Laughter from the kitchen!

So we were making cookies the other night for me to take to Bunco. The boys at my side the ENTIRE way through. They both keep talking non stop in separate conversations so I am going nuts with all the talking. They both got their "taste" of cookie dough. I took them off the counter and they went and got their step stools to continue to watch the action (at a safe non-cookie stealing length). I turn around to find Jacob on a step stool shouting out a bargain. J says "Mama! IF you give ME 1 more cookie dough, I will go outside and leave you alone"(he has said it 10 times in a row..driving me nuts) N replies to J "That is NOT a deal.. mom doesn't make deals with you Ja-cub."

 I am dying laughing because he is basically going to annoy me until I give in. Its funny how I started to get them to do thing by saying "if you do ____ then I will give you___." They have learned the behavior I want and now reverse it as... hey mom.. Give me candy and then I will put up all my clothes!  EXTORTION! I especially love it when I follow my bargain w/ the word "DEAL?"... then nathan says "NO MOM, ITS NOT A DEAL!"

I always end up getting my way.. at least for now I am still smarter than them. But it is funny how they learn, and my oh my, do they learn by example!

Heaven

So for whatever reason Nathan has been talking about Heaven A LOT lately. I know that they talked about Jesus dying on the cross in school last week but he has and always will think too much about little things most people just brush off. Here are some of the questions he has asked:

How far away is heaven?
Is it on a map?
How old is heaven?
How old is God?
Do I have to go? (Followed by tears and "But I wanna stay w/ you": then we both were crying)
Can I take my duck? (this came tonight.... i couldn't tell him NO. I just nodded and it put him at ease)
Will we have a house in heaven?
Does God have good snacks? (a must!! come on!!)

I explained to him that he has a Grandma, Grandpa, an aunt and great grandparents there already. I tried to ease his anxiousness by telling him we will all meet there in the future and that God calls us when he is ready.

His reply "Well I will NOT answer when he calls" I about shot sprite through my nose. He got a laugh at my reaction for sure. Love that he thinks God will call us on the phone:)

Jacob

So in the last three weeks Jacob has really grown up. He is talking more clear, can independent play, he is being polite,has mastered shapes and colors and some letters and is eating like a big boy should. He has tried stuffing, carrots, corn, chicken spaghetti, peas, pizza, hamburger, ribs, chicken pot pie (he specifically ate all the veggies!) spaghetti O's and BEANS.

Tonight I must have pushed him a little too far... he took two bites of beans (yes covered in ketchup.. he is after all my kid!) and fought the gag reflex as he may.. they came up. He tells me "mama Im ok... i don't like beans" So I guess at least he tried it! LOL. But he has now learned that if he tries food, he gets a treat. He always chooses pop corn or yogurt. I love that those are his "treats"!

He jumps (he thinks its him getting taller) and shows us his muscles so I like to push down on top of his head and tell him I don't want him to grow. He laughs so hard and says I cant stop him!

He, unlike his older brother, does not like to cooperate when we are learning school work. However we put him in charge of shape and color flash cards. He lays them out in a
"pattern" and when I move them he says "NO MOM GREEN GOES HERE AND RED GOES HERE".. that's how I found out he knew every color except brown. He will not identify them, but he will correct me if I move them. Funny kid. I guess that is part of parenting,... figuring out what works!

He peed outside yesterday and came up to me in tears saying "somethings wrong".  Took me about a min to figure out that he pulled his pants up and his underwear didn't go with it. (it looked fine from looking at his jeans, but he was NOT happy) Cracked me up. We fixed the situation and he told me i was the "best mama ever"..... its the little miracles!