Hip-Hess The Luna Moth

Jacob came home from work yesterday evening with a little surprise for the boys.  As most of you know Logan loves bugs and animals.  He spends most of his time outside looking for bugs and/or trying to chase butterflies, dragonflies, etc.  Jacob walked through the door with a box that had holes in the lid.  He said, "Come here guys, I have something to show you."  He took the lid off and inside the box was a large Luna Moth.  The boys thought it was really cool.  Logan smiled his little smile and said, "Wow!" Jacob explained to the boys that Luna Moths are one of the largest moths in America and have a wing span up to almost 4.5 inches. Alex said, "Yeah, he's big!"  We did a little research and learned that the adult Luna Moth only lives for one week.  They have no mouths and do not eat.  Their sole purpose is to mate.  Jacob told the boys that they have a certain amount of energy, like a battery, and once the energy is used up they die.  This, of course, made Logan a little sad for a brief moment.  His sadness for the Luna Moth was quickly replaced by giggling as the Luna Moth began to flap it's wings and jump around in the box.  Logan names every bug he finds--He told us that this moth's name was Hip-Hess.  The boys watched the moth for a little while and then Jacob said, "Do you want to help me take it outside and release it so it can find it's mommy?"  The boys both thought that was a good idea.  They went outside and released it--the boys watched the moth fly around (low to the ground) and eventually land near the air conditioner.  Logan said, "Bye, Hip-Hess!"  This morning he came up to me and said, "Hip-Hess jumped around in the box and tried to bite me.  I will miss that little guy."

                Jacob opened the box and the Luna Moth was on the lid

The Luna Moth started jumping around in the box and flapping it's wings.  Logan jumped each time this happened--then the boys giggled.

The boys watching the Luna Moth.  Jacob was telling them about the markings on it's wings that look like eyes. They were very interested in the moth. 

Earth Month (Part Two)!

We are still trying to acknowledge April as Earth Month (some days are easier than others).  The boys helped me put the recyclables in the bin we have.  For some odd reason it is a task I have always done myself, but thanks to Earth Month I let the boys help.  They are great helpers and are at the perfect age because they want to help with EVERYTHING! We spent the week taking recyclables to the garage and tossing them in the recycling bin.  On Wednesday evening Alex helped Jacob carry the full (and heavy) bin to the curb.  He was very proud to be such a big help.  He then helped me plant more flowers--one of my new favorite things about Alex is that I no longer have to water the flowers in the various wagons, wheel barrows, and pots because Alex is always more than eager to do it all for me!  Here are a few pictures of the boys helping (well, mostly they're of Alex helping--Logan spends most of his time outside hunting for bugs).

We have also been trying to talk to the boys about how important eating right (yeah, right--as if they care about that! Ha) and exercise are.  Jacob comes home in the evenings and lifts weights, etc. and the boys are VERY curious about it.  He has started letting them work out with him from time to time and they love it! It's something else they get to do with their daddy, which is always a plus, as well.  Here are some pictures I took the other day of the boys working out with Jacob.  I thought they were too cute not to share!

Jacob was trying to show the boys how to use the Perfect Push-ups.  The boys kept standing on them and spinning and giggling.  It was funny.  Alex's expression in this photo is priceless.  That bar isn't that heavy, but he makes you think it is! Ha.

Until next time . . .

Earth Month (Part One)!!

April 22nd is Earth Day--the entire month of April has been dubbed Earth Month.  It is a month set aside to encourage people to take care of our world.  Jacob and I are trying to take some time this month to teach our boys about recycling, picking up trash in the yard, not littering, and other little things that they can do for Earth Month/Day this year.  I am going to try and document as many of the activities we do with them as I can so those of you who read the blog can follow what the boys are learning and doing.  We started the week off by making dirt paintings.  I let the boys each pick two colors and they painted their picture--we then poured a little bit of dirt onto their paintings and they used their fingers to mix the dirt into the paint.  The dirt gave the painting an interesting texture and the boys really seemed to enjoy it.

Yesterday the boys made a bird feeder out of an old milk jug.  I washed the jug and then the boys painted it.  Once the paint dried we cut a square out of one of the sides so a bird could get inside, stand, and eat bird seed.  We then took it outside and I let the boys fill the bottom with bird seed. They were very excited about the bird feeder and had a blast making it.  We may actually make more for other places in our yard simply because it was so much fun to make.  We wanted Jacob to be involved so Alex suggested that when Jacob got home from work he could help them hang the bird feeder in a tree. I told the boys to set the bird feeder on the porch so we could hang it after dinner.  Alex was concerned that the wind would blow the bird feeder over, spilling the bird seed--so he found a safe place for it.  Our air conditioner is hidden behind a wooden fence--Alex set the bird feeder on one of the wooden beams of the fence so the wind couldn't get to it.  After dinner we went outside and Jacob hung the bird feeder in one of the trees.  The boys were very excited about it. 

Happy Earth Month!!  Until next time . . .

A Token Of Appreciation

In January I posted a blog about Alex's Pre-K project.  The students, with some help from their parents, gathered items to send to the assistant teacher's husband who is in the military and stationed in Afghanistan with the Agribusiness Development Team from Oklahoma. A lot of the children included letters and/or drew pictures to send to MAJ "Bobby." That has been about three months ago.  Today, when I picked up Alex at school he was very excited.  He said there was something in his back pack he wanted to show me.  When we got home he quickly opened his back pack and pulled out a Ziplock bag.  Inside was what looked like a piece of cloth--I couldn't really tell what it was at first--and a piece of paper with writing on it.  Alex pulled them out and showed me that the material was actually a hat. He handed me the letter and said, "Mrs. Bruner already read it to us at school, but read it again, momma!"  So, I read the letter, which was from Mrs. Bruner's husband, aloud so the boys could hear.  While I was reading Alex put the hat on his head.  He seemed very proud of it. After I read the letter Alex said, "Bobby liked the things we sent to him and he sent us hats!" (The girls in the class received scarves.) The hat Alex received is a traditional Afghanistan hat called (or so we have been told) a kandahari style hat and is worn by males in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.

Mr. Bruner signed the letter to the class as "your overseas friend" and even went to the trouble to write every child's name on the letter.  Alex walked around with it for a while and seemed very proud to have received it. This experience gave Alex's teachers a chance to teach the children in the class about how children in other parts of the world live.  Alex was so excited about all he learned today while at school and also about the hat and letter.  He kept saying, "It was a good day, mom!"

                                     Alex's hat from Afghanistan

 

   Alex wearing the hat and holding the letter (he wanted to hold Spider-Man, too)

                                          

      This is the letter (Sides A&B) Alex's class received with their hats and scarves

It's "Draw a Bird" Day (and other funny things)!

                                     Logan and his happy face!  Ha.

      My boys!  Logan kept giving Alex bear hugs--it was really sweet!

Today has been a rather busy day in our home.  I have been trying to get caught up on laundry and also do some cleaning.  I also wanted to make time here and there for the boys--of course!  Today is (oddly enough) "draw a bird" day.  So, the boys drew birds on their Magnadoodles today.  It was so funny.  They drew super birds and birds with big ears--Logan even drew a monkey bird with a long monkey tail.  It was fun sitting with them and watching them come up with different things to draw.  Alex drew a dragon and argued that it was a bird because it had wings.  I have learned very quickly not to argue with a 5-year-old--it's easier to just go along with it! I didn't think to take pictures of them drawing birds but I did find the above picture of Logan with his Magnadoodle from a few days ago.  He drew a happy face and then walked around pretending the face he drew was his actual face.  He got the biggest kick out of it!

We also went outside today for a little while because, let's face it, it's too nice to stay inside all day!  The boys played in the sandbox and pretended to be cooks.  They made all kinds of imaginary dishes with their sand and brought it to me to sample.  They played football too, which is always fun to watch.

After lunch we read There Was An Old Monster--it is one of the boys' favorite books.  I bought it for them a couple of months ago and we read it at least three or four times a week now.  They laugh every time the monster swallows something new and they still act excited even though we have read the book at least fifty times!  Today when we read it they tried to act it out which was so funny.  Alex was the monster and Logan and Caison were the things he was eating.  It was funny to watch them as I read the book.  After we read it once and they (hilariously) acted it out, they sat down on the floor with me and Alex said, "Let's read it again, mom!"  So, we did.  This time they sat and laughed at the pictures while I read.  It was a lot of fun and their laughter is one of my favorite sounds!

It has been a fun day!  Now--go draw a bird since it's "Draw a Bird" day!  Ha. 

Daddy's Little Helpers

The boys "helped" Jacob work on his car yesterday evening.  It was so cute!  Logan put his tool belt and hard hat on and made us call him "Bob the Builder."  Alex was really interested in working on the car.  He seemed to really enjoy it!

Happy Easter!

It has been an interesting Easter weekend. We drove to the Marlow/Duncan area to spend Easter with my family.  We haven't seen my parents in almost two months and they were dying to see Alex and Logan. I had the boys dressed up in cute little button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up.  As we were walking out the door something in my mind prompted me to grab an extra change of clothes for Logan--just in case.  As we were driving towards Marlow I was glad I had grabbed the extra change of clothes.  Logan became car sick and vomited all over himself.  Jacob and I did what any parents would do--we reassured him that it was no big deal and mommy and daddy would take care of it. We pulled into a parking lot and I pulled Logan out of the car and cleaned him up while Jacob cleaned up his car seat.  I put his extra change of clothes on him and we put his yucky clothes in a sack (in the trunk) so I could wash them when we got to my parents' and got back on the road. Five minutes later he was asking if we were there because he was hungry!  We arrived at my parents' after following a pickup with dangling boy parts for a few miles, which made for an odd drive! Once at my parent's my mother showed me and the boys the cute Easter cookies she had made for them.  There were cookies that looked like Easter baskets with the boys' names on them and cookies that looked like girl and boy bunnies.  They were almost too cute to eat--almost! The boys thought it was really cool that the cookies had their names on them.  After lunch we all headed outside to enjoy the nice weather.  Jacob and my brother, Jeremy, were nice enough to hide the Easter eggs so the boys could hunt them.  The boys had such a great time hunting the eggs--it was fun just watching them.  Alex couldn't get to the eggs fast enough. They flew kites with Jacob, Jeremy, and Matt while my dad and Kyler watched.  Two of my dad's sisters and one of my cousins on my dad's side showed up as well.  It was great seeing every one.  

We arrived back home around 6:30 last night, unloaded the car, and ate a quick dinner before reading an Easter Bunny bedtime story to the boys.  As I was reading the book Logan said, "The Easter Bunny is hurt!  We saw him."  Alex said, "Yeah--he was bleeding."  I stopped reading and asked the boys what they were talking about.  They told me they had seen a hurt bunny in my dad's shop.  Logan said it's leg was hurt and he was bleeding.  They were convinced this little rabbit was the Easter Bunny.  It was cute. 

Last night Jacob and I were so tired that we forgot to "play" Easter bunny and set the boys' Easter baskets out.  I thought of it around 2:00 this morning and we got out of bed, set the Easter stuff out, and went back to bed. In previous years the boys didn't notice the Easter baskets until Jacob and I got up and asked what was in their baskets.  This morning I woke up to the sounds of excitement coming out of the living room and the boys ripping into their baskets.  They get so excited about things!  It's nice to watch them smile and get excited about every little item in their baskets. The morning progressed in an odd fashion as I knocked one of my Pyrex dishes off the counter--it shattered and a thousand pieces of glass flew in all directions across the kitchen floor.  Jacob and I spent the next 15 minutes cleaning it up. A little while later I heard Alex screaming.  I hurried to him and he sobbed, "Come here, mom, I will show you something."  I followed him to his bedroom where the chest of drawers was leaned over on his bed. All of the drawers were sticking out and the humidifier, that sat on top of the chest of drawers, was busted on the floor and water was everywhere.  Alex, still terrified and crying, proceeded to tell me that he was just trying to get something out of his drawer when they all opened, throwing off the balance, and it fell on him.  He was frightened and also worried he was going to get into trouble. I explained that he was in NO trouble at all and I was just glad he was okay. Jacob is now coming up with ideas to make sure this NEVER happens again. 

Over all it has been a good, although busy, Easter weekend.  The boys have really enjoyed it and have learned about the Easter story.  We just wanted to share our weekend with those of you who read this. I hope you have all had a wonderful Easter weekend.