cohen has a new love for....

what do all of these pictures have in common?

DIRT!
cohen has a new hobby.... playing in dirt. typical kid i guess :) every morning he wakes up and asks if he can go play in the dirt, i always say no in the morning b/c we are usually on the way out the door but i say "if your good today... you can play in dirt after nap!" geez, i never thought i'd bribe my children, with dirt. he loves it! he will spend forever out there making "roads" and "tracks" and even gathers rocks to make "caves". as much as i cringe cleaning his clothes with stain remover and changing him at the door so he doesn't track it in, i know its a pointless battle b/c hes a typical boy and loves dirt. and it occupies him so i can clean the car, water plants, play with caleb, etc. :)

oh brothers

these two really crack me up :) the other night they were laying in bed watching veggie tales when i was trying to get them (ahem, cohen) to go in his room so we could go night night. he hurried and got the laundry basket and covered him and caleb up and said...

"go away mommy, brror "brother" and i dont want night night! as they both were giggling.
i was frustrated but this turned into laughter, then tickles, then bed :)

perfection

lately i have been remembering Zach and I's first home. it was a cute cape cod that always had vacuum lines and no toys, anywhere. i stayed home (with Duke) while Zach supported us by working a full time job and mowing lawns on the side. i had all day to fluff pillows, go to target, walk long walks with duke, and prepare a full candlelit dinner for hubs when he arrived home, with Frank Sinatra playing in the background. haha yes i like frank.

i was remembering this house and those times the other day while watching the boys play while i made dinner, which was a quick and easy crockpot dish, and i set the table to "Jesus loves me", I remember only setting the table for 2, now its a table of 3 with a highchair :) i loved that our life started out one way and then in just a few years it has turned to this. never a quiet moment, the pillows are usually on the floor from where cohen threw them, and we listen to "ABC's, Jesus Loves me, etc" on repeat, oh and candles we don't use anymore, ever. too risky with a certain someone running around.

i love our new life. i love that i trip over toys (sarcastic). i love that i wake up to giggling on the baby monitor, i love that my day now includes playdates, music class, preschools, etc. (although target still manages to fit in our schedule : ) i love that sometimes the laundry isn't done b/c i took the time to read to the boys rather then fold the clothes, or the fact that i can't make vacuum lines even if i tried, i can't say how amazed i am that we were blessed with this life, even though none of it was planned. that is the beauty of God. :)

throwback thursday

cohen, way back when :)

what is todays activity?

I recently stumbled across this site called Productive Parenting. You can enroll and they will email you an age appropriate activity for your child each day.

https://www.productiveparenting.com

for example today it says to let caleb explore with play doh to work on his sensory skills
cohen has an activity called "move and sing" to work on language/pre reading. (it goes into a lot more detail on the site)

i love this site :) you can also sign up for what days you want them to email you so that way you aren't bombarded on days that are your "busy" days and may not have time to participate.

enjoy ; )

i didn't even have to tell him.....

every day I give Cohen a "chore". Now of course a 2 year old can't really perform a chore but its things like helping unload the dishwasher, load it, switch laundry into dryer, fold clothes (which i go back and redo), and water the plants. Earlier today I told him his chore this evening was to help mommy water the plants. I was making dinner and looked out the window and saw this....


melts my heart :)
he didn't know i was watching, after he
ran inside saying "i did my chore!".

i sure wish this phase would last until
he's 18 but im not naive. haha ;)


speaking of plants...
this is our tomato plant!


yay. this will be the second batch of tomatoes
to grow in the last week.

family vaca 2011 :)

We had an AWESOME time at the beach this year : ) This was the first vacation in...well forever, that I never got "homesick". I was so happy though to come home b/c I was beginning to miss my family, friends, and church body like crazy. oh and Duke, I missed him a lot too!
Enjoy pictures from the entire week :)

the first day we hit the beach!
















we (aka daddy and cohen) napped after a long day
at the beach :)


the second day we always go visit Zach's cousins (or something) about 45 minutes away.
every year we go the boys (cohen and colton) love to play outside.

(this "bear" is part of a tree decoration
that the boys took down and put on their
faces) don't ask.


we also spent a lot of time at the pool, i hate doing this when
we are at the "beach" but so much goes into packing 2 children,
sunscreen, swim diapers, chairs, tent, cooler, extra change of clothes,
stroller, sand toys, etc. ... the list goes on.


on the 4th we went go kart riding.
we always go to this particular track b/c they
let cohen ride in the 2-seater even though
he is supposed to be 10 years old.



(ps, the new battle scar he has on his face is from a face plant
on the cement while running to daddy).


one day we took the kids to the aquarium.


cousins :) cohen and colton are the best of friends. they
spent so much time together this trip.



we stay in a resort while at the beach. we love it because it
is secluded, its shaded, the pool is right beside our villa and its
across the street from the beach, what more could you
ask for :)


cohen loves to swim now! he can just float all alone (with adult
supervision of course)



while doing this maneuver cohen ripped off even more of
his toe that was trying to heal from V's b-day party.


mommy and caleb <3


calebs first cookie!



and we went go kart racing again......


this time we took popaw and uncle andy!


i won!



brothers watched mommy and daddy race :)


back to the beach for our last day....



cohen's first trip-6months

wow he has changed...

caleb's first trip- 7 1/2 months