A Snowy Castle

Ending our day with Cinnamon Streusel cake!

Never-Ending Easter Egg Hunts

We've come home. Callum is now taking a nap. But Logan wants to continue the egg hunts....

Me: "Man, I'm tired. I might need a nap."

Logan: "Mom, you've got to focus. Whoever has the most eggs wins." (with a fist pump for extra motivation I guess!) 

Easter Brunch

My parents made a DELICIOUS brunch for us today. Yum yum! :)

An Easter egg nest!

Logan is into hiding eggs for Callum which is really fun to watch.
This was one of his proud hiding spots.

He also gets mad if I try to help Callum while at the same time
following Callum around with comments like, "Hey Callum! Turn around!
Look down! Right there!"

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

The boys are having a grand time hunting for eggs (multiple times)
this morning. We're having a harder and harder time finding new places
to hide them. ;-)

Patience is a virtue.

Someone is having a really hard time waiting until his little brother
wakes up from nap time.

Easter Nail Polish

When I arrived to pick up Logan at school today, one of his teachers
had to make sure and tell me the story of this little bottle of blue
nail polish that he's excitedly shaking in the first picture.

Today his class did their big Easter egg hunt. The plastic eggs had
little prizes hiding inside, like stickers and tattoos. Some
apparently also had tiny bottles of nail polish.

One of Logan's friends, Luke, opened up his egg and was super
disappointed to find a bottle of nail polish. He tossed it aside,
saying he didn't want it. Logan saw him do this and asked Luke if he
could have the nail polish.

Luke asked, "Why? Nail polish is for girls!"

Logan replied, "Because I'm going to give it to my Mom!"

:)

After dinner, Logan asked if I would paint their nails - which they
both just loved. "It tickles!" they kept saying. Callum thought it was
"beautiful" while Logan was excited to see they sparkled in the light.
He wanted to make sure it'd stay on for school come Monday. :-P

Lego shoes

Logan likes his new shoes, especially after I pointed out that the
tread looks like Legos. ;-)

And OMFG check out how huge his feet are getting!!

Loganism of the day

"All skeletons need a home."

Logan to Callum, as they play with their little Lego guys (complete with a few skeletons), and who knows what else, in the other room.  ;-)

Did she just post (several) pics of a toilet?

Why yes, yes I did!

Because this new toilet seat, to help during potty training (which fits little kid butts!), we got is AWESOME. Thank you for the recommendation Kim!

Callum loves it because it's heart shaped and because "I'm not falling [in]" (his words!).

Logan loves it because "it lifts up" (it's hinged) and because it's just like Molly's. ;-)

Mommy loves it because now we don't have to worry about Callum trying to put the separate toilet seat insert on (in time) or worry about Logan (and guests) getting their hands dirty trying to take it off when they need to do their business.

It's just cleaner and more polished looking all around and works for everyone. Genius!

Speaking of potty training, Callum is doing fantastic! He tells us when he needs to go and many times goes on his own, needing just a little help pulling his pants back up.

We recently stopped putting him in diapers during nap time (we'd been doing it while at home but just this last week made the switch at school too) because he's doing so well. He's still wearing diapers at night but we'll probably switch to without on that soon too, since he's consistently waking up with a dry diaper in the morning (save for an accident just the other night which was totally my fault *sigh*).

I'm so excited to be done with diapers very soon. :)

And so it begins....

"Mom, Callum is totally ruining my life!"

The Croods

We went to the movies with a bunch of friends this afternoon to see
The Croods. I wasn't expecting much but it was pretty entertaining.
The kids loved it of course.

Afterward, the four boys were immediately drawn to the gun game, of course!

Spring!

Another gorgeous day. Love it!

Picture Day

Hoping the pros had better luck than I today. ;-)

Another masterpiece

I chuckle when I see the artwork Logan brings home each day. He has
such an imagination!

(And credit goes to several iPad apps for some of the inspiration, no
doubt). ;-)

Look out Beckham!

Logan scored 3 goals at soccer today. And got a glowing "report" from
his coach (haha!).

He's doing much better, and more importantly, loves it! :)

Crazy Hair Day!

Logan's would be the ginormous head amongst all these little squirts. ;-)

Truman Chocolates

Jon brought these back from his recent trip to Texas. Each one is a
delicious piece of art...

He knows exactly what I love most. ;-)

Kindergarten Physical!

This morning Logan and I headed to his doctor's for a complete
physical exam and TB test, in preparation for entering kindergarten in
the fall.

He passed everything with flying colors. They were impressed that he
could see 20/20 (first pic) without hesitation. I asked why they were
surprised - I guess it's not that most kids can't see 20/20, but that
they have a hard time adjusting to it in the exam, with the
distractions and lighting etc.

The second pic is a hearing test they do right there in his exam room.
He was used to this since I've already taken him to our ENT to get his
hearing checked out (where they have a lot more sophisticated set up
and equipment). His hearing is still totally fine, so don't let him
have you believe otherwise. ;-)

Then, he had the "physical" part of his physical exam where Dr. Dave
examined his eyes, ears, nose, lungs, stomach, talked to him, made him
hop around on one foot, etc. According to his height and weight, he's
still running in the 75th percentile, where Dr. Dave (still) estimates
he'll be about 6' tall fully grown. We'll see! ;-)

And finally, he got his TB shot today. Logan was more nervous than
anything because of the pep talk Dr. Dave gave him right before the
shot (this is a mini-shot but you absolutely can't move or we have to
do it again, ok? Got it? NO moving...).

As you can see in the last pic, Logan got a drawing of Dr. Dave on his
arm around the insertion site. The prick is Dr. Dave's "nose" in the
drawing. If his "nose" bleeds, we have to gently dab at it. (And if it
swells, I believe we'll know that's no good). We go back on Wednesday
to get the reading done.

Lowfat Milk

Logan took 2 sips of his chocolate milk from Starbucks and then
decided he didn't want any more. I asked him why, he said it tasted
funny and he didn't like it.

I took a sip and it tasted normal to me (though I noticed it was whole
milk, which I can't stand). He then says, "I don't like it mom, it has
too much butter."

I guess he's getting used to the low fat milk I've been giving him at home! LOL

Happy birthday to me!

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, may good luck pursue you each morning and night!

Hope everyone had a great St. Paddy's day!  Éirinn go Brách!

Lounging

Uncle Zane dropped by to hang out this afternoon before my birthday
dinner. The boys were delighted to see him! :)

Our version of a towel warmer

Apparently Tobey thought the post-bath towel laid out on the bed was for him! :)

Greensplosion!

OMG, we had visitors!

This is what the boys will wake to in the morning.

A bunch of the boys' green toys pulled out, "having been played with", plus some goodies as a thank you for the fun night! ;-)

A Leprechaun's Playground

Logan and I built a "Leprechaun's Playground" tonight, as a way to
entice the little buggers to come play at our house.

I made the sorry-ass rainbow but Logan made the cool pot of gold,
duckie and bathtub (all adorned with gold coins to help attract the
leprechauns!).

Play date with Molly!

I bored the kids with errands this morning so their treat is getting
to hang out and play with Molly. :)

Tantrums

"When Daddy comes home I'm going to tell him all the rude stuff you said to me!"

FYI, not allowing Logan to play on his iPad is very very rude rude rude!

*sigh*

I'm so tired of the tantrums this week. They really wear on you when
you don't have another parent to share in the misery. :/

Magically delicious!

The kids are really into leprechauns this week, so I got them some
leprechaun cereal (Lucky Charms) for the weekend. ;-)

Callumism of the morning

I'm tired.

No, I'm not tired. I'm cold.

And tired.


Poor Callum woke up a little too early this morning from a bad
earache. Hoping it's just an earache and not an infection. He's
currently cuddled on my lap while we watch some of his favorite tv
shows and wait for the ibuprofen to kick in.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa

I've always wanted a print of this piece, and now I finally found an
excuse to get one. :-P


(Disregard the chaos of toys, someday, it will be a clean and tidy house!)

Callumism of the day

When describing his cherry flavored cough syrup and berry flavored
Tylenol to me, Callum says:

"This one's the mushroom one, and this one's the broccoli one."

Interesting choice of flavors! He also likes to call things "spicy"
(even when they're not). :)

Characters

These two shots crack me up. :)

Cheese!

After this pic Logan said, now take a picture of our butts!

Ahhhhh boys.

How do you respond when another friend announces their pregnancy?

A friend of mine just linked to this blog post on Facebook and OH. MAN. how remarkably true this rings for me, down to every single word!

Reaction to Pregnancy Announcements (now that I have kids)

The second stage she lists is definitely a biggie for me, because I've often wondered whether I'm jealous when I hear of another friend having a(nother) baby and Dang it!  Do I still want more kids?  Am I really that insane?  But, the reality is, I really just miss all of those fun firsts and new parent discoveries that we had.  :)

Which brings me to another semi-related story that just happened to me this morning.

After dropping off the boys at school today, I stopped by a bagel shop that I haven't been to in awhile (since I rarely take the kids to school in the morning anymore).  I used to frequent this place almost every morning when I was pregnant with Callum (because, HELLOOOOO fresh bagels! with cream cheese!).

The shop owner recognized me and asked how my "baby" is doing and I was like Oh Dear.  That "baby" is turning THREE next month!

Time sure does fly.  :)

Callumism of yesterday

It's now Jon's turn to travel (he won't be back until next week -
ugh!) and his flight was super early yesterday morning. I also had an
early morning meeting and knew I wouldn't be able to juggle getting me
and the boys out of the door on time. So, I asked my dad to help out.

It was a good thing I did, too!, because Callum had just barely woken
up as I was walking out the door and Logan was still snoozing away (I
think the time change may have also contributed to them being off).
I'm so grateful my parents live close enough to help out in situations
like that! (Thanks again Dad!!)

My dad said they were great getting ready and dropping off at school
but he did have a couple funny stories about the boys. Since Logan was
still sleeping, he had some time to hang out with Callum alone. I
guess Callum was ready to get going (I don't remember exactly how they
got to the conversation so I may have it wrong) and my Dad said,
"Well, I think I'll have a second cup of coffee."

Without a skip, Callum responds, "and I'll have a second cup of juice."

Such a funny little guy! :)

Oh, and this picture? This is what happens when Jon travels. Two dogs,
a cat, and who you can't see is Logan curled up next to me. He doesn't
seem to mind when Jon travels, mostly because I'll let him sleep in my
bed every now and then. ;-)

Patchwork Blue

Well, let's see if this works.

The patches may look a bit ghetto and who knows how long they'll hold,
but Logan likes them and more importantly, a much cheaper solution
than buying new jeans every time he wears in another hole! (Which is
getting to be quite often!)

What goofballs!

These guys are just so silly! They love each other to pieces, which
makes me love *them* even more! :)

Loganism of the morning

Mommy, I have bad news from school.

There's no kissing allowed at school.

Apple Branding

We watched Gnomeo and Juliet for our movie night tonight and Logan
noticed the banana on the laptop in this scene.

He turns to me and says "Heeeeyyyyyy, that's a banana! Why is it a
banana, instead of an Apple?!?" :)

Saturday afternoon treat

Logan and I thought we'd grab a treat for everyone on our way home
from the park.

Home, bearing gifts

Jon loves this place!

Home sweet home

Logan's dragon and I enjoyed a pretty uneventful trip home. So glad to
be back with my little guys. :)

All set!

A couple Salt Lick BBQ sauces in the bag, and now Logan's dragon and I
are totally ready to head home.

Chuy's

I'm in Austin for a last minute work trip and was told I should try
out this Tex Mex joint for lunch. When the guys mentioned food
smothered in spicy cheese sauce, I had to check it out for myself.

My assessment? Deliciousness.

And now I need a nap.

My traveling companion

I've got a quick work trip to take care of and was packing my suitcase
this morning while the boys were watching tv in our bedroom. Logan was
concerned I was going alone, so he gave me his little dragon, to keep
me company on the trip. :)

Train tracks

Callum was one happy camper tonight because his big brother made him a
very long train track around the living room.

Note: sporting more pigtails from school. ;-)

Chocolate Chunk Blondies

Blondies seem like just really thick cookies in bar form. :)

This is our movie night treat. Yummmm!