Child proofed doesn't equal Caleb proofed

If you're wondering why I haven't done much blogging lately...and maybe even secretly thinking I'm a slacker... take a look at this video:

The sweet voice you hear in the background? My other child...hiding in the refrigerator.

Enough said.

Pray for Kate

This precious little girl is in need of our prayers! At the young age of 5, Kate Mcrae is battling brain cancer. You can read about her story here:

http://www.prayforkate.com/

Please take a few minutes to read about how you can help this amazing family as they are in the midst of the most challenging time of their lives....and give your children an extra hug and kiss, for we never know what the future holds.

The One-Animal Zoo Trip

We have a membership to the Phoenix Zoo, which is nice because I don't feel like I have to get my money's worth all in one trip! This trip, the main event was the new Komodo Dragon exhibit. Ok, so it was the ONLY event really. We waited in a fairly long line with all the other zoo members to get a sneak peek of the huge lizards. The rest of the day was spent playing in the play areas and walking for at least a half-mile back to our car. But did I mention we saw really big "dragons"?? Brayden has been waiting months for this exhibit to open!

Waiting in line to see the dragons!

So handsome

They are so big..and so cool!

Seeing ONE animal at the zoo today really wore me out...

Ssss...Aaaa...Dddd = SAD!

Brayden is a sponge these days. He soaks up anything he sees, reads, hears...both good and bad! He can tell you the difference between a carnivore, herbivore and omnivore (if you don't know, just ask him next time you see him!) He knows so many different types of dinosaurs, even ones I didn't know exsisted, such as a "Giganotosaurus." He can recognize every letter of the alphabet and tell you the sound it makes. He is beginning to write letters as well, and even wrote his name in sidewalk chalk:

He tells amazing stories and loves to sing and make up songs:

He loves to play pretend and is a different animal pretty much everyday. If you call him "Brayden" instead of his chosen animal, he will quickly correct you (even when he's in trouble, which drives me crazy!) Our favorite is when he is a T-Rex. He walks around stomping, with his arms drawn into his sides (cause a T-Rex has short arms of course) and 2 fingers out for his "claws." One day recently, he decided to be a mole. I don't really understand the costume, but I just went with it:

Our amazing Brayden does come with his fair share of challenges. He tests us daily...ok, hourly really. He can be so loving, and yet so crazy sometimes.

However...

last night while reading books before bed, that same 3 1/2 year old completely blew me away. He pointed to a word and slowly said "Ssssss....Aaaaaa.....Ddddd... SAD!" Yes that's right, he read his first word.

Wow.

The first grade teacher in me just saw visions of chapter books....

the Mommy in me is just so proud

Trouble...with a capital T!

Caleb is officially completely mobile.
He crawls on his hands and knees....everywhere.
And gets into....everything.
Safety locks and gates, here we come!
Days of Mommy getting anything accomplished...OVER!

Deep Thoughts by Mommy

So the boys are both ridiculously sick, but we had a funny moment this afternoon that I have to share. Brayden finally has some sort of an appetite, and asked for chips and turkey for lunch. After devouring his chips and leaving his turkey untouched, the conversation went as follows:

Brayden - "Can I have more chips Mommy?"

Mommy - "Yes you may, but only after you eat a few bites of turkey. You need to eat something good for you so you get better"

Brayden - "But chips ARE good for me, cause I like them!"

Mommy - "Well, not everything we like is good for us"

Thanks for the life lesson Mommy... I'm sure he is still pondering that thought!

Go Tangerine Tigers!

Brayden had his very first soccer game this morning...ok, so I wouldn't actually call it a "game." It was more like soccer chaos! I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids playing or the parents watching! Here are a few of the highlights:

Ready for his first game - with his bear from school as his cheering section!

Look out Caleb, you will get trampled by crazy kids wearing orange!

Making his first goal during practice - a natural!

About 10 minutes into practice and he says "I need a break, I'm tired"

Ok kid, then explain to me how you can run around my house non-stop all day long and you don't seem to need a break?!?

He loved kicking the ball... in any direction... on any field... to any player!

This is what it looks like when you put a bunch of 3 year olds on the field and attempt to play!

How many kids can you fit in one goal?? Apparently a whole team of them!

So handsome :)

Coach Andy says "Ok kids, head to the field to start the game!"

Kids immediately take off...and don't stop!

Brayden and JP takin' a breather on the field

A much needed after-game snack

Caleb and Aunt Gigi cheering for Brayden (and Notre Dame of course!)

The beginnings of teaching good sportsmanship:

Mommy: "Brayden, say good game to the nice boy..."

Brayden: "..."

Mommy: "Give him a high five at least!"

Brayden: "..."

Mommy: "Ok, let's go eat your snack"

At least I tried!

Our Texas Adventure

We had a wonderful trip to Texas to visit ReRe, Pops, Hollie and Melody! We went to the Fort Worth Zoo (which, by the way, is soooo much cooler than the Phoenix Zoo!) but forgot our camera, so you'll have to take my word for it! We ate lots of good food, including Karen's famous chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, pinto beans and cornbread, and spent lots of time just hangin' out with the boys :)

We love you guys and can't wait to see "y'all" again soon! :)

These headphones paired with a DVD player = amazing

Caleb loves his Aunt Hollie and Aunt Melody!

Pops and the boys :)

The second day we were there, the weather was surprisingly cool and not too humid, so we decided to go to a nice park to go fishing. Hollie and Melody bought Brayden his first fishing pole and we headed out!

Dear Brayden,

This morning we dropped off you for your very first day of preschool. This day marks the first day, for at least the next 15 years , that we will be sending you to school. The first day in your short 3 1/2 years of life that you will be in someone else's care besides your family.

This day comes with mixed emotions, of course. I am so excited for you to have your own experiences, with new friends and new adults to love and care for you. But, you are my baby and part of me wants to keep you close, always. I imagine this feeling never really changes...which is why my parents cried when I was 18 and they dropped me off for my own adventure at NAU. After all, wasn't it just yesterday that you were only this big?

And now you are a big 3-year-old (or 4 according to you!), with a lunch box and new shoes...and no idea of what life has in store for you. All you know is that school will be fun, you will play games and paint pictures, make new friends and have a snack.

We are so proud of the boy you have become and can't wait to see what's next!

Rub A Dub Dub...

both boys in the tub!

I have been a little nervous to stick both boys in the bathtub at once, as Brayden still doesn't understand the fact that Caleb is a baby and not his 3 year old playmate! I started slow, pretty much just long enough to snap a few cute bath pictures...and then they came out as quickly as they went in!

Whatever you do...

don't take the phone from the baby!

For all of you who have been waiting to see Caleb do something besides smile....

Project: Arts and Crafts...Take 1

Brayden has recently shown an interest in coloring, gluing, cutting, etc. This is huge for him, considering his idea of fun consists of running around chasing someone, wrestling, playing at a park, running again...you get the idea! My inner-teacher was so excited, so we ran out to Joann's yesterday and bought some fun art supplies.

What I thought would be a morning full of fun projects and educational moments, turned out to be a complete flop. See the following exhibits below:

Exhibit A - Cute Tiger Mask

"Isn't this so cool Brayden?"

"No Mommy, I wanted to make a puppet. This is a mask"

Clearly my mistake.

Exhibit B - Requested Tiger Puppet

"There's your puppet Brayden! Ready to play with it?"

"No Mommy, I wanted a sock puppet. This is a regular puppet."

Duh Mommy

Exhibit C - Sock Puppet

As you will notice, this picture is taking with me (not Brayden) holding it. This is because moments after putting it on his hand, he threw it off and said "Mommy, I wanted a sock puppet with holes for the fingers!"

I can't win...

Last but certainly not least...

Exhibit D - orange marker

While battling Caleb to take his morning nap, I come out of his room looking for Brayden. I find him with this marker in his mouth. After examining it, I notice the tip is no longer a nice shade of orange, but more of a shade of white. Meaning = he sucked the ink out of a marker!!

After a phone call to poison control, we now know that even markers not labeled "non-toxic" won't do more than give a child a tummy ache!

Reminds me of the Tommy Boy quote "Did you eat paint chips as a kid?"

Guess who won't be left alone with markers anymore??

Maybe we will have better luck on our next attempt at being creative!

Joining the Club

Because there are so many pictures and stories of my family on my blog, I've decided to do the smart thing and make my blog "private." This is kind of funny because I'm not totally sure how to do that, but I'm sure I can easily figure it out! I hope this doesn't stop any of you from reading! All you have to do to continue reading about the crazy adventures of the King family is put your email address in the comment section of this post! If that doesn't work for some reason, just email me (kking04@cox.net) and I'll add you! I will wait a week or two, so don't worry!

Can Everybody Just Look at the Camera Please?!?

The boys all looked so adorable for church on Sunday, I just had to snap a "quick" picture before we headed out the door....10 minutes later we finally headed out! Getting 2 kids to both smile for one picture shouldn't be this hard!

"The camera is over here boys!"

Quick position change...but doesn't stop Caleb from grabbing the dinosaur

"Brayden, please put the dinosaur down for one minute!"

"Please let go of your brother's hand and look at Mommy!"

"Mom, we're bored" - Brayden and Caleb

"Can you take the picture already, I'm tired of smiling!" - Corbin

Now the dog isn't looking...I give up!

Side note: It is a coincidence that Corbin and Caleb's shirts are so similar...I'm all about matching my boys (the 2 smallest ones!) every now and then, but purchasing matching Daddy/Son shirts is a little much for me!

Objects May be Smaller Than They Appear

Let's face it, it's extremely hot here in AZ during the summertime...but it's a dry heat right?  Whatever.  It's hot.

So what do you do with a 7-month-old and 3-year-old all summer when it's so hot you sweat just thinking about going outside?  You buy this and hope for hours of fun:

Take a close look at the picture on this box.  These kids are about 5 right?  The boy is literally sitting under the dinosaur head (which is a decent size bigger than his own head).  2 others are on the slide at the same time, with ease I might add.  Hours of fun.  Unless when you take it out of the package and blow it up, and it actually looks like this:

The sprayer is not on in this picture because when you turn on the hose, the head immediately flies backward and sprays the rest of the yard.  

Here is Brayden "playing" on the slide:

Lesson learned:  You get what you pay for!  He actually really has a good time, so the ultimate goal has been accomplished!

What about Caleb you ask?  

Happy as a clam (weird!) in his $5 pool :)