The Holbrook Family

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Happy First Day!

Wow, this may have been the fastest summer yet. I think every year it will go by faster and faster. Summer was great, I think I could've done at least another month at the pool and Cherry Hill but I also gladly welcomed school and time for more structure. Charlie started first grade. I had about 30 seconds where I got a little lump in my throat as he walked into school with his class, then it passed and I went home and enjoyed the peacefulness of my home for a little bit. :) Kenya started preschool the same day, she goes Monday and Wednesday morning to one preschool and Tuesday and Thursday afternoon to a different one. She loves it and Charlie is liking first grade. While he is very smart I think the social part of school is the most motivating for him to go, well that and recess. :) He hasn't really had a hard time adjusting to all day, and let's be honest, neither have I. All day school is great and it's been a long time coming with him. Love, love, love that boy but he is a bit exhausting.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Picnic at the Park

My step mom (well really my ex step mom, my dad was married to her for about 13 years from the time I was 8-21) moved to sunny San Diego this month. We are still pretty close to her and her 3 kids, they will always be like my real siblings so we got together to see her before her big move. She had some fun games for the kids and even a 3 legged race for the adults (sorry those pics got deleted!). It was a fun Sunday evening with family.

Cami decided to make it Scarlett's little birthday celebration too since we were going to be gone in Europe on the actual day. I think she dug into Leila's cupcake on her birthday more than her own cake. :)

Look at Charlie's face! Reminds of that face of Mark's when he was wakeboarding. :)

Love little naked buddha baby Scarlett in the front.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Daddy Time

These sweet pics are up at Bear Lake but I thought they deserved a post all on their own. Leila loves her daddy, when he comes home from work she is running to the door with arms up. It is so sweet. She also loves books and loves to sit in laps. If your sitting on the ground she'll come up to you and back her little bum right into your lap. Love it.

Bear Lake

Our friends the Hanson's invited us up to their cabin in Bear Lake right before we went to St. George. I of course was wanting to go, it took a little coaxing on Mark (he isn't too much of a last minute kind of guy) but he knows how much I love boating and Bear Lake and being with friends so he switched some things around at work and we took off for three days. It was a great end to our summer!

Charlie was talking up knee boarding pretty good even though he's never been before. When it came down to it he was pretty nervous. He didn't want to get up on his knees so he just hung on. Did pretty good for a first timer though.

Kenya and Brooklyn tubing.

She loved it.

Charlie and Sam were up. It started out all smiles.

Even a "look no hands" moment.

Then John got him outside the wake, he went down hill and got scared.

slow down!

Sam's thinking "what's wrong with him?" :)

They switched tubes but once it got too scary Charlie put the fist up to stop.

I thought he'd be a little bit more brave but I have to remember how scary it can be out there as a kid and he unfortunately has not done much boating. Hopefully that will change some day.

Jen and I decided to go...I love tubing and enjoy a wild ride to some extent. John did a pretty good job of getting us to fly off and bang into each other, that would be the extent. :)

Look at Jen's legs! If you couldn't tell they are long!

Jessie loved these bears, he'd climb up there and give them loves.

He needed to be put on a leash while outside though. :)

They were singing 5 little monkeys while jumping, so cute.

His teeth are slowly disappearing. :( When he went in for his check up the dentist said if his brown tooth, which was a little loose, wasn't gone in a couple weeks when he came back to get sealants on his molars he wanted to pull it. Unfortunately we didn't get Charlie to get it out and the dentist pulled it. We should've been more persistent with it, even bribed him with $10 to pull it out himself since it cost us more than that to have the dentist pull it. Lesson learned.

Mark took Sam and Charlie out on the canoe while Kenya and Brooklyn waited.

Keeping entertained in the cabin, Leila loves taking out these crayons and putting them back in or handing them to me then taking them from me. She's very entertained with it.

Samantha and Charlie double knee boarding. They were pretty excited about that.

Mark volunteered to help the kids get up on the U ski. He didn't realize he was going to have to push their bums up pretty good to get them to stand up...

Kenya went first and this was the result....

She didn't want to try anymore after that. He helped the rest of the kids and they all got up fine. Charlie was looking pretty scared at first but after a little bit he was doing "bunny hops." He got in the boat and said "mom, did you see my bunny hop! I can't believe I did a bunny hop!" :)

This is him doing his bunny hop.

Mark wake boarding.

This is such a Mark face, it kills me!

If the boat was going long enough Brooklyn would fall asleep.

Me wake boarding.

I took a good crash after this jump.

Have you seen these applesauce packs? They are fabulous.

Kenya was a little nervous in the tube at first but she got braver and as she got braver she would sit up a little higher. We ended up having to drag her out of there, she didn't want to stop.

The World Through Kids Eyes

August 2013

Leila has officially stopped saying "I wanna hold you" :( She would always say that to us and I have never corrected her but I guess she figured it out for herself because tonight she said "hold me". She's growing up too fast!

November 2011
I told Kenya tonight that I was glad Heavenly Father sent her to me. She said "Why did Heavenly Father send me to you?" I said "well we were all a family before we came to earth, in heaven." She said "Mom, how did you get up in the sky?" "I don't know." I said. "Did Santa give you a ride?" Followed with giggles by both of us.

November 2010
Today I was telling Mark about how angry I got at Kenya for coloring on the table for like the millionth time. She heard me talking about it and said "You're not a nice mom, you're like the BEAST! I'm gonna put you in da gawbage and get a new mommy!" Then later Mark asked her when he was reading her a bedtime story "Kenya, am I the King?" She said "No, you're the debil (devil)." Charlie was drawing a picture of our family for school and drew me with my mouth open he said "Look mom, you're yelling." I don't think we're leaving the right kind of impression on our kids here.

July2010
Today Kenya came up to Mark and said "Daddy I have to tell you something." She then made him bend down so she could whisper in his ear "You're the best dad in the whole wide world." He thought maybe I told her to say that but she came up with it all on her own. She then did the same thing to me. I love hearing that little whisper in my ear.

June 2010
Kenya randomly makes comments on the baby in my belly, it usually goes something like this. "I like your big belly mom" then "I like your baby Leila." Then it's followed by "I have a big belly too." Tonight that was followed by "It's hooge."

March 2010
When Kenya is demanding something I will tell her she needs to ask nicely. She then yells at me "NICELY!" Not quite what I was meaning.
If you say something like "How are you doing?" She'll say "Kenya" instead of good, or bad, or sad, or happy. Kinda cute.
She's really starting to put her sentences together and express herself a lot better. It's fun to have conversations with her.

March 2010
At dinner we were discussing how babies just drink when they're newborns and don't eat food. We asked Charlie if he knew what they drank and he said "yes, milk from your..." he paused for a few seconds and we were anticipating what was going to come out, then he said "from your belly!" What innocence.
February 2010-
Kenya has been saying some cute things lately most mornings she comes into our bed and snuggles in right in the middle of us. This morning she snuggled up next to Mark, put her hand on his cheek and said "daddy you're my sweetie girl." We had to laugh. Last night we were in the car, Mark was on the phone and Charlie was being really loud so he turned around and grabbed his leg to get him to be quiet. Charlie started crying and Kenya got really mad "don't hurt my sista! You otay Charlay?" We explained it was her brother and she said it all over again, this time with brother. She's been calling a lot of people her sister lately, she's a bit confused.
I made chocolate football cake bites for the superbowl and whenever she finishes her food she says "I want a hapball!" The first couple times I didn't know what she was saying until she ran over to them and pointed, now we know that hapball is football.

July 2009-
Charlie was asking me if his dreams would come true (I thought he was referring to bad dreams because he's been so scared of having bad dreams lately thanks to watching "Thriller") I told him they wouldn't come true and he kept asking me about it. Finally he said "Well daddy's dream came true when you were his wife!" Awww, thanks bud!

June 2009-
Yesterday Charlie randomly said to me "You know mom Jesus is sad when you're mean to me." I guess what goes around comes around. He also told me as we were reading "Little Red Cap" (the real Little Red Riding Hood story) "She shouldn't have lied to her mom" he said. I said "No she should've minded her mom and not gone off the path." He said "well sometimes I lie to you." At least he's honest, well sometimes. :)
May 2009-
Kenya loves the park. Every time we drive by one she freaks out "side, side! Mama side mease, meeease!" (slide please) she says "mease" all the time, it kills me! So cute. She also loves to say "go way!" Every time she's mad at someone or we're trying to get her to do something she doesn't want to its "go way!"

February 2009-Charlie said a prayer the other day that went like this "Grateful we could go to Disneyland, grateful for Halloween, grateful for Christmas, in the name..." That was it! Kind of funny.

December 2008-Last night when Mark was putting Charlie to bed Charlie said "Dad, I think Jaxon isn't choosing the right." Mark said "Yeah, how come? " Charlie said "Because he likes BYU and that's not choosing the right." Mark was pretty proud.

December 2008-

Charlie had a Christmas pajama party at preschool. He got a gift from his teachers. He opened it up and it was a blanket they had made for him, "Wow, a blanket!" I said. Charlie said "It's beautiful!" Then a bit later he was doing a puzzle while I was on the computer and out of nowhere he just says "Merry Christmas mom." He can be so sweet.

November 2008- With Christmas right around the corner and his birthday a couple weeks ago Charlie wants everything he sees on TV. He'll be upstairs watching TV and you'll just hear him say "How 'bout that!" And if it's a girl toy it's "How 'bout that for Kenya!" I don't know why it's "how 'bout that" but it puts a smile on my face every time he says it. It's too cute.

I love how honest Charlie is. The other day he went to the bathroom and when he came out I said "wash your hands" as he came out he got distracted for a minute and then said "Oh yeah, I got poop on my finger." And went to the bathroom. The same day he told me that while he was playing outside with his friend Brady he peed in our dirt, just randomly told me later that afternoon with a guilty look on his face. I was surprised because he hates peeing outside!

I took Charlie to Target to pick out a Halloween costume. I thought he would pick one out immediately and probably choose spider man or batman, well he wasn't really jumping on anything he saw, until he saw a transformer costume he said "I want to be a transformer!" I said "Ok do you want to be Bumble Bee?" "No, I want to be Octopus Prime!" I think it's so cute to hear him say it I haven't told him it's Optimus Prime.

One morning while we were getting ready for church Charlie in his best little sick voice says to me "Mom, (cough cough) I can't go to church, I'm sick (cough cough) see I have a cough.! Isn't he a little young to be doing that?

Last night I was kneeling down by Charlie as he said his prayers. This is what he said- "...Grateful I could go to preschool, grateful for daddy and Kenya," then he reached out and stroked my hair, "and grateful for mommy's hair." He was so happy yesterday when I came home from work and my hair was done and not in a pony tail anymore.

Charlie's Aunt Kristen asked him one day "Charlie what did you do today?" He said " I played with Samara." She said "Oh, is that your friend?" "No!" He said, " she's my husband!"

Mark sold his car and Charlie was with us as we dropped it off to the new owner. Charlie said "Dad, where is your car going?" Mark said " I sold it, it's going bye bye." Charlie said "All our of our stuff going bye bye?" I hope we're not traumatizing him! :)

Charlie has been learning about the Holy Ghost and he seems a bit confused at the concept. Today out of the blue he asked me "Mom, where is the Holy Ghost?" I tried to explain to him that he's a spirit and he can bring good feelings to you etc.. Then he said "Oh, can I touch his blanket?" (This is what a ghost is to him, somebody with a blanket over them.) So then I explained that he's not a real ghost he's a spirit and he doesn't have a body etc. Then he said "Yeah, but he almost has a body, and when I pull off it's blanket is the Holy Ghost a girl or a boy?" Let's just say he's still confused. :)

We went to Discovery Gateway today and as we were walking in there was a little person standing by the entrance. Charlie looks at me and says "Mom, that was a wittle mom." I thought that was pretty politically correct. :)

Today at church Charlie was playing with some cards on the bench during sacrament when I looked over at him he seemed to be pondering something and said to me "mom, am I going to get baptized?" I said "Yes, when you're 8 you can get baptized." "But I want to get baptized now!" (The lady sitting in front of us turns around and whispers "precious." :)) I told him again he could when he's eight. Then he said "Can daddy help me get baptized?" I guess he is learning something in primary and FHE!

Almost every morning I have a battle with Charlie on what he's going to wear. At least the mornings when I care what he wears and want him to look decent. Last night he got to pick out a movie to rent, he chose a Buzz Lightyear one (this is his latest obsession.) This morning I brought out some clothes and he saw them and said "No, not that shirt! That shirt won't make me Buzz Lightyear!" I said "Oh, what shirt will?" "Come here, I'll show you." And he took me into his room and insisted that he wear a white baseball T with green sleeves. This is the closest shirt he has that resembles Buzz Lightyear's costume. Pretty creative kid.

Charlie is in sunbeams now but we've been watching Cami's kids this weekend at her house so he went to nursery today with his cousin Luke. When we got home I asked him what he learned in nursery. He said "nothing." I said "didn't you have a lesson, you must have learned something." Very adamantly he responded "No we don't learn anything in nursery, we just have snacks!" No wonder why he loves it! :)

Cami has a piano in her house and yesterday towards the end of Charlie's nap Luke started softly touching the keys. Charlie woke up and came out of the bedroom with his hands out to the side palms facing up and said in a sweet surprised voice "I wake up and heard the piano singing." Mark and I thought it was too funny.

Those of you who have been around us probably know that Charlie hates my hair in a pony tail. I have no idea where this came from but for about a year he has been like this. It's getting better but at first he would throw a huge fit and say "Don't cutta your hair!" Then I explained to him it was a pony tail so it became "Take out your ponytail!" And he would grab my hair and try and get the elastic out. He's made progress over the past year, it went from forbidding it to throwing a fit but on occasion after I explained to him I was going to the gym or didn't have time to do my hair a few times a day I could make it through the day. Now He doesn't immediately respond to it when he sees it but at some point through out the day he'll comment on it. The other day he was going down for his nap and he said "Mom when I wake up will you take your ponytail out?" I can't believe a three year old boy could care so much about a ponytail! So much for short hair, he probably wouldn't speak to me for weeks! :)

After we sold our house we moved into my dad's. Charlie loves being around his grandpa and the other day he was sitting on the potty and I said "Charlie, do you need help?" and he said "no, I want grandpa to wipe me!" I said "no, grandpa doesn't wipe you, just mommy." So a couple days later he says to grandpa "Grandpa, are you a boy or a girl?" Grandpa said "I'm a boy." Charlie said "if you're a boy then you can wipe me!" Don't know how he decided that one but I guess he's got it all figured out!

Kenya has been sick the past day and tonight at dinner Charlie said "why isn't Kenya eating?" I said "Because she's sick." He said "Oh, does she have a snotty nose?" I said "No, she has a tummy ache." "Oh, did she eat an egg?" "No, I said ache, not egg, it means her tummy hurts." In classic Charlie response to everything "Oh." :)