Zach's Snowman

Zach built his very own snowman on our back porch. He used his Valentine's Day M&Ms for the face. It looks like they don't just melt in your mouth...they melt in a snowman too. What's up with that?! Snow is by definition cold, so how could something that is not even supposed to melt in your hand melt in the snow?
Zach and his snowman

Jay's Blog?!

Jay is thinking about starting a blog, but he needs some encouragement...

Crazy Town

Today we took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's(aka Crazy Town). They had lots of fun. I had lots of fun watching them have fun :-) We stayed way longer than I thought we would. We set out to spend about an hour and we stayed almost 3 hours! The time flew by so quickly. I expected Ryan to get cranky after about an hour because it was his nap time, but he lasted so well. He had so much fun climbing up the kiddy jungle gym and sliding down the slide. It did take quite a bit of convincing that the slide is only to go down, but after he got the hang of it he just jumped off the slide and ran over to the stairs over and over...and OVER. It's great when they can get so much entertainment out of the free stuff!
Guess what Ryan's favorite ride was... [I'll just tell you since Erin would probably guess within 5 minutes of my post and ruin it anyway;-)] It was the train with Barney riding along.
Barney Train

He just loves trains! He kept running back to it and climbing up. Very cute. It also had the most entertaining buttons.
Jay and Zach spent most of their time on the "big kid" side playing skee ball, the snow mobile game(Jay's favorite) and other cool games like that. Toward the end Jay and I switched. I got so help Zach learn this really cool construction machine thing where you pick up balls and dump them in a collection area.
Construction boy

It was very cool. I almost wanted to kick Zach off so I could play! Too bad there was another girl waiting to play when he finished. It was an exciting day. Everyone else is up stairs taking a nap. All in all a very fun day.
For more pictures see my Feb 2005 album.

When one just isn't enough...

One, two for me please! 

Ryan's New Toy

Ryan got this new toy. It's a bunch of interconnecting foam squares with puzzle pieces. There are animals for all the letters of the alphabet and shapes for each number 1-10. It's very cool and lots of fun.
Eight 


That being said, this is the "x square". If you know what it is you deserve a prize. I'm not going to give you one, but I'll give you props if you get it ;-)
x is for...

Anyone? I'll tell you the answer tomorrow.

PS I know this is my second post in like 5 minutes, but I was getting ready to do this one when Zach saw that commercial!

Influenced by advertising

Zach is not allowed to watch TV any more! He is watching Tom and Jerry right now and the commercial for Posturepedic Beds came on. You know the one where they claim people are not getting a good night's sleep because they are sleeping on old fashioned mattresses. Zach lifted his head off the couch as if he had just had a revelation and said, "I AM tossing and turning on an old fashioned mattress!" Then they mentioned the "space age material" of their mattress. Zach gasps then says in awe, "space!" Oh. My. Goodness. He is way to influenced by advertising!

Choo Choo

Ryan LOVES trains. He loves to see them, play with them, ride them and pretend his spoon is one. He loves riding the train my brother, T.J., gave him for Christmas.
Giving Giraffe a ride on his train.

He goes around in his little oval saying, "choo-choo" and grinning(sometimes full out laughing.) When he sees a train passing on the road or one on T.V. he gets excited and says, "choo-choooo". This includes metro trains and anything on tracks. He also says it when he pushes his Thomas the Tank Engine shape sorter around the house. It's quite cute if you ask me ;-) This morning the only way I could get him to eat was by pretending his spoon was a train. I tried a plane, but he made the chuga-chuga-chuga, choo-choo sounds and wouldn't open his mouth until I did the choo-choo sound. It's very rare that I have to pull out the old train routine. Usually he likes to feed himself. If we have had to do the train for him once he warms up to eating sometimes he even makes the choo-choo for himself. It's funny to watch him coordinate the spoon, the chuga-chuga, choo-choo and getting it into his mouth at the same time. He actually does it surprisingly well.

No School

There are snow flurries...school is canceled. No Bible study, no adult conversation! I so look forward to my Wednesdays and Thursdays with people. Oh well, at least I get to be lazily stay in my slacker clothes and not do my hair all day. Too bad the laziness doesn't apply to the rest of my day. I have to go take out something for dinner, do some laundry, load the dishwasher, vacuum, dust...boy this list is getting long. I better get going so I can actually accomplish some of it today!

Another Weekend Says "Bye-bye"

Too bad:-( I like weekends. I have to tell this story from the bus stop this morning. I don't know whether to call it cute or sad. You can judge for yourself. There is a quite active boy that goes to the same bus stop as Zach. He likes to make faces at Ryan. It's a little unnerving sometimes because he gets really close to Ryan's face. Today started like most. I was holding Ryan and he got up in Ryan's face and started making faces and dancing around. Ryan thinks this is hilarious. Fits of giggles turn into squirming and I put him down on the sidewalk. The active boy takes this as a cue to kick it up a notch. He is now dancing like a monkey. Ryan starts copying him. These two are having a great time, but Zach has his back to the action and seems a bit sullen. I tried to get him to join in the fun by suggesting he show Ryan some of his dance moves so Ryan could copy him. He turns to me with a pitiful look and says, "I don't think Ryan knows I'm his brother." Suppressing a laugh and feeling sad for this little heartbroken 6 year old, I reassured him that Ryan does know that Zach is his brother. I reminded him that yesterday when he came home from a weekend away as soon as Ryan saw him he gave him a big hug long hug. [Here is how the hug went: Ryan reached up and pulled Zach down. He wrapped his arms around Zach's neck and rested his head on Zach's shoulder and didn't let go for about a minute.(such an adorable brother moment!) but, I digress] I told him that Ryan loves him and he knows that they are brothers, but that doesn't mean he can't have fun with other people. I think what helped really hammer it home is when I asked if Zach knew Ryan was his brother and then asked if he liked to hang out with the neighborhood kids. He of course said yes to both questions. Then I asked him if he thought the boy at the bus stop was his brother and he laughed. We agreed that he and Ryan could play with other kids, but that they would still know that they are brothers. Then the bus came, Ryan and I waved good-bye to brother Zach and walked home. It's amazing the thoughts that go through those little heads!

Twinkle, Twinkle

Ryan is singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". I was sitting here reading one of my favorite blogs and I hear him singing in the background. I realized I knew the tune..."uh-uh uh-uh we-uh a, ow-i-uh-uh wa ew a, up a bob uh orl oh I" and I started singing along, "like a diamond in the sky." He turned and looked at me with the biggest grin. The look said, 'You know what I'm singing!!!' And we sang a few rounds together:-) What fun my little love monkey is!
There may be future video of this. I tried to get it just now, but as usual he wanted to play with the camera. I think I did get a little bit, but I had to plug the camera in upstairs to get it. Now I have to wait for the charge cycle to finish. I also kept the camera running after he came over to play in the hopes of at least having some audio. When I upload the video on the computer I'll post some if it's worth it.
Stay tuned...

Daddy

I was thinking that I really should write something on my blog before people get annoyed, but I was stuck. I have not really done anything in that past couple days that has inspired me to write anything. I have been to 2 Bible studies and watched Alias, but I just didn't feel inspired to write about that. Since I couldn't think of what to write about I decided to look at some pictures I've taken recently to try to come up with something. I didn't even get to my computer before I knew what picture I wanted to write about. I remembered taking some pictures of Jay giving the boys a bath last week(well, not which one exactly, but what series). This(and a conversation I had today with Jay's mom) got me to thinking about what a wonderful dad he is to our two boys. So now I am feeling very inspired, by my husband.
He has worked so hard to become who he is today and I am so proud of him for that. I'm even more proud that he continues to grow as a father, as a husband and as a man in general. He does some things that I think show the very core of his being. He chooses his jobs based on several criteria the most important being: will he be able to spend time with his family? and will he be able to provide for his family? He makes sure to spend time with the boys. He plays games with them, takes them for bike rides, goes on hikes with them and has crazy tickle fights. He sings songs and says prayers with them just about every night. He makes sure to tell them in words and show them with actions that he loves them. He is devoted to raising loving, faithful children with a good moral compass. Best of all he loves them so much and enjoys being with them. He enjoys them(especially when they are enjoying themselves).
He is a great dad and I love that he is the father of my children.
Splash Party

This is a picture of one of the times this past week that Jay was showing what a great dad he is. You can see the enjoyment on Jay's face?

Sesame Street Irony

Does anyone else see the irony of Bert(<--puppet) explaining to
Ernie(<--puppet) the difference between thngs that are alive and things that are not?

For example in this morning's episode...
Ernie doesn't want to leave the snowman they made because it might get hungry or cold. Bert explains is not alive it does not have feelings. Bert expains further...the snowman does not get hungry or cold. Ernie wonders why Bert got hungry and the snowman doesn't. Bert reiterates his assurtion that the snowman is not alive explaining that the snowman can't breathe or even feel when someone touches it. Ernie tests this theory by tickling the snowman.

Uh...

Me Time

Jay got me a gift certificate to a spa for Valentine's Day! Yea!!! He said that I deserve some me time:-) He is going to watch the kids while I head out for some relaxation. What a smart man! I'm so excited!!!

P.S. Wouldn't it be great if one of my girlfriends' husbands got her a gift certificate too or she just decided to splurge on herself? Then we could go together! How much fun would that be?!:-)

Happy Valentine's Day

My Valentine's day started out well. This morning Jay stuck around a little bit longer than usual to see the boys open their Valentine cards. It's nice to see how well you know what will bring your child joy. Zachary got a frog Valentine because he likes frogs. He liked it and read it out loud to everyone. Ryan just made my day! I flipped up the flap and let him pull out his own card. When he saw that it was a bear card his face lit up. His smile was so big and sweet I melted. He just beamed at it for a second and then he exclaimed, "bea!" He smiled the whole time daddy read his card to him. [Of course this is like the only time I didn't have a camera at the ready when he opened something and it may have been the best reaction yet! Oh well, I will remember that face for a very long time to come.] I love that I know so much about him. I know what makes him smile, what he likes to do, how he likes to play, what he likes to eat... The list goes on and on. I love him so much; words just can't express how I feel about my little Monkey Bean. I love his daddy so much too. I love that he gave me such a wonderful gift and that he leaves me little surprises to find while he is gone to remind me that he loves me. I love that he likes to watch sappy movies with me and that he is such a great cuddler. These are just a few of the wonderful things about my Jay, but you get the idea:-)
I guess I had to get a little mushy on V-day;-)

Valentine's Day Dilemma

What do you get a guy for Valentine's Day?! I probably should not write this on my blog since I know Jay reads it just about every day. I'm really stuck. Candy just doesn't seem to do it. I'm usually fairly creative about these things, but I've been sick. I also haven't been sleeping well, so I'm tired and my brain functions are not quite up to par. I got the boys' gifts today. Candy for Zach because, well, he loves candy. Since Ryan was with me he kind of picked out his own gift. We were going down the Valentine aisle and he saw some bears. He got this really excited look on his face and said, "bea, bea!" I showed him a couple different bears to see his reaction. He really liked this white one with pastel colored hearts all over it that look like the conversation hearts you always see at Valentine's. Most of the bears had some sort of pink or purple. Ultimately I decided to go with a soft brown bear with chocolates in his hands even though Ryan doesn't eat chocolate yet. It was really the only non-feminine bear they had. I knew Jay would be happier with the decision and really, as much as I try to be a neutral mom that doesn't get up tight when her boys play with dolls, I felt better with the brown bear too:-) Really it was my favorite from the beginning. It's so soft and cute!

I feel a little more pressure this year about Jay's gift in part because I know he has actually thought about it at least a little. I know this because the past few days he has been leaving little hearts for me to find. I've found them on my pillow, near the shower, on the car door and this morning I found these in front of the tooth paste. He is even making sure to leave the ones with just the right message.
Isn't he sweet?!

Since he has actually remembered before the day of I don't know what to expect. I'm not expecting anything big and I'll be happy if he just says "Happy Valentine's Day, I love you." and spends a little couch cuddling time with me. BUT if he does more I don't want him to feel like I didn't do as much for him. I don't want him to feel neglected. Any ideas for male Valentines?!

Tiny Trouble Maker

I will just say this...I think God has managed to get 50lbs of trouble into a 26lb package!

Sick Days...Blah

This morning I got up at 6:20. Anyone who knows me will tell you I don't get up until I have to. This morning I got up the first time I heard Jay's alarm. You see I didn't want to impede his morning routine and I knew I'd have about half an hour before he even thought of getting up;-) Usually I take a shower the night before because I won't get a chance in the morning with Ryan getting up and Jay needing to get ready for work. So, I'm all proud of myself because I'm up, hair dried and ready to go to Bible study at 7 AM. I'm especially pumped because I've been sick and haven't left the house in days. Then I hear ::cough, cough:: NOOOOOOOOO. Zach is sick. Okay maybe it's just a cough. I ask him how he feels- not too good. Then the tell tale question-Do you need to stay home from school? Yes. Coming from a kid who loves school. ::sigh:: No getting out of the house again today. He is even missing his 100th day of school party. Sadness.

Cute Ryan Games

Ryan and I started playing some fun new games recently. I noticed him squatting and bursting up quickly a couple weeks ago. I realized he was 'jumping'. He was having so much fun and laughing himself silly. So I started jumping with him. He thinks this is the greatest thing. It makes him laugh so hard. Now I say 1,2,3,JUMP and he squats and with all his strength he bursts up. Sometimes his feet come off the ground, but he always has fun:-) It's great to watch.
Another game we started this weekend was the letter game. It's a computer game that I made up. I open word and make he font as big as it can get. Then I type the capitol and lower case of a letter and ask him what the letter is. I am so surprised at how many letters he knows. Of course he and I celebrate with a 'YAY!' after he gets each one right. It's so cute when he is proud of himself :-) I love his little 'Yaaaaaaaaay'!
Right now he is watching Barney, a new favorite in these parts. He is bouncing up and down with a huge smile on his face dancing to one of the songs. This kid loves music!

Weekend=slow blogging

Usually I like to spend my weekend with my family, especially my hubby. Right now he is watching the Super Bowl and I am not so interested. I might have been able to watch the whole thing with him, but this morning I woke up with a sore throat and a headache. I took some cold medicine and a nap, so I feel better. I still have not really been able to focus on much today. Even reading the screen right now doesn't not feel good for my eyes, but I'm bored. Maybe it's a good thing that I *still* have to look at my keys to type;-) I really should have taken typing in middle school while I had the chance. I heard it was hard and I *KNEW* without a doubt that I wouldn't need to type that much in my life since I didn't plan on being a secretary or anything. This of course was before the big internet boom and I'm not sure we even had a computer at that point. Gosh I'm old! My husband and I have often marveled at the idea that our kids will never know a world: where you can't see the picture as soon as you take it; the computer doesn't have a mouse and high speed internet; you have to have cash to buy at least some things(now that fast food places, gas stations and EVERYWHERE else take credit cards); you can't get in touch with someone because they are not home(cell phones); with payphones; where video games and special effects didn't look real; and our youngest will never know a time where you just have to watch what's on TV at the time or nothing at all(TiVo). Crazy. It's so different from when I grew up, but it doesn't feel like it's been that long since I was a kid. I do feel a little old every time I get one of those "child of the 80s" e-mails.
Well this has been a long post, so I'm going to save my cute Ryan story for tomorrow:-) It may even have a short video:-)

Did you ever...?

Did you ever just have one of those days?! It's only 8:15 and I'm wiped out from my stressful Saturday. In jammies and ready for bed.

I was responding to this comment in the comment section, but it seemed to turn into more of a post.

Erin said...
'I can not even imagine this day ever coming for us. Nor can I imagine Ben just eating a bowl of Cheerios and not baby mush. I also can not imagine said bowl of Cheerios not being tossed everywhere. How do you get him to do these things? I feel like I must be missing something...'

My response:
Ryan is older. Trust me the not throwing stuff everywhere is a new development! He still does throw stuff from his high chair when he is done eating or when he thinks Daisy look hungry. Maybe if he is able to just get up when he is done that will stop?
I've been letting him have a bowl of goldfish, pretzels or something like that and a spill proof cup at the coffee table for snack for a few weeks now. He's been doing great with that. At first I would sit behind him and hold the bowl. Then I would leave the bowl alone until he tried to turn it over...Then I would grab it, say 'no' and put it back down nicely. I would tell him 'This is what we do' as I did it. I believe in showing him what to do instead of just telling him what NOT to do. Now I just give him the bowl in the kitchen and he carries it out and sets it on the table himself. He has also been putting his drinks on tables sometimes he even uses a coaster! We still tell him 'good job' or 'Yay!' when he does:-) He says 'Yay!' for himself when he does something he is proud of now:-)
It's funny because I was reading about what Ben does with Elmo's song and thinking Ryan only barely sings along with stuff now. I was marveling at how smart and advanced Ben is...maybe we can start a mutual admiration society;-)

First Time Eating at the Table

Ryan had another first today. I let him eat at the table like his big brother. We all sat at the table and had breakfast together this morning(well, minus Jay because he was already at work). He keeps climbing up on Zach's chair at snack time, breakfast time and pretty much any time. This morning I moved him to my chair and plopped a bowl of Cheerios down in from of him. I wasn't sure how it would go. Images of Cheerios being thrown about; Ryan getting up and leaving the table then coming back and leaving again; Ryan standing up and falling down and more horrible things passed through my mind. I was pleasantly surprised. He sat at the table and ate his fill(not all of the cereal, but most of it), he drank his milk and when he was done he got up. He did stand in the chair a couple times later in the morning, but we'll work on that. I guess every time we eat dinner together he is paying attention:-)
Speaking of eating dinner together, I have to share this adorable thing he does. Before dinner we all hold hands and pray. Usually it is a kids prayer-'God is great' or 'Lord we thank you...' I guess he's been paying attention to that too because for the past few weeks when we get to the table he will hold hands and bob them up and down(we do that with him, but I'm not sure why) and he says, "Gah i goo" translated to grown up English this is "God is good". For those who don't know that is the second line of 'God is great', so we've been saying that one pretty much all the time now:-) It's so awesome to see how they pick things up even when you're not specifically trying to teach them.
First time eating at the table

Note to self:

Never have something delivered when there is snow outside! I have been walking in puddles ever since the delivery men came!!!

Fighting Nature

I'm a procrastinator. I have been as long as I can remember. I don't think I ever started a paper until the day before it was due or studied for a test until the last minute. Even then my "studying" consisted of skimming the chapter or reading it if I had enough time since I of course hadn't read it before then. It is only now that I am seeing how good it feels to actually get things done. We got back from our trip on Sunday. Normally there would still be two fully packed suitcases on the floor in my room. I have been trying very hard(it's a huge struggle for me) to try to get my house clean and keep it that way. So I put a bunch of stuff away yesterday and even got a few loads of laundry done. I'm about 90% unpacked and the house resembles one with a sense of order. This is huge for me and I feel really great. I always discounted the allure of a clean house. Making the bed seemed like a silly thing to do. After all you are just going to mess it up in a few hours when you get back in. I'm not joking this was truly my philosophy. Lately I've been making the bed more in order to kind of complete the "clean" look. And you know I really feel pleased when I look at my room. I can actually feel how much calmer I am when there is less clutter. Maybe, just maybe I am growing up, becoming an adult! I guess it's about time;-) It feels really good to get things done and to do it before you absolutely have to do them.
I still hate cleaning. It's a never ending task. That first smear on the mirror or toothpaste in the sink kills me. I almost feel like it was all for nothing. Yet there is an overall effect that feels good when you stay (almost) on top of things. I hope that when people come over now they won't expect a clean house. We wouldn't want you to be disappointed now, would we?! I'm trying, but I'm no miracle worker :-)
I better go make the bed. Jay will expect it to be made tonight after he reads this post;-)