Wild creatures pay a visit

Yesterday while we were playing in the backyard, we heard the distinct sound of a woodpecker. Brandon and Dylan stopped dead in their tracks and asked, "What's that?" I told them it was a woodpecker looking for food in one of our trees. So the rest of the day, if Dylan heard the woodpecker, he would yell, "Mommy! A woodpecker!" Today, they were peeking out of their bedroom window and saw the little bird. I just had to snap the picture of them peeking! It was so darned cute.

They had an additional treat today. We found a 12-18 inch lizard scurrying around in the bushes. It was trying to find its way back through the fence and not having any luck finding an opening big enough. So there is this lizard looking a little trapped and my boys just watching him. It was kind of funny watching them eyeball each other.

A fun dessert

Yesterday while the boys were sleeping, I decided to bake some cupcakes as a after dinner surprise. I had bought some white frosting and chocolate sprinkles thinking it would be fun for the boys to decorate their own cakes. I even pulled out the food coloring to make whatever color frosting they wanted. Talk about being a hero! They loved it! They were so proud of their creations, they made sure Russ & I both saw their cakes before they ate them.

Because they had made such a huge mess last night, I made it an extra special treat to eat dessert outside. We pulled out their table and chairs and had a cupcake extravaganza.

It's an Elmo sprinkler day!

I would be getting ready to pull the car out of the garage and I would hear, "When can we do Elmo sprinkler again?" It didn't matter that it was the dead of winter and 10 minutes outside would result in bright red runny noses. All they could think of how fun it was to run through the sprinkler. I can only guess that my boys think the weather suddenly becomes warm and sunny when we pull the Elmo sprinkler off the shelf. Every day I had to tell them we have to wait for summer to come before we could bring Elmo out to play. Well, after such a long, long, LONG wait, Elmo came out to play today. I could just feel their excitement as I lathered them up with sunscreen. They played in the water so long, they just sat in the sun to warm back up. Owen tried out the sprinkler, but then again, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into. Two sprays of water and he was crying and backtracking back to mom. So Owey scored himself a bucket of water and some water toys, and he was happy as a clam.

Russ took advantage of the nice day and washed my car and his truck. The boys even took a break from playing and helped Daddy scrub-a-dubba. Owen didn't really help, but he still had to be in the middle of all the action.

Our new bed

Russ & I finally received our new bed, mattress and side tables yesterday. I say finally because they were supposed to be here two weeks ago. We were disappointed to find one of the slats for our bed was snapped in two and the foot board wasn't exactly right. Thankfully we were still able to put the bed together and use it until the replacement parts come. The boys love it. They were walking around and throwing themselves down on the mattress. They thought it was hilarious. Owen loves the little side tables, because they are just his size. He can't keep his hands off the tv remote and the clock.

The bed is so comfy that last night was the best night sleep in a long time. Even better, now that we have a king size bed, we aren't all cramped and falling off the edges when the boys all crawl into bed with us. I also love that the bed is much lower to the ground. I can sit on the bed and put my shoes on. Simple pleasures! That's me.

Paper Deets

Brandon & I were getting all of his things together to leave preschool, when he pulled out his artwork from his cubby. He said, "Look Mommy! I made Deets!" I turned around, there was this taped together paper with a tiny head, and the paper was cut to show where the arms and legs should be. I told him how great it was. Very creative! He was so proud of himself. When we got out to the car he told me that he wanted to put Paper Deets somewhere safe, so I suggested Paper Deets ride in Deet's car seat. Brandon loved that idea. He couldn't wait to get home and give Dylan his paper replica.

Family Day at the Zoo

Yesterday we decided it was time for the boys to get their hair cut again, so we declared it a Family Day. Haircuts are always followed by lollipops for being so good at the barber, then the zoo or Fairy Tale Town, and finally lunch. We chose the zoo and invited Aunt Carmen and Cousin Hadija to meet us there. The kids had a great time seeing all the animals and playing with Hadija in the play area. (Owen missed most of the zoo, because he fell asleep in his stroller.) We also checked out the new on-site vet clinic. The boys liked seeing the x-rays of one of the animals and the preserved turtles with all their parts labeled. The turtles reminded me of biology class. Kind of gross. Maybe that's why they liked them! After everyone made their way through the reptile house, we all headed over to Gunther's for lunch and ice cream. Their lunch is pretty average, but who really goes there for their sandwiches? We needed to have a healthy lunch, though, if we were going to have ice cream for dessert. My picky eaters (Brandon & Dylan) did great eating their lunches. Even little Owey was chowing down on my turkey sandwich and Dylan's leftover cheese sandwich. We agreed that the baby needs his own sandwich next time. That way I'm not filling my hunger with a two scoop caramel sundae. Who are we kidding...even if I finished my own sandwich, I still would have eaten the sundae. That was pretty much the end of our day, because Dyaln was asleep before we even got out to the car.

Video: Dylan at Preschool

Dylan's first day of preschool

Today was the big day for our little Deets! We were far more excited than he was though. We tried to get him excited about staying at preschool with Brandon by asking him all kinds of "fun" questions like, "Don't you want to do circle time and play outside on the slides with Brandon?" Brandon even tried to encourage Dylan to stay by telling him about the Pledge of Allegiance and snack time and jobs and all the fun things they can do outside. Deets still wasn't convinced that Mommy leaving preschool without out him was entirely in his best interest. He loves preschool and all it has to offer, as long as I'm standing right next to him.

We got to preschool earlier than normal, so we had time to do lots of "jobs." When the lights went out to let the kids know it was circle time, Deets put his mat away and told one of the teachers he didn't want to stay. She suggested meeting the boys at the goodbye window. That worked perfectly. No crying or fussing. Just hugs and kisses. It's what worked best for Dylan. Looking back, I shouldn't have stayed as long as I did. I just really wanted to get D's first circle time on video. Russ couldn't be there, so I thought I would get some of Dylan's first day on film so Russ could see. (I did the same thing on Brandon's first day.) Things just don't always work out the way you planned.

Turned out that I was able to get the boys on video when I went to pick them up. They were outside playing, so I filmed them through a window. Russ was happy to see that I was able to bring home some of Dylan's first day. D was a busy little bee on the see-saw, slide, playing rings, catching bugs with bug catchers and chasing bubbles. He had no clue I was there, even when I came outside. Brandon had to clue him in. He was so happy at preschool, he didn't want to come home when it was time to leave. A good sign that he had a great day.

Brandon spells his name

A while back we bought Brandon the Leap Frog Click 'n Learn or something like that. I forget what it's called because Brandon calls it his "Click 'n Stir". Anyway, it's a keyboard/mouse that plugs into the tv to play games. He was playing with a typing setting, so I asked him if he could spell his name. He's been practicing writing his name at preschool, so I ask him every once in a while if he can spell it, too. He usually gets stuck at the A. Today he spelled the whole thing out all by himself. Russ & I kept telling him how proud of him we were. He was pretty proud too, because he spelled it out a couple more times before he went back to playing.

Safetyville USA

Today was a preschool friend's birthday party at Safetyville USA. Brandon and Dylan brought their bikes so they could ride around the mini streets. They LOVED it! All the kids size buildings and roadways and working stop lights were great. The place is a bit run down, but the kids didn't notice.

Brandon has always been a little fearful of falling off his bike, so when we first got there, he was riding really slow and made Russ stay right next to him. By the end of the day, he was riding much faster and more confidently. He even asked if he could go riding around all by himself like all the other kids. He was so excited when we said it was ok. He probably would have ridden around until dark if we let him.

Deets was just adorable on his tricycle. He's not very good with the pedalling thing. He can pedal backwards like a champ, but forwards is another story. He spent the day pushing the bike forward with his feet rather than the pedals. His favorite part of the place were the mini railroad tracks complete with the crossing gates. He and Brandon waited at the tracks for a train to come by. We had to tell them there wasn't a train, just the tracks.

Three hours of "fun" in the sun. Russ & I were exhausted and miserable from the heat. The boys were exhausted too, but they were smiling from ear to ear. They had the best day.

Aliens Love Underpants

We took the boys to the book store last weekend to find some new stories to read at bedtime. One of those books was Aliens Love Underpants. Great story about aliens who love to come to Earth just so they can steal underpants. The illustrations are bright and cheerful and fun to look at. Anyway...Brandon brings books with him to look at for nap time at preschool. Of course, he had to bring one of his new books. The look on his face was priceless when I picked him up from school, and he told me that his new book was read to everybody at circle time. He felt very special that one of his books was shared with all his classmates.

Deets goes potty

After bath tonight, Deets told me that he wanted to sit on the "Bear Potty". I asked him if he needed to go pee-pee, and he said yes. I didn't really believe him, but encouraged him to go sit on the potty chair if he thought he needed to go. Sure enough, he went pee in the potty. So, of course, we made it a super big deal and gave him M&Ms as a reward. We told him that he's growing up to be a big boy just like Brandon. He was so proud and excited. Fingers crossed that his potty training is much easier than Brandon's was. He's starting preschool soon, so I'm hoping he'll want to go potty like all the big kids. Only time will tell.

Brandon, the singer

I asked Brandon what he did at preschool today. He said Music Matt came today. Brandon got to go up on "stage" all by himself and sang BINGO. He said Music Matt helped him a little bit, but he got to pick the song and mostly sang all by himself in front of all his friends at school. I thought he was going to tell me it was scary, but instead he told me that he liked it and that it was fun. He really liked being able to pick the next person who would get to sing for everyone.