Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Black Friday, Happy 27 days until Christmas!!

 

Owen: 10 months old!

Actually, more like almost 11 months old. It's been busy! 

Owen is getting just about as hard to photograph as his brother. He wants to be moving, all...the...time. Owen is cruising along the furniture, stands for a few minutes at a time, and thinks about taking a step forward before he falls on his toochie. Poor buddy has a bruise on each of his cheeks! 

He has 3 teeth (two bottom, 1 left top incisor) with a fourth making its appearance any day! He sure does love his big brother. Jack truly can make him giggle harder than anyone else! He is also loving his Momma right now, separation anxiety has been creeping up!  He might even be saying "MaaaMaaa"? I am not 100% sure about this, but his GeeGee swears he is. 


And a few pictures of my almost 11 month old, 3 toothed, double cheek bruised, big brother lovin' Owen!

 

 

"Alise Nommydop"

Sing it Jack!

Alise Nommydop...Alise Nommydop...Alise Nommydop!!!

Okay, I must admit, even though it is only November 18, I have been listening to the all Christmas music station quite frequently over the past few days. Everywhere I go and everywhere I shop it seems to be all about Christmas. It sucks me in! So, I figure I will just go with it. Plus, Jack is really diggn' the Christmas music this year. He would probably say his favorite song is "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town". With a close second being, "Alise Nommydop" or as we know it, "Feliz Navidad". Today, in the hour of making these cookies (below) this song came on a few times. Jack loved it, he was singing away, "Alise Nommydop"!! If I tried to correct him, he got very upset and insisted those were the words. So, I am just going with that as well. It is just too cute!

Highly recommend, very yummy!

The best part of baking cookies is licking the bowl! I think I told him "one more lick" like 10 times.

Are you trying to hide this from me?

Seriously Jack, one more time!

You have got to be getting a tummy ache?

Okay, let's move on to the cookies. Just one!

And another adorable idea from Jack's art class:

 

Why can't I think of this stuff?!

The Witching Hour(s)

What is this you ask? The "Witching Hour(s)" of my day are anytime between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. I would like to thank my mother-in-law for giving this "ugh" part of my day a name. I think when she was a young mom, she herself felt this "ugh". It's the end of the day...kids are silly, rambunctious, tired, hungry and naughty and this momma is tired, hungry and maybe a little cranky (me..no!). Dinner needs to made, house needs to be cleaned and kids need things to do or their Momma to play with them. And Pat needs to get home!

Thank goodness we can still go outside for a little cure of the "witching hour" blues!

 Jack ran out before me and climbed up to this position on his monkey bars, only to realize he was stuck.

 

 "Momma, help me!"

 

 Okay, first let me take a few pictures!

 

Is that a lion?

Nope...it's O!

Told you I'm a sucker for hats! 

It's truly one of the only ways to accessorize a boy! Girls have hair clips, hair bows, headbands, tights, leggings, shoes, hats, earrings, plus tons more!

Boys have hats. And I love them.

And these mittens are perfect for playing outside. They keep O's hands warm while making it almost impossible for him to put things in his mouth! Secret...there is no thumb hole! 

Standing...

 

 still standing....

 Standing with a pivot...

 

Leaning forward into a step....

Looks like Owen is in the lion stance...Roar!

Come on Owen...you can do it!

And he's down! 

"Mommy, Jack sees a plane!"

"Mommy, Jack is looking through his telescope at big, really plane!" 

Two things about these pictures. First, when we put this play set up in April, Jack was not quite tall enough to look through his telescope. I realized today, he is just the right height to look through it now! Second, he truly said those things to me. He often talks about himself in the third person, however, I have seen that fading. He is using the first person much more often. Have you ever noticed that Elmo always talks about himself in the third person, hmmm?

A Must See.

Please rent this movie! It will definitely make you think about what you eat, what your children eat and how that food is produced in this country.  And even worse, the role our government plays in all of this! It just might make you want to reevaluate next time you are at the grocery store. We know we will be!

Tonight.

The Light in Photography.

After being sick in bed for almost 3 days, it felt as though I had been in hibernation. I arose with this this strong need to start getting some projects done, but also spend lots of time outside with the boys as it has been absolutely beautiful here this past week... sunny everyday and in the high 50's. That kind of weather needs to be taken advantage of!  One of these projects that I have been wanting to do involved my boys, the vineyard behind our house and my camera. 

As a complete newbie to photography, I pretty much have no idea what I am doing. I do know that light is ESSENTIAL in photography, but I was made very aware of this during this little photo shoot. The light was beautiful as I was getting the boys ready and packed up for our walk to this location. However, as we were walking, it was fading and fading fast. This is definitely shown in my pictures, which is bummer. We still had fun though and Jack was extremely cooperative and helpful with his brother!

There are rows and rows of these grape vines. Concord grapes to be exact. 

They taste pretty good, too!

 

There it goes...heart melting!

 

I don't dress the boys the same very often, but these vests were just too cute. And I am total sucker for hats, if you haven't noticed.

 

Darn fuzzy hand! He just gets so excited!

 

 

 

I need to give this a go again when the light is better. I feel this passion for photography, a passion that is sparked by these two lovies! I just want to learn more and more. Ah well, onto my next project! Let's clean out the garage!

Side note: It is quite difficult and quite hilarious photographing these two. Owen is more concerned with putting anything and everything in his mouth including leaves, weeds, grass and sand. While Jack is concerned with noises ( planes or cars) and what Owen is doing. So, Owen would be shoving a leaf in his mouth while Jack was cooperating and then Owen was cooperating while Jack was staring into the sky at a plane.

Magic Noodles.

I discovered these today in Jack's (so adorable) art class. These are super easy, mess free and simply perfect for your toddler or preschooler to be creative and CREATE!

Jack's "Magic Noodle" Masterpiece

They look just like little pieces of chalk, which is exactly what this Momma told her son they were. Oops! Magic Noodles feel and look (when up close) like package peanuts, however, when you get them wet they stick together. How cool! The buzz around the mom's in art class is that you can buy Magic Noodles at any teacher supply store. Jack seemed to really like this project and truly the possibilities of being creative are endless. Plus, mess free...BONUS! 

Enjoy!

Good News, Bad News and the Flu!

Good News!

Owen's tooth finally popped through making him one happy boy!

Bad News!

 

 

Jack ended up being really sick with what I think was the stomach flu. This is a picture of him laying on his "sick bed". Did your mom ever do this for you when you were a child? Mine did. A very comfortable bed made up on the couch with lots of movie time and big red bucket (just in case). This stomach flu came in waves which was very odd to me. Jack would complain of not feeling well one day and then the next he would "appear" totally fine. Well, it hit hard last Wednesday night into Thursday and by Friday Jack was back to running circles around the house so I knew he was all better. No signs yet in O....pray for us!!!

Good News!

 

Keefe and Holly came for a visit this weekend. Keefe is an absolute die-hard University of Michigan Wolverine football fan. Actually, more like fanatic. He talks about the team in the "we" as if he is actually on the team. He knows all the facts, statistics, players, and checks U of M football blogs constantly. So, we felt it was very much appropriate to give them tickets to a game. On Saturday morning, we all headed over to Ann Arbor to take in the pregame fun and check out the city.

 

 

Of course, we all had to get the appropriate garb so we "fit in"!

Love this!

The boys could not get enough of Uncle Keefer's beard, they loved touching it!

That picture gave me a flashback......

Uncle Keefer and Jack when he was about 8 or 9 months. I'm pretty sure that hat is a U of M hat.

And 3 years later. Seriously, where has this time gone?

 

Going to Ann Arbor, especially with Keefe and Holly was so much fun. It is very much like the University of WI-Madison-State Street Area. Holly decided to hang with me and the boys and Pat and Keefe went to the game.We shopped and played with the boys and then headed home. Although, the Wolverines lost on Saturday I know the experience was all well worth it for the guys.

 

We had such a wonderful time with Keefer and Holly. We truly wish we would have had a few more days to spend with them. Our boys adore their Aunt and Uncle! Thanks guys for a great visit!

 

And of course..more Bad News!

Pretty sure, I came down with some form of influenza. It hit me on Sunday and I basically have been in bed ever since. I am starting to feel better today, which is why I am able to blog. Being sick is hard on anyone, but being a mother and being sick is pretty darn near impossible. Thank goodness I have a wonderful husband who has completely taken over all of my mommy duties and is taking really good care of me. I love you, babe!