this concept, it's basically an all-day potty training session, which at the end of your child should be 100% potty trained. It ends with a big party with a cake and presents and lots of hooplah. And it works--for about one day.

Addy actually did great for a few weeks, with only minimal accidents. He even rode 16 hours in the car without a problem. He was a pro the whole time we were in Utah for Christmas. But something happened when we returned. Suddenly, he was having an accident every time. He wasn't going in the potty AT ALL. For three weeks I felt like I was beating my head against a wall. My friends watched me freak out as he had multiple accidents at every play date. I was sick of washing a load of wet/poopy clothes each night, and ready to put him back in Pull-Ups full time. We even tried a "potty watch" (really just my running watch that has a timer) that sounded an alarm every hour to remind him to go potty. Nothing worked.

Then one day I was out of Pull-Ups, and I didn't want buy a huge box from Costco, or to go all the way to Wal-Mart for a small pack. I stopped by the Fred Meyer down the street and was totally shocked by the price of the Pull-Up brand there. So I opted for the small, cheap Fred Meyer version, determined to get this kid trained before they were gone.

The next couple of nights I put Addy in a pair of the cheap training pants to sleep in. One night that week, Christian went up to quell a disturbance (as is his nightly ritual), only to find Addy running around his room buck naked. He had removed him jammies and training pants and refused to put them back on. He wanted to wear big-boy underwear because he's a big boy now, and the training pants felt "yucky." Christian, no doubt wanting to get the kid back in bed so he could return to his TV show, relented and put him in underwear. Best parenting decision ever.

The next morning, to my great surprise, he was dry. And from that night on, he hasn't had a single accident. I haven't had to remind him or drag him to the bathroom--he has gone completely on his own. I guess he just needed to decide for himself that he was going to do it. A testament to his independent nature. You gotta love this kid.

So if you're struggling with potty training, try switching out the cushy Cadillac training pants for the cheapest things you can find. Or go a size smaller so they're really uncomfortable. You can tell them they're getting too big for Pull-Ups. And maybe they'll decide on their own like Addy did. Or not. Who knows--this parenting thing is definitely a crap shoot sometimes.

so thankful for friends

Thanksgiving has got to be near the top of my "favorite holidays" list. I love being allowed to eat as much as I want of the most divine food in one day! Unfortunately, that mentality often finds a way to stretch across my entire weekend, which is probably why I thought it was okay to have pumpkin pie for breakfast today. (Christian started it!) But I really don't care. Eating until you're so full you just want to lay down and die is what the American way of life is all about.

Christian was on call this Thanksgiving, so we felt so blessed to have an invitation to the Myrup's for dinner. I just knew that if I cooked all that food by myself that he'd get called in just before it was ready and the boys and I would be sitting there eating without him. And since the boys hardly eat anything, it would be me eating all that food alone. And that is just sad.

As luck would have it, he did get called in, about an hour before we were supposed to be there, to take care of a kid who had a TV land on him. So I was especially grateful to be at the Myrup's (not to mention not having a TV on top of my kid!). He joined us a few hours later, just in time for said-pumpkin pie and first hit of the leftovers.

The food was de-lish. Jess outdid herself with a p-e-r-f-e-c-t turkey (despite all her worrying), and Christian and the boys and I were happy to gorge on my famous Thanksgiving yams (you've never tasted a vegetable like this before). We're still mind-boggled that Jess and "Tevin" didn't try them--you're crazy! I was basically offering you dessert in the middle of the meal! Maybe next year. I made Aunt Paige's homemade rolls (and ate way too many), and we also made homemade cranberries (no canned stuff for us!). But the piece de la resistance was the made-from-scratch pumpkin pie by Jessica. Oh. My. Gosh. Who knew the pumpkin pie had ginger in it? It made Costco's yummy version seem blah. I could taste each individual spice, though they blended in a perfect melody in my mouth. Yum. And the crust was tender and flaky. Now you understand why I couldn't resist a slice this morning. She's going to teach me how to make it some day in exchange for a roll-making lesson. Aren't friends great?

We spent the rest of the evening talking and browsing the Black Friday ads. No, I didn't make it out this year (first year in a long time!), but it's all good. Nothing we "had" to have. I was just a relaxing, fun evening. Thanks for hosting, Jess--next year at my house!

I am thankful for "my three boys!"

Another reason I am very thankful for Jessica is that she very patiently taught me how to cut the monkeys' hair. I *LOVE* the way my friend Chandra cuts it, using the scissors on top. It always turns out so handsome. I am less of a fan of the all-clipper look on my boys. Their hair needs texture. But like everyone else, we're really trying to save our pennies, and this could be an easy $15 a month to save. And if Christian will let me try it on him, that's another $20 a month! Hopefully Lind and Code will give me a lesson with the scissors when we're there for Christmas. (wink, wink!)

So here is my first attempt with the clippers. The hardest part was getting the boys to sit still and turn their heads the way I wanted them to (another thing Chandra is a genius at doing). But they were pretty patient with me, too, and they turned out all right. Thanks again, J-My!

"Hi, Haircut!"

We missed all our family this year, especially my parents' perfect meal and seeing Bond with the Sybrowskys! We hope you know how thankful we are for all of you. We can't wait to see you in 18 days (the countdown to Grandma's has begun)!