peas in a pod

Caleb and Porter

Caleb is my brown eyed boy, Porter is my blue eyed boy.
Caleb leads and Porter follows.
Porter eats the hot dog, Caleb eats the bun.
Caleb is easy going, Porter falls apart without advance notice.
Caleb loves blue, Porter loves brown.
Porter loves being on his own, Caleb needs people. Lots of people.
Caleb is daring, Porter couldn't be more cautious.
Porter eats anything but chocolate, Caleb won't eat a thing besides chocolate.

But

They both love legos.

They both love books.

They both love potty humor.

They both love baths.

They both superheros.

They both love mario brothers.

They both love to wrestle.

They love each other

 and they adore their baby brother.

When I watch the two of them together, I think Luke is a blessed boy to have these amazing brothers.

They will be his protectors.

His teachers.

His audience.

His example.

His entertainment.

The babies of the family always have it so good.

Tred Lightly

Late into the night the squeals of Caleb can be heard from the bottom of the the bunk bed that he and Jonas share. They make secret plans to sneak strawberries and cheetos into their beds and have a feast late into the wee hours of the morning. They hide their DSs under their pillows and battle each other way past their bed time.
And they are convinced we have no idea.
We let them think it.
But after a few nights of late partying, I end up with cranky children.
Then I start to crack down.
A few nights ago, Brian and I could hear the laughter and the whisper yelling still going strong at 10:30. Brian decided to be the enforcer.
He swung open their door in a hurry, surprising them. They fumbled to stuff their DSs under their pillows, thinking they were still hiding something from us at this point.
Brian handed down his most stern look, and used his "I mean business" voice and he said,
"Boys. Do I look stupid to you?"
Caleb sat up in bed, squinted hard to examine his father and proudly declared,
"Yep."
Jonas, myself and Brian did our best to stifle the laughter. We are always doing our best to stifle our laughter at the expense of Caleb.
This time we failed miserably.
Next time though, we will know better than to ask Caleb for a truth we aren't ready to hear.
The boy has no filter after all.

He's at it again...

The other day I was asking Caleb if he was nervous about something. I can't even remember.
He quickly replied,
"NO! I only get nervous about one thing."
Having to know what that was, I quickly asked him what that one thing was.
In true Caleb fashion, spoken as if it was obvious he said,
"When I ask a girl to be my girlfriend."
More than a little surprised by that answer, I asked him if that is something he does a lot.
To which the little man says,
"What do you think?"

I don't know where he gets it.
I don't know at this point if I should start feeling disturbed by this five year old of mine,
but I do know he is one of the most entertaining people on this planet.

ready, set...

Yesterday, Caleb joined the throng of kids around the neighborhood and flocked to his first day of school.

He was just a little bit excited.

He wore as much star wars paraphernalia as his mom would allow.

He promptly found a friend.

They bonded over Mario Brothers.

He quickly found his desk,

his spot on the rug,

and the next phase of his life.

And just like that, he grew up. And as sad as that makes me, just like every mother, it is so amazingly gratifying to watch such an awesome kid grow into himself so fantastically.

I am such a fan.

wait... what?

Did I used to write on this blog fairly regularly?
Was that me?
Did I try to regularly the record the daily life of me and my family in a somewhat entertaining fashion?
What happened?
Oh yeah, I remember:

Summer.

This summer began hard, as we went at it alone without Brian, but it picked up in fun and intensity once he came back to us. So since, I know everyone has been on pins and needles waiting for an update on what is happening in the Swanson household, I will grace you with an update.

This summer Jonas has honed in on his tween personality traits. Especially the "Friends are like, so much cooler than family. For Sure" trait. Also the "eye rolling" and "whatever, Mom" traits are coming along rather nicely. The big event was he managed to get really sick one night and it was really nice. It was nice because he was so sick, I was able to touch him a handful of times without him breaking out in a hyperactive, allergic to mom fit reaction.

This summer Hailey has been a fury of crafts. She started as a tropical storm but has recently escalated to a full fledged hurricane of glue, paper strips, felt and buttons. Hailey has also began perfecting the arts of list making, and event planning and task mastering. She has created a neighborhood book club, babysat nieces and nephews, performed puppet shows and involved us all in the Swanson theater performances, and done it all while keeping us in line and making sure we are crossing things of our summer to do list. I swear, she is going to be the mother/wife of the year, or the worlds best drill sergeant when she grows up.

Caleb decided to add another personality to his life this summer: Luke Skywalker. His brain has become filled with interesting" facts about Luke and Yoda and Darth Vader. He has decided he needs to wear black everyday, because apparently that's what Luke would do. (I bet you didn't know that). Also, I don't know if I have mentioned this before but Caleb has a sound track to everything in life. He has theme music for eating, playing, falling asleep, swinging, riding his scooter, and uh, using the bathroom. He has spent much of this summer passing his theme song capabilities onto Porter. Porter now believes everything should be accompanied by the theme music from Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and Star wars.

Porter has spent the summer learning major life lessons, most obnoxious important: whining. The kid can whine. He has learned how to annoy the crap out of someone until he gets what he wants. I know all two year olds have the corner of the market on this typically, but he blows all of them out of the water. Porter has also deepened his irrational fears of:
large amounts of water (i.e. bathtub)
movie screens
people in costume
trampolines
and basically any other thing deemed fun by the average child.

Brian has spent the summer repeating the words, "There is no place like home", to which I am glad, but if he starts wearing sparkly red shoes then I am really going to worry. He has restored the yard to it's pretty state, undoing all the work I did to get it all crappy looking and stuff.

I have spent my summer soaking up my family. Some days, I think they almost drowned me, but most days, it was good. It was chill. It was everything summer should be.

But don't think for a minute I am not ecstatic for school to be back in session!

How you doin'?

The other day we went out to dinner to a local pizza restaurant. It's real a real casual little place and we let the kids sit in their own booth by us. While Brian and I were deep in conversation, I noticed Caleb talking to a little girl.
I asked him later what he was saying to her.
Caleb, the little man, told me he saw the girl and just knew.
"Knew what?" I asked.
"That I just had to have a crush on her."
I said, "Oh, I see. Is that what you told her?"
To which he responded sheepishly,
"Nope. I just said,
 "Hey....You know, we should eat dinner sometime."


My son, the little pick up artist.

They don't come much smoother than this boy, I am telling you.

the boy

That's what Caleb is lovingly referred to around these parts.

He is Boy.
Cars.
Trucks.
Trains.
Superheros.

Starwars.
Dirt.
Bugs.
These things make up his life.

I love that


But there is another side of Caleb that I love even more.
He is so loving.
I love that he is a little cuddler.
I love that he tries very hard to make things fair and happy for everyone.
I love his deep and abiding love for his "Grandma friends".

He loves women over the age of 70. The whiter the hair, the more love in his heart.

I love his ability to make people laugh. His personality has always commanded attention.

I love that he is so understanding.
At the third child, a lot of things don't happen when and how he wants them but he has a awesome ability to roll with the punches.

I love that Caleb has passions. I love that they mean EVERYTHING to him until the next big thing comes along.

 We seem to measure time in our family by what Caleb was passionate about at the time.

 I love that he tells me that he has 11 girlfriends, cause he can't narrow it down.

I just love his smile. I love that he lets me see it pretty much all day long.
We have often talked in our family about this kid, and we have come to a realization.
We need him.
His love, his trust, his sillyness, his humor, his goodness...everything that makes Caleb who Caleb is,
is the glue that holds our little family together.
And everyday we are so thankful for it.

The many faces

Caleb has multiple personalities.

 It started with Tarzan when was 2. We watched that movie every single morning. Then he would run around showing off his best Tarzan yell and commence jumping off anything he could climb swinging on vines, insisting on being addressed as Tarzan.

Then he turned 3. And Buzz Lightyear entered his life.
His whole second year of life was filled with Buzz-isms.
I would ask him to clean his room and I would get, "Not today, Zurg!" as a response.
Everything was to infinity and beyond.
He was Buzz for Halloween and every day after. He wore the costume out. (And for the life of me, I cannot find any photographic evidence of this.)

Then he turned 4. The first half of the year was spent casting spells.

Instense cries of "Stupid-fy!" and "Cavada Cadava!" were heard all hours of the day. He went through several pairs of glasses. Harry Potter was a joy to have around. 

Then superheros entered our life. Particularly Spiderman. 

Spiderman (and peter parker) became his world.

He went to bed every night praying to be bit by a radio active spider, only to disappointedly announce every morning that he could not yet climb walls.

About two months ago, Caleb was introduced to his newest identity:

Indiana Jones.
Indie is strong. He is brave and he has completely taken over our lives.
I love him.
He can be a little embarrassing in the grocery store cursing the Russians or the Nazis when someone is in his way or he doesn't get the candy he is begging for, but other than that he is a delight.

 I love Caleb.
and I love all his personalities.
I love the life it infuses into our home.
And I cannot wait to see who is next.

neglecting the blogesphere

A few weeks ago, after Jonas turned 11 we surprised the crap out of our kids and took them here:

The Happiest Place on Earth.
The place our kids had saved their cash for five years to get to.

That is unless you are Porter. Because it that case it would be your Biggest Nightmare on Earth.
Where lots of strange characters with extra large heads come to life and roam around every corner getting too close. Where extra loud music, and extra loud fireworks exist to torture your sensitive ears. A place that as you stroll around you can hear the screams of people being tortured on what they call "rides".

I have never seen a boy more in love with his home than the day Porter was able to wake up from his nightmare and return home.

The rest of us, however enjoyed the time of our lives. I took little to no pictures. I was just there, with family, having fun in the moment. I realized something by doing that. Vacations are awesome. I don't know if you have been made aware of that little tidbit, but don't take my word for it. Just try it sometime and you will see, just as I did.

A few days after we came home, Caleb saw a commercial on TV for disneyland. The tagline was, "Where dreams come true."

Caleb stood up, smacked his forehead and growled, "CRAP!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

He pointed to the TV and said, "Dreams come true at Disneyland.... I didn't know that when we went there. We HAVE TO GO BACK."

Someday, my son, someday.

it's everywhere

I looked around my house this morning.

There were annoyances in every room.

Hailey's laundry that I lovingly washed dried and folded was still not put away.
The boys room was a mess.
I almost tripped over a basketball on the stairs:

There was caravan of vehicles on almost every surface:

An empty sippie cup lay abandoned on the kitchen floor:

Breakfast sloppily consumed, but left for me to clean:

Books strewn around the library floor:

shoes laying in the middle of the playroom:

Breakfast toast on the library couch:

And a backpack plopped by the front door and left there all night long:

I started to get annoyed.
Kids: Professionals in the art of mess making.
Does it even cross their minds to pick up after themselves?

Then I stopped.
Took a deep breath.
Did some meditating. (not really, but wouldn't I be so much cooler if I had?)

And I realized.
I remembered.
All that mess means childhood is alive in my house.


And that is something I am grateful for.

saving the world, one party at a time.

We had a party. 

It was a party that helped all mankind.

No really.

See, we had some super special capes handy.

We took those capes and turned some adorable children into adorable super heroes, 

And we trained them.

We worked on their freezing abilities (red light, green light)

We tested their super strength. (by wrapping them with toilet paper)

We practiced their super breath. (by blowing bubbles)

We perfected their powerful punching skills (on punching balloons)

And they detonated bombs (balloons) and disposed of kryptonite (spray painted rocks) and thwarted the evil plans of the villains.

Then they captured those villains and practiced their web shooting with them.

They replenished their powers with special food.

Hero H2O:

Power Popcorn

Hero Sandwiches, and Power sticks and Fantastic fruits.

And super hero cupcakes:

We sent the superheros home with their new identities and some super secret powerful gum balls, guaranteed to give them the sugar rush their moms are all thanking me for:

And we sent them back into the world, ready to save mankind.

From day one

From this:

To this:

In the blink of an eye.

From day one, I knew this child knew exactly what he wanted.

From day one, he wanted to speak to the world.

From day one, he was making us laugh.

From day one, people were saying this child has personality.

He is a light.

He is our family's gravity.

And he is five.

I love him so much I could squeeze the life out of him...

but that would be a little counter productive.

So I will just kiss him over and over all day long.

We are all safer that way.

Today...

Today...

 I am thankful for recent sunshine giving my children something to do again.
There's been lots of rock hunting,
Sidewalk art:

And Chinese jump roping, sans rope:

Today....

I am busy gathering pictures to make a spotlight poster for this birthday boys class tomorrow:

Today I am completing all the details for the worlds greatest super hero training camp happening here tomorrow in honor of the afore mentioned birthday boy:

Today.....

Jonas and I will be wrapping up the work on his state report, which has taken FOREVER and a day. We will be so glad to see that one done.

Today....

Jonas will also be in a permanent state of red, thanks to his attendance to his maturation program. (See, I told you he is growing up.)

Today....

I have big plans to play battleship with Caleb.

And to eat left over pizza for lunch.

Today...
I will blow up make some balloons bombs to be popped detonated by superheros in training.
I will make kryptonite to be strewn about the lawn and temporarily weaken those superheros.

I will make fruit kabobs.

And some top secret superhero files.

It's going to be a good day. 

Children growing up, turning older, and having fun.

I told you spring rocks.

go, web, go!

I used to have a son named Caleb. Caleb used to play cars with his baby brother and watch strawberry shortcake with his big sister.

Last week, I lost him.

In his place, I have Peter Parker and I have Spiderman.
Peter Parker has been bitten by a spider and now he is also Spiderman. Now Peter and Spiderman live here with me and can be found, around every corner, shooting webs at me.

Peter Parker sometimes needs to be called Spiderman, but never, ever Caleb. All day long I hear more about our new addition:
Spiderman doesn't have to eat his dinner.
Spiderman doesn't have to wash his hands.
Spiderman doesn't have brothers or a mom.
Spiderman doesn't have to go to bed.

What Spiderman forgets is that:
Peter Parker is strong because he eats his dinner.
Peter Parker is healthy because he washes his hands.
Peter Parker loves the family he has.
and Peter Parker gets his rest by going to bed.

Its a tough break having to be two people.

At the table

I love family dinners.
I don't love cooking it and I certainly don't love cleaning it all up. Especially when you have a child like Porter who can, in a matter of minutes, make the kitchen floor look like it threw up and make his face, clothes and body look as if he has been slimed by one of the ghosts on ghost busters.

The real reason I love family dinners is the conversation. For example, Caleb the other day, over a dinner of baked chicken and new potatoes, announced to us that he knew what he wanted to be when he grew up. We have heard some interesting announcements of his future in the past so we all perked up to hear what this would be.

"You know those guys that knock down stuff they don't like?"
"Um, Nope." I said.
"You know the ones that get in the big machines and they swing the big ball at the stores they don't like?"
"Do you mean a demolition man?"
Caleb, nodding and grinning, "Yep. That's what I am going to be."

This sparked a "Career day theme that night".
We talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up (or what we thought we would be when we were little). Then we started speculating on what Porter will be, using what we know of him now.

We thought a professional wrestler, because of his love of tackling and wrestling and mildly injuring his house mates.
We thought a food critic, due to his devotion to food.
We thought a shoe designer stemming from his OBSESSION with shoes.
We thought a sanitation engineer thanks mostly due to his over enthusiasm about throwing anything he can pick up in the garbage.
We thought impersonator, mostly due to his constant and consistent growling.
On top of whatever he actually ends up being, he will surely be a father. That we have no doubt of thanks to his supreme baby fascination.

When dinner was over and only the ghost of dishes remained, I washed them with a goofy smile on my face because...

Well, how could I not? These kids are the best dinner theater anyone could ever have.

Totally worth the price of crusty dinner dishes.

Never Ever

[picture taken in February of this year, makes me laugh every time I look at it.]

Brooke was over today and Caleb asked her if she wanted to watch a scary scooby doo movie.

Brooke: Okay! Is your sister scared of it?
Caleb: No.
Brooke: Is your brother?
Caleb: No.
Brooke: Is your Mom?
Caleb No.
Brooke: Is your dad?
Caleb: No!! [exclaimed emphatically] My Dad isn't scared of anything!
Brooke: Yes, My dad is never scared either.

Here's to the brave dads who are the heroes of their children's hearts.

But I still change more diapers. I will always wear that badge.

Forever

This was one of those mornings was full of four year old drama.
lots of "No's" and "Stop that's" were uttered.
It continued after the kids were gone and finally reached the climax with one giant "I don't like you, Mom", followed by a dramatic exit of the room.

Porter and I continued our routine of me following him around and cleaning up the messes he leaves with every step he takes.

After a few minutes had passed, the four year old made his re-entrance tentatively, with a frown on his face.
I opened my arms for a hug.
The frown melted, the hug was reciprocated.
Then he said,

"Mom, can we still be best friends?"



To which I answered with one giant hug,
one even bigger kiss,

and a very firm yes.

Dear B family,

As you know, The "S" family will be hosting your little caboose girl over at our house for a few days this week.

We regret to inform you that after what we have seen today, we realize will unable to release her back into your care.

You see, we need some extra sunshine.



We need a little more laughter.

Caleb needs a fellow devotee to Dora the Explorer.

And we need someone to be Rapunzel and to help the unconscious prince



by serving him a healing potion



that works miraculously fast.



And Caleb needs a dancing partner. It really is just no fun to dance with your sister.



Our sincerest apologies to any inconvenience this may cause you,

The Swansons