My Life

Those Two

Kyle after swim practice, contemplating his current state: bored and hot, and wishing he could have a friend over and that he didn't have homework to do.

Lauren enters.

Let the games begin.....

I'll never know why they find it so amusing to torture the other?

Boots

We have shoe issues with Brandon.

He only likes his crocs.

We always seem to misplace one, so we bought two pair.

Well.... one pair has been missing its match for quite sometime now.  Then when leaving Poppa and Grammies on Sunday, one shoe got put in the back of the car, the other on the floorboard of the backseat.  When we arrived home we only had one.  Seems the other was located in front of Great Grandma's gate.  We dropped her off and it must have fallen out when Kyle was helping her to the front door.

I took Brandon to Kohls to get him a replacement pair until we could get his crocs back.  He would not have any of the tennis shoes.  He had eyes for some toy story boots.  I was doing all I could to talk him out of them.  I do not buy character products especially shoes.  The boy was pretty convincing and pretty in love with the light up boots.  I justified buying then because he will be Woody for Halloween and it will go perfectly with his costume.  

Those boots are all he will wear.  Kade was quite upset that I didn't buy him some too.  They wear the same size and the two have been trying to share them.  Well Kade has been trying to talk Brandon into sharing.  He's not really good at that.

Quote of the day

"Wait up Mom, I'm not as young as I used to be."

by Kade five years old.

Said while riding bikes home from school today.

Photo taken while camping in August.  That was the last time I got a picture of that sweet boy.

Note to self: Take a picture of Kade this month!

The Story of a Bear

While I was packing up for our trip, Lauren came frantically downstairs screaming that her bear was on fire.  Of course, I panicked.  Ran upstairs to find her bear neatly placed upon the light bulb of her lamp.  Black and smoking and really close to catching fire.  No doubt it was our mischievous Brandon that was the culprit.  We all felt very thankful that Lauren had found the bear because the thought of our house going up in flames is too much to think about.  Lauren was devastated to say the least.  She began crying like this bear was a living creature.  I tried to be empathetic, but seriously sometimes I just want to say buck up!  Finally she decided we would cut the legs off because they weren't burnt and then I could just sew them on to the top half of the bear.  And that's just what we did.  He is a bit deformed, has no stomach, and his arms are now the same length as his legs, but she is happy, and she still has her bear that apparently means more to her than I ever thought :)

A Love Note

from my sweet Kade.

Makes me smile and the long day totally worth it.

Block Printing

My order came in from Dick Blick when we were gone.

It was a little bit of an investment for the supplies, but this was a really fun project.

It was easy enough for the three year old.

They all put their own paint on and surprisingly it wasn't messy.

The how tos and all the supply information can be found here.

I LOVE the transportation school project she created using this technique.

We have so many supplies left over, I think that I will pull this out for a project with the preschoolers.

Hmmm....Maybe christmas cards for parents?

Visitors

Kason and Kyron came to stay with Kyle this week.

Kade thought he was one of the crew.

They lived it up and wore themselves out.

Upon their leaving, Kade says "I wish they were part of our family.  When are they coming back?  Kyron is my friend too you know!"

They do seem just like family.

We'll miss them until next time.

11

So my baby is 11.

That makes me officially old.

She is going into middle school next year.

Sometimes I wonder where the time goes.

We had a low key celebration because well the boys were gone bowling.

It is amazing how smoothly things go when the ones who like to stir up trouble are gone.

It was similar to Kyle's party five days before.

Water slide, pizza, pinata, and a couple of games

including the old favorite bubblegum relay race.

I had the hardest time finding regular old stick gum.

Is that so outdated now?  Crazy.

Good friends and good times.....

Making the most of her birthday wish.

We love you Lauren and glad you are a part of our family!

Gotta Love

a long lost paint activity that was rediscovered when decluttering.

Painted some light catchers.

Kept the boys busy.

Made me happy.

I love, love, love the paint aprons.  Especially Brandons.  Gotta protect the skin :)

We haven't been crafting as much as I thought.

But.....I have the supplies so when the need arises, I am ready.

I am anxiously awaiting the rest of the supplies for some block printing.

It's super cool, and if it all works out just right, I may be having them make some artwork for their rooms.

Fofcorn

The snack of choice during family movie night.

Fofcorn translates to popcorn with m&ms.  You should try it.  It's the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

We love the way Brandon says popcorn.

And I especially love that I get to hear it sung in unison every Monday night.

"Fofcorn foffing on the apricot tree."

we will probably always sing it that way for years to come :)

It was just the two boys and I last night enjoying the Cat in the Hat.

Lauren was on her way back from Cedar City.  She had been gone overnight with her grandparents to see The Secret Garden at the Shakespearean Festival.  Kyle was up helping paint his room.  I'll post more on that later.  But.....he does have a really cool chalkboard wall!  He is dying to get everything back into place.