Alex loved his birthday cape and glasses but didn’t want his eyes open for the picture.
Month: February 2015
We had such a crazy day yesterday that this is the first time Teague has had to look at his Valentines.
All Kaitlyn wanted was a nap, but Mom wanted to play skeeball.
Alex didn’t have school today so he spent the morning doing experiments.
Sometimes your balloon flies away even after Mom warned you not to take it out of the car. Thank goodness the next stop was dinner at the T-Rex cafe.
That sweet moment right before she drifts off to sleep.
Most of the parties at Teague’s school are in the afternoon. He only attends school in the morning so we always return for the parties after nap. Alex didn’t have school today so that meant I brought three kids to the party. Alex had a new game on the iPad and strict instructions to sit in the entryway. (He did such a good job he wouldn’t even come in for treats when the director invited him. She had to come ask me first!) The kids had a great time handing out their Valentines and eating all the snacks provided by the parents.
Every year I feel like Valentine’s Day sneaks up on me. The boys’ birthdays are 10 days apart with Valentine’s Day in between. If we didn’t have school parties then it would probably be a forgotten holiday in this house. I started out buying the Valentine kits at Target but then Pinterest has the cutest ideas. The problem being I don’t remember to plan ahead. I thought I was doing really well this year. I saw an idea early on and order the necessary bouncy balls – enough for both boys (around 40). When they arrived I realized they were about 5 times larger than a normal bouncy ball. It never occurred to me there was a size that was too big! I did find a few smaller ones that would work for Alex’s Valentines and then decided to make the larger ones work for Teague’s class. In the end, both iterations worked out fine and next year I just might return to buying pre-made Valentines! Wade and I spent quite a bit of time after the boys were in bed making Valentines.
Valentine’s Day Party was a success!
Teague packed his backpack early this morning. He wore it all day long. I kept wondering what was inside but never got the chance to peek.
The secrets of a three year old (almost four year old).
Teague begged to take Kaitlyn grocery shopping today.
Somehow Alex turned six years old today. We got up extra early to have powdered donuts, candles, and plate presents. Kaitlyn woke up just in time for a party hat. Wade and I had decorated the house the night before – at Alex’s request. I had also made his cake. He requested a fairy cake (no surprise due to his interest in fairies this year and I found the Magical Garden Cake recipe online.
When Alex got home from school we ran a few quick errands and then waited for Dad to come home. The minute Dad walked in the door we opened presents! Alex has been looking at the boxes and bags for a little over a week so he was tired of guessing and arguing with Wade that there was not a buffalo in the biggest bag. Dinner was his requested menu of chili, bacon, and apples. Then we finished the night with his new movie – How To Train Your Dragon 2.
Alex loved getting his birthday phone calls today.
How is it possible I have a 6 year old!?!?
Teague was trying so hard to read to Kaitlyn and she just kept trying to eat the book.
Alex’s favorite part of this exersaucer was chewing on the apple. Evidently Kaitlyn feels the same way.
Scooby Doo where have you been?
(Alex has neglected these toys for the last few months and I’m glad to see them back in the rotation.)
Teague loves to watch me cook and got so excited when I offered to let him stir.
Teague insisted Kaitlyn needed the headlamp.
I know crib bumpers are a thing of the past, but I still like them. They make the bed seem smaller and cozy. Most importantly they keep pacifiers from falling to the ground. Alex was always rather indifferent to his crib bumpers. Every time I have gone in Kaitlyn’s room this week she is on her stomach and has pulled the bumpers down so that she can look around her room. Maybe we’ll take them out for a while.
Look at us. Working on a Valentine’s box a couple of nights in advance.
Definitely a second son wearing hand-me-down jeans. The knees don’t seem to last very long at all.
“Don’t worry Mom. I can carry her.”
Dealing with stains is a part of doing laundry. When I married Wade, the stains got a little trickier to treat – due to his shop and our various home improvement projects. Some of my favorite stain treatments are the Carbona Stain Devils – mostly because they remove all guess work of which stain removal technique is needed.
My other favorite products are K2R and Baby Oxyclean (stress on the baby). Wade and I both grew up using K2R for all greasy/oily related stains. It works wonders and I find the only tricky part is locating a place that sells it. Most True Values carry it and I buy it regularly from the one in town. Fast forward to Alex. Suddenly I needed an entire new type of stain fighter. Baby oxyclean is great for formula/spitup stains. Just soak an outfit for a few hours and all stains are magically gone.
Now I have Kaitlyn and I am inheriting all kinds of girl clothes from my sister. When I pull some of them from the box they have stains on them (and you know Melissa wouldn’t have saved them if she thought they had stains on them). I have soaked them in Baby Oxyclean and washed them and they still had stains. I did a little google searching and everyone suggested blue Dawn and a toothbrush. I had nothing to lose so I tried it. Amazing. Dawn is my new favorite stain remover. It works on all kinds of things I would have never thought to try – currently baby food. Thank you blue soap.
Alex loved being able to feed Kaitlyn some snacks while I fixed her dinner.
Snail racers.
(Courtesy of a very cool birthday card.)
Lego snack.
I might have been just as excited as Alex about his new snap circuits.
I love that dimple in her cheek.
Wade has been using an old school razor, brush, and shaving soap for years. For the last few years he has had a restored razor on his list – preferably a Wade & Butcher. The problem here is finding a restored razor already restored (very hard to do) or finding someone willing to do all the legwork and restoration. Wade finally put a link on his Christmas list this year to someone who does sell restored razors (provided by the owners). I contacted the man just to ask if he would possibly hunt down a particular razor for me and then restore it. The man was amazing and within in two months (and only two weeks past his birthday), I had Wade the razor he had always wanted.
Why not play Legos with a green dot on your nose?
B came to visit!
I remember only having one color option when I bought this exersaucer for Alex. I still cringe every time I put Kaitlyn in it.
Today I decided to go all out with neon/orange/pinks.
The boys have been excited about their birthdays since Christmas. Teague has secretly told me what he wants to get Alex (“flats“) and then Alex added this gift to the birthday present pile.
Later he told me that it might have already been played with but he knows Teague will love it. (My guess is a blue car.)
The best part of all of this was that Alex wrapped it himself and both boys sat down together and tried to figure out how to spell Teague’s name. Alex was trying to sound it out and Teague knew it started with a T.
Just a little reading while I finish up dinner.
Teague is always finding new ways to make Kaitlyn giggle.
Except for brutally cold days I have given up carrying the infant seat around everywhere. (I would have her in the next car seat if it were consistently warmer weather but not having to deal with a coat on a regular basis is worth it for now.)
Due to some winter weather our church dinner was cancelled. Alex had a plan (when doesn’t he have a plan?!?). He and Teague suddenly appeared in white t-shirts and Waffle House hats. They created menus from looking in our refrigerator and informed us they were taking care of dinner.
This one loves a plan. Thanks to Highlights for the kite-making idea.
The cutest two short-order cooks around.
Kaitlyn can get herself into the crawling position. Then she realizes what she has done and starts screaming. No actual crawling yet.
Alex got a fairy house from Santa and this week we’ve been putting it together. Today we finally completed the project and Alex is going to keep it in his room until it is warm enough to move it outside for the fairies.
Paige and Alex are best friends.
Teague has officially given up naps and I’m fine with that. However, I love the little ones that still sneak up on him.
Teague sat down on the couch and asked to hold Kaitlyn. Then he asked for some pictures. Then he said he was done.
I put Kaitlyn on the floor with some baby toys I retrieved from storage. I returned to the room to find her brothers had moved her aside and were “showing” her how to use the toys.
Hello Dinosuar. Let me eat your face.
Super Bowl – at least he got the right sport.