Pretend Camping

We had a lot of stuff to do outside around the house this weekend so we hitched up the tent to keep the boys occupied. They loved it. Another new home for E. We threw in a large blanket, E's new sleeping bag, a bottle and sippy cup with water and some snack bags with crackers and cookies and they were set!
I is even trying to walk more. We put his walker outside too and he was cruising around the yard. Won't be long.....Just try to ignore all the leaves you see in our yard-that's what we do!

Yummy b-day cake

Here is a picture of the most delicious chocolate cake EVER. For those of you who don't know, I am a chocoholic to the max!!! I estimated that I very well may be eating almost 1 pound of chocolate every 2 weeks. That's 26 pound of chocolate every year (at least). It's sick I know, but I buy vegan chocolate chips in a 12 oz bag and eat little handfuls every day. What does that say about me? I'm not sure. If anyone has any ideas -well, they can keep them to them selves :)

Anyway, I made the cake and E and Ry-daddy frosted it. So, I thought I'd share pictures of my cake so that I could always remember how chocolatey, moist, rich and delicious it was. Did I mention it was vegan? YYYUUUMMMM!!!!!

Big fun and smiles for my birthday

Today is my birthday and we have been spending a quiet day at home doing our usual things. E announced first thing this morning that he was going to be EXTRA good today for my birthday and that we were going to play lots of games. How exciting! Wish it was my birthday every day.

To continue my cleaning frenzy in preparation for putting the house up for sale, I have been throwing bags and bags of junk and trash away and putting mounds of stuff in the garage for a massive yard sale. It feels great to just get rid of all this clutter. I cleaned out E's closet and put a bench with pillow, hung his hats and boards and placed all of his books on the shelves in his closet. Now E has what he calls his new house. He also explained to me that this will be his number 4 house that he has ever had, his first house being my tummy. He's so cute!!! He really enjoys dragging little I in there with him and playing.

Little I has a new smile. It is so cute. He had us really laughing the other night at dinner.

When daddy gets home later today, we are all going out to eat. It has been a very long time since the four of us have gone out to dinner together. It should be pretty fun.

Oh Banana!

Just a quick post...

Today I have been inspired to clean out the closets in preparation for our upcoming move. While checking the hallway closet for discards this morning (for what seemed like just a few minutes) a little mess occurred. The boys were in the living room making happy playing noises so I wasn't paying too much attention to them (no crying, no worries- right?) Well, here is what happened next...

I walk into the living room and pick up little I and put him in the high chair and proceeded to get breakfast ready and sit down to eat. Everyone is sitting at the table when I notice how crusty I's face looks (he's had a cold with a runny nose for the past week).

I say, "Yucky Isaak! You have dried up snot all over your face and hair!"
Ethan says, "Your so silly mom. That's not snot, it's banana!"
"Banana?" I say, "Where did he get banana from?"
Ethan replies, "Oh, I didn't want to eat the one I got so I just gave it to Isaak."

I look down at Isaak's clothes and there is banana. I go into the living room and there is banana EVERYWHERE!.
On the floor, the rug , the couch and a few toys there is........ you guessed it..... Banana!!!!

UGH!!! Good thing daddy's not home!

Nerds Milk Shake Anyone?

Ethan has been talking about making Nerds milkshakes for about three weeks. I'm not sure where he came up with the idea, but he has been insistent that we try it. So, finally today, I gave in and we tried making a Nerds Milk Shake. I have to say that it is an interesting concoction, but E couldn't have been more pleased. Here is the recipe for anyone who is so inclined.

In blender combine the following:

1 cup soy milk
3 ice cubes
1 tbsp Nerds (any flavor you chose)

Whiz up in blender for about 1 minute.
Enjoy!

My first kiss.

Isaak gave me my first kiss today. It was the open mouth and slobbery variety, but I loved it just the same!!

Happy New Year to Everyone. Many kisses to you!

Pictures

Here are some pictures from our trip.

When you have been driving for a long time you get really bored

Ethan played pinball on our laptop to pass time going to AZ.

On Christmas Eve we opened gift at Memaw and Pepaw's house with cousin Gavin and baby Jasmine. The pile of gifts for the four kids was gigantic! Jasmine watched on as the boys tore into there piles.

We spent Christmas Day at Great Grandma's house with the big family.
It was chaos with 5 great grand-boys running around screaming and wrestling!
We did manage to get them to set down for a small break.
Gavin(3), Tony(3), Chavez(6), Mac(4) and Ethan(4)

Then we tried getting all 6 of the boys to sit for a picture.

Then finally, we got all 7 of the great grand children to sit together. This time we got some major resistance. Little Jasmine thought the whole thing a little amusing.

We made it!!

After two days, 16 hours of driving, 2 movies, several video games and one night in a crappy hotel we are finally home. I have to say that the boys did very well considering that they were strapped down in there car seats for very long periods of time. E of course did very well. He had loads of toys, games and movies to keep him occupied (Thanks to Aunt Josette & Uncle Bear). We are mostly surprised at how well Isaak did. I sat in back with both the boys which helped, but he didn't really cry until the very end of day one and the end of day two. Who can blame him.

Boy were we relieved to pull into our drive way. We may not like Dallas, but it sure felt good to know we wouldn't have to pack and unpack the sub-hog for a long time. Now that we are home, we can focus on getting the house ready to sell and start liquidating. I am very excited.

Thank you very much to all our friends and family who welcomed us into their cozy homes during our trip. We had a wonderful time. E truly did not want to leave.

We're on our way.

We are getting ready for our big trip to AZ. We are super excited to see all of our family and friends. Our first stop will be Tubac, then Tucson, then Casa Grande, then Spring Valley and finally Prescott and Prescott Valley. We only have 8 days to go everywhere and see everyone so we should be quite busy. We have our timeline all planned out.

Most of all, we are dreading the 15-16 hour drive to AZ then back. It will be our first time driving that long with Isaak. I'll be sitting in the back seat with the boys most of the time and I have an arsenal of toys, games and books that E has never seen to keep him busy and happy. So, think of as as we embark on our long journey.

We can't wait to see everyone!!

Feliz cumpleaños mi mama

We all want to wish you a happy birthday!! We love you and miss you very very much!

My Growing Boy!

I forgot to write about Isaak's 9 month check up last week. He's doing mighty fine I must say! Here are his 9 month stats:

weight: 24lbs- 95th percentile
height: 30 in.- 95th percentile
head circumference: 47 cm- 90th percentile

He's just a big guy all around. Following (almost exactly) Ethan's big-boy growth pattern. He also has grown his top two teeth just in time for Christmas. I have to say that biting has not been an issue where breastfeeding is concerned (thank goodness). No, Isaak is more into pinching. He's not walking yet (another thank goodness). He gets into enough trouble just by crawling around. Here is a picture of him getting into the plastic container cabinet. Take a look at those legs. Nice and chunky- Just the way I like them!

I also had a follow-up appt last week. More MRI's were taken of my foot & ankle post-operation a week prior to this visit. The MRI took 2 1/2 hours and it felt like pure torture! Next time I'm getting sedated! Then, I waited at the doctors office for an hour and a half (again) before I finally saw Dr. M. Basically he said as little as possible to me and spoke mostly into his tape recorder and to his visiting intern. Finally, I told him that I needed the information more than him -pointing to the intern. He just smiled and said, "See you in 3 months for more x-rays." I did manage to make him stay in the room for another 30 seconds to ask more questions before he quickly walked out of the room. UGH!!!!! Maybe I need the sedation for the doctor visits and not the MRI's. I just don't understand why he is an hour and half behind for a 10am appt. They don't even open until 8:30am!!! I'm positive they are double booking appointments. I ALSO don't understand how he can be really helping people when he has so many patients! I felt like I was hung on a 10 mile assembly line then when I finally got to see him he just looked at me through his scope and yelled "NEXT!" Hopefully I will only have to see him a couple more times before we move-AND believe me, WE ARE MOVING!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We had a nice quiet day of cooking, stuffing our faces, then lounging around. It was great. Just the four of us. It would have been even better had we been able to sleep in a little. No, Ethan thought it best to burst in our room at 6:50 am. Well, what can you do.

Since everyone loves to ask what we eat on thanksgiving, here is a look at the menu for today and the lovely pictures before we stuffed our face. We only made a small dent (there was sooooo much food) but that's okay. I love Thanksgiving leftovers. YUMMY!

Thanksgiving Tofu Loaf with Stuffing (the big brown dome looking thing)
Mashed potatoes
Creamed corn casserole
Candied yams
Homemade wheat rolls
Whole cranberry sauce
Tofurkey Mushroom Gravy
Pumpkin pie (with eggs) and Vegan Pumpkin pie (no eggs or dairy)

Here is a picture of our plates piled high. Everything turned out great! We are still stuffed even now 3 hours later after a round of soccer and tag in the back yard (it was me and E against Daddy and Sinah)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Only 30 days till CHRISTMAS!!!

The soccer season has come to an end.

Thank goodness too! It's very tiring dragging Ethan to all these games and practices. Especially when he doesn't want to go half the time. I think all that kids have had there fill of soccer for the year. Their last game was yesterday and they just were not getting into it. Plus, it was pretty cold and windy out (finally some fall weather). Ethan did make a goal and was pretty excited about it.

Today we had a "end of season" soccer party- at a hamburger joint. Fortunately for us they had just put veggie burgers on the menu so we were saved from having to eat just french fries. It was a nice party. All the kids got a trophy, brand new soccer ball, and a little soccer guy (pictures to follow later of E with trophy). The kids also sat together at one table. We were all being brave parents by allowing them to all sit together- with no adults. I think half the parents were holding their breath as they watched there kids, us included, try to eat, play and not knock over their drinks. They had a great time laughing and talking about really silly stuff. Wish I had a video camera.

Now, we have our weekends free. What will we do? Absolutely nothing! HUH!

He's a natural

Today E and I (I as in mommy- not Isaak) played a scavenger hunt game with my digital camera. We play this every once in a while. He loves my digital camera- ALWAYS wants to take pictures. Usually I make a list of things and he runs around taking pictures of these things when he finds them. Today was a beautiful day so we spent most of it outside in our back yard. Isaak watched excitedly in his exersaucer. Here was my list:
A porcupine, A yellow leaf (with no brown), a green leaf on the ground, something blue, two wind chimes, a basketball, a net, a brick, two feet, a tree, and a chimney

Here are the pictures he took.

I thought they turned out really well. There was no coaching from me. He must be a natural!

Check out Creative Kismet

I've just started yet another blog site. It is called Creative Kismet. I made it as a showcase for my creative side of life. Here I will post my new paintings, and crafts at random. In my efforts of accomplishing my dream of having an online store called Creative Kismet, I am hoping that this will open the door towards getting my creations and name out there in the web world. Eventually my new blog will link to my new online store. You can check out my new blog site here.

I have also joined a sort of web ring called Illustration Friday which is a wonderful idea where a topic is posted every week and then illustrations (art, drawings, paintings, etc) are submitted by hundreds of different artists. It's just like art class in high school. Back then we called it "Freestyle Fridays" which I always just loved. We could draw whatever we wanted (outside of our regular art class work) and post it on the board every Friday at the beginning of class and critique all the works. Illustration Friday is the same idea and I just love it.

I know what everyone is thinking. I've heard it a bit already. "Where does she get the time" or my favorite, "You must have a lot of free time on your hands". Well I don't (obviously). I'm very busy with the boys of course, and with my creating. It's simply just what I love to do so I make time to do it. I spend the majority of my day playing and doing stuff with the boys, running errands one day a week (sometimes 2) and I multitask (for lack of a better word) like crazy. The very second that the boys lie down to nap or sleep at night I'm in my craft room doing something. I also get up early and go to bed late. So that's what I do in a nut shell. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of "free time" on my hands.

Before-After

It was high time for a haircut. Ethan's hair has been driving me mad. Once it gets to a certain length, it starts sticking up in the back, and there is nothing you can do to get it to lay down. We had wanted to keep it a little longer than usual because all the boys now days, and the boys on his soccer team, keep longer hair do's. Well, a couple of games ago, I swear they all showed up with hair cuts making Ethan look like a scraggly wild guy. So today I wrestled him down, bribed him with some Halloween candy and finally cut his hair. It was messy, but it had to be done. Here is his dramatic before/after picture. See, doesn't he look much happier now that his hair is cut?

A Cowboy & an Elvis impersonator

We had a great Halloween despite the yucky early day weather. It pretty much rained for most of the day and it wasn't looking good. I was a little worried that the Halloween festivities would be a wash but luckily the weather changed into a pleasant, slightly chilly Halloween evening and night.

After spending the weekend sewing, ripping apart and re-sewing I think the boys' costumes turned out pretty good. I do have to say that no animals were harmed in the making of Ethan's outfit -only cotton and faux fabrics were used. Anyway, It was fun, but next year I will give myself more than the weekend before to make the costumes. You know me- can't do anything the easy way.

Ethan had a blast!! He is quite the friendly trick-or-treater. We had to remind him not to go inside the houses. We also had to restrict him to saying only "Trick-or-treat","Thank You" and "Happy Halloween". Otherwise, we'd be out all night just making it through one quarter of the homes on ONE street. If you get him going, pretty soon he's telling all sorts of stories about Isaak, our cat...you name it! He kind of lingered too. You know when the candy givers say "okay... have a good night" and Ethan, several minutes later, is still standing there staring into their big bowls of candy as if mesmerized. He's a hoot!! He made out like a bandit. A pretty good size bag filled with goodies. Surely he couldn't and shouldn't eat it all by himself. Thank goodness for mommy and daddy.

It's a Girl!!

Congratulations to my sister, her hubby and little Gavin. They all became the proud new family to a beautiful little girl on the night of Sunday, October 29th. Gavin (her older brother) wanted to call her "Pizza" which is his favorite food in the world! Unfortunately (for Gavin) they decided to call her Jasmine. So, new little baby Jasmine made her way into the world a few weeks early with a very healthy weight of 6 pounds and 7 ounces. She is doing wonderfully and so is mommy. We can't wait to meet little Jasmine over Christmas break when we are headed back home for a short visit.

Congratulations again to my sister and her beautiful little family. We love and miss you!!

Aunt Jenny is gone and we were sad to see her go. We took her to the airport and Ethan had a good cry as we were driving off. He's so cute. We had a lot of fun the day before Aunt Jenny left. We went out to eat lunch then we went to the mall and played in the kids play zone. Ethan ran around with the other kids while Isaak attempted standing next to the soft alligator head. He had loads of fun. We ended the day with a cup of frozen yogurt for Ethan. What a great day it was. We will miss Aunt Jenny.

The bad part about having friends and family visit is having to drive them to the airport. It is always so sad. A few days to spend with loved ones is always worth a couple of tears.

I'm gonna get you!

Yep, he's crawling and scooting all over the house. Just won't sit still. He's even starting to pull himself up into standing position. Ethan never really crawled so this is all new to us. We put him down for one second and *poof* he's gone. We've had to do some serious child proofing around the house and we are going to be getting the door gates out very soon. He's even been going after Sloopy. He's been swatted at twice by Sloopy for getting too close and for trying to grab her tail. No rest for the weary- that's for sure!