Still no pictures...

Okay so last night Eddie and the boys got into their baking mode and decided to make some cupcakes. However, this was done BEFORE dinner and so you can imagine the numerous fights that were had in our home. We had a wonderful dinner: grilled chicken, red mashed potatoes, artichokes, and cantalope. We are in the process of trying to teach our children the joy of "human food" and not just chicken nuggets. So we have initiated the "no thank you bite" into our daily dinner. I put everything that Eddie and I are eating on their plate (and last night I made an exception and gave them a peice of toast because I knew they wouldn't eat the potatoes and chicken. Oh, and I also gave them carrots cause I was NOT about to give away some of the precious artichoke..ummm). Sure enough, they ate the carrots, toast and cantalope, but refused the chicken and mashed potatoes. (Mashed potatoes! Who doesn't like mashed potatoes?!) We gave them ample opportunity to try a "no thank you bite" and Drew got awfully close to it, but in the end we had total melt down mode on our hands.

They wanted the cupcakes. We wanted them to try ONE, JUST ONE, bite of something they don't normally eat. In the end, we won. If you can call it that. They cried and cried for cupcakes and we ignored them...until they woke up Eddie at 4:30 in the morning asking where the cupcakes were. Eddie goes out to put them back into their bed and notices the kitchen chair has been dragged over to where the cupcakes had been the night before. Thankfully Eddie had the idea to put them up on top of the fridge or we would have had two very sugar hyped boys in the morning. Once they were in bed, and Eddie re-settled, we heard their door open again. Eddie very smartly shut our door (that they can't open) and waited for their little voices. Sure enough, out comes Nate asking, "But you didn't eat them all, right Dad?" Eddie replies, "No. Now go to bed!"

We don't actually know if they ever went back to bed, but by the noise level of their fighting this morning I'm gonna venture a guess and say no, they did not. When they finally came knocking on our door this morning (they know not to come in till the clock in the kitchen reads 7:00) they proudly announced, "Daddy, it's morning time. The time says 7-0-60." Eddie opens the door and in walks two little sleepy eyed boys proclaiming, "Now can we have a cupcake?"

No pictures yet...and calling "Uncle"

I haven't put up any pictures from our trip...but I'm trying to keep afloat and somehow the pictures keep getting pushed further and further down the "to do" list. I HAVE to get those up...maybe today?

And I'm calling "Uncle" and asking for all moms to give me some help! I don't know what to do with Nathan. He is old enough to start understanding the concept of "lying" and "dishonesty" but no matter how many heart to heart talks, time-outs, and punishments, he's not getting it. Most recent case in point:

J & B came over last night to visit teach (let me just add that it totally changed my attitude for the day and I haven't slept that good in months!) and B brought over a plateful of some super yummy chocolate chip cookies. I left them on the kitchen counter and went to bed. This morning the boys come into our room to wake us up and to tell us "it's morning, you're supposed to be up." Eddie has a major presentation today so I got up (I know, I am spoiled and normally Eddie gets up and lets me sleep a little longer) with the boys and started to make breakfast. Nathan starts to complain of his tummy hurting and doesn't want to eat his Cheerios and peaches. (You thought I actually MADE breakfast?) I take a closer look at his face and there is chocolate all over his lips. I begin to suspect...when I go look for the plate and see that it is gone, I begin to really suspect. But I didn't want to jump to conclusions because Eddie has been known to munch his way through a dozen cookies but the plate wasn't in the trash. I begin a search of the house and for the life of me I can't find them anywhere. I'm getting nervous, because after all, how clean can a 4 year old eat a cookie?

I finally confront Nate, and he just looks at me like, "What? I didnt' do anything?" After some prodding and verbal game play on my part, I finally con him into showing me where he hid the plate of cookies. His defense, "Well I didn't eat all of them." I SHOULD HOPE NOT! There were at least 8 cookies left on that plate last night. And what did he bring me? A plate with 1 1/2 cookies on it. Well no wonder his tummy hurt. And where was it hidden? His current location that I can't get to because I can't bend over...under his bed. He just kept asking me as he was pulling them out, "But how did you see them? How did you know they were under there? How did you see them?" I told him, "I didn't know...but I suspected." I won't go into the "explanation" conversation that then took place as he wanted a detailed explanation of what "suspected" means and then he sat in a time out.

This was all after Eddie had a very long, in depth talk with him LAST NIGHT, as in the last thing he was told before he stole the cookies. It's obviously not sinking in...what do I do?

Disney's "Up"

I just thought it was too cute to resist posting...so yesterday I took the boys to see "Up" for the first time and during the hospital scene where the wife is sitting in a chair with her husband standing behind her and the doctor standing in front of her, Nathan in his "not-so-quiet-but-trying-to-whisper" voice says, "Look, they're giving her a blessing Mom...right?"

It was almost as good as the boy down the row from us saying in his "not-trying-to-be-quiet-at-all" voice, "Why are we watching this again?"

I enjoyed the movie so much, I might be willing to risk that question from my child to see it again.

As a side note, sorry I don't have any pictures to post yet...I'm too lazy to download them while I'm on vacation, and plus we're having so much fun I keep forgetting to take any. lol. I'm home in a week or so and will hopefully get on top of it.

Our foundation.

So after, what, 13 months, we've finally gotten our foundation repaired on our house. The builder, Bear Creek Dev., called us and set up an appt. for Monday the 6th to come out and show us what they were going to do. They didn't show up, but called and told us they would be here Wednesday to get started and then show us then what we needed to do to get ready. We had what seemed like a million questions which Evelyn at BCD couldn't answer, but she refused to give us the name or number of the company they hired. This did not sit well with us. Anywhoo, Eddie finally got a hold of Evelyn and got the name of the company finagled out of her and googled them. Late that night he called them and got a hold of the owner of the company, A-1 Pier Installment, and was able to ask all our questions. We looked them up on the Better Business Bureau and they ranked an A+ and had been in business for 10+ years and offer a lifetime guarantee on their beams. So our fears were put to somewhat rest and we awaited their arrival. They showed up Wednesday afternoon and started work right away. Sam, the owner, came in and explained what they were going to do and what would need to be moved/covered to get the work done on the inside. Here are some pic's from that first day:

 

The iron rods.

 

Dirt pile up...they hauled out so much dirt it was mind boggling. Of course this picture doesn't even begin to show what they pulled out.

 

The first hole.

 

A not very good shot at the hole.

These next pictures are from the next day: All the holes along the side of the house.

Our master bedroom all ready to dig a hole and put in a beam.

My boys modeling the kitchen and it's many drapes.


Drew couldn't get enough of this ladder...he loved climbing up and down it.

These next ones are the finished product:


The kitchen. We have two holes in our floor and a different contractor is coming out tomorrow (Thursday) to look at everything that needs to be fixed and finished.

The Master Bedroom hole.


The holes that were outside are now covered and you would never know they were even back there. It is such a blessing to have this part of our stress over and done with. We feel like the Lord truly has guided us through this "hole" process (I couldn't resist Dad) and that He has watched out for us.

Babysitting

So the blog entry I'm working up to is about our foundation getting fixed! (Can I get a hallejuiah?) Anyways, the day they started we had our friends come over and play so I could attempt to pack up our master bedroom sans my boys. Does anyone else get more done when they have playdates? X and Nate are the best of friends and put up with Drew following around and they can occupy themselves all day, with the occasional "share you guys" interruption. So this day we were lucky enough to have the D family come join our ranks. D and T were delightful and they all played together really well. Plus with all the loud banging, hyrdolic noises coming from outside, their screaming and yelling didn't bother anyone.

 

Snack time on the couch.

 

Showing off their snacks of gold fish in little baggies...

 

The whole group.

Fun in the sun!

So the day before the V's left for their trip to UT, we went over and played a little in their pool. The boys had a blast as you can see from the pics. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Nette and I chilling in the shade...It was the perfect set up.

 

The crew.

 

Drew getting ready to slide. He'll say "re-re, um, go." Translation: ready, um, go.

 

L going down in style.


Eating some fresh, delicious strawberries in the cool water...can life get any better?

 

Nate's turn down the slide.

Fourth of July

 

Check out our $2 shirts from Walmart!

 

Yes, something is wrong with our friend Eric...

 

On the hill behind Tom Thumb watching the fireworks of various cities.

 

Meagan and Matt before their little Parker joined the world.