Sign Project

So here was my dilemma...for some reason whenever someone came by the house, whether it was to drop off something, visit, or even the UPS guy, it always seemed to be during nap time.  You understand if you have children that still nap.  The doorbell rings or there is a knock, the dog barks, and it is all over.  Everyone is awake, sometimes upset, and the hour of free time you might have had, over.  For the past couple of years I have strategically taped a scrap piece of paper over the door bell, hoping the person would quietly leave the package or perhaps call if the visit was unexpected.  For some reason this didn't always work for me.  After this long, I decided to finally make something that will hopefully last outside and keep the noise level under control.  So here is what I did. 

I gathered up some supplies and began to create my shh... nap time sign.  I had the paper all printed and was painting the board.  As I was getting ready to apply the paper, I realized something.  Why is my house so quiet?  Zackary was asleep, Aaron was on the computer, but the baby (my 18 month old that I still feel I need to call my baby) was extremely quiet, where could he be?

Oh... there he is happily marking up the wall and door with the markers he had just found is the craft tote I left out.  Little did I know that there was about 20 markers that needed to be tested.  This was just a slight setback I had while trying to complete my project I was determined to get done.

 

Here are the final nap time signs.  I made a couple of extra for friends that have the same issue I have been experiencing.  And really, the scrap paper taped to our door bell is pretty lame.

Here is before, wow that was really bad!

And After!

Beer Making Saturday

Aaron and his buddy Scott have recently become, as they call it, brewmasters.  They began last October when Aaron received his brew kit for his birthday (what was I thinking?).  The process used to start with a simple kit and 2 buckets.  Now all of this and more... is involved.  They are now coming up with their own recipes.  No more simple kits and buckets, there is new technology (that they created), turkey frier's, kegs, etc.  I don't even know what everything is or what its purpose is.  But who cares, they are having 'man time' and fun with the whole process. 

And in the end, they get to drink beer (no sharing involved because I'm not a fan).

Just think of all the goodies that are stored at our house.

Sunflowers

I know this isn't the most exciting thing to read about but we are very proud of ourselves (Zackary and I) for growing a giant sunflower from only a tiny little seed.  Oma gave us a package of seeds to plant somewhere, I came across them and decided it would be a fun activity for the boys and I to do.  We found the little shovels and started digging.  They didn't have much of an attention span for digging through rocks so we just started shoving them in the ground.

All of the sudden we noticed some little sprouts and began to try to remember to water them.  I read on the package they needed a lot of water, but didn't plant them where there was much, thinking aah, they probably won't grow anyways.

I tell you everyday we go outside they are even bigger.  Out of the whole package we planted only about 5 really thrived.

 

Now we have a huge sunflower that is beautiful.  The only problem is...it faces north, high above our fence so we really don't get to enjoy the beauty.  We can't figure out why it doesn't face the 'sun'?  We have another that should be blooming soon, hopefully facing the 'right' way.

Retirement Party

What a great feeling to actually get to retire someday.   At this point, with about 35 years remaining to this day, I can only envy my father-in-law.  He got to retire on May 20th, after 70 years, probably working 55 of them, he really deserves it.  So my mother-in-law planned an amazing party for him that I got to be part of.  There were about 50 people that got to help celebrate with him.  We had an amazing dinner, wine, roast and toast, and some late night dancing. 

We got a great picture with the man of the night! 

Congratulations Art, you are a wonderful man, father, husband, and friend. 

Preschool Program

Zackary finished up preschool last Thursday. He was in the last session for this school year of Apples to Zebras with the City of Chandler. He loved going, I was a bit hesitant to sign him up but what a great experience he had. I think we will be continuing next year as long as he still enjoys going. We still have 2 more years before school, I'm in no hurry to send him off to school but a couple hours of preschool a week seems to be a good fit for him to get out and learn some fun stuff and do great art projects.

The kids put on a little program for the parents on the last day. They did the Pledge of Allegiance, sang all the songs they learned, and we had snacks and drinks. It was so cute to see him with friends and teachers, interacting and singing along.

These are the wonderful teachers Ms. Lizzy and Ms. Dori.

He loved to tell them stories about airplanes and Papa.

Summer is Here

I picked up this little pool the other day (I don't want to admit where I got it). We have busted it out a few times now, but after today, it will probably make a daily appearance. The kids have such a great time playing in it, well, Lane enjoys playing around it.

We spent most of the afternoon playing outside, as usual. Boys can sure find random things to entertain themselves with outside. Why is it that nobody is every upset outside and if somebody is upset, you can take them outside and it suddenly fixes the problem? Why is it that adults sometimes forget that outside is so wonderful and that we can keep ourselves couped up inside, doing nothing, and be okay with it?

Kids are such a wonderful way to enjoy the Great Outdoors!

Peaches 'n' cream

This morning we headed out to Schnepf Farms for the Peach Festival. We started out having some delicious pancakes with peaches 'n' cream on top. Headed out to the train ride, followed by several other little carnival rides, a couple of meltdowns, the petting zoo, then QT and Papas Hardware Store. We really had a great time despite the heat and hungry kid combination. Believe it or not, one meltdown was over getting a Coke (really?). I didn't take very many photos however I finally took a picture of Lane's great new look. We are pretty sure it has a lot to do with the giant molars coming in. I know they are probably bugging him, but the face is so dang cute.

Here is another shot of Zackary and Aaron on the giant swings. Aaron said they were quite relaxing.

I'm pretty sure I would have been dizzy from the spinning.

Double Fisted

Can you ask for a better way to eat ice cream? Double fisted that is! We got ice cream and a berry smoothie at Costco today and I think we know who likes the ice cream. I actually got Lane the smoothie and he took right to Zackary's ice cream, double fisted.

He was completely covered and loved every minute of it!

Zackary was perfectly happy with the smoothie.

Trampoline Camping

Aaron decided to mention sleeping outside in front of Zackary last night. Look what ended up happening. Zackary couldn't get it out of his head, so they got their gear and headed out. They were going to set up the tent but I wasn't sure how long Zackary would last so I suggested sleeping on the trampoline (I figured it was easier than finding the tent and assembling it on a Monday night). They actually lasted until I decided to take pictures of them at about 11pm. They were both slipping into the center, Aaron was worried about squishing Zackary. I moved Zackary inside and he never knew it. I'm sure they will be trying it soon again before it gets to hot, but in the tent next time. I have a feeling sleeping outside will be happening a lot with boys.

That just means I get a quiet night inside.

Puddin'

Lane got his first puddin' dessert.  As you can see, he loved it!

Amazing Airplanes

I have been trying very hard to spend time "doing things" with my boys with out getting distracted and cleaning or checking emails.  Somewhat being unplugged.  I feel like it is so easy to get caught up in everyday life, like trying to keep the kitchen clean during the day, or clearing off the dining room table, or getting the sticky off the floor, answering the phone, and sometimes getting sucked into the computer while they play together.  So I told Zackary we would do anything he wanted after preschool on Thursday and of course he chose to go watch the airplanes take off and land.

After I picked him up we headed to get some lunch, stopped and visited Aaron at work, then off to the airport.  There is this little area right next to the river that is just across from the runways.  There is a great view of planes taking off and landing.  We sat in the back of the sweet ride, ate lunch, and enjoyed some relaxing family time. 

 

My goal is to do something special each week with just my boys, no distractions.