Ingenuity

We had some friends pass along a race track and cars their son and daughter had enjoyed. It comes with two cars that go around a figure eight race track and the best part: NO BATTERIES!! The only noise is from cranking the cars to make them go and the noise of the cars racing on the track. Andy has thoroughly enjoyed the track and came up with another way to improve on a fun toy. He has put a small pillow under the middle of the track where it folds so the track now has an incline.

I'm just amazed every day how God designed us and watching how Andy develops into his own little person.

Andy's First Video

Andy keeps surprising me every day. I was scrolling through my camera to see what all was there and noticed a new video had been recorded. Now I have no idea who showed him the video button 0n my digital camera, but he found it and recorded our everyday life.

The Sunday Funnies

Andy and Aaron's little antics were worthy of the funny pages today. This morning as Mike was getting Andy dressed for church, they were having a little conversation about little brother.

Andy: "When Aaron gets bigger, he can wear pull-ups like me and then sleep in my bed. I will sleep by my camera and he can sleep on the other side." Somehow I just don't see the two of them sleeping in a full size bed together.

Later on in the afternoon, Mike was out shoveling the snow off the street in front of our drive way and Andy declared: "Daddy needs a little boy to help him." My little super hero to the rescue.



We had grandpa and grandma over for dinner tonight as
Andy missed seeing his grandma today at church. After dinner is bath time in our house and Mike had started the water running, then went to get pajamas. I was standing in the living room telling grandma that Aaron was almost able to climb in the tub by himself. Mike walked back into the bathroom and got quite the surprise. Yes, Aaron climbed right into the tub, clothes and all. He didn't seem the least bit bothered wearing a fleece one piece outfit and diaper.

Snowy White Christmas

As I update this blog today, the snow has been coming down in big white flakes adding to the several inches we already have. I thought I would share more photos of Andy enjoying the snow.

The look of pure happiness!

Let's dig out the dump truck from the snow so we can attempt to drive it.

Here we go!

Not too bad before we had to dig it out again. Good lesson to start learning.

Temporary Pair #3

Last Thursday, Andy broke his second pair of glasses. He had them in his hand and decided to throw a bit of a tantrum about going to bed and snap went the bridge. Okay, no problem, I'll just call the eye doctor on Friday morning. Um yeah, more snow, so now one went any where on Friday.

I was able to finally order a pair on Monday and decided to pay the overnight shipping so Andy would have some specs to see. I called today to see if they came in and the UPS guy had been there, but didn't drop off the frames. This snow is starting to really bug me. Mike and I had a Christmas party to attend in Kirkland tonight, so I thought I would drop by before they closed just in case, but alas, no glasses.

Kudos to the gal at the office though. She found a pair of frames that would match Andy's lenses so the kid can at least see until Friday when the frames should be there, because how convenient, the office is closed on Christmas Eve.

I'm praying for rain.

First Experience of Snow

I have lived in the 'burbs' of Seattle for 8 plus years now and have never experienced the amount of snow or cold we have had this December. After 2 days of cabin fever, we dropped the boys off at grandma and grandpa's to finish up some Christmas shopping and get ready for the impending wind storm. It seems everyone had the same idea. Traffic was nuts getting into Issaquah. Crowds everywhere you went, so we (okay, mainly me) packed a little extra patience and some Ho, Ho, Ho to get through the day.

Once home, Andy would not come inside, so we let him play outside a bit more and while getting a couple more pictures of him playing in the snow on the deck, I had an escapee. At first, my mind was thinking this outta be good, but I just started snapping pictures and discovered the first falling down the snow was not something of complete joy.

Christmas Break Started Early

Wednesday's forecast was snow, snow, snow. In true form, the schools cancelled school just in case and nope, no snow. Luckily, I was able to get a couple of errands done before the snow did arrived on Thursday morning. Dad stayed home on Wednesday as well, but needed to go into the office on Thursday. We woke to a blanket of white and roads that were quickly becoming parking lots. Dad worked from home again and Andy and mom took some time to play in the snow. Later on in the afternoon, Andy was able to go sledding down the drive way. Here's a bit of his fun for the day.

An Addition to the Christmas Tree

Tonight, the boys were able to open a few gifts Nana & Papa had sent and they each received a candy cane ornament. I went to put them on the tree and noticed a blue and red man nesting in the tree. So how did Superman end up in the tree??

Pair Number Two

This afternoon, the eye clinic finally called and said they had Andy's glasses ready for him. Yeah!! Andy was so excited to go get his glasses. He was jumping up and down and giggling. It's nice to know he is still liking his specs.

We headed to Redmond to go pick them up. The gal who helped us informed me the color of the frames are different and did the other gal call me to tell me. Um, no. Oops on them. Basically the frames are burgundy instead of brown because the brown is so popular, it's back ordered. I figure by the time the brown ones come in, it will be time for another pair any how.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I normally wait until after Thanksgiving before decorating for the Christmas season and true to form, I pulled out the bins on Friday and got the house in shiny green and red order. It was a lesson in patience for mom as the boys decided to pull ornaments out of the bin as mom was working on the tree lights. This year the tree is only decorated from mid-tree to the top as once again we have a curious toddler in the house.

I also had another reason for getting the house decorated. We decided to do family Christmas a bit different this year. We had everyone over for dinner and then off to Seattle to MaCaw Hall for the 25th anniversary of the Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker.

Of course, mom left her camera at home since I knew you couldn't take pictures during the performance, not thinking of before or during intermission. I also left my iphone at home purposely in order not to peek at the score of the OU/OSU football game. The game was being recorded on the TiVo. So after our wonderful evening, I came home to dishes and then watched the game. My pokes lost :(

Last Minute Thanksgiving Dinner

This week, Andy has had a fever, so we chose to keep our germs home and had to cancel Thanksgiving dinner with our friends. Technically this year, we were to spend Thanksgiving with my family, but due to various work situations with Mike, we weren't able to fly to Oklahoma.

Last night, we called up grandma and grandpa and invited them over for a small Thanksgiving dinner. I must clarify, Mike invited his parents over, as I was hoping for a duty-free holiday. Not so much. Oh well. With a little help from our local grocery store up at the corner, Mike picked up a pre-cooked turkey breast, stuffing mix and items for the green bean casserole. I have to tell you, it was pretty good. Between the two of us and a little help from grandma, we put together a tasty Thanksgiving meal. All in all, we had a wonderful day together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is some what of a bittersweet holiday for me personally. I've always loved the huge meal one of my grandmother's would make, my mom's strawberry pretzel salad and of course the pumpkin pie. Unfortunately, six years ago my grandfather passed away on Thanksgiving day. We knew he was dying, it was just a matter of time before I got the phone call and needed to catch a plane to Texas.

Okay, enough tears. I'm incredibly blessed. I have a wonderful family who are all followers of Christ, a wonderful husband, and two healthy little boys with whom I get to stay home with. God has blessed Mike and I with many great friends and all of our earthly needs.

May you be truly thankful for how God has richly blessed you.

One Month and One Pair Down

This evening, Andy was on the floor playing around with Mike and Aaron decided to join in on the fun. Unfortunately, little brother grabbed at big brother's glasses and they snapped in two, right at the bridge of the nose.

Mike looked at the receipt to double check the warranty. I looked at it to see how long it took for the glasses to break. We picked them up on 10/24 and they snapped in two on 11/23. I just died laughing. Tomorrow we head back to the eye doctor to get another pair.

You Be A....

Andy has developed a fun little game to play with one of his parents dutifully called you be a ....., I'll be a..... It all relates to animals, but the combination of animals is always interesting since one half of the animals portrayed end up prey. Some of his favorite combo's:
You be a lion, I'll be a kitten
You be a kitten, I'll be a tiger
You be a lion, I'll be a puppy

Once he decides what animal everyone is, then you do the sound the animal makes. It's fun to make sounds and then hear him laugh and do it all over again.

Yesterday afternoon, Aaron decided to get in on the fun. I was in the kitchen making a snack for the boys and Andy came into the kitchen to play his little game. He told me to be a lion, but didn't include what he was going to be. I waited a moment and then roared at him to see if I could scare him (yes, maybe a little demented on mom's part). He jumped back and then started laughing. Aaron was sitting in his high chair and out came his little roar. It was so cute to hear Aaron join in on the fun. Luckily, dad was still home to hear the commotion.

Update on Shabby Apple Contest

I wasn't chosen (cue tears, screaming, yelling, overall tantrum)

Okay not really, but it's all a conspiracy I tell you, a conspiracy....

Any ways, I thought it was cute and was going to order the dress at least, but I'm not a small petite, so I'll have to find another cute dress either there or maybe on black Friday.

Oh well, I supposed I can't win every contest I enter.

Did you find it?

Today was one of those days where you have made plans and the 3 yr old can blow them to pieces or slowly shred them to pieces. Since today is Veteran's Day and Andy didn't have school, I thought we should head into Seattle to the Children's Museum since we only have about a month and a half left on our membership.
Yup, guess where this is going.....nope didn't make it. Andy was told to get dressed, eat lunch and once he was finished with his lunch, we would go to the children's museum. That kid is slower than molasses on a cold winters day. It was almost 2 pm when the lunch was finally consumed. I checked traffic and decided about an hour and half was not worth my $6 to park and drive home in evening commute traffic. So we ended up at grandma's house.
I had taken my knitting over there to dabble with it, get some help from grandma and also dig through her knitting supplies. Grandma in her true form (and my waist line can prove it), she lined all three boys up to the stainless steel island to make cookies. Just in case you are wondering about boy #3, my nephew was over for the afternoon. I was sitting at the kitchen table practicing my knitting and working on my gauge when I dropped a stitch off the needle. I made my normal remark of "shoot."

Grandma: " What happened?"
Me: " I dropped a stitch."
Nephew: "Where did it go?"
Andy: "Did you find it?"
Me: "Yes, I found it and put it back where it belongs."

For all the fuss, tears and frustration, those two 3 yr olds can sure bring a bit of laughter into your life amidst the grey hair the give too.

One blog leads to another which leads to another....

One of my friends told me about a Contest on a blog that she follows and of course, I had to sign up for my chance at a great necklace. Then added that blog to my blogger list-she does some fun stuff for the kiddos. Well, because of that blog, I found this great website, Shabby Apple. They design Dresses for real women who live in the real world.

Well, Shabby Apple is having a contest with designing your own Vignette. I call mine

A Day with My Boys.

I have two boys who keep me running all day long. I do love my jeans and hoodie as much as the next mom, but this outfit spices things up a bit. My day would start out with a coffee date at the local indoor mall play area ( I live in Seattle and it rains for 9 straight months each year). I can chat with girlfriends and watch the boys climb all over the boats. The boots allow me to chase after runaway kiddos without any hesitation.

The boys and I would then grab lunch at the local pizzeria in the mall that is a Northwest favorite and do a bit of shopping for the boys for the next season, grab some make-up for mom and meet up with grandma, aka the evening baby-sitter.

The baubles allow me to go from cool mom of the day, to meeting a girlfriend for happy hour. Once we had our glass of wine and sliders, my handsome husband enters the restaurant to whisk me away for an evening out just the two of us. We still have a gift card to Maggiano's that's burning a hole in my gun metal bag. After a yummy Italian dinner, we head upstairs to trade in our fancy footwear for bowling shoes and bowl a couple of games at Lucky Strikes. Our evening concludes with a visit to the Cheesecake Factory to pick up a to-go bag filled with Godiva Chocolate cheesecake. It's then off to grandma's to pick up a couple of sleepy boys, head home to put them to bed and then hubby and I can cuddle up to enjoy dessert.

It's amazing how an outfit can be the beginning of a great day hanging out with my boys. So even if I don't win the outfit, I might just have to have my day with my boys anyway. Jeans and hoodie optional.

My Monkey AJ

I remember Andy being a little climber, but more of a chair mover. Aaron is the one I have to keep an eye on 24/7. He likes to climb onto the little table, Andy's step stool and the latest is attempting to climb the kitchen chairs to get to the table. Aaron also likes to scare his mom by trying to climb the high chair if the tray is not on. So I thought I would share some pictures from the last couple months.

This picture was taken during his birthday party, thus grandpa in the background.

Andy congratulating his brother on climbing the table. One of the reasons why the table got moved from the front window.

I had been downstairs working on laundry and this is the sight I beheld when I came back up the stairs. Of course the funny part about writing this post is Aaron is currently climbing up the chair behind me to get on my desk. Which he has managed to do and trying to figure out the pen and cap. Like I said, this one will keep me on my toes.

Budding Photographer

I wanted to post some pictures of my little photographer. He really enjoys finding my camera and shooting to his heart's delight. Fortunately, we all have digital cameras or I would be spending a fortune developing rolls of film. So guess what Andy's getting for Christmas.....



The laundry basket full of clothes awaiting to be folded and put away.

Andy's race car sitting atop mom's night stand and along with the items that get piled on there.

Andy's foot.

Another race car, this one is sitting atop the end table behind the chair in the living room.

Are you sure it's October??

Today's weather was a sunny 63 degrees, so we spend a portion of our afternoon enjoying some time outside playing on the play structure and kicking around the soccer ball.

I also have a budding photographer on my hands as well. Andy did take a couple of pictures and he did pretty well for 3 yr old. Now if he could only make mom look a little thinner.....

New Glasses

Andy is now sporting the ever familiar eye wear in our family. His left eye had started crossing a month ago, so I was referred to a pediatric opthomologist who has quite the waiting list. Once Andy was seen, we received the news of a little boy who is far-sighted.

Mom and Dad both wear glasses, but mom is near-sighted and dad is the far-sighted, gene giver. We were just very thankful no surgery would be needed.

Little brother was also seen, but for now, no glasses.

A Lesson in Saying Good-bye

When Andy began preschool, he was very fortunate to befriend another little boy and the two of them became buddies. They would look for each other each day at school and play together. If was neat to see this little friendship develop. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, the mom decided to withdrawn her son from school. Now I have a very sad little boy who misses his friend. He'll make it through this life lesson and hopefully find another friend quickly.

When the DOW starts going down....

It's time to pump some money into the economy. I honestly don't pay that much attention to the stock market, but it's been hard not to miss what has been happening the last few weeks. So when the stock market started going back up early this week, it was good news and then the retailers sent their dismal news of projected sales and down it went.
Well, all I have to say is yeah for the sales! One of my local kid's clothing stores has an additional 25% off sale price and I scored! Eight items for my boys for less than 50 bucks. It sorta plays like the MC commercials:
2 shirts ... 3.99
2 shirts ... 5.99
1 shirt ... 8.99
1 shirt ... 9.99
A pair of pants ... 9.99
A pair of shoes ... 9.99
Saving an additional $15 .....priceless!!

Orange Blossom Earrings

One of my creative outlets is beading. My sister-in-law and I got addicted to jewelry making 5 years ago with taking a jewelry class at the local craft store. Last summer, my SIL and I took our pregnancy girl's weekend away to the bead show in Tacoma to take a couple of classes and buy more beads. I found these fabulous orange pendants from one of my favorite vendors and finally made them into earrings. The pendants are Lillypilly, with vintage orange Czech fire-polished crystals, Swarovski crystals and Hill Tribe spacers.

1st Birthday Party

We had Aaron's first birthday party on Saturday with a house full of family. Nana and Papa flew up from Oklahoma, Grandpa and grandma were there along with a couple of aunts, uncles and cousins. I served soup, salad and bread for a light, yummy lunch and then of course, chocolate cake and homemade, vanilla ice cream.

Daddy and Andy helping Aaron open his gifts. Aaron had this serious, furrowed brow look throughout the gift opening. It was kind of funny to see such a look on a one year old.

The delightful face of chocolate cake and ice cream. Grandma was bound and determined to get a picture of smeared cake. I think she got a few before mom said enough.

I Don't Drink Coffee

This afternoon while out running errands in Redmond, we drove through Starbucks for a little afternoon pick me up. Andy didn't realize what drive-thru we were in and asked for a cheeseburger. I explained to him we at Starbucks and asked if he would like some milk. He wanted a cheeseburger, so I went ahead and ordered our drinks and drove to the window.
He was still wanting a cheeseburger, so I asked if he wanted a scone. He was fine with a scone, but wanted strawberries and cream with it as well. I told him they only had scones and coffee, no strawberries or cheeseburgers.
He exclaimed from the back of the car; "I don't drink coffee!"

First Steps

Today, Aaron took his first steps without any assistance from people or furniture. We were over at grandma and grandpa's house while dad cleaned the carpets. Aaron stood up by the end table, stood there for a moment or two and took his first steps, right toward the remote control. Amazing the things for motivation. Unfortunately, dad hasn't seen him take steps yet, but maybe tomorrow. I wasn't sure if Aaron would be walking before his birthday, but he did it with 3 days to go.

It was bound to happen

Poop in the bath. I was very fortunate with Andy that we didn't have any mishaps while bathing. Granted, the fountain would usually appear, so you knew he was relaxed and ready to be cleaned, but he never pooped in the tub.
Enter baby boy number two. Aaron was seven months old before he and his brother began bathing together. Well, tonight the inevitable happened. I was in the bedroom folding laundry and Mike was giving the boys a bath. All of a sudden Andy starts shouting, "there's poop in the bath!"
I was thinking maybe a floaty or two, but it turned out to be much worse. Empty tub, scrub two little boys, spray off with the hand held shower and then scrub the tub. All in a night work.

Andy's First Day of Preschool

I can't believe it, but Andy started preschool. The best part: he loves it! He is in a preschool that is in connection with Bellevue Community College. One of the main reasons I choose this school was the parent involvement. Each parent picks a job and then volunteers one to two times a month in the classroom. This way I can see how Andy interacts with his classmates, teacher and other parents who work in the class. The first day of school was only an hour, so we went the first hour and then spent the other hour playing on the playground. This is Andy and his new friend, Will. They are such little buddies and look forward to seeing each other at school.

One Busy Month

We have had so many activities going on in September, I just haven't had time to update. While the rest of the Seattle area had their second day of school (minus Bellevue with their strike), we headed to the Seattle Children's Museum for a day out. One of the things the kids can explore is a mountain with various animal homes, camping gear and a fun mountain slide. My boys love to slide. A week later, Mike took the day off work and we headed to Puyallup to the fair. It's the largest fair in Western Washington, so we took in the various barns of animals, had our scones and other yummy fair food and generally wore ourselves out walking. The boys are checking out the brand new baby chicks and their momma.
Andy did get to ride a couple of kiddie rides. One was the train that goes around the kiddie area and the other ride was the airplane.
Then a week and a half later, we went to see Veggie Tales Live. It's basically rather large vegetables waddling around singing the various songs from a few of the Veggie Tales videos. Andy and Aaron thought it was a lot of fun. We even ran into our cousins.

Socks Versus Sandals

From time Andy was 6 weeks old, sitting in the Honolulu airport, I have been teaching my son one of life's faux pas: Do Not Wear Socks and Sandals!

Tonight, he put that little bit of info into practice. Mike and I had dinner over at his parents house and yes, my father-in-law was wearing socks with his sandals. We were sitting in the living room having a nice time together as a family and I was giving my father-in-law a bad time about his choice of foot wear. Andy picked up on what I was saying and informed his grandpa that you don't wear socks with sandals. Andy then decided he needed to rectify the situation and proceeded to unvelcro the right sandal, remove grandpa's sock and put the sandal back on his foot. He then put the left foot on the ottoman, remove the sandal, tug at the offending left sock and assemble the sandal the way mom taught him. All the while mom, dad, and grandma are laughing so hard, tears are rolling down.

Andy finished off the activity by reminding grandpa that you don't wear socks with sandals, now it's time for ice cream.

The Beginning of College Football

Every year, Washington State University hosts the Gridiron Classic at Qwest Field in Seattle. This game is usually the season opener for Wazzu and it gives alumni and fans who live in the Seattle area a chance to see their favorite college team without driving 5 hours to Pullman. This year the opposing team was Oklahoma State. I decided we were going to drive over the bridge, wear our orange, and cheer on the Pokes.

The score:

OSU COWBOYS: 39

WSU COUGARS: 13

We sat 4 rows up from the field near the end zone with a few OSU fans around us. The boys did great and had a good time. Even the weather cooperated and we had only a few clouds in a sunny Qwest Field. So this Oklahoma transplant to the Seattle area was happy to be surrounded by orange and watch the Cowboys.

Milk

This mornings conversation over breakfast:

Mom: Andy, would you like some milk with breakfast?
Andy: Yes, I want milk. (still working on manners)
M:Andy, here is your milk and Aaron, here is your water.
A: Aaron wants milk too mommy.
M: Aaron can't have milk yet.
A: Aaron's milk is in your body mommy.
M: Yes, Aaron's milk is in mommy's body.

Our Footprint in the World of Blogging

I have actually been thinking about blogging about my boys for awhile now. More so for family out of state, but also for a way to remember all the funny little stories that take place in our daily lives.

Andy is 3 years old and a very imaginative little boy. He enjoys having imaginary phone conversations with various family and friends. Some of the conversations are your basic phone etiquette;

"Hi Paul"

"Bye Nana"

Others are his feelings about that person at that time;

"You're working?! You're always working!!" This was about grandma and her real estate business.

And some are just down right funny. He giggles every time he talks to my brother, Uncle Keith.

He is also very much like his father and loves the gadgets. Right now he wants to play with my iPhone and loves pushing buttons, scrolling through pictures and rearranging my icons. Luckily, or probably more embarrassingly, we let him play with Mike's iTouch. It's a good thing he doesn't know about the PlayStation 2. Granted, it hasn't seen the light of day in 3 years.

Aaron is my little 10 month old, who is crawling, pulling himself up and working on his sounds. He likes to make sure everyone knows he's around by screaming. Yup, number 2 had to be my screecher. Aaron has also taken a liking to climbing.

One evening I was making dinner and Andy had been "helping" me in the kitchen on his step stool. I turn around and Aaron has crawled up the stool and was just grinning to beat the band. He was so proud of himself. Too bad mom had olive oil and salt all over her hands or I would have grabbed the camera. The step in the bathroom is a big hit as well.

The other day it was raining, so we headed to the mall to meet Mike for lunch and play at the boat. Aaron kept crawling away from the boat area, so I thought I'll just put him on the bottom section of the boat to keep him in at least one spot. Yeah, right! Well, he took the opportunity to start climbing to the top. So much for being the mom who sits and watches from a distance. I was right there in the thick of all the kids, so Aaron wouldn't come tumbling down.

So there is my little intro into our lives. Enjoy!!