Happy 5th Birthday Cameron ~ 2-7-12

We celebrated Cameron's 5th birthday today. More to come soon on our happenings!

It's SO hard to believe that he is 5 already. It seems like not more than a few months ago we had him.

Time to cut ~ 10-19-11

I got a bright idea to laminate shapes and use them with my my school kiddos. For every A on a test the kiddos write their name and on the shape and hang it on and outside our classroom door. My student teacher from the beginning of the year was fabulous and used the di-cut and laminator at her school to prepare a bunch earlier in the year. Then a few Friday's ago when we picked up Cameron from school we used the di-cut machine at Cameron's school and cut out a TON of shapes. I took them to school and had them laminated. Then of course it was time to cut.all.the.shapes.out! It has been worth it each test the kids get to write on and post the shapes.

Randomness ~ 10-15-11

2 years ago I wanted and received a wonderful 3 bin recycling bin for the kitchen. We throw very little trash away and instead have mostly recycleables that we need to have a place to keep them until we put them in the reycling bin out in the garage. One might think just walk out to the garage but I would spend most of my time walking to the garage if that were the case.

Braydon went through a phase that he would toss EVERYTHING in the recycling bin. I now have to go through the bin before dumping it in the large recycling bin out in the garage. Who knows how many items might have made their way to the big bin without me realizing it. Here is today's bounty.

And I was looking for the baby tooth and gum medicine.

Yummy Bacon ~ 10-15-11

Through a local blog I found out about a company, Zaycon, who sells bacon, chicken, and ground beef, among some other items. They sell in bulk and are able to keep the price low. The first purchase we made was for bacon. It ended up being $2.97 a lb. We were a little skeptical about the quality and taste, but it turned out to be absolutely delicious. The bacon comes in four 7.5 lb bags. The one here is one of the packages. I was able to split an order with our sitter and a friend. It is definitely a win-win situation.

A funny Sunday morning...unless you are Michael ~ 10-2-11

We had our usual Sunday morning of breakfast as a family. We all got our food and we sat down at the table. The boys were excited to have food in front of them.

 Braydon was recently switched from his high chair to his big boy chair that sits on the regular chair. So he was he more excited than usual.

 Then, Michael went to sit down. He scooted his chair up and we heard a loud crack of wood. He got the leg of the chair in the groove between the floor tiles and broke the chair.

But we figure "no big deal." We continued eating our breakfast. And then...another loud crash! (Insert uncontrollable laugh - even though it's not funny.) The next thing we know Michael is ON THE FLOOR! The chair had completely collapsed. I tried not to laugh, but just couldn't help it.

Sorry, Braydon. You have to go back to your high chair.

Cameron's many talents ~ 10-1-11

Cameron loves to help out. Today was no different. He folded Braydon's diapers for me. Such a sweet boy. 

Then Cameron decided to try his hand at photography, which is normal around our house. I've stopped holding my breath when he picks up my expensive camera, well, most of the time!

Looking Brand New ~ 10-1-11

The Payne's gave us a fridge 7.5 years ago when we moved into our town home. When we moved to our current home we moved it to the garage and got the Payne's fridge they replaced for the kitchen. The fridge in the garage leaked from the freezer into the bottom, pooled inside, and could get pretty gross if left unattended. I decided that it was time to move it out of the garage and find something a little more economical on electricity and smaller since we don't need anything that large.

I posted the fridge on Freecycle to see if anyone would even want it. I listed the pertinent information and low and behold someone wanted it. It took me a few hours to clean it out. Why I took so much time to clean it for someone else I don't know. I guess because it was NASTY GROSS. After I got done cleaning it I seriously considered keeping it, but I had already promised it to someone who REALLY needed it! It did my heart good to give it to someone in need.

A continual mess ~ 10-1-11

If you have children you know what part Cheerio's play a roll in your house. Both of my boys have always had a cup of cheerios. If I was lucky there were in a snack cup that is supposed to keep the cereal IN the cup. Or if your kids are like mine they are talented at getting ALL the cereal on the floor, as in this picture. Most of the time our pantry is stocked to the ceiling, literally, with cereal.

Now if they would only clean it up as easily as they make the mess.

Date Night ~ 9-30-11

Michael and I have never had anyone other than family or a couple of close friends watch the boys. And even for almost all of those occasions the sitters have always watched the boys because there were other obligations not just for us to go out and have fun.

I trust my student teacher and after talking about her watching kids and seeing what a great job she did with my school kiddos I had a feeling that she would be great to watch the boys for the evening while we went out. We picked up Cameron at school and took advantage of the di-cut machine to cut out some shapes for school. More on that later.

We grabbed some food for the boys and Lauren and we waited on Michael to arrive home. I originally wanted the date night to be a surprise for Michael but with his work schedule I had to tell him we had plans or he could have ended up with a customer and blown our date night. So, we didn't have planned what we wanted to do but quickly figured out what our game plan would be. We went to play miniature golf in Spring, a favorite activity, and then to dinner at Red Robin, to experience a new place we have always seen and had been yet to try.

The miniature gold place was a bit run down. Michael beat me on the LAST hole! Then we went inside and played some games. Michael and I have always talked about dreaming of owning a miniature golf place. In fact there is even the remnants of one that has gone out of business in our town by our barber and I drool every time we go by there and wonder maybe, just maybe.

We had a great evening and it was wonderful to get away just the two of us. Although it was pretty sad that we were home by 9:00. We just can't hang with the young kids any more.