3 Years Old

Is this kid seriously only three?! Every day, he blows me away with the things he does and says. Sometimes I forget that he is only three years old. He is one of the smartest, funniest, and most handsome three year olds ever.

I am constantly shaking my head, wondering where he comes up with some things. I wish I kept track of all the funny things he has said or done in a little notebook. But here are some things about him that I do remember:

Will has always loved the frozen vegetable medley. Then one day we were out and only had frozen peas. Ever since that day, every time I ask him what he would like to eat, he says peas. Just peas. Would you like some chicken and peas? Or a sandwhich and peas? No. Just peas.

Sometimes we have to use his vegetables as threats. No you can not have any more peas until you have...weird, I know.

But don't be fooled, this kid loves chocolate and treats just as much as the rest of us. 

When we make noodles, which is frequently at our house, Will always asks if he can help. I fill up cups of water and he pours them into the pan. Afterwards he helps pour the noodles in, then helps to stir.

One of his favorite things to do is play with my phone. And boy does he know how to navigate it. He'll go from game to game, then to netflix to watch a movie, back to a game, then he'll be on YouTube watching videos of trains.

Yes, he watches videos of trains on YouTube. Those random videos that just show real trains chugging down the track...so slow...so boring. But he loves them. He also loves watching videos of other kids playing with their toy trains.

Did I mention this kid is a bit weird?

To say that he is obsessed with trains is the understatement of the year. He lives, eats, breathes trains. He plays with trains all day, watches videos of trains, and every time he hears a whistle, he talks about the train. He asks to go ride the train at least 2-3 times a day.

Will is quite the climber and is always trying to find new ways to be crazy.

We took him to ride the Front Runner and he has begged to go back every single day. I wish it were cheaper so we could just do little rides all the time.

While we were on the front runner, he would repeat everything that was announced over the intercom. "Next stop is Layton Station". "Please keep the aisles clear."

He throws a fit if we don't read stories and sing songs before bedtime. He has several books that are his favorite. He can pretty much recite them word for word.

One of his favorite things to do is make up songs. It usually involves a monkey riding a train, riding a fire truck, climbing on the house, etc. You name it, we have sung about a monkey doing it.

He has a great imagination. I will constantly find him playing and talking to his trains or toys. Sometimes when they are naughty, he makes them sit in the corner.

Lately, we have been trying to focus a little more of our time with family home evening or just teaching the kids about Jesus. We have a stack of pictures and we go through a few of them and explain the story. Will absolutely loves it. He loves the picture of Shadrak Mesach, and Abed-Nego in the fire. He always talks about Jesus in the fire and how they need to get out. He also likes the picture of Jesus walking on water having his hand out to Peter who is sinking.

Here are a few more funny things that Will has said:

"I chased Jesus out of the house with a sword because Jesus needs to play outside."
"Jesus needs to help me build my train tracks. He's my best friend."
"Mommy, if you need to go potty, get out of bed and go potty. Don't wet your pants. You don't want to have an accident."

I was talking to Will about how Jesus is up in heaven...in the sky. He said, "Yup, Jesus is in the airplane!"

While looking at a picture of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's buring their weapons, Will declared that they were digging to build a train track. Not quite.

When I asked Will what we should do tonight, he said "Go to the temple". He absolutely loves temples and loves to point them out as we drive past. Though he tries to insist that every church house is a temple.
This kid can have quite the temper. Beware of making him angry.

When we first started looking at pictures, we pulled out the picture of Joseph Smith when Christ and Heavenly Father appeared to him. Will looked at the picture, pointed to Jesus and said, "There's Grandpa!"

Sometimes when Will is being mean to Blake we try to explain that Jesus wants him to be a good boy and that it makes Jesus sad when we aren't nice to our sisters. Then when he is being nice, we explain that Jesus is so happy and proud that he was being such a good boy.

So yesterday when I did something that made Blake cry, Will told me that I was being naughty and that I made Jesus sad.

Some of his favorite movies are : Frozen, Tangled, Madagascar 3, and of course the Polar Express.

 

He knows most of the songs from Frozen and can sing along to several of them. There has been a time or two when he suddenly burst out into song while we were in the car. It was adorable.

Will is definitely a mimicker. He loves to be doing whatever we are doing. If we are working in the garden, he insists on being right there with his shovel and rake helping along. We couldn't even plant seeds without him wanting to put a seed or two in. He loves helping and feeling like he is part of things.

He is very independent. He likes to get his own bowl, pour his cereal, and pour the milk by himself. He gets upset when I try to do it for him.

He loves being outside, riding his bike, jumping on the trampoline, or just running around.

He also loves going to the parks with sand so he can dig holes, build sand castles, or get buried.

He is enjoying Blake a little more now that she is a bit bigger. When he is jumping on the trampoline, he wants her up with him. Though that may be because he thinks it's hilarious to bounce her. He also likes to push her around the yard on the little four-wheeler. But he becomes an angry hulk when she gets anywhere near his train however.

For a long time, Will would only wear pajamas. The only way I could get him dressed was to tell him that he couldn't leave the house until he was in normal clothes. That would work, but the second we got home, he would be back in his jammies before I could get inside. And he would grab new clothes and jammies every time we left the house. Huge mess and too much laundry. I finally had to put all of his jammies out of reach and told him and he needed to get dressed every morning. It was working alright until he found his Spiderman costume a few days ago. Since then, he has worn that and nothing else. As a parent, you really have to pick your battles. When I'm home, it's not worth the fight just to have him dressed in normal clothes so I usually let him wear what he wants.

When you tell Will that you love him, he says, "I love you too" or "I love you more".

He has a great memory and he doesn't forget things easily. You can't tell him that you will take him to the park tomorrow unless you mean it.

Every time we drive pass Carl's Jr., he asks to play at the star.

One day, I walked into the bathroom for a nice surprise. Will had climbed onto the counter and was doing his business in the sink!

He's very adventurous and will try anything if you show him first.

When you tell Will to come here, he usually jumps on you or jumps and expects to be caught.

He prays in third person and says thanks for mommy, daddy, Will, and Blake.

I make him enunciate words and often have him repeat words back to me that he isn't pronouncing correctly. A few times, he has done the same to me. He'll tell me to say a word and if I say it right, he'll clap and tell me I did a good job.

Every once in a while, we'll get some really awesome pictures that will be great for blackmailing later on.

We like to tease each other. Will often calls mommy a turkey mommy, goober mommy, or poop monster mommy.

Will has several friends in the neighborhood, but one of his best friends is probably Alexis. 

He insists on buckling himself up in the car. If you try to help, he screams, "Let me do it! Let me do it!"

Will doesn't like getting his hair cut. It always takes a while, especially when I do it, and he hates when the hair gets all over him.

Everyone in nursery loves him. I've been told my several people that he is a favorite.

For a long time, he was waking up between 6-6:30a, so I had to tell him that he wasn't allowed to get out of bed until the sun was up. Every morning he comes barging into my room yelling how it is time to wake up because the sun is up.

He is constantly singing, telling me stories, but if I ask him to do it for someone else, he wont.

He sings "hot dog" songs from Mickey Mouse Club House while jumping on the trampoline.

Another of Will's favorite things to help us build really big towers with his Legos.

He likes doing flips on the trampoline. He also likes going down slides backwards head first.

Will loves spinning and seems to hardly get dizzy. He will spin forever.

Almost every time I use the restroom, Will opens the door, tells me I need to lock it, locks the door, then is out within 10 seconds. I am learning to lock the door.

You can just tell Will enjoys life. He is a just a very happy kid. He definitely has his moments that make me want to pull out all of my hair, but more often than not, I can't get over how cute he is and just want to hug him. I think I could go  on forever about all of the cute things he says and does, so I think I'll call it good for now.

Happy Birthday, Will. We sure love you.




**I have several more videos of him that I wanted to add, but it takes forever to compress them and get them loaded on here. So I think I will just add them to a separate post.**

My Mom

My mom...

...is wonderful.

...is constantly putting others needs before her own.

...has always been there for me.

...taught me everything I know.

Mom, 

I will never be able to repay you for all that you have done for me. You give so much of yourself to every person you meet, but especially to your family. You have sacrificed sleep so that you could work during the night and be home with us during the day. You have worn the same clothes for years, so I could dress in the latest trends. You never asked me to quit playing soccer, even though it would have eased your financial burden greatly. You have often sacrificed your own happiness for those around you.

You have taught me so much. You taught me skills such as sewing and cooking. You have taught me so much about how to be a mother. Whenever I have a question about anything, you are the first person I think to ask. I'm not sure what I would do without you.

I love you so much.

I wish I could share this in person, but I guess this will have to do. I heard this song for the first time two days ago and decided I wanted to sing it for you. With only 2 days of practice, it is far from perfect, but I hope you will enjoy it.

Love, Bobbi

She Put The Music in Me - Music and lyrics by Calee Reed

It started with rock-a-bye, comforting when I'd cryAll in her own styleThen popcorn before my eyes, turning frowns upside down

Into smiles

With songs of the birds up high, looking at the blue blue sky

The wind as it rushes by

Then leading me, guiding me, walking beside me she helped me

To walk in the light.

(Chorus)

She built my house on a rock

And she lives all that she taught

And she is all that a woman should be

She put the music in me

I knew He was really there, He heard my child's prayer

Answering from up above

She gave like a little stream, I was her sunbeam

And I felt my Savior's love

I saw her kneel and pray with our family every day

Listening to each whispered word

Gentle in deed and thought, all the things Jesus taught

Following promptings she heard

(Chorus)

She lives to search, ponder, pray

And she gives everyday

So her thanks will always be thanks indeed

She put the music in me

He made the tiny wings of each little bird that sings

In the leafy treetops up high

And all creatures great and small, I know God made them all

Because of her sweet lullaby

(Chorus)

She's like a star shining bright and helps me to choose the right

And she gives me the hope of a life yet to be

She put the music in me

She is so good to me, Heavenly Father sent her to me

She taught me to lift up my voice and sing

She put the music in me.

She put the music in me.

She put the music in me.



To all of the women in my life,  thank you. There are many women that I look up to and helped me to become the person that I am. Thank you for your love, support, and example.



**If you are unable to view the video, watch it here.**

Birthday Play Date

Part of me wanted to do a party for Will this year and part of me just didn't want to go through the effort. But I was feeling ambitious and had pinned ideas for making my own train cake, making toy trains out of boxes for all of the kids and all sorts of other fun train themed party ideas.

Then a good friend of mine mentioned that they never did parties for their kids until they were 5. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Will really doesn't care about all those little "extra" things. So much of it would be for pictures sake...and that much work simply wasn't enough motivation for a picture.

But I wanted him to have some friends over and at least do a little celebration.

Birthday Play Date.

The night before, we went to all of Will's friends houses and invited them over to play the following day. It was meant to be super informal, just come and play outside for a while and eat cake. Parents were told they could drop their kids off, or if they wanted to stay and chat that was welcome as well. They could come when they wanted and leave when they wanted.

It was perfect.

Will had about 5 friends show up to play.

They enjoyed jumping on the trampoline.

Playing with some of Will's trains.

Decorating cupcakes.

Riding bikes.

I think Will was in heaven. He had talked about it ALL week and how he was so excited for his friends to come play. But I think he was even more excited about his chocolate cake. Every time I asked what he wanted, he said chocolate cake.

While I was gathering kids over to decorate the cupcakes, Blake got her hands on one and was chowing down. Then she discovered frosting. She had a plastic butter knife that she would dip in the frosting and lick it off.

After a while, I had to close the lid so she wouldn't eat it all. She threw a fit and clawed at it trying to get it back open.

It was to let the kids run wild while all of the adults just sat back and chatted.

 

 The following day was his actual birthday and he got to open his main present from us.

  More tracks for his train set.

Happy Birthday Will!

Because of Him

Everything good that I have in my life is because of Him. Because of Him, I get to be with my family forever. Because of Him, I can be forgiven for all of the stupid choices I make. Because He lives, death is not the end. Because He lives, I can live.

I've always enjoyed Easter, though perhaps not quite for the right reason. Many of my Easters growing up we were spent 4-wheeling at the Sand Dunes. And while that is always fun, it was nice to stay home and think about why we really celebrate Easter.

On Saturday morning, we enjoyed going to an Easter egg hunt at our Bishops house. There was a good turn out and they had to limit the number of eggs each kid could get so it was a little more fair. Will didn't quite get the concept about hurrying to get as many as you can. Once he had one egg, he wanted to see what was inside and eat that candy before grabbing the next one. Guess it's lucky they had the limit so there were still some left for us.

Cindy and her family came up that afternoon to hang out. It was a beautiful day so we spend the majority of it outside just watching the kids play. We went to the park and the kids had fun trying to find treasures and also getting buried.

Since our church is at 9a, we were up bright and early Sunday trying to get ready and be on time. I was singing with the choir so I had to be ready extra early for practice before church. The choir sat on stage the entire meeting so Lance was busy trying to keep both kids somewhat reverent.

From the stage I witnessed -

- Blake was frequently saying mommy...mommy and looking around for me.
- Lance discovering that he didn't fill up her bottle, dropping Blake off to a neighbor in the pew next to him, and heading out the door. Blake didn't like that and started screaming like she was being tortured and had to be walked around the back and Will took off after Lance. Someone a few rows back grabbed Will and kept him occupied. Meanwhile when Lance gets back, he gets a look of panic on his face when he can't find either of his kids and starts looking around a bit frantically.

And I'm sitting on stage enjoying every second of it.

The entire sacrament meeting program was music. The congregation sang some hymns, the choir did several numbers, the primary did a number, and the ym/yw did a number. I loved hearing all the songs about Christ and being part of it.

Lance received several good jobs and slaps on the back for handling two crazy kids alone.

In primary, Raegan (the primary president) focused her sharing time on the life of Christ and things that he did throughout his life and after. I thought it was a very appropriate lesson and helped me appreciate all that Christ has done for us. We were also told that every time we open an Easter egg,  to remember the empty tomb and what that signifies. Think of how much our lives our affected because of that empty tomb.

After church, Bishop asked everyone to meet outside for their annual ward picture. Of course we also had to get a family shot.

 When we got home, I snapped a few pictures of the kids in the Easter outfits I made them and we spent the remainder of the day sleeping and relaxing.

Pictures from Will's photo shoot at target.

I am so grateful for all that Christ has done for me. He lived life perfectly. The thought of that floors me. I don't think I've lived a single day perfectly (probably not a single hour), yet alone my entire life. He is such a great example to all of us and how we should constantly be striving to be more. I can be so much better and he has shown me how. Our lives aren't easy, and it is hard to be good. But Christ's life wasn't easy either. He endured so much pain, ridicule, betrayal, EVERYTHING, yet he remained perfect through it all.

It's difficult to think of all of the pain and suffering that Christ put himself through. He is the Son of God. He worked miracles, walked on water, raised the dead. Surely he could have stopped what has happening. But he didn't. He willingly suffered for us. For me.

Because of Him, I will be better.