pottery

The boys and I went to paint pottery over spring break.  I had really been wanting to go for months.  When Isaiah was 5 months old my friend Andrea and I went and painted pottery and I made a piece with Isaiah's hand print, then when Levi was 9 months old I went and painted a similar piece with his hand print.  I really wanted to get Titus' done before his hand got to big!  I love that I have these and hope to someday display them more clearly in our home.  

Of course the boys got to paint too.  I let the boys pick whatever they wanted.  Isaiah picked a race car and Levi a skateboard that is a secret box.  They had fun painting and took their time doing lots of layers so the colors would be bright. 

They were so proud of their work - and so was I! 

What a fun special thing to do!  

fork

Titus began showing interest in using his own silverware the beginning of April.  It didn't take long before he required a fork for each meal or he would whine and fuss until he got one.  He does pretty good at getting the food on the fork himself. Thankfully he is a good eater and eats just about anything put on his plate--except apples. 

almost warm

In late March we still had lots of snow, but the temperatures were getting warmer!  We had lots of fun in the driveway with only some of our winter gear on.  

 Nothing like footie pajamas with shoes on :)

 Titus was so excited when he found out we had this toy.  A favorite at first site! :)

 Levi and his shorts with a winter coat unzipped and gloves.  

 He has to get creative with ways to entertain himself when his best buddy and favorite playmate is at kindergarten.  

 Another day closer to spring -- we can't wait!

slushy cup

Our boys occasionally watch the Qubo channel when PBS Kids is off the air.  (We only have the basic channels but somehow get Qubo in the 100s??).  The shows on Qubo are cute and a change of pace from Wild Kratts and Daniel Tigers Neighborhood.  The bad thing about Qubo is it has TONS and TONS of commercials all geared toward kids wanting silly things you can purchase by phone.  All kinds of things like Pillow Pets, Dream Lites, Stompees slippers and the slushy cups.  

One day Levi really, really wanted to go buy a snow cone maker.  He had money saved up and was insistent that's what he wanted to spend it on.  We got to Target and the only snow cone maker they had was $50!  I knew he wouldn't use it very much and I definitely didn't want him to spend that kind of money on one.  We happened across a section of "as seen on TV" products and the slushy cup was there!  A perfect alternative to the snow cone machine and a much better price (still $15!).  

Levi loves his cup - mainly the spoon straw that came with it - but he loves to make a slushy!  It's also super easy to use - we just have to freeze the cup and then pour a little juice in and smash it up and we have a slushy! 

The only problem --- Isaiah always wants to use it too! :)

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

As an anniversary gift to ourselves last August we bought tickets to a few different shows at the local theater.  Mark and I got to go see STOMP and West Side Story together for a couple date nights and the big boys, Mark and I went to see The True Story of the Three Little Pigs one day in late March.  It was exciting for all of us!  

I wish we had known that there was going to be a carnival set up beforehand, but we didn't and arrived just a few minutes before it started.  The boys didn't care too much as we still got in on the free cotton candy!

We got to sit fairly close to the stage so we were easily able to see all the actors and their expressions! 

It was really fun to get to sit with my boys and be with them in one of their first play experiences.

I think Mark felt the same way!!

There were several different creative costumes to bring the animals of the story alive.  The boys thought the wolf's costume was cool.  

Good thing it was a shorter play (a little over an hour) because the boys were a bit restless when it was over! 

I'm looking forward to our next theater experience!!

Pool Party!

Isaiah has a sweet little friend Michaela in his kindergarten class.  This March she turned 6 and invited Isaiah to her swimming party at a local hotel.  She was only allowed to invite 5 friends and she picked Isaiah :)  I think it's because she may have a little crush on him which is cute because Isaiah has no clue.  I've caught her several times asking to hold Isaiah's hand and he just looks at her like, "really? ok."  and hurries with her to the playground after school.  :)  The innocence of little ones.  Luckily Michaela's mom asked that I stay at the party to help keep track of all the kids because I wasn't sure I was ready to leave him at a pool party!  It was fun to watch him interact with his kindergarten friends...and I ended up getting no good pictures other than this cute group one.  I'm excited for Isaiah making so many friends and I know all the fun he has yet to come at many more parties!  

left to right: Keenan, Gracie, Isaiah, Michaela, sister's friend, Genevieve-sister, Kennedy and Morgan.  (all Isaiah's classmates but sister and her friend). 

silly boys at Target

Shopping trips to Target with 3 boys is always an adventure.  There is no question that wild things will happen and unplanned things will make it in the cart.  On this particular day, it was one of those frustrating ones where all the big "semi" carts are taken (the ones with 2 big seats and the cart seat so I can strap everyone in), but we went with it.  I can't remember if we had a lot or a little that we were shopping for, but I do know the boys had fun going out to the van.  

 I do remember getting several dirty looks from people that clearly said, "I can't believe that woman is letting her kids do that" and "what a bad mother!" And you know, maybe it wasn't the safest choice for my children, and maybe their looks were right, but what I can say is the boys loved every second of the 2 minute walk to the car and the smiles/giggles warmed my heart and I think this may be a memory we have for a long time.  And as surprising as it is, Levi didn't get hurt in the process!  (and no I didn't let them do this all the way through the store -- just from the check out to the van which was in a close parking spot!)

So cheers to letting your kids do crazy things -- even if it means dirty looks -- because sometimes it's these things that get you through the shopping trip! 

Egg Hunt

The boys have talked about the church with the huge egg hung many times since last Easter.  It's at the church off a road we are on all the time and they point it out almost every time we drive by.  We almost missed the hunt this year because of how early Easter was and when they were having it, but thankfully I was reminded because the boys had a great time again this year.  Unfortunately my pictures are limited - having 3 excited boys all by myself in a CRAZY busy church made pictures low on the priority list :)

Levi was off the wall excited when he saw that they had real bunnies to look at and hold!  He is such an animal lover.  He couldn't wait to hold them and wanted to hold each and every one of them!  (Isaiah on the other hand offered to stand by Titus in the stroller at the edge of the bunnies because he had no desire to even look at them :)  it's so amazing to me the differences in their personalities/interests).  

 The boys were in the same age category for the hunt (if you can even call it that) this year as it was 4-6 year olds together.  Isaiah LOVES this kind of thing and couldn't wait to see how many eggs he could get and it was a MUST that he got a golden egg (which means you get to pick a prize at the end).  Levi really didn't care about getting the eggs and just went looking for a golden one.  As you can see there were hundreds of eggs just laying on the floor, Isaiah went grabbing and of course had his eye on a golden egg that he rushed right to and then grabbed many eggs.  Levi ended up not picking up even one single egg.  He really was only interested in getting a golden one and faster kids (like Isaiah) got them all first.  He was a bit sad after he realized what had happened that he didn't get to pick a prize or have any candy, but being the go-with-the-flow kid that he is, was over it in 2 minutes.

 And was just happy to have a second chance to hold more bunnies.  This time Titus got to get out and see too since the crowd had slowed down.  It's hard to see in the pictures, but the one Titus is looking at is a tiny little baby bunny - so cute. 

What a wild and crazy event!  whew!

snow hike on SPRING break!

We had such a snowy late winter this year that we were able to go on a snow adventure this spring break!  It was warm enough to go out in winter coats but not be all bundled up and the boys had a blast going up and down the cliffs and exploring all there was to find.

The fun started in the parking lot - the boys were thrilled to be outside and FREE!

My sweet little 6 year old looked so cute with rosy cheeks out in the snow!

We were lucky enough to have Caiden with us most of the week since his parents both had to work. The boys love their days with Caiden!

 We went off the trails and down the hills to see what we could find.  It was nice not to worry about what weeds we'd get in to (as we are all super allergic to poison ivy and tend to get irritated skin whenever we go off the path in the spring!)

 The boys had fun sliding down the hills 

 until they got stuck in the trees!

 And I will say that taking the toddler out on the trails is waaaayyyyyy easy with a baby sled.  He loved to be pulled along and watch the big boys...and the sled can go where the stroller cannot!  This 3rd baby used the snowsuit and the sled TONS more than his 2 bigger brothers!

 What a great way to spend a spring break afternoon! 

That's right, another ER trip.

So I'm not even sure just how many times Levi has been to the ER.  I want to say 4, but is it 5?  They've all been emergencies that have to do with an accident - a trip, a cut, a broken arm.  yikes.  Levi has the worst luck too.  If it were any other person in the situation that caused the ER visit, I truly think they would have been fine.  Poor kid.  This time around Levi and Isaiah were playing around on the couch downstairs.  Doing their every day normal play and Levi just happened to jump up and come down with his foot in between the couch cushion and the arm.  Go figure that his little foot managed to hit a spring just right that it broke through the fabric and went way up into the side of his foot.  There was no sign of this happening and no holes anywhere else in the couch.  Well, the cut was deep and bleeding bad so I called Mark home from work and off to the ER they went.  They offered to stitch or glue it shut and based on where it was located the doctor felt that glue would do the trick just as well.  So no stitches this time (but we've already had them, so now we can also check glue off the list :) ).  

 Of course he was dressed all appropriately to go out in public - miss matched pj's that are 2 sizes too small :). But he was such a trooper and all smiles from there on out. The doctor said not to get it wet for 5-7 days and our spring swimming lessons started on day 5.  He was walking normal by day 5 and it looked pretty good so we did let him start his lessons - and all is well.  It does look like he will probably have a nice scar for life from this one.  ohhhh well. 

bunk signs.

I love finding fun craft activities in the clearance section!  The boys always love to do them and they usually turn out pretty cute!  I found wooden signs to make with cute stickers that they had fun making one day in March.  Unfortunately it did turn out to be a fight as to who got to hang their sign in what spot....but as usual Levi gave in to his big brother and then all was well.  :) poor middle child.

As cute as the signs were I'm sure you can guess that much to my disappointment they didn't stay up very long before they became just another thing that could come down.  What is it with boys and destruction??  Anyway the funny thing is as I checked on the boys tonight to be sure they were snug in their beds, one of these signs was actually back up, hadn't seen it in weeks!

And be sure to notice cape boy is back this day too, only instead of blankie it's the Buzz Lightyear blanket instead. Love my Levi.

Oh, and pay no attention to the broken light in the boys' room...they may or may not have thrown something at it and it came crashing down :)

silly Levi.

Levi has always loved his blankie.  Somewhere between 3 1/2 and 4 his need for blankie went away.  He only loves him when he sees him and can go weeks without mentioning him.  Whenever I happen to run across him I stick him in bed with Levi and then we have a few days of cuddle with blankie.  It was a few days in March that Levi had me tie blankie around him like a cape and he wore him around so proudly.  

Oh blankie we do love you!

spaghetti baby

Every baby needs a few spaghetti pictures...

Titus officially graduated to the booster seat instead of the high chair sometime in February or March.  The high chair still sits around collecting the mail, one of these days I will let go and sell it...until then I have used it as a back up once or twice but Titus really wanted nothing to do with being in it!  Titus is getting so big!z