Stopping to smell the dandelions with Gavin

Those flowers were handpicked for me and gifted with the question,  "Does that fill your bucket Mommy? "

Happy Easter 2015

The boys started the morning watching the window for Daddy to come home from work for the celebration to begin!

The Easter bunny spoiled both boys and even remembered our furry girl! The boys were thrilled to receive their first chocolate bunnies and Pez dispensers. We didn't put limitations on how much they had following our Halloween success and yet again they didn't binge, over half of them are left.

 

Gavin sorted awesome bed head and his Wild Kratts Creature Power suit for the hunt.

 

 

 

 

 

They even shared!

 

 

Such a joyful day!

 

Snow day #6

It's easier when I'm mentally prepared. I knew this one was coming. In hopes it's the LAST of the season,  I bucked up. 

I set up a chore chart where they could earn coins to buy books and games at the "store" (filled with items I bought the day earlier at a consignment sale that they were totally getting anyway,  lol).  Holy cow did they love it!

Then we invited their neighborhood friends from El Salvador over for sledding.  They'd never been! The Floridian in me was thrilled to share that experience with them.

Side note,  how great does Chris look in his beard. Swoon.

I built an addition on the house in one day

Okay, not QUITE. But it feels like an addition. And I did do it in ONE day (including IKEA run for shelving!)

We had this grimy enclosed area in our kitchen hiding ductwork we used as a broom closet.

I'm embarrassed to show the before but, gulp, I will.

Well the kitchen was spilling over and something had to change. So I decided to convert it to a pantry. But there was no way I was going to put food in there.

It had to look like a new room, so that's what I did.

I primed and painted the walls, door, and ceiling with left over paint. Then the fun began.

Spray painting the ductwork with high heat resistant spray paint. Cough cough! Man that was nasty. But the result was completely worth it.

I installed some shelving, including on the back of the door.

And ta-da! We now have a pantry!

It feels like we built an addition. I keep opening the door to admire it.

Home improvement in progress

I realized midway I should be wearing safety goggles, but it was too dark and cold out to look in the shed.

So I took Ethan's from his Magic School Bus chemistry set. Shhh!

Stay tuned for my big one day project reveal!

Cuddles may resume!

Remember how I shared that we broke our sofa after 6 years of snuggles and show watching?

Today we found it's replacement! In the as-is section of Bob's Discount Furniture. (Hey, we still have two small boys, now's not the time for a bigger investment!)

It looked deep and comfy in the store, but seemed to grow in size once it tried to fit in our car!  The loading crew told Chris, "sorry, man, no way that will fit!"  Then they sat back and watched.

Chris made it fit. Nothing stops us from a good deal!

Our friend helped us move it in and, woah. This couch is way bigger than in the show room. I mean we measured and all but WOW.

Just more room for the boys to grow and still snuggle!

We've broken our sofa

With too many morning cuddles.

Seriously, we are shopping for a new one that can handle the snuggles.

Little Letter Lover

Gavin's suddenly passionate about learning his letters. His favorite is "w", maybe because he always goes for the win? Who knows!  I'm just following his lead on interests. But letter practice is great practice for me as I'm tutoring Ethan's classmates who are being on letter identification.

Weekday Warriors

You know those home improvement commercials that celebrate the "weekend warrior"?  Well I can't get ANYTHING accomplished on the weekend with both boys home solo. I have to save big jobs for when one is gone. And Gavin finally had school today.

Ethan did not, but I figured we'd give it a whirl.

Putting up a new backsplash in the kitchen went great, he was the cutest helper ever!  He encouraged me for three hours straight until Gavin returned. Telling me it wasn't crooked (when it was) and a mistake wasn't visible (when it really was). And even asking for hug breaks. I didn't realize how much he'd bask in the attention of having just the two of us doing an adult project.

Here's some previews of how it looks so far!

Better luck next year

Today the fam gathered to cheer on our favorite team, the Cowboys, in the playoffs. Expressions went downhill as our lead disappeared :-(

After a terrible call that ended our chances, Gavin went into a corner and pouted.

"What's wrong buddy?"
"I just need some space Mommy."
"What's bothering you though?"
With his bottom lip out, "I don't want the Cowboys to play like that!"

He was upset for a good 15 minutes.

That was less time than his Daddy though...

The Four S's of our Christmas Morning: Science, Sports, Sensory, and Superheros!

Right on time. 6am. The boys woke up with their heads on a swivel, happy as can be!

Santa brought Ethan his tornado machine and Gavin his fast Microcharger dome!

They played with these two toys and the stocking trinkets for an hour. We had breakfast and had to point out the abundance of gifts under the tree! They didn't even notice.

All in all, we opened gifts one by one, playing with each one, for four hours.

It was so fun seeing their different personalities in play. Ethan was the "elf", handing everyone their gifts and getting more joy out of giving gifts than opening his own. Gavin tore through his gifts with super sonic speed. He'd open one halfway and exclaim, "Next present!!!" Boy he was pissed when Ethan was left with a pile to open at the end! We were mirror images of my sister and I as kids, Tina loving giving gifts and I diving right into opening mine.

The boys loved their ceramic whistles I made at pottery class, a sting ray for Ethan and a rhino for Gavin.

My little elf.

Ethan loved his science gifts, a microscope, slides, a Magic School Bus chemistry kit, and a plasma ball.

 

He also loved all of his sensory gifts!

Look at this little sensory seeker putting together his wrist weights, his wiggle seat, and their Bosu ball.

Gavin was fiercely into the super hero gifts, which included books, action figures, and a Flash mask! All essential for the Rhino Rescuer character he has created.

Superhero underwear included.

This was the first year the kids picked their own gifts for Chris and I too. Here's the M&Ms Ethan chose and wrapped (and labeled with his spelling of "surprise").

And Gavin picked a football for his daddy, in his favorite color orange.

They were obsessed with their Uncle Nick's golfing set!

 

Gavin got his balance bike and Ethan his bigger boy bike (under $25 for both!)

When they rode home, they realized the reindeers had eaten the carrots.

Perfect Christmas.