Brandon Age 8 (?)

I found Issy rummaging through a small wooden box that belongs to Brandon. I believe the small wood box was given to Brandon by his late Grandmother, and for as long as I have known him, he has the box to store "special things in it" like some baseball cards, a few letters I have written him and other things like it. At the very bottom of the letter pile we found this old letter and I had to share it.



We are guessing that it must have been written by Brandon when he was around 8 years old. Isnt it so cute?! Oh, it made my day!

Time Out

I finally got freezer paper a couple of weeks ago, and I have been dying to use it. Today, I found a quick and easy tutorial for a Time Out Mat at Craftiness is not optional and had to try it out.
Jax is still too little for time outs, but I will be ready when he is- not that I am looking forward to it or anything, but being extra prepared never hurt anyone.




You never know, I may be the one that needs the Time-outs, (wink) either way wish us Luck!

Corn on the Cob - Yum!

Today we gave Jackson his first ear of corn. He loves corn, but he LOVED eating the corn on the cob with the handles even more. I was having so much fun watching him enjoy his corn that I almost forgot about eating. This is going to be the BEST summer EVER!

Why do we have dog food all over the garage floor?

Huh?!

Oh!

Hey!


This mystery has been solved! :)

A childs perspective

Hanging out with Daddy on a Sunday afternoon!

All of these photographs were taken by Issy, who is only 6 years old. Amazing!

Happy Earth Day!

We are giving this gardening thing another try. Last year, I bought a tomato plant late in the season, I was doing really good (see here)... then life happened and I killed the poor plant with my heavy black thumb.
I am determined to do better this year, so in the spirit of Earth Day, I got the kids involved with this two plant garden.



The kids are watering the our tomato & cucumber plants. Wish us luck guys, we are going to need it!
Oh and if you have any tips for me please, please send them my way.

-Martha

sunshine

(Drive In 2007)

Lack of post = we are out and about playing in the sun.

Spring has taken its sweet time to settle here in the Boise area. I am not sure the warm spring weather is here to stay, but this past week we were surprised with 75 plus degree weather, and we have not been able to get our fill since.
It didn’t feel like spring, it felt more like summer. What a beautiful thing it was. I have so many fun activities plan, one our favorites is packing the family up and heading to the drive in theater. Issy is a little trooper, and loves to stay up late. She gets a kick out of loading up snacks, blankets etc and cozying up with us. I remember going with my parents when I was kid, so I am happy that we are able to carry on that "tradition" with my kids.

"The Turd Boy"

Warning!
If you have a weak stomach do not continue reading.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Oh My! Oh My! Oh My!! This is all I could say when I went to pick Jackson up from his Nap. He is either outgrowing his diapers or I put it on too tight, regardless, he woke up and a bomb must have gone off in his diaper because there was POOP EVERYWHERE!

Oh my! Oh my!

Wipes would never get the job done, so in to the bath he went. I love having kids but poo is not something a MOM ever gets used to. The crib had to be disinfected, the blankets washed TWICE, bath cleaned twice. I totally wanted to cry today.

I love you buddy,but holy smokes this was not fun.

So Proud!

First let me say that Issy is absolutely, 100% afraid of blood. I dont know where she got that from, but any amount of blood makes her shake and queasy. Yesterday, after begging and pleading Brandon and I finally talked her in to pulled out one of her two loose teeth.

She pulled, tugged, twisted and still nothing.

She got a couple of good clicks and the blood started....to our suprise she keept going. A few more turns and the tooth was dangling there. Eeek! We saw the blood and thought she would stop for sure. She didnt.

She finally pulled the tooth ALL BY HERSELF...and didnt even cry. She said that as long as she didnt see the blood she would be okay. And she was right. Right now I am so, so stinking proud of Issy I can hardly contain myself. This is one of those moments that make me realize that as she grows, she will be capable of anything she puts her mind to.

Here is my girl holding her tooth a couple of minutes after pulling it out on her own.



Yes, the tooth fairy was really good to her because she was really proud too :)

16 Months

Dear Jax,

You are one amazing little man! You are a little sponge who is soaking in everything around you. It seems like every week you are adding a new word to your vocabulary. Yesterday you said "whee" and threw your hands up. It was so cute. I know that you will be talking in no time. I am really looking forward to hearing what you are thinking. Climbing is your new big thing. You want to be able to get up and down from the couch or chairs by yourself.
You clap and smile when you are happy. Which is often, but we never get tired of seeing it. I feel so much happiness when I see you and Issy playing. Sometimes it fills my heart and makes me want to cry. We have been so blessed.

Love,

Mommy

How to Dye Eggs with a Toddler!

First you have to prep your stations.
Plastic cups. Check.
Dye pills. Check
Water, Vinegar. Check. and Check.
Adorable picture with Grandpa. Check.



When you are finally given a hard boiled egg try chucking it as hard as possible to see what happens.
(oops!)



Look as cute as possible and pretend like nothing happened.




Try again.
This time we try really hard NOT to throw the egg becuase now we know it cracks.
ask for another and then SLOWLY chuck the egg in to the color solution and see how high the water will splash. Woohoo!
When it gets all over your Easter outfit, clap and hope Mommy has some stain remover.

Yay!



...And this folks is how you dye eggs with a toddler!

love,

Jax

HAPPY EASTER!

We hope your Easter was a nice as ours. We had the whole family over for bruch so our morning started pretty early. The kids loved the trail of Easter eggs that lead them to their Easter baskets. Issy's favorite item was Milo and Otis the movie. She is our animal lover girl. Jax got some cool sandals for summer and a couple of sturdy hard cover books. He is a boy after all. And of course enough candy to keep the kids on a year long sugar high.

We had the whole gang over from my side of the family. What a hoot. We have so much fun now that we all have kids.

Here is our big girl Issy.


...and the little ones.

Take 1:

Take 2:


Take 3: As good as it gets with 3 kids under 16 months.






Once again, Happy Easter!

Another T-ball Update..

We had a little T-ball Ceremony this saturday, where the league presened all of the T-ball teams to the parents and each other. They had food, and even a little Easter egg hunt...It was really fun to see all the little ones in their uniforms and so proud to stand next to their team mates holding their team banners. Although the boys don't seem to notice, Issy is the only girl on her team and actualy one of the few girls is playing T-ball on the whole league.

Issy's favorite part about T-ball is hitting the ball. Its hard to teach her how to hold the bat and how to hit it, becuase she is a lefty, but (once the coach figured out how to hold it himself) she caught on quickly and so far she is doing very well.

She plays every Tuesday and Thursday through the Middle of May so (family members only) call me if you want to know the times and locations of the game so you can cheer her on!

ApRiL fOoLs!

Issy woke up with a mustache, and Jax woke up with big red lips...



...YEAH Right! Did we get you? April Fools!!!

Love,

Jax and Issy

Getting Ready for the Easter Bunny