Wish List Update

With their birthdays coming up, I just wanted to add a quick note to let you all know that I have updated the boys' wish lists. I've made it a little easier to navigate by giving the boys each their own list instead of one combined list. If you're interested, just click on the wish list links on the right side of the blog. Thanks! :)

Friday & Saturday

On Fridays the boys are both at home with me, so this week I decided to try out some new Montessori inspired preschool activities with them. Sawyer is amazingly focused when he dedicates himself to a task, and I really hope that he gets into the Montessori preschool this summer (we're on the waiting list) because I think the environment would really benefit him. Plus, they teach the kids to wash up their own dishes after snack and to clean up and put one project or task away before starting another - who doesn't love that? Sutton did his own version of the "work" that Sawyer and I were doing, but since his attention span is next to nothing, I decided it would be better to just set him up with a painting project since he would be happy to paint all day if I let him.



Sawyer transferring lentils from one container to another with tweezers



Sutton in the process of making the hugest painting mess ever!


(This video is unedited due to time constraints and laziness, sorry lol!)



We decided on a whim that Friday night should be Family Movie Night, so we took the boys to Target to pick out a special new movie (Scooby Doo & the Relectant Werewolf) and snack (Teddy Grahams snack mix - yum!). Mitch set up the sofa bed and we settled in for the evening. The boys loved the movie (which was 91 minutes long - 61 minutes TOO long, in Mommy & Daddy's opinion), but most of all they loved being able to stay up late and getting to use the sofa bed. They stayed up until almost 10:00 p.m. (2 hours past bedtime!), yet unsurprisingly they were still up at 7:00 a.m. sharp this morning. We've learned that it definitely doesn't matter what time they go to bed, they'll always be awake at 7:00! Next Friday we might hit up the free family movie night screening of Madagascar 2 at the Twelve Bridges Library, just to change it up a bit.



All snuggled up and ready for some "Scooby Dude"


Saturday we cleaned out our cars (well, Mitch did the cleaning and I did the kid wrangling), and then decided to take a drive to Sun City to try to find the sheep and goats that have been grazing to "mow" the open areas there. Unfortunately, we got word that yesterday was the last day of the sheep and that they won't be back until Spring. The kids were really bummed, until Sawyer spotted the Twelve Bridges Library and asked if we could go there and get a new library card instead. When they're disappointed about something, I'm never more glad that they can instantly shift their focus like that!

We spent an hour at the library coloring and picking out a huge stack of new books to read and one dvd special about bugs. I really love spending time at the library, and Mitch was really impressed at how huge and nice their childrens section is. With recent cut backs, the library is now only open five days a week for about five hours at a time (which usually fall at naptime/dinnertime), so I was glad it was open for our spur-of-the-moment trip. This was the second time that the boys and I have visited the library in the past couple of weeks, and I have been really impressed that Sawyer seems to completely comprehend that he needs to be quiet and on his very best behavior when we're there. Sutton, on the other hand, gets bored after about five minutes and would like nothing more than to pull ALL the books off of ALL the shelves. Yikes!



Listening to a story at the library listening station



No day would be complete without some outdoor swinging time - Sutton was SO excited that I let him try out the big boy swing today (despite the fact that he was clinging to it with white knuckes for dear life)!

My Kitchen Helpers

I’ve wanted a Kitchen Helper for a long time now, because having the kids play chicken with each other while standing on chairs to “help” with dinner makes me a Nervous Nellie Mom, but there was no way I was going to fork over around $150 for one. Thankfully, I have an amazing husband who is extremely handy and who was willing to throw away three hours of his Saturday afternoon to create one for me out of stuff we already had lying around in the garage. The result may not be quite as pretty as the pricey one (just wait until I get it painted!), but it’s incredibly sturdy, amazingly awesome, and just what we needed! It also stores nicely in the little alcove by our water cooler, and though it's heavy, it's easy to move around when and where we need it - perfect!

Since the unveiling on Saturday evening, our new kitchen stool has been properly utilized for two batches of pancake making (chocolate chip and banana!), lemon muffins, chocolate chip cookies, several dinners and numerous art projects. The best part is that I can put it off to the side of the cook top so that the boys can watch as I cook the pancakes, and I don’t have to worry about them being unstable or moving their chairs too close to the hot area. No more “Pick me up!” all the time, yay! It truly is one of the most wonderful things to have around, and I can’t be more thankful to Mitch for making it for us!

Sawyer watching Mitch finish up the project

They loved it from the minute he brought it indoors!

Sawyer helping make chocolate chip pancakes

Sutton also seems to think it's a great stage to climb up and perform on!

As usual, we've had a very arts-and-craftsy week, so here are a couple of highlights. This week we're focusing on making Valentine's Day decorations, the Chinese New Year, and working with paint, Play Doh, and the hugely popular glitter and glitter glue.

Sutton sponge painting - his favorite!

Intensely focused on his Play Doh work



Our new glittery Valentine's Day banner

The boys checking out their glittery Chinese lanterns



Sawyer "being Daddy"

More Projects & Sunshine

Today was a gorgeous day! Mitch decided to take advantage of the sunshine to get some yard work done, so I came up with yet another project to keep the boys occupied indoors until it was safe for them to go outside - sock puppets! We made a snake (which ended up becoming more like a dragon since Sawyer wanted to put spikes - aka puff balls - down its back) and a butterfly. The boys were cracking up as we put our puppets on our hands and had the snake try to chase the butterfly who promptly started teasing the snake "neener neener, you can't get me because you're stuck on the ground, and I'm flying high in the aiiiiiiiir!" They can be SO silly sometimes, and it's always tons of fun to just let loose and have fun being goofy with them.


The completed puppets before we tested them out



I'm gonna get you!



Ssssssssssssssss, my snake is going to bite you!



I'm flying away so you can't get me! (even Daddy joined in the puppet fun during his lunch break!)


We left the puppets on the counter so the glue could finish drying and grabbed our bikes and headed out to the front yard for awhile. All the neighborhood boys were playing outside, and eventually they all ditched their bikes and ended up playing in our backyard (as usual!). Mitch was still busy mowing the front lawn, so I spent a nice chunk of mid-day hanging out in the backyard with SIX little boys for awhile! It was such beautiful weather, and all the boys were playing really well together, so it was really nice to spend that time with them instead of stuck inside doing laundry or any of the other chores that I should have been doing. We finished the day with TiVo'd football, some playroom organization, baths and storytime. Tomorrow Sutton and I are going to go spend the day playing with Aunt Kari since she has the day off of work (those lucky state workers!).



Five of the six boys - the only time I could get them all in one picture!
Joshua, Sawyer, Jaden, Jordan and Nathan

Creative Juices

We've been in creative "making stuff" mode these past few days. Luckily for me both of my boys seem to have inherited my genes when it comes to getting artistic, creative and crafty - they can't get enough of "project making." So here are a few of the things we've tackled over the past couple of days...


First, after spending a wild and crazy Thursday morning at library storytime and then picking up some new coloring books at the dollar store, we decided to do something with all the little bits and pieces of leftover crayons we had laying around:


We gathered all the small crayon bits into a Ziploc baggie (Crayola crayons work best - the cheap kind left a layer of clear wax around the edges) and smashed them with a hammer to get even smaller bits. Then we dumped them into a silicone muffin pan and heated the oven to 275.



Watching the crayons melt was actually the highlight of the project for Sawyer. I have to admit, it did look really pretty watching the colors swirl around.



After they cool, just pop 'em out and you have cool multicolor chunky crayons!



Saw testing out the new crayon in his new coloring book

This kiddo was busy destroying the living room while we made crayons - notice ALL the toys strung out in the background! He looks so sweet and innocent too lol.

Taking a break from coloring to watch Ratatouille (thanks for letting us borrow it Hattie!)

Our next project was all made by Mommy, but I let Sawyer pick out the colors that he wanted me to use. In an effort to make something Valentine's Day-ish I decided to make a few more felt cookies for the boys' play kitchen. This time they are heart shaped with "sprinkles" although it's driving the perfectionist in me crazy that there's not one more sprinkle on the bottom of this cookie...oh well! I'm going to make a few more this weekend so that we can have a whole set to play with next month at our Valentine's Day party.

Cookies and tea, anyone?

Friday afternoon Sawyer didn't end up taking a nap, so we maximized our Sutton-free time (while he took a marathon 3 1/2 hour nap!) by doing a project that's usually too long and messy for Sutton to enjoy, but one that Sawyer loves - chocolate chip cookie baking!

The little baker mixing up the dry ingredients

Sampling a pinch of brown sugar

The best and final step - taste testing the cookie dough - yum!

Just waking up from a nap to fresh cookies is awesome...even if you're still half asleep!

...and then the sugar kicks in! It took him about 1/2 an hour just to slowly savor one single cookie!

Hanging Out

It's hard to believe that January is already half over! We've been keeping busy and enjoying the beautiful weather that we've had these past few days. Sutton started his gymnastics class (the same one that I used to take Sawyer to) last week, and it completely feels like deja vu for Mommy. Sutton is having fun during the activity times, but he's not really keen on sitting still and listening during any of the instructional moments...just like his big brother when he first started too.

Sawyer has been really nice and helpful in showing Sutton the moves that he remembers from class, but I think he's also hoping that he's going to get to go back soon too - as soon as they're both patient enough that I can handle them both at once! I've thought about putting him into the 3-year-old class after his birthday because that one doesn't require parental participation, and I could keep Sutton occupied while Sawyer was in class. I can't believe Sawyer is already almost 3! We're planning a monster truck themed birthday party for him at Extreme Gymnastics (the same place that we went to for Ty's super fun birthday party in November), complete with a special monster truck cake. He's already really looking forward to it, and he asks us all the time if it's his birthday yet. After having him successfully test drive some big boy bikes (2 wheelers with training wheels) at Toys R Us, we've decided to get him a Tonka bike for his birthday. He's going to be so excited, and I can't wait to give it to him!



Making "prah-jackts" (projects) with Daddy for Gigi's birthday



These new dot paint markers are rad!



Sharing Gigi's special birthday cupcake treat - YUMMY!

Enjoying some sunshine in the backyard

He just got caught poking his fingers through the fence trying to torment the neighbors' puppy!

Cheese!

There's nothing better than a warm sunny day in January!

I got a new haircut, thanks to Auntie Jess!

Snow Play

EDIT: I updated the blog layout format, so a few of these pictures are getting cut off now since I used a different uploader than usual. To see the full image, just click on the photo and it will open up the whole thing. Thanks! :)

Today we took the boys to play in the snow for the first time! We loaded up all of our snow gear last night, packed a lunch and headed to Yuba Gap Sno-Park about an hour or so up the mountain. Last night Sawyer was so excited to go to the snow that he woke up around 10:00 pm just to check in and make sure that we hadn't decided to leave and go without him while he was sleeping. Needless to say, his excitement translated this morning into "Are we here?" "Can I play on that mountain?" "Can I play on that mountain?" "Are we ready?" "Are we here?" for over an hour non-stop. When we got to Yuba Gap he was about ready to squirm out of his carseat on his own and jump into the white powder, so it was a huge bummer to learn that the road into the park was being shut down because there had been too many accidents this morning because the road was so icy. Thinking quickly, Granddad suggested that we head up to the snow park at Boreal, so we ended up driving about another 20 minutes before we finally unleashed the restless kiddos and let them run around in the snow.

It was a bright and sunny morning, but it was deceptively hiding a well-below-freezing 18 degrees outside - BRRRR! It's been quite a long time since I've been that cold, and although I had a great time playing outside with my family, I hope the next time we decide to go sledding that it's at least 20 degrees warmer. I was paranoid that Sutton was going to get frostbite because he wasn't thrilled by the snow, and he wasn't really playing or moving around to warm up all that much. Sawyer, on the other hand, loved the snow and couldn't get enough of it! He's so crazy - even in 18 degree weather he quickly took off his beanie (Mommy compromised by making sure he wore his hood instead) and wanted to take his coat and gloves off too! I swear, that kid really has something against layering and wearing jackets! He had a blast sledding with Daddy and Granddad, but he was a little disappointed that it was too cold and too powdery to make very good snowballs with the snow. He settled instead for making snow angels. I decided that there was no better way to show how much fun we had than to post a gazillion pictures, so here you go...Enjoy!







In love with the cold stuff from the minute we got there



First sled ride!


Load 'em up...


...and goooooo!



"I wanna go on my tummy!"

Sutton appears to be thinking "What in the hell are we doing here?"

All bundled up

Granddad with the ever-present video camera and Gigi freezing her booty off!

Getting a saucer ride from Granddad - now that's traveling in style!

Sutton beginning to realize that there might be some fun to be had in this snow junk after all

Granddad and Saw ride the flying saucer

Nope, still just freezing cold

Toboggan Races: Mitch & Sawyer vs. Jeff & Sutton

Yay, we won!

...and still freezing. I think at one point his runny nose was actually freezing to his face, poor kid.

Sawyer had just kicked up a face-full of wet snow on his last run down with Granddad

Is that Sutton smiling!?! Ah ha, so he likes it when you go fast, eh?

Sawyer trying to avoid another face full of snow and bringing back a souvenier...

Exhausted from the largest snowball he could carry! "I'm taking a rest."

Self portraits in the snow - proof that Heidi and Rhonda were here too! :)

Pulling Sutton in the toboggan

Oh my gosh, he LIKES it! Yay!

Let's go fast!

Somebody is finally having a good time!

Finding a snowball as big as himself

Okay, I think I'm ready for lunch now!

The only people strange awesome enough to have their own card table in the snow