The Wheels on the Bus...

I've never been one to have toys lying around the house, that can't be put away in an inconspicuous place. The kids toys that are in the living room, have their own cupboard in the entertainment center so the doors can be shut and the toys not seen. Big toys that don't fit in the cupboard go in bedrooms or in the garage. Basically everything has it's place, and everything is in it's place, and the house doesn't look like it's being ran by kids. That being said...

For the last year or so, Costco has had an Activity Bus for sale that since the moment he saw it, Kallen has been pining after. That first fateful day while walking through the store, Kallen spotted the bus from across the room, ran with full force towards it, and played non-stop for 30 minutes or so while I did some shopping (with him in sight the whole time of course!). My first thought was that this wonderful activity bus would be a great Christmas present, but those thoughts were immediately replaced with..."where will it go?" I decided that in our house, the "little" bus was just too big. We left that day, no worries.

The months that followed, every time we went to Costco, Kallen found the bus and was just as thrilled with it as the first time he saw it. Ponder, ponder..."nope, too big, and too expensive". Then, sometime in November, we went to Costco as a family, and the darn bus was on sale, and had the mark that they wouldn't be getting it back in the store again! The price was much better, but the "it's too big and "ugly"" thoughts were still running through my mind. We went back a week or so before Christmas, and all the buses, had finally sold out. Kallen wandered through the store, tears-a-streamin', because they no longer had the bus. I asked the front counter, and there was only 1 bus left in the whole Costco chain, and it was in Helena Montana (just a short jaunt...ha, ha). I had finally realized that I was being silly about my reasons for not wanting the bus that would bring such joy to my little man, and was ready to go ahead and get it...too little too late.

I went home that day, and got on the Internet to see what I could find. Finally, after searching, digging, and prying for quite some time, I found the bus! It couldn't be here by Christmas, but that was no big deal. (We're not a "big" Christmas present family anyways...little things do just dandy!) Anyways...this way, it would just be a special little something that showed up one day.

It arrived in the mail yesterday, and Kevin and I put it together once this kids went to bed...setting up the surprise for the morning. After waking up on the wrong side of the bed, and throwing a bit of a tired fit...Kallen spotted the bus, and tears of frustration were replaced with giggles of excitement. He's having so much fun with it, and although it's a little "goddy" and large, for my taste...it's "hidden" in his bedroom! The singing of "The Wheels on the Bus" while he's behind the wheel is just too darn cute!

Blessings,

Meet Dave!

Ever since the "package" incident at MOPS, Kallen has taken to stuffed bears, dogs and miscellaneous animals as his own "baby".

Walking around shhshhhing them, patting their bottoms, and rocking them to sleep in Kynlee's swing. Well...that got me thinking about the old cabbage patch dolls that I had when I was a kid. Maybe it was time to bring one home for Kallen.

Well...Meet Dave.


My mom found one of our old dolls and brought it over for the little guy...I know...A doll for my son...But if you saw how he takes care of "Dave", then you'd know why!

Now "Dave", you might be thinking...who came up with Dave? Well...It just so happened to be the first name that Kallen said. We were asking him about "Joe, Charlie, Frank, Buddy, then Dave"..."Hi Dave" he said, and there you have it!

He hasn't quite figured out that Dave can't do everything with him, but he's trying! Today Kallen and Dave colored together...who knows what it will be tomorrow!

Me and My Bulldozer!

My mom and dad got Kallen this really neat CAT bulldozer for his birthday. There are all kinds of buttons and levers to push and pull in order to make the silly thing go forward, reverse, light up, move up and down, etc. etc..

Well, for a really long time, Kallen loved pushing all the buttons, and watching it "do it's thing". Recently, he has found that pushing it himself all over the house, is much more fun. He basically runs behind it until he hits a wall or other object that might be in his way. He then picks it up and moves it over in order to keep going. Great! Fun game kiddo...keep it up. I should mention that Kevin and I aren't too fond of this little game because of the obnoxious noise the bulldozer makes when it's being pushed. The reving of mechanical gears and all gets to be so loud, we can't hear each other talk.

We "hide" the silly thing every night, in hopes that he'll forget about it, but sure enough the game the next morning, is "find the bulldozer". No harm no fowl...we'll just suffer through the noise.

Well today, his little bulldozer pushing game landed him in our bedroom. I hadn't heard any noises for a short while (the clue he's into something he shouldn't be), so I went to investigate.

There I found him sitting in the middle of the nasty dog bed, with the bulldozer in his lap, blowing his nose with some Kleenex he found by the bed...(we've all got colds around here, and blowing our nose happens multiple times a day.) I watched for a few seconds as he proceeded to blow his nose, then try to "blow" the bulldozers....Nose?...

I was laughing so hard, I had to get the camera! Of course by that time, he knew I was watching, and turned into a cheeseball!

Play Doh!!!

My friend Lani recently asked me if Kallen was into Play doh, being that it's her son Andrew's favorite activity!!! Well, quite frankly we'd never tried Play Doh. Not sure why, just something I hadn't thought about...her asking however, made me think we ought to!

So here we are, it's Saturday afternoon, Kevin is helping some friends re-pipe their house, and Kallen's getting antsy from being in the house all day! What to do, What to do? Let's make play doh!!! I went to the trusty Internet and got a recipe for Koolaid Play Doh (my friend Laura made it with her girls one day while I was there, and thought it would be a fun alternative to plain ol' boring homemade Play Doh). Anyways, I got the recipe, got out the ingredients, and Kallen and I started mixing:

1 cup Flour
1/2 cup salt
1 pkg. Koolaid

(mix that all together, then add...)

3 tbsp oil
1 cup boiling water

(mix together, and knead until it forms a ball)

Voila...Play Doh!!!

Kallen helped me measure and stir until it came to the boiling water part...I didn't think that would be such a good idea! I kneaded the ball into some flour until it was what I thought was a good consistency, but Kallen wasn't diggin' the wait. He was getting all kinds of anxious waiting to see what this concoction he had helped create was going to be!

We were finally done, and I sat Kallen at the table to play with his creation, and he loved it!!! Since it was made from Koolaid, it smelled nice and fruity, and at first all Kallen wanted to do was eat it! No harm no fowl with this kind of dough, but I'm sure it didn't taste very good! After spending some time showing him how to play with it, and mash it all around, he quickly caught on, and had a great time. Such a good time in fact, that he wouldn't look up to get his picture taken. I tried all the different things I could to get him to smile at me, but to no avail...the Play Doh was too much fun!

Thanks Lani and Andrew for the great idea!!!

3 wheel fun!

While recently visiting our friends Brandy and Chris, Kallen noticed the cute little tricycles sitting in the garage. He immediately knew they were some kind of device for riding and wasn't satisfied the rest of the visit unless he was sitting on or pushing that little tryc around. We left that day in tears because he wasn't done playing with his new found toy! Next time buddy, next time!


Well, we were in Bi-Mart yesterday getting some things to help organize my craft room when Kallen once again noticed the little tricycles along the back wall. We went to take a look, and his eyes immediately lit up! I thought "why not"...after all it's Valentines Day (any excuse for a Holiday to buy things for the little guy, right)! So we bought it and put it in the back of the car (out of sight out of mind), so daddy could be a part of the new bike when he got home. It worked swell. Kallen didn't remember we had it, and was excited all over again when daddy got it out and put it in the living room!

Now, he wont get off that silly little bike. He wants to sit on it while watching his Baby Einstein movie, while reading a book, or just to watch the train go by out the window. Every time I turn around he's trying to climb on or off his new bike, and when he's not doing that...He's filling the little bucket on the back and pushing it around. Who knew tricycles could be so much fun? I can't wait for the weather to get a little nicer so he can take it outside and ride all over the neighborhood!!!

When seconds turn to minutes

I just need to take a minute to say how wonderful Kevin is! He's a great friend, a loving husband and most importantly THE BEST daddy!!! My heart breaks each and every day for the guy however, because he doesn't get to spend nearly as much time being the best daddy as he would like to. He's up and out of the house before Kallen wakes up in the morning, and generally home for only a few hours before he goes to bed at night. Well, in those few hours that Kallen and Kevin have "daddy, son time" I get to see so much love and joy in both of their faces!


Sometimes in the evening Kallen seems to think he needs only me, especially when I'm cooking dinner. This never seems to phase Kevin and instead, he does all he can to take Kallen out of the situation, and keep him entertained! Thanks hun! Anyways, last night nothing was working for Kallen. He wanted to be with me, and me only...until, Kevin pulled out the big guns...the marble works! Kallen has played with the marble works towers several times, but we've never used the marbles with it, and quite frankly I wasn't sure how interested he would be in it. I was expecting Kallen to give a minute or two of attention, but never anticipated the 45 minutes of gut wrenching laughs and high fives!