Merry Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas from the Piton Family!

The ornament Gabe made at preschool.

Will, Gabe, and Kiera with Santa

Gabe's letter to Santa...

Dear Santa Claus,

I have a Christmas day and have a pumpkin pie. And please Santa bring me a toy, it's called an elephant and a zebra, and a flashlight. We have a movie you can watch. Jesus loves us.

Love, Gabe
(There was a lot more, I just had trouble keeping up! After he wrote this letter, he decided he just wanted a flashlight and a Santa cookie.)

Where's Will?

Before we go to bed, we check on the boys. A few nights ago we checked on them and Will wasn't in his bed. We couldn't figure out where he might be. I turned on the light and...Aha! Found him! Why didn't I think to check UNDER the bed? I think we have a new twist on the old "Where's Waldo?" books... "Where's Will Sleeping?".

Actually, I think I should consider publishing a book based completely on the odd sleeping places of Will (some of which seem to be rubbing off on Gabe). If you've seen some of the earlier posts, you'll know what I mean. Here's a few more...
Again, falling asleep at the table.

No, he's not looking for something under there. He's sound asleep...this is his new favorite sleeping spot.

Will's habit of sleeping on the floor is wearing off on Gabe (you can't tell from the picture, but Gabe made a "gate" out of pillows and a chair cushion between his pillow and the underneath of the bed so the monsters can't come out...the only monster I see under the bed is Will!)

And again with the floor. They start off in their beds, we just have no idea where they'll end up. A couple of mornings ago, Mark found Will asleep on the chair in the boys' room.

Wha-huh? This one I have no explanation for! I have no idea how someone can fall asleep on top of a plastic basket!

When Trains Fly...

Okay, so this is the result of flying toys...Sadly, I have to admit that I was a little bit glad that Will was on the receiving end of this. Usually he is the one throwing toys and amazingly, until tonight, no one had been hurt. Gabe felt pretty bad, and in his defense it was an accident. He didn't throw it, so much as fumble it into Will's head. Oh well, we'll just add it to the other bumps, bruises, and scrapes on his head. I am sometimes amazed that we haven't had to take him to the ER yet (I know that day is coming!).

And the look on his face...his head wasn't hurting anymore at this point, that's just the "look" he gives quite regularly now. Yeah, let's just say he's turned into a Grumpy Grinch lately. This picture could have been placed in the previous post. It's the "I didn't get my way and I don't like it" look.

Holiday Fun

The boys with Santa at our church Christmas party. Gabe has asked Santa for a flashlight and a Santa cookie. Will thought his big brother had a pretty good idea and asked for a yellow flashlight and a cookie (he doesn't care if the cookie looks like Santa or not, just don't forget the cookie!). I love that the boys are so easy to please. We know this won't last forever, so we're enjoying it while we can!

Will wearing his most festive Christmas outfit. He went into the playroom to play and came out a few minutes later saying "Ho, Ho, Ho! Happy Bistmas!"

Gabe has taken on the responsibility of being our very own "Christmas Commander." I sure do love him, but I'm getting kind of tired of being bossed around! He is so excited about Christmas, he can't hardly stand it!

Here he is helping me make chocolate covered pretzels. Okay, so he was more interested in eating chocolate than helping. But, we had fun!

This is the "singing" house that we went to tonight. The owners have a radio signal coming from their house and the lights flash with the music. Will was entertained for a couple of minutes, Gabe was transfixed the whole time we were there. We had to promise to return in order to leave!

When Aunt Shay got to town, Gabe asked her to make him an elf costume. Lucky him, she followed through with gusto! Will wanted in on the action, so Aunt Shay actually had to make two costumes. Here they are...

Gabe and Will as Santa's helpers.

Gabe singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to his biggest fan, himself!

Aunt Shay putting the final touches on Will's "ears".

"Have a nice day mommy!"

Oh boy am I in for it with Will! He's got quite the little attitude. It's kind of cute now, but I can see it being a problem in the future if he keeps it up. If you tell him something that he doesn't like, he'll say "humpf" and stomp off.

About three or four months ago I was lecturing him about something and in the middle of my lecture he looks up at me and says " 'stand mom" (translation: "I understand mom.") and walked away. My jaw dropped. Are you kidding me???? At not even two years old he's telling me that he understands he's in trouble and WALKS AWAY in the middle of my lecture! Oh no you don't!

Then two days ago, I was losing my patience with both the boys. As I was getting after Will for something (I can't remember what he was doing, but he seems to always be doing something mischievous and/or naughty), he looked up at me, smiled, said "Have a nice day mommy!", and walked away! My first reaction was to laugh (which was good, I think laughter is just the remedy needed for an impatient mom). It was another jaw dropping moment for me. I wasn't sure what to think or do. Doesn't he know he's two? It's a good thing he's so stinking cute! The joke for the rest of the day was, "Have a nice day!"

Christmas Tree Lane

A few days ago I decided we should drive to Fresno and walk down Christmas Tree Lane with the boys. (Christmas Tree Lane is an 85 year old tradition. It's a 2 mile stretch of houses that are decorated for Christmas. They start decorating up to 3 months in advance in order to be ready for the crowds of people that walk and drive down the street.) I knew the boys would love all the lights and music, and thought they would enjoy walking more than driving. The weather was perfect, the lights and music were great (and Gabe even got to experience "snow", really just a machine but I'm not going to be the one to break the news to him!)...I just didn't anticipate it being such a long night! We got there shortly after it opened at six and it was after 10pm by the time we got home. Hmmm, I think next year we'll drive!

Gabe and Will in the stroller. Will was ticked most of the time because we wouldn't let him get out of the stroller. Yes, we are mean parents, we readily acknowledge that fact.

Gabe's favorite...Spiderman Santa!

Gabe and Nana dancing down Christmas Tree Lane.

Gabe's been dreaming of a white Christmas, he doesn't understand why it won't happen (all the Christmas specials have snow, so that must mean that it can't be Christmas unless there is snow!). Someday he'll come to the realization that we do have "White Christmas's" here, it's just called fog!

Horsin' Around

The cowboys (this particular night they named themselves Jake and Bob).

Well, it was bound to happen...and Saturday it did! The boys fell off a horse. It was actually quite uneventful in the grand scheme of things. The boys and I had gone to watch grandpa rope cattle at a friends ranch. The boys were duded up in their cowboy boots and hats, and definitely looked the part. After the grown up cowboys were done, Gabe and Will got their turn to get on. We put them both on Little Joe (the horse pictured above), Will in front with Gabe behind him. Grandpa led them around for a few minutes with Will telling Gabe to "Hold on Gabe! Hold on!" Grandpa and I stopped to talk, and the boys were more than happy to hang out atop Little Joe. That's when it happened...Little Joe shook (kind of like we do when we get the "chills"). It was enough to throw Gabe off balance and since the only thing Gabe had to hold onto was Will...Will went down too.

Grandpa and I were close enough to be there as they hit the ground, but not in time to catch them. Luckily the dirt was about as soft and cushy as dirt can be. We quickly got them to their feet and started dusting them off. The tears didn't last long, but it sure did take a while to dig all the dirt out of Gabe's mouth (apparently we need to teach him to close his mouth when he falls off horses!). Gabe is a kid who gags on anything that isn't on HIS list of approved edible items (there is only about 7 things on the list and dirt isn't one of them!), so I believe that was the most traumatic part of the ordeal. I dug as much as I could out of his mouth and the told him to start swallowing...heck, he was at least getting some minerals, right? Will was quite proud of eating dirt and spent the rest of the night telling people, "I fall off horse. And I eat dirt!"

After taking a few minutes to brush them off the best we could, I put them back up on Little Joe. Gabe got up first...he wasn't too excited about it, but he did it. Will was definitely less happy about it, but 10 minutes later he was asking to ride again.

Gabe led Little Joe back to where grandpa's other horse, Doc, was (that's when I noticed that in addition to a dirt covered face, Gabe also had a bloody nose...we thought he might end up with a black eye, but today he just has just a little bit of "road rash" along his eye and nose). Will held onto Little Joe while grandpa took Doc's halter off. And then Gabe led Little Joe back to the trailer for his dinner. I was very proud of my two cowboys. They took their first fall in stride and only took a few moments to recompose themselves. My only regret...NOT HAVING A CAMERA! They sure looked like a couple of rough and tumble cowboys afterward!

Later I asked the boys what their favorite part of the night was. Gabe quickly piped up with "Falling off Little Joe!" I replied with "Really? Even though you ate dirt?" (Will then chimed in with "I ate dirt!") Gabe sighed and said "Yes, but the big dirt was a little crunchy."

Gabe riding "Doc".

Will and Grandpa going for a ride.

Happy Birthday Gabe!

Happy 4th Birthday Gabe!

Gabe's 4th birthday lasted about a week...It started at preschool the Wednesday before his birthday and went clear through the Tuesday after!

Our "Handsome Devil" is 4!

On his actual birthday we went to one of his favorite restaurants (as he says it..."the pizza restaurant by Costco" - when you can't remember the name, I guess it's best to be descriptive!). The pizza was great, Gabe only eats the crust and Will only eats the main part of the pizza - a perfect relationship! We followed it up with cake and then on to Fresno! Our friend Fabi's volleyball team was playing in the regional championship game for her conference and that's where Gabe wanted to go for his birthday. For Mark and I, it was a fun and exciting game to watch. However, I'm pretty sure the boys only go for the popcorn, the attention they get from Fabi and her teammates, and the opportunity to play on the court after the game!

Kiera and Gabe admiring the dinosaur cake.

We had his "real" party the Tuesday after his birthday, when my parents were back in town and my sister, Amy, and niece were here for a visit. Mark made a dinosaur themed ice cream cake, which turned out a lot cuter than the picture portrays (he's our answer to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake!). Gabe enjoyed his new stuff and spending time with his cousin, Kiera.

Once the Spiderman jammies went on, the web slinging began!

What do we love about Gabe? Oh so many things! We love how curious he is, he asks the best questions. We love how happy he is. We love how much he loves Will. We love what a great big brother he is. We love that he loves preschool. We love how sensitive and caring he is. We love his creativity and wild imagination. We love his imaginary friends, Marty (a zebra) and Ord (a dragon), they are so polite and friendly! But, most of all, we love that he's ours!

HALLOWEEN!!

Trick-Or-Treating Fun!

Gabe, the friendly bat!

Will, the ferocious lion!

Ready or not, here they come!

Halloween was an adventure, though I guess it usually is. After much deliberation, Gabe decided to be a bat. I couldn't find a bat costume, so we made it. Actually it was probably the easiest costume to make, so I'm glad that's what he chose! An umbrella, black sweatsuit...and voila! a bat! Will was a little more difficult. He was supposed to be a bear, but the bear didn't fit. It was a one piece, size 3T...he could get in it, but he looked like we'd stuffed him into it (and I think the seams would have busted if he so much as sneezed). So, the bear suit was out. Gabe's lion costume from last year fit, but he didn't want to be a bear. Every time I'd put it on him he'd declare, "I not a roar! I a ruff!" He didn't want to be a bear, he wanted to be a dog. I being the tightwad that I am didn't want to buy (or make) him a dog costume when we had a perfectly good lion costume. It took a month, but we finally convinced him that being a lion would be fun. I find it quite unfortunate that we live where we do at Halloween time, because it's usually so warm. My point being that the little lion was a very sweaty lion. The poor kid sweats a lot without the help of a lion costume...so, we opted to have him wear jeans instead of the bottom half of the costume. The boys loved Trick-or-Treating, but after a block or two, Will decided he was done. So, he spent the rest of the time on my shoulders (why wasn't I smart enough to take a stroller or make Mark take them?). Gabe was quite excited to go to all the houses. He'd ring the doorbell and when they'd answer he'd strike a "bat" pose and say, "Trick-or-Treat! I'm a bat! Joey, you know him, he's spiderman!" They'd usually look around for Spiderman, but all they'd see was a tired sweaty lion sitting atop a tired sweaty mom. (Joey, in case you're wondering, is his friend from preschool.)

Strange Sleeper

I've got to say, I get such a kick out of some of the places I find Will sleeping. I can't imagine they're better than his bed. But as the old saying goes..."Let sleeping boys lie." Well, something like that!

Hmm, hardwood floor....looks comfy.

He's getting closer! At least this looks halfway comfy...

Who said you can't sleep in boots?

Did he fall asleep waiting for lunch to arrive? Or is he just early for the next meal?

Well, not such an unusual spot...but it sure puts a kink in my neck!

I can't wait to see where I find him next!

Pumpkin Patch

Gabe taking a break in the sun with the pumpkins.

Will digging in the giant corn box.

Dalia, the boys' part-time sister.

Will taking charge of the wagons. At one point he was trying to pull three wagons up a small hill.

Gabe searching for the perfect pumpkin.

The kids were able to go to the pumpkin patch a couple of times this year. It's an activity they always enjoy. We grew pumpkins in our garden this year and after our first trip to the pumpkin patch Gabe wanted to know why our little patch didn't have hayrides, mazes, and a corn box. I guess next year we'll put him in charge of the pumpkin portion of the garden!

Will's 2nd Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday Will!

Will turned 2 on October 8th without much pomp and circumstance...we were just too pooped from our trip! Mark made him an ice cream cake and we ordered in Chinese food. Will was actually feeling quite miserable (we found out the next day at his 2 year appointment that he had a massive ear infection), but nothing cheers a boy up like motrin, ice cream cake, and presents! Gabe was more than happy to help open presents, especially the robot he picked out for Will (actually, I think he picked it out more for himself - oh well!).

Will (looking a little under the weather) just after blowing out his candle. Yes, there should have been 2 candles but one of them got lost on the drive way (don't ask) and found the next day.

Gabe helping Will open presents.

Will is such a happy boy and such a brute! He's fun-loving, eager to help, and loves to be on the go. He's talking up a storm. Everyday we drive by the "Halloween House" in our neighborhood and Will covers his eyes and says "Ohh, a ghost (pumpkin or witch), I skeered." He amazes us everyday with his vocabulary. And I know in an earlier post I said we weren't ready to potty train him yet...well, he's a boy of his mind. He's trying to potty training himself. He's not real consistant, but at least he's trying! Hopefully, he'll keep it up and give me the Christmas present of not having to buy him any more diapers (I'm not holding my breath on that one!).

A Whirlwind Trip To Utah

A well timed phone call from my friend Shannon got me thinking about a road trip to Utah. Sometimes we just need a break from our normal lives...and a trip to Utah seemed to be the ticket. Though, if I'd stopped to think about how exhausted I would be at the end of it, I might have thought twice about going at all!

Anyway, I packed up the boys and my mom (she's crazy...she made this trip with me and then a little over 24 hours later flew back to Utah for just shy of a week...I swear I didn't make her come, but I'm sure glad she did!) and we headed out on Wednesday, the 3rd, after Gabe got out of preschool. Will slept most of the way and Gabe gave us running dialog the whole way. I think both mom and I were wondering where the "mute" button was. He was fascinated by the "big city," anywhere along our desolate, desert drive that had lights on after dark. For those of you who have ever made the drive...Gabe decided he wanted to live in the "big city" of Baker! Nana said that would be fine, just don't expect her to ever visit.

We arrived in St. George, UT (where my Grandma Bea lives) around midnight. By that time, Gabe was out for the night. But Will, who had slept most of the way was ready to run and play! I think it was close to 2am before I was able to get him to sleep. The next morning the boys played on the red rocks behind grandma's house and we took grandma out to run some errands before continuing on our way.

Playing on Great-Grandma Bea's red rocks.

We headed up to Payson to visit with my friend Shannon and her kids (a funny side note...we ran into Shannon's parents in Barstow. CA when we stopped for dinner at the "Train" McDonald's the night before. They were also traveling to visit her.) The boys enjoyed some play time and a break from the car, while I enjoyed just hanging out with Shannon.

Dalton, Ellie, Shannon, Dalin, Gabe, Jodie, and Will

Will and Gabe under Roxy's watchful eye.

Kiera, Will and Gabe

After Shannon's, we continued on to Salt Lake City...our final destination (Thank Heavens!). We stayed with my sister Shay and her dog Roxy. During our short stay, we were able to watch Shay's volleyball team (Salt Lake Community College) play, go to the Aquarium with my friends Kellie and Karen and their kids, and hang out with my sisters and niece. I also managed to get my first ticket, courtesy of the Sandy Police Department. I could rant and rave about that for a few minutes, but I won't. Let's just say everyone thinks it's ridiculous that I got the ticket, or even pulled over.


Saturday afternoon, we headed back to St. George. We stopped off in Pleasant Grove to visit with a family I worked with in college. Their son is autistic and I worked one on one with him for a few years. He and his older sister are now both taller than me (they were 8 and 6 when we moved to CA). It was great to see them and relive some old memories.

Gabe and his (drawn on) jack-o-lantern.

The remainder of our drive to St. George was in terrible weather, heavy rain and strong winds. I was definitely glad to get to grandma's and off the road. At grandma's, Gabe drew a jack-o-lantern on the pumpkin we brought for grandma (we delivered 4 or 5 pumpkins from our garden to Utah). The boys enjoyed having grandma read to them.

Will, Great-Grandma Bea and Gabe.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful...well, except for the fight between Gabe and Will. They were fighting over was Gabe's name really is. I'd hear "You Wheel!" and then "I'm not Will, I'm Gabe. You're Will!" and then "I not Wheel, you Wheel!" Lucky for us (sarcasm), this went on for at least 30 minutes. It was comical at first and quickly became annoying. But, considering how tired they were I can't complain! We made is back home Sunday night, the 7th, just in time to get ready for Will's birthday.