Pictures

We spent some time at Chuck E Cheese on Sunday -- the boys had a great time eating pizza for lunch and playing.  It was Alex's friend, Dalten's, birthday so the boys had cake, too.  It was a lot of fun.

This week is spring break.  Yesterday we played Candy Land and the boys played in the playroom for a bit.  The weather so far hasn't been ideal for Spring Break, but the boys seem to be enjoying themselves anyway. 

Jacob and I leave for New Orleans Friday morning -- I am taking the boys to my mom on Thursday and although we're looking forward to the trip we are a little sad about being away from the boys for 9 days.  I know we will miss them, but I'm sure the time will fly by.  They'll have a blast with their grandparents. 

I hope you enjoy the pictures of the boys playing at Chuck E Cheese!!

Snacks, Homework, and Updates

Logan eating banana slices with chocolate syrup for a snack one day.  Alex will eat this too, bananas are one of the only fruits he will eat.  Instead of dipping his banana slices in the syrup Alex has to have his bananas completely covered in syrup.  HA.

Doing homework with a little help from daddy.  Jacob and I always divide the homework in half.  I will help with half and Jacob helps with the other half.  It kind of breaks up the homework and seems to work better than the boys doing it all with one parent.  Alex had to find the letters of his first and last name in a magazine, cut them out, and paste them to the back of his homework sheet. It was a fun homework assignment. 

We hope to fill this weekend with donuts, outdoor play, pizza, board games and movies since its our last weekend before Jacob and I will be gone for 9 days on our trip.  The boys also have a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese this weekend -- it should be a fun weekend.  Logan seems to be feeling better today and Alex is ready for a two week break from school and a week away from therapy sessions.  I think he has earned it!

Have a great weekend!

Early Morning Wake Up Call

So, the leak in the boys' bathroom was fixed, the sink/pipe issue in the kitchen was fixed.  Life seemed to go back to normal.  Jacob and I read some last night and then watched Top Gear.  We went to bed and I woke up around 4 this morning.  Jacob was moving, which indicated he was waking up too.  I laid there for a minute and realized Logan was crying and calling for me.  I hurried out of bed and met him in the hall.  He was holding his throat, crying, and saying, "Mommy!"  I said, "Does your throat hurt?"  He shook his head "no" and pointed to the bathroom.  Any mother knows that is the universal sign for "I'm going to throw up."  I hurried Logan to the bathroom where he did just that.   I wiped his face and sent him back to bed.  40 minutes later he was up again.  I debated on staying up and not going back to bed the second time I got up with Logan.  By this point it was almost 5, but once I got Logan back in bed I decided I was tired and went back to bed as well. 

Now, nearly 5 hours after Logan got sick he seems fine.  He says he feels fine and he keeps asking for Pop Tarts and Lucky Charms.  Children are so funny sometimes. Logan is currently laying on the couch under a blanket watching a movie.  In a minute we are going to read some books.  It's hard trying to force an active 4-year-old boy to rest when he insists he's fine.  Hopefully the day will go well.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Alex's new hair cut!  He is not sick and had to go to school today.  Life just isn't fair sometimes!  LOL 

Plungers, Snakes, Gushers, and Saws: Just A Normal Day In Our House

The sink is finally functional and I am left with a messy kitchen.  The water in the sink eventually drained -- I turned the faucet on and it wasn't refilling so we assumed the Drain-O worked.  Our landlord showed up today and fixed the sink in the boys' bathroom -- it was leaking.  He had to leave at one point to go buy a part.  While he was gone I made some Applesauce muffins.  As I was making the muffins, using the water and rinsing off things, I noticed the sink was filling up with water again.  When Tim returned I shared this news with him.  Once he finished in the boys' bathroom he moved on to the kitchen sink.  Before I go any farther let me just share some facts with you.  Our landlord looks like a heavy version of the Moody Blues lead singer (well, from 20 years ago).  He talks like Pauly Shore -- usually about Pauly Shore or Adam Sandler movies.  He is just funny.  He tried a few different things and couldn't get the sink unclogged.  He kept telling me that he had never seen anything like that and it had him baffled.  He used a snake and put it through to about 35 feet -- it still didn't work.  As he was working I would hear him mumble "Oh, you bastard" to the pipes as he checked them only to discover they were still clogged.  For some reason I thought this was funny.  He tried the plunger, which created high gushers of dirty, black water shooting everyone. The kitchen was a mess.  Nothing was working.  He finally said, "I'm going to have to saw through one of the pipes and see if that works."  He came in with a power saw and very loudly cut through the pipe.  He used the snake once more -- a few more expletives and conversations/arguments with the pipes and then I heard him laugh.  "I did it!"  he announced.  He stood up and said, "I was beginning to think nothing was going to work.  I've been sprayed by nasty water and crawled into tiny spaces."  He turned the water on and when the water continued to flow instead of filling the sink he let out a loud, "Woo hoo!"  I started laughing and he said, "I'm so glad to have that fixed."  He was here for almost 4 hours working on it so I can understand his enthusiasm.  I'm very happy to announce that I have my kitchen sink back.  And, now, I must go clean the kitchen. 

The Snack Rut

It occurred to me yesterday when I was pouring Goldfish crackers into a bowl for Alex that we seem to be in a snack rut.  Alex comes home from school every day and immediately asks for Goldfish crackers.  Last night I had the brilliant idea to look through some cookbooks and websites and find some fun, yummy, yet healthy snack ideas for the boys.  I made a list and told the boys this morning that we were going to start a new thing.  Instead of coming home and expecting Goldfish crackers every day I will have a different snack ready for them.  Logan asked about the snacks so I told them a few that I had found.  One of the snacks is a Chocolate Peanut Butter Dip that you eat with apple slices.  I found it in my Deceptively Delicious cook book.  Logan seemed excited about it, but Alex made a face and said, "I don't want new snacks."  Alex is going to be my challenge.  He eats a waffle with syrup for breakfast every morning.  I will ask if he wants something else and he always says, "I want a waffle."  My goal is to help him try new things and hopefully sneak some fruits and veggies in as well since he rarely eats them.  We bought a food processor about a year ago and I hid vegetables in casseroles, pasta sauce, and mashed potatoes.  The boys eat them pretty well and never realize those "yucky" vegetables are hiding in their food.  I plan to make a small batch of baked macaroni and cheese with pureed vegetables hidden in them.  If I give the boys 1/2 a cup for a snack that should be enough and they would be getting a healthy snack.  Other ideas I stumbled across were Nutella Cookies, mini pizzas, and applesauce muffins.  The planning has been fun and I know the baking/cooking will be fun.  We will just have to see if the eating works out the way I hope.  Ha.  I'll keep you all posted.

In the meantime, here are a couple of new photos of the boys.

Logan was dressed as Luigi from Super Mario Bros. and then decided Luigi would be a ninja.  It was funny watching him run around wearing the Luigi costume with a ninja mask and carrying a sword.

A very cool Wolverine.  I had no idea that Wolverine wore sunglasses and played keyboard when he wasn't fighting bad guys with the X-Men.  Talk about a talented super hero.  Ha.

Cupcakes, Leaves, and Basketball

The boys and I spent yesterday with several different people--people we haven't seen in about a month.   My best friend's baby shower was a few weeks ago.  I didn't make it to her shower because we had so much snow here that I couldn't even get my car out of the garage.  So, we made plans to meet for lunch and then hang out at Denisa's house for a bit yesterday.  She made cupcakes just so the boys could decorate them--they were SO good!  The boys got to play outside at her house and Alex loved it!  Denisa and her husband have acres and acres of land--and a big blue tractor that the boys thought was cool. It was a lot of fun.  We then went to my parents' house.  We hung out there for a couple of hours or so and were able to see my grandma as well as my brother and nephew, Kyler. The boys played outside there as well.  My dad raked up a huge pile of leaves and played in the leaves with the boys--I'm not sure who had the most fun, the boys or my dad!  Jacob and I also took the boys to the park to play basketball this weekend. Jacob even went outside and played catch with me today--I love playing catch and it was nice of him to play with me (since you can't really play catch on your own).  It has been a fun weekend and I thought I'd share some pictures--a few I stole from Denisa, but I think she expected that.  Ha. 

The boys decorating cupcakes at Denisa's house. 

Mmmm . . . cupcakes!!

Here is a picture of Alex and Logan with my best friend, Denisa.  She kind of likes them--just a little.  Ha

Logan, me, and Denisa

Alex and Logan petting Denisa's dog, Riley.  He's the sweetest dog!

My dad and Alex--Alex was eating M&Ms he got from Denisa. He was sharing them with his Poppy--it was very sweet.

Playing on the swing set at Nana's and Poppy's

My dad raked up a bunch of leaves so the boys could jump in them.  They did this for about an hour and loved every minute of it!

My dad even jumped in the pile of leaves with the boys a few times, which was hilarious. 

Running toward the pile of leaves to jump in!  They had a blast--and were filthy by the time we left. Ha

Having a leaf fight with Poppy

We played basketball at the park--as you can see, everything was damp (that made it more interesting).  

Super Mario Bros. World

I have posted pictures of the boys' bathroom and playroom after we changed them both.  I have been meaning to post pictures of the boys' bedroom.  It was cluttered--the walls covered in comic books and posters.  The boys loved it but it was time for a change.  The boys love Super Mario Bros. and Jacob found some of the classic Mario wall decals.  The two shelves in the boys' room will be painted green to match the bedding/curtain/and Mario decals, but everything else is finished.  I thought I'd share some pictures so you all could see their room.  The boys said it's like being in a video game.  They were very excited!

The boys' beds.  They FINALLY have matching comforters.  It helps make the room look less crazy.  The matching comforters match the cool game decals on their walls.  There is a green valence to match the comforters as well--I obviously didn't get a picture of it.  (We kept the brown because in the summer it keeps the sunlight out and the boys go to bed on time).  You can also see their computer--Alex uses this for homework. 

It's just like something right out of a video game--or that is what Alex tells me. Ha.  They boys were excited about this! 

One of the boys' shelves--it holds the TV (and will be painted green this weekend).  You can see their Mario and Yoshi stuffed animals hanging on the hooks.  All they have to do is ask and we get them down for the boys. 

The boys comic book "rack" and more Mario wall decals--along with their retro stereo they listen to.  Ha.

The second shelf.  It is higher and displays some Mario and Luigi figurines as well as one of Jacob's old Nintendo systems.  This shelf will be green at some point, too.

This room was easier to redo than the play room was--this room also took about 1/4 of the time to change than the play room did.  We are happy the boys like it and wanted to share!