A Day of Firsts...

The last time I took my boys to the mall to get their pictures taken it was a NIGHTMARE! I'm not kidding. Imagine with me 2 hours of rowdy boys running circles around the studio, and every time the photographer would get them in a pose they would run away before she could take the shot, or one would push the other one off the bench. Finally we came away with this shot. It's cute huh?

Do you want to know why Christian looks so happy? Because he is standing on Nicholas, and Nicholas is saying "Owe! Owe! Owe!". Why are Children cutest when they are being naughty?

After that experience I was not looking forward to taking them to the mall today for Valentines pictures, but I had a good coupon, so I was willing to try. I did everything I could to prepare for the event. I stuffed my purse full of fruit snacks for bribes, I drilled them on what they were going to do..."Stand where the lady tells you to", "Don't move", "Smile nice like this", "If Christian gets up to run you stay put", "Don't go behind the curtain!" If they behaved then we would go to Barnes and Noble after to play at the train table. This time around it was a whole different story. They actually behaved (for the most part)! We got several good shots and were done in 20 minutes! Yes, you read that right, 20 minutes. A record! We did have to pull out the fruit snacks, and sill had a few pushes and escapes, but the photographer bribed them with a balloon when they were done, and that really worked well.




Feeling incredibly successful we headed to the See's Chocolate booth to get the boys a sucker treat and then to Barnes and Noble. I couldn't help but be amazed by the fact that I was actually enjoying our trip to the mall. I never enjoy the mall with my boys! As I watched the boys play with the trains I just tried to enjoy the moment. There was one other kid playing too, a cute 1 year old who could barely walk. After a few minutes Nicholas decided he wanted to look at a few books. He brought one to me and just as I started to look at it I heard the little boy start to scream. I looked up and Christian was saying "My trains!" I looked down and there on the cute little boys arm was a full on deep bite mark left by Christian! The kind that leaves bruises on Nicholas for weeks. The poor boy was inconsolable. I felt terrible! I apologized to his dad over and over, and made Christian say sorry too. We immediately packed up and went home. So much for an enjoyable trip to the mall!

Later today Nicholas and I were in the back yard playing with his friends. Suddenly Nicholas got the idea that he wanted to ride Johnny's bike. It doesn't have training wheels on it, and Nicholas has never ridden without training wheels before. I decided why not give it a try. The first few times I let go he fell almost right away, but after about 10 minutes of trying he was riding all over the place! I couldn't believe it! We tried to get it on video, but it didn't work very well. I was so proud of him!

Tonight for family home evening we made Valentines for the boys friends and for Nick's class at school. I have to say we got the easiest valentines ever! I found them at Sam's club. A big box of heart shaped fruit snacks. Each pack had a place to write "To" and "From" with a sharpe marker so it wouldn't rub off. It was great! I had all of them labeled in 5 minutes. As I was labeling them Nicholas came over and started picking up each one and reading the names on them! He was actually reading them! I had no idea he could do that! I was shocked and so proud!

What a crazy day!