The Eating of the Bunny....

A chocolate bunny of course!

What is this thing? I think I like it!

And then we took a bath. The end.

Had to Share this...

This coupon means that you can buy anything (a $1.50 nail file) and get an $11 product for free. Now through April 12th. (yes, Courtney, it is for 2008!)

Here's to better smelling......

Bath and Body Works Coupon!

Just like Daddy.

Daddy brought home a backpack for Ethan from Italy! Ethan was more excited then Christmas.

He was so excited that he went and put it right next to Jo's backpack and said, "Just like Daddy."



Then he stared at the backpacks, thinking and thinking.... Went into the kitchen and brought out a glass of water and carefully placed it next to his backpack. Then he smiled, "Just like Daddy" he said again. We couldn't figure out what in the world he was doing. The we realized that Jo had a water bottle in the side pocket of his backpack!!!! Ever think they're not paying attention?

Easter Happenings

So, Easter was a beautiful time of spring and celebration and fancy dresses. Nope, Daddy was gone, we were all kinda sick and there were certainly no fancy dresses in our house! We actually had a great time, Lola was here and we had a fun Easter Egg Hunt. The boys had some adorable outfits and as you can see, they were so comfortable in them. BUT, they did look cute!

Come on, you'd think that I put them in straight jackets....hey, that gives me an idea....

I'd like to say this was spontaneous, but it was with instructions to "hug your brother" Drew was nearly strangled!

Picture with Lola. Pretty much one or both of the cried during the entire week with Lola. How sad!

Me and my boys! Love these little dudes!


Drew eating grass.

Ethan looking for eggs. Good Mommy put them right in the middle of a thorn bush. Oops....I'm still novice at this Easter egg hiding thing.

Note his "Easter Basket." I forgot to bring his, so we improvised. Good idea though, right?

Drew even had fun "looking" for eggs!

Daddy's Home!!!!

We're so excited that Daddy made it safely home from his trip to Italy and Slovinia!

Ethan wouldn't let him out of his sight...or arms!

Daddy brought him some GREAT presents! He got a cool backpack, and soccer uniforms. Poor little Drew will inherit these someday as they didn't have baby sizes!

I'm a volleyball player!!!

Look at my cool outfit! Go Italia!

I love it!

Had to wear the backpack when trying out each outfit!

The Turtle part 2

So after playing in the lovely Turtle Sandbox, we didn't close the lid tightly. Either that or the incredible gale force winds that we get here in Loudoun lifted the little Turtle Shell and moved it ever so slightly. This allowed the POURING rain to dump into the sandbox, making it quite a soggy mess. Ethan decided that this sandy mixture was the perfect consistency to dump on his brothers head. Thank you very much, I love you too.

Seems a little concerned here actually, but probably not about the sand. Honestly, Drew always looks a bit worried. Has been worried since the day he was born. (Not sure what he thinks about, but can't wait until he can tell us!)

OH, it appears he was trying to figure out how to be full of sand and still eat. This boy can eat, let me tell you!

The culprit himself. Note that he is a mess, but his hair is almost clean.

Drew doesn't seem to care. As long as his brother is paying attention to him it is all good!!!

Love these boys to bits!!!!!!

I was wrong...

...about the sleeping thing. Ethan can sleep, if he is in my bed. Laying horizontally. Thank you very much.



He snores. Just like his father. At least I didn't forget him while he was in Italy, I had the snoring to remind me!


So you can see, I sleep like a baby. I had about an inch of room in my Queen size bed. I should just go sleep in the crib, I'd probably have more room!

Sleep and the definition of insanity....

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one
-Leo Burke

The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Without enough sleep, we all become tall two-year-olds.
~JoJo Jensen, Dirt Farmer Wisdom, 2002

I don't know who Leo Burke is, but he is a wise man. And, sometimes I agree with JoJo, I think I've turned into a 2 year old. I have slept like a baby for the past 3 1/2 years. I'm exhausted. Worn out. Aged 10 years (a man in the grocery store actually said to me, "we don't have to card people who look over 35" WHAT??)

We've tried, co-sleeping, the Ferber method, going for the Happiest Baby on the Block, Baby Whispering and earplugs. Our babies still sleep like babies.

Everyday my husband asks me how I'm feeling and I (apparently) say "Tired, I wish they would just sleep...just one night...what are we doing wrong?" I didn't realize that I had been saying the exact same thing every day until last week when he very kindly said, "You know Kim, the definition of insanity is when you continue to do the same thing and expect different results." OH, is that what I've been doing? Very nice of him to put it that way instead of, "Hey Kim, shut-it, you sound like a broken record." I'm pretty sure I'm a little insane at this point.

Here's some pictures of them on the rare occasion when they're actually sleeping.....



The only reason that he's sleeping in this picture is because he's sick.



The only reason he's sleeping in this one is because I was trying to get a good picture of him and he didn't want to cooperate.


The only reason he's sleeping in this one is because I was probably trying to feed him.

Anyway, the little tykes are worth it. I'll remember this when they're teenagers and I WON'T feel bad waking them up at 6am"

Ciao Italy

Well, Jo is off to Italy for 9 days of touring and volleyball. The GW team has a blog if anyone is interested in following along with their trip you can follow them here.

The boys and I already miss him. Bath time just wasn't the same. The boys are in bed and now I don't know what to do without my buddy.

Thankfully, Jo's Mom is here for the duration! Hopefully she still likes us all after the week is over.

On a side note, the boys have been moderately clingy today (possibly due to the hype of said Italy trip). I was holding Ethan and I asked him "Why does Mommy need to hold you right now?" He said, "Because you love me Mommy!" Of course. Why else? What a smart little dude he is. Then he dumped dirt on his head.

American Idol? Maybe someday...

Yesterday Ethan had his first big moment on stage. We were so excited, stalker-like actually. I went early and got prime seating, Jo left early from work to be there, we had 2 video cameras (just in case one broke) and a camera. We were ready. We'd been practicing the songs with Ethan all week and we were so excited! Not sure how excited Ethan was, but boy are we the proud parents!!!

Here are some pictures:Waiting to get started. So boring, but hey, at least he's sitting in his seat! How did they get him to do that anyway?

Still waiting, this is where the whole hand in the mouth thing started! It'll be a great party trick later in life.

Please note that everyone else is singing :-) He wouldn't move that hand from his mouth!

Yeah, he started singing!!

He did have an American Idol moment, much to our amusement he ran up to the microphone and hung on it like he was singing and ran back to his seat before he could get in trouble! Little rascal!
Sweet little Drew has been left out of the past posts....so I had to show that the little guy really does exist. The problem is that he isn't doing all of the mischievous things that his brother does. Smart little guy!!!

Future Artist or Jailbird Tagger?

Ethan, our eldest little bundle of joy, has taken to drawing. This is great....right, I mean he is expressing himself and being creative right? The problem: he's taken to drawing, or really tagging, making his mark on everything but paper. He's tagged the walls of several rooms, toys, himself, his brother and worst (until tonight) our couch.

Tonight it was on our floor.

White carpet.

Blue Highlighter.

Disaster.

We had "train tracks" and "roads" all across our playroom floor. Oh my. Of course it was our fault for leaving said-blue highlighter on our desk and leaving the room, how dare us eat dinner in peace! We had friends over and little friend-Tyler comes running down the stairs holding the offending blue highlighter (which suddenly makes me wonder why we have a blue highlighter in the first place...we've graduated from college, no schooling is taking place in our home at the moment....what business does a highlighter have on our desk?)

I run upstairs at the speed of light in utter horror knowing of Ethans' tagging obsession. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the light blue lines, but OH they are there. The little "artist" himself?

Well, he is hiding under the train table.

Salsa Chicken Chili-Easy and my kids actually eat it!

1lb cut up chicken breast or ground chicken or turkey
1/2 of an onion
1/2 cup of celery
1 cup of chicken broth
2 cloves of garlic
1 small jar of salsa
2 cans of great northern beans
2 tsp of chili powder (or more if you like it spicy)
1 t of cumin (if you like the flavor..I do!) or a handful of chopped fresh cilantro

Sautee the onion, garlic and celery in olive oil or butter. Add the chicken/turkey and brown. Add salsa, beans, northern beans, chili powder and cumin/cilantro. Cook through. The longer the better, but I've been known to heat and eat (due to extreme lack of patience). Also a great crock pot recipe!

Enjoy!

My Little "Helper"

I'm now realizing the abundant amount of patience that my parents had (and continue to have). Because I always had to be "helping."

Come to think of it, I'm probably still doing it. (I'll have to tell about my shopping trip to rid my Mom of her "mom-jeans")

Payback is sweet.

My parents are laughing now.

Ethan loves to help....with everything. This is a blessing, I'm sure, although I don't always appreciate said-blessing. It's mighty hard to do any housework. Come to think of it....I should be happy for the excuse!

Here's Ethan "helping" me cook....or clean out the cupboard so that I can re-organize it. Either way, very helpful indeed.

Here's what happens if I don't let him help....here he is literally climbing the walls. Oh my.

Maximum Destruction, Grave Digger and Lightening McQueen

These are names that I never heard in my childhood and as foreign to me as Princess Ariel, Barbie, Cabbage Patch and Strawberry Shortcake are to my boys. They're names that I had hoped my sweet, innocent little boy might never learn until into his late teens or twenties. However at the ripe old age of 3, Ethan loves his Grave Digger and can recognize the driver from a picture. Maximum Destruction (or Max-D if you're in the know) is the main competition for favored Grave Digger.

Lightening McQueen is another favorite and there seems to be little wrong to say about him unless you count...."Lighting The Queen" as my nephew calls him much to his parents amusement.

My husband took Ethan to Monster Jam. The event of the century....ok the event of Ethan's WHOLE life. We had him so worried about how loud it was going to be (in order for him to be properly prepared of course) that when I asked him if he was excited, his response was "It's gonna be berry loud Mommy! Have to wear my earplubs Mommy." So here are some pictures from Monster Jam (complete with earplubs).








Every evening before bed we watch some educational tv shows that teach great lessons that they can ponder in their dreams and wake up better people. Oh, who am I kidding.....we watch Monster Jam. Over and over and over. Ethan knows when each "crash" will occur, when the tire will fall off and who will win the races. Here's him watching with Daddy... (please note that he is also wearing the complete Lightening McQueen pajamas of course)




But they're just so cute and how can that look of Joy be stolen? I have to let them be boys. Destruction and grave digging, crashing and yucky bugs and everything.

The Turtle

Oh the wonders of The Turtle. Our sandbox turtle that is.




Hours of entertainment, (ok minutes at least).

Hours (seriously) of cleanup and trying to patch the yard where all the sand has killed what little grass we might have had.

Now that we have two boys....who'd have thunk?, there is even more fun to be had in "said turtle." Yesterday we had a lovely taste of Spring, with temperatures in the 70's! What a treat, so we thought it might be fun to break into The Turtle (ok, well truthfully, we let them play in it even when it's snowing...all for a few minutes of peace). This is what ensued.

Drew (age 1) decided that he actually liked the taste of sand.

Ethan (age 3) decided that it might be fun to feed the sand to Drew. No pictures of that due to my having to put down the camera to save Drew. Oh my.

Ethan also thought that it might be fun to dump shovels of sand into Drew's clothing. Oh my. This picture is before most of the dumping...again I had to put down the camera and save Drew (or save myself really)



Needless to say, we all ended up in the bath. Now, if it were me, I would have knelt by the side neatly making little castles and making sure that all of the sand stayed in the sandbox!

Oh well, at least they had fun!