football, part 2

Yesterday we went to watch another of Kyle's games. There he is, in the middle, white shirt and hat, saying nice coach-y things to one of the players. Our boys had a great time. They sat and watched for almost half a quarter.

We had to bring a football from home, of course. Then we headed down where there is plenty of room to run. The boys found some big boys and they all played football together. See if you can spot Noah in this picture:

And Jake just looks on, with a bit of concern. Actually Jake got into the game too.

Even though the big boys were twice their size, Noah and Jake loved every minute.

And there's that stance again. Funny little boys.

our life during football season

Football is alive and well in the Campbell house.

The word heard most frequently from Jake's mouth: "football". He uses it at least 50 times a day. Usage of this word is not limited to the daytime. A few nights ago, he woke up all fussy at 2:30. He kept repeating "football! football! football!" I didn't know what else to do, so I took him into the living room and turned on a little ESPN, which calmed him down immediately. After a few minutes, I passed out on the couch. When I woke up again at 6:30 in the morning, football was still on, and Jake was stretched out on the floor with his blankie fast asleep.

Noah went to toddler time at a friend's house and the theme was "feelings". The art project was to complete a face by adding facial features and labeling the feeling. Noah made an excited face, but then went on to add a body below the face. The body was holding a football, which apparently in Noah's mind, is associated with excitement.

Speaking of excitement, watching games with the boys is hilarious. Noah's football vocabulary is growing, so his sideline commentary is pretty amusing. He likes to say: "Stop him!! Stop him!" and "Oh what a tackle!!" and "Sack him!!" and "Cover one three down!" (whatever that means.)

As for Jake, well, I don't know if a more enthusiastic 17-month-old football fan exists. While frowning and clenching his fists, he screams at the top of his little lungs: "GOOOOOOO! GOOOOOOO! GOOOOOOOO!" but his G is more like a D, which makes it even funnier. And occasionally he throws in a "'Mon!!!" (="come on").

And then there's Kyle. This time of the year, he eats sleeps and drinks football. When not working, he's coaching football, and when not coaching, he's watching football, and when he has some freetime, he is teaching his sons the football stance. It's funny. What wasn't funny was BYU's loss to Utah State last night. That left a little black cloud over our house for the night. But things were looking up today, what with General Conference and all. Kyle came home from priesthood session and the first thing he said was: "Now I can't hate Utah." (referencing Pres. Uchtdorf's talk that addressed sports rivalries and pride.)

What about me, you might be wondering. Some might say I'm a football widow, but I prefer to look at it like football is our third child. :) A foster child that is only around for half the year and takes a lot of time, energy, and emotion. I am not as close to this child as Kyle is, but there are a lot of things that I appreciate about the season. The list:

• Going to the Snow Canyon games and seeing Kyle coaching from the sidelines
• Watching Jake and Noah play football together in the living room
• Cheering for BYU (although the Cougars aren't lately making this any easier!)
• Scoring foot massages from Kyle during long games or series of games and an occasional surrender of the remote for foodnetwork or chick flicks (and he even watches with me!)
• Hosting or attending game day parties with other football fanatics and their normal wives
• Understanding how happy it makes these boys of mine!

All in all I'd say I can live with it for another season. Go Cougars, Warriors, NFL teams who happen to have an LDS player, and all other teams who include Kyle's fantasy football players on any given Sunday!

mud bath

In case you are wondering, this is what happens when you have a patch of dirt, accessible running water, and three toddlers.

the new floor

We've been working on the house this summer thanks to that sweet little first-time home buyer check. The first thing to go? The carpet in the dining area. Who in the world things carpeting dining rooms is a good idea???? They don't have kids, that's for sure. Here are pictures of the process.

Goodbye horrible crusty carpet. You will not be missed.

and now for the hard part...tearing up the tile.Kurt helping outand the new planks being laidRyan and Kari came down all the way from Eagle Mountain to help a brotha out. Kyle loved having a helper, and got in a lot of male bonding during all their hard work and Home Depot runs. As for the women? We kept the babies from using tile shards as weapons. And I seem to remember some HGTV on the side. Thanks Ryan and Kari for the good times! And the finished product.

It's awesome having a handyman hunk of a husband. I'm lucky. And in this case, my non-crusty feet are especially thankful!

my amazing triathlete

Back in the winter Kyle set a goal to run a triathlon by the end of July. He was all gung ho and told everyone about his plans. But time passed and that goal fell between the cracks. On the last day of July, Kyle called me from work. His buddies from the paint crew called him out on whole triathlon thing. That was the little kick in the rear he needed, so he told me "pieper, we have to organize a triathlon today". So we did. We mapped out a route and made tshirts for the participants and medals for the winners. Kyle even found a cause to support: Colitis (a little digestive issue he has been dealing with since his mission, thank you Honduras). I am proud to report that Kyle finished the 750 meter swim, 4 mile bike, and 2 mile run, even with Colitis.

And so here are the pictures from the 2010 Run for the Runs, 1st Annual Kyle Campbell triathlon.

Noah 2 months away from 3

Some Noah stories so you can get to know him better...

Noah has started getting very wishy. He laments often, in the sorriest, saddest tone: “I wish...” followed by whatever his little heart desires at that moment.
“I wish I was Jake.” (why? so he could read books with me.)
Once he said to me: “I wish you’d stop, Mom.” (said so pathetically) I said, stop what? He said: “Stop saying bad things.” I said: “what bad things am I saying??” he said: “Stop saying bad things telling me to go to bed!”
(picture taken when he fell asleep on the couch while watching tv)
He also recently visited Auntie Lars and my brothers Christian and Andrew were there too. When we were driving away, he started crying and said: “I wish I could stay at Lars’ house forever!” He’s started using forever and never very frequently.

He also makes sweeping statements like: “Mom you are the strongest girl ever!” (which I prefer to “Mom, you are the biggest girl in the world!”)
One day we were waiting in the car for Kyle, and while we waited, Noah spotted a man that he thought looked like Dad. What does Dad look like anyway, I asked. Noah said: “He has the biggest neck of any guy in America!”

Speaking of America, Dinosaur Train has helped him learn a little geography. He was playing the piano and singing an original Noah song and I heard him these lyrics: “There are 350 kinds of dinosaurs in South America!”
(one of the dinosaurs he built out of rocks in our backyard)

Making up songs isn’t the only kind of making up he likes to do. He was greeting his cousin Abbey and he said: “Hi Abbey Shabby!” and then turned to me and said “Heyyyy I made up a new name!!” He gave Jake the new name “JakerNut”. I love it. But that changes from day to day too. Jake also goes as “Jake shake” and “Jakie chicken poo”. When he gets in trouble for doing something naughty, and we tell him to stop whatever it is he is doing, he will often respond tearfully, “But it’s just so hard!!!” Yes, Noah, being good is so hard sometimes. Welcome to life.

Kyle had the happiest day ever because of a little conversation Noah and I had. I was putting dinner on the table, and I told Noah to come and eat. Noah said: “No, Mom. Football’s on. I’ve gotta watch this.” You should have seen Kyle’s face. He was in fatherhood heaven. I let them eat in the living room, just this once :)He’s a smart kid, and so I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before watching football becomes prime manipulation opportunity. He did manage to squeeze 30 more minutes of staying up past bedtime because he “just wanted to watch a little more football with Dad!”

He is growing up fast. We were sitting at the table the other day during lunch and he said: “Mom, let’s talk.” I said, “About what?” He said; “About growing up.” I said, “Ok. What do you want to be when you grow up?” He said: “a blue troodon” (that’s a dinosaur). I said: “oh wow” And, not to leave any doubt in my mind about that possibility, he said: “Mom, boys CAN grow up to be dinosaurs.” This kid is hilarious when he talks like an adult. He held up a phone charger and asked me, “Mom, what is this?” I said: “It’s a phone charger.” In the most condescending tone (that made me question which one of us was the adult) he said: “No, sweetie, it’s a lasso."

Jake at 15 months

He is such a joyful little child. He has a cheerful disposition and infectious smile. He's so great to be around. But for those of you who can't do it, here's some pictures so you can get the idea.
And he's started developing new talents...

He's learning a few words these days. His current vocab: Mama, Dada, hi, banana, cheese, horse, juice, amen, balloon, Jesus, all done, Papa. And he loves animal sounds. My favorite is his bird imitation. While he was stirring one morning, I peeked into his room and saw him laying in his crib and waving his little hands while saying: "teet teeeeet teeet teet" in a sweet high pitched voice.
He still eats many things normal people don't. Dirt, Paint,

Crayons,But he eats regular people food too.
Whatever he eats, he also enjoys rubbing all over his face. His favorite snacks: yogurt, popsicles, watermelon, bananas, avocados, cupcakes, and anything Noah eats...Speaking of Noah, Jake loves him!

Sometimes we give him buzz cuts like Noah,but we're letting him grow it out these days to see what happens. Who knows, longer hair might be more like Jake's style. He is laid back. This is his favorite relaxation position.

He is just the sweetest little thing.

(That's his beloved Esau build-a-bear from Auntie Lars and Uncle Choo Choo.)

Jake has surprised us by becoming a blankie-boy. He just started getting attached to blankets, it's funny, he doesn't seem to mind which blanket you give him, as long as he's got something to hold on to. He hugs each one like its his best friend. I'm lucky to be one of them (best friends, not blankies :)!