Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I Spy.

Beasley.
I can't believe the stuff this dog puts up with my two little boys!
This particular day they piled blankets and pillows on top of Beasley to hide him.
They giggled and smiled the whole time...and I'm pretty sure he loved the attention.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011 involved...

A trip to Green Bay to spend the holiday with Cousins, Aunt, Uncle and Grandparents.


 Jack slept with his cousins (sans us) both nights and did great

He also had his first ride on a four-wheeler of which he reported back that he "needed to duck for branches" and he "went through puddles". That is all I got and that is all I ever get. Short, random descriptions of the daily and/or exciting happenings in his life. Will it get better when he is sixteen? 
I know not, but I can hope.

I digress

My favorite moment: Listening to Lauren (age 6-new reader) read Jack bedtime stories. It just warmed my heart listening to my niece sound out the words in the story of Little Mermaid while Jack listened patiently (ever so patiently). He never made a peep, a sigh or a fidget as she read the book. 
I think he was in awe of her reading because "you know Mommy, Lauren goes to school!"



Owen got a "Buzz Lightyeaa" bike from the Easter Bunny. He was impressed! However, so was Jack who now thinks Owen's bike is better then his own and he continues to find reasons he is unable to ride his. For example, "GiGi's driveway is too small for my bike" and "I'd much rather run all the way to the park".  Hmmm.

Dressing my boys up in their Easter outfits made me smile. Jack was called "handsome" by his cousins (first time) and that made him smile as well. When I asked to him to change into his play clothes after church, he responded with, "No Mommy I can't, everybody likes me in these clothes".

The kids all watched Pete's Dragon one night and Jack smiled through the whole movie. 
Note to self: Buy Pete's Dragon.

This is where Owen preferred to be the entire two days, between Twinkle (Ellie) and Annie.
He told me on the way home, "Momma, I love them sooo much".
All the girls are just so sweet to Owen and Jack. They are special girls and I have two very lucky boys.

Another precious moment was listening to Twinkle (9 years-old) try to describe to her Mom, Grandma and I what the role of the Easter Bunny really is. The whole thing was very complicated, but what I took away from our discussion is that this sweet girl still believes deep down in her heart that their is a true Easter Bunny even though her classmates are probably telling her otherwise.

This is the best family picture I could get! 
Not together, squinty eyes, and a missing a kid?!?!
Sigh.

Owen's not much into posing for pictures these days.
He's two and currently marches to the beat of his own drum.
All I can say is that we're working on it and he's cute so we're patient.

In an attempt for a great and memorable photo op of the grandparents with their five grandchildren 
(my father-in-law said, "you know your old when your asked to sit down for pictures"...I laugh again typing that), these were the best two out of about 10 frames. Notice that one is the traditional Myers Family silly face photo and the other, both my boys are looking down. 
Double sigh.


Oh well, seeing that little bum finding his Easter goodies hiding under the dining room table makes me happy. 



Sunday, April 17, 2011

Spring!


Every spring is the only spring...a perpetual astonishment.
 ~Ellis Peters~

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Today 2.0.

Today....

1. I have these slow cooking in the crockpot. It smells delicious in this house! I have made this french dip recipe probably 4 or 5 times in the last 6 months, they are that good! Really, you need to make and make them now.

2. I wore socks with my Nikes (even though on Tuesday I told myself I had officially retired my socks for the season) and my winter coat for goodness sake (even though on Tuesday I was not wearing a coat). And the weatherman is predicting snow tomorrow night...really?!?! This is the price we pay for living in Northwestern Wisconsin.


3. Magical jellybeans mysteriously appeared for the boys. The boys of course wanted to eat them, but I advised them to do as Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk) did and plant them.

So that is just what they did Jack did while Owen ate most of his jellybeans.



We then played at the park, threw rocks in the river, walked along the railroad tracks (cause we're dangerous like that!), ate lunch that the DQ and guessing the entire time if our magical jellybeans would grow and what they would grow to be.


And when we got home....

Magical Lollipops

The boys loved it!
(Jack insisted on wearing his shirt backwards..."the seven is supposed to be in front Mom".)

4. I am contemplating taking time off from the ole' Facebook. It's a time suck.

5. I am dreaming of making fabric roller shades or a ceiling lamp complete with IKEA striped fabric for Jack's new room. I have never (ever) had the time to search out IKEA textiles as I am always with my boys when I am there. Next up: a solo trip to the big blue store.

6. Seriously thinking about red furniture with blue striped walls for Owen's room. Kinda like this and this.

7. Excitedly anticipating Will Ferrell's debut on The Office tonight!


8. I am wondering how this munchkin,

turned into this big boy?


9. And I am also wondering where I can find myself one of these,
Oh my that is blurry.
and a bunch of these bottles?
Both from the Idea House.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Weather, water balloons, chalk, sticks, running and climbing. Oh and did I mention a chair refab?

It was absolutely beautiful today....just beautiful!
With the sun shining and the temperature at roughly 70 degrees, it was a must that we spend our day outside. So, after school, music class, a few errands, and a long drive back to WI (due to a bridge being out of commission from flooding..grrrr!) that is just what we did.

We made water balloons.
Too soon? I think not.

We covered (the already covered) the driveway with chalk drawings.
Jack also wrote out the alphabet while I sang it to him.
This made for one proud Momma and one proud little boy.

 I observed Jack turn various sticks into guns.
I tried for so long to keep him away from anything (anything) that even remotely 
resembled a g-u-n (yes, I would even spell the word rather than say it). But, you know what? 
I learned the pairing of boys and guns is inevitable and their ain't noth'n this Momma is gonna do about it.


 Jack and I chased this boy all.over.the.place.
Owen has officially learned the game of chase and he is loving it.
We all laugh and laugh watching this boy run all over with no concept or awareness of where he's actually running. Except when he runs out into the road...not funny. He was steps away from running out into the main street of my Mom's small town this afternoon, when I caught the back of his shirt.
I guess we need to stop laughing.


Jack is learning to climb trees. 
He is perfecting this new skill by practicing on the thirty year-old Willow tree in my Mom's backyard. I too climbed this same tree when I was a young girl, which makes watching him learn extra sweet.
Advice: Crocs are not the appropriate tree climbing footwear.


Oh yes and a chair refab (refabulous).
I bought this chair at the local Habitat For Humanity Restore a few weeks back when my Vitamin D levels were probably at their lowest. With the spring months approaching, but the snow and cold still lingering (and living in limbo, two kids, three dogs, one husband and lots o'crap everywhere), I think I was starting to feel 'down in the dumps', actually I know I was. I need something to do, I needed something to create, I needed a project and I needed something to drag my butt outside (despite the cold air, rain and snow).

Anywho, when I saw this chair I felt inspired and for $20 I got excited.
I am pretty sure at Restores you can negotiate a price on everything, but I haven't figured out a way to do that without feeling bad. Maybe next time.

So, I took the chair all apart and was it G-ross!


After sanding and priming the chair (priming only because I was sick of sanding), I gave it a few good coats of Valspar Hotel Churchill White. This process made all the neighbor kids (the girls) flock to see what the heck I was doing and why I was doing it and could they watch and could they help.
Girls are so different than boys :)



After completely taking apart the seat cushion and redoing it with new supplies, I added this pretty fabric I found at JoAnn's. I am not sure what drew me to this specific fabric other than I thought it was pretty and girlie (and I need me some girlie every now and then).





 Volia!
 
 I have no idea where this will go or if it will even match anything in my new house.
But, I like it and it's pretty, right?
Next up, I am going to sew a pillow to match using this tutorial.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Carefree.

Sun
Warm temp.
T-shirts
new Crocs
and "Old McDonalds" for lunch.

Need I say more?

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Life doesn't always go as planned.

Sure doesn't.
That would be 30 days until we move into our house (hopefully) instead of the original 13.
But anywhoo.....

Jackers woke up last night complaining that his "head hurt" while pointing to his left neck/ear. In my deepest sleep, I pulled him into bed with us for a good cuddle and rubbed his neck. We both fell back to sleep, only to have him wake again now crying in pain while pointing to his ear. It takes a lot (and I mean a lot) to take down my Jackers and an ear infection is just the thing to do it.

After some Advil and numbing ear drops, we cuddled while watching Jack's new favorite show, Jake and The Neverland Pirates. He moaned and groaned and requested me to rub his neck and all the while, I couldn't move (at all) because that made it worse. Poor bubs. Now, we were supposed to have a play date today with his buddy Chase and through all this pain he was also requesting/pleading that his friend still come over. It's probably best we just lay low for the day even though I was looking forward to the girl talk just as much as Jack was looking forward to the play-time.

And Owen? He has been playing around GiGi's house care-free all morning while wearing his new sneakers.
We have got some spring pics coming up!

He also has been loving up is new book, Tangled.



This one...oh Beasley. 
He's just wondering what all the hoopla is about and why no one is scratching his belly.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Sunday Evening Random.

**I wrote this post last night while watching Due Date (pretty good) with Pat and just as I was minutes from completion, the server stopped working. Grrrr. So now tonight, as the boys (including Pat) are sound asleep, I am working on it again while watching the Country Music Awards.

1. We have had one busy week that included cousins, the zoo, Underwater World Sea Life Aquarium, Nickelodeon Universe, thrifting, haircuts, a birthday party, visits to our new house and playing outside in 50 degree weather in Spring coats...twice (just.the.best.feeling.).

2.  It was a quick, "Momma, I want to go...please I want to go soo bad...I want to go with Uncle Andy and Ty" type of decision. I had little time to actually process what was happening. I was nervous, I was sweating and my heart was pounding. I gave Jack a big hug and kiss and told my brother, "please be careful and don't let Jack sit by himself". And that was it and they were off to ride on the Log Chute (without me as I stayed back with the little kiddos). I always assumed Pat and I would be with Jack when he experienced a ride like this for the first time. But I wasn't and that is okay (even though I was having a panic attack the whole 20 minutes). 

Jack did great, but he tells me, "I never-ever want to go on that ride ever again."

3. "Fwankie" and Onen" impatiently waiting for their brothers.


And playing piano together.
The older they get, the more they are becoming lil' buds.

4. A sneak peak of our Forever House (my new name for our house as I hope to live in it longer than 2 years, the current average for our four previous homes).
 Our close date got pushed back from April 20th to May 7th. 
Gaaaww...17 more days added to living outta suitcases.

 5. While Pat had a Guys Night last night at the casino, I stayed home and stalked blogs and Etsy and Pinterest. I purchased this:

this:
 Per a raving recommendation from Pat's cousin's wife who is also a Momma to a boy.
 **That reminds me, this book about raising/nurturing boys is awesome and I also highly recommend it to all parents of boys.

and two of these (for Easter):

 6. Last summer, I posted a link to a fruit salsa recipe. At the time, my friend Kim informed me that although she was very much wanting to make that recipe, my link did not work. Kimmy, I completely forgot that you told me that until I came across this fruit salsa recipe (last night as well) on Pinterest. This one is a little different as it has apples, but I think it looks equally delicious. And don't forget the cinnamon-sugar chips!



7. I found my first gray hair recently, the boys have been asking to feel the wrinkles on my forehead, and I notice my eyesight worsening. Awesome. But, Jack told me a few days ago, "Mommy, guess what? Your my hero!" Sigh.

8. After visiting it several times at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, I bought a dining table and its matching six chairs. There is a cute story behind my decision to buy it that I will share later when the project is complete, but for now here is a glimpse.

Inspiration for this refab project can be found here, here, here and maybe a little of here.
9. Dear Minnesota Family and Friends,

Please offer any assistance you can to me about the most effective way in using Craig's List. My ears are wide open to any of your tips and tricks to getting that thing you have been looking for. I never used it much in Kalamazoo because it was a smaller/less populated area which meant there never was much for sale. I have been finding some great stuff on Craig's List and when I reach out to the seller, I am either second in line/too late or they never get back to me. What gives?

Thank you, 

Nicole

10. We went to our Forever House today to check it out, dream up future plans, mark trees we need taken out, and play in the woods. These woods behind our house provide (and will provide) an endless adventure for the boys (and their parents actually). Watching them find treasures, throw rocks, climb trees, make walking sticks and discover deer tracks all while getting filthy dirty makes me one happy Momma. I truly think I never stopped smiling watching them play. 

Jack and Owen got into the bath tonight with mud smeared on their knees and down under their fingernails. I asked Jack what his most favorite part of his day was (a question we always ask at the end of the day) and he replied, "playing in the woods". I cannot wait until playing in the woods is our new, daily activity! Once we are all moved in, our first project will most definitely be this.


And just because...