You See?

He has the cutest, sweetest face...

I love you mama!

My little Jack. My heart melts when I see that grin.

I love to smother the boy in kisses and tickle his tummy so I can listen to his infectious laughter.

He can be so much fun!

But I tell you, there are many times when it is a good thing this one is so cute.

Seriously.

I have no doubt that cuteness is nature's way of ensuring the survival of the species when offspring do things that drive you absolutely batty.

Oh boy was he mad when I took it away from him.

For some reason, he felt the need to eat my cork coaster. Actually, he felt the need to eat my cork coaster several different times today. You know, because it tasted so good?

Maybe he needed a little extra fiber?

~~~

This afternoon I had to spend an extended amount of time on the phone trying to take care of a doctor/medical issue (nothing serious, just trying to get an appointment scheduled). The problem with that was I could not be on the phone while in the same room with the boys (in typical kid fashion, I am never more popular than when I am on an important phone call), so I was in the kitchen.

The big boys quietly entertained themselves in the living room. I thought Jack was there, too. I should have known better.

Instead, Jack was in the boys' room doing this.

Hey, mom.

He had pulled out almost every single article of clothing in their dresser and then climbed into one of the drawers.

Sigh.

~~~

Early this evening, I had finally taken a moment to eat a little something when the phone rang. It was yet another medical professional, so I left for a few minutes to go to a quiet place to talk.

It couldn't have been more than five minutes later, but I came out to find this...

He's mad here, because I told him to give me the glass.
He threw it at me instead. Grr.

Yes, that is a 2/3 full glass of Pepsi he decided to pour all over himself and the couch.

When I walked into the room, Jason was kind enough to point at Jack and tell me, "Look mom. Jack made a mess. I tried to tell ya."

~~~

So you see? He's a cutie, but boy is he a turkey. It's probably a good thing this one was a singleton. I can't even begin to imagine the trouble he'd get into if he had a twin partner in crime.

~~~

Jason's favorite thing from the day was playing chase with daddy.

Shawn's favorite thing from the day was playing cars in the rocket.

A Little Daddy and Son Moment

Reading a book together...

What is that, daddy?

Oh look! A squid and an angel fish!

Why are these fish in the dark?

and learning about some sea creatures. :)

~~~

Shawn's favorite thing from the day was playing cars with daddy.

Jason's favorite thing from the day was working on the rocket ship. (We added some interior design.)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday - Rocket Ship

A big box + Imagination = A really cool rocket ship!

Taping up the sides

Testing out the size

Planning where the knobs and buttons should go

Painting time.
Let's start with a little red

Good job, Jay. Keep it up!

Next we'll add some green...

And pink...

And purple!

Jack's pointing out the top of the rocket

 

Jason peeking out of the window

 

"Come on in, Shawn!"

 

"Here, let me help you."

 

Getting ready for takeoff!

 

Shawn's counting down...Blast Off!

I may have created a monster. They keep adding things that need to go on the rocket. The last thing Jay told me before bed was that he needed pictures of us to put inside so he won't forget us on his trips. lol.

~~~

Shawn's favorite thing from the day was going to school and walking around outside.

Jason's favorite thing from the day was building and painting the rocket ship.

More School Angst

The idea of school has started to creep into our daily conversations, and what used to be more of an abstract someday kind of thing has now become a someday soon kind of thing. I think we're all more than a little ... excited nervous sigh ... excitedly nervous about this upcoming transition.

While Shawn knows he is going to start school soon, I'm not sure he really cares about the magnitude of this milestone. How can he when he doesn't have anything about which to compare? For him, it seems to all be something to take in stride.

Jason, however, has really begun to internalize what school is going to mean to him. Questions like...

"Mom, what if they don't have a cubby for me at kindergarten? That would be a disaster."
 

and...

"But mom, what if they don't like me? What if they think I'm going to destroy the whole school or something?

Are you going to destroy the school?

No, but how do they know that?

Well, you just go in and say, "Hi. I'm Jason. Do you want to be friends?"

That's all I have to do?

Yep.

Well, okay then. I'll try."

...make it clear that he has started to think and worry about what the whole school situation will be like. I am trying my best to give him information to comfort and encourage him while at the same time help him talk about these insecurities he has. I do believe he is (they both are) going to love school, which I tell him regularly. I suppose we'll see how well I've done convincing him of that once school starts.

I do have to admit that these conversations are starting to freak me out a little. My ba-hay-bies...are starting school...in 23 days! They were just born yesterday! How can they be old enough for school? One second I'm marveling about how this is possible, when in the next, mama bear rears her head with thoughts about how those kids at school better be nice to my boys. Growl. The second after that I'm right back at "OMG! What am I going to do?! Ba-hay-bies...school...ack!" (I'm pretty sure that's all totally normal parental freak out stuff and not crazy at all. Right? lol)

We've got 23 days until the boys start kinder. I guess it's time for me to figure out what we're going to do for that first day of school. With Pintrest as my planner, the possibilities might be endless. ;)

San Diego Part 2 - The Zoo

Our second full day in San Diego was also a great day!

We once again started with some hotel fun.

What 'cha doing, Jack?

Oh, nothing...
I'm just feeling his hair with my fist.

We walked a LOT. Did you know this place is virtually all up hill?! I almost died pushing the stroller up and down the hills!

Daddy and the big boys

Mommy and Jack at the waterfall in the aviary.

Mommy and the crew at the polar bear exhibit.
(It ended up being a big, sleeping polar bear. lol)

We saw lots of animals...



We fooled around a lot.





Jack went into the petting zoo.
And ran from the goats.




Jason and daddy went on an
archaeology dig.





Jason as one of the archaeologists.



Daddy as an "Alien life forms" technician.



The street dancers putting on a show.

Of course there was more eating.

Um, Jack was there, too, but he didn't get pictured. Oops!

The boys made hand prints for me and grandma. I'm already obsessed with the boys' hand prints, so it is no wonder I thought this was the coolest idea. :)




The talented Sarah painting Jason's hand for his print.




My hand prints of the boys' hands as their favorite animals -
an orca (Shawn), a shark (Jason), and a duck (Jack)




Grandma's hand prints...a herd of elephants.

We took a few family pictures.

Take #1

They look so thrilled. Take #2. lol

Take #3.

As you can tell, the boys had so much fun they were exhausted!

Trying hard not to fall asleep.

Trying hard not to die from boredom. Ahem.

~~~

Shawn's favorite thing from the day was reading with daddy.

Jason's favorite thing from the day was getting to pick the music for bed time.