Anniversary Weekend: Day One

This weekend marks the seventh anniversary of our marriage.... The foundation of our family, for richer and poorer, in good times and in bad. We decided to commemorate like it was a big deal... which it was! To kick off the weekend we took the kids and went bowling. I need to interject here, my husband does not love this activity, but knowing how much I do love bowling, he rocked it along with me. That's love! L. loved it... and the slice of pizza and soda treat! N, well he just hung around on my back and fell asleep midway through the first game.

2010 Snow

Yes. Twice in one year. What a record! (The first was in January.)

Today we woke to the most beautiful dusting of snow! Maybe it is just 1-2 inches but it's a special event! We all put on two pair of pants and the kids each three shirts... L has enjoyed walking around in it, slicing it with his pirate sword, kicking it and eating it- fresh from the lawn. I kept N in the sling, but let him reach to the snow. He didn't seem to be overly excited about the cold (he was ready for a nap anyway!) L however can't stand himself and wants to return to his white bliss. So we will venture out to make snow cream but first I will lay N. down for a nap. Today we also went to visit Daddy at work, and had a little snowball fight in the parking lot. Visiting Daddy give L something to distract him from mundane mama. Oh and yes, that is hot cocoa on his mouth!

N eats Potatoes!

... and promptly puts them everywhere...

OH the maddness:

So it's been a while since I have posted. The children are growing like weeds and we're staying incredibly busy.

Since November we..

had Thanksgiving Lunch with family

enjoyed a weekend away to Atlanta for Chanukah with Michael Rood

worked progressingly on remodeling our bathroom

took the whole family to the zoo

begun packing and cleaning our home for possibly selling/moving

generally have been keeping our heads above water

I have been taking pictures along so here are a few!

Arggg...zzzzz...

Toot Toot!

Heard Today:

Momma to Daddy: So did you stir the yogurt? The fruit's on the bottom.

We turn in unison to see L. lifting the cup and looking at the bottom.

The Three Ring Circus:

The title describes the mad house in which we live. Day in and day out we are on the go. Yesterdays activities, for example, consisted of cutting paper craft, raking pineneedles, swinging, eating, snacking, watching Milo and Otis, running to the store, baking bread, painting craft, eating, napping N., stamping craft, dehydrating, washing laundry, dishes, eating again and reading. Sprinkle in some teeth brushing, a few three year old fits, lots of giggles and kisses and a sigh of relief after dark.

What does tomorrow hold?
Probably a lot of the same. I have realized however, outside time is a must, to burn off all the oozing 3 year old energy. Nap time is negotiable for early bedtime. Oh and I have a mere 3 days until I sit for my state exam. No stress there!!!

Smoothie Opporator:

The Great Outdoors:

7 1/2 Month Old

Zoo-pa-loo

Birthday Boy!

L. had a wonderful 3rd birthday, complete with party at the park with friends and his very own cake shaped like Lightening McQueen (to all those over 10, he's from Pixars' Cars Movie.) He even got a cars balloon! I really enjoyed this event and kinda' went a tad bit crazy... but that's ok since we don't really celebrate any major holidays. Birthdays are special!

Here I am with my first baby boy, turning 3! MY present!

And a great big bike for a great big boy!

Moving!

Little man is on the GO! For about a week now N. has been crawling. Hubby and I had a debate on what constitutes crawling. I said he was scooting and not crawling for a week prior. And finally with more gusto and distance he's officially crawling! Not only that, but he's pulling up. Noting is safe anymore!

Did I mention he said DaDa?????

Sheesh, 7 months is a busy month!

3 years old and 7 months old:

The stats...
L. 30 lbs.
N. 20 lbs.
(Watch out, he's gaining on you!!!)

L. says:

"Hey, mama, you know a box of cars, that's hilarious!"

'...Really? I guess it is funny!"

"And a box of bicycles is hilarious, too."

Date Night: The Saga

Tonight my mother afforded us a date night. She so sweetly came to our house around 4:30 and we headed out, with no real plan set. I had been scheming all day as to where I wanted to go on our date. This isn't our first day since N. was born, but the anticipation and the moment of freedom was delectable.

As we left out we began discussing our options. Sushi?...No. Wings?... Nah. Pizza?... yeah!... oh, darn. Well, the 3$ slice pizza is a cheap-o idea but I was hoping for something a bit more... eh-hem.. shall we say romantic? But since Darling Hubby really was stuck on Pizza Joint we agreed and somewhere in the mix he agreed to go to 'my' choice of place next, tunring our evening into restaurant hopping. We really enjoyed the XL slices... one BBQ Chicken and one Tree Hugger. Highly recommended.

On the way to 'my' choice, @116 State St., we popped in to Bill's Pickin' Parlor. S. browsed for a few minutes and we left. I secretly hoped they were having some sort of show, but that apparently is on Fridays. We arrived at @116 and decided on splitting 1 Tapas and a coffee. Wowzer! The flank steak and mashed potatoes topped with blue cheese was fantastic! Slightly lacking in bulk, but what you would expect for a tapas, at a decent price. The coffee was a spectacular Kahlua Mocha Latte- Grande! We had a good laugh recalling the first line of a favorite movie: "Excuse me miss, there seems to be a mistake. I believe I ordered the large cappuccino. Hello?!"

As we left the cafe I was determined to continue our food fun and insisted that we go get sushi... just a taste since I have never had REAL sushi. Miyo's was lovely and we ordered the smallest item on the sushi list: 2 pieces of salmon sushi. I loved it. Next date night we're going for sushi! About the time we were wrapping up at Miyo's and I was planning the wings and cupcake stops, the phone rang.

It was my mom, and L. and N. in the background, screaming. "How much longer are you going to be???" she asked. " L.... stuck... finger...come quickly! click."

Hmmmm. Needless to say we called her back and ran to the car.

Turns out it was a simple task to remove his finger from a pencil sharpener once we realized what the issue was. This is the second time he's been stuck in the pencil sharpener and hopefully the last. No wings or cupcakes tonight. But we had a great night out and two loving children to return to. (N. never would take a bottle...)

Our little Friend

We have been helping out an acquaintance with keeping her son while she's in class just a few days. We have already had a lot of fun! Add that on top of this being Sukkot week, it's been crazy around here. We tried to keep busy by going to the museum, the zoo and a walk/park visit, as well as a short day just hanging out at the house. The days we were out were great, and today was tiresome. The wether has been beautiful and we're taking advantage of it by spending lots of time outside. Yes, to those out there wondering, N. was with us during all these activities... it was like having twins plus one. I'm fairly proud of myself. Next week will be the last week we keep our friend but he and L. will probably see more of each other!

Joy

N. is such a joy to have! He's so sweet and cuddly and happy! Even as he is working on cutting tooth 7 and 8 he's just as happy as can be! (more slobber however.) Yes, That's almost 8 teeth at 6 1/2 months. (!) He weighs about 17 lbs and is bigger than L. was at this point. L. has always been slender. N. is long and chunky.

He's doing great with sitting up, he can go for quite a few minutes without loosing balance and tumbling. He love the exersaucer (thanks christy!) and being in his bumbo seat at dinner time. He is almost crawling, ie he is semi crawling by scooting around best he can, and has picked his torso up a few times over the past 2 days.

Yes, we still 'do' EC (elimination communication) and he's an ol' pro. If he misses a potty-tunity it's because mama was too busy, but he always lets me know he has a need.

THis picture I attached is so perfectly descriptive of who he is! Smiley and happy!

Birthday Plans

There is a standard protocol for kiddo birthday parties. Cake is a must. Presents, essential. Friends a given. Everything else, eh, more cake! Now that we are learning and becoming more aware of giving presents to others for their birthdays, the concept has hit home. L. birthday is in October. There will be a party to celebrate him, with cake and friends and most important presents.
Lately L. has been pretend playing birthday. It goes something like this.

L: Mama, I brought you a present from the store! You say, "Woo Hoo!"

M: Woo Hoo!

L: Now you say, L. I brought you a present from the store.'

M: L., I brought you a present from the store!

L: Woo Hoo!

Repeat over and over.

Sometimes the present changes, tonight it was Lightening McQueen, and my cell phone. He's so precious and creative and GIVING. I love that. He's a delight. And I am super excited about celebrating him in October. The request list is shaping up to be quite... interesting. (Chick and an umbrella.)

Picture Post: How does your garden grow?

Playtime

Rain Fun

Yesterday our water went out. The moment it did my mouth went cottony and i was parched. Apparently a water main broke and it took most the afternoon to repair. So in lieu of not knowing when it would be fixed we caught water in two plastic bins outside the front step. I used some as dish water, and flushing the toilet. And the rest (being so heavy) has stayed in the buckets, on the front steps. It became a 4 ft x 4 ft. water park today. we all enjoyed the refreshment.

Little Mr. Man and his First Tooth!

I swear, it's the tooth! Our little one cut his first tooth yesterday. It doesn't look like much, but it's a dandy!

I'll take a picture soon! Oh, and he did it all by himself, with a lot of drool but no help from mama! He's fairly amazing like that.

Very Berry!

I brought the children up to the mountains for a few days of gettaway. On the way we stopped and picked raspberries and blackberries! We enjoyed it for the first 20 mins. then my goal was to pick and get outta' there! It isn't as hot and humid as it is in SC but MAN i just didn't appreciate the sun. N. even has a cute little farmers tan from riding on my back as I picked. We enjoyed some discount shopping and then an afternoon at the house. We ventured out after a heavy rain shower to pick more. This time is was blueberries off my mom's bushes. We picked about half gallon. off one bush. (!) The plan is to pick more blueberries tomorrow, and more raspberries on the way out of town.

This, folks, is a REAL berry. (Yes, singular.) the biggest I have ever had. A couple of jamming nights once we returned home and I put back quite a few jars of jam! So very exciting, considering these berries were organically grown.







Exit stage Left... Raspberry Jam!

Our Boys, Summer 2010 Photo shoot

Pictures taken by Todd Wilkins