Zonked

This is what Ryan looked like yesterday afternoon at 3:30.

I guess he was really worn out from cleaning my bedroom mirror with my perfume.

And washing the screen of his Leapster L-Max under running water.

That'll take a lot out of you when you're 3...

YES....The Beach

Yes, we went to the beach for the day on Sunday.

Yes, it is only the end of April and we were all in our bathing suits.

Yes, we all got some sun.

Yes, it was a record-breaking 93 degrees in the city.

Yes, it was 10-15 degrees cooler on the beach.

Yes, the boys went surf-fishing with Daddy.

Yes, we played Yahtzee in the sand.

Yes, the boys built sandcastles with Pop-Pop.

Yes, it was well-worth the $70 spent {gas, bait, & pizza for dinner}.

Yes, it was a relaxing, fun, family day at the shore in April.

{I had to add that again because I can't believe it myself :)}

Ryan Definitions Part 1

R: You know why it's called a jump rope?

M: No, why?

R: Because it's a rope and it jumps.

Powdered Donuts

On Saturday morning, I had to run and pick up some milk for breakfast.

Ryan was the only one up [surprise, surprise] so he tagged along for the ride.

We just ran to the closest gas station market and Ryan asked if we could get chocolate milk, too.

I thought, Why not? and decided to pick up some mini donuts as an extra weekend treat.

I picked out the powdered ones, we paid, and went out to the car.

As we were pulling out,

Ryan says to me, Mom, I'm not really into the powdered donuts.

Mind you, this child is only 3.

So I say, Ryan, when have you ever met a donut you don't like?

I don't know. I'm just not really into them.

And he wasn't lying. When we got home and I gave him his chocolate milk and 2 donuts, he proceeded to try to pick off the powder on the donuts. Pretty much impossible.....

On the other hand, apparently Nathan was into the powdered donuts :)

Life Happens....

So sorry it's been a week between posts.
The stomach bug went through our house AGAIN ~ 3rd time this year!!!

How is that possible?????

Feeling much better now and we're experiencing a little taste of summer weather in these parts this weekend. It was still 81 degrees on our way to dinner last night at 8:00!!! And it's only the end of April!!

We've got spring fever so we're going to spend the day at the beach today ~ YAH! :)

Hope today finds you feeling well and enjoying time with your family. See you soon....

You Mean I Can't Use ALL of It at One Time???

So, I was wondering what I was going to post on this beautiful day,

and then I happened upon this:

Apparently, I need to make sure the baby powder by the back door

is out of reach of this little munchkin.....

when did he get tall enough to get stuff off the counter????

Guess I'm going to have to get some more....hahahaha! :)

Thursday Tip

Many of you may already know this, but for those of you who don't....

Now that it's getting warmer, it's time for the kids to be out playing in the sandbox and if you're lucky enough, playing at the beach.

Here's a GREAT tip for getting all the sticky sand off your kids' hands and feet ~ use baby powder. You know, that big white container that you probably have never opened from your baby shower 6 years ago ~ oh, wait, that's just me :)

All you do is sprinkle some baby powder on your kids' hands and rub them together. It works like magic to remove the sand ~ even the stubborn pieces in between their fingers.

I keep some at my backdoor to clean up my boys before they come in the house. I also stick a sample size in my beach bag to take along to the park or the beach. Works like a charm!

Note to Self

Do NOT talk with husband about the kids needing haircuts in front of said children.

Do NOT leave scissors within 3 year old's reach (even if he drags a stepstool up to the bathroom counter)

Do NOT let your husband buzz off the rest of the already "so bad that people think there's something wrong with your child haircut."

We really didn't have much of a choice....but I'm getting used to it. :)

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs...

Evan had his first "friend" birthday party last Friday ~ I say "first" because it was actually his first party separate from our usual family celebration. He was allowed to invite 5 friends, so he picked two from school, two from church, and one family friend. When it was time to decide on a theme, we wavered between a camp-out party and a dinosaur party. Personally, I was rooting for the camp-out party, but the dinosaurs won that battle.

It all started with this little egg invitation...

When the boys arrived, they were all given their own adventure hat labeled with their name. They colored in pictures of dinosaurs while we waited for all the guests to arrive.

They cut them out and put them on our dinosaur mural.


Once everyone was there, we played some games.



Started with "Pin the Horn on the Triceratops..."


Continued with Musical Dinosaur Footprints....



And we really kicked it up a notch with "Hot Potato" ~ except we passed a dinosaur.

Time for a change of scenery, so outside we went. Thank goodness we didn't the rain that they were calling for [is it possible that there is any other job in this world where you can be wrong SO often and still have a job???? I digress...]

I had hidden parts of a dinosaur fossil all over the yard and the boys had to follow the clues like a scavenger hunt to find the individual pieces.



Then they had to work together to put the puzzle together...




Here's the completed skeleton. I have absolutely no idea what kind of dinosaur it was ~ found it on the internet ~ but one of Evan's buddies, Bryan, is a dinosaur connoisseur ~ he knew its name after only seeing the first three pieces.

You'd think I'd remember what he called it ~ but, I don't...



After a dinner of dinosaur chicken nuggets, we had our dinosaur dig in the sandbox. I don't have any photos of that because it was complete chaos :) I had hidden some clean, dry chicken bones in the sand and I also found these really cool plastic dinosaur skeletons from Oriental Trading Company that were just perfect. The boys thought they were really cool. Here's a photo from their website so you can get an idea of what they looked like.


Finally, it was time for dinosaur cake.
I even made an ice cream volcano by pouring strawberry syrup
over melting chocolate ice cream.



Followed by gift opening and a dinosaur egg hunt outside....

I think a good time was had by all.
[Dare I say it was "DYNO-mite!" HAHAHAHA ~ yeah, I know, pretty corny]
The kids took home these cute dinosaur mugs filled with dinosaur goodies ~ also from OTC. Should have gotten a photo of them, too ~ especially since they were ready a few days ahead of time, but I didn't think of it :)

Now, we're working on the thank you notes.
Evan is diligently writing each one out himself with a little help from mommy now and then.
Even though this was quite a bit more work than having a party at moonbounce [what we did for his 5th birthday], it was about 1/2 the price and we [I] had fun planning all the activities.
What do you want from an elementary teacher? :)

Our Easter Photos

Let's Rock!

This conversation happened a few days ago between Ryan and myself....

R: I love you, mom. [No one calls me mommy anymore, not even my baby :( When did that happen??]

M: I love you, too, buddy.

R: You don't love me when I'm bad.

I sat down so I was eye level with him and held his face in my hands so he would look at me [he's got shifty eyes :)]

M: Ryan, I love you no matter what. I love you when you're good. I love you when you don't make good choices. It doesn't matter what you do, I'll always love you, no matter what. It makes mommy upset when you don't listen, but I still love you.

{R smiles.}

R: Can you rock me? [We were in Nathan's room which is still a nursery with a rocker]

M: Sure.

R: Can we do this every day?

M: You want me to rock you every day?

R: I know....we can rock every day when we come upstairs.

{Smile}

Even though he only let me hold him and rock him for a minute or two, I ate it up.
I know this window of opportunity to snuggle with and love on my boys will not last forever.
I need to take advantage of every single chance I get.

Thursday Tip

With 3 boys in the house, I do a lot, make that a ton of laundry every week.

Especially when it starts getting warmer outside and they have to change their clothes each time they come in the house. Not because they are prima donnas, but because I'm trying to cut down on the dirt they track into the house.

My boys have a knack for getting grease spots on their shirts and I found a fantastic, easy way to get rid of them.

All you do is spray the spot with those scrubbing bubbles bathroom cleaner. Rub it in a little with a toothbrush and let it sit for a day or so. Then wash it as you normally would.

This will not bleach out the colors but it will remove your greasy spot. I've even used it on our Life is Good t-shirts that you can't use stain remover on for fear of bleaching out the color without any problems....

Looking for an easy dinner???

If you're anything like me, you are always on the look out for simple dinners that you don't have to think too much about. These 2 recipes came from my friend, Andrea. She discovered the barbeque chicken recipe and then created the buffalo chicken one. Both are delish and SO, SO, SO easy~peasy! And we should know....I have 3 boys and Andrea has 4....sometimes dinner is the last thing we have to worry about in our busy days :)

BONUS ~ these are made with frozen chicken breasts ~ again, if you're anything like me ~ totally takes the pressure off remembering to take something out of the freezer to defrost.

The directions are the same for both, just different ingredients for the sauce....

Pulled Barbeque Chicken
12oz barbeque sauce
1/2 cup Italian dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce

Pulled Buffalo Chicken
1 tbsp vinegar
1/4 cup Italian dressing
1/2 cup Sriracha hot sauce (I found this in the Asian section of the grocery store - I think it's Korean hot sauce)
1 cup your choice hot sauce
10 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 package Ranch seasoning packet

Mix together and pour over 6 frozen chicken breasts in CrockPot. Cook 3-4 hours on high OR 6-8 hours on low. Remove chicken, shred using 2 forks, return chicken to sauce in pot and heat through. Serve with shredded Cheddar cheese on rolls.

You can also 1/2 the recipe ~ this makes a lot. I made both of these for Evan's birthday on Sunday and it fed 12 adults with some left over.

Let me know if you make it what you think.....ENJOY!

Coughing

I've been coughing for a week and a half now.

The cough has been super annoying.
And so has the "peeing in my pants" thing every time I don't brace myself for the cough.

Gotta love it! :)

I think it's finally on the way out and thankfully, I am feeling so much better.

My First Baby...

...turned 6 yesterday! I cannot believe it! It's hard to imagine that 6 years ago yesterday I pushed out a 10 lb 5 oz bouncing baby boy!!!!





Evan has grown into such a sweet, fun, caring, artistic little boy. Mark and I are so proud of him ~ he is a hard worker at school and tries his best in everything he does. He is SUCH a wonderful big brother to Ryan & Nathan ~ even though they still argue, he would defend them to the ends of the earth if he had to.

He loves to draw and some days wants to be an artist "just like pop-pop" when he grows up. Other days he wants to be a baseball coach or a pirate. :)



He just started playing coaches' pitch baseball this year. He is by far, the youngest player on the team which is ages 6-8, but he is one of the best players on the field [I know I might be a little biased, but he really is only one of two kids who consistentlly hits the ball and you should see his arm!] When Mark took him out to buy his first baseball glove before his first game, he came home SO excited! He got a glove, some practice balls, and a real bat! He was so darn cute that night ~ he went to sleep with his ball tucked inside his glove on the pillow next to his head. When I kissed him good night, he whispered "Mom, I'm a real baseball player now," in my ear. I agreed with him :)



Last night, after the big family party, he was getting ready for bed. I noticed he had a pained look on his face and I asked him what was wrong.

"My legs hurt, mom."

"Why do your legs hurt, Ev?"

"Because they're getting bigger," he replied with a knowing look. "The same thing happened when I turned 5."

Smile.



Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!
I don't know what daddy and I would do without you.
We love you higher than the sky.