aLpHaBeT

We are definitely in an alphabet phase right now. The boys know the alphabet and letter sounds but we have been working on writing and reading. It is funny, J and W have made letters out of trains, pencils, pretzels, sticks, trucks, etc. but we just haven't spent a lot of time writing them.

For fun, I love the cinnamon alphabet/number crackers from Trader Joes. We used them in a "special treat" dessert the other night to spell their names.

And a few weeks ago we made fruit trays for yogurt smoothies and I put a dusting of wheat germ (yes, wheat germ-a.k.a. "sprinkles") on their tray and drew their initial into it...fun and easy! Can you tell we have letters on the brain?

And chalk boards and etch-a-sketch boards are great for practicing too. Here is J showing me

his "smashed T" the other day. Not just normal everyday T's around here...folks...we do it right. Smashed Ts.

And W tracing letters in a dry erase book:

We found a great book from the library called "Alphabet City" by Stephen Johnson and each picture is a photo of something like a park bench, or a bridge, or a building that highlights the shape of a letter. ABCDEFGHIJKlmnopQRSTUVWXYZ

Our happenings

The boys and I have been trying to keep busy since it is Geoff's work weekend. We went to the traveling commissary sale they had at the fairgrounds yesterday. And got these fun bowls...

...and lots of good deals on cereal. And you can see J and W got creative making trains with some of the food and drinks containers after we returned home.
Fuel/tanker cars:

Box cars:

Another fuel car:

We also went to a garage sale this morning and got some fun things. I told the boys that we used their Valentines Day (I know..that was awhile ago) money to buy the trains, books, and animals we found.

W said: "I want the toys and the money too."

Me: "Well, if you want the money, then we have to go take all of this back to the garage sale."

W: "I don't want the money."

Then at the exact same time, the boys woke early from their nap. They were even on different sides of the house. And they both were grumpy. And had very runny noses. And were sneezing. And were coughing. Full-on colds. Healthy as horses this morning and out of nowhere this cold appeared. Miserable. I told them at the store we could get them some Jello since they weren't feeling good.

After W had one and a half containers of Jello he said "I need more Jello, I still have a cough." If only Jello made coughs go away!

And now Geoff is home...we had some yummy Mexican lasagna for dinner and are enjoying the sunset.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today. I am loving this weather. I do not miss the FL humidity one bit. We are enjoying all of our new trees. Hopefully this week our landscaping job will be complete. Just plants, gravel, mulch, staking the trees, and finishing touches left to do. They will plant one more larger tree after our gutters go in on Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Once Upon A Time....

....there were two toddler boys...and one was making obnoxious slurping sounds out of a cup his daddy was holding for him...while the other was looking on laughing joyously. Giggling uncontrollably. Cute enough for a youtube sensation if I do say so myself.

and fast forward several months...to a time when two toddler boys decided to hold mama's spices and spin around the room (don't ask me why). When one toddler boy gets so dizzy he crashes right on his face from all the crazy spinning. And the other toddler boy thinks it is so funny he wants to snuggle with him. Enjoy. The end.

I Can't Believe It...

So the last time I worked on the couch...it looked like this:

With about 50% of the ink left. I was dreading the top where W had warmed up with the pen and his marks were noticeable darker. Well, late this afternoon I went and did a little more work with Walmart's version of Windex and when I stopped the ink marks were lighter but definitely more noticeable.

I just went over to do another round and it was gone! All marks completely gone. I.am.amazed. In fact, I think I probably could have sprayed the stuff on and it would have evaporated. God sure taught me a lesson - I am so glad I didn't explode and lose it over this couch. Because right now it looks as good as new.

Awww, back to enjoying our couch.

Cat in the Hat

I saw a pizza in Parents magazine (I think) made in the shape of the Cat in the Hat's Hat. I couldn't find the article but decided to make it last night with the boys. We used some Trader Joes dough (very yummy by the way) and just made a tall hat.

Trees, Plants, and Big Boy Beds

Driving some trees down...

Some blue spruce lined up:

Pretty flowering berry tree (I think Claudia said):

As for big boy bed beds-they finally arrived! Our big boys (who will be four in just a few months) finally have big boy beds! I am not complaining though because we got some good use of those cribs huh?! I think we may paint their room, hang some pictures and get some window treatments sometime soon.....and will post finished room pictures later...but meanwhile, here is J with his new bed:

W about to sleep for the first time in his new twin bed:

J testing it out:

The beds can be bunked but we are going to wait a few years for that! Just too much temptation for our little monkeys.

It is A Good Thing....

...that I am reading the book "Have a New Kid by Friday" by Dr. Kevin Leman right now. And it is a good thing that I just read the section about anger. And more specifically:

"Never get angry. As soon as you get angry, you'll be back at square one. I understand that there are triggers-things your kids do that make you angry. But you're the adult in the situation. You are the one who ultimatley decides when you get angry. Don't let your children control your moods. If you get angry, an explosion of anger is like throwing up all over your child. The release in tension may feel good temporarily, but look what you've done to your child."

...And it is a good thing I was on the phone with Jenette when I discovered this:

...while the boys were napping. And it is a good thing the boys were napping when I discovered it. It is a good thing that I remember my friend Kendra in Japan telling me a story about her daughter writing with ink on her nice upholstered chair...but they got it out. Because between just reading that "anger" section the night before and by having some time to cool off-I was able to think about it and "respond" versus "react" (another subject in the book). And I remember the advice a woman working at a Honda dealership gave me a couple of years ago. She said "never cry over something that can't cry over you."

Man, it sure was hard not to cry over the couch. Did I mention that we have had this couch for 7 days? And that is ball point pen. And that the boys never touched our old couch with a ball point pen. It is pretty obvious who the culprit is. With all the "Ws" and all.

But I got online and the resounding advice is windex or purell. Something with alcohol. And that it will take a lot of time. And patience.

Patience patience patience calm calm calm calm. Calm. Calm. Calm.