Getting ready for school

We had an opportunity to go to the boys' school (notice the plural--now it's Micah's school, too!) tonight for an open house. It was a chance for Ethan to meet his teacher and check out his new classroom. We also took a peek into Micah's classroom, but he will meet his teachers at a preschool open house next week.


Ethan quickly found his desk and gave it a whirl. He's thrilled that school is starting soon. It was a long summer for this boy. He loves school so much!


He took a tour of the inside of his desk. He has a pencil box filled with all sorts of treasures--a penny, pretend money, a tape measure, dry erase marker, a glue stick, and a pen (this was exclaimed over as he has always used a pencil in school until now!). There were also workbooks and folders. All ready for next Tuesday!


Micah was excited that his classroom was open and we poked around in it for a few minutes. He took some time to meet the preschool birds and the fish.


He also had fun looking around the rest of the room. He's very excited for next week when he is able to look around some more. He'll start school the week after Ethan, so we'll have a little more time to prepare me, I mean him, for school (really, he's so excited there's not much preparation!).

We are all looking forward to getting back into the school routine!

Snowmen

Now that it's March, Spring seems so close! Especially with all of the sunny days we've had lately. Even though the last thing on my mind is snow, I wanted to make sure that I posted pictures of the snowmen that the boys created this year.

Ethan made his snowman one evening all by himself. He was so proud of it! He collected rocks from around the yard for most of his decorating.


I had to make sure I took a close up picture of the snowman because he pointed out to me that the snowman was missing a tooth just like he was! He cracks me up with the details that he thinks about!


After the last big snowfall both boys played outside and worked together to make what may be the last snowman of the season. I was at work that day, but Jason sent me a picture so I could see what the boys had been up to (they would literally play outside together for hours!).


I'm not 100% sure of what they used to decorate it this time, but it looks to me like they found sidewalk chalk and went to town. :) They were very proud of their creation!

Halloween 2009

I realized that I didn't go crazy taking pictures during the month of October. I remember wanting to go back to bed for most of the month (but not being able to say why until we told our family our news later in the month!). I think I was just so exhausted that doing things like take pictures of my darling children fell to the bottom of my priority list. Some days (or in this case, weeks) are like that!

Anyway, I pretty much took only a few pictures of the boys dressed up in their Halloween costumes. This year Ethan decided he wanted to be a ghost...and when Micah heard that idea, he was totally on board with the costume! I wasn't going to argue with that simple of a costume, so we borrowed white sheets from my mom and went to work.


I'd say the final result is not exactly what I was hoping for, but they were thrilled and they could walk and see (well, Micah had a little trouble seeing sometimes). So, I consider this homemade Halloween costume a success. They were also very successful in their haul from trick-or-treating, so I kindly assisted them in eating the candy from their buckets. I figured I'd share with the baby. :)

September 2009

I need to catch up on some updates! Here's a few highlights of what happened with our family over the month of September:

Ethan was delighted to go back to school. Unfortunately I didn't check my camera battery the night before, so I was greeted with a dead battery when I went to take his first day of school picture. I snapped a few with my cell phone, but can't seem to get them loaded to my computer from my cell. So, I have a few from the open house that we went to later that day.


He loves first grade and really enjoys going to school all day. I'm getting used to packing lunches every day, but have to admit that I'm thankful for hot lunch days! He had the typical "I'm exhausted from being in school all day" mood swings, but we expected that! We love his teacher and Ethan seems to respond to her really well. He is reading more and more each day and he loves to read anything in sight--and to anyone! I caught him kindly reading to Micah and Colin one day. I love it!


Micah and I are getting used to being home with just each other for a majority of the day. I think he likes it a lot--and I love rest time when I can steal a few moments of "me" time! We play a lot of games, trains, cars, and run errands. The day goes by quickly!

At the end of the month, we welcomed a new nephew/cousin into the family. Alexander Joseph was born on the 29th to Jason's sister Merridith and her husband, James. The boys love to look at him and talk to him! He's a precious little guy and I've made sure I had my share of cuddle time!



I had a big milestone in September, too. I turned 30! I've decided that's not really very old at all. Though sometimes I do feel old. :) We celebrated my big day quietly at home. My favorite present was one I couldn't talk about with anyone except Jason...the week of my birthday we found out that we were expecting another little one in May! We are incredibly blessed and are excited to meet our new little one!

More birthday

I thought maybe it was time to post some pictures from Ethan's birthday. We celebrated quietly at home on his actual birthday. I was thankfully able to get out of work early so we could all have supper and dessert together. We had a nice evening just hanging out! The "crown" is from school. I think he had fun wearing it in class all day so he thought he should wear it while he opened presents!

Jason and I gave Ethan a bat. It's his very first metal bat and he is incredibly excited (though he didn't go as crazy as we thought he would when we gave it to him). The bat goes nicely with his new batting helmet from Grandpa and Grandma and his batting gloves from Uncle James and Aunt Merridith. We need some warm weather to get this boy on the baseball diamond! The bat is currently residing in the closet so it doesn't break any lamps or windows or brothers.


Once again, Ethan wanted pumpkin pie for his birthday dessert. I seriously think this is a conspiracy by all the boys in the family. All of them love pumpkin pie...and I, the lone girl, hate it. But, I make it and watch them all enjoy dessert. Insert audible sigh. Oh, and I let the boys put in the candles. There are actually six; one of them is just kind of hiding in the middle.

These next pictures are mostly unrelated to Ethan's birthday. However, they crack me up so I'm putting them in here. The boys were helping clean up before the grandparents came over for dessert. Jason had them wash and dry the kitchen table. This is how they decided they should dry:


In the next picture, you don't really see the whole story. Micah isn't really doing all the work. You see, right as Jason snapped the picture, Ethan fell off the table (thankfully only on to the chair and he didn't get hurt). Kind of a funny shot when you know the story behind it!

I'll post pictures soon of the birthday cake I made. I took step-by-step shots because it sounded like fun, so check back later!

Birthay Celebrations

Ethan's birthday is tomorrow, but we started celebrating early! I have our whole family signed up for the Coldstone Creamery birthday club, so on Monday we took Ethan for his free treat. Like last year we let Ethan pick his own flavor. He chose cotton candy ice cream with gummi bears. Now, I love candy and sweetness and ice cream, but that concoction is a little much for even me! However, he loves it, so we go with it! One note to self for next year would be to NOT have this concoction as a bedtime snack. An afternoon snack would be much better! Ethan was on a bit of a sugar high while we were trying to settle him down for bed. Sometimes even parents can't be taught!

He offered quite a few times to share some tastes with us, but Jason and I politely declined! I love cotton candy, but pretty much only in it's cottony form!

Ethan offered some to Micah, but he had tried the flavor in the store and wanted nothing to do with it! He did kindly share some of his concoction with Ethan: strawberry ice cream with gummi bears mixed in.

Everybody loved their treats, and the best (worst) part was that I discovered that the kid-size helpings of ice cream are only $1.50. I'm willing to spend that on ice cream!

Oh, and do you see that I gave the boys haircuts? I hate doing that because they both look so much older afterward, especially Micah! My kiddos are too big already!

One more random thing...

I had to share a picture of what happens when my husband is left alone with the peanut butter cookie dough. Enjoy!

Working together

Quite some time ago we referred to the boys as Trouble. Big T and little t. The two of them seem like they could work together to cause mischief. Well...it's starting to happen.

On a recent Sunday morning I heard Ethan get up first. He came into our room and saw us still in bed, so he went into Micah's room next. Since I love to hear them talk with each other, I stayed in bed so I wouldn't interrupt. I smiled as they talked, and then listened closer as I heard Ethan say something about getting Micah out of bed. You see, Micah is still in a crib. This mom is not ready for a big boy bed and Micah has only climbed out of bed once. So, he's still confined when he wakes up.

Anyway, I could hear Ethan trying to lower the side of the crib. He was busy telling Micah that he couldn't get it. Then I heard the sound of the bean bag dropping. Ethan's next words? "We'll put this here in case you fall so you won't get hurt." I almost jumped out of bed and went running, but I really wanted to know what they would do next! After that, there was silence until I heard two sets of feet coming. They both came into our room with beaming expressions. Ethan was so happy that he helped Micah...he told me he just put his arms under Micah's armpits and helped him over the side. We may have to switch to a big boy bed sooner rather than later!

Quote of the day--Thursday edition

My boys crack me up. This morning Micah and I were playing pretend eating. It's a thing we do lately. :) Apparently it was someones birthday because we were having birthday cake. He kindly put some in front of me as well as himself. I reached out to sample my "cake" and was informed that "we have to pray!". Oops! So, I folded my hands and he nicely said his prayer (which he says on his own without direction!). "God is great, tank-you for this food, God bless mommy, daddy, E-tan, Micah, E-tan, Micah, and a happy day, amen." He then looked at me and said "your turn!". He's such a sweet boy!

Not to be left out, Ethan had his own cuteness. I worked until bedtime today, so when I came home the boys were already in bed. I went upstairs to talk with Ethan for a few minutes. He noticed that I had forgotten to take my name tag off and asked me what it was. I explained that it was my name tag and it had my name on it so people at work would know who I was. I slipped it off and he held it and looked at it for a few seconds. With a puzzled expression he said "shouldn't it say 'mom'?"

Keepin' it real

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year (again). I may do it again someday, but for now I'm taking a break from that ritual. However, I still took pictures of the boys by the Christmas tree. It's a great opportunity to get the two of them sitting by each other. So, if I had gotten Christmas photo cards with the boys on it, I would have probably used this picture:

Or, maybe even this one, with a little cropping:

Or, if I decided to use a picture of the four of us, I would maybe have used this one:


(OK, maybe I wouldn't have used that one...I probably would have tried for a few more options, but I still like the picture) Anyway, if you're like me, you send out the best looking picture. As I scrolled through what I had, I decided that while my boys are adorable in the previous pictures, it doesn't necessarily show their true personalities. At our house, it's more like this:

And this:

Or this:

I have to say that this next one is one of my favorites, simply because it shows just how much Micah loves his big brother.

Now this one's pretty good:

But this one's a little scary:

And all I can say about this is that Ethan, well, he's 5.

"Cheese" can only be said with a goofy look:

And, quite frankly, this one just looks too posed:

However, I think my little guys are pretty cute, whether they are sitting calmly or trying to be silly for mom. Which one would be your Christmas card pick?

Gingerbread Houses

Jason was out of town last week, and the days fell on my two days off from work, so I was the sole entertainer in the household for the whole day. No aunts or grandparents to step in while I went off to work! No daddy in the evening as a fresh playmate!

One of the fun parts of my job is the programs that I get to participate in. But, even better than that is when there are leftovers from the programs that I can snag and take home for my boys. This time Jason's days away fell a few days after a Gingerbread program. I grabbed extra supplies and saved them in a container for a fun task that would fill a few hours...OK, I was optimistically hoping for a 1/2 hour. The boys were excited when I showed them all the supplies--really, what kid wouldn't be excited when their mother sets a bag of candy and a pile of frosting in front of them! So, they went to work...

The "Gingerbread" houses were milk cartons (from a school...thoroughly rinsed and sprayed with air freshener) that had graham crackers stuck to them. We used frosting from a container and it was plenty thick for making the candy stick.

I sat back and took pictures (though I helped with the spreading of frosting). The boys happily covered the house with candy, candy canes, mints, Smarties, M&M's, gumdrops, colorful marshmallows, and gingerbread men cookies. They used Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal for the roof.

I was really surprised that they didn't even eat that much of the candy! They were so happy sticking the candy on the house that I think they forgot how much they like to eat it.

Ethan loves to use the camera, so I gave it to him to take pictures of the finished houses while I cleaned up Micah. He takes a lot of...shall I say "artistic" shots!

This was really fun and I think it would be easy to do on my 0wn without grabbing supplies from work. Really, I would gladly buy numerous bags of candy...just for the houses.

How it is at our house

This is what Ethan said to Jason regarding why Micah was crying:

"I tried to give him a piggy back ride but I didn't know I couldn't do it"

Muffled laughter coming from the mother in the other room.

A fun jar activity

I probably won't have pictures of all of our Fun Jar activities, but I thought I would try to get at least get pictures for a few of them. Our first draw was "Run through the sprinkler". Thankfully, it was a warm and sunny day, so it was a great pick! (I have to add that it was a well-timed draw because we were reaching the "it's one hour before daddy comes home" meltdown time of day. Hence the draw from the jar).

When he wasn't playing in the water with a stick, Ethan was trying to see how high he could jump over the sprinkler.

Micah just giggled and ran as fast as he could. The water was cold!

Doesn't he look like a macho man?

I love this picture, especially the drop of water on his chin. Don't you just love that little face?

The fun jar, part two

So I had a great thought of doing a Fun Jar at the beginning of the summer. Well, we had a busy month of July and we finally got around to making our Fun Jar in the beginning of August. I know, I should post regularly so that I don't have to backtrack this much, but really, you'll have fun reading a whole bunch of posts at once...right? I digress.

The boys weren't quite sure what to think when I hauled out one of my canning jars and a bunch of tissue paper. However, when they saw the glue they were totally on board with whatever I was planning. I cut a bunch of squares from the tissue paper and they had a great time deciding where to glue their pieces onto the jar. Ethan was pretty good about using the glue, but Micah would grab it and squeeze with all his might and then things got a little messy. It was a fun messy, though!

Our lovely little work table. Just the right size for our project.

Micah was very focused. He only licked the glue on his fingers a few times.

A little sticky, but still having fun!

Once we finished the jar I wrote all of the ideas on slips of paper and we put them in the jar. Ethan was very excited about all of the different ideas on the papers. Micah was...well, he was excited because Ethan was excited, and he got to help with a project.

Another post to follow (soon) with our first fun jar activity!

Sandbox fun

A few weeks ago we "opened" the sandbox for the summer. The boys now play in it any chance they get. I have only a few outfits they wear in the sandbox since they get so dirty! They know that they need to change if they want to play in it! When we built the sandbox a few years ago we shook our heads at how large it ended up being. This year, I've decided that I'm glad it's so big! They have plenty of room to drive all their trucks around...many a road has been constructed already! As it gets warmer, I may start hosing them off before they come in the house!

My big dude...thrilled to be back in his sandbox world!


Micah...testing out one of the new roads!

Tiny dirty toes. I think they're cute even when they're filthy!

Bigger toes...but still cute! It took some scrubbing to get them clean!

If you look closely you can see that even Micah's face is covered in a coating of dirt...but don't they look happy! They even have fun playing with each other in the sandbox (at least most of the time)!