Raising Boys

Miles baptized on Halloween day

oakleynagels — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:56:17 +0000

And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life.

Poor Henry gets the raw end of the deal.

oakleynagels — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:45:15 +0000

A dual recital

oakleynagels — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 02:51:57 +0000

If you are the parent (or grandparent) of a child who is learning an instrument then you know the incredible amount of work it takes to successfully perform a recital. Now times that by two.

Owen performed selections from Suzuki book 1 and Miles performed selections from book 2 and then they did a couple of duets, which, quite honestly, were the hardest things to get right. (I opted to not post the pictures I have of them stopping in the middle of one of the duets and arguing with each other.)

The day can best be described by something our favorite violin teacher, Sister Sorensen, tells the boys at each lesson, “Hard Work Pays Off!”

A little FYI for you moms: Our local hair lady was out of town all week which explains the hair. What is still inexplicable is why Owen isn’t wearing a belt or why Miles is wearing Harper’s tie.

30 Days of Henry

oakleynagels — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:49:05 +0000

Henry Stanton Nagel

Born December 2, 2009 6:36am

7 lbs. 4 oz. 19 in.

How to cure a 6-year-old’s insomnia

oakleynagels — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:38:58 +0000

It’s the night before O’s first day of 1st grade. He’s going to a new school (the same one M goes to) which means he gets to commute with his dad. It also means he needs to be awake super early for a 6:40am departure. Last year M handled the change to a new school like it was no big deal but O has been nervous for days now, even threatening to quit 1st grade and stay home with me to help take care of the dog. So it’s no surprise that he’s having a hard time falling asleep:

(15 minutes after saying good night, I find him tapping his fingers on the wall)

O, you need to close your eyes and go to sleep.

I can’t sleep.

Are you nervous?

Yes.

Would you like me to read you a story to help you fall asleep?

Yes.

What would you like me to read?

Um… Harry Potter.

No, that won’t work because you’ll want to hear the story and then you won’t fall asleep. You need to think of something I can read that will put you to sleep.

Okay… I guess you can read the scriptures.

A post from HEN

oakleynagels — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:17:00 +0000

Look what I did!!

I especially like the way the glass didn’t shower down but rather splintered in the most bedazzling way. The glass crackled for several minutes. It sounded like rain. My brothers were mesmerized. It was so beautiful it brought tears to my mother’s eyes.

About this post:

The panel of glass that broke is on the outside.

When the boys told me (I had no idea it had happened because there was no actually sound of breaking glass) “HEN did something really really really bad” I found him hiding under a chair in the living room.

There were no actual tears shed. I’m waiting to hear how much it will cost to replace the door.

Daddy Auditions…

oakleynagels — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:44:27 +0000

After I brought home the puppy, I said to OMN, “So who’s the best daddy in the whole world?” I put my arms out for a bear hug. He ran into my arms, and said, “YOU ARE!!!”

Then he released his embrace, looked up in the air thinking, and said, “Well, maybe there are others, but I just don’t know any of them.”

A too quiet house.

oakleynagels — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:22:18 +0000

Harper?
What.
Where are you?
In the bedroom.
What are you doing?
Umm… nothing.
Can I see you?
No, I’m in the bedroom.
No, I mean, can you come out of the bedroom so I can see you?
No.
Why?
It’s too dangerous.
Why is it too dangerous?
You’ll spank my bottom.*

I went to the bedroom and found him completely naked except for the soccer shoes he was trying to lace up. Not what you would call a spank worthy transgression except that he knows that it drives me crazy when he takes off his clothes and walks around naked (which happens multiple times a day).

*For the record: I rarely spank his bottom.

OMN’s first bike ride

oakleynagels — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:25:18 +0000

Lemon

oakleynagels — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 06:32:35 +0000

My sister’s dogs had four puppies. Matt and I had three boys. It was bound to happen.

We went two days trying out different names (she came with Lola but we decided we wanted the fun of naming her ourselves). MTN2 was stuck on Cheerio for awhile (I still can’t figure that one out), Scout was popular for a couple of hours but we finally settled on Lemon.