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  • A couple of random projects

    Remember the little pink-vanity-mirror-cabinets from the boys’ bathroom redo? We decided to repurpose them into jewelry cabinets. Matt made me and Abby one. 🙂

    Abby enjoying her jewelry cabinet.
    Abby enjoying her jewelry cabinet.
    The inside of mine
    The inside of mine

    We also founds a large mirror in the ally and put it up in the boys room.

    The boys' mirror
    The boys’ mirror

  • Funny Quotes X

    “I have the hook-ups.” both boys say this when they have hiccups.

    “My finger is all rumbly.” Ezra
    “Rumbly?” Me
    “yea the water did that.” Ezra
    “Wrinkly!” Me

    Ezra, “mommy I don’t know how to sleep.”
    Me, “well you start by closing your eyes and mouth.”
    Ezra, “but they keep popping open.”

    “Duty calls!” – Firefighter Noah
    “No, we say booty calls!” – Ezra

    I was informed today that vanilla frosties are for when it’s sunny out and chocolate frosties are for when it’s REALLY sunny out and eyes water from the sun.

    “Hey guys stop it! I’m trying to be difficult.” – Ezra talking to his toys

    Ezra is flipping a coin and calling either rock or scissors.

    Ezra, “we’re too young to go to garden school.”
    Me after thinking for a bit, “do you mean kindergarden?”

    Noah, “All that pizza made my tummy hurt.”
    Me, “Pizza?”
    Noah, “yea, pizza.”
    Me, “We didn’t have pizza.”
    Noah, “Oh.”

  • Oven Fire

    2013 started off with a bang. January 3 our oven caught fire! Luckily Matt is observant or it might have been worse. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner (it smelt so yummy and I couldn’t wait to devour it!) and Matt came in to tell me something. He noticed light in the oven and I told him that I had some foil in there and he was just seeing a reflection. Luckily he hardly ever listens to me, so he opened the oven. Sure enough a bright white flame was on the element. I grabbed the extinguisher and used it, which made the flames flare up! We slammed the oven shut, Matt called the fire department, and I took the boys outside. They were thrilled that a fire truck was coming to the house! By the time the firefighters arrived the fire was out, all they did was unplug the oven and told us not to use it. They told us we did the right things by keeping the oven closed and smothering the oven with the flame retardent. While the retardent didn’t work on the element, had the oven been messy (shockingly mine was clean) the grime would have caught fire and then spread to the cabinets.

    The boys and the firefighters
    The boys and the firefighters
    Noah in the truck
    Noah in the truck
    Ezra checking out the mess
    Ezra checking out the mess
    Me and the boys waving bye to the firetruck
    Me and the boys waving bye to the firetruck

    In the end all we had to do was replace the oven, we found a newish one on craigslist and now all our appliances match. 🙂

    Lesson: Keep your oven clean and never leave the house with the oven on or you could have a big fire.

  • Boys’ Bathroom Update

    The house we moved into had the same owners for its first 43 years.  I know they loved and cherished the house over the years, but the last updates they made were probably 15-20 years ago.  Needless to say it needs some love, new paint, and sometimes new fixtures.

    When we started the boys’ bathroom project it was going to be a simple take down the wallpaper border and freshen it up with some paint.  Of course, as with most house projects it quickly spiraled.  Part of the vanity was in disrepair, the plumbing under the sinks had to be replaced, and there was a little bit of mold.  We stumbled across a new vanity for half off at the local home improvement store.  Matt tore out the old one, put in a new one, and even tiled the top.

    The old bathroom was PINK.  The vanity was pink, the ceiling was pink (yes the ceiling!), the doors were pink, the trim was pink, the mirror cabinets were pink.  Yea it was a lot of pink.  We decided on dark grey (Valspar Mark Twain Gray Brick if your interested) with some red accents.  We painted the doors, trim, and ceiling white.

    Before: pink vanity
    Before: pink vanity
    Before: Lovely pink walls and some pretty wallpaper border
    Before: Lovely pink walls and some pretty wallpaper border
    Before: view from door
    Before: view from door
    Before pink doors
    Before pink doors
    After: vanity
    After: vanity
    After: view from door
    After: view from door
    After: Firetruck
    After: Firetruck
    Vanity and mirror
    Vanity and mirror
    After: Shadow box picture frames with beach memories
    After: Shadow box picture frames with beach memories
    After: white doors!
    After: white doors!

     

     

  • Age 4

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    Age 4 has hit me a little hard. Not in the “this age is so hard to parent” sense, because let’s face it every age has its hard-to-parent parts. Age 4 has really made me realize how fast they are growing up and how quickly my time with them is going by. Yes some days (okay maybe a lot of days) feel like they are never going to end, but man do the weeks and months fly by. I truly cannot believe I have two 4 year olds. They are now considered preschoolers and no longer toddlers. I am glad I have another whole school year before they reach kindergarden. I truly hope to treasure my moments with them before we reach school age.

    I love watching them grow and learn and don’t want them to be toddlers forever but wow this raising kids time really is just a blip on my own timeline.

  • Snowball Fight

    Okay we don’t get a lot of snow, or really any, but the boys really want snow. I saw an idea for an indoor snowball fight with paper balls and knew it would be a hit. We had a ton of fun and no one got cold and wet!

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  • Making pizza

    I try to let the boys help me in the kitchen. It isn’t easy for me, it requires a lot of patience and more planning than I’m used to, plus the kitchen gets even messier than when I cook (and I am a messy cook!).

    They really enjoy cooking though. Making homemade pizza was right up their ally! They loved making the dough, smelling it, feeling it, tossing it, tasting it. They also added their sauce, cheese and toppings but for some reason no pics of that part.

    Yep Ez tried the raw dough
    Yep Ez tried the raw dough
    Ez tossing his dough
    Ez tossing his dough
    So much fun!
    So much fun!
    Noah's dough in the air
    Noah’s dough in the air
    Messy boy
    Messy boy

  • Straw Connectors

    The boys received these Straws and Connectors Kit for Christmas from Nana and Papa and they really are a lot of fun! They still need helping building an actually shape, but they can easily connect them by themselves.

    After daddy built the rocket ship in the picture, Ez insisted on some wings for himself. Noah likes to connect them to make letters and numbers.

    Rocket Ship and Ez
    Rocket Ship and Ez
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    Being silly
    Ez and his wings
    Ez and his wings

    Sorry Noah I have no idea why you didn’t make any of the photos.

    Yes that is an affiliate link, doesn’t hurt to try make a couple of bucks here does it?

  • Random pics

    I’ve had these two pics saved on my desktop forever meaning to add them to the blog, but never have. They are from last February/March?

    Super Firefighter Ez
    Super Firefighter Ez
    Noah driving
    Noah driving

  • Shaving cream fun

    I bought some shaving cream to do a science experiment I found on pinterest. It was a rainy day and you were supposed to use the shaving cream as clouds and food coloring as rain. It worked okay. Apparently my clouds were a little thick to let the rain come down. The shaving cream was much more fun to just play with in the end.

    Excitedly waiting
    Excitedly waiting
    Noah's raining
    Noah’s raining
    Ezra watching his rain - finally.
    Ezra watching his rain – finally.
    Noah wanted to add more colors, he wanted the sun, moon, and the rain.
    Noah wanted to add more colors, he wanted the sun, moon, and the rain.
    Happy Noah
    Happy Noah
    He is happiest when he is messy
    He is happiest when he is messy

  • Zoo Lights – 2012

    Zoo lights are so much fun with 4 year olds. They really love the experience. The night we had picked to go it was supposed to rain. I decided that meant it was the perfect night because it would be less crowded. It worked out great, hardly any crowd and it didn’t start to rain until we were leaving at 8:45! It was the most fun we have had at zoo lights yet. The boys were able to run around, dance, try to jump on the lights shining on the walkways, and the talked to the talking Giraffe forever.

    Papa and Ez
    Papa and Ez
    Noah and his favorite color. RED!
    Noah and his favorite color. RED!
    The zoo turned 50 this year.
    The zoo turned 50 this year.
    So happy
    So happy
    another happy boy
    another happy boy
    Talking to the Giraffe, the boys loved him and he really talked to them. We went back at the end of our night and he remembered them.
    Talking to the Giraffe, the boys loved him and he really talked to them. We went back at the end of our night and he remembered them.
    Riding a kamodo dragon
    Riding a kamodo dragon
    Thumbs up
    Thumbs up
    Papa and the boys
    Papa and the boys
    Papa and Ez petting the 'floppy things' (stingrays)
    Papa and Ez petting the ‘floppy things’ (stingrays)
    mom and Noah
    mom and Noah
    pic of a stingray
    pic of a stingray
    Checking out the lights
    Checking out the lights
    Ez taking pics
    Ez taking pics
    say cheese
    say cheese
    Noah and the umbrella
    Noah and the umbrella
    Mommy and Noah
    Mommy and Noah

  • How kids handle their nightmares

    I find it really interesting how kids handle their dreams and nightmares differently. We have entered that stage of nightmares and screaming wake ups. Actually Ezra started months ago during the summer. He would wake up thinking there was someone in the room.

    So Stephanie found an idea from another mom, that we asked Ezra to take that dream, and give it to us. We would hold out our hands, then take the dream out of the room to “throw it away”. That really helped Ezra. He would generally calm down, and be done with it.

    Last night was Noah’s first screaming nightmare. An alligator in bed. I think he has been watching too much of the classic Disney film “The Rescuers” featuring the bad characters pet aligator henchmen. So I tried the same thing. I stood there with my hands open and asked him to give me his dream. He said “Where?, How Daddy?”. I said from your mind, close your eyes and pretend to hand it to me. He does. Then as Im holding my hands closed, he freaks out “DADDY! YOU ARE DRIPPING IT ON MY BED!”.

    Just so funny how one boy accepts the idea and thinks its great, while the other questions its logic, and if it will even work.

    Ohh what did work you ask? I asked noah to describe to me the dream. I drew it. Black and white, with a lime green alligator in his bed. I asked him to crumple it up, He refused to even touch the paper. So I took it and made a ball, took it to the fire place, and burned it. He really enjoyed seeing the paper writher away to ashes, and I hope it helps future nightmares.

  • First Symphony Performance

    The Phoenix Symphony has a series of Saturday afternoon family friendly performances. It is a great way to introduce your kids to the symphony. Last Saturday we went to Tubby the Tuba. I chose this performance because there was an instrument petting zoo before the show. The boys loved getting to play some different instruments.

    First symphony.
    Ez and the saxophone

    First symphony.
    Noah getting some pointers

    First symphony.
    Ez and the clarinet, I don’t remember what made me laugh. Probably my adorably, silly little boy.

    First symphony.
    Showing Noah where to put his fingers

    First symphony.
    Ez and the violin. He has been “playing” the violin all week.

    First symphony.
    Noah playing the violin

    First symphony.
    serious boy

    First symphony.
    Noah loved the cello

    First symphony.
    Noah really thought the seats were fun

    The boys sat pretty good for 4 year olds. A few more complaints then I would like, but overall good. Despite all the complaining and squirming Ezra did as if we could go back. On the way home I asked their favorite instruments. Ezra likes the Tuba and Noah the cello.

  • Noah at 4

    15 copy

    Color: red
    Sport: Basketball
    Animal: Cow
    Food: Bagel with cream cheese
    Book: Firetrucks
    Season: Winter
    Restaurant: The restaurant at the end of the pier at the beach (funny I don’t remember him eating the food)
    Holiday: Christmas
    Weather: Cold and Sunny
    Cereal: Cheerios
    TV Shows: Fireman Sam
    Movie: Incredibles
    Candy: Cake
    Subject: Learning to write
    Toy: Firetrucks
    Thing to do: Relaxing
    Place have been: Arizona, Colorado, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia
    Place to be: Home
    Place I want to go: Gamma and Papa’s
    Person: Daddy
    Hero: Firefighters
    Time of Day: When daddy’s home
    Song: If you’re happy and you know it
    Drink: Chocolate milk
    Treat: Candy Canes
    Vacation: Colorado

    Photo by Rachelle Tucker Photography