An almost two year old

Dax is going to be the death of me, and he is a pretty easy kid. He just does things that Mark would have never considered doing. So today you get to hear about some of his latest antics.

1. The worst: He took a Sharpie to my laptop and completely covered the screen and keyboard with pink permanent ink. I wish I would have taken a picture of the computer, but I was more worried about how to get it off. Thank goodness for Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser--that thing is amazing. It came right off! He suffered many consequences for that one, and the best part was we had some people over to watch the BYU Basketball game, so everyone got to see.

2. Typical: I went into my bedroom and came out to find him spitting grapes into his bowl. Well, he was trying to spit them into his bowl, but mostly they bounced out all over the kitchen. Dax put the whole grape in his mouth and spit it right at the bowl. He has also rolled grapes across the table. It is hard for me to give him grapes now, even though he loves them, because to Dax they are a small ball to play with. This is a typical activity for Dax. He plays with his food all the time.

3. His attitude: A few nights ago for dinner, Dax got in trouble (I can't even remember why) and his dad took away his spoon and put it into the dishwasher. Well, he was not putting up with that. While Randy and I cleaned up, he marched over to the dishwasher, opened it up, and got his spoon right back out. I had to leave the room so that he wouldn't see me laughing. Who would have thought he would have such a little attitude?

4. Stubbornness: This is a quality he gets from his dad. He will argue with you about anything already. If you tell him that it is the moon outside, he will argue it is the sun. If you tell him it is blue, he will argue it is purple. I am really nervous about him being a teenager. The biggest argument we had lately was when he insisted on wearing stickers all over himself. We needed to go to the store and I attempted to remove the stickers. That was a mistake. Dax threw the biggest fit ever. So I decided that he could wear the stickers--he even took his nap with them on. Now, I try to avoid doing stickers whenever we might have to leave the house.

Dax is a lot of fun. He has a great personality and is so smart already.  It is so hard to stay mad at him because he just smiles at you with his innocent smile.

Smart Kids

I feel like I have been bragging about my kids a lot lately, but I caught a cute video of Dax singing the ABCs that I had to share.  Then Mark insisted that I tape him reading so he could show off.  So here they are!

Time for an update

I haven't been very good at blogging lately, so here is a quick update. We are very busy. Every night is filled with something. Randy used to get home shortly after 4:00, but now I am lucky to see him by 5:30 and then I am usually running off doing something for Primary. That's okay. We are happy and that is what matters.

Mark is in a sports class right now, but is still counting down the days until soccer starts. And tee ball, too. Which isn't quite as bad as Randy counting down to baseball season--that has been going on since the end of baseball season in October. I can't even believe how well Mark is reading. I know I shouldn't brag, but I hardly help him, and he just reads right through most books and verses in the scriptures. I am so proud of him!

The nicest thing Mark ever did was share a Laffy Taffy with Dax on Tuesday. At the end of his little sports class, they each get two Laffy Taffies, and he didn't even hesitate. He said, "Mom, look! They gave me an extra, one for me and one for Dax." Then, the next time we went, he said, "I got an extra one again!" and then handed it to Dax. I can't tell him that everyone gets two because he rarely shares with Dax. I hope he can keep it up for the next four classes.

Dax is getting big. I can't believe he will be two in a few months. He says so many things--you really can have a conversation with him. I don't like when he stands next to me and yells, "Mommy, sit down!"  This means sit down and read me a story, but he never asks nicely. Which is funny since he is the politest child ever. I don't even try with him and he says thank you for everything. He is precious!

The other day it snowed and we went out to play. About six hours later it was mostly gone, but we had a lot of fun! I helped the boys build a snowman, my first one without Randy's help, and it even stayed standing until the sun hit it! Check it out.

Three cuties!

6 hours later.

Saturday Night

Tonight I was sitting here thinking that I hadn't posted anything about our family lately. Here are a few quick insights into the lives of Mark and Dax Ockey.

Mark started piano lessons, with me, this week. He loves it! He keeps asking when his next lesson will be. I hope that the enthusiasm sticks. He was great for his lesson. A perfect listener and a fast learner. Mark is very into superheroes right now. All he talks about is Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Captain America, Star Wars and the list goes on and on. I guess that is what boys like, but I am not into it. I do know some things about Star Wars, but he gets mad if I don't know the names of every robot or creature. Who knew those big robot guys--the one that the little furry dudes in Return of the Jedi tripped--were called AT-ATs? Apparently Randy, and now Mark. Mark's other passion is music, hence the piano lessons. He knows more Beatles songs than I do. He has a small mp3 player (his iPod) that he walks around listening to and pretending to be John Lennon.  Check out these pictures of Mark. The first one is Mark as a superhero. He is wearing Buzz wings and a face mask (made from a shopping basket). The 2nd is Mark rocking out to The Beatles.

On to our second chid, Dax. Dax loves books, especially about the planets. He can say all the planet names and identifies most of them from pictures. He loves going to the library and choosing books. After 5 minutes in the library, I am laden down with 20 books that Dax collected off the shelves. His other passion right now is stickers. He loves stickers and this week he decided that putting them on his face is HILARIOUS. And if you try to take them off, you know to go out in public, he throws a huge fit. So each day I have to argue with myself over whether having a 1-year old covered in stickers is more embarrassing than dealing with a 20 minute fit. Usually the stickers win and we head to the store, post office, wherever with stickers all over Dax's face. The two pictures of Dax below show him at home carrying around his huge stack of library books. He carried them from the basement all they way up the stairs to my bedroom to have Dad read them to him. The second picture is Dax with his stickers. Enjoy.

I have been having so much fun with the boys getting ready for Valentine's Day and just being a mom. They are the best boys, and although there are moments when I want to hide in my room all day, they bring so much joy to my life. I couldn't wish for better kids.

Cookie Mania!

We have been making way too many cookies around here. There are a few reasons why this has become a problem. One, Mark and Dax love making cookies. They drag their chairs next to the counter and help add all the ingredients. Second, we all love eating cookies. This is a major problem since it is not helping Randy or Natalie lose weight. Third, I usually have someone to make cookies for. This week it was for the Primary teachers--I had all the teachers in Senior Primary. That might not seem like a lot, but in my ward it is 16 people. So I made 4 different kinds of cookies, wrapped them up, and delivered them with my family. Finally, my friend in my ward has a great website with lots of recipes. She makes amazing things (you don't want to miss Relief Society meetings around here). I have been looking through her recipes and I always find a cookie recipe that I want to try. You can check it out yourself (Stephanie's Kitchen). Anyway, we love cookies! And I loved these two pictures of the boys making cookies this week and wanted to share!

Pleasant Sunday

Today I looked at my house and wanted to cry. It was a disaster. Even though it was Sunday, I decided something had to be done. So I started in one room and worked through the rest, you know--putting things away, wiping down counters, and cleaning up clutter. My boys actually started playing nicely together so I could accomplish this project. And the rest of the evening was nice and peaceful. I might have to start cleaning up every Sunday. I actually sat down and read a book for a few minutes.  I decided to check on everyone after a few minutes of peacefulness.  Look at what I found.

Dax, in the office, reading books.  He read books for about 30 minutes!

Mark and Randy putting together a bird house.  They are building 3 different bird houses to attract more birds to our yard.

A Day in Ogden

Yesterday we headed up to Ogden to see my grandparents, and to check out the wood ducks at Beus Pond.  First, we went to the pond near Weber State University. We had some hamburger buns to feed to the ducks there, but we had to elbow the geese out of the way to do it. The geese were loud and aggressive. One even took a nip at me! Dax stood intrepidly (or foolishly) staring down a goose while Mark scampered across the bridge. The wild wood ducks got over the fear pretty quickly when they saw the other ducks chowing down. If you want to hear (and see) more about Beus Pond, check out our other blog: Utah Valley Family Adventures.

After an icy walk around the pond, we went to see Great-Grandma Betty and Great-Grandpa Dan (that is what my boys call them). The boys loved the new chairs my grandparents had just unwrapped.  It was hard to keep them from climbing in and out. We had a great visit and did lunch. The boys were really good with Grandma and Grandpa and took adorable pictures. It was a pleasant surprise for them to cheese together at the camera rather than act shy and duck their heads for the pictures.

Dax vs. Goose

Male and Female Wood Ducks

Mark and Dax feeding the ducks.

My cute boys!

Mark and Great Grandma Betty

Dax and Great Grandpa Dan

Mark and Dax sitting in grandpa's chair for the millionth time.