A Little Piece of Perfect

Bits and Pieces

2012-02-13T17:58:00.000-08:00

Time to do a random photo dump. Sometimes an event doesn't warrant an entire blog post on it's own, so here's all the little extras from life lately.

Ah those couple of days where the sun came out and we could almost sense Spring around the corner. We met up with some friends at the park and even Skyler's bike (named Spike) got out for some exercise. Here's looking forward to warmer weather and spending some more time out of doors. You know, in a couple of months.

Soccer is going swimmingly for both boys. We just signed them up for another full round of classes, they both moved up a level from the last go. It still amazes me watching these little humans we produced perform such complex tasks as booting a soccer ball across the field or run backwards with all their little team mates. You could power the world on the energy of these little bodies.

Skyler is my tireless little craft buddy. Often times Mason's nap is when I haul out my latest project. Skyler is always ready to get a piece of the action, I usually let him share in whatever supplies I am working with and we get to work peacefully side by side.

My greatest labor of love as of recent has been the compilation of my craft room. Yes, I changed the rooms upstairs uhhhh-gain. Skyler reclaimed the room that was the play room, Mason took over Skye's old room, and what was once Mason's nursery is now my very own craft room. I repainted it (with my mom's assistance) a few weeks back, hung up a massive pegboard (with my dad's assistance) for storage, and thanks to pinterest I have been brimming over with ideas on how to fill in the rest of space. It is nearing completion and will make it's debut here very soon. All this to say the boys and I have been spending a lot of time in this room as I hack away at my little projects. Here they are playing with some old oil pastels that were unearthed with the recent clearance of my parent's attic space (and all of my old belongings). The boys have been having fun with their new 'crayons'.

Last but not least, we had a first this past weekend in that I went to my first live theater performance con ninos. Skyler had been to see a performance with his Great Aunt Kai in December, but this was Mason's first theater experience. We went with my mom to see The Magic School Bus and I am pleased and relieved to say that both boys did great. It was an hour long performance and only in the last five minutes did Mason start getting antsy. Even then he was willing to settle and sit on my lap until it was all over. Skyler declared it "too fun" and Mason left the theater shouting, "I wike it, I wike it!". I think that means two thumbs up.

Valentine

2012-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

Today is Skyler's Valentines Day celebration at school. Little man was pretty psyched about getting to share (and receive) cards and goodies with his friends. Not sure where I had seen the idea I used to make his cards (likely Pinterest), but I am pretty pleased with how his valentines turned out. The older the kiddos get, the more fun it is to work on projects with them. It makes me pretty happy that they both enjoy creating as much as I do. Skye helped out with inserting the suckers and writing all of his classmates names on the back of the cards, no small task as a four year old. Happy (almost) Valentine's Day from Skyler!

My little Valentine model

Hard to see, but the sucker is inserted through the picture where Skye's hand is.

So done with this mom, time for school (and treats!)

Mason the builder

2012-02-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

Just another day in the life of Mason, mega-blok architect...

I hereby proclaim this castle totally awesome

Ugh, spotted again by mom as I am about my everyday business

I said no photos!

I totally forgive you, popcorn for snack helps

More adventures in DIY

2012-02-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas brought me a sewing machine of my very own and I finally got around to breaking it in. I am the very definition of a novice in the realm of sewing, so the fact that my first project didn't end up as a wad of fabric was a win for me. I had inherited this great mustard colored fabric and knew exactly where I wanted it to go: the kitchen. Our house came with a full set of grimy white vertical blinds. I HATE vertical blinds. But, I also am not a fan of having our house open for the world to look in on, so until I can replace them with more attractive coverings they have to stay. The amount of fabric I had to work with and the space I had to fill above our sink matched up just right though, and curtains seemed like a good place to start my new sewing ventures. So tadaa!

Not bad if I do say so myself, though we aren't going to be discussing how they are just the teensiest bit too short. Practice will make perfect, right?

Skyler says...

2012-02-01T20:01:00.000-08:00

Tonight at bed time:

Skyler: We learned about Pterodactyls today at school. They are like Pteranodons, from Dinosaur Train.

Me: Oh really?

Skyler: Yes. And they come out of eggs, but they aren't hungry because they eat some of their egg before. They are called food eggs.

Me: Wow, I didn't know that.

Skyler: Yes. You have to feed them. But little kids don't have dinosaur food. So what do you feed them?

Me: Well, did you find out if they are herbivores or carnivores?

Skyler: Um, well I think they eat both like us. But we are built for speed. Hey Mom, next time you go for a run I think you should wear your glasses because I don't want you to run into any signs.

Me: Thanks pal, I will.

End scene

Handsome devils

2012-02-01T16:40:00.000-08:00

We had a little photo shoot today in preparation for a little project I have in mind for Valentine's Day. I know I am biased but surely you can agree that my little guys clean up pretty well. My parents got the boys these nice clothes, business clothes as Skyler calls them, for Christmas and they have been biding their time in the closet until an occasion that calls for more than the usual scrubs. Skyler actually really likes getting all dressed up, I think the clip on ties really sell it for him especially.

Mason, munching on the piece of candy (bribe) he received for putting up with Mommy

There is a fine line between hugging and choking

A rare, normal smile

And the much more common goof face

Sweet boys

And on a totally unrelated note, I got glasses! I am an official four-eyes now.

My eyesight has gradually worsened throughout and following my pregnancies, settling now into definite nearsightedness. I finally conceded and went in for a visit with the optometrist and walked away with the news that I needed glasses with a very mild prescription that would aid with distance vision (driving, etc.). Nothing I didn't already know, and really no big deal. Coming from a family with a history of poor vision all around, this was going to come my way eventually. One more sign that I *might* be getting older. As if the grey hairs weren't enough of a tell.

Skyler gets his shred on

2012-01-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

I am sure there are many moments that are documented on this blog that will one day make my boys so glad their mother had a camera. Or not. This may be one of those. Skyler knows that I have exercise videos, the 30 day shred included, and has tried to keep up with me the few times I have used them during his waking hours. Today though he asked to do his "exercises" all on his own, hence the following:

Soccer star part deux

2012-01-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

We started the boys up with soccer again, though this was the first time participation was plural with both Skyler and Mason in their own classes. We were really excited for Mason to get his first taste of an "athletic" class as he is one agile little monkey. With absolutely no credit to his parents (well, perhaps a bit from Andy) Mason is the possessor of some pretty impressive skills. I know it seems a bit ridiculous to say this of an almost three year old, but I really do think his coordination is above average. Watching him focus and set himself up for kicking, it's clear that any and all sports genes we had to bestow ended up here. Again, I may just be biased. He really enjoys his class and it clearly gives him a boost having this special time be just for him. P.S. Excuse the blurriness of the photos, they were shot through the plastic partition.

I actually have a picture of Andy in this exact same pose from his HS soccer days

Soccer practice for this set also includes balloons and bubbles

Aaaand a little parachute time

To round it out, here's a couple of videos of our littlest soccer stud in action:

Snow-mah-gah! 2012

2012-01-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

I don't like the snow. I enjoyed snow up until the point when I actually had to learn to live everyday life in it during our sojourn in Spokane. Driving, walking, trying to entertain small children while confined by snow... all of these equals snow me-no-likey. I thought that with our exceptionally mild winter and the entrance of January we had avoided the snow this year. Wrong. It snowed. It snowed a little bit the first day, and then a little bit more the second. I can appreciate the snow for the small increments of joy it can bring the boys now, especially since they are getting to be more resilient and tolerant of the wet and cold. It still doesn't mean we are friends. Here's hoping this was just a fluke and the snow stays away indefinitely.

Skyler was the first to insist on gearing up and getting out. He brought the snowballs to me, since I remained indoors (and warm)

Fortunately Daddy was willing to play in the snow with them. Look at that stellar parenting.

Thanks Dad

Starting the snow man

Snow day 1 ends, the snowman stood sentinel to the onslaught of new snow to arrive that night

The best way to clear the slide, snow plow!

Wheeeeeee!

Checking in on the snow man

Making a few snow angels too

Preparing for the now rather slippery slide. Poor kiddo shot off the end of the slide like a greased pig.

Laaaaazzzzy

2012-01-17T17:20:00.001-08:00

Weekends are the best around here. Especially three day weekends like the one we just experienced. We wake up slowly, the adults indulge in a little extra coffee and the boys get a little more bacon than they perhaps need. Cartoons get watched, and yes some video games get played. We have even started sitting down with the boys to school them in slower art of board games, an exercise in patience for us all but well worth it. Sometimes Daddy even pulls out all the stops and converts the living room into one big pillow pit/fort, the monstrous mess standing all the way through Monday until Mommy just can't stand the disaster any more. We lounge in the clothes we slept in (all day) and just enjoy each others company. It may not be everybody's idea of perfect, but it's mine.

Raclette

2012-01-14T23:53:00.000-08:00

So raclette, have other people heard of this? A tabletop grill, meats, cheeses and veggies and lots of them. We had friends over for dinner and had our first raclette experience, even the kiddos joined in. The communal eating experience along with the company made for a very enjoyable evening.

Dads dining

Waiting for his vittles to finish cooking

Devin monitoring his meal

Mae, waiting so patiently

My eating champ, kiddo can eat

Ellie wins for cutest party guest

Foggy day out

2012-01-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

We left this morning thinking that the bits of sun streaming through our low fog surely meant better weather was near. I figured this would especially be true since the park I had in mind is situated on a hill, closer to the sun - right? Well we made it to the park and lo, the fog was still quite present. Nothing daunted the boys still had a good time racing up and down the hills and running out some of that inexhaustible little people energy.

Playground sentinel

The ongoing quest to get a good brother picture

Goofy things

Downhill racers

Jazz hands!

Sweet face

Putting a little Captain in my day

2012-01-08T15:15:00.000-08:00

Sadly there was no rum involved, but a little face paint did make me two (happy) little captains. Who became rather smeared pirates by the end of the day.

His best pirate face

Skyler attempting to assist me in getting Mason to turn his face more towards the light. What an able little photographer's assistant I have.

Note that Mason received a much more abstract version of Skye's pirate face. A two year old does not sit so well as a four year old apparently.

Beware the smiling pirate

Little goose

The Big Day, Christmas recap at last

2012-01-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

I awoke Christmas morning to the persistent nagging of someone insisting we wake up and get to the gift giving. Hint: it wasn't the kids. Andy, at the unsavory hour of six a.m., wanted permission to go and wake our children so his Christmas could start. I too was excited to see the boys wake up with the knowledge that Santa had come and gone, but my excitement was significantly tempered by my desire to also remain immobile for another hour. We compromised on another half hour of sleep and then woke the kiddos up to see what Santa had brought.

We started with the stockings...

...and moved on to the big stuff

Two happy guys right here

After our little family Christmas we picked up our sad, sick selves and moved on to Christmas number two at Andy's parents house, thankfully buoyed by the holiday high of our two little guys.

Mason is currently obsessed with puzzles

Perched atop Aunt Jessie's shoulders watching brother enjoy the gift of the day

Skyler asked for two things from Santa...

Number one: A bike

Number two...

...a telescope! Wish fulfilled at Christmas number three over at my parent's house

The end

A special gift

2012-01-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

While the boys, Andy, and I were all the very fortunate recipients of a mountain of gifts this Christmas I do have to take the time to stop and blog about one in particular. On Christmas Eve when our mercy tamale brigade arrived they also came bearing a surprise gift for all of us, something that I absolutely never expected. Let me back up a minute (and a couple of years). When we first moved into our house it was in sad, SAD shape. It had been a foreclosure and either the vacating owners took their vengeance as they left or they lived in some really nasty conditions. The carpets were filthy and bore several large stains from what I hope were animals, the entire house was dirty and grimy, I refused to even put Skyler down to walk in it until we had it professionally cleaned. And outside our recently purchased diamond in the rough, perched on our backyard cement patio was a bench. A bench of unknown origins and made of wood so decrepit that it only served as fodder for the wasps who would swarm it in the warmer months to scavenge for their nest building material. Nice, right? One day we sent the bench off with my parents, to the dump I had assumed and out of my sight and mind. Christmas Eve that bench reappeared in what can only be called a miraculous reincarnation. People I wish I had a before photo of this bench because never in it's prior life did it look like this:

My Dad is the possessor of some incredible woodworking skills because I could never have envisioned that piece of trash coming back to my porch looking like it does. The wood is new, found through one of my Dad's other skills: Craigslist scavenging, the frame was refinished, and this baby even comes with a dedicated plaque:

We were amazed and so grateful to be gifted with this newly made piece of our house's past. Thanks Dad!

Catching Up: Christmas Eve

2012-01-02T22:08:00.000-08:00

I think I have put off getting to my pile-o-Christmas pictures for long enough, time to get back to (blog) business. Our Christmas was swallowed whole by what can only be described as the worst cold I have had the displeasure to encounter in a long time. It started out subtly enough, a sore throat which took a couple of days to develop and left me deceived thinking it would go no further. Wrong. It took me down a couple of pegs, robbing me of a normal speaking voice and any and all energy reserves. The congestion and grossness came several days after that when I again mistakenly thought I had begun to recover from this demon illness. All the while the rest of my housemates began to fall prey as well, Mason joined me in a near identical version of the cold though he retained his energy. Not even demon colds can rob a two year old of energy. Andy, though not sick to the level I managed to stoop to, managed to mutate the disease to include stomach ailments all the while trying to power through work. Skyler passed through the storm almost unscathed, a little congestion and an ear infection that came on fast and furious and totally out of left field. Writing this all out really allows me to reflect on just what a sad pile of sickies we really were. We shunned most planned events in hopes of preventing the spread of the demon cold, which meant a lot of shifting and cancelling. One of the nights affected first was Christmas Eve, the night where we have made a tradition of gathering the families to make and enjoy tamales. Clearly shared food production wasn't an ideal activity for our family germ factory. We were saved by a mercy mission by my parents as well as my brother and Maggie. They brought us some of the fruits of their tamale production, Christmas Eve presents for all of us, and even a gingerbread man for decorating. It brightened up our otherwise dull and sickly entrance into Christmas.

First presents of Christmas (from us). Andy convinced me that it was only humane to allow the boys to open their Christmas Eve presents that morning.

The boys did not lack for presents that evening anyways

Few can match the fervor of a two year old opening Christmas presents

Getting things ready for gingerbread man time

The little decorator at work

Defending the cookie that would be left for Santa's feast

Sick day cookie making

2011-12-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

We have been struck down by one of the many winter cold hybrids floating around, ours consisting of sore throats and the desire to sleep the day away. We all seem to have varying degrees of the same illness, Mason and I being the main targets with Andy then Skyler trailing in our wake. It's gross up in here. Nonetheless, it is the holiday season and Christmas is looming large so we pulled it together and had a cookie making day. I promise there was plenty of hand washing involved and no innocent cookies were contaminated in the process.

Skyler is an awesome kitchen assistant. He is a regular helper with dinner and was an excellent cookie sous chef

First batch of cookies down. Andy dubs these the "Best Cookies in the World"

Blending some walnuts for round two, Mexican Wedding Cakes

Mason was fairly disinterested in the cookie production. Have I mentioned Mason NEVER goes anywhere empty handed? He always has a variation of the following: Finn McMissile, Monkey (from Kung Fu Panda), Cyclops, Francesco (not pictured), and a sad rubber whale that he calls a shark and is on its last legs...er, fins.

Rollin' away

The Symphony, a first

2011-12-20T09:29:00.002-08:00

Skyler got the chance to go on a date with his Great Aunt Kai this past weekend to the Oregon Symphony as they were having a production which involved two of Skyler's newest loves: Santa and the Grinch. Sidenote: Skyler actually believes the Grinch is called "Mr. The Grinch" because of the way his name is sung in the cartoon movie. Cute. So he was very excited to have another reason to don his sweater vest and go out for his first time to the symphony and get some special one on one time with his Great Aunt. From all accounts he had a great time and behaved wonderfully, he is already excited to make a repeat of it next year and was pretty taken by the advertisements for The Nutcracker. While they were doing all this we (Andy and I) got to take Mason out to a movie all on our own, Arthur Christmas. We didn't get to stay for the whole thing, due to poor time management on my part and the inevitable antsy nature of a two year old, but what we did see was hilarious and totally worth it for the joy it clearly brought to Mason.

Pre-symphony photo with his date

Picture courtesy of Great Aunt Kai of our little symphony goer

Skyler takes the stage

2011-12-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

We had another first today, Skyler participated in his first Christmas program. I am sure that several years from now the novelty of seeing my child stuffed into a sweater vest and propped up amongst his peers tunelessly singing Christmas songs will have lost it's shine. But today, today was the very first time and getting to see my big boy up there looking adorable in his reindeer hat and performing without a hitch - that was pretty awesome. Skyler is not a performer, not for an audience at least. He has a rich imagination and is really the goofiest thing you'll ever encounter in a four year old body, but I really did not know how this whole singing in front of a crowd of people thing would go over. I got him up this morning and dressed him in his finest holiday digs, sweater vest included, and didn't even mention the impending program until we were nearly at his school. This is the kid who was so anxious over picture day he almost refused to go to school, so I figured he would behave in a similar fashion for this event. He surprised me though, he was really excited that his family would be coming to his school and he was pretty pumped about being dressed in his "handsome" clothes for his program. The time came and the fleet of four and five year old's took the stage and everything was just fine. He did the hand motions, he occasionally looked to his neighbors to see what he was supposed to be doing, and though we couldn't specifically hear him he at least was mouthing the words correctly. Amazing, I have a four year old and he does things like perform in Christmas programs.

Cutest darn reindeer ever

One of the teachers herding cats *ahem* the children

Pleased as punch after the program, waiting for his goodie bag

Here's a video of one of their songs, the lighting was pretty bad and the sound is really just a din of preschoolers singing. Skyler is in the top row and starts out towards the right of the frame.

Santa Breakfast

2011-12-13T08:40:00.000-08:00

The parade of Christmas activities continued this past Saturday as we joined Skyler and much of his preschool at their annual Santa Breakfast. Skyler had been anxiously anticipating this event all the week prior, asking every school day if it as just regular school or if Santa was going to be there that morning. It was a nice little outing that included mass produced breakfast foods, arts and crafts, and of course Mr. Claus himself.

Not many people look this excited about pipe cleaners

Making our candy canes, which barely survived the ride home and now are scattered in various bits near and around our tree

Crafting with this pair always takes patience, but it's always also worth it

Lumberjacks and Christmas Eggos

2011-12-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

Temperatures have dropped significantly around here so it's bundled boys every time we make an exit. I finished dressing Mason the other day and turned around to realize that I had assembled the perfect little lumberjack. All he was missing was his trusty blue ox.

I suppose Paul Bunyan might not have had lime green wellies though

My little blue eyes

Then we have my little chef who woke up the other morning and announced that he wanted to make his own breakfast. He then proceeded to get out his own Eggos, pop them in the toaster, then spread them liberally with peanut butter. All unassisted mind you. He as quite proud of his creation and asked me to take a picture of this: his Christmas Eggo. I suppose it's a Christmas one because the dollop atop the Eggo is vaguely Christmas tree shaped? Or perhaps it's just special and therefore worthy of a Christmas title?

The masterpiece

Adventures in child rearing

2011-12-08T08:46:00.000-08:00

So I let my four year old go out on our roof...

Yep. To be fair, this is my oldest child who is very safety cautious, very responsible, and he was in a very safe location. Well, as safe as a location on the roof of our house can be. He was being Daddy's helper acting as the provider of hooks to secure the Christmas lights to the gutters. He spent the entire time on his bum, backed up against the side of the house under his playroom window. By the way, he loved it. He loves any opportunity to be a "Big" guy, and especially when it means helping his Daddy.

In Skye's words, he was the "hook giver-outer"

Everyone made it back into the window safely and our house now looks cheerily festive. I should also mention that later this day I was on a run through our neighborhood and came upon another son and father pair up on a roof. The little boy looked to be Skyler's age and the worried mother on the ground looked to be about mine. The difference? This duo had made it up to the very peak of their rooftop, and the little boy was shrieking his head off in terror. So, our experience was pretty tame and I am glad my husband lacks the daring but possesses the brain cells to not have hauled our boy up further. It's the little things.

Tree Time

2011-12-04T22:24:00.000-08:00

We spent much of this past weekend knocking tasks off our pre-Christmas to do list. We saw Santa, got the lights up on our house (another post on it's own), and got our tree. We went back to the same place we visited last year (Windy Hill Farm) and once again had a very pleasant experience. The boys patrolled through the tree fields in search of the perfect tree, which Skyler was surprisingly picky about. One was too poofy, another didn't have "enough on top". We really had to see him on the one we did choose, I think the real issue was that he didn't want to the experience to end, he would have been quite content to wander in an out of those rows for the rest of the morning. Mason enjoyed stomping around in his boots and taking advantage of the extra thrill running away and hiding behind the trees offered.

Rockin' Daddy's shades

Our contemplative tree picker

Fortunately we had extra Mason chasers to hand

Is this where the baby goes? We're not very good at this

Hot chocolate bribery for a 'nice' brother picture

Dressing the tree

The goose wanted a picture with the tree, this is what he gave me

Tadaa!

Santa!

2011-12-04T21:36:00.000-08:00

The boys got to meet the big man today, something Skyler has been anxiously anticipating and Mason was oblivious to but was willing to buy into the mania his brother was hyping. We were fortunate there wasn't too much of a wait, a big plus with two antsy kiddos less than ten feet from their prize. Skyler politely requested his items and I heard Mason mumbling something along the lines of "Wolve-a-ween, pease". He's a big fan of the X-Men as of late. They both left elated from the experience and are now more keen than ever for the arrival of Christmas.

That time of year

2011-11-29T10:15:00.000-08:00

As a P.S. on this post, Andy has been quietly dying inside ever since the demise of our camera con video approximately two years ago. This is what happens when you allow too many close encounters with said camera and a then two year old Skyler. I have taken occasional videos with our less then stellar phones, but those are always grainy and limited by the phone memory. I finally got around to buying a cheap little recorder for the express purpose of catching our children in motion. Hopefully Andy can stop crying now. That was a long post script.

Turkey Day 2011

2011-11-27T22:13:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving day was a busy but pleasant one this year. We started the day out with scones and coffee with my half of the family, spent the middle on our own, shot over for some time with Andy's half, and then came back home for our meal as a family of four. Per usual Andy did the cooking and he did a wonderful job with the turkey. The boys soaked up all the family time and made minimal dents in the turkey day grub. They have yet to realize the true genius of this holiday, a license to eat. I am sure this isn't a problem that will last long.

Andy started the turkey prep amidst our coffee assembly

Jammies as noon and Daddy love

Quality computer game time, my little family of nerds

Star of the day, yummmmmm

Enjoying Aunt Kai's new (3D) TV with Great Grandma

Yesterday

2011-11-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

We had a laaaazy day yesterday. Early preparations for today's meal were made, small outings were had, but for the most part we stayed to home and did not much at all.

Chef Skyler had a hand in the kitchen work

Smells good

Mason made a break for the outdoors, rain be damned

He lasted all of ten minutes before deciding inside movie time was a better idea

A super awesome lunch of hot dog octopi rounded it out

One person's disgusting (mine) is another kid's favorite. Skyler and Mason gave this four thumbs up

We are men

2011-11-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

It's the simple things around here. For example, my mom picked up some little boy sized undershirts for Skyler and Mason. They had instant appeal for Skyler since he has seen Andy wear just such a garment while cooking dinner or just lounging around the house. Clothing Daddy wears equals instantly awesome. Following in this vein, clothing that Skyler thinks is cool Mason then automatically covets and desires to imitate. You can see where this is going. Tonight when the boys changed into their "comfy" clothes out came the undershirts and Daddy joined in on the action.

This is Mason's intense "I am beefcake!" face

Somehow Skye's macho man pose morphed into a babies on the bus go wahwahwah face

Studs, obvy

All that posing wears a guy out

Love my men

Big kids

2011-11-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

We had some of the boy's favorite girls over yesterday, and they brought snacks! The big kids (Skyler and Mae) were enlisted to help prepare the oranges and watermelon for consumption, they did some sampling along the way of course. I just can't believe how big these kiddos are now, preschoolers when it seems just like yesterday they were little droolers. The time, she flies.

My child is so good at multi-tasking

Mae telling me that she just can't stop eating the watermelon

Skyler decided to bypass taking the orange segments apart and was just eating the peels globes whole

His reaction to my suggestion that he should save some of the oranges for other people

Does not compute

2011-11-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

A little while back we inherited some "old" VHS tapes from Andy's parents collection. Our intention is to set a VCR up for the boys use so that this can be their own personal video library.

We haven't quite gotten to the VCR point yet, and as you can see Mason decided to take things into his own hands this morning. He wanted to watch Free Willy, darn it!

What the what? Mom, this DVD is jacked.

VHS Fail

My morning

2011-11-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

Since Skyler has started preschool three out of our five weekday mornings start out with a preset schedule. We all need to be up by a certain hour to make sure that we can exit the casa fed/dressed/presentable for the world with the right amount of time to make it to the door of Skye's school, which is approximately twenty minutes from our door. So on the two other (non-school) days in our week we have a markedly less rigorous start to our morning. Oh we always make it out of the house, to errands or play dates or grandparents houses, but those first hours after waking we cuddle on the couch and linger over breakfast and cartoons. On this morning's menu: strawberries, Life cereal, coffee (for me), milk (for them). On the televisor today: a little throwback with Gummi Bears, thanks to the magic of old school made new in DVD sets.

If this picture had audio it would sound like Skyler singing the Gummi Bear theme song, out of tune but awesome

I like to think having small children, and boys no less, has made me accept the strangest circumstances without question. Band-aid on the stair railing? Nothing odd. Mason playing with a measuring tape and lion he calls McSimba (Finn McMissile+Simba), standard protocol.

Bucket of toys half dumped and photos askew, yep

And of course our biggest goof. This is the face he makes when saying, "I love you Daddy!"

New Blog Alert

2011-11-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, this ol' blog isn't going anywhere BUT I have started a new one in addition. For a while now Andy and I have tossed around the idea of using a blog format to document his culinary endeavors (I've mentioned he's an awesome cook, right?) and we are finally doing it. My hope is that it will act as an inspiration for us to write down all his successes and I think too that it will be fun to share his food with the wider world. So allow me to introduce you to MHM: My Husband Makes Good Food. Can't much miss the point there can you? If you ever want to take a peek and see what we've been eating around here there is a new link in the sidebar as well. Enjoy!

Halloween, the main event

2011-11-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Halloween was (as expected) a lot of fun this year. We have had the tradition these past few years of inviting all our local family over for food and following the kiddos around for trick or treating. The boys are so lucky to have so much of their extended family so close, having them around really makes these events for them. It's nice to share the love for us too, these kinds of holidays really are made for little people and watching them experience it is too good to not share.

The boy's took our some of their holiday frenzy on Aunt Jessie who put up with their ninja attacks

Goodies, because all the candy wasn't enough

There were shots for both big and small. I promise theirs was just juice.

At least I am pretty certain...

Happy Skye with Nana Witch

Mason was still rocking the drunk face

And the trick or treating of course. They boy's got quite the haul, and it was pretty tough to convince Skyler to end the night.

Happy Birthday Nana!

2011-11-01T08:44:00.001-07:00

Lucky Nana, she gets to have her birthday around Halloween. This means two things: super excited boys who get confused and think it's actually Halloween, and a Halloween themed cake.

See?

He wears his sunglasses at night. With his galoshes.

Trying to get the cake to Nana without one or both of the boys blowing out the candles proved to be a challenge

Best part

Stop! Carving Time

2011-10-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

Two days to Halloween and it was time to turn our pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns. My parents joined us and everyone participated in the action. Skyler and Mason don't quite possess the responsibility or dexterity to be knife wielders just yet but Mason took over painting (his pumpkin and others) and Skyler scooped guts and dished out carving directions.

He started with his pumpkin. Then moved onto Daddy's, and a little bit of his own hair...

Goose

Cleaning crew

Mason amidst the dessication

No squeamishness here

The finished product and my goofy children off in their own world

Better smiles for the grandparents

First (and Best) School Picture

2011-10-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Holy moly guys, not only is my oldest old enough to be getting a school picture but he also happened to take THE cutest school picture. Ever. I don't think I have ever loved a school picture this much (actually I can assure you that I have not). It so perfectly captures just how sweet and goofy our Skye guy really is. I'm pretty pleased too that he got a good smile in there for them, something I wasn't sure he would pull off. Truth be told he was quite nervous on the day of school pictures and it was a near thing convincing him to even go to school that day. He hasn't once had qualms about going to school until school pictures came into, well, the picture. He got over it though, and thank goodness because this is something I am going to treasure forever and bring out to embarrass him with his cuteness on many occasions.

Pumpkin Patch v.2011

2011-10-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

The boys got their much awaited (and anticipated) trip to ye olde pumpkin patch this past weekend and, miracle of miracles, it was our first tantrum free experience with the patch. There were a few moments where it was evident tempers were wearing thin but in general the kiddos stayed in check and had an awesome two plus hours wandering the farm. We picked our pumpkins (of course), and then the boys visited with the animals,played in the corn bin, climbed in and around hay bales, launched pumpkins... oh, and got their faces painted. Phew. We did a lot of stuff apparently. Skyler was very appreciative that we visited the exact same farm that his class had visited just a week prior. Mason was very appreciative that he finally got to see what all this pumpkin patch noise was about. Mommy and Daddy were appreciative for two happy boys who comported themselves well and left the premises without any major public scenes of shame. Yay, family win!

Pumpkins with our pumpkins, awwwww

Mason ditched me and took up the seat next to Gampa on the hayride

Daddy's helpers. Note the good natured look of resignation Andy has on his face.

Where's the keys for this thing?

First face painting experience. He did awesome of course.

Here comes the Spiderman!

Surprising us all, Mason insisted on getting his face painted exactly like brother's. Most surprising of all was how well he sat for the experience.

Fly pumpkin!

No fear, this kid

Fall trail walk

2011-10-23T15:45:00.000-07:00

We went for a little trail walk/short run for the parents yesterday. The skies were dry and the weather was mild enough that we all enjoyed being out in the fall air. The boys stomped in puddles, climbed some fallen logs, and plopped rocks in the stream. In other words they had a fantastic time. Andy and I enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs and get in some short jogs, which have become far and few between with the earlier onset of dark and wet fall weather.

Monkey see, monkey do

Picking "flowers" for mommy

Galoshes, perfect fall hike accessory

Running in boots is harder than it looks

Photo credit: Mason

They're goofy, and I prefer them that way

Sick day and making do

2011-10-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

We all have been enjoying the first cold of the season. It started with Mason, moved on to Skyler, and made a casual swipe at me. Andy has remained unaffected thus far, though he maintains that his turn for family illness usually comes as we all return to health so the next day or so could be telling. Most unfortunately this little bout of snottiness and sore throats coincided directly with Skyler's preschool trip to the pumpkin patch. Skyler woke up the morning of the planned trip at the very height of his sickness and I had to add insult to injury by informing him that he was too sick to go on his field trip. Worst start to a Monday ever. I felt so bad for the poor little guy, who even more sadly did his best to process the judgement and said he understood but still was very sad and had a couple of good cries over it. Determined to make the most of the day still I gathered the boys up and we all met up with Gamma for a treat at Starbucks and trip to the store to buy ourselves some mini pumpkins for painting. A trip to the patch is in order for this weekend, so hopefully that will go even further to making reparations for poor Skye's disappointment. The boys did have fun, snot not withstanding, and Mason did a stellar job with his first time painting.

Painting his pun-kin gold. Every color Skyler chose Mason then followed suit.

The little artists at work

Skye named his four pumpkins: Mr. Pumpkin, Simba, Nala, and Zazu.

Must. Concentrate.

Note the orderliness of his pumpkins, definitely my kid

My yard service

2011-10-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Things have officially gone soggy around here, sunny days have turned to sun breaks and the yard is slowing it's usual growth. We did need to tidy up just a little bit before officially ceasing to mow for the winter so Andy and the boys worked together to tame the jungle we affectionately refer to as our yard.

Skyler was charged with removing the extra dirt our friends the moles left for us

Full sized shovel, pint sized laborer

Mason was also to share in this chore, but...

...he decided being Daddy's tagalong looked like more fun

Real men mow and tow (children that is)

Fortuitous

2011-10-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

I have a bad habit. I have a tendency to tuck things away and then completely forget where I "stored" them. Better yet I also often forget that the object even existed, until one ambitious day I set myself to cleaning out closets and cracks and come upon all these hidden treasures. A recent rediscovery? A whiiiiiiile back (yes, this has been hidden for some time) my MIL passed on her old Canon with a couple of lenses to the package. I was really happy to receive them at the time and had great plans to put them to use. Then, and who knows how, I stuffed them into the cabinets in the laundry room (duh) and ceased to recall their existence. Lucky me I decided to reorganize and completely purge our laundry pit (pit no more!) and rediscovered these lost lenses. And just today I sat down and popped the macro lens on my Canon and here you go, a midday snack turned photo opportunity.

Mmmm, honeycrisp

Your wallet and keys please?

Devious squared

The eternal ham

Enough!

TMNT Fever

2011-10-06T22:40:00.000-07:00

It started out with an occasional viewing of the classic early nineties movie. Then the boys unearthed the ninja turtles (or as Masey pronounces it: "Inja Turls") that had been hiding at the bottom of our inherited bin of Andy's old action figures. The fever picked up some speed, especially in Mason's camp, and now... now we have costumes, and the sickness is full fledged. We have some serious TMNT converts on our hands. Andy should have known better than to introduce our boys to the way of the ninja.

The snarl on Skye's mask adds drama I think

Raphael photo bombing

Some Leonardo face time

Getting the bad guy, of course

All while the real deal plays in the background

Go ninja, Go ninja, Go!

2011-10-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

Super low quality but totally adorable and awesome video of Mason in first possession of his new Halloween costume.

Trike-a-thon

2011-10-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Today was Skyler's preschool Trike-a-thon, or really it was a scooter-a-thon for him as he does not possess a trike and isn't really scheduled for a bike until possibly Christmas. He was not alone in his scooter usage, several of the kiddos brought their scooters and by the end quite a few of them were just running around the track hand in hand. Fortunately I was able to stick around and help tally the laps as the kiddos made their rotations. It was also a lot of fun to get to sit on the sidelines in the beginning of Skyler's classroom day and watch as he interacted with his teachers and peers. I am really pleased with how this whole preschool experience has gone thus far and I know Skyler shares my opinion. Back to the Trike(Scoot)-a-thon. Skyler managed to do seven laps at a moderate pace, done in ten minutes time, and put himself in the middle range of the kid's overall rate. One little boy put them all to shame and shot his way to twenty some laps zipping around on his little bike. Skye was pleased with his performance and was a little disappointed when it was all over, but he quickly transitioned back to their regular classroom activities and was quite the happy camper when I picked him up at the end of their day. One thing he can knock off his preschool bucket list.

Teacher led them all around the track once on foot to get them used to the terrain

Skyler was in the 'pit stop' for the first half of the activity, here he is snacking amidst a sea of pink

Getting ready for some serious scootering

He had a couple of close calls but always caught himself before the fall

Final lap

Halloween prep

2011-09-28T16:15:00.000-07:00

The little gremlins always get a little antsy in the hour that precedes Daddy getting home. Yesterday we decided to fill that time with a little impromptu craft. Sidebar: Skyler has been encouraged at preschool to help serve himself snacks, which means he has been learning to portion out his own food and pour his own drinks. Stuff he is totally capable of doing, I just have never thought to let him do at home. This being the case he asked to get their afternoon snack together yesterday, which he did quite skillfully and even doled out appropriate portions. The only plates he can reach on his own though are paper plates kept in our pantry. Once they finished their snacks we decided to dust off the plates and repurpose them as "spooky" masks. Skyler's stated intention was to make a mask soooo scary that it would "spook Daddy and make him pee his pants". Fortunately for me, since I do the laundry around here, this wasn't exactly the case. It was pretty darn cute though to see them both poke their little heads out the front door when Daddy did finally arrive.

"No Mason, look at Mommy and roar!"

There, a full frontal ROAR!

Note the scary teeth Skyler insisted his mask needed

Jazz hands!

Coming soon, rain

2011-09-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

A while back someone who had recently relocated from the sunny state of California asked me when exactly the rainy season ended around here. To which I fear I gave her a rather depressing answer, that the rain around here is not so much a season but more a part of a general spongy existence. I complain, I know I do, but such is the price of our greenery and I really would prefer living under excessive grey skies then consistently ninety degree ones.

I took these photos a few weeks back and promptly forgot about them, what with all of our school preparation. It wasn't actually raining that day, just cool enough for a jacket and appealing enough for the boys to want to play with their umbrellas outside. Goofy things. Give it a few weeks, or even just a few more days, and the weather will oblige them for some real puddle jumping.

Masey's favorite thing to do, hiding

Marching off into the wilds

Little elf

Brothers in arms

Not just yet

2011-09-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

With all the new adjustments to our schedule with the onset of Skyler's preschool hours I had begun to think that now was the time to bid adieu to Mason's remaining afternoon nap. A few times he just caught snippets of sleep coming back from picking up brother from school, managing to make it through the rest of the day reasonably well with just this little bit of extra sleep to go on. I know that when Skyler finally gave up the nap, or I should say when I finally gave it up, it was fall time and at about this same age. Less energy is spent when cooped up indoors and between the ages of 2 and 3 tends to be the average age age of nap disappearance. So I figured I would take it away, before it was taken from me. Honestly so much goes on in a day in the life of living with two kiddos that I don't rely on the break of naps as I did when it was just Skyler. So yesterday and today I tried it, no naps. Yesterday? Definite bouts of manic energy towards the end of the day. Today, well as seen in the photo above he made it to about 4 and had a tantrum over nothing which ended in him ultimately slumping (and drooling) on my shoulder for about an hour. Guess we just aren't there yet.

The kids get crafty too

2011-09-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

More and more I find the best way to entertain the boys whilst indoors is to plop them down with some art supplies. This is most likely to result in a shared activity that won't end in screaming and pushing as they are both intent on their own works of art. The other day while I was involved in the less fun activity of unloading the dishwasher the boys were doodling away and I was quite surprised to look up and see this:

Skyler's first unassisted stick figure! My child is a prodigy

Contrary to what the expression looks like to the untrained eye these guys are actually smiling (I was informed). The blue one is Skyler (note the brown eyes). He is wearing pants. I am located directly below him and appear to be sporting the correct color of hair, if not the correct length. You also can apparently see the food that I am eating which unfortunately is depicted as brown. I think Skye was running low on creative juices by the time he got to drawing Andy (in the brown) as he is the least formed of us all and is shown bald. Mason (seen in the top drawing) is not much more than a squiggly mass of brown marker, though he suffers no lack of hair as in Andy's case.

Then there is Masey, who I will admit has been kept away from most art supplies up until recently because I just was not up to the task of what might ensue if he was allowed paints/markers/scissors. He beat me to the point, and made his own, the other day when I turned my back and he snitched his brothers scissors and promptly laid into some of the Spiderman masks we had leftover from Skyler's birthday party. He was pretty pleased with himself and handled them with sufficient enough care to now be entrusted with the safety scissors when they are in play.

As you can see the strings were the first to go

Serious business

First day of school, first day of school!

2011-09-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

Skyler had his first day of preschool today and it was roundly declared a success! Andy and I both agree we are glad that we waited to enroll him until now rather than last year, he has matured so much in the past 12 months (even just the last 6) that this milestone came at the perfect time. He has been anxiously awaiting this day, eagerly attending the ice cream social with his 'new friends' a week ago and then excitedly asking me every time we left the house if we were going to school yet. He has come so far in terms of his social shyness and has really opened up to new experiences. This much was evident as we arrived at school today and he quickly left me in the dust, shedding his bag and coat and rushing into his classroom to start the day. I actually had to call him back to say goodbye. Two hours later we returned to a happy boy who actually thought we had come back too soon, he wanted to stay just a leeeetle bit longer. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful thing.

Big guy wanted to do it all for himself today, all the way down to buckling on his own backpack

Our little goof, that is excitement written all over his face

Waiting our turn to drop off his things in his cubby

Taking it all in

Singing the goodbye song and happy to see us

The crafting continues...

2011-09-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

...unabated. For reals people, it has been a crafting blue streak around here. I think I may have hit the end of my current stride, but then I make no promises.

You might recall that a bit ago we were fortunate to have our family photos taken by the most talented Honeysuckle Photography back in June. I have been itching to print those photos out and find somewhere in our home to plaster them. Seeing as I had grown bored with our pretty sparse wall decor on our upstairs landing, I decided to change this:

into this:

All for the cost of a few pictures worth of printing. I have a remarkable amount of unused frames hanging out in my closets, most courtesy of my MIL, and I put them to new use here with a fresh coat of white spray paint. Now all of our smiling faces greet me each time I travel upstairs.

Not content to rearrange just our upstairs hallway I then moved on to our lower level, specifically the little Ikea cabinet that used to sit under our television. I say used to because having officially finished being annoyed by the sagging doors on the front of said cabinet I took them off. Here's one of them:

Here's what I did with the other one:

Old cabinet + chalkboard spray paint = new kitchen adjacent writing surface. And our little cabinet has been relocated next to our front door to better serve our shoe housing needs.

I also painted over an old canvas photo to create this little guy:

Inspired by this

To round it all out I finished it off with one more little craft that was actually a giveaway for some friends whose little boy should be making his appearance anytime now. I have been a little addicted to finding new purposes for some extra mason jars that have been gathering dust in my pantry, so I painted the inside to make home for some little flowers (Asters for their September boy).

Pinterest, you are going to kill me with craftiness.

I want to go to there

2011-09-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

If you watch 30 Rock then you know where the blog title comes from. If you don't, well add that show to your list of must watch shows along with Arrested Development. We went to Cannon Beach yesterday and despite the requisite over-excited four year old meltdown and tail end of the journey get-me-outta-this-car-NOW tantrum from our two year old it was an awesome day. Honestly when preparing for this kind of outing I just hope for the best and expect the worst, so I am never too far off in my expectations. Skyler did get a little overwrought when we first got there and chose to do battle over wanting but not getting a yo-yo he saw in on of the little beach shops, and Mason did decide about five minutes from home that he was DONE with the car. Outside of that it was a sunny, salty, running in the waves, smile on our faces kind of day. Worth it. Skyler spent much of the following evening asking when we can go back to 'Jantzen' beach. A little off in location, but the sentiment was correct.

I have a ton of gleeful running in the surf photos of this kid

It took some acclimation but by the end this kid was mucking it up with the other males

I spent much of my time relocating our belongings as the tide gradually rose

Weeeeeeee!

Beach buddies

Love these boys

Have to bury mom's feet

Many treasures were found

Digging a hole at the tide line is never futile

Teamwork

I was a willing participant in the sand submersion, don't worry

Sometimes

2011-08-31T21:59:00.001-07:00

These photos are actually from about two months ago, I just happened to stumble upon them while sifting through pictures for a little project I am working on. I actually meant to post these but somehow managed to forget about them. What I love about this little series is that it shows how sometimes these two boys truly do love each other's company. If I had to break it down into percentages I would say that about 10% of their interactions are like these, purely joyful in the other's company. Another 10% of the times they are kicking/screaming/shoving/crying in their displeasure with some action the other brother has taken. The remaining 80% of the time is somewhere in the middle and just on the brink of dissolving into either extreme. So here is some of the happy 10%, laughing and tickling each other over a lazy lunch in pajamas.

Mounting his attack, Skyler goes in for the tickle

Mason, not fooled, prepares for tickle torture

Dismounting for a greater advantage in a sneak attack

They crack their own sh*t up

Submitting to a final tickle volley

A sunny Fourth for Mae

2011-08-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the fourth birthday of one of the boy's oldest friends a few weekends ago on an uncharacteristically (hot) sunny day. We sad Northwesterners just aren't built for 90+ temperatures, I am mystified how people live in such sizzling temperatures on a regular basis. As it was we all spent most of the time in the relative comfort under the picnic awning at the park it was held at, occasionally venturing out into the direct sunlight and returning pink cheeked for refreshments. It still amazes me how quickly these kiddos are growing up. Less then a month from now both Mae and Skyler will be venturing off to preschool, *sigh*.

Taking a break from the sun, note Skyler surveying the baked goods

Rosy cheeked cousins

They had a fun little craft with bug catchers, which have also received much use as grasshopper houses back home

The birthday girl and her Daddy

Picking cupcakes takes some serious contemplation

Herding cats, aka gathering all the kiddos into one spot for a group picture

Feeding my addiction

2011-08-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

Confession: I have a crafting illness. There are certain times of the year when it reaches a fever pitch, others where it might lie in relative dormancy, but it is always there waiting to be spurred into action. It's a demon that overtakes me and pays little heed to lesser matters (reasonable bed times, household chores) until it is fed. Which brings me to Pinterest, you've heard of this yes? It is perhaps the single most addicting DIY junkie site that I have had the misfortune to stumble upon. Since joining in the pinning madness I haven't been able to get enough of painting, repurposing, and generally reorganizing our surroundings. This is craft demon level orange. Here's a few things I have been working on:

Turning this (some old novelty soda bottles)...

Into this...

...and this

Boring old coffee cans + new basil plants needing homes

Paint chip collage, free art with the help of the paint section and my scissors

Bubble Beard and his First Mate

2011-08-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

Yaaaaaar!

Checking in on his shipmate's well being

Hygiene is imperative for these pirates (mom says so)

Mom ahoy!

Sunset

2011-08-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's midway through August and already I can feel the onset of fall around the corner. We haven't had much of a summer, and apparently that's going to be the norm now, and our remaining sunny days are numbered. It's usually around this time each year though that Andy and I start getting excited for all that holidays with kiddos means. Especially this year with Mason being older and being ripe for the enjoyment of holiday traditions. Sure we will be trading out warm summer evenings playing in the backyard after dinner, and most assuredly I will bemoan the onset of consecutive rainy days. But crunchy falls leaves and pumpkin patches, fall time outings and the swirl of the Christmas season? I suppose our wintry decline has it's upsides as well.

Conductor Mason looking so serious

Pretending the sprinkler was a car wash

Just about as close to the sprinkler as Mason cares to get

New library

2011-08-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Exciting title, right? It is pretty exciting (for this stay at home mother to two) that our newest library has finally opened. Especially as we near the inevitable onset of our rainy season, the one that just left, having a new (free) indoor area to take the boys is good news. The new library has an entire floor dedicated to the small set and has a lot of great new interactive toys that Skyler and Mason only started to investigate. We'll definitely be making a return visit in the near future.

Making music a communal effort

Skye taking his turn at one of the motion wheels

A small segment of the new kid's floor at FVRL

Masey loves him some "tunnels"

Tamales in August

2011-08-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just can't wait until Christmas for tamales. This was one of those times. That and our friends had requested a tamale making tutorial, so we obliged and we all shared in the delicious results. Many hands made light work and the kiddos had fun playing in the sun while the tamale can (so called because the cooker looks like nothing so much as an aluminum trash can) did it's work.

The assembly line

Finished product, minus a few that somehow managed to explode.

Mae swinging away

Mason swings with a bat, he's rock n' roll that way

Ellie and Daddy Josh sharing the swing

Minus one

2011-08-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

Our little family has been down one Skyler for the past week as he has been off on his own personal vacation at the cabin with Nana and Pa. While Mason has been enjoying the single life and lapping up all the additional parental attention Skyler has been soaking up the sun and living the life of a beach bum. Nana was kind enough to send us some photos so we can see what our biggest little booger has been up to. Anyone else as weirded out by how big he looks in these pictures? Sometimes it just takes someone else's lens to remind me how big this kid is.

It has been brought to my attention...

2011-08-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

...that apparently it's been too long since I posted. Well over a week, mind you. Honestly, life has just been full. Days have been (mostly) sunny, my sinuses have been (completely) out of whack, the evenings have been reserved for work and not blogging. Busy, I would definitely say it has been busy. Oh, and did I mention we had to replace our downstairs toilet? Because a certain someone flushed food items (pickles) down the old one, and that certain someone was not one of my children. Sorry sweetie, you can't have thought that incident would go unblogged.

Anyways, I did manage to pick my camera up once the other day. The kiddos were out playing in the backyard (our play structure is making up for the effort in spades lately) and had decided to decorate the "fort" with sidewalk chalk. It's more festive like that.

One of the artists at work

No cameras!

Engrossed in his composition

Like his capris? Also known as his brother's pants.

Adding some finishing touches

The one and only...

2011-07-24T21:23:00.000-07:00

...Cheerios! Every morning the first word out of Mason's mouth is usually, "Food?". Kiddo is a bottomless pit. Especially since he wakes up an average of an hour before Skyler does, so by the time his brother is up he's ready for second breakfast. I've got a little hobbit on my hands.

Too early for the mamarazzi apparently

Digging in to his o's

Awake enough to start hamming it up

Kid approved

Our own backyard, so to speak

2011-07-16T22:10:00.001-07:00

Sometimes in our search for places to take the boys we overlook some of the most obvious. We have been in Battle Ground now for almost three years and just today made our first trip to our local lake. We had arranged a hike with (false) faith in the forecasted sunny weather. The morning came, the sun did not. Life marches on though, a bit of rain can't keep us down around here. We packed the boys into their galoshes and slickers and made for the trail. Aside for things being a bit more overgrown, and wet, than we had anticipated we all enjoyed ourselves. Mason also preferred my hip to the use of his own two feet for much of the hike, I chalked this up to a more vigorous hiking experience in the end for me.

Not a great photo but hilarious for the face that Mae (in red) is making at a whining Mason. Can't blame her

Standing at the ready lest one of our angels get it in his head to dunk himself

Kerrrrrr.....

....splash!

Andy deigned to share his swing with Mase

Twirly whirly

The wedding a fire couldn't stop

2011-07-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

See these two:

The day of their wedding their venue burned down. True story. Just a few hours prior to the ceremony they had to scramble to pull together an entirely new and honestly wonderful wedding. It was pretty amazing, and hopefully since it all turned out well in the end it can be an interesting anecdote to relive in years to come. We had plans to bring Skyler to this wedding as he is actually quite the respectful and considerate four year old. We left Mason behind because he is a (sweet, adorable) bipolar two year old. We hadn't originally planned on taking Skye with us but once he found out our plans he asked to come. He has known Devin and Steffi, the bride and groom, since he was a wee bi t. He was also pretty keen since he knew his buddy Mae would be there as well.

Mae got to perform the role of flower girl, which she did admirably. Skyler was very covetous of her role, he too wanted a reason to walk down the aisle. Mae was more than willing to give Skyler that reason as she informed us that it was also her and Skyler's wedding day. Skyler, failing to take advantage of this prime situation, chose not to say his 'I do' but was pretty happy to have his lady friend there to keep him company. Skye actually did an awesome job and seemed to be in awe of all the big things going on around him. He loved all the decorations and cake as well as the dance floor and everyone dressed up. He was quite proud of his "handsome" clothes and even volunteered that he didn't want to eat at the wedding for fear of messing them up. We let him know that a smudge here or there would be just fine. He particularly loved watching the first dances and cracked me up when, while watching the simultaneous Mother/Son and Father/Daughter dances, whispered in my ear, "Awww, are they all getting married together now?". I think we have a ways to go on his comprehension of matrimonial basics.

Taking a moment on their big day to share some Oreos

Love these goofy things

My handsome men minus one. Give another year and Masey will be wedding appropriate.

Keeping our cool

2011-07-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Our brief time in the sun has begun and so we have been finding ways to keep cool while still enjoying the out of doors around here. Fortunately the Northwest, though not a regular hotspot, does have quite a few places for the kiddos to engage in water play. I can tell it will be a sad day when our summer packs it in and the swimming trunks have to go back into hibernation.

Making do with their tupperware buckets at Horseshoe Lake. Mommy forgot the real buckets.

Fountains at the waterfront, we always end up soaked never having set out with that intention

Lusting after the boats at the Portland waterfront

And sometimes we have to go no further than our own backyard

A full Fourth

2011-07-09T23:47:00.001-07:00

It was a very full (and fun) weekend, so this will be a post very full of (fun) pictures. Activities with the boys only get better as they get older. Skyler definitely remembered what fireworks were from last year and anxiously awaited our opportunity to buy them this year. Every time we would pass a stand he would mention that maybe, just maybe, we should stop and buy ours. Now. He did finally get his chance of course, and since it sounded like it was the fourth of July every night of almost the entire preceding week he definitely got his fill. Actually probably not, he was still ready for more on the fifth. Mason was cautious about the noise and fire emitted by all the hullabaloo but was nonetheless very enthusiastic when presented with his own truck shaped firework. The only rough part was convincing him to part with it so Daddy could set it on fire. Other exciting things the weekend of the fourth contained:

Backyard camping!

Corn! On a stick!! Because Mommy only had kebab skewers.

We also grilled our corn the next night, it was still received with hearty approval

S'mores!

All bundled up in anticipation of his first backyard camping experience (and S'mores!)

Too engrossed to give a thumbs up

Even our dessert-hater enjoyed them

My goofy children

Camping/Chocolate/Fireworks/Weeeeeee!

Our kid appropriate piddly fireworks

In charge of his own sparkler this year

Definitely not to be trusted with fire yet

Birthday Boy

2011-07-06T22:21:00.001-07:00

Guess who turned 29 today? Andy! He rounds out our four months of family birthdays, starting in April with Skyler and now ending with our last birthday boy. We celebrated with a little homemade strawberry pie, Andy even got to blow out most of his own candles.

Ready, set, blow!

We did a re-light to give Masey a fair shot at the candles

All together now

We are so lucky to have this Daddy/Husband/all around awesome man in our lives. Happy almost thirty sweetheart.

Dog sitters extraordinaire

2011-07-04T14:41:00.000-07:00

We had another canine visitor these last two weeks as my parents were out of town. Their little dog Rusty shared our space and tolerated the boys while his parents were out of town. Skyler was once again thrilled and quite the little helper with the less than fun chores of feeding and taking him out for potty breaks. Mason continued his indifferent regard for all dogs, though he was quite exuberant in ensuring Rusty ate his food. He stood witness to almost every meal, encouraging Rusty with plenty of "Eee yo foo!". I am sure it was appreciated.

The pirate patch makes him feel more official

"Eeee! Eeee yo foo!"

As the meal wanes so does his interest in this four legged interloper

Father's Day/Birthday/Train!

2011-06-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Andy was quite the sport this year with his Father's Day. Not only had he just gotten back from a week long business trip to Arkansas but he hopped right on board with sharing his day with Mason since the stars aligned to make Father's Day and Masey's second birthday the same day this year. It was actually Andy's mom who arranged our outing for the day, the boy's first train ride! Skyler was almost jumping out of his skin with excitement the morning of our expedition, and he did his very best to exhort Mason to share in his glee. Not to say that Mason wasn't excited about the train trip, he just didn't know to be until we arrived. It turned out to be a lot of fun for all involved, the older style train fulfilled all of Skyler and Mason's Thomas the Tank Engine dreams and we all had an enjoyable little jaunt through the greenery.

Waiting to depart

Like father, like son

Manning the brakes

Picnic lunch courtesy of Nana, seating courtesy of mama

A little birthday cheesecake

All that train business wears a kid out

...make that kid(s)

Duo

2011-06-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

The boys are at times each other's best friend and at others their greatest antagonist. All day our house is filled with the sound of thundering feet, maniacal laughter, the inevitable thump, and then the crying. Either Mason crying at fumbling over his own feet or into his brother's fist, or Skyler welling up over losing yet another toy to his grasping little brother. I think there really aren't many things that are simultaneously as wonderful and terrible as a sibling.

Skyler's catch, a suitcase and a fish

Indoor fishing, it's a real thing

Mom's eye view

Excavating a mole hill

Teeeamwork!

A moment of solitude, before Mason pounces no doubt

MM: Two Years Old

2011-06-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Dear Mason,

Hello to my newest two year old. You are everything I never knew to expect in a child of mine. I never thought I would have a light haired, blue eyed child. I never thought the combination of my nature and your father's could create such a dynamic and passionate personality. I never knew that I would have a child who could give me a black eye, regularly head butt me in the face (sometimes affectionately, sometimes not), cause my heart to drop yet accelerate rapidly every time we visit a playground structure... you are all of these things and more kiddo, and I love you for it.

You are currently sitting next to me watching one of your favorite shows, Diego. I am afraid that you are kind of a major Mama's boy at this stage of the game. I am not sure if this is just another difference in personality from your brother, or if the fact that by this time your Daddy had been the main caretaker for him for a significant chunk of his second year, either way I am definitely your true North. This is a good thing and a bad thing, good in that I am always assured of your love and affection but bad in that sometimes my presence excludes others from getting their share of the Mason lovin'. You are a creature that feeds on contact, you want to snuggle under my arm and rub your little nose on mine. You also have a thing for ears and noses, you like rub your own ears and those of other people. The nose thing? I think you just like the smooth feeling. You very tactile.

For the record here's a few more things that define you at two:

-You LOVE the color purple. One day you just started pointing out colors, I don't even remember teaching them to you. And the one color that comes up the most? Purple. Purple cars, purple shirt, Purple!

-Someone somewhere taught you what a knock knock joke is. You just managed to miss out on some of the finer points, like a punch line. You will walk up and rap your hand against us and say "Nah, Nah!". When we say who's there?, you respond in kind "Who dere?". Pretty darn cute.

-You could subsist entirely on noodles and berries, particularly raspberries.

-You are very coordinated. You have a little galloping run that you like to show off with, as well as running rapidly only to jump to a crouching stop. You are going to be our athlete, or at least our child that falls over his own feet the least.

-Your vocabulary has reached the point where you will try any word we give you, and your sentences are becoming clearer and more cohesive. I have found that you are very aware of the difference in how we talk to Skyler and how we talk to you. Now when I ask Skyler a question you will shove your way into my face and start answering for him in some gibberish/English hybrid.

-You love cats and babies, and you try very hard to be gentle to both. You succeed most of the time.

-You adore Skyler, everything he does you mimic. Every toy he touches you want. Everywhere he goes, so do you. The first thing you ask about when you wake, and when you go to sleep, is "Where Sky-yer?". The loving feeling is generally mutual, except when it's not and your brother runs as fast as he can to get away from you.

I can't believe it's already this time, that you are already two. I am amazed at the little person you are becoming and excited to see all the changes I know this year will bring. You Daddy and I love you very much Masey, Happy Birthday to you!

Mason's Turning Two: Family Edition

2011-06-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

Two.Years.Old. I can't believe that already I have a two year old again. The crazy thought occurred to me today that at this point in Skyler's life we were just a few short months from welcoming Mason into our world. And now here we are, Mason is turning two in two days. That's just insanity to me. Per the usual, and because we are so lucky to have so much of our family near, we have been spreading out the birthday love over the past few days and will be having our own little family celebration on his actual birthday. Today was our day for partying with the family and miracle of miracles it was a sunny day. We all got to enjoy our favorite (almost) two year old while taking in some sunshine. Here's the party in pictures:

Don't mess with Jess, she'll throw your baby

The proud big brother

Nana and Daddy

Gamma putting up with Masey's insistence on aiming the bubble gun directly at them

Mason decided he wanted to open presents before cake, and the birthday boy got his wish

Strawberries + Raspberries + Swing = Mason in heaven

The only bite he took out of his cake. Kid does not like desserts. I know.

Skyler makes up for Mason's dessert deficit

New toys benefit more than just the birthday boy

My littlest Mama's boy

Have I mentioned purple is Mason's favorite color? Hence, purple cupcakes.

Inquiring minds

2011-06-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Skyler,

This will be a post directed to you but not so much a monthly post as has been our modus in the past. The subtle changes that are happening in your makeup don't really follow a monthly format anymore, so I think perhaps I will just stick to writing you a letter when it seems necessary. I believe it was when you turned two that I wondered when it would happen that thinking (and writing) about you in monthly increments would stop making sense. I guess we are there.

I write to you now because I have been noticing a change in the depth and breadth of your thoughts lately. You have been asking me questions that I just didn't expect from a four year old. Tonight you asked me why water comes out of your eyes, i.e. tears. I asked you what made you think of that to which you simply replied that you were wondering how it worked. When you ask me these questions I don't want to dumb down my answer, but then I also have to wonder how useful my responses are if there are filled with words like 'tear ducts'. Will you be able to detect the subtle difference between the word 'ducts' and 'ducks', or will you simply be baffled as to how birds and our eyes are related.

You are also very interested in the planets and our world in general. In particular you are fixated on Mars. You want to know if it rains there, and if we can visit it, and what does it look like from here? You also have asked about how the world spins and what are the names of the other planets, is it daytime there as well? Thank goodness for Google and it's many images which allow me to show the answer to so many of your questions. For a while there you were under the impression that each state was an island until I showed you a map of the United States. This then led to the question of, "If we are in America, how do we get to China?". I am amazed at what you must be pulling in from the world around you, because you certainly haven't gotten all this from us. Honestly it's a lot of fun answering your questions, I can see your little gears whirring as you store one new bit of information after the next. You have such an inquisitive disposition, just another little piece of your puzzle.

A park so nice we went there twice

2011-06-09T21:56:00.001-07:00

I only realized upon picking up my camera today while once again at this park that I hadn't yet loaded the photos from our last trip here. The sun has finally decided to grace us with it's semi-regular presence and it's actually been warm enough for the boys to play in the water. Oh the novelty! Mason has been slow to warm to the idea of cold water being a fun play object, but this year with the sun and his brother's example he has been enjoying it a lot more. Skyler of course has no hesitation about plunging in and getting sopping wet.

Taking his time adjusting to the sprinklers

Full on splash mode

A little helpful prodding from Daddy convinced him the world wouldn't end if he got his toes wet

Our second adventure we joined up with the boy's favorite girls, Mae and Elliana

More prepared for dipping his tootsies this time

Oversized John Deer hat courtesy of Daddy

Big kids wear red

Goofy big boys

Sweet girls

Are you ready?

2011-06-03T21:51:00.000-07:00

For a photo overload? We had another awesome shoot with Honeysuckle Photography and I didn't do such a good job paring down the number of photos I wanted to share on the blog. We went out to Sauvie Island, with a quick cupcake stop first, and spent our time wandering around a big empty farm full of everything little boys love; dirt, animals, and tractors. We had such a good time and the pictures turned out wonderful, as usual. We are so lucky to have some professional photos of these early moments in our life.

Devilish describes him perfectly

Case in point: The little booger has just consumed the ENTIRE cupcake here. Wrapper included.

Making sure Skyler gets his daily dose of chocolate

Perfectly imperfect, that's us

Best.Dad.Ever.

Our goofy four year old

Lotta love here

Over the shoulder Skyler holder

Almost five years of married awesomeness

Pretty much what parenthood looks like

Just a casual stroll with our paparazzi

"Wook! Fwo-wer!"

One, two, three, weeeee!

Breakfast: A clothing optional affair

2011-06-01T09:58:00.000-07:00

Except for some artfully mismatched socks of course...

MM: Month Twenty Three

2011-05-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Dear Mason,

I know, I know, again with the late monthly letter. Want me to make it up to you with a couple of extra photos? Done. Truth is life is just a little hectic lately. Mama started a new job which takes up a lot of my personal computer time, a sad excuse I realize. I am actually a little glad that this letter is belated though because you have actually reached a pretty significant milestone this past week. You are intelligible! We can talk to you and understand the majority of what you say back! It's awesome! Something I always thought about, during my pregnancies with you and your brother and then once you were born, was what your speaking voice would sound like. Not the vocalizations and gibberish that come out during infancy and early toddlerhood. I wondered what it would sound like to ask you a question and have you answer. Now I know.

You use this new skill to be even goofier than you usually are. Now that you know you have our attention you like to be silly with it. The other day we were sitting on our (mine and Daddy's) bed and you said, "Wook, Mama, wook! Pi-wow". You were grabbing pillows and then dangling them over the edge waiting for me to protest just so you could delight in dropping them and grab the next while laughing. You have also surprised me by apparently learning your colors overnight. I don't recall teaching you these unless is passing conversation but now all you want to do is point out the colors of cars, flowers, trees and what have you. By the way your current favorite color if "puh-pull". You have a favorite purple car, you prefer a purple shirt, and you are very happy when you can identify purple flowers. This is something new with you that Skyler never did, it is so very you.

Did I mention that you are very particular about your clothing? The one item of clothing that you deem most important is socks, preferable non-matching. You get very upset if your socks aren't on straight and will stop everything for us to adjust them for you. If you encounter a new pair of socks during the day you are likely to want me to help you exchange them for your current pair. Although not as beloved as socks, shirts also have a special place in your heart. You have a tendency to want to wear your brother's shirts, which it is lucky that you (like brother) are a big guy so the shirts aren't too ridiculously oversized. These too often get exchanged frequently during the day if you find a new, more desirable shirt. I wonder if this is a phase or just the beginning of your own particular taste in clothes.

You are definitely an almost two year old. I am preparing myself for the storm of this next year's emotions, though I am not sure if my prior experience with your brother will serve. You are quicker to lose your temper, but you are also quicker to retrieve it. Another reason to appreciate your new level of communication is your ability and general willingness to listen to reason when a situation doesn't go your way. Only time will tell how it will all play out.

I would like to say that I am sad knowing how close you are to your second birthday, but honestly it feels a little anticlimactic. I feel like you are already there. You have changed so much recently that there really is no more baby left in you, hardly even any toddler. You are a little boy, our littlest boy. We love you very much Masey-face, happy twenty three.

Of all the things I thought I would never be...

2011-05-30T00:24:00.000-07:00

... a runner has got to be way up there on the list. All my life I have hated running. HATED. I avoided it at all costs, loathed all school mandated running which inevitably occurred in PE, and just generally disliked it to the extreme. I am not a naturally athletic person and running just didn't seem like a comfortable or desirable activity. But here's the thing guys, I have had two kids and I needed something to put my body back together. So when a few other moms from our group voiced an interest in getting together and running a couple of times a week I actually jumped at the chance. I didn't know where it would lead, and still don't, but getting out with friends a couple of hours a week for fresh air and exercise can't be a bad thing - right? That little inkling has led to an addictive habit that has lasted four months now and this past Saturday I did something else I never thought I would willingly do. I ran a 5K! I'm pretty sure I don't even know myself now, but then I am finding that life is nothing if not a constant evolution of ourselves.

The ladies who have helped me get this far

Number 57 and my spandies (just for you Karen)

Bright sunshiney day

2011-05-21T21:41:00.000-07:00

Two consecutive days of sunshine and I am ruined, I want my summer now. The boys got to have more fun in two sunny days than they have in the past two rainy weeks. Their growing little legs need to run. On our second day of sunshine we got out to the park with our Mom's group for some more exercise and friend time. I love the independence that comes with both of the boy's ages right now, though Mason's freedom is a little (okay a lot) more frightening than Skyler's. Skye spent most of our time there palling around with his friend Catalina and thanks to his naturally cautious disposition I only had to spare a glance for his location every five minutes or so. Mason on the other hand was more than happy to leave me in the dust, but I was quickly trailing him because before I knew it he was here:

or here:

Kid is taking years off my life already. Only recently has Mason really taken notice of other children his age. Usually he would tag along behind Skyler or hang off of my hems, but now if there is another kiddo his age to hand he takes advantage of this instant playmate. Case in point, he spent much of our time at this park with Logan who is just a few months older than himself. True to form he chose a nice high point on the play structure (with lots of gaps opening to empty air) to play chase with his friend. I spent this time quickly moving back and forth in an attempt to be in just the right place if Mason tripped and sailed headlong some eight feet to the ground. This is what I have become, emergency safety net. Mason's lack of self-preservation aside we did have a great time out, it was hard to drag the boys back to the car even after two plus hours of outdoor play.

The little conspirators examining a bug

Naomi and Sophea kept Mason company on the web

Got my chubby baby fix in too

Purposefully marching off somewhere

Spring in the city

2011-05-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

Strawberries from the Wednesday market, three thumbs up

Ah Spring, real Spring. The kind of Spring that means shorts and short sleeves, warm weather and green leaves. We had a piece of that Spring yesterday (and today!) to go along with a little trip into Portland to visit with friends. We all took a walk down to the waterfront, which with our combined six children all of whom can walk now... it's amazing we made as orderly a procession as we did. It was wonderful getting the boys out for fresh air and time in an environment they don't get a lot of exposure to. Not that we are so terribly rural here, but we do still live in a suburb on the outskirts of the larger metro area. We see more horses than Max trains around here. The boys loved pointing out all the buses, trains, trucks and statues. Once we made it to the waterfront there was a whole new slew of exciting sights. Boats! Birds! Fountains! They had a great time with their little parade of friends.

Mason admiring the "twees"

Contemplating the ducks paddling below

Ellie and Judah living the easy life

Envision this many children in motion

As close as Mom's who didn't bring you spare clothes will let you get to the fountain

Canine company

2011-05-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

The boys got to have a little taste of dog ownership this weekend while taking care of Uncle Brian and Aunt Maggie's dog Sophie. I would say that Skyler is one hundred and ten percent on board with the idea and Mason is still holding out for a cat. They both have had a lot of fun playing fetch with her and helping take care of her, Skyler is just the only one who wants to hug her/love her/keep her forever. Either way it will still be quite a while before we add a furry friend to our permanent household so this is as good as it's going to get for them at present.

Exhibit A: The dog lover, ready for play time

Exhibit B: The cat enthusiast, why are you not a kitty?

Two wild and crazy guys

2011-05-10T23:06:00.001-07:00

Every day I can be certain that there will be at least one moment where these two boys will crack me up. As they both grow together it is so much fun watching the things that they come up with, to listen to the dialogue that occurs between them, and to be witness to the craziness that is two little boys. I am so lucky that this is my "job". And trust me, I am definitely relishing all this before I get booted back out into the real world.

Here we have the dynamic duo enjoying their new fort. First thing you have to know about this photo, both boys are wearing Spiderman pajamas and that is no coincedence. The night prior I pulled out Skyler's Spiderman pj's and Mason took notice. He started tugging on my arm and pulling me towards the stairs asking, "Pease! Pease!". I followed him upstairs to their closet and he pulled out the only other Spiderman marked item of clothing, Skye's birthday shirt. He insisted on wearing it, if brother was going to have Spiderman pajamas then so was he. The other thing about this photo of course is their awesome hideout. I love that Andy has fostered such a love of forts in the boys, this oversized box (and some painters tape) was just another opportunity for fun.

"Smooooothies!". The boys are on a major smoothie kick right now. They like it because they both get to help toss the ingredients into the blender. I love it because it is a way to get their veggies in that they actually like. Skyler actually is a huge fan of spinach now, something I did not foresee but fully welcome.

These two photos are hilarious because of the conversation that accompanied them. I found the boys upstairs playing with this (plastic) bat and ball. Skyler was throwing the ball under their bunk bed and trying to convince Mason to crawl under and retrieve it. "Go on Masey, go get it. Twust me.". After it became apparent that Mason was not falling for it the dialogue took a different turn.

Skyler: Mason, I have this bat, and I am going to hurt.your.feelings.

Mason: No way!

Skyler: Ugh, Mason, I can't bewieve you!

Seriously guys, I love you to pieces. You make my everyday pretty awesome.

Sun + Water = Winning

2011-05-04T22:18:00.000-07:00

About a week ago we had a lovely day that demanded we get outside and enjoy it, so we pulled ourselves together and went to a local park that has a little waterfront. The boys could not have loved the water part more, we spent the majority of our time there watching as they ran and splashed to their little hearts content. Fresh air does their little bodies (and my sanity) so much good, Spring needs to clear up and warm up so we can see some more consistent sunny days 'round here.

Discussing rocks with Daddy

Giving his toes a dunk

Gleeful abandon

Getting some more mileage out of his St. Patrick's day shirt

Two boys, no more babies here

Just being boys