True story. x2.

Beckham was talking to my mom on the phone the other day. He started telling her all the things he wants for Christmas.

B: "....and I want a skateboard. A little one. For kids. Can we have two? And that little motorcycle? It's for kids. But not big kids. Little kids. And the skateboard. You put one foot on it and one foot on the ground and you go super fast and win....."

H: Can I talk to him? (He still calls men and women "him")

Jena: Sure, here you go.

H: [quietly] Mommy? It's Santa Claus?

_____________________________________________

We're all watching tv one morning and a commercial for a girl's toy comes on.

B: That's for girls.

H: Yeah, we don't need that.

B: We need some girls.

Aaron: Oh yeah, how many girls do you need?

B: Ten.

H: Beckham... that's a lot. That's a LOT Beckham. A lot of girls.

B: Yeah.

H: Beckham, that cost a lot of dollars. A LOT of dollars, those girls.

He's learning early?

The boys are thankful for....

At the beginning of the month the boys brought home a little calendar with slots in which to write what they are thankful for each day. We got some cute answers for them. This is what each boy said they were thankful for/made them happy in November. I took the liberty of bolding my favorites...

Hudson: good dreams, pizza, pizza, hot dogs, Beckham/balloons/toys, soccer, my birthday!, propel, mommy and beckham, transformers and tents, Beckham, mommy, daddy, Marley, and Hudson (from now on referred to as BMDMH), MMDBH, giving Marley a lot of treats, MDMBH, the Jungle, MMDBH, mommy, daddy, marley, Hudson, pizza, my new shoes, capri suns, coke, Beckham, Hudson, mommy, Beckham, MDMBH, MDMHB (note how the order of family members changes by the day).

Beckham: going to sleep, santa claus, daddy, mommy, marley, daddy, my birthday!, my birthday!, roketships, karate, santa claus, Hudson, good dreams about bunnies, santa claus, mommy, old grandma we saw at the little hospital, the super duper old man, riding my bike, mommy, santa claus, santa claus, G-Pa, daddy, hudson, hudson, my new shoes, baking, G-Pa, santa claus, santa claus.

*Photo has nothing to do with this post except for the fact that it is the three of us tearing down a slide at the Jungle, which was listed as one of Hudson's faves.

Priceless.

Or not.... I see about $30...

We robbed him a few minutes later. 4 year olds only need coins and singles right?

Overheard.

Beckham, to a friend at school: My grandma brings me presents.

Beckham, at school, when asked what he is thankful for: My grandma. She is not old.

Hudson, to me and Aaron: I need that. [You can't have that; it's a lot of money] I have a lot of money! Look! You want my wallet, Daddy?

Beckham, to a neighbor friend that's 3: My mom got us shirts with hoods [see above photo]

Hudson, to me after the UPS man dropped off said hoodies: How he know we want these? How he know where we live? These are cool! Look, Beckham! That man brought us new shirts!

A neighbor, to Aaron, when picking up a shelf we were giving away: Is Jena your mom?

Beckham, in the middle of the night: I had a scary dream. The polar bears didn't have eyes. [yeah, that'd creep me out too buddy]

Hudson, to Beckham at a restaurant: Beckham, be a good boy, OKAY? Be a good boy and Daddy say we get TWO DOLLARS at home. OKAY?

Beckham, to his teacher: We four. Two are four. We are both four.

Hudson, when presented with a special Thanksgiving brownie at school today: Is it our birthday?!

Beckham, playing Wii with Aaron: Take that, doo doo head.

Both boys, when an ambulance drove by us: That is not good. A boy fell. No, he on his roof. He needs a ladder. It fell down. He need a new one. Then he can get down.

Both boys, when Marley misbehaves: We need a new dog. We need a small dog that barks quiet.

miscellaneous

Hudson and Beckham still love school. I worked there on Tuesday and they had such a fun time. They dressed up as cowboys, squealed together in their own little world as they played with magnets and bottle caps, and celebrated their birthday with stickers, happy birthday sung to each individually, and candles blown out at snack time. They also climbed the slide holding on to a rope and sprayed down a pretend fire on the play structure. It's so fun to see them gain confidence from preschool and start to play with other kids (sometimes).

The boys are getting to spend much more time with Aaron. I'm so lucky to have married someone that is a fantastic father - they are lucky boys as well. Yesterday afternoon while I was at work they rode bikes to the neighborhood park and practiced jumping in their new shoes.

Aaron and I had gotten them new shoes when they were at school yesterday. The boys came home, peeled off their clothes (this is a regular occurrence), and, while still in the buff, put their socks and new shoes on. They like them and I think Pumas on little boys are so cute.

Today I took the boys to the gym in the morning and then Aaron took them while I helped set up for, attended, and helped clean up after a bridal shower at work and then visited my grandma. He took them to a place called The Jungle where they played for over 4 hours in these tunnels and bounce houses. They were so tired when they got home! Aaron's a trooper; I'd have been really bored.

It'll be fun to see what he comes up with for tomorrow; I'm working 7:30a-6p. Thank heavens for good dads!

4.

Hudson and Beckham celebrated their 4th birthday yesterday. It was a really fun day and the boys haven't stopped talking about it since they woke up today.

We started off the morning with big bouquets of balloons, donuts, presents, and some boxing/wrestling. As soon as they woke up and started playing like usual it hit me that they had forgotten it was their birthday. I went along with it until Aaron walked in with the balloons and their faces just lit up. They were ecstatic the rest of the day. Beckham was really into pretending the balloons were going to lift him off the ground. Both boys got transformers and wallets from us, along with a change-counting machine for Hudson, who, like his father as a child, is obsessed with money.

Then we met my mom, sister, and Philip to "play bowling" for the first time. The twins loved it.

After bowling we went to lunch at McDonalds and they played on the structure for over an hour. We went home to relax a bit and soon went over to my mom's for their party. They were still the happiest kids and so excited to open presents and be the center of attention (as if they aren't usually...)

Hudson opened this and said, "AWW! This is what I wanted for my birthday!" He seemed so amazed that we listened :) One can judge just how pleased he was by the fact that he sat still and smiled genuinely for the camera after opening it. He seemed so grateful, it was so sweet.

Beckham got this Transformers helmet and noise-gun. He said "OH! And this is what I wanted for my birthday!" Indeed it was. Sadly not pictured are the awesome pirate ships they got from my mom. Especially awesome was that they kept the boys entertained this morning when they woke up until the sun came up... (thank you).

Philip got the boys a soccer goal and teeny tiny soccer balls. I wouldn't have thought to get this and the boys LOVE it. They had to play right away and are actually pretty good! It also doubles as a tent to hold balloons (so they've told me).

We topped off the party with a cake and ice cream. Courtney made it and was slightly worried that it wasn't fancy enough. Today on the way to church Hudson said, "We need to have that cake again. That was yummy! Courtney needs to make that again! And we need to go bowling again. That was fun!" It was so nice to hear that they enjoyed the day.

Everyone says time flies but it's hard to believe that four years have passed. We love you, boys. Happy 4th birthday!

Halloween: Saturday edition

brotherly love

Then came the actual day of Halloween. The boys really wanted to wear their costumes to the gym, so I sucked it up and worked out a fourth day this week. The things we do for our kids. I kid, I kid, I could certainly use the exercise. I think they ended up being the only ones in costume there, but they relished in the attention, ran themselves silly with their favorite "teacher" at the gym, and were livid when I came to get them after nearly 2 hours (the time limit per visit - before anyone jumps to crazy conclusions, I do shower in that time as well). Beckham had the biggest tantrum I can remember ever occurring when we left, so we laid low the rest of the afternoon. The boys watched a movie and I got a pedicure (!). Beckham fell asleep on our bed for a bit (read: for 4 minutes before Hudson realized he was asleep and quickly remedied that situation), proving just how tired he was, and we were all rested up for Halloween night.

We canvassed the neighborhood with Michelle and her kiddos. The highlight of the evening was when a police car pulled up to us. First thoughts: "I'm standing in the street. Are my kids supposed to have lights? Is this going to be really embarrassing? We're about to cross the street nowhere near a crosswalk. Why is he stopping?" He rolled down his window and said, "Hi! We're supposed to pass out candy to kids - do you mind if I give yours some?" He got out of his car, said hello, and gave all the kids bags of treats - candy, police department balloons, pencils, etc. - the boys were thrilled. We continued on for another hour and after dropping Michelle and kids off borrowed their wagon to get home. The boys were tired enough that they sat and chatted in the wagon the entire way home. It was so nice - they haven't sat in a wagon or stroller for years. Buckets were full so even they didn't see a point to additional trick-or-treating. Once home we pulled off costumes to reveal pajamas underneath and they jumped into bed. Perfect. Happy Halloween!