A Boy In A Box!

The other day when I was shopping at Costco I of course ended up taking home one of those giant boxes. This time it was a grape box. Jack loves to use Costco boxes to make pirate ships or all sorts of other things. Lately Ella and Zeke have been playing more and more together...I think he really misses having a playmate home all day long! Usually their play involves Ella with paper and a pen and Zeke in a bed of blankets and pillows. A few days ago Zeke was using this box as his bed and when it was his actual bed time he wanted to sleep in his box. I figured why not! I put his box on his bed and tucked him in. He looked so cute...like Garfield! I don't know if he actually ended up sleeping in there or not....I forgot to check before I went to bed. The next morning he told me that he slept a little in his box and then a little in his bed and then a little in his box and you get the picture. The next night when it was bedtime he did not ask to sleep in his box again!

There's Still Some Miles Left On Those Tires!

A couple weeks ago I was going through all the bins in the garage and organizing. Zeke noticed his Lightning McQueen car from his 2nd birthday and asked for me to get it down.

He had so much fun running around and around in the garage. 

Watch this mommy! 

I'm still so surprised at how well McQueen has held up. He's almost 2 years old and he's just made out of a cardboard box, duct tape and paint! 

Zeke thought it would be fun to have it look like McQueen was really driving so he got on his scooter! 

Look at him go! 

Later he wanted to sit and have a snack in Lightning! 

He wanted me to sit with him so we both had a bowl of cereal and enjoyed sitting on the kitchen floor. 

He's a goofball! 

I see where he gets it from! 

Even though Lightning has held up well he does have a few problem areas...like a peeling mouth. 

A taped on tire! 

And his windshield was coming away from the side. 

A little red duct tape and he was all fixed up! 

Kids Say the Darndest Things - 2012

January 2012 

- Ella has started saying, "La you" 

- One Saturday afternoon we went to the Business Costco. We were going down the aisle with all the office chairs and Owen asked to sit on all of them. We told him yes and that he needed to hurry since we were going to keep walking. So he quickly ran over to the first chair and touched his bum cheeks to it and then moved on down the line touching his cheeks briefly on every chair. 

- We were watching TV when that commercial for E-Trade came on with the baby and Ella saw it. It was the one where the baby is in his crib with his smartphone. Ella went and grabbed her phone and climbed into her baby pack and play! 

- On January 5th we had our big ultrasound to see Baby Z...everything looked great!

- One morning at breakfast Ella spilled her milk all over herself and the floor. While I was cleaning it up Owen said, "It's always something!" Later on while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse I heard Donald use that very same phrase when something bad happened!

- One night Ella hit her head and started crying. As I was holding her Owen came up and laid his hands on her and said, "Dear Jesus I thank you for Ella Grace and pray you heal her owie in your precious name Amen!" 

- During a big snow storm Ga-Ga & Pa lost power so they stayed with us for one night. After they left the next I noticed Pa had left his Glucosamine in our frig. Jack's response was, "Pity Sakes!" 

- Jack thinks Baby Z is a girl...so much so he's been telling Ga-Ga that she's wrong to think it's a boy!

- One morning during breakfast Owen left the table because he needed to go potty. When he came back he said, "Mommy there was so much pee in my penis it was huge....it was humongous!"

- While sitting on the couch Owen went around the room saying that everyone was "cool". Then he changed his observation and started saying that, "you are outta sight!" 

March 2012

- On the night of March 21st Jack came running into our bedroom and told me that he loves God and asked Him into his heart!

April 2012 

- On April 21st we attended my cousin Taylor's wedding. While there Jack needed to go potty so I took him. The toilet was a bit high so I wanted to help hold him up. I said, "Jack this is a super tall toilet." To which he replied, "But I have a super tall penis!"

- Also during the wedding when the flower girl was going down the aisle dropping flowers Ella said, "Ah oh!"

- One Sunday in April Jack was talking about Sampson (Ga-Ga had read him the story from the Children's Bible) and he was asking why Sampson killed a lion. I told him that God made Sampson really strong and with his strength he killed a lion with his bare hands. Jack's next question was, "Why did Sampson have bear hands?"

- Later that same morning Owen and Jack were rough housing on our bed when Michael saw Jack pinning Owen to the bed while saying, "God give me strength!"  

- On our last day of homschool Ella found one of the play "hellos" aka phones and sat up on Kim's couch with it. She also had a play calculator on her lap like a computer. She started talking on the phone so I asked her who she was talking to. She said Pa then she proceeded to tell Pa everything that she saw or was doing. "I sit, a mama, a put aka computer, a vac (Josiah was vacuuming). Then she pulled up her pant leg where she had a scrape ansd put the phone up to her scrape and said, "a owie" and "showed" Pa her owie! 

May 2012 

- Jack is now sure that Baby Z is a boy...mainly because he wants to pass his clothes onto someone. 

- While in the van one day, Jack was talking about something we didn't need to worry about. I told him, "we'd cross that bridge when we got there." His response was, "We're not going over a bridge!" 

- One day Jack asked me to help get Buzz's wings to stay up since they kept falling down. I decided to try a pipe cleaner and wrap it around his wings & head. I told Jack that, "We needed to think outside the box." Jack said, "Yeah...the box he came in!" 

- May 22nd Baby Z is born...welcome Zeke Russell Martin to our family! 

December 2012

- For my mom's 60th Birthday we had a party at their house. We decided to sleepover even though we hadn't planned on it. I said, "Oh, I'm not gonna have my pills!" To which Jack replied, "You're gonna have more babies!" He knows that because when I take my pills at table he wants to know what each pill is for. So he knows that I take birth control pills so we won't have anymore babies. 

- On Saturday December 22nd Ella started potty training. 

- Ella's favorite thing to say right now is, "I do it all by myself!" 

Kids Say The Darndest Things - 2013

Here are the things I wrote for 2013.

February 2013 

- One night Jack said, "Mom when you die I'm gonna live in this house!" Then Ella in a sad voice said, "I would be sad....ahhh. I would have to buy a new mommy!" 

- Ever since Jack watched Ninjago he started making this hissing noise and saying, "Look into my eyes!" 

- Owen was growling at Ella and Jack in the garage so Jack went and got his foam sward to attack him. As Jack was running out to the garage I heard him say, "Get out of here in the name of the Lord!" 

- I told Ella how she got her yummies from me when she was in my tummy and I pointed to her belly button. Then she when onto say she ate her yummies all done and she made motions like her belly button was eating! 

March 2013

- On Easter Sunday Jack was telling everyone the Easter story with his resurrection eggs he made at MOPS. When he got to the egg with the sponge filled with vinegar they gave Jesus he said, "They gave Jesus sass juice to drink!" 

May 2013

- When Jack and Owen were playing wrestle on our bed Jack was pretending to die and he said, "Come here Zeke I need your power of cuteness!" 

- While pushing Ella and Zeke on the swing set I was pushing Ella and I counted, "1...2...3" Then I went to push Zeke and I just kept counting, "4...5". That's when Zeke lifted his hand to give me a high five! 

- On Mother's Day Owen asked if we could have a fire outside later in the day. Michael replied, "Maybe so we'll see!" Owen responded, "so that's no!" 

- When the kids first started swim lessons we would reward the child who paid attention the best. The reward might be a frostie or cotton candy. In April we started taking the Financial Peace Class at church. We told the kids that we weren't going to do rewards that cost money since we were on a budget. So then Owen asked what he was going to get that day for paying attention the best. We gave him a "round of applause". He wasn't happy about that so we decided to give him two thumbs up. To which he said, "Two thumbs down for mommy & daddy!" 

- One morning Ella asked, "Logan come here? She's my friend...I treat her nice!" 

July 2013

- One summer night Owen was in the kitchen with me. He looked outside and said, "The shade is upon us!" aka...the sun is going down. Then he said, "If we were a chicken house it would still be sunny." I asked, "Why is that?" "Because our house would be lower and we would be chickens...talking chickens!" To which I said, "Owen you're awesome!" He said, "Yep that's the truth!" 

September 2013

- One day after a particularly rainy day Owen said, "Mom! It was raining dogs & cats today!" 

- Zeke has gotten more vocal he says, Mama, Dada, Lala for Ella, Ga-Ga, Mo for more. He can also sign more, milk & all done. 

Kids Say The Darndest Things - 2014

Like I said in a previous post I thought it would be fun for me to go back and post about previous years that I've recorded the funny things the kids say or do. Here are the things I wrote down in 2014. 

February 2014

- I decided to introduce Zeke to the movie Cars. He was hooked! He kept pointing at the TV and saying, "Ca"! He will mimic me if I say, "McQueen", he'll say "Quee" and he'll also say, "Spee" to mimic me saying, "I am speed". Zeke wasn't even 2 years old at the time. 

- One night at dinner Zeke was being naughty by shaking his snack container over the side of his highchair getting crumbs all over the floor. Daddy took his container away and he started to cry. Daddy told him to stop. He held it together while in his highchair then when Daddy set him down he walked into the kitchen and promptly lost it and started crying his eyes out. 

March 2014

- One day after school Owen was playing his hunting game. Zeke walked up and stood next to him watching and then said, "Ah OH" when Owen "shot" an animal in the game. 

- One Saturday morning we were in the kitchen making breakfast when Zeke came in driving a car. He looked right at Daddy and said, "Mommy, Mommy...hahahaha!" 

- That same Saturday morning Ella was trying to organize the older boys to play with her. She was saying, "Ok guys!"....then Owen piped in and said, "We are not playing baby & mommy!" 

- I was planning Zeke's 2nd Birthday so I had images of Cars up on the computer. Zeke was standing on the chair in front of the computer saying, "Queen, Cars, Mayder!" Then he would clap his hands over his head. The best part was when he turned to me and said, "I wuv you!" 

- On the way home from MOPS Ella was having a meltdown about a conversation we were having about being a daughter. I was explaining how she is Ella, but she's also a daughter, a sister, a niece and a friend. Through tears she said, "I just want to be Ella!" 

August 2014

- Zeke grabbed the sass juice (white vinegar) bottle off the cabinet and said, "ju". I told him it was sass juice and I only used it when he talked sassy to me. I also told him it was yucky! He got louder and said, "JU!" So I squirted two sprays into his mouth and he said, "HEY!" 

September 2014

One day in the shower Zeke sneezed and said, "Bless a you me!" 

Zeke says some funny things. When he's thirsty he'll say, "water me" or when he wants you to pick him up he'll say, "I carry you!" 

October 2014

One day Zeke was driving his car and he noticed a picture of Daddy and me on our wedding day. He sounded all surprised and said, "That mommy....mommy girl!" 

Zeke started potty training on Thursday October 2nd.

December 2014

Zeke was taking a shower with me and I wrapped a wash cloth around his waist. He threw it off and said, "I not a princess!" 

One day Jack brought in the mail and a package for me. Later I asked Owen about it. I asked if they were out there when the mailman came. He said, "Yeah the mailman & the ups truck were both here!" 

I asked Zeke to go get his dinosaur jammies and he said, "No, I don't want my dinosaur chicken!" 

Ella had been given reindeer antlers that lite up. Jack wanted them really badly and Ella knew it. Jack was trying to be sneaky and take them when Ella say, "I've got my eyes on you!" 

Zeke was sitting on the counter watching me make Christmas goodies. I was telling him Jesus loved him and he said, "I want to hold him!" it's something he says to me all the time. He look right at me and smiled and said, "You..not God!" 

Just a few minutes later he's still watching me and I was opening up candles and he says, "I like those candies" and then he thinks and says, "I didn't eat my dinner!" 

On Christmas Eve we planned to have the kids open one present. Jackson was mentioning that to Ga-Ga and then he looked at me and points and says, "You better have a present for Ga-Ga or she's gonna spank your butt!" 

When Zeke gets shut out of a room he bangs on the door and says, "Open me door!" 

Kids Say The Darndest Things! 2015

Years and years ago my Mentor Mom Sheri at MOPS gave me a book for Christmas. She said that this book was for me to right down all the silly or monumental things that happened in my kids lives. That way on those hard days I could look back and read them and get a good laugh. We all know that we think we'll remember the funny things they say and we never do. I'm so glad I write them down, but I know I need to be better at doing it more. I might actually go back and make posts from all the past years just so they are documented on here. Here we go...

January 2015 - 

- I was helping Zeke get his pants back on after he went potty and my scarf that I was wearing fell into his face. He said matter of factly..."I can't see your house, you wear your carpet!" 

February 2015 - 

- On February 23rd Grandma Giest died. 

March 2015 - 

- Zeke fell down and I told him to shake it off to which he replied, "It's not coming off!" 

- For snack I gave the kids banana bread and veggie crisps. I didn't think Zeke would want the veggie crisps so I didn't give him any. Then in a whiney voice he said, "I want veggie tales!" 

- At Ella 5th Birthday party she was full of energy so Ga-Ga asked her, "Who put a quarter in you?" Ella looked at her all funny and said, "Give me my money back!" 

- While we were at Ga-Ga's house she was helping Ella count her money from her piggy bank. Ga-Ga mentioned, "It's always good to save money for a rainy day!" Ella looked outside and said, "It's not raining anymore!" 

- Zeke was trying to say, "I've got my eye on you!", but instead he said, "I've got your eye in me!" 

- I was talking to Jack about chewing his food so he doesn't choke. I said, "You need to be able to breath!" Then Zeke said, "I'm breathing...God told me to!" 

- Ella and Zeke were at my friend Laci's house so I could go to an appointment. On our way home they told me how her dog had surprised them. Zeke said, "That doggie don't want to eat me....I'd be all gone!" 

- Zeke called his belly button his bumblebee button! 

- Ella sang a song..."I love you mommy, I love you mommy, please don't die! 

April 2015 - 

- We were looking at the LEGO move characters on the computer and Owen recited Abe Lincoln's line, "You're a butt!" He kept saying it over and over calling Jack a butt. Then I had to pipe in and say, "Just because Abe Lincoln says it doesn't mean you can!" 
Side note: We just watched The LEGO movie again and it's not actually Abe Lincoln that says that line...it's Gandolf.

- Zeke was looking in the game cabinet and he said he wanted to play the cereal game. I couldn't figure out which one that was until he pointed to Life!

October 2015 -

- Zeke was watching me do my morning routine and I was putting on lotion. He wanted to put on lotion too and I said that his skin was already baby soft. He thought about that and said that my skin was "mommy soft and his was big boy soft!" 

- I was getting ready to brush Zeke's teeth and he told me he hated "toothpasting!" 

November 2015 - 

- Instead of saying, "impossible" Zeke says, "impospital!" 

- One day I made Zeke a peanut butter and "ootella" sandwich for lunch. I called him into the kitchen and said, "here's a peanut butter and nutella sandwich....it's got your name on it!" He looked confused and looked at the sandwich and even turned it over. Then he said, "my name isn't on it!" So I used a knife and made a 'Z' on the bread! 

December 2015 - 

- On Christmas Eve morning Jack asked if it was time to go to Papa Martin's house. I told him that we had to make cookies and decorate them. Then I paused and he said...."and eat them!" 

It's Official...All 4 Of Our Kids Have Had Stitches!!!

On Thursday July 23rd I guess fate was telling us that it had just been too long since we took a trip to the ER. The kids were playing upstairs like usual right before bed and then we heard a thunk. That's not uncommon either. They just from the clubhouse or the bunk bed and sound like they are going to crash right through the floor all the time. This particular thunk was followed by a short, but loud cry...you know the cry where you cry at first and then don't cry because you are too busy sucking in all the air in the room before you actually start wailing. Yeah that cry! Michael ran upstairs to get Zeke and then I heard him saying, "Oh dear!". That's when I said..."Is he bleeding?". To which he replied, "Oh yeah!". Great here we go! 

We got towel and a little ice pack. The bleeding stopped almost right away and then I went and got some neosporin and some steri strips. I had the steri strips leftover from Ella's Hydrocephalus surgery when she pulled her steri strips off her tummy and they gave me extra ones to be able to put them on at home. I was trying to put them on, but the position of the cut was just too difficult to get them on and I noticed that it actually was a pretty open cut. I didn't quite think he'd need stitches, but at less butterfly bandaids or something. 

Since it was just a simple procedure I decided to not drive to Tacoma and just go to St. Francis since it's closer. Thankfully they put us on the fast track. We were in triage at 8:45 and then being called back to the room by 9:45...not bad really! 

Of course like all the other times I've taken Zeke to the ER he was happy as a clam! 

He was also running on fumes so keeping him happy in the waiting room and then in the exam room was a bit challenging. He wanted to stand up on the chair or the table and he would just not sit still. I let him look at all the pictures on my camera and then I let him watch a show on Netflix, but once we got back to the exam room my phone wouldn't work....no reception. 

That's when I searched my purse and to my surprise I had 3 chocolate oatmeal granola bars! Score!!! The Dr came and cleaned the wound since it had bled a bit more. He said we had three options....just let it heal on it's own and he'll have a pretty good scar, glue it and hope it stays, or put in two stitches. At first I was leaning towards gluing it, but then I remember when he had come to St Francis around 8 years ago with Owen and they glued his lip and he ripped it off in 20 seconds. The Dr agreed that since he was so active stitches would be the best and most effective route. 

Because of the proximity of the cut being so close to his eye they didn't use the numbing cream prior to the shot. So they wrapped him like a burrito which surprisingly he thought was a super fun game. Once the shot came he wasn't smiling though. There was guy holding his head, a lady holding his arms and I was holding his legs. He was crying pretty good, but not like freak out crying. The guy at his head said that it was normally way louder than this. Once he was out of the burrito and I could hold him he calmed down real quickly. 

The nurse was able to find a cute bandaid and we were on our way. 

The next morning he wanted to take a shower with me so I took off the bandaid and tried to get a picture of the stitches. 

He is such a mover it was really hard though. I was actually surprised that his eye didn't look worse and wasn't swollen more. Later on in the shower I finally got the whole story to what happen. The other kids weren't in the playroom so they hadn't seen it happen and Zeke was too emotional the night before. In the shower he told me he tripped and fell on the table that Owen likes to make his set ups on....AKA the small black IKEA table. He then went on to demonstrate in the shower and bonked his head on one of the shelves in the shower....crazy kid! 

Tight Fit!

The day after Jack's party the boys got home from school and wanted to enjoy the pool again. It wasn't nearly as nice and the wind was picking up, but kids are kids and they don't care how cold it is. Owen and Ella were splashing around in the water for a really long time, but Jack was barely out there 5 minutes before he came running back in freezing. That wasn't the funny part though...the funny part was that he was wearing Zeke's 18 month swimming top! 

He was so excited it fit him! 

I like it Mama! 

It's not too small! 

That's the even funnier part....that my 6 year old can fit into an 18 month old swim top! I've got little kids! 

Teeth & Funny Faces!

 After what seems like forever Owen's top front tooth is finally growing in. In fact since I took this picture just a few days ago it's already grown down quite a bit more.

After taking the above picture Owen asked if I could take more pictures of his funny faces. 

Of course Jack didn't want to be left out! 

 

One more for the road! 

 

That's all folks!

Dancing In The Rain!

A couple weeks ago we had a week of rain. I don't mean sprinkles...it was torrential downpours! One afternoon while Logan and Zeke were sleeping I thought it might be fun to go outside and dance in the rain with the kids.  

 

 

Ella Bean was the first to venture out.

 

 

Then Owen ran through.

 

 

Here comes Jack!

 

 

Then I got out there with them and jumped and danced around.

 

 

It was so fun seeing them enjoy themselves!

 

 

Doing some funky moves!

 

 

Then Jack wanted to dance with Ella.

 

 

Then Owen danced with Ella. One thing I didn't get a picture of...because I was a participant...was Owen dancing with me. It was so precious. He asked me and then he wanted to slow dance and twirl me. Melt my heart!

 

 

Drenched!

 

 

Then Ella decided to take a load off and sit on this box on our deck not knowing it wasn't stable. Oops! We were all laughing....it was a fun reprieve from the normal everyday stresses!

 

 

Love my life....love these kiddos!

Don't Mess With Me!

She's a lady on the edge!!!

Recently we watched Tinkerbell The Lost Treasure and during that movie Tinkerbell gets REALLY mad. She turns super red and says some not nice things to her friend Terrence. When Ella first saw that part she jumped off the couch and folded her arms and said, "I don't like her anymore!" It was so cute! She was really upset at Tinkerbell! Thankfully Tinkerbell figures out she was in the wrong and apologizes so all is right in fairy land and Ella loves Tinkerbell again! The funny thing is whenever she sees that part in the movie she gets really animated and she make her angry Tinkerbell faces...hence the picture above!

Imagination!

I love this guy and his great imagination! Along with having a great imagination Jack has the hardest time throwing anything way. It can always be reused for something. He actually cried real tears the other day when we had to throw away two Mylar balloons that had lost all there helium. Such a tender hearted boy! 

After our monthly trip to Costco we had these two boxed that he was sure he could make them into something. So we taped them together and make Bucky...Jake's pirate ship from Jake and The Neverland Pirates. 

Love that pirate look!!! 

 

Now for my records some of the funny things Jack has said recently...

- On the way to MOPS he was saying that he wanted a car that turned into a jet and it would be made out of a pear. Then he paused and said that he would need a parachute too. I was cracking up and he had no idea he just made a joke! 

- Jack LOVES Ninjago....we have the first season and we watch it probably once a week. Well there is this snake guy that can hypnotize people kind of like Ka from the Jungle Book. We'll Jack has learned this skill from him and now he will walk up to us with his big blue eyes and say, "Ssssss look into my eyes!!!" 

- One night while I was cooking dinner Jack and Zeke were in the playroom and Jack had set up an obstacle for Zeke to go through. Well whenever there are things on the floor Zeke just wants to grab them and play with them. That's when I started hearing, "No Zeke don't touch those, just go around them....no Zeke they'll blow your hands off and you won't have hands forever...No Zeke don't touch that it will control your mind and make you a bad guy and I don't want you to be a bad guy!

Jack just cracks me up....or as Ella says, "Jack you up me!"