You've Got to be Kidding Me!

Halloween

2010-11-01T23:18:00.002-04:00

Me getting Evan ready for trick or treating ( I went as Troy Polamalu ;) Just needed a wig)

Evan was a skeleton and Zachary was Iron Man

After trick or treating the boys wanted to check out their stash. Zach preferred to pull out his candy one by one and put it in a pile...

While Evan liked the line-up method.

Ahhh the sugar high!

Fall Catch-All

2010-11-01T22:37:00.004-04:00

It's been way to long since I've last posted anything here (sorry mom!), so I have quite a bit to catch up on. I'll start with our activities last weekend.

We started out the weekend like this:

Jake was carrying Evan to bed when Zachary got under his feet (kind of like a cat) which made Jake trip. Since he couldn't use his hands to break his fall he fell shoulder first full force into the wall, hence the massive hole! Luckily Evan and Jake were OK and our wall was the only thing with any serious injuries. Thankfully hubby is really handy and was able to repair the wall before the weekend was over.

The next day I took the boys to Spencer Farm to pick out pumpkins and mums. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time until I tried to load everything into my mid-size car. I hate to admit it, but it's really time for a minivan. I drove home with a 50 lb. bush of a mum in the passenger seat, 5 good sized mums in the trunk and both boys had pumpkins under their feet. Shortly into our trip home ladybugs started flying out of the mum and were all over my car. The boys were begging me to save them (the ladybugs not the boys) and had me open up all the windows to help them fly away. They didn't.

On Saturday we took the boys to Zoo Boo. Evan and Zach loved getting dressed up and trick or treating around the zoo. With the cooler temperatures that day the animals were more active and the boys were able to get up close and personal with the cheetahs.

Evan and Zach also had the opportunity to build a bird feeder and a doggie coat hanger while at the zoo.

It was a full weekend but tons of fun!

Evan's 5th Birthday Party

2010-08-14T21:45:00.004-04:00

Evan had his 5th Birthday Party today at My Gym. Evan has been waiting for this day for weeks and was so excited this morning he actually woke us up by blowing a whistle in our ears. After our ears stopped ringing the hourly count down began. Evan, Zachary and all of their friends had a great time running, jumping, sliding and playing.

First Dreams

2010-06-08T10:54:00.004-04:00

Most mornings Jake will ask the boys if they had good dreams the night before and what they dreamt about. Usually we get the same response from both boys "yes" and "I dreamed about sleeping". This morning Evan told me that he had a dream last night and when I asked him what the dream was about here is what he told me: "All these houses got up to 100 degrees and then they exploded (he makes a big circle with his arms)". He got quiet for a moment and looked down at his feet then looked up at me with sad eyes and he said "Then I couldn't find my toys in any of the houses. I looked and looked."

For a 4 year old this sounds more like a nightmare to me. Which reminds me of the first dream I can remember from my childhood. I must have been about Evan's age. I remember Ernie (from Sesame Street) wearing a sleep mask and then he bit me in the back. I woke up and remember physically feeling a pain in my back. Weird. I guess strange dreams run in the family.

Memorial Day Weekend Fun

2010-06-01T22:36:00.008-04:00

On Saturday we packed up the boys and a picnic lunch and headed downtown to see the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade. This was the first time any of us had gone to the parade. We had a great time and found a nice shady spot under a tree to watch the festivities. The boys favorite part was seeing the race cars. I personally always love to see the marching bands and Jake was most excited to see the Purdue marching band and their big drum.

After the parade it was off to the zoo to see the new cheetah exhibit. The cheetah's were a little nervous in their new environment so this was the only picture we could get of them.

We all had a great time and look forward to going to the parade again next year.

What happens when nobody is looking...

2010-05-16T21:08:00.004-04:00

(alternately titled: Sticker Shock)

Give these guys 10 minutes and 100 stickers and watch out!

Note to Self

2010-05-07T20:40:00.004-04:00

Just because it sounds like your 4 year old son in cussing like a sailor in the back of your car doesn't necessarily mean that is the case.

The other day on the way home from school I thought I heard Evan saying f*** then s*** over and over. Jake and I looked at each other like noooo it can't be our sweet little boy with such an awful potty mouth. Just as we were about to question Evan on where he learned such language it became very clear to us what he was trying to say. He was sounding out the word function. Why was he trying to say the word function? Not sure, but at that point I really didn't care, I was just glad that my little boy didn't have a mouth like a biker!

Easter, Bubbles & Argyle

2010-04-05T21:27:00.011-04:00

We spent Easter Sunday on our deck, enjoying the beautiful weather and blowing bubbles...lots of bubbles.

We also tried to get a picture of the boys. Let me rephrase, a good picture of the boys. We got plenty of pictures but as you will soon see it didn't take long before the attempt at a cute picture of Evan and Zach in their argyle sweaters went down hill...way down hill.

The Easter egg hunt

My Little Patriot

2010-03-26T17:55:00.002-04:00

Evan loves to say the Pledge of Allegiance and will recite it anytime that he sees an American flag. Recently he started singing "My Country Tis of Thee" as well, which I find adorable since he gets a lot of the words wrong, so I decided that I had to record him doing his thing.

Imagination

2010-03-13T16:37:00.002-05:00

Today Evan and Zachary had a very full and busy day. They hosted a birthday party. And let me tell you they were hands on with the preparations. They blew up the balloons and baked the cake (chocolate chip pancake flavor - of course!). Unfortunately the party came to an abrupt end when space aliens came and blew up the cake - I hate it when that happens.

Happy Birthday Pop Pop!!

2010-02-19T17:15:00.002-05:00

We love you! Happy Birthday!

Saying Goodbye

2010-01-27T09:00:00.005-05:00

Lately Evan has been having difficulties when we leave him at school. He has been crying a lot and often will try to follow me out of his classroom. We have been working with him over these last several weeks trying to encourage him and build his confidence so that these mornings will not be so hard. We have seen great improvements and now he only cries one day a week (which happens to always be a Tuesday - I'll have to figure that one out later).

So, this morning I was hoping for a tear free morning, since it is Wednesday - show and tell day -one of his favorite days of the week. Sure enough Evan walked into the classroom and was instantly greeted by his classmates who were all excited about the new heart shaped name tags on their desks. Evan also noted that there were taped off squares on the carpet indicating new toy play areas that were going to be enforced that day. So much excitement for a 4 year old!

Instantly, Evan was off playing with his friends without much of a goodbye for me. I found myself at the doorway trying to get Evan's attention. I'm calling out his name and waving to him from across the room like some deranged fan. He waves back and happily says "Goodbye Mom! Have a good day!" and is off again playing.

I thought for sure he would run over to me and beg me to stay. I start thinking to myself why isn't he chasing after me, he should be wrapped around my ankle by now. I found myself wanting to linger. I wanted to go in back in the classroom and give him another hug and kiss. I was wanting to act just like Evan had been for the last couple of months and cry. But I didn't. Oh how quickly the roles can reverse! I finally left school happy that my son was not crying and admittedly a little sad that he could have cared less that I was leaving. Tomorrow we'll see if both of us can get on the same page :)

Fun in the Snow

2009-12-29T22:30:00.000-05:00

The boys finally got to use their new gloves, boots and snow pants this weekend. They have been dying to put on their boots ever since I brought them home from the store. They had so much fun playing outside in the snow. It amazes me how kids don't seem to feel the cold like adults do. Evan and Zach probably could have stayed out all night. See how happy they were...

I think Evan was trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue in that last shot. Hopefully next snowfall they will get to make a snowman.

Christmas

2009-12-27T21:45:00.006-05:00

This Christmas was so much fun. The boys were both so excited for Santa to come. Evan had asked for a Geotrax set and Zachary asked for a cupcake. Yes, you heard me right, a cupcake! We asked him over and over again and always got the same answer. He even sat on Santa's lap and told him the same thing. We gave him one last chance on Christmas Eve to change his answer but no such luck. Then we realized that we didn't have the one thing that Zach had asked for from Santa. Evan was going to get his train but Zach would have no cupcake. So Jake went to one of the only places that is open at 9:30 on Christmas Eve (the convenient store) and bought Zach a Hostess cupcake. We put it on the plate where Santa's cookies were (Santa needed a snack before he headed to the store) with a bow.

Here's the house before the night before

The cupcake

My favorite reaction of the day...Evan is so sweet!

Later in the day at Jake's parents... Zach's reaction cracks me up!

Message from Santa

2009-12-23T22:49:00.005-05:00

Last night the boys received a message from Santa via email. I found this website that will personalize a message to your child from Santa. Their reactions were absolutely adorable.

Evan was totally awestruck. He sat in front of the computer screen with one hand on his cheek in amazement that Santa was talking to him. He kept looking at me and then back at Santa. First he couldn't believe that Santa knew his name and second he was sooo excited that Santa said that he was on the nice list.

Zachary on the other hand thought that he was on a skype call the entire time. He kept waving to Santa and talking to him. It was too cute.

I can't wait for Christmas morning!

The Cut List

2009-12-18T22:52:00.000-05:00

Finally got my Christmas cards sent out today. This is one of many pictures that didn't make the cut.

Zachary's Birthday

2009-12-16T22:35:00.004-05:00

Just realized that I forgot to post any pics of Zachary on his 3rd birthday so here they are...

I am not the best cake decorator, so this is my attempt at a theme cake. This is supposed to be the house and balloons from the movie "Up"

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-15T23:11:00.009-05:00

Over the weekend I decided to make Christmas cookies for the first time on my own (without the help of my mom - well, that's not totally true, mom did get one or two SOS calls along the way!) I will have to say that for my first solo attempt they turned out really good. I made peanut butter blossoms and something I'm going to call "Fake-out Toffee". The toffee was my favorite and sooo easy to make. Here is the recipe:

1 sleeve saltine crackers

2 sticks of butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 bag chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Line a medium sized jelly roll pan with aluminum foil and preheat oven to 375

2. Lay out saltine crackers in one layer on pan

3. Melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat and cook for 5 minutes

4. Pour mixture over crackers and bake for 15 minutes

5. Remove from oven and pour chocolate chips on top. Spread evenly, sprinkle with nuts

6. Let cool, then refrigerate for several hours

7. Break into pieces. Keep refrigerated.

These are so yummy and simple to make. The boys even helped out by laying out the crackers for me. When it came time to try out what we had made their favorites were the peanut butter blossoms.

Licking the spoon...the best part of baking with mom!

Zachary is 3!!

2009-12-08T15:55:00.004-05:00

My baby is no longer my baby. Seemingly overnight he turned from a tiny little baby that I protected in my arms to a little boy that squirms to get out of those same arms that once held him so securely. Sure, he still gives me hugs and will sit on my lap when I read to him, but I miss being able to just hold him and stare at his sweet cheeks and perfect lips.

Zachary is full of energy, spunk and surprises. He has this ability to get out of trouble just by flashing this sideways grin that somehow makes me laugh and forget about whatever mischief he has just caused. He is a charmer to say the least.

Zach is always on the go, usually chasing after his big brother and sometimes he is the one being chased. He loves to play with his cars, trains and planes and will never say no to chocolate anything or as he likes to call it "chloclate".

Zachary I love you! Happy Birthday!

We're Off To See The Wizard

2009-11-05T22:03:00.006-05:00

Every year we go out trick-or-treating with my friend Mandy and her kids. This year we dressed our brood as the crew from The Wizard of Oz. Evan was the Tin Man, Zachary was the Cowardly Lion, Jacob dressed up as the Scarecrow and Avrey was Dorothy. They were so stinking cute I could hardly stand it. I don't think any of them have actually seen the movie or had any idea who these characters were, but they all kindly played along with our idea anyways. Really, it wasn't that hard to convince them once they knew that the end result would be lots of candy.

Evan with his Uncle Seth - too cute!

I want candy!!

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-30T22:17:00.008-04:00

Our new fall tradition is to visit Stonycreek Farm to pick out pumpkins. This is the second year we have taken the boys. They had a great time jumping in the haystack and climbing through the inflatable kiddiepillar.

We took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch where Evan and Zach could personally pick out their own pumpkins. But before we could begin our search we lost Zachary as we were getting off the tractor. Everyone thought that someone else was watching Zach and he slipped away. We were all (Jake, Di, Jobi, Seth and I - it was a large family affair) searching for him when the tractor driver asked if anyone was missing a child. Sure enough Zach had climbed back on the tractor and was trying to leave without us! After my heart fell back into my chest we were off to find the perfect pumpkin.

Zach with his ticket to get on the tractor

The Fam

Zach giving us attitude

Evan's Pumpkin

Zachary's pick

Now it's time to decorate! That post coming soon.

And the Winner is....

2009-10-10T22:17:00.004-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a great bargain and that I can't pass up a good giveaway without signing up for a chance to win. In the past I have won some pretty fun prizes; a $50 print credit to Carpenter Photography, a pair of knee high suede boots, an assortment of Max Factor make-up and one years rent at an apartment complex I lived at in Tennessee. These prizes were won over the course of the last 10 years.

Recently though, I have won two more contests. So exciting! A few weeks ago I was notified that I won a sampling of products from Pangea Organics through a contest I entered at Lucky magazine.

And just today I learned that I won a pair of earrings from this blog. I originally visited her blog because I thought that maybe she too was the only woman in her house (based on the name of her blog "Mann Land"). I was wrong, but enjoyed reading it anyway.

What a sweet surprise! Now if only I would have this same kind of luck winning the HGTV fall fix-up $75,000 sweepstakes!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

2009-10-10T21:33:00.004-04:00

I think one of my favorite things about my kids are the little things they do to make me laugh. Whether it's a silly question they pose or the mispronunciation of a word I find it both endearing and down right funny. Here's a recent conversation I had with Evan while we were both home sick sitting in the chair together:

Evan: What do bunnies eat?
Me: Carrots.
Evan: OK. What do camels eat?
Me: Umm....straw?
Evan: They eat strawberries.
Me: Ok, if you say so.
Evan: I know what cows eat, cows eat cud. I love cud!

This had me rolling. You probably had to be there, but the way he said it was hilarious. I had no idea that he even new what cud was.

Here are some "Zachisms":

smooky = spooky (When Zach looks in a dark room he will often say that it looks smooky in there)
He is always telling us "that's enough, guys, that's enough" when he feels something has gone on too long.
He is also not afraid to tell anyone that he is "tired of this" when something in his little world is not going as planned. I love his spunk.

Roger

2009-09-22T13:06:00.004-04:00

Evan has a new friend, his name is Roger. What we do know about Roger is that he has brown hair and is taller than Evan. What we didn't know until just the other day is that he is also imaginary.

The other night Jake and I got to officially "meet" Roger. He "came over" to play about 10 times the other night. About every other minute we could hear Evan say "ding dong" and then announce that Roger was here. They would play for a minute or so and then Evan would look at his video watch (yes, also imaginary) and say that it was time for Roger to go home. Before we knew it, Roger was at the door again for another play date. This went on for close to an hour.

I don't recall having an imaginary friend as a child so I find this really fascinating and kind of fun. Evan will talk and play with him as if he were really there and he even formally introduced us to him. Evan called Roger in from the other room and said "Roger, come here I would like you to meet my mom and dad." It was really cute. I can only hope that he will be this polite when we get to meet one of his real friends!

Vacation - Evan's Perspective

2009-08-29T22:27:00.001-04:00

Evan received a V-tech digital camera for his birthday and had a blast taking pictures of our vacation. Here are a few of my favorites:

Evan's birthday cake

Daddy (with elephant ears - or possibly being attacked by one)

Evan's feet (this shot was intentional)

Evan trying to take a picture of the inside of his mouth

A cup

A table in our cabin

A blurry toy car

Zachary

Zachary climbing on a table on the screened in porch

Pop pop

Grammy

more feet!

Evan insisted on taking a picture of my back at the fair

The Clydesdale's

The largest pig litter (with a beautiful frame hand selected by Evan)

The second largest litter of pigs

Zachary testing out farm equipment

An alligator eating Pop pop (Evan thought this was hilarious)

This was just a small selection of the over 200 pictures Evan took while we were on vacation. There were close to 20 of the nightlight in the boys room alone. I personally really enjoyed looking at our vacation from Evan's perspective. It was interesting to see what grabbed our little guy's attention.

Vacation

2009-08-23T22:00:00.009-04:00

We visited Mt. Sterling, Ohio this year for our family vacation and stayed at the Deer Creek Resort. We left on Evan's birthday so we spent our first evening celebrating, opening presents and eating cake (a chocolate WALL-E cake by request).

The next day we had a picnic on the beach and the boys experienced their first canoe ride with their Uncle Matt and Pop pop. I think they really enjoyed themselves. Zachary seemed so relaxed I thought he was going to take a nap right there in the canoe.

Evan and Zach also got their first fishing lesson from Pop pop. No one caught anything that day but they had fun trying.

At the park where we were fishing there was this really cool tree. I asked Evan to get inside the hole so that I could take a picture and I just loved this shot of him "emerging" from the tree.

We stayed at the lake for 3 days then my parents came back with us to Indiana and we topped off our vacation by heading to the state fair. We had a great time looking at all the animals and especially eating all the deep fried fair food.

Evan and Zachary both had their first pony ride.

Evan is 4!!

2009-08-22T20:51:00.005-04:00

Evan turned 4 on August 16th. I am finding it hard to believe that my little boy, my first born, is 4 years old! He has been changing so much in the past couple of months and it's hard not to notice that he is officially exiting toddler hood and entering into little boy land.

Evan is full of energy and has a zeal for life that is hard to miss. He finds great joy in the simple things and has a laugh that is definitely contagious. Recently he has shown us that he loves to kid and is quickly picking up on the sarcasm that is famous in our family.

The morning after his birthday Evan woke up and asked me if he was 3 now that his birthday was over. No, dear son, you get to spend a whole year as a 4 year old and we are looking forward to all the many things this year will bring. We love you so much Evan!

Show and Tell

2009-08-12T14:00:00.004-04:00

Today was Evan and Zachary's first Show and Tell at school. Well, actually it was really only Zachary's first. For Evan, this just happened to be the first time I remembered to send something with him to show. His class has been doing Show and Tell for the past year and not once did I remember...Oops! Better late than never right?

Evan wanted to show off his new Transformer that he received from his cousin Noah and Zachary chose a rubber whale that his Aunt Mackenzie let him borrow the last time we visited. They were both so excited to share their "treasures" with their friends at school. Evan started showing one of the teachers the moment he walked in the door.

Since they were both so excited to "show and tell" I was hoping that they would give me a great play by play of how their first experience went. Instead, they both got in the car and told me that they had done nothing at school that day. So, I am assuming that they were both more excited to bring their favorite toys to school than they were with the actual showing and telling.

Kiss my...

2009-08-07T18:28:00.003-04:00

So the other night while the boys and I were watching "So You Think You Can Dance" (my all time favorite show) Zachary and Evan were showing off their dancing skills (really just running and spinning) when Zach did an amazing rolling spin move off the couch and fell on his bottom. Of course the floor was covered in a blanket of about 100 assorted cars and planes leaving him a great big pain in his...uh hem, you know what. Zachary promptly came over to me and requested that I make it all better. He crawled up into my lap, stood up, turned around, bent over and said "Mommy, kiss my butt. Please, kiss my butt."

Evan, who loves a good bodily function joke, picked up on the humor of the situation right away and joined his brother in asking me to kiss his butt as well. I really thought I was going to get away without these kind of comments from my kids until at least their teenage years.

Playing Catch-up

2009-07-07T15:25:00.014-04:00

Things have been pretty busy around here between swim lessons, work, festivals, deck building etc. I wanted to post a picture last weekend of the progress on the deck but unfortunately did not get around to it. So, here is what it looked like last Sunday.

It was not completed as Jake had hoped but, we had a lot of fun anyway hanging out at the Fishers Freedom Festival with the kids.

Zach had so much fun he barely made it in the door of our house and literally fell asleep in the entryway.

After much needed naps we all headed down to the parade with our friends Josh and Mandy and their kids Jacob and Avrey.

As if the festival and parade were not enough, the kids stayed up late to watch fireworks from our backyard. The boys had fun catching fireflies and throwing (and stomping) on poppers before the fireworks started. It was a very full day!

Jake got working on the deck this past weekend and finally got it finished! We are so happy with how it turned out and have been eating most of our dinners out there. We love it!! Now all he has to do is fix the landscaping :) Never a dull moment!

This past Monday marked the second week of swim lessons and we finally got some pictures.

Whew!

Swim Lessons

2009-06-30T17:07:00.003-04:00

Evan and Zachary started swim lessons last night at the YMCA. They had so much fun! Evan's class was first. He looked like such a big boy in the water by himself (well, almost by himself - there was one instructor per 5 kids). He learned how to float, kick and do a simple front stroke. He really loved being in the water.

Zachary's class was second but he didn't want to wait that long and almost jumped into the pool by himself. I caught him with one arm just as he was about to go in. This little one has no fear! Zach's class is a parent/child class so I went in the pool with him. We sang songs, splashed and played mostly. Zach's favorite part was jumping in the water though. He wanted to do it over and over again, but was afraid to let go of me once he was in the water.

The boys had a great time and didn't want to get out of the water. Hopefully next time I will get some pictures.

Personality

2009-06-29T12:19:00.004-04:00

I love that my boys have such different personalities. It has been fun noticing all the differences between the two. Evan is sweet and sensitive, always wanting others to be happy. Just this morning on the way to school Zachary was very upset and crying because he wasn't getting his way. Evan tried to console him by holding his hand and singing to him in the back of the car. It was so sweet. Even when Zachary yelled at Evan for singing "his" song (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, which happens to be Zachary's favorite) Evan continued to try to make his brother smile without getting upset in return. I also love that when Evan wants to get your attention he will gently put his hand on your chin and direct your eyes to him so that he knows he has your full attention. He did this yesterday during the parade when he saw the firetrucks. He wanted me to see the huge smile on his face...precious!

Zachary on the other hand is a total fireball. Full of energy and attitude he loves to show off his kung-fu like moves. At dinner the other evening he was moody, quiet and visibly upset. When Jake and I asked him what was wrong he replied, "I'm just tired of this!". Jake and I were trying our hardest to hold in our laughter (we didn't want him to think that we didn't care about his feelings) but we were laughing so hard that tears were rolling out of our eyes and we were both hunched over at our seats. Zachary then turns on the sweetness and says "Don't cry guys!" He is totally unpredictable, a combination of fiery and sweet. You never know what your going to get.

They are changing daily and I am quickly noticing that "my babies" are not quite babies any more! They are adorable little boys with minds of their own and personalities to match. I love them so much!

Weekend Update

2009-06-21T22:20:00.006-04:00

It was a very busy weekend here at the Lucas house. Jake spent the entire time working on building our deck. He has been working tirelessly the past few weeks digging holes, excavating, measuring, cutting, nailing...you get the picture. This weekend he finally seemed to make some headway and I can actually see the beginnings of a real deck as opposed to a hole in the ground. His dad was able to help out a lot, which was a godsend since I am not very handy around power tools. I stuck to wrangling the kids.

On Friday the boys and I went to Monkey Joe's with my dear friend Jenni and her two kids. Everyone had a blast as you can see...

I wish I could say that 2 hours of running, sliding, and bouncing wore them out but Zach skipped his nap entirely and still fought going to sleep at bedtime. I think all the excitement had the opposite effect on him!

While we were gone Jake worked and worked. This is what the deck looked like on Saturday afternoon. The posts had been set and Jake found two boulders while excavating that he had to dig out by hand.

I left Jake to his project and took the boys to the splash park to beat the 95 degree heat. Evan was being a goofball (as usual) and Zachary just loved running around in the water.

Here is what the deck looked like by the end of the day on Sunday. The boards aren't screwed on yet but you can tell they made great progress. Jake's goal is to have this done by next weekend... I will keep you posted!

My Boys

2009-06-06T23:46:00.005-04:00

Just a few cute pics of the boys I caught while we were playing in the backyard. Zachary was taking a rest next to the neighbors fence and looked so cute, I had to snap a few pictures. Evan jumped in next, never wanting to miss a photo opp.

Spring Program

2009-06-04T15:44:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago was the boy's Spring Program at school. Unfortunately our video camera was not holding a charge so we only have still photos and some dark video taken with our regular camera. The pictures and video do not do Evan and Zachary's performances justice. They were hilarious. Anytime a group of 2 to 4 year olds put on a show its bound to be funny but these boys really stole the show. Both of the boys happened to be standing in line right in front of a microphone and took advantage of the opportunity to ham it up the entire time. They had the other parents rolling. Evan was having such a good time he actually had to be carried off stage. I love these boys!

Trains and Racecars

2009-05-06T09:50:00.016-04:00

Last night my boys and I were playing a game of chase in the back yard. Evan was a train and he wanted me to be a race car. Evan then told Zachary that he could be the "rolling thing on the track". I asked Evan what exactly the "rolling thing" does, so that I could give Zachary some sort of direction as to what his role was to be in this game. Evan quickly said "nothing, the rolling thing does nothing". Oh what fun Zachary will have! I was so happy to see that my son was already so adept at "politely" excluding people from his games by tricking them into thinking they had a role when in fact, they were to do nothing. How brilliant!

However, Zachary was much smarter than Evan had surmised and was not going to fall victim to his evil plot. He realized right away that this role was in no way going to be fun. Shortly there after a fight ensued and both boys were wrestling and rolling down the hill ending the game for all.

Moral of the story: Be more creative when coming up with fictitious roles for games.

What the...

2009-04-29T13:10:00.004-04:00

The other day my boys came home from school and I soon heard them running around the house repeating the phrase "what the heck". I was none too happy to hear them speaking like this. Jake and I discussed where on earth they could have possibly heard such a phrase since we are the "perfect parents" and it certainly couldn't have been from either one of us. We came to an agreement (rather quickly) that they must have learned it at school.

Of course, school! That's where they have learned every single bad behavior that they have ever displayed, because obviously we couldn't be at fault. Right? We conjectured that someone else's child must be the one who put this phrase in their heads. Mystery solved! Or so we thought. . .

Last night as we were heading home from school I turned down the street heading to our house only to come upon a huge back up of cars. I knew I was stuck and could be there for quite a while. Immediately, without thinking the phrase "what the heck" came out of my mouth. I couldn't believe it, I was to blame. Me. ME! I started wondering how many other things I was to blame for that, up until this point, I was blaming on the poor, innocent classmates of my boys (OK, well not so innocent).

Then I heard Evan pipe up from the back seat. "Mom, you don't say words like that. That's a bad word. You need to say only nice words. You need to call Daddy." I'd been caught, and scolded by my three year old none the less.

Oh well, what the heck...nobody's perfect!

Orange for Stellan

2009-04-21T12:57:00.005-04:00

Today my boys and I are wearing orange and praying for Stellan as he undergoes heart surgery. You can follow his story here.

The Small Things

2009-04-09T10:32:00.007-04:00

Sometimes, I wish that I could be as thankful for the simple things in life as my boys are. The pure joy they get from going down a slide, the excitement in their face when they see a snowflake (in April no less). It's wonderful to have a child to remind you of how great the simple things can be.

Take this for example. I made oatmeal raisin cookies the other day for Evan and Zachary's Easter party at school. I had a few left over and gave the boys each one after dinner last night. I told them that I had made the cookies as a special treat for their party. Evan put his cookie down, looked at me and said "Mom, you made these all by yourself?". I told him that I had and he looked at me, cocked his head to the side, put one hand over his heart and said "Aww, that's really nice!"

I wish I could replay that moment, I wish I had it on video. It was truly touching. The fact that I had made a simple oatmeal raisin cookie made his day. You could tell, that he was really appreciative and very sincere, something I know I don't always express, especially with the small things. Today I will take a lesson from my boys and remember to be appreciative of the small things.

Fat Lip

2009-04-02T09:59:00.002-04:00

Yesterday evening my boys were in the midst of another wrestle-mania match in my living room when someone got hit in the face and got a fat lip. No, it wasn't Evan or Zach's pretty little puckers that plumped up, it was mine. Zach had thrown his head back right into my bottom lip.

After checking out my war wound in the mirror I noticed that it swelled up pretty nicely but only on the lower left part of my lip. Since, I was heading out of the house to go to the gym in the next few minutes I wanted to check with Jake to see if he thought it was noticeable. Now, you have to understand that this was an obvious question. If I could see it, I'm sure others could too, but I was hoping that he would console me and tell me that it wasn't that bad. So, upstairs I went to ask him.

Jake said that it was noticeable and that he could actually see it getting bigger as he was staring at my lip (not something you say to someone who is self-conscious by the way). He also said that it didn't look bad and that he liked full lips. In response I said that I already had full lips but this wasn't what I had in mind. In case he couldn't already tell, I reminded him that I looked ridiculous with only one half of my lower lip puffed up. He then told me to make the other side match. What did he want me to do punch myself on the other side? I looked at him like he was crazy because at that moment he certainly was acting crazy. He then looked at me funny and asked why I only put the "stuff" on one side of my lip. At this point I finally realized that Jake thought that I had done this to myself. The "stuff" he was referring to was plumping lip gloss. First of all who plumps their lips only moments before heading to the gym and secondly, who on earth would choose to plump only a portion of their pout! You've got to be kidding me!

Bedtime

2009-03-31T10:23:00.015-04:00

I love bedtime. It's one of my favorite parts of the day and no, not just because it's one of the only moments of peace and quiet a parent gets during the day, although that is really nice. I love how my kids turn from crazy, manic, chase you around the house, growling monsters to sweet, loving, can't give you enough hugs and kisses, adorable, little human beings almost instantly.

The boys bedtime routine is fairly simple: put on PJ's, brush teeth, climb into bed, say prayers (usually followed by a hug fest). My heart melts every time I hear them say their prayers. I don't know if they even realize what they are saying but it is so sweet. We say the same prayer every night. It goes like this:

Dear Jesus,

Thank you so much for today. Thank you for my mommy and my daddy, and my big brother Evan (said by Zach) and my baby brother Zachy (said by Evan). We love you so much. Please be with us as we sleep tonight and give us sweet, sweet dreams. Fill our hearts with your love and teach us to love others the way you do. Help us grow to be Godly men, honoring you in all we do. We love you.
Amen.

They have said this so many times they have it completely memorized. My favorite part is when they say "Godwy men". So cute! After prayer, we tuck them in and give hugs and kisses.

After the hug fest I often tell the boys that I love them all the way to the moon and back (taken from one of my favorite children's books "Goodnight Moon"). Well, Evan wanted to one up me so he started saying that he loves me all the way to the moon and back and back and back again. And, of course, like most little brothers who copy everything that their big bros do, Zach was soon to follow in this new addition to the bedtime routine. After the boys say their response I usually come back with "That's a lot of love!". Evan, again, not liking to be one-upped, came back with this one last night. "No, that's a super lot of love!" Doesn't it just make you want to smile! I know I do.

Counting down the hours until bedtime tonight.

Another Conversation with Evan

2009-03-28T08:56:00.005-04:00

Me: Evan please don't forget to flush the toilet after you go to the bathroom.

Evan: But mom I don't have to flush today. I only have to flush on Sundays. You flush on Wednesdays.

Don't ask me where he got this idea. Although, it might help conserve water I don't think it's exactly sanitary or what anybody had in mind when they suggested going green.

On a side note: I realize I seem very partial to Evan in my last few posts it's just that Zachary hasn't said anything funny recently. Scratch that, he probably has I just couldn't understand him. I'm working on my translating skills. Hopefully there will be more to come from him soon.

Conversation with Evan

2009-03-24T09:31:00.003-04:00

Evan: Mommy I'm hungry.

Me: I'm making dinner right now, it will be ready soon.

Evan: Can I have butter jelly?

Me: No, I'm making sloppy joes. They're yummy, you will like them.

Evan: But I don't like jokey dopes.

Me: How do you know, you've never even tried them. (I'm thinking well, I've never tried "jokey dopes" either) Evan, try saying s...s...sloppy joe.

Evan: sss...jokey dopes!

Me: Close enough, you'll still like them.

And by the way he did end up liking his "jokey dopes". Zach on the other hand wouldn't even try them plus his once perfect pronunciation of sloppy joe turned into jokey dopes by the end of dinner after hearing Evan say it so much. What can I say, I tried.

Right Turn on Red

2009-03-19T11:43:00.004-04:00

This morning on our way to school (really daycare, but I like to call it school) Evan was helping me with my driving by telling me when I should go and when I should stop. He's been learning about the signals in school since that is how they chart their behavior. For example when his behavior is good he has a green light, after a warning he will get a yellow light and after several warnings he gets a red light.

Evan was doing an excellent job alerting me the moment the light turned green that it was time for me to go. Well I really confused him when I was stopped at a red light and made a right turn before the light turned green. Evan noticed this apparent blunder right away and told me that red means stop. I tried to explain to him that in some situations red means stop, look around, make sure the coast is clear then go. As this explanation was coming out of my mouth I realized how confusing this would be for him and how it could possibly get him into trouble at school. I could just see him telling his teacher that his mommy said that sometimes it was OK to continue doing whatever bad behavior he was doing as long as the coast was clear! So, instead of coming up with a better explanation ( I figured at this point all I would really do was confuse him more) I just turned up the Veggie Tales CD and encouraged him to sing along in the hopes of distracting him. Luckily it worked....this time.

Cookie Anyone?

2009-03-13T22:55:00.004-04:00

So Evan, Zachary and I are in Target the other day strolling down the diaper isle. This is the first shopping trip that I've allowed Evan to walk with me and not stay in the cart with his brother. He promised me that he would stay with me and behave. In return for his good behavior I promised him a cookie at the end of our shopping trip. Evan is keenly aware that we are approaching the bakery area (where they give away free cookies). He has asked me several times when he will get his cookie. I assure him that it won't be long. Well, I guess Evan grew impatient with me while I was price checking the best deal on diapers. Evan turns to me and starts spitting brown stuff out of his mouth and says that his cookie is "gross". I'm thinking what cookie? I look down and see that he has picked up a pile of dirt (don't ask me what a pile of dirt is doing in the diaper isle) and put it in his mouth! Can you say icky, scary disease!? All I have in my bag are lemon scented antibacterial Wet Wipes. About three Wet Wipes later almost all of the "cookie" is out of his mouth and Evan's breath has a wonderful lemon aroma. Evan then asks if he can ride in the cart now and of course I answer with a resounding yes. We exit the diaper isle and make a beeline for the cookies before Evan can find anything else to put in his mouth.

I am happy to report that it has been several days since the eating of the dirt and Evan did not come down with any scary "floor cookie" disease.

Big Boy Bed

2009-03-11T19:39:00.006-04:00

We finally moved Zach into his big boy bed over the weekend. As if the transition from crib to twin bed wasn't enough we decided to move him out of the nursery all together and in with his big brother. Just as expected the first nap in the new living situation was not much of a nap at all. We heard playing, giggling and jumping on the bed...followed closely by crying when Zach hit his head on the dresser. Eventually, (close to an hour later) Evan and Zach finally went to sleep. Each night since has been slightly better.

Even though I now have to make several trips to the bedroom each evening to settle them down, I am honestly loving having the boys in the same room. I have always hoped that they would grow up to be best friends since they are only 16 months apart in age. As much as I would love them to go to sleep when we close the door I am secretly enjoying the laughter of two boys who can't seem to get enough of each others company.

Welcome!

2009-03-10T15:23:00.008-04:00

We all know that kids say (and do) the darnedest things. My kids are no exception. I am constantly saying to myself that I need to write it all down. Well, this is my attempt to keep track of all of those cute, funny, embarrassing and crazy moments. I guess you could call it my own little online diary. I hope you enjoy!