Just Hanging Out

I don't think he feels well. He's grumpy and took a mid day nap. :(

Cute Big Boy Saturday

He loved watching them work.

Getting Closer!

Pouring concrete on Monday.

Oh My Boys!

These three! Love!!!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm leaning toward amphitheater. Lol

Summer Bucket List 2016 - Backyard Reno!

Today, phase 1 of our backyard started!

Over the course of 7.5 hours, all the old concrete and bricks were taken out and carted away.  A trench was dug for the base of our new garden wall, and the ground went through the first round of leveling and re-grading. It was exciting stuff, I tell you!

Tomorrow, with phase 2,  the workers will be back to finish the leveling and lay the forms for the concrete (phase 3). By the end of the week, we should have a WHOLE NEW BACKYARD! Woohoo!

Conversations With 8 Year Olds

Him: "Mom, what is today?"

Me: "It's the 25th. Why?"

Him: "That means there is only 5 more days of July...and then it will be August...and then we have to go back to school! Why? Oh why? Why do we have to go back to school?"

Me: "You still have almost four weeks left! It's not like you have to go to school tomorrow."

Him; "Why does the school hate us?"

lol. Do you think this kid is dramatic enough?

Little Helper

Jason couldn't wait to help his dad work on his basketball hoop. He even did pretty well mastering a ratchet wrench by the time he was through!

Cute Big Boy Saturday: Summer Bucket List 2016 - Plant a Garden

We spent much of today getting the backyard ready for demo, which of course included having to dig up and move our gardens. Our artichokes, tomatoes, the rose bush, and the milkweed plants have been temporarily potted and moved. 

We made the executive decision to pull up the carrots and not replant them. They did much better this year than they did last, too, so we were a bit bummed. But the boys made the best of things and ate what we grew anyway!

Jack was a huge fan and had no problem eating his carrots dirty or not! lol!

Friday Five

We'll start demo on our backyard project on Monday. By the time we're through, we'll have a whole new patio area, RV parking lot, and garden planter. This is no small job, either, as they'll be pouring something like 1600 feet of concrete and laying 44 feet of garden planter wall, but this is something we've been wanting to do pretty much since the day we moved in.

We (I!) can't wait!

~~~

Any guesses what this is?



If you said stands full of people watching the circus show, you'd be correct. lol. Jack likes to set this little scene up and then perform for all of his fans. It's hilarious!

~~~

Jason took the loom for a whirl this week...



He thinks it's pretty cool, but he was a bit frustrated by its slow pace. lol.

~~~

Shawn's new toy of choice is cars. Specifically, Jason's cars. (You can imagine how that is going over. lol) He likes to put Lego mini-figures into the cars. drive them all around the house, and then leave them in random places. We find cars and minifigures everywhere.

~~~

Look at this kid. His face always shows when he's up to no good!

Summer Bucket List - Chuck E Cheese

Today, Jack got to do his Summer Bucket List activity, go to Chuck E Cheese. We didn't tell the boys where we were going before we headed out, so they were all surprised when we pulled into the parking lot. Jack's face lit up!

"We're at Chuck E Cheese!"

Jack had an absolute blast; I swear he didn't stop moving the entire time we were there. It was pretty cute to see his excitement. :)

His favorite thing by far was the stage. He LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the stage and continued to go back to it periodically the entire time we were there. 

Did I mention he LOVED it? Lol.


The big boys had a good time, too!

Shawn has an uncanny way of winning LOADs of tickets on these things.
He won jackpot after jackpot on this thing. I don't know how he does it!

Jason said this game was his favorite!

Shawn roamed around Chuck E Cheese like he owned the place. 

Jason hit a jackpot, too!

This was Jack about 5 seconds after we got into the car to head home. He was out like a light!

We had lots of fun!

Way Back Wednesday - Spit

I originally wrote this way back on July 21, 2012. It was such a funny memory, one that still makes me smile today!

~~~

Today, while the boys were playing outside, Jason got some dirt in his mouth. He asked for some water to rinse out his mouth. That innocent question led to this...

teaching the boys to spit.

Clearly, all young men (women too for that matter, but we don't have any around here except for me) should become masters of this very useful skill. Sure it isn't always seen as good manners, but it happens every day for a number of very valid reasons as evidenced by Jason's request. Besides, it has been a staple of comedies for centuries, and you know how the boys are all over comedy.

Anywho, Isaac got to work showing the boys the proper form of spitting out water.

He has their rapt attention her.
They are loving this.

Shawn, the eldest, is up first.
He dissolves into a fit of giggles.

His second try:
He swallowed the water and then spit out a dribble of spit.
He hasn't quite reached mastery yet.

Next is Jason's attempt.
He's blowing...but it just dribbles down his chin.

Shawn is going to take another stab at it.

Spit it out, Shawn!
Nope, more swallowing and laughter.

Daddy does a second tutorial.

It is quite hilarious to watch apparently.

We want to try it again!

Jason managed to get a tiny burst of water out!

Shawn couldn't ever stop laughing long enough to blow out
the spit. This was the best he managed to do. lol

It was actually pretty funny to watch them try. :-)

Little Sous Chef

We've been watching a lot of cooking shows lately. The boys seem to like them, too, which says something considering they are not very adventurous eaters. Because of this new interest, I've also started letting them make their own lunches. Granted they're only making sandwiches at the moment, but they are still loving the chance to "cook."

This morning, Jack was very insistent about it being time for peanut butter crackers. So I handed him the "ingredients" and told him to get to it. lol. He didn't do too badly either!

Night Owl

He wanted his version of a midnight snack. Up at 10:00 eating cereal because his tummy was SO hungry! Lol

Happy National Ice Cream Day

Today is National Ice Cream Day. Of course we had to celebrate--each of us in our own way! 😜

Jason and mom with ice cream and toppings. 

Jack and daddy with Popsicles and ice cream bars.

Shawn with his favorite toppings sans the ice cream! Lol

Cute Big Boy Saturday - Water War

Jack and Jason had a short lived water fight today. I'm not sure whether Jack enjoyed himself or not, though. He definitely preferred to be the sprayer rather than the spray-ee. Lol!

It wasn't long before Jason got Jack in the face; Jack came in hollering that he was "soaking wet!" from the few drops he had on his face and shirt. Jack was pretty much done after that. :) 

Jason, however, was far from done and got into an epic war with his father. They had so much fun!

Friday Five

Jason completed his Minecraft modding class this week. He spent 12 hours learning basic computer programming skills. He did pretty well, too! Here's Jay's recap:

"I liked playing/testing modded Minecraft in Natchland. I learned how to make blocks, items, guns, and mobs. I also love the instructor (Sandy)."

~~~

He has now moved on to wanting to create his own Minecraft blog, so tomorrow Jason will start working on that. I figure this is an excellent way for him to practice some of those computer skills he's learning and work on a bit of writing while he's at it. He is very excited!

The blog itself will be private, so if you are interested in reading, let me know and I can make that happen. :)

~~~

Today, Shawn has decided that it is time we go visit a farm. He says wants to pick some vegetables. (I think he is secretly coveting all the dirt he'll get to play in instead!) Looks like we've got another field trip ahead of us.

~~~

Project "Backyard Redo" will hopefully get moving tomorrow. We are supposed to be meeting with a contractor to discuss our plans and pricing. YAY!

~~~

Jack decided this week that eating cereal AND milk TOGETHER is a good thing. He has always liked both, but he was not a fan of mixing the two. This is huge! Oh, and he's decided that broccoli is okay, too. lol,

Sliding Into Friday

Woohoo! Friday is almost here!

Jack was so excited he made me go down the slide to celebrate. ;)