Robert Louis Stevenson pays us a visit

This morning, Beck woke up and tapped me on the shoulder. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as he said "Mommy, I have to tell you something!" I mumbled something akin to "uh-huh?" and he said:

"A birdie with a yellow bill

Hopped upon the window sill

Cocked his shining eye and said:

(At which point Beck also attempted to wink, which he hasn't quite mastered yet...)

Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy head?"

Robert Louis Stevenson

Beck and Caden's Nana and Grandpa sent them home from Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with two wonderful books of poems and some financial incentive to memorize them (fifty cents for short poems, $1 for longer poems, etc.)

But that Beck Sosa, he's not in it for the money! (Although Caden sure is... he wants all the cash without having to learn the poems... we're working on that...)

As it turns out memorizing poems is the key to solving another little problem we've been having at bedtime of late! Beck has had some trouble going to bed - afraid he'll have bad dreams and the like.



Wouldn't you know, saying a poem over and over again to yourself as you fall asleep makes it so you don' t have time to think about being scared anymore!

From the mouth of my babe... Beck.

"Do you have to get your brains sucked out if you go to outer space?"

I don't know... do you?

Picture of Beck at 3 years old - two years before he posed this question to us...
he's been pondering it for awhile I guess.

Puff the Magic Dragon!

Oh Caden, Caden, Caden…
Could you be any cuter?!?

Those of you that know Cade, can imagine his sweet little voice singing this; his favorite new little ditty:

“Puff da magic dwagon… wived by da sea…"

"O-wet in da Autumn mist in a wand cauwed Honaweeeeee…!!!"
big deep breath...

“Oh…..”
and back to his favorite part which is yelled at the top of his little three year old lungs…

“PUFF! da MAGIC DWagon… wived by da sea…”

Are you smarter than a Five Year Old?

Are you smarter than this Five Year Old?

So, a couple of mornings ago, as I’m helping the boys get out of the car to head into school, Beck and I have the following conversation:

Beck (making one last ditch effort to avoid going into school this morning):
“Mommy, can we listen to the “Portside Pirates” song before we go into school?”

Me: “Shoot! We could, but I don’t have the CD with me in the car!”

Me again (cleverly trying to appease him): “But tonight we can burn it onto my itouch! Then we can listen to it any time we want to - mommy always keeps the iTouch in her bag!”

Beck (in his 5 year old know it all tone): “It’s RIPP mommy. Not BURN onto your iTouch!”

Apparently, little ears are listening when daddy has to correct mommy about how we get music onto her iTouch. Clearly, hearing daddy tell mommy we “RIPP”, we don’t’ “Burn” CD’s in the twenty-first century, four-thousand nine-hundred ninety-two times has had an impact.

At least it has on Beck…

Birthday season comes to an end at Casa Sosa

It has happened again... Another birthday season has come and gone. Why does it still take me by surprise when my boys are another year older every November 15th and October 20th?

Beck is 5!

Beck celebrated his 5th year in style at JW TUMBLES with 20 of his classmates from Step By Step and his brother and Cousin Livi. He had the time of his life and it was like Christmas morning in the living room after he opened all of the gifts he received from his friends (THANK YOU FRIENDS!!). I'm not sure what we'll do when the real Christmas morning arrives in a few weeks!?

Caden in 3!

Caden opted to celebrate his 3rd birthday with, Carson, one of his best pals from Step By Step at a little playdate at our house. His little friend Owen Stanley called in sick :( which meant half of his guests didn't show... but it was a great day nevertheless :) He had two parties in one day, lucky little monkey! He and Beck also celebrated their birthday's together with their Coskran and Ek families on the same afternoon right after nap time!

On to Anniversary, Turkey Day, Santa and Below Zero Temp season...

As the World Turns

Picture this:

Sweet little, recently turned three year old, Caden Charles Sosa is sitting properly and quietly at the dinner table, as usual (ah-hem), having just eaten his entire meal without a single complaint (ah-hem) patiently (ah-hem, ah-hem) awaiting his turn at the "Who am I" game that ensues.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere... He pounds his little fists on his sea life place mat on either side of his big boy dinner plate, which is clear of every morsel, of course, (ah-hem) and yells: "DAMN IT!"

Alex and I look at each other with shock and amusement, and ask him what he just said again... and again he says "Damn It!" with just a little less force behind it and an “uh-oh, I might be in trouble look” to boot.

Do we laugh...(OH YES! But very quietly)?

Do we chastise him...(Yes, but not very hard)?

How do we explain to our little ape that it's not okay to say that... ?

Even if Grandpa Chuck (around whom the earth rotates) does !!?

Beck's Vote Counts!

Last night at dinner, Beck informed us that he and his classmates at Step By Step Montessori each got to vote for our counrty's next new president too. Apparently, as Beck informed us very seriously, all but two of the children voted for the same nominee.

They all voted for "Rock Obama!"

Caden was given the opportunity to vote as well, after all, Step By Step IS a democracy. But he chose to be an absentee voter in this, his first election.
No I VOTED sticker for him.
He told us, with that impish little look of his: "For my vote I didn't talk to Ms. Brooke." No big surprises from Caden on Nov 4th!

Both boys agreed, however, without hesitation that the first thing President Obama should do when he takes over the oval office is add another "stay at home day" to each week. Can't say I disagree!

Leveraging candy

Friday night. Halloween. Ooooohhhhh... Spooky...

I think I have a new favorite holiday! I've never been much for Halloween (at least not since I was ten or eleven years old). But I think that's changed now that Beck and Cade are old enough to get the concept of Halloween and trick or treating. It was so cute to watch them yell "Trick or Treat" to complete strangers and then use all of their little will power to take "just one" piece of candy... looking up beesechingly to see if they'd be offered more than that at this house.

Then coming home and weeding through the insane amounts of candy in those little orange jack-o-lantern buckets (that I had to carry the majority of the way when they got to heavy) looking for the perfect treat to have before bedtime. And then they were so tuckered out. I love halloween now...

The morning after...

Woke up to a car race between Chick Hicks and Mr. The King next to me in bed (Caden). But it was smooth sailing from there on out. All of our ealry morning conversations went somthing like this:

Q: "Can I have a piece of candy?"
A: "When you finish your breakfast"
A: "OK!" munch, munch, munch...

Q: "I'm done! Now can I have a piece of candy?"
A: "After you get dressed?"
A: "OK!" then "urgh, upmph, I can't do it!, uh, oh, there, I got it on!"

Q: "I'm dressed! Now can I have a piece of candy?"
A: "When your brother is done eating and dressed, then you can BOTH have one."
Q: "Caden, do you want me to eat that????!"

And so on until everyone was nourished and dressed for the day. I wish we had the power of candy on hand everyday. It sure makes the morning routine go smoothly!

Spagetti dinner...

At just about every dinner we end the meal with a game of "Who am I" or "I spy with my little eye" or "Opposites" or some joke telling. Tonight was joke night. And Caden was on a roll:

Him: "Knock knock"
Us: "Who's there?"
Him: "Corda-doo-daba!"
Us: "Corda-doo-daba (huh?) WHO?"
Him: "Corda-doo-daba BOAT!"
All of us: "he he he he he he he he he!"

Gotta love three year old knock knock jokes!

Vote for Beck Sosa on Tuesday, Nov 4th - See his plan to save the ecomony!

If you vote for Beck this coming Tuesday you won't be disappointed. Watch the following videos to hear his plan for bailing out the economy in his own words.

Part One

Part Deux