December 31st, 2014

I can't believe 2014 is almost over. What a great year it's been! Thanks God!

Kellan has decided he wants a race cars that crash birthday theme for his 4th birthday. He asked for a chocolate cake that tastes like diarrhea. Well, if I make it, maybe it will.

Kellan can not get enough of the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" book. His little dimples just pop up or in when we read that.

I told the boys they needed to give dad a break and get out of his hair. Kellan looked at me surprised and said "We're cutting Dad's hair?"

Camden came home from a birthday party with cotton candy. Kellan saw it and yelled "I want cotton and candy!"

Kellan is obsessed with watching Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (except the educational pilgrim part). He calls the movie "Charlie Brown Chicken".

Camden was trying to get Kellan over by him. He finally said (and I don't know why) "Come here little fishy. I have a treat for you!"

I love that the boys' favorite movie is Talladega Nights. That's not inappropriate at all.

As I'm writing this, I wonder how many times I've said the same thing in blog posts. I'm 36 1/2. You can't expect me to keep track of what I've written.

Camden wanted something (I can't remember- go figure) and Dad said "We only do that on special occasions). Camden looked at Dad and said "I'm I a special occasion?"

I am so proud. Without help, Camden can spell "on", "off", "Camden", "Kellan", "Mom", "Dad", "Tilley", and "poop".

I thought with boys I'd never have an argument getting dressed for school in the morning. For some reason Camden had a fit and wanted to wear the sweater I laid out for Kellan. They usually wear similar sizes, but this sweater happened to be a belly shirt on Camden. I don't know what the teachers think of us, and I probably don't want to know...

December 19th, 2014

I was in the bathroom and Kellan devilishly said "I'm going to turn off the light and you'll get scared." I replied "I'm not scared of anything. I know God will protect me." Kellan then put his hands up in the air waving and yelled "No! No, I'm not God!"

When Kellan wants to be rubbed he begs "rubba" me.

When we returned to swimming lessons at Hubbard after Thanksgiving the coach asked the boys if they had turkey and mashed potatoes. Camden said yes and Kellan said he ate goldfish...

We got done with Chloe's birthday party and Camden dramatically sighed and said "I've been to too many girls birthday parties". Hope that's not a problem in the future...

I get asked if the boys are twins so much that sometimes I just say yes. Camden, of course, called me out on this and said "No! We're 17 months apart!"

Kellan calls Christmas trees "Christmas"... Just "Christmas"...

The boys are freezing in the morning when I get them in the car (it's 60 degrees). I said "ok, ok! I'm putting the heater on right now!" Kellan said "It's a dryer not a heater" and would not let the subject drop  until I agreed.

We left the clinic in which we found out Camden had an ear infection. When we were almost to the door Camden asked "Am I done with my surgery?". Keep in mind, we went to a CVS clinic center. The cashier looked totally confused as to say "I didn't know we performed surgery here"...

December 12th, 2014

We were trying so hard to win tickets to Disneyland from 99.9 KEZ. Camden walked around the house for nearly a month saying, "we need to be the 99th caller!"

Kellan's been having ear infections like crazy. The doctor finally used a water spray to clear out his ears. They told Kellan that there was kitty and puppy poop in his ear. I cracked up, cleared my throat, and acted like a good mom. Kellan was/is fascinated by this. He even told the Fed Ex guy he had dog diarrhea come out of his ear and he's never going to the doctor again.

True line from Kellan. "When is it April, because I don't like Friday"...

I came into the kitchen and Camden had the refrigerator door open. I said "Camden! What are you doing?!" He replied "I'm just rolling up the cheese, sweetie".

All this talk about Disneyland got to Kellan. He asked me when we were going to "Disney Lion".

Camden can write mom. He asked me what my name started with. I accidentally said C instead of M for Mom. He looked so confused and said "So you spell your name CMOM"?

Lately in the car, I've been missing my destination and keep having to turn around. For some reason when Granfy missed his turn and had to turn around Camden smugly said "My mother never turns around".

On Thanksgiving day, Kellan came out of bed in full bed head mode and asked "Is it 'Thanks-for-giving?"

November 18th, 2014

Kellan's getting the staples out of his noggin as we speak. We'll see how this goes. I'm just glad I can finally wash his hair!

Camden had to go to the doctor with Grammy and has an ear infection. He came home and dramatically told Grammy, "I used to be a happy child, now I'm a sick child." I certainly can't deny this kid

Since Grammy and Camden were at the CVS "Minute Clinic" for about 3 hours, Camden saw a lady perusing the aisles. He yelled "Hey! Didn't you just walk by here?". Luckily she laughed. Sheesh kid!

Going to church, Kellan was being good and listening to me, and still was almost hit by a car. I can't win.

Kellan wouldn't eat and I said to him "Daddy's going to be so mad!". He replied "Eh, he's already mad."...

Grammy bought Camden a huge Rudolph "decoration". I was trying to tell Camden that he can't have toys every time he goes to Grammy's. He said, "This isn't a toy, it's a TYPE of toy."

As I was giving Camden his antibiotic for his ear infection, he asked me if this antibiotic was for 10 days- which it was. How does he know this stuff, and who's kid is he?!

November 13th, 2014

Well, Kellan's the first one to get staples in his head. He fell off his bike backwards on Tuesday at school and got a pretty good gash on the back of his head. I stayed up with him that night in case he had a concussion. He's totally fine and showing off his staples at school!

I asked Kellan how his head was feeling and he said "I went to the hospital store and they fixed my hair!"

Kellan keeps talking about his trip to see Nana. I keep telling him he saw her in Michigan but he is absolutely (and angrily) convinced he saw her in Minnesota. Eh... we'll let this one slide.

Camden woke up this morning and the bathroom light was on. He ran in there and yelled "BOO!" But alas, no one was in the bathroom. We all thought this was hilarious. He laughed longer than anyone though...

November 7th, 2014

Camden and Kellan started playing a game where one would hide an object while the other closed his eyes and then tried to find it. When it was Kellan's turn to hide the item he always hid it exactly where Camden had just hidden it. Kellan began having trouble finding the items when Camden hid them so Mom and Dad started trying to help him by playing the hot and cold game. Kellan though, took this quite literally. When we would yell "cold cold you're freezing!", he would put his arms around himself and shiver. When we said "hot hot you're on fire!", he kind of looked at us but understood he was close to finding the object. It was the cold that was throwing him off I guess.

Kellan asked me why I was curling my hair. I said it makes Mommy feel pretty. He replied- you can't look pretty. Does anyone want a 3 1/2 year old?

 

 

I always try to get Camden kisses. He puts his head down so I can only kiss the top of his head. I said, "why do you never let me lip kiss you, Camden?" He replied "I'm the hugger in the family, Kellan's the kisser".

We have a Toy Story book in the car that the boys will take turns reading to us. Camden's teachers must be saying the author when they start a book because when Camden started reading, he began "This is Toy Story, written by Arby's"...

Camden knows quite a few Halloween songs from school. I asked Kellan if he knew any and he jubilantly replied "YES!" and began singing "Halloween songs, Halloween songs!"

I tooted for the first time in my life and Camden was right there. He said, that was the weirdest shooting of a duck I've ever heard...

Thursday Nick left to take Kellan to Michigan to see Nana. They had to leave really early in the morning, so when Camden woke up he came and laid in the bed with me. I feel asleep and Camden woke me up saying he wrote Daddy a note on his pillow saying how much he misses him. I jumped up alarmed wondering if he had gone and got a marker and written on the pillow! Then I looked at the pillow and didn't see anything. I looked questionably at Camden and he said "Oh, I wrote the note with my tongue!"

November 6th, 2014

Kellan is just in his glory. He got to go on an airplane to see Nana in Michigan today. A trip with Daddy only and no annoying brother :)

Kellan loves watching the iPad. I'm not going to lie, we bribe him with it. One night he was watching it all night and I said, "Kellan, I really wish you could do something more productive." His response?
"Yea, I can't".

Kellan threw a fit in the car because he wanted the green light to mean stop and the red light to mean go. I mean an absolute fit! Guess we're going to have to re train all drivers...

We took the boys to a Pumpkin Patch (Albertson's) and Camden totally figured out we went to a store instead of an actual pumpkin patch. That kid is too smart for his own britches.

I asked the boys what they would name a dog if we got one. Camden said Madelyn and Kendall and Kellan said Black Ear...

Kellan was asking me for something and I said "hang on a sec, I'm busy". He replied "I'm busy too"....

Camden's learning about the solar system. I told him Pluto used to be a planet, but they don't consider it one anymore. He asked why and I couldn't give him a good answer. Finally he said "I know! it's because all the dinosaurs lived there and now they're gone so we don't need Pluto". I'll take that answer.

As I was going to work I apologized to Kellan for having to leave so early (this is my busy season) Before I could even finish my sentence he said "Bye! Bring back logs!" What?

Kellan was giving me the hardest time about getting in to bed. He said it hurt him. I asked where could it possibly hurt you? It's a comfy cozy bed! He said it really hurts my fingers...

The boys spilled a ton of dry cereal under their table. When they yelled and told on themselves I came out there and they were on the floor eating the cereal with their mouths. I said what the heck are you guys doing! The floor is filthy! Camden replied "We're vacuum cleaners, but we're persons too."

October 10th, 2014

I can't believe Cama Lama Log Jam Chick Magnet Thunder Thighs Poops in the Tub Mad Scientist Hair MacGyver Tilley is going to be 5 years old tomorrow!

The boys were watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while they were eating breakfast. Camden yelled- look Mom! They're mousekercising just like Daddy does!

October 16th, 2014

I can't believe I have a 5 year old! Camden's dinosaur party was a huge success. Madelyn, Kendall, Lincoln and Geovanny (from school) came.
We had an awesome cake, pin the face on the dinosaur (all the kids cheated starting with my first born son), and a pinata! Camden had been counting down the days until his birthday and was all grins all day. Except when he was shy when his visitors first got there.

Camden's been asking a lot about Kindergarten. He asks if there are toys there, etc. The other day he asked me if I would pick him up from Kindergarten. I said "of course I will!" And he said "good, because I'll probably be too tired to drive". What?!

On Camden's birthday he came up to me and sighed "I just can't be your mother anymore. I'm 5 now". What?!

Camden is so proud that he can write Mom, Dad Kellan and Camden. He was really frustrated he couldn't spell Mitzie. He didn't seem to care too much about Muffie...

Camden ran around the house singing "Oooga Chugga Oooga Chugga." What?!

Grammy dropped the boys off one day and Camden yelled "Goodbye Carrie's Mom!

Camden came up to me and said "I want to go to your parent's house so bad!"

I asked Camden (wow there's a lot of Camden stuff! He's been in rare form lately) any who, I asked Camden what he wanted for dinner. His reply, "why don't you figure it out?" Guess who went to time out for a little while?

Kellan (yay a Kellan story!) is always showing me something and saying "Mom, look! Mom, look!" I will admit that sometimes I just say "Wow Kellan" without stopping what I'm doing to look. Kellan's catching on. Now when he asks me to look, he says "Mom! Look with your eyes!"

Camden wanted to invite Geovanny and Johnny Nickels to his party. If he next asked to invite Tommy no Knees, I was going to make sure he wasn't in a gang...

Nick got new tennis shoes. As he put them on he said "watch out Kellan, these are fast and bright!" I should start a Nick blog.

When Kellan's not listening we say he can't watch the iPad. When Camden's not listening I threaten to not take him to the doctor. Sigh...

A cute snugly moment between Camden and Kellan that I happened to catch, just as Kellan yelled "Camen I don't want you to rub me! You're stinky!"

I told Camden I wasn't old enough to have a 5 year old. He replied "I know". Good answer...

I picked up Kellan from his classroom and we went to get Camden. Kellan burst into the room yelling "Camden, your Mom is here!" I think the teacher thinks I just randomly take Kellan home and bring him to school sometimes - but he's not actually my son...

Camden and Kellan have been doing so good with no accidents over night. I made sure to praise Kellan and he said "I didn't pee the bed because I didn't have anything to drink after 7:30!" (Nick's a drill sergeant...)

September 22nd, 2014

The boys were goofing around and would not eat dinner. Nick finally said sternly "Boys! Eat!" Camden turned toward Nick with a grin and said "Hi Dad, how are ya?"

We were all in the kitchen and Kellan went to the bathroom. All of the sudden he yells at the top of his lungs "AND THE HOLY SPIRIT!" I don't even want to know...

On Friday, school handed out lollipops. The boys were eating them on the way home. Camden looked at Kellan and said "you know, if you bite your lollipop you will turn into a dinosaur for 5 weeks." Kellan looked thrilled and excitedly took a big crunchy bite. Then he looked down at his hands and body and gave the most disappointed frown to Camden.

September 19th, 2014 3

The boys know better than to drive their cars on the wall. I caught Camden trying to sneakily do so and gave him the "look". So not helping my anxiety at all, he said "when I'm big and you're in Heaven I can drive my cars on the wall."

I keep asking Camden the names of his friends at school so we can invite them to his birthday party. He just looks at me blankly even though they all yell "Hi Camden!" when he gets to school. Finally I said, we're not going to have a party until you can tell me one friend's name. He thought for a moment and said "Corn-Nick-Nick." Oh you may have won the battle, son....

I can't remember where we were, but it was someplace where we could hear our voices echo. Camden was in awe! He said "Mom! I can see my voice!"

Camden: "Mom, when you're mad at me you're funny."

We've stopped putting overnight diapers on Kellan, and he's been doing pretty good. He'll go to the bathroom by himself and leave the toilet seat up and the light on- but hey- he's going. One night he had an accident, so I sat down to ask him why he didn't get up to go potty. He looked at me earnestly and said "the bugs in my bed won't let me go potty!"

As if there were doubt Camden was my son, he's anxiously and painstakingly counting down the days 'til his birthday...

I have no idea where they got this, but as we were on our way to school, both boys asked for dinosaur coffee...

I was doing laundry and just so happened to be putting my Lions jersey away. Kellan asked me if I was "going to the football."

Nick: We need to hurry this morning. Daddy has a meeting at the hospital where you were born.
Camden" Are you going there to say thank you?

Kellan came running in the room and breathlessly yelled "Mom! We don't want to chew spiders, right?" I picked the wrong time to stop sniffing glue...

We told the boys if they kept having accidents overnight, they couldn't watch the iPaT (iPad) anymore. Both got up about 22 times to pee in the potty. Oh and of course, made sure we were up too.

September 19th, 2014 2

On Saturday the boys were playing cars by my feet. Camden stopped and rubbed my foot for a second. I said "that's so nice of you, Camden!" A few seconds later he said, "Mom, can I stop rubbing and go play now?" Poor guy! I thought he would stop when he wanted to!

It's funny how much Kellan watches out for Camden. Camden was throwing a fit because we were in the living room and he had to go potty. He didn't want to go by himself. I'm trying to show him there's nothing to be afraid of, so I told him (gently) he needed to go by himself to prove there's nothing scary. Well, he kept throwing a fit. Finally Kellan got up, pumped those little arms as fast as he could, and took Camden to the bathroom. 

I wasn't paying attention (go figure) and there was an infomercial on TV. The boys had been playing cars in the living room, then Camden yelled "I want that!" Future QVC subscriber...

I was just leaving work and Nick's way of asking me to pick up junk food was by sending me a video of the boys asking for it. Camden rattled off what he wanted from McDonald's. Kellan then proceeded to ask for a "ha" dog. I didn't know McDonald's sold ha dogs let alone hot dogs!

I accidentally scratched Kellan with my ring when I was getting him dressed and Camden announced I had scratched him too. Funny I got him dressed 20 minutes before and he didn't say a word.

 

Kellan was at work with Grammy. He saw Fr. Reggie and asked him if he was Jesus.

 

 

I was in the kitchen and asked Camden to hand me something. He replied "it would be my honor." What?!

OK, so this is funny to me because I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old. I was in the bathroom while Camden was going #2. I heard a big splash and he jumped a mile and started cracking up. I think that was his first experience with water back splash from poo. Did I just lose all of my millions of followers?

Walking with the boys to get the mail, Kellan pointed at a tree and said "that's a cactus!". I told Kellan he had a vivid imagination. Camden yelled "that's not a cactus, it's a tree! Here we go again!" All with a big sigh, of course.

I picked Kellan up from school and we almost made it out the door without an incident. We had said our goodbyes and thank yous. Then Kellan pointed at a toy train and said "look at the train's butt- ew!" I grabbed this kid by his mosquito bitten arm and hightailed it out of there.

September 19th, 2014

Prayers for Camden, please. He has to have beedee beedee surgery next Friday the 26th.

We told Camden he was going to the doctor Friday to fix his beedee beedee. When he woke up this morning he was in such a good mood. He thought he was going to the doctor today. When we told him it was next Friday he sobbed. I think he and I are the only ones on Earth that like to go to the doctor...

The other day I wore a ring I rarely wear. Camden asked me where I got my new ring. Can a 4 year old be much more observant than adults?!

I was taking the boys home and there was stop and go traffic. I had to stop suddenly at one point. I asked the boys if they were OK. Camden replied "Mom, you hurt my head, stomach and chest, but I still love you."

About 4 times one day I was getting the boys in and out of the car. I buckled Kellan than got right into the drivers seat. A little Camden voice from the back said each time "Mommy, I'm not buckled." I sheepishly got out and buckled him. After the 4th time, he said, "aren't you glad I can talk, Mom?" Yes I am Camden...yes I am...

I was late getting out of work and I was supposed to pick up dinner. Nick called and put Kellan on the phone. Nick was trying to get Kellan to say "I'm hungry, where are you?" Little Kellan took it literally and kept saying he was in the toy room! He couldn't understand why we kept asking "where are you?"

Camden announced that he wanted to go down a water slide. But one he could go down safely. That's my kid...

Camden was at work with me the other week. I had him all set up at my desk with Cheez-it's and the iPad. I pulled up Candy Crush on my computer for a millisecond and he yelled to the whole office "Mom? Are you playing Candy Crush?!"

Nick went to pick up Camden from school and Camden was sitting in a chair facing the door so he could see the minute Dad got there - with two blankets and a box of Kleenex in front of him. Once again, poor kid is definitely my kid...

We were in the truck taking Kellan to Grammy and Granfy's house. Kellan yelled "DAD DAD DAD DAD DAD!" Nick finally got a chance to ask what. Kellan replied "I love this song!".

August 27th, 2014

I picked the boys up from school yesterday and Camden was sitting in the corner. I looked at the teacher alarmed and asked if he was in "time out?" She said "No! Of course not!" His stomach was bothering him so he just sat aside for a while." I said "Oh good! He's the son I don't worry about getting into trouble." I pointed at a devilishly grinning cow and said "now this one on the other hand...). The teacher looked at me incredulously and questioned "Kellan?! He's an absolute angel! When other kids are misbehaving he even tries to help the teachers out!" I grabbed the boys and all that was left of us was our shadows that were too slow to catch up...

I went to Kellan's school room to pick him up. I looked around and didn't see his big head. I saw the teacher sitting on the floor and Kellan was dramatically laying on her lap. I looked quizzically at the teacher and she gave me a "he's being dramatic look" back.

We're almost moved into the new house. We asked the boys what they thought of it. Here are the responses;
Camden: "I love it!"
Kellan: "It looks like candy!"

So much for making me feel like super mom... or even decent Mom. Camden came home with a raw runny nose yesterday and said "Mom, I had a runny nose all day. Will you take care of me?" Like it was something I may have forgotten to do if he didn't remind me...

Our new house is a little smaller than what we've been used to, so all our voices echo - especially while we're still moving stuff in. Kellan was being so loud so I yelled (of course) for him to stop yelling. He yelled back "I'M NOT YELLING, I'M JUST LOUD!"

Now that Camden and Kellan are getting used to their new school, we asked them if they had girlfriends. Kellan immediately said "Kelsey!" and Camden replied "I have boyfriends"...

August 22nd, 2014

Kellan didn't listen and I told him it hurt my feelings when he doesn't obey me. He asked which feeling it hurt.

As I was getting ready for work, Kellan came running into the bathroom cracking up. He said "I fell off the bunk bed ladder and bonked my head." I asked him if he was ok, and he said no and continued belly laughing...

Here are Kellan's stats;
24 lbs
2 feet 9 inches tall
Head measuring in at 51.1

Me: Kellan it's your turn to go to Church this Sunday
Kellan: I'll go, but if there's a lot of red lights I'm staying home

Kellan kept asking me where we were going. I told him, we're getting on the highway right now. He repied "so we can go really high?"

The boys call the American Flag the "American State Flag". And they call tattoo's "captoos". We've given up trying to correct them...

Close to bedtime Camden looked at me and said "let's start getting settled down. You go take out your contacts and I'll go sit on the couch."

Camden: Liar Liar Pants on Fire
Kellan: No! My pants are so cold. Don't be rude

August 13th, 2014

Kellan kept yelling out "BULLOVERT!" I had no idea what he was talking about until Camden corrected him. "You mean BULLDOZER, Kellan".

I asked the boys what they had for lunch at school. They both said nothing. I tried everything to get them to tell me what they had and still got nothing. Finally, Camden told me they had salmon. It's a good school and everything, but I doubt they're serving salmon for lunch...

We passed a graveyard and Kellan yelled "There's Jesus on the cross!" Camden shook his head disdainfully and said "No, Kellan. We're not in Calvary"...

It was starting to storm so it was pretty dark on our way home from school. From the backseat, Kellan was saying "the trees are going to sleep, the cactus are going to sleep, the houses are going to sleep..." and then "the french fries are going to sleep". I don't know about this kid.

On the way home from school the boys talk non stop. Sometimes I can't understand exactly what Kellan is saying, but I'll reply "Oh, ok" anyway. I got caught yesterday when Camden asked me what Kellan said. Kellan looked at me expectantly to repeat what he had said as obviously I knew since I had responded. And of course Camden won't drop it. I finally said "Radio Time!" and flipped on 104.7.

August 12th, 2014

On the way home from school yesterday Kellan announced that when Camden was little, he (Kellan) was in the clouds with the airplanes. (Insert panic attack here as I don't know where he came up with this). I asked him if he saw God. He said "Yes, and He has a hair cut like me. And His favorite song is ABCD Dinosaur!" I don't know what to take from this...

Also on the way home (this was a very eventful ride) Kellan yelled "I see Grammy!" I looked around for Grammy's truck as this was entirely possible as we take the same way home from work. I didn't see anything similar to a black truck when Kellan announced "And I see green beans!" No comment.

Same ride home (I told you it was eventful!), and Kellan started singing "5 little fishies swimming in the sea. One fell down and died". I gasped and said "Kellan! We don't talk like that!" He replied "Well, that's what happened".

When the boys say something funny and I'm driving, I'll use the Siri feature on my phone to email myself what they said to remind me to put it on the blog. (Don't judge me. I'm 36 and have no memory). Camden couldn't stand it that I kept talk emailing myself funny things Kellan was saying. I could see the wheels turning in his head. Finally he said "Eenie Meenie Miny Moe! Mom, was that funny?" I said yes so he said "Will you call that girl (Siri) and tell her what I said?"

August 11th, 2014

An actual text from Granfy while he and Grammy were watching the boys;

"Camden just strolled into the living where I Was watching the Lions! He put Tom and Jerry into the player and said, ok Granfy, enough football. I want to watch Tom and Jerry! All you have to do is press play. Granfy, can you make some popcorn!!' Guess who is eating popcorn and watching Tom and Jerry!'Lol"

An actual text from Grammy while she and Granfy were watching the boys;
"Now Kellan is screaming, "CAMMEN, I want more cock corn!"

Camden came up to me the other day and said, "Mom, can I ask you a favorite?"

Kellan was being kind of shy when he got up this morning. Camden said "Mom, Kellan just wants to be adorable."

Another actual text from Grammy;
"Your children will tell us everything just like you guys did to Grandma and Grandpa Gall. LOL they just told us that Grammy didn't talk nice to Mommy.

August 6th, 2014

It is so funny how different Camden and Kellan are even though they're so close in age. Kellan still wears a pull up overnight, but we tell him if he has to go potty to get up and go to the bathroom. Last night the bathroom light flicked on, the toilet seat banged up and there was a waterfall sound. I checked and Kellan was just going potty in the middle of the night all by himself. I told him to wait for me to go and I would put him back to bed. Before I finished peeing he was already back in bed and covered up. Now when Camden has to go potty in the middle of the night it's an entirely different story. First, there is a loud whine from the boys room. When one of us can finally get in there to get Camden, we have to get him out of the top bunk and sit in the bathroom with him while he goes. And of course he wants to have a lengthy conversation. I can barely see him without my contacts in let alone want to hold a conversation at 2am. Then, we have to lift Camden back into bed and pat his butt until he falls asleep again. And if he happened to come up with some good conversation while in the bathroom, this conversation continues while you're trying to get him to go back to sleep...

The boys and I were talking on the way home from school the other day. Camden was talking about his birthday, and I said "Camden, you were born on the 11th day of October in 2009." I looked in the rear view mirror and saw him face palm...

The boys were playing in the toy room. Camden came out and informed me that Kellan is one crazy kid. Tell me something I don't know!

I was trying to discipline Camden and kept yelling at him. I finally said, "Camden, I don't want to yell at you. I just want you to listen to me." He replied, "Mom, I'm just a child". My turn to face palm.

Conversation between Kellan and I;
Kellan: Mom, what does underwear start with
Me: U
Kellan: You or me?
Kellan: What does pants start with
Me: P
Kellan: I didn't pee my pants!

Nick was leaving for work and called bye to the boys who were in the toy room. Camden yelled "Bye Dad! I miss you already!"

There is a leftover party favor in my car. A birthday hat from Alexandria's birthday party last month. Every morning I take the boys to school, Camden silently puts the hat on. This has been happening for months. I don't mention it either. It's kind of like the elephant in the room...

Kellan is always asking if that's a bad "work" (word). I don't know where his accent comes from.

At Chili's, they have mini iPad type games for the kids to play. The boys just love them. There's an alphabet game where letter 'n' stands for nibble. It's a gingerbread man and as you touch his arms, legs, etc., they disappear. Like they're being "nibbled" away. Camden thinks it's hilarious to get the gingerbread man down to just his beedee beedee and yell this out to the whole restaurant. My laughter probably doesn't help.

Camden kept saying he "catched" the ball. I kept correcting him saying, "we say 'caught' the ball". He said "catched" a few more times. I exasperatedly said "CAUGHT!" He looked at me and said, "Mom, I say what I say".

Morbid little Kellan likes to watch car crashes on YouTube. He asked Grammy to put some on for him, but for some reason didn't like the ones Grammy came up with. Grammy told Kellan he had to tell her more so she could figure out what he wanted. Kellan replied, "more car crashes".

Kellan had jean shorts on yesterday (funny in itself) and came running up to me cracking up. He laughed and said "my shorts have pockets on the butt! That's so gross!"

July 24th, 2014

This morning I was getting the boys in the car to take them to school. I opened the back door, and Camden climbed to the other car seat. I buckled Kellan in. As I came around the side, Camden had rolled his window down, hung his arm out and said "Hey Baby!"

I caught Camden signing to himself. Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise"

July 23rd, 2014

Camden informed me that he learned he has to brush his teeth in the morning and at night. Crap! We barely had once a day down.

 

We were at the Diamondback's game with Kellan. I asked him if he had to go potty and he said yes. I turned around to get my purse and when I turned back to him, he had his pants pulled down... sigh...

 

On the way to a birthday party Camden was asking me questions about Jesus dying for our sins. He thought a minute and then asked if Mitzie died for our sins too. I don't think Mitzie would have been up for that kind of responsibility....

 

Camden picked his nose and asked me to roll down his window so he could put the booger outside. I said Ew! Camden No! He replied "Come on, Mom. There's no police-es.

 

 

July 20th, 2014

Kellan went to his first pro baseball game today. Diamondbacks vs. Cubs. He had an absolute blast!

July 17th, 2014

Camden : "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and forever shall be.... Mom?... Who's Shelby?"

Kellan came running at me grinning and yelling "MOM APPLY APPLY!" (That's how he pronounces "a fly").

July 14th, 2014

Camden's had a little *ahem* rash on his bee dee bee dee. We were eating at Sardella's and he was half way across the aisle from me, whipped it out, and asked me if it looked better. I have no idea if any other patrons were in Sardella's as I never once lifted my head again.

On our way home from the fireworks that we never saw, Camden asked me if gasoline was gas. He replied, "oh good. I can go to sleep now".

Kellan was in his car seat and after I strapped him in, he said "don't worry, Mom. I'll get tall later".

We were watching a cartoon and they were talking about prom. I asked Kellan who he would take to prom and he said "the girl with the eyes." Glad he doesn't have too high of standards.

Speaking of cartoons, any time a cartoon character gets bonked in the head or hurt, they laugh hysterically. Do you think I should be concerned? "Oh Dr. Schaffer!"

We say our prayers in the car every morning on the way to school. Camden knows them but asks me to say them with him. The whole time we do this Kellan yells "EENIE MEENIE MINIE MO!" at the top of his lungs. As to not be left out, 'cause God forbid he learned any prayers.

Kellan pooped. And I mean there's not even an adjective to describe this poop. When he got up off the potty I looked at it and said "Jesus!" He said, that's not Jesus, mom, that's poop!

Camden said something about being a good boy and eating all his dinner. I said, I like where your head is at. He pointed to his head and asked "here?"

July 4th, 2014

Kellan told me Muffie ripped the stickers off his airplane. I said, ok, but God knows when you're lying. He replied, I think God's lying. Don't worry, I quickly ran away from Kellan in case there were any sudden lightning strikes...

July 2nd, 2014

We were walking in the door and I asked Camden to please throw an empty water bottle in the trash. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and said "you mean the recycling bin?"...

We were face timing with Uncle Neil. Kellan took one look at the screen and said "that's the guy that bonked my nose!"

I picked the boys up from school and we were on our way out the door. They were ahead of me and I watched Kellan bend down, pick a crumb of food up off the floor, and put it in his mouth. I then saw a cute well dressed perfectly groomed little girl a few feet away. I claimed her as my own for that 3 second period.

We had some cupcakes on the counter and the boys were trying to shove down dinner to get one. Camden finished first so I gave him a cupcake. There were four cupcakes left in the box. Camden said "Mom, when Kellan gets his cupcake, there will be 3 left!" I said, "close! There will be 2 left." I thought for a minute and realized his math was absolutely correct and mine was wrong. Good thing I work in payroll! Definitely picked the right career path there!

I told Camden he will always be my little boy- no matter how old he is. He said "but I won't live with you when I'm a Dad." I said "that's probably right, Camden." He thought for a beat and said "But you still live with your parents." ...

We were looking at houses Saturday and Kellan asked the realtor where the toy room was. Guess that's his selling point...

I think Kellan's going to be a nurse. Camden was on the couch crying because his ear hurt and Kellan sat there and patiently rubbed his head. So sweet!

Camden's on an antibiotic and they have to give him a dose at school. The teacher said "Wow! He takes his medicine like a champ!" I replied "that's my little druggie" In retrospect, probably not the best thing to say...

I was comforting Kellan last night when he bonked his nose on Camden because they were playing too roughly. I had my face close to his face and accidentally inhaled one of his tears. I don't need to be checked out for that do I? I mean, it's just saline, right? Where's my Xanax?...

June 25th, 2014

Kellan pronounces marbles "marbaballs" Camden pronounces binoculars "bi nuclear's".

Camden wanted sand for the sand table so badly. He told Granfy "go to Walmart and tell them your children really want sand to play with."

On the way to church Camden yelled "OUCH!" and said he scratched himself with one of his dinosaurs. He could not get off this topic. He indicated the dinosaur horns scratched him. As we were walking in to church and passing a nice old couple, Camden yells "My dinosaurs are horny!"

Kellan woke up at 2:39am asking for candy...

Camden said he needed to go to the doctor... Dr. Seuss...

There's not a more melodically pleasing sound than a child's laughter. Unless it's your own kids loud laughter in a quiet restaurant...

The only state license plates we didn't see

Connecticut
Delaware
DC
Hawaii
Montana
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont

Not too bad!

The Trip Back

Thursday June 19th, 2014
All times AZ time

6:33am - Left Nana's
6:34am - Boys asked for candy
6:34 am- Rainy and stormy (Is Snoopy writing this?)
7:11am - Kellan sneezed. Nothing flew into the front seat
7:53am - Kellan wants to go back to Nana's house
8:19am - Iowa (or Iyla as the boys call it)
8:41am - Camden yelled "Quiet! My program is on!"
9:00am - Kellan asked if we could have dinner
10:05am - Kellan asked what's taking so long
10:24am - Camden says he has a scratch shaped like a "V". Nick questioned"a V?" and Camden replied - "yea a V's a letter from the alphabet"
11:09am - Nick said Camden's jokes are not funny
11:10am - Hissing sounds are coming from the front and back seats. I'm driving and don't care to know why they're hissing at each other.
11:11am- I think Kellan has a lisp
11:36am - Missouri
11:43am - Kellan out
12:40pm - Camden's singing "YELOW spells LELLOW! Like the early morning sun!!!!" (This last part must be sung at the top of your lungs and at the highest pitch you can reach.
12:41pm - Now Camden is singing "BOW spells blue!" (This must be sung while clearing your throat 176 times).
1:22pm- Camden asked where Bikini Bottom is. (SpongeBob's house)
1:23pm - Camden's asking us how to spell certain words. I swear we did play along with this educational game, but there's only so much even the perfect parent would be able to take! So after 3 whole words we told him just to watch Tom & Jerry.
1:25pm Kansas
1:30pm - I took Camden in to go to the bathroom and a lady in there said "Aw! You love your Nana?" Camden looked at her in awe and said "how did you know we just saw Nana?!" (He had his green I love Nana shirt on)...
1:43pm - Kellan- "We don't hit Muffie or SpongeBob. And if we hit SpongeBob, we say sorry." Ok...
2:55pm - Kellan- "I'm the doorbells friend." I don't even want to ask.
3:01pm - Kellan at the top of his lungs singing "JESUS LOVE ME DINOSAUR!"
3:05pm - Kellan "My butt hurts,I need candy."
3:25pm- I gleefully came back out from the gas station for toys for the boys. They were monkeys with candy and cymbals. I knew Nick would be so mad. Little did I know, I was stuck in the car with the cymbals as well. I didn't think that whole thing through at all!
3:30pm - Kellan dropped his toy so Dad had to basically climb into the back seat while the car was moving. Kellan just thought this was hilarious and his little laugh turned into a HO HO HO!
4:38pm - Got to Oklahoma. Kellan complained from the back seat "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO HOMA!"
4:39pm - Kellan- "YEA HOMA!" (He may be bi-polar?)
4:50pm - We saw a real Dusty Crop Hopper! Kellan was just beside himself with excitement. Camden was a little skeptical.
5:51pm - Someone tootie frootied
6:10pm - Nick and I put bets on when the kids would be out. I said 6:50 and he said 7:11
7:12pm - Neither of us were right
7:29pm - Scariest thing ever! We stopped at a gas station. The storm was horrible. A huge burst of lightning came down while I was walking Kellan into the store. It hit a transformer across the street and sparks flew everywhere! The lights flickered, but went to the generator. The thunder was louder than my children in the car for 30 hours
8:01pm - Camden had to go to the bathroom so we pulled over. Kellan had fallen asleep, and when we opened the truck door, the truck light came on. Kellan woke up and said "Daddy you turned on the light and woke me up and made me sad!"
8:26pm - Both boys are asleep and a huge duck was shot. I need to check their pants
9:13pm - Texas
9:28 pm - Kellan woke up and cried a little. Then he said "there's a train on my side!" and went back to sleep
10:13pm - Camden woke up and cried a little. He said he couldn't see the movie. There was no movie playing. Oh and he had his candy monkey clutched tightly in his little growing hand.
11:01pm - We got to the hotel to stop for the night. We just got all the kids and suitcases in from the rain, laid down on the bed and Kellan announced he wanted to go to Chili's.
11:11pm - There were 3 pillows for the bed and 4 of us. As we were falling asleep, I made darn sure I had a pillow. I woke up several times in the middle of the night, and each time I noticed Nick Camden and I sharing pillows and Kellan had one to himself. And of course, he was only using the tiniest corner of said pillow. Grrrr.

Friday June 20th, 2014

4:40am - On the road
4:41am - Camden pointed out Chili's. Kellan pointed out numbers he saw
5:47am - New Mexico
7:50am - We asked the boys to be quiet, so Kellan's chanting "talk talk talk" from the backseat
7:51am - Both boys have their blankets over their head, but unfortunately, we can still hear them
7:54am - Camden just shushed us because he's on "the phone"
8:02am - Camden said he has 20 fingers. I asked if he was drinking and he said yes
8:03am - ZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA now I said my ZYX's that's not quite what you expected
8:11am - Camden yelled for Kellan to answer him for 23 minutes straight. When Kellan finally answered Camden said "nothing"
8:17am - When Kellan sees cows on the side of the road, he calls them "cowboys". I think because he knows he's a cow and doesn't look like that.
8:43am - Nick just announced that we're in Albu-quirky. I'm definitely the funny one
8:44am - Evil belly laughs coming from the back seat. The animals are watching Tom & Jerry
9:12am - Hiding Rolo's from the kids
10:50am - Camden - "I have a great idea! Maybe if I fall asleep I can get a slothed (stuffed) animal!"
10:51am - Kellan woke up from his nap and yelled "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!" ?
11:12am - Camden is sleeping. Kellan is awake. No chance of naps at the same time- that's for sure
11:23am - Arizona!
11:24am - Kellan's singing up and down while moving his head from side to side. Sigh...
11:34am - Kellan announces he wants to see the two Granfy's
12:03pm - "SCUSE ME!" comes from the back seat. I don't have the energy or interest to turn around and investigate
12:31pm- Kellan asked where we were going
12:53pm- Kellan yelled "WHERE ARE YOU GRANFY? I'M TALKING AT YOU!"
1:04pm - Kellan's arguing with me. I said he's a good boy and he wants to be a bad boy
1:24pm - Camden- "Kellan took a nap but he's still grumpy." Kellan replied "I'm a bad guy."
1:29pm - Camden- "Mom, when are we seeing your parents?"
1:36pm - Kellan - " I want to see Father's Day!" We really need to start locking up the medicine cabinet...
1:43pm - I asked Kellan if Granfy was a girl or boy. (We're working on pronouns) He said Granfy's a boy and the other one is a girl
1:44pm - Kellan said "I shot a big duck and it's stuck in my chair!" Camden said "you stink boy!"
2:4pm - Nick asked Camden what the first thing he was going to do when he gets home. He said take his shoes off. October birthday for sure
2:26pm - Kellan - " 'Camen' you're 'berry' rude!"
2:27pm - Told my kids two wrongs don't make a right. Where do I sign up for AARP?
3:26pm - Home!

June 17th, 2014

The boys are sure tearing up Nana's empty house. I don't know where they get the energy.

When I drop the boys off at school, I feel so guilty having to leave them. I always have tears in my eyes walking back to the car. I picked them up the other day and went to Kellan's classroom first. He said, can you come back in one minute? He was finishing up a drawing. So I said OK and went to Camden's classroom and he did the same thing. They're lucky they're cute or....

Kellan was throwing cars the other day and I kept asking him to stop. I gave him a stern look and he told me to look at Camden.

Nana has gorgeous carpet and obviously doesn't want us eating on it. The boys stand right on the line to the carpet and tile of course. I accidentally took a piece of food on the carpet to pick something up and Kellan yelled "MOM! WE CAN ONLY HAVE FOOD ON THE TILE"

We had salmon for dinner. Kellan kept calling it "dammit". Salmon must not be a super food because we didn't have the energy to correct him.

I asked Kellan if I could have a hug. He said no and gave me a high five.

We were playing cards and Nick said he was overstimulated.

The "You're Going to Miss Me When You're Gone" song came on and Camden said that was my favorite song. I don't ever remember mentioning that.

I told Kellan to come here because he had an eye crispy. He pulled it out and flung it on Nana's carpet. Hope Nana doesn't read this!

At Nana's we were sleeping in the basement. Kellan woke up without waking us up and went upstairs by himself. Nana found him at the top of the stairs with one tear on his cheek. Broke my heart, until he started being a shit all day.

We were all deciding where to go to lunch and someone threw out Olive Garden. Camden yelled "Yes! Olive Garden! They have the best chocolate milk"!

So, my new medication must be kicking in. The boys and I were at McDonald's and Camden announced he had to go to the bathroom right as their ice cream cones came. I didn't know what to do. I could see the bathroom from our booth and it was a one staller. I took a deep breath and said, ok, Camden you can go by yourself, but you need to hurry. Camden walked toward the bathroom and saw and old man on the way and asked if the old man could help him. The old man opened the bathroom door for Camden and waited outside. He checked on him once, and then out came Camden with a huge grin. Success!

We visited the Paulsons the other day. We stopped to see Great Grandma Vivian first, and the whole time, Kellan called Rachael Great Granfa Granfa.

It's been raining here and we've been getting soaked getting in and out of the car. Camden said he wished Nana had a parking garage so he wouldn't have to get wet. I don't even know if he's enjoying his childhood.

Part 1 3rd Annual Trip to Minnesota

Friday June 6th, 2014. (All times AZ time).

1:28pm - Picked up Camden's beedee beedee medication and we're on our way!
1:48pm - Camden asked for quiet in here.
2:02pm - Camden's out. I gave Kellan a look to be quiet and he looked at me with blue eyes, pink cheeks and a sly grin.
2:04pm - Kellan's singing his ABC's at the top of his lungs. He's most confident at WXYZ.
2:28pm - Kellan is so tired. He's cross eyed with his mouth wide open. Oh Mr. Sandman!
2:53pm - Both kids sleeping. Aaaahhhhhh. Kellan's sweaty.
2:59pm - Mom had to stop to pee. Both kids woke up. Crap!
3:06pm- Kellan asked for a piece of kickorice (licorice)
3:13pm - As we got on I-40 Nick mentioned that this was the 1st of 2 turns we'll take the whole trip and got really excited.
3:41pm - Camden's sitting with the blanket over his head. He was a little pouty. We said "we love you" and he reluctantly replied "thanks."
3:52pm - Kellan was talking and Camden interrupted. Kellan looked shocked.
Kellan asked Camden a question and Camden said he needed some quiet time. When did he become such an old man?
3:53pm - Truck Truck Truck!
4:15pm - Crunch crunch crunch from the back seat. Better then before.
4:30pm- Passed a train. Kellan yelled "YAY THOMAS!"
4:31pm - Katy Perry's song Firework came on. Kellan yelled "MADAGASCAR!"
4:32pm - Kellan sneezed. A cheerio came flying into the front seat.
4:34pm - Either Camden's philosophical or on drugs. He asked if the train was real.
4:44pm - When Kellan asks for something, my usual reply is "if you're good". His reply is always "WE ARE!" Pronounced like NOIR as in Pinot.
4:56pm - Holbrook Wigwam hotel!
5:05pm - Kellan reminds us that we are not to hit Nana. ?
5:06pm - The boys have asked a million times if we could see Nana. I don't know what they think this torturous trek is for.
5:07pm - We're going through an area where they're re tarring the road. Camden said he smelled peppers.
5:08pm - Dad asked Camden to stop asking why so he thought a minute and asked how.
5:16pm - Camden took his shoes off. The smell in the car is almost unbearable.
5:55pm - Camden- rrrrr Rabbit! rrrrrr Rainbow! Kellan- rrrrr K!
6:01pm New Mexico!
6:02pm - Nick said we're one state closer to seeing Nana. Camden said- that's not so bad. Nick Kellan and I just looked at each other.
6:03pm - I got in trouble for talking because Camden was playing the quiet game.
6:11pm - Another whiff of Camden's feet wafted through the truck.
I keep telling the boys to just play with each other (and leave us alone). They started fighting, so I said just play with yourself. They couldn't figure out why Nick and I were laughing.
7:08pm - Camden always asks if I'm happy at him. It's his way of checking to see if he's being a good boy. He asked and I said yes. Kellan thought about this and asked if he was happy at me.
7:13pm - Nick told Kellan he was crabby. Kellan yelled "NO I'M BATMAN!"
7:17pm - Kellan frowning "Mom? Is it getting dark? Is it getting Halloween?"
7:28pm - Camden's lip singing to We are Never Getting Back Together.
7:38pm - Camden was complaining about being hungry. We are close to the hotel so trying to hold off on dinner. He was quiet until he noticed the Golden Arches in the distance. We braced ourselves then "McDONALD's!)
7:48pm - stopped for the night in Albuquerque.
8:00pm - A car passed us going pretty quickly. Nick said they might be going to their Nana's. Camden laughed and said "there's only one Nana".
8:20pm - We braced ourselves again as we passed a "BUFFALO WILD WINGS!"
8:35pm - A tired Kellan was a little grouchy when we got to the hotel and said "I just want to sit on the couch and drink my chocolate milk".

Saturday June 7th, 2014
6:18am - On the road again. Set the boys up with a DVD and headphones.
7:09am - Kellan's reading the book "Who Loves Camden and Kellan" at the top of his lungs.
7:19am - Kellan asked for help putting on his sunglasses (headphones).
9:16am - All 3 boys peed on the side of the road. Sigh...
9:31am - Texas
10:15am - Bad accident. Road backed up forever, but we got to detour. Thank God. Hope every one's OK!
10:35am - Cadillac Ranch. Dad thought it was too muddy to get out for pictures.
10:50am - The Big Texan restaurant. Nick had to stop to take a selfie.
11:11am - Mom drives
11:32am - Camden's not asleep but he sounds like he's snoring.
11:52am - Nick's eating a protein bar and Kellan asks for it. Nick says no. Kellan yells "But Granfy says I can!"
12:15pm - Cam out!
12:25pm - Kellan out!
12:31pm - Oklahoma. Both boys tooted.
12:48pm - Kellan has bad bed head
2:21pm - Stopped for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. The iPads haven't made it to the Oklahoma locations.
3:21pm - Camden to Kellan - "do you want to go on a swing? You have to be a good boy!"
3:37pm - Kellan to Camden - "I dropped my cars, Camden. Do you want to drop yours?"
3:55pm - Kellan put the blanket over his head and pretended he was a ghost. Then he asked Camden to scare him. I don't think he gets the ghost concept.
4:12pm - Kellan said his eyes hurt  because he's looking at Camden.
4:15pm - Kellan to Camden. "Camden, here's medicine! Time to get up!"
4:32pm - Kellan asked me if we were going to Play Doh. Sigh...
4:35pm - Without realizing we had both done this, both Nick and I were hiding candy from Kellan. If we took a bite of something, we would hide our heads so he wouldn't see and ask for any. Now that's top notch parenting at it's finest!
4:44pm - All 3 boys jamming to the Planes ending credits.
4:56pm - I said - there's an Iowa plate. Camden brightened up and said "Just like my friend Iyla!"
5:12pm -Kansas
5:50pm - I told Nick I was funny and he knows it. He said he wasn't going to clap his hand though.
5:51pm - Asked Camden and Kellan if they wanted to drive. Silence.
6:09pm - Nick is now calling the jug of water we brought from home the chalice of awesomeness.
6:15pm - Kellan impromptu side of the road pee.
6:33pm - 3 doe a deer 3 female deer
7:01pm - Seriously don't even want to relive what we just went through trying to book a hotel for tonight.
7:19pm - Kellan's watching "Oh Me" in the dark. He has the biggest smile on his face.
8:20pm - I told the boys they've been very good today. Kellan looked at us incredulously. What?!
8:27pm - Missouri
8:43pm - Camden said he's seeing shooting stars. Kellan said he saw the sun.

Sunday June 8th, 2014
4:33am - On the road again. Kellan is the entity of bed head.
4:40am - Camden's talking in the 3rd person
5:50am - Iowa
6:32am - Camden dropped his car and asked me to get it. Kellan said, no Camden, not until we stop. Maybe they do listen after all?
6:38am - Passed the turn for Council Bluffs, Iowa. Nick said I call your Council Bluffs.
6:53am - We saw a truck that drives on the railroad tracks. We were going to point this out to Camden, but knew it would lead to a slew of questions. So, we just left this alone. At this point, we're just phoning in on parenting.
8:13am - We all have to poop and are waiting to go at Nana's.
8:32am - Camden took his shoes off again. I don't know how long it took us all to regain consciousness.
8:39am - Camden and I are in the parking lot with our windows down. A guy walked by and Camden proceeded to tell him we were going to see Nana along with the rest of his life story.
8:41am - Camden said a guy at the gas station was 10 because he looked him up and down and counted to 10.
9:00am - Camden "this little piggy wants to go to the gas station and poop. This little piggy wants to see Nana"... We're so proud.
9:07am - Nana chants coming from the backseat.
9:08am - Camden just said I need to go potty and read a book...?...
9:09am - Nick told the boys we were going to take a picture at the Minnesota sign. Kellan said were going to the property to see the sign.
9:10am - Camden's shoes are off again...
9:17am - Camden asked if the Minnesota sign said Nana.
9:58am - Tom & Jerry is playing in Spanish. We're not sure why...
10:08am - Both boys just asked where we're going. I'm going to lose it.
10:26am - Kellan- "the DVD's off!" We said- yes Kellan, we turned it off. Kellan- "so does that mean we're looking out the window now?"
10:48am - Nana's!

June 3rd, 2014

How can you not adore Kellan. When he's earnestly telling you something, his voice gets raspy.

On the other hand, Kellan's in the "you're not my friend" stage. He told me I was his friend but Dad wasn't. That was fine with me. He only got in trouble when he said Camden was his friend and I wasn't. I just realized that I told Camden to ignore Kellan when he says he's not his friend, but when Kellan said that to me, I freaked out! Guess I have to apologize to my 4 1/2 year old...

Camden got to try out a soccer club at school. I asked him how it was. He got so excited. I thought- wow, maybe we'll have a little athlete on our hands. Here's verbatim what he told me about the really cool awesome soccer demo. "Mom! We played soccer, and guess what?! They gave us water so we could stay hydrated!" Yea... gotcha.... my kid...

Kellan's very imaginative right now. He tells story after story. Camden is very factual and keeps letting Kellan know that what he's saying is not true. Camden said "you're wrong, Kellan." Kellan screamed back "I'M NOT WRONG, I'M KELLAN AND A COW AND A PUPPY!"

Camden went to the dentist yesterday in the same shirt Kellan wore at his check up a month ago. Maybe they won't charge us if they think we can only afford one shirt?

Speaking of the dentist yesterday, Camden told everyone really loudly he had diarrhea and Kellan shot a huge duck and stunk up the whole office. Yea...gotcha...my kids...

 

May 29th, 2014

My cell phone rang today and there was a tiny monkey on the other end;

Me: Hello?
Monkey: Mommy? Can I go to Chili's with Grammy?
Me: Why do you want to go to dinner with Grammy?
Monkey: Because I love you so so much

Camden was home yesterday afternoon. Dad was drifting in and out of a nap on the couch. He awoke to Camden touching his nose. As Camden touched Dad's nose quickly, Camden shot a little duck. Then he touched Daddy's nose for a longer time and shot a longer duck.

Camden asked me for ice water with 3 ice cubes. (OCD or Nick much?) I gave him the ice water without really thinking and he threw a fit. "THERE'S 4 ICE CUBES IN THIS GLASS! I WANTED 3!" I just can't...

May 28th, 2014

Camden graduated preschool today! Well, kind of. He's going to go to preschool another year to try to catch up on size. No need to catch up academically, the teacher says he's probably gifted! Beam!

Kellan was crying in the middle of the night so I went to check on him. He was crying for water. I bent down to ask him to say please, and he laid a big wet sloppy kiss on my face. That was please enough for me!

Camden just thought his swimsuit shirt was awesome. He thought it was so cool there was a dog with a pirate hat on it. I couldn't bring myself to tell him the shirt said "Capt. Adorable"...

May 27th, 2014

Camden went to the doctor today. He has an ear infection. He weighs 27. 5 lbs and is 37 1/2 inches tall. Needless to say Dr. Schaffer wants us to make another appointment with the geneticist.

Kellan has been doing so good in Room 7. We keep bribing him, but he told me he didn't want to go to Room 7 because he misses Miss Haley. Aw! Maybe we should have asked him what was wrong instead of jumping right to the bribe.

The boys look so forward to Friday's after school because it's lollipop day! The boys ran to the front desk only to see they were out of lollipops! They looked at the empty bowl, each other, and back at the empty bowl. Then two pairs of sad eyes turned toward Daddy. Well, the boys saved the day by going next door to Walgreens and buying lollipops for the whole school! They were the talk of the town (for something positive this time...)

Nick turned to me and said "Do you sometimes feel that talking to Kellan is like talking to a drunk person?" I said of course not. He's my son and he's perfect. ahahaahah Even I can't keep a straight face with that one!

We told the boys they had to clean the toy room in order to play a game they wanted to play. Camden was so good and cleaned everything right up. Kellan dilly dallied and basically did nothing. Then he was so upset when Camden got to play the game and he didn't. He went and dumped out the whole tub of cars and started to pick them up so he could play the game.

Camden's really whiny so I just gave him some Motrin. I told him he'd feel better when it kicked in. He freaked out! WHY IS THE MEDICINE GOING TO KICK ME! Bad choice of words, Mom, bad choice of words.

May 23rd, 2014

Kellan was walking around the house singing "The Farmer in the Hell". We didn't correct him.

I asked the boys where I went to college. They replied "French Fries". Yeah, pretty much sums it up...

I told the boys I was going to a conference in Minnesota and they asked if I could bring Nana back.

We were trying to get Kellan to take a nap the other day. He kept coming out of his room and we would put him right back in there. He was up but staying in his room. The air conditioner clicked on and slammed his door shut. I think he thought it was one of us because he laid right down and took a nap. Sometimes we use fear tactics for compliance from our children...

Kellan was asking so many questions one day, I just said "that's how God made it". He asked one more question and then said "never mind, that's just how that guy made it".

Kellan had his car carrying case that looks like a briefcase. He started walking towards the door, waved and said "Bye! I'm Granfy and I'm going to church".

Kellan was in trouble the other day (go figure!). I went to tell him he could come out of his room and he yelled "YOU'RE A BAD BOY, MOMMY!". Guess who stayed in his room a little longer?

Camden was walking through the house singing at the top of his lungs "YELWOW spells LELLOW!". Whatever you say Cam Jam.

Camden loves the days he goes to the "curdy road" school. He is just so anxious to get to go into Grammy's room. I make him sit with me while I'm getting ready for work. Finally, he said "Mom? When are you going to work? I love you though". That kid!

In Walgreen's, Kellan pointed to everything he saw, including NyQuil, and said "I want that for Christmas!". I told him he would have to ask Santa.Then I asked him, "Kellan? Do you think Santa would say you were naughty or nice this year?". He thought a minute then replied "Happy!". I think that about sums it up.

I'm trying to think of what to get Mrs. Duggan for a teacher's gift from Camden this year. Then it hit me, we'll probably get all of Camden's teachers a little something nice. From Kellan, we'll need to get really good gifts to make up for the year. :)

May 8th,2014

Kellan, who is almost 38 months old, is wearing a size 12 month shirt today...sigh...

May 7th, 2014

Kellan moved up to Room 7! We don't really know what that means, but Day Care is cheaper now ;)

May 6th, 2014

Camden just wrote "MOM" and handed it to me. This kid is a genius.
I asked Camden if he knew who Harry Potter is? He looked and me and said no, who is she? I guess that answers my question.
Nick and I were cracking up the other day. We remember vividly what Camden's first sentence ever spoken was "Bad piggy ate my pumpkin!"
I was trying desperately to get the boys to take a nap. I kept going in there to ask them (nicely of course) to be quiet. I did have a couple moments  of silence. Then the bedroom door opened up and I heard "Hi Mom, it's Camden James. I have to go potty." How can you get mad at that? Oh very easily...

May 1st, 2014

Camden stayed home "sick" with Granfy yesterday. Granfy bought him a wooden log set. Camden pointed at the box and said "Log" then pointed to himself and said "Jam!" Log Jam!

I was getting Camden in his jammies last night and noticed that his shoes were on the wrong feet. I asked him why - he sighed and said it was a rough day...

Kellan was playing with his laptop and pointing out letters. This kid is a lot smarter than we give him credit for. I'm feeling he's flying under the radar so we don't make him apply himself. We pointed to G for Granfy. Then he wanted to ask how to spell the other Granfy's name. I said that's "G" too! He threw a fit wanting the real letter for the other Granfy!

April 28th, 2014

Kellan came running in to the room and asked "Mom? We can't eat clouds, right?" I said no. Then I thought I probably should have asked why...

I kept asking Kellan to show me his pinky finger and he had never looked so confused in his life. I finally held out my hand to show him what I meant and he replied, my finger isn't pink.

Camden is usually up a few times during the night and by 5:30am without a doubt. Kellan is a little teenager that we have to wake up to get ready for school.

At take your kids to work day, the presenter asked the kids to raise their hands and say what their favorite movie is. Camden raised his hand right away. As the presenter asked the other kids and got closer to asking Camden, beads of sweat dropped down my back. What the heck was going to come out of this kid's mouth? Finally Camden was called on and it took him a few excruciating seconds to spit it out. He finally said his favorite movie was The Grinch. Ok, not too bad. I can deal with that answer...

April 25th, 2014

Word for word text from Grammy Gall (with spelling corrected, of course).

"Will you please let that little pink eyed urchin grow his hair out, geeze!"

April 24th, 2014

Today was take your kids to work day. 'nuff said...
This morning Kellan looked at me and said "You're wearing that to work?" And I thought he was the kid that actually liked me!
This morning Camden poked at a zit on my face and asked why I had so many owies. And I thought he was the kid that actually liked me!
We were watching Cars last night and the DVD kept pausing and skipping. Yes, it's well used.
It paused for a long time and Kellan yelled "Daddy! It needs batteries!"
It took me all day on Easter to figure it out, but Kellan calls Easter eggs Mister eggs. Ha!

April 18th, 2014

At Kellan's school, the kids will ask the teachers to draw hearts, stars, etc. on their hands. Miss Haley asked Kellan what he wanted drawn on his hand, and he said a bathtub. Sigh....

April 16th, 2014

Camden was talking non stop in the car on our way home one evening. Finally he stopped and I happened to whisper something to Nick. He yelled, Mom! Stop Talking! I'm trying to sleep!

Kellan was drawing on his table with dry erase markers. I gave him a wash cloth so he could wipe it off. He kept yelling - Mom! I want the sink in it! I could not figure out what he meant. Finally I realized, he wanted the cloth wet. Duh!

Kellan's been in a hitting mode lately. Camden came up to me and said solemnly, I don't know why Kellan always hits me. Maybe he thinks I'm a bad guy.

Kellan asked where Granfy was, then when I told him he asked where the other Granfy was.

One morning Camden asked for apple juice. I asked him to start thinking about what he wanted for breakfast. He replied, you start thinking about my apple juice...

Kellan's finally potty trained! The teacher said in all her years of teaching, she's never seen a kid totally in diapers one day and totally potty trained the next. We just had to bribe him with bubbles. Who knew?

Camden's thing, and now Kellan's, is I NEVER! I NEVER get to go in Grammy's room.... I NEVER get to have candy... I NEVER get to watch Tom and Jerry!

Kellan went from speaking a little to full on paragraphs. He talked non stop and I mean non stop yesterday. Even when he was put in bed, he was talking to himself until he fell asleep.

Camden makes Granfy rub his back at night. Kellan's picked up on this and now looks at me when I say goodnight and says "you rubbin' me? Just 5 minutes:.

Camden was playing in the toy room so I yelled "Camden?" to check on him. He said, I'm in the toy room Mom, can you hear my voice?

I asked Camden and Kellan what they wanted to be when they grow up. Camden said Police Officer and Kellan said a "K".

Kellan came up to me last night with his shoes and said let's go to Presley's!

Kellan loves Peanut Butter Pizza (Peter Piper Pizza). He grabbed my face and earnestly told me we have to put money in the games before we eat. And we have to have the buzzer to know when our pizza is ready.

Kellan wants to go to Peanut Butter Pizza with Camden, Daddy, the 2 Granfy's and Nana.

April 3rd, 2014

Camden asked Grammy for some gum dramatically adding that his PARENTS never let him have gum. I didn't even know he knew what the term parents meant...

April 3rd, 2014

Camden 4
Kellan 3

Kellan went pee pee in the potty twice at school yesterday!

April 2nd, 2014

Camden 4 26 lbs
Kellan 3

This morning at school Ruby walked in and saw Kellan. She blushed and Kellan spilled a whole glass of apple juice. They definitely have something going on! :) It's cute for now...

Yesterday Camden got in trouble for having "captoos". Guess they're frowned upon at Catholic school...

March 31st, 2014

Camden asked if Nicholas and licorice rhymed. I said kind of. Kellan yelled- I want some licorice!
Every time we pass a Circle K, Kellan yells K for Kellan! Yep - every time we pass a gas station...

March 28th, 2014

I took Camden to work today. He fell down the stairs. Sigh.
Camden does not use contractions when he speaks. "I can not" "I do not know" "I will not be able to"

March 27th, 2014

Dr. Schaffer said we really need to push Kellan to use the potty. :( That kid will go to college in diapers, and he is going to college!
I asked Camden to grab me the remote because Kellan was on my lap. He turned to me with a serious expression and said " I will get that for you, Mom, because I'm your son". Drama King!

March 26th, 2014

At Kellan's check up yesterday, the Dr. gave him a vision test. When he didn't recognize an object, he yelled BOOTY BUTT! I told the Dr. - Oops! This isn't my kid. I must have grabbed the wrong one from the lobby.
Kellan weighs 22 lbs and is 35 inches tall. He's in the 5th percentile for height, but not even close for weight.

March 24th, 2014

We took the boys bowling yesterday. When we were leaving Kellan asked if we could play one more game of racquetball. Huh?!

March 21st, 2014

Camden raced to the bathroom this morning and had a slight accident. I said "Camden, you have to make sure to give yourself enough time to go so we don't have accidents." He replied "I didn't pee in my underwear, I have a water bed." Who invented this kid?

March 20th, 2014

Ruby's mom said Kellan always plays it cool when he sees her picking Ruby up from school. direct quote.

Camden said he was sick. Nick said sick in the head. Camden said no the tummy.

I was trying to discipline Cow. I started counted and he counted with me...

March 12th, 2014

First book Camden read all by himself! Ok, he may have memorized it, but he did read it word for word!

March 11th, 2014

So Nick and I came to a conclusion today. We know why Grampa Dick always had popcorn.

Let me set the scene as to how we made this discovery;

 

Nick and I are working out. Camden is sitting on the couch watching us and talking non-stop. It’s maddening enough to have to work out, but add a little monkey saying WATCH THIS, MOMMY, DADDY, ANYONE, etc., gets a little nerve wracking.

 

Finally, Nick got Camden a bowl of Lucky Charms and there was silence.

 

Then we realized, Grampa Dick always had to be around everyone and know what was going on. If he started talking too much, Nana made him some popcorn. Problem solved ;)

March 10th, 2014

Kellan saw the Knights of Columbus at Church Sunday and yelled "Look! Pirates!"
Camden wrote his name all by himself! So proud!

November 18th, 2011

Camden sure knows how to wake Dad up. He was sleeping with us early one morning and kept trying to get us up to play. Mom and Dad were dead to the world. Camden would have none of this. After realizing trying to get Mom up was futile, he licked Dad's ear. That sure got Nick up quickly. Kids learn fast.
I had just got home from somewhere with Camden and Kellan. While I was bringing both boys in the house Camden realized that Kellan was sleeping. He dramatically put his finger to his mouth and said SSSHHHH!!! Kellan (Kullllan) sleeping. I whispered "that's right Camden, he's sleeping so let's be quiet." Camden nodded stoically. I bent down to pick up the diaper bag and turned around for one minute. The next thing I knew, Camden had his hands on either side of the car seat and was leaning in as far as his little body would let him. Before I could even process this he yelled "KUULLLLLLLLLAN!!!! at the top of his lungs. Poor little Kellan was jarred out of a sound sleep and scared out of his mind. After trying to figure out what had just happened he took the easy road and started bawling. Mom did too.

February 22nd, 2012

I dropped the boys off at school this morning and then had to turn around and go back home because I forgot Kellan's bottles. And the Mother of the Year award goes to...

March 7th, 2014

Camden and Kellan were playing in the toy room while we were getting ready. We heard Camden whine and cry "Kellan's hitting my hair and I don't like it!".
Dad said, why don't you ask him nicely to stop. Camden then said "Kellan, stop nicely".
We can't argue that he doesn't listen...

March 6th, 2014

Kellan had been a little upset and crying lately when we've been dropping him off at school, but we think we've found the solution.
We take him to first get juice and cereal in the school cafeteria. Then they will take him to his room. He just needs his morning coffee (juice) and bagel (cereal) like the rest of us do to start the day.
Camden starts and ends every sentence with "booty butt". Is that ok?
Every single commercial, toy, cereal, etc. the boys see they yell "I want that for Christmas!" Hopefully they'll forge what they've asked for in these 9 months 'til Christmas...

March 5th, 2014

The boys and I have been having a riot with the slow motion feature on my iPhone. Camden begs to do the slow "moskin" videos. So funny.
Camden and Kellan were in the toy room playing while we were getting ready for work. Kellan came in and calmly told me that Camden was not playing fair. Wonder where he learned that phrase and if he's the culprit of that at school...

March 4th, 2014

I told Camden he would have to tell the doctor what was hurting him. He replied "I think I'm going to tell him it feels like there's a dinosaur in my butt." I stayed in the waiting room...
Camden weighs 29 pounds and is 3 feet 1 1/2 inches tall!

February 28th, 2014

I can't stop laughing and this is why I'm a terrible human being.
Camden got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and must have got scared. He came flying - and I mean - flying into our room. I woke up when he was probably 3 feet from the bedroom door and all I saw was a skinny white kid come flying at warp speed through my bedroom. I wasn't awake enough to laugh while I took him to the potty and back to bed, but I'm definitely awake enough now to crack up about this!

February 27th, 2014

For some reason, Kellan asked for a "lellow" balloon all morning. Daddy had one for Kellan when he got picked up from school. Aw!

February 26th, 2014

Kellan's favorite book is "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". It is hilarious how he walks around saying the title. I can't describe it in a way to give it justice. We all crack up every time.
Kellan went pee pee in the potty (so to speak) at school yesterday. The teachers said he peed all over the floor and himself, but hey, it's a start!

February 20th, 2014

Camden 4
Kellan 2 1/2

Camden came to work with me after school today. I was getting flustered because he was asking for a million things at once and I was trying to work. He could see my frustration, so he stopped, grabbed my face and said "You're Beautiful". This kid sure knows how to work it!

February 12th, 2014

Poor Cow still has a slight ear infection. He's had one non stop since December, but the doctor isn't too concerned. He says it's Day Care.
Kellan's up to 26 1/2 lbs. He eats like a vacuum cleaner!

February 11th, 2014

Someone complimented me on my pants today, and I replied- "Thanks! They're comfy cozy!" Darn Kellan! :)
Nick picked the boys up from school yesterday and they were completely belly laughing about dad's chap stick rolling around on the arm rest. So, if anyone wants to know what to get Kellan for his birthday, it's either chap stick, or a car.
Camden was really excited for Nana to visit, but since he's part me, also had his anxieties. He asked Nick about 25 times to make sure to tell Nana where his school was because she didn't know how to get there.

February 4th, 2014

The cleaning lady made the boys bed and Camden threw an all out temper tantrum when I undid the bed to put him in it. That's all dad.
When Kellan goes to bed, we say goodnight. Then he stiffly raises one arm for a hug, pulls you in tightly, and pats your back. So darn sweet!

January 31st, 2014

I was so hurt by Camden last night. He barely acknowledges me when I get home from work. It's so hard because I worry and think about the boys all day and it seems like they don't care. I know I need to get thicker skin, but :(
I have such good boys. I jut need to relax.

I took Kellan to Walgreens last night and he was the hit of the pharmacy line. He was playing with the seat buckle on the shopping cart and just belly laughing. Made the wait for drugs more entertaining.
Then he happened to glance over and see the section of the pharmacy that has the blood glucose testers. He looked at me pathetically and yelled "MOM, I neeeeeed that!" Then proceeded to throw an all out fit when I told him he didn't need it. Head thrown back, screaming, full on fit. The customers in line looked at me like I was a horrible parent for not testing his blood glucose level...

January 30th, 2014

Camden informed us that when any kid yells at him on the playground he looks at them and says "Are you serious?!". Sigh...
Kellan's been sick lately so we put him on the couch, comfy cozy, to watch some DVR'd cartoons. You definitely know when it's time to fast forward as he'll scream "COMMERCIAL!!!" at the top of his lungs. Now he's doing that when we watch regular TV, and we have to explain to him we can't skip through the commercials. Sigh...
Out of the blue, Kellan started calling Camden, "Cams". Funniest thing ever!

January 17th, 2014

This morning, both boys were at the table eating breakfast. Kellan looks at Camden earnestly and says "Camen, do you want to watch Mickey Mouse and get comfy cozy?"

We are going to Aunt Paula's this weekend. The boys will be left alone with Daddy and Granfy. I'm sure I'll have plenty of blog material coming soon...

January 7th, 2014

Camden got his 4 yer old immunizations today. He was so brave! I was so proud of him!
Camden weighs in at 28 lbs and Kellan is 26! Growing boyfriends!

January 5th, 2014

We went and saw the dinosaur exhibit at the Phoenix Convention Center yesterday. On the way there, we passed a billboard advertising the exhibit. Camden saw the billboard and freaked out thinking we passed it. I never even saw the billboard. That is one observant kid!
"Uncle Meal" (according to Kellan) visited for Christmas. When he left, Kellan wandered in to the den where Neil had been staying and asked sadly, "where's Uncle Meal?"
At church today Granfy was giving out communion. Camden bypassed the whole line and ran and almost knocked Granfy down with a huge hug!
I found Kellan wandering in the hall. He kept asking "where is he?"  "Who?" I asked. "Grampa Dick" he replied. So sweet!

January 3rd, 2014

Camden just got new shoes and he's a size 8 wide. Hahahaha
Nick dropped Kellan off at school the other day. When he turned to leave, Kellan had two little tears in his eyes. Soooo sad!