Monday, March 30, 2009

Hammock Worthy Awards

Every Cabana should have the perfect hammock to curl up into with the perfect book! So today we're going to start sharing some of the books our family considers to be Hammock Worthy!


Today the boys and I are getting in the car and heading for Ft. Pierce, FL. We are so excited! If I can find a broadband signal somewhere, I'll be taking lots of pics to keep the blog updated! (Unlike our letter H Hike where I forgot the camera. I think my brain is programmed against bringing the thing on hikes).
Thanks for all your clicks to check out the advertisers - it's really going to be a blessing to our family! See you soon!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sunday Greetings

It never fails: the second you pack up the camera the kids get cute. Here is M with his growing, I'm-almost-2, confidence. Doing what he is not supposed to be doing.

And he emptied the toys out of one cabinet, and then suddenly realized that he would most definately fit into this wonderful nook.

And then he realized there was a photo-session going on and insisted on another shot...
So, today, L has literally been at the kitchen table for an hour and forty minutes, cutting and gluing and pasting. Here he is with Mr. Brian, showing him his on-going project and quickly inlisting Brian's help.
Isn't it great when you find a project you can really lose yourself in?

Friday, March 27, 2009

Another Video Clip

My own personal Evil Knievil (how is that spelled?). M is definately related to his Pappy. I don't try to encourage this stuff, but as I had finally convinced him to hold on with his hands, I thought it was safe to sneak a little camera time in!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

You Can Hide Behind Your Hands...

See? Cover your eyes and you disappear!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Hide and Help

So, we were supposed to start letter H week off with a Hike, but I am sooooo glad I didn't state that outloud. It's a balmy (ha ha) 48 degrees today. Or at least it will be eventually. So I kept mum and have crossed my fingers that one of our free days this week will be a bit better for a hike with little ones. Instead we did H is for Help! The boys helped me clean all the windows and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They darted back inside to the warmth after we wiped down the outside of the glass doors. We also made Hearts and Houses out of play dough. And here is L being sneaky and Hiding from me. I managed to get the pictures by turning the camera where I thought he'd be, and then turning my head another direction, pretending I couldn't see him. Preschoolers are so silly.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Thanks Daddy!

Daddy came back from his convention with giant Wall-E artbooks for both of the boys. L love, love, loves his! He's been at it for three days! Color, cut, glue, color, cut, glue.

And I just couldn't decide between these two pics daddy got while I was in the shower. M had shed his rice & cheese covered shirt and daddy needed to vaccuum (said rice & cheese), so he ran to hide. Even cowering in (slight) fear he is totally adorable!

I love my boys!

Friday, March 20, 2009

The Green Giant

I am getting spoiled. Paul took the Tribute for a few days, so we've gotten to drive the Green Giant. You do not understand. I grew up out west of town (in a place where you were either out west of town, in town, or very wet), and since I had any interest in driving, I have always wanted a great, big, redneck truck (course I would happily settle for a Jeep). I love passing the ones that have the sticker on the back that says, "Silly boys, trucks are for girls." It has been every bit as great as I always thought it would be. People rarely cut you off. They do not ride your tail. They wait to see if you'd like to go first. And it is big (and gets the same mileage as my Tribute). Big. Redneck big.

Paul better take it back fast.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Small Discovery

First, some fun stuff. Here's the ship L built. Very proud of this ship, he was!
And here's M wearing my shoes. He walked around repeating, "Mama shoos! Waak, waak, waak..." over and over!And here's my small discovery. Yesterday we went to REI for fun. That's a great store to take kids to. The staff are usually very friendly, and the boys loved getting in the store tents and checking the traction of their shoes on the rock pile (it's made for that). But most of all they love going through all the camp gear gadgets (I love it too). Even M put everything back where he found it! I would love to have been there when the staff went to clean up the mess that they'd expect two small boys to leave and found it left better than most adults! They both were drawn to the small greenish camp cups, and being a dollar I let them each have one.

The cups are perfect! Just the right size for small ones, durable, don't spill easily, perfect for snacking from, stackable, and have a little handle! What a great thing for the boys! Silly, I know, but when you've experienced the frustration of tipping kiddie cups, or giant-portion sized kiddie cups, you'll know what I mean!

It's the little things that make life grand! And in case you're wondering, M did not spill that cup of milk!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

6 months

And now, for a brief comparison! Here is M at 6 months old...

Gosh, I love my kids! I am so greatful for them, even when times are tough. I just dig into the Word, get a little creative with my parenting, and remember my focus that this is my chance to model a loving God to them, One who loves them unconditionally and One they can trust that anything He asks is ultimately for their own good.




And here is L at 6 months...

Monday, March 16, 2009

New Stuff

So here are the boys at activity time, with play dough and trains (the trains ended quickly when the play dough appeared!
Here's the trains. Sorry about the silly Blogger side-ways thing again!
And here's the new stuff. Everybody has to re-vamp. Old stuff gets old. So we rearranged our daily routine. I don't like scheduling things time-wise, but both the kids and I like knowing what comes next. This way we can spend as much time or as little as we like on a thing. We've always done this, we're just making a new chart for the kids to follow along (and to cut out some of the TV that's crept in - so sneaky, that TV). L was really excited to make his into a book! He loves making little books.
Have a great day everybody!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Rather Be Outside

Can we take some toys on the porch? Of course we can!

So they asked for their jackets (or "jas" as M says) and out we went with a bucket of things for building with. Kids would rather be outside!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

G for George

Daddy snuck a shot of story time. I've been pulling out Curious George books from my hidden library stash all week. George is great, isn't he?!

We practiced our campfire safety this morning (not pictured, as I was busy monitoring the safety-ness). It was really, really, really fun. The boys both stayed seated as they were told, and enjoyed roasting a marshmallow for snack time over our little tin-can-fire-pit. After we put out the fire they got up and ran their sillies out...

Then I surprised them with another book, Curious George Goes Camping, and that was a real hit. L wanted to read through it twice (he is just getting to where he can sit through a book two times!) and found the fires interesting. Like how the people sat around the fire, and how they can be fun, but we must be careful. Course he also likes it when the skunk gets George. Poor George, he really does get himself into situations!

On a monetary note, some of you may have noticed some ads in the left hand column. I started an AdSense account. Anytime you click on the ad link my account will be credited a small amount (whether you buy anything or not), and I get a little check once a month. The ads should be filtered in comparison for content, so while you might see some for solar power or crafts or homeschool supplies or feeding the poor, you shouldn't see any rated R links (Google has policies against that). So if you have a minute (or ten seconds), please check out a link (I'm not allowed to, or they'll shut down my account, and rightly so)!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Little Ships

Warm weather + the outdoors = creativity!

L was so excited about the little boats he was creating and sailing across the porch!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Boys will be boys

I'm fairly certain these pics speak for themselves...

Monday, March 9, 2009

Junior Photography

So L wanted to try his hand at some more photography (and as his brother was busy digging through the toys in L's room), I let him have at it! The only thing I wouldn't let him do was go take a picture of his brother, as that would end the photo session with much wailing and nashing of teeth. Other than that he went around taking pictures of things that are fun and/or important to him... I know it's a lot of pics, but I wanted to share them all. Enjoy!

Happy Monday!