Beck's Card

It is almost summer. The boys can't wait... I could wait a few more weeks. Like last year, to keep a small shred of sanity, I am going to do projects with the kids each day. We were talking about them at FHE on Monday and the boys were really excited. I asked them for idea of things they wanted to do. Thanks Brad for all the crazy ones he added to the pot of ideas, and the fact that he'll be at work when we do them...

Yesterday when Beck got home from school he was hiding something behind his back. I had to leave, but when I got home there was a card on my bed. 

 The picture is of our water day plan in the summer. It says "mom thanks for thinking about everything." 

 I love how excited he is already for the projects. They wanted them to start now. 

We also had a little talk about our bodies on Monday and how they should start changing in their room and not running around without clothes on. I asked them if they knew what made a girl a girl and a boy a boy. Camden said we have weird wieners. Beck said boys are stronger. Brad and I had a good laugh at both answers. It is really time for them to have privacy and stop just walking in our room. It was probably a little late, but better late than never.

Jacks

I guess I should have pushed the cake back farther. Jacks is the master at knowing what is on the counter. He gets the stool all the time to reach things. I guess at least he enjoyed it. I should know better than to leave an almost 2 year old alone when he is being quiet. 

Boys Party

We had a 3-in-one party last night for all the Barnes boys. Michelle made the cakes and did an awesome job. The boys wanted a Minecraft creeper and it turned out awesome. 

 I didn't want 4 cakes, so Brad and Jacks just got a cupcake. It was a perfect piece for Jacks to eat on  his own. 

 There is going to come a time when Camden and Beckham get mad that they have to share everything, but for now I like doing their cake this way. All of the boys had their own set of candles to blow out... 

 Which created a lot of smoke. 

 I loved this picture because Brad and Camden are both trying to help Jacks blow out his candles. Jacks was blowing, just not hard enough to get the candle to go out. 

 Jacks loved the frosting the most and it was gone fast. He is actually a really clean eater, so this was about as dirty as his face really got. 

 I was just a free for all when it came to present time. There was no stopping any of the boys, but that's what makes birthdays fun.

 We got Jackson a car and he hasn't left it since he got it. It took Brad a lot longer to put together because Jackson wouldn't get out of it, then first thing this morning it's where he went. He has gotten out of it only to get dressed and eat. It's a fun seat for him to watch TV in. I think Emery was just as excited for the car as Jackson was, which just means fights I get to break up. 

Camden and Beckham

Well the boys are 7 now. I like to each year write a little bit of where are they now and how they have grown. The first picture is today, the second is a year ago. They really haven't changed a ton. They both still have those shirts and shorts. Beck is still a head taller, but their features just look a little more grown up. They still don't look like twins, but for now at least, they like being twins. I am glad almost daily that we have boys. They fight all the time but are friends 5 min later. They get over things quickly, one thing that girls don't tend to do. The past year they have become...well a little lame, but funny. They both are experimenting with telling jokes, making up stories, and just trying to act older. Both boys are really good students. They do well in school and their teacher loves having them in class. Both of them like computer the most, but I knew that would happen. The one thing I am surprised to see is that they don't really play with each other at recess. They have their own friends that they play with. I am glad they have their own personalities and own things they enjoy doing and that they are just 'the twins.' The are both trying to 'spy' on Brad and I at night so they can stay up longer. They are not quiet at all, so we always know they are there. Maybe since they are 7 we can push their bed time back a little bit.

 Camden can be sweet and he also likes to push people buttons, especially Emery. He knows what buttons to push on Emery and he does it all the time. He does get mad when she does the same back to him, so there are a lot of fights between those two. Camden likes reading in school and he is in the top of his class. I like that as he gets older he is less whiny  He used to be so bad with crying all the time over nothing, but he has really grown out of that. He isn't as easy going as Beck, but a LOT better than he was a few years ago. He is harder to get to open up and talk,but when he does it's a lot of fun hearing what is on his mind. He loves video games and Black Ops Zombie and Minecraft are his favorite right now.  Camden likes to be a leader and reminds Beck all the time that he is a whole 3 min older. As you can see from his shirt, he loves zombies right now, and has 3 or 4 shirts that have to do with zombies. 

Beckham is still just an easy going sweet kid. He loves to play with Jackson and helps him to things all the time. Beck loves to teach Jacks. The other day he came out of his room so happy that he taught Jacks to say 'Thank you.' The only time Beck gets upset is when he is tired. When he is tired the smallest things will make him sad and cry, but a good nights rest will make him all better. Beck likes math the most in school. He has done really well with the timed math in school. When it's just Beck and I, he talks non-stop. He too loves video games and likes the same ones as Camden. He loves to play Black Ops with Brad. He likes when Brad tells him he is doing well. He follows what Camden says too much. I wish at times that he would stick up for himself more and not let Camden boss him around, but that's something he has to figure out on his own. Camden can get Beck to do almost anything, but Camden won't do the same for Beck. This is the cause of 95% of their fights. I have been writing this post in-between helping Brad put the kids to be and getting the laundry ready for tomorrow. Beck was in his bed and told me that he felt bad for me sometimes because I have to do so much work. Isn't he sweet? I told him I like doing the work I do. He always thinks of others. 

It has been an interesting journey so far having twins. I am so glad we were blessed with these two boys. I really don't know what I would have done with just a single baby at first. They may be getting to be more of a handful, but I love that they are growing up and becoming their own little people. I love seeing their likes in clothes and food and games and how things are done. They may have been born the same day, but they are different in more ways then they are alike. 

First Water Day

It has been beautiful this past week. I really hope it stays this way. The kids and I both love it. Today we had out first water day. It's always fun to get out and play in the water.. well for the kids to play in the water. 

 Jacks didn't quite get the pool. He didn't like it much. We got him a suit, but as you can see it was too big. He just thought the pool was a big bath and didn't get why he needed clothes on at all. He is just like Beckham was. 

 Best part of warm days, Popsicles. 

Mother's Day Book

The boys made books in school for me for Mother's Day. Camden's is the pink one and Beck's is the blue. I love how Beck tried to spell my name. 

 Maybe this should be my new hair style. 

 Good guesses for my favorite food. I do hate raisins though. The spelling is the best part of their books. 

Cam says I help by shopping for food and Beck says it's by cooking breakfast. I really never cook breakfast, but do notice that I am cooking bacon.  

 I do like sleep and I do like to play with the kids. Beck thinks I just like to scare him all the time.

 Camden's says I dream about me loving him and him loving me. Beck's says helping us. Both are true. 

 Probably the saddest one.... how I spend most of my time, both said the computer. I guess I need to limit my time. I didn't think I was on it much. 

They both also wrote a letter to me. It's cute to see how they think. I am one lucky mom. I have the best kids who I love very much. It's been a great Mother's Day.

Boys 7th Birthday

Yesterday Camden and Beckham turned 7! It went by too fast, but it has been a fun journey. Yesterday morning they woke up to a small present on the table. I was a Minecraft T-shirt and some money. They went off to school thinking that was it, but they were wrong. We didn't really want to get them a toy that they wouldn't remeber next year, so we had a better plan. 

 We picked them up at school about 11 and took them to Boise. It was just the two boys. I was actually worried at first that they wouldn't be as excited as I was, but they were both really excited and happy about it. 

 First went to Tucanos for lunch. Brad had his birthday club meal. 

Next we went to Wahooz. Since it was the boys actual birthday, they got a free unlimited pass. It was a lot of fun. 

 We had to drive the cars with them, but they liked them. 

 I have figured out that I really hate mini golf. The boys don't really get it and I am bad at it. It just isn't fun to me. 

 But it is fun to watch them try to get it in the hole. 

 We also did bowling and lazer tag and more ticket games. The boys had a lot of fun and were super tired by the end of that. 

Next we went to our hotel and the boys swam in the pool. I chose the hot tub because the pool was way too cold. 

Cam was just the right height for it. 

 Lastly we went and saw Iron Man 3. It was a pretty good movie and the boys loved it. Out of all of the things we did what do they talk about the most....The hotel. They were so excited they got to sleep in a hotel and were sad to leave it. I'm glad they had fun, and hopefully they will remember more than just the hotel when they are older. 

School Party

The boys had their school party today. They are really into the game Minecraft and so Brad had the wonderful idea to make creeper rice crispy treats. The only problem with that is Brad was at work when I made them, well the faces. I had to wait until just before we left to do the faces so the plastic wrap wouldn't smash them. Brad did one last night to show how he wanted them. 

 Mine didn't quite turn out the same. Plus we only had enough black frosting tube for 6 of them. I am not crafty and it shows. The kids at school didn't care, they just liked the sugar. 

Emery's Night

 Since all of the Barnes boys birthdays are this month Emery tends to feel a little left out. To help that a little this year we made her special night be in May. She felt really special and had a lot of fun. She loves Chilies and so we went there for dinner. 

 She's not as into games as the boys are, but she does love to shop. We let her go and choose a new outfit. Emery is so opposite of me growing up. I hated skirt, hated getting my hair done and didn't care about makeup until 9th grade and even then I never wore it. She only wears skirts, asks for her hair to get done and wants to wear make up when she sees me putting it on. We are in for some fun when she is a teen. She did a good job picking her outfit and purse. 

She loves to model when I take pictures, and she is so cute when she does. 

50 in a Minute

In the boys homework folder they have to do 50 math problems. They are timed for a minute to see how far they can get, the goal being to get to the end. Last week Beck got to the end for the first time. He was so excited, he saved the paper. Yesterday that is all the boys wanted to do. They made their own race out of it and both finished 3 out or the 4 times. I love how excited they get when they get something. 

 Camden, in true Nickels' fashion, had to have his tongue out. It helped him go faster. 

There are few days where the boys are best friends. They get along most of the time, but every once in a while they work together to get things done. This morning was one of those days. They were making their lunches and decided that Beck would take the Skittles for a treat and Cam would take the brownie and they could share them at lunch. Beckham came up with what he thought was the best plan. He said, "Lets find somewhere to sit alone, just us and we can watch the sunrise and eat." No idea how or why he said that, but Cam loved the idea. Too bad lunch is at 12 and there aren't too many windows in the cafeteria. 

Jacks Hair

Saturday I was gone for a little bit and Brad was busy with something. He heard the kids tell Jacks no and when he looked he saw Jacks with a handful of Vaseline and his hair covered. That stuff is really hard to get out. Brad gave him a bath and not much came out. 

 I read online that corn starch can help. Other than making him really blond, it didn't do much. Our last hope was dish soap before we just shaved his head. Thankfully the dish soap worked. In-fact his hair was  really soft and shiny once it was all out. Dang almost 2 year old.