Saturday, January 30, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

You Never Would Have Guessed


that AJ was actually the one that wanted this picture taken.

Despite the photographic evidence above, he really does enjoy being a big brother. He takes the job very seriously. I think he likes the idol worship part the best.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Gem of the Day

There is a little boy in one of my second grade classes who is a handful. He is a sweet kid. He has a good heart, I can tell. But he is constantly talking, and seeing what he can get away with. He has a bunch of energy and just hasn't figured out how to use it in a productive manner yet. His teacher is at her wit's end.

The other day in art, we were using rulers. And this boy managed to take the metal strip and peel if off about halfway down the ruler. He is the only student who has managed to do this to date. I showed it to his teacher, and she asked if she could keep it to show the boy's parents. She had set up a conference with them because of his behavior problems already. The teacher explained that the parents just didn't believe that their child had behavior issues and she was glad that she had some tangible evidence to be able to show them.

During the conference she takes out the ruler. She shows them how he had taken the metal strip and pulled it away from the body of the ruler. She explains that the student had done this is art class.

The father takes one look at the ruler and says: "What's the problem? It's abstract"

Monday, January 18, 2010

Just a Cute Picture

The New House (Outside)

The new house is a much better fit for us. I love the stone facing. I love the shade on our street. I love that there is a large green area out the front window. It is a fantastic location and so much better suited to our family's lifestyle.



And this is the park down the street. We can see it from our front yard. The boys (and their friends) have already spent many hours there.


We especially love our new neighborhood. And we love being able to walk everywhere. I literally only use the car once a week for the big grocery/Target run. Other than that, we walk or take the golf cart everywhere.

Life is good.

Let The Potty Training Begin

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Charlie's First Haircut

So the boys needed haircuts. They really needed haircuts about 3 weeks ago, but hey- life happens.

The plan was to have AJ go first so that Charlie could see that a) getting his haircut would be fun, b) there would be no blood involved and c) he wouldn't die. So, AJ got in the chair and the haircut began. AJ, being the good big brother/role model that he is, plastered the most stupid-ass grin on his face the entire time. I was about to pull out the "Your face is going to freeze like that" line. But bless his heart, he was going to show Charlie that getting a haircut was fun, if it was the last thing he did.

Charlie took the bait and even tried to climb into an empty chair. When it was finally his turn, it actually did not go too badly. The stylist was awesome. She showed him the clippers wouldn't hurt by putting them on his arm, she gave him a lollipop to suck on, she gave him a huge green comb so he could have a "comb fight" with AJ. She even gave him the spray bottle. She quickly regretted this, as she soon looked like she had just stepped out of the shower. I did have to hold him on my lap by the end, but she got the job done.

I apologize for lack of pictures, but I forgot my camera. I will post some of the new dos soon.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Moving Game

I have decided that I am going to get one of those big bells (like they have at bars), and ring it every time I finish unpacking a box. At the bars, they ring the bell for good tips. But just being able to see the floor again would be enough for me.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Christmas 2009


Mom, Dad and Jeff came in from afar to celebrate Christmas with us.



The highlights included Phase Ten, and shooting nerf guns at a the patio door where we painted a target using soap.


Shawn is constantly giving me little tidbits of useful information that he has read. It drives me a little nuts. Especially since one week the article he sends me will say coffee is bad for you. And then he will send me another article the next week that states coffee is the lifesaving nectar of the Gods.

So to retaliate, (because I am mature like that) I got him the complete series of the "Eat This Not That Books". There are actually pretty cool books. Below is a picture of all the men in my life engrossed in one of the books. I am not sure if I should be concerned or happy that the books were such a hit.

Charlie received a bunch of trains for Christmas. And he loved every single one of them. He got the track assembled in no time and played contently for hours.


We also got together with Shawn's family over the holidays. We finally got to meet our little nephew, Elliott. He is pretty stinking cute. But I may be biased, since he looks a lot like his Uncle Shawn.

Shawn's family is famous for giving goofy gifts. It is sort of their trademark. Shawn still talks about the jar of marbles, and shampoo ( in a Spock-shaped bottle), that he received as a kid. This year was no exception. If it says "As seen on TV" on the box, someone in the family is getting it for Christmas.

So, Shawn received Potato Gloves. They are rubber gloves with a texture to them. They allow you to peel the potato by rubbing a boiled potato. We have video. But, I didn't want to scare you so I will just post the following picture.


We had a lot of fun with the family. And of course AJ and Charlie loved having them around. They get so excited, that I have to swear to my parents that they are really quite normal children and not nearly this hyper all the time. I am not sure they believed me, though.

The family left on the 28th and Shawn and I started the arduous moving process. We are still trying to get it all done. The house looks like we should be in one of the documentaries about hoarders. But I guess that is bound to happen when you downsize. We purged. Or at least we thought we had purged. But it turns out we have low standards when it comes to purging. Who knew? Ok, we knew. But we were in denial.

I will post pictures as soon as soon as it looks like a home and not a storage locker. I promise. But, we love the new house. We can walk to the store, school and Charlie's daycare. The house is beautiful and has a lot of fun features. (e.g. wainscotting 3/4 up the wall in the master bedroom- drool.)

I will post what else we have been up to in a few days. But I need to go unpack something. We've already lost the cat once.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Christmas Photoshoot



My friend Brittney did her magic again and took our family photos this year. The rents and the bro were in town, so they were part of the fun too. There are too many good pictures to post, but here are my favorites: