15 Things to Teach Boys, LDS Version

I saw a list on Pinterest of 15 Things a Mom should teach her boys (found here, for your reference). I didn't like/agree with all of them, so I wrote up my own.

What would you add?

Jason's Printable

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how going off birth control doesn't mean you'll instantly get pregnant, like you think it will. Which can be hard because you've decided that you're ready now for a baby, and then it doesn't happen for a while. My sister-in-law also just had a baby while we were visiting for the Christmas holiday (YAY!), which you can see here, so yesterday I was thinking about how all babies, especially those born healthy, are miracles in every way.

I thought about my little miracle, Jason. It was his birthday yesterday - he turned 3! And I realized that I see a miracle every day! He is my walking miracle! So I decided to put that thought on paper to frame. Here it is.

(background paper from Mel Stampz)

Evolution of a Tantrum

Just for Fun

Do You See What I See?

I know it looks like some still-life that ought to have deep meaning and make you reminisce about the good times, but it's actually my attempt to photograph one of Jason's hiding spots for things. My hair brush just happened to be out on the back porch because Jason was playing with it. In the sand, mind you. Anyway, see what's in the crack between deck boards?

So that's where my spatulas went! This is a result of the dishwasher battle that we have daily. He opens the dishwasher and pulls some utensil out as fast as he can before I can stop him. Scary when it's knives he's pulling out. Usually dinner knives, but every now and then a steak knife. I really wish he hadn't broken/figured out the lock I put on the dishwasher. It was this one:

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It worked great for a while. My only regret is that I didn't get it sooner. Then there's this one that was fantastic... until recently when he, again, figured it out.

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It's tricky too! See that little button on the right side with the green above it? You have to push that in and slide it up, which then reveals red instead of green. Most adults have difficulty with it. But he takes his time and concentrates.

Oh, and the neighbor girl taught him, inadvertantly, how to climb on top of the counters. I guess she didn't teach him how per say; she just put the idea in his head that the counters are another surface to sit on. He already knew how to climb his dressers and just applied that to kitchen drawers and cabinets I guess. Yay. :/

First Masterpiece, age 2

Inspecting the material...

Everything seemed to be in order.
Let the games begin!

A flash of genius - This would look great on ME!

Experimenting...

Almost done...

An itch on his face...

And inspecting the final product...

Success!

The next proposed phase of this project (done back in Feb and just now getting up on the blog) is to stick letters to it that say "Things that Matter Most" (i.e. Jason and the time we spent together making this), then paint over the whole thing with white, then peal off the lettering. That way the words will be colorful and abstract on a white background. I say it's the next proposed phase because I love how it turned out so much that I don't know if I can bring myself to cover it up!

Any thoughts? Should I paint it to say "Things that Matter Most" or leave it as is?

Update: I have listened to the voice of the people and will not be covering it or writing on it in any way. I'll just have to come up with something else that says "Things that Matter Most". Thanks for your input!

Outings

We've been doing some fun things lately!

I got a pass to the Living Aquarium (because who wants to see a dead one? Har har - that one's for you, Dad.) Jason enjoyed the commotion of the busload of elementary school kids, making it difficult to get a decent picture. But here ya go. (And I promise, in real life, he doesn't have Martha Washington style hair.)

Peering into a small aquarium nestled in the climbable "coral" rocks.

 We went with some friends, but due to Jason's flurry of activity, we didn't get any pictures with them.

 He hardly even cared about seeing sharks, a sea turtle, penguins, octopuses, squids, piranhas, or sting rays that you could touch. He only wanted to splash the water that the sting rays were in and run free among the coral. It was fun though.

A couple weeks later, my old MTC comp, Heather, offered to take us to Discovery Gateway - a kids museum at the Gateway Mall, in SLC. She has a membership and can take a few other people with it. I'd never even been to the Gateway Mall before, so I was excited to see what it was like. The verdict: Sooo cool.

Jason had THE. TIME. OF. HIS. LIFE. I don't think he's laughed so much in all his two years. We met at Heather's and then she drove us all in her new minivan. Jason was SO excited. Whenever we drive anyway, all I hear the whole time is, "BIG truck! BIG van! Construction truck! Front-end loader! Tower!" etc, etc, etc. And often he'll say repeatedly, "Jason go in big van!" So when he finally did get to go in a van, he was so happy. Which is actually how I was able to leave the Discovery without too much of a fight - he was excited to go in the van again.

Wind-tunnel tubes and balls:

He was actually afraid to stick his hand in this wind tunnel in order to push the ball through.

But Cami wasn't! (She's a little older than Jason, though.)

He LOVED the water works area:

And even touched the life-size horse in the farm area!

Just a little video of some of the other areas they have.

They even have a life-sized helicopter! (or as Jason would say "helapotter.")

The Gateway Mall is also home to the only Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream store in UT. And we were lucky enough to go on the one day a year that they give away one free scoop of ice cream per customer! We headed over about 10 min before they opened their doors at noon and were the first people in line! I think they even took a picture. And that may or may not have been Jason's first experience with ice cream. At least a whole scoop to himself. He got strawberry. He kept saying "Iz cooooold." :D We ate ice cream and lunch outside in the wind and sun. It was such a fun day!

Preps & The Crazy, Insane, Terrible...

Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Two's.

But first the Preps.

Jason favors one preposition: on.

Ex: cereal on the milk (instead of cereal with milk)
'I' on Isaac (instead of 'I' for Isaac)
'J' on Jason



Jason's terrible two's have been BEYOND terrible. He's been hitting a LOT. In the face, not just my legs or something. He's destroyed a bunch of stuff:

(That's the dishwasher's bottom basket thing. Removed, pushed down the porch stairs, and dragged across the backyard. The dishwasher now has a lock on it.)

Been crazy onry. And it seems that every time I Jason-proof something, he just finds something else to destroy. Or I forget to close or lock something. The other day when I finished blow-drying my hair, it was a little too quiet. I found him sitting sort of in/on the fridge, enjoying a cup of yogurt with his fingers. That one was just amusing, and I was very glad it wasn't worse.

A week or two ago I just cried, but things are getting better now. Thank goodness.

How cute is that. :)