Basketball

My boys are gonna be basketball stars. Or football stars. Or maybe soccer. One way or another they're gonna be great.

Brian tried to teach Kaden to line up his shot. "Hold the ball in front of your face and concentrate." Most of the time he would literally put it on his eye. Smart boy, just keeping his eye on the ball. And kissing it for good luck.

 And then the wind up and pitch. Oh. Wait... Well it went in anyways.

 Myles had a slightly different strategy.

It worked like a dream.

Can you see them?

I took Finley to the doctor today. He was crabby and kept pulling at his ear. I figured it was and ear infection. I also figured that if I didn't take hime today, he would need to go tomorrow. When Brian and I are both working. So I was proactive. Turns out he's just teething. 

Can you see 'em?

Oh. And BTW. He now weighs exactly 20 pounds.

Camera Shy

I think I freaked all of my Arizona friends out when I posted this.

It was just this crazy, ominous looking cloud. The weird part was the although it looks like a tornado (especially in the picture) it wasn't moving at all. I am very much afraid of tornados and can assure you that if one was that close to my house, I'd be tucked away, not out taking pictures. I also came to the realization that tornados to Arizonans are like scorpions to Mid-Westerners. I once met a guy that talked to me for a good 30 minutes about scorpions and how scary they are. 

Well. We survived the storm. The little rain and small amount lightning was all that she wrote. 

Finley was a bit drool-ey today. He was also slightly crabby.

There was a half hour or so where he only wanted to stand. On the ground. He wants to be big like his brothers.

I told Kaden, "Give Finley a hug, he doesn't feel good." To which Kaden replied, "I can't give him a hug. Hims got spit on his shirt." Ironically, 3 minutes later Finley actually spit-up all over me.

 This was durning the time when Kaden was monologuing about why he NEEDED a piece of candy. He is very persuasive.

They are camera shy. Can you tell?

Hatching and Stuff

Remember this picture? It paints such a peaceful, pleasant scene. I imagined cute little baby birds chirping at their momma for some worms. With their cute little necks outstretched and beaks sticking out over the nest.... This afternoon I remembered Brian had told me that they hatched this weekend. So I grabbed my phone and went out to get a picture. This was actually my second attempt. My first try Momma Bird was very successful in scaring me away. This is what I got:

Ugh. Gross. Gag. 

All I am saying is that my kids are lucky they didn't come out looking like that or I think I would have run away from the hospital screaming. I purposely made this picture small to spare you all. However, I can assure you all that they are alive. And creepy. I mean well. 

I promise if you stay with me, you will be rewarded with some cuteness. 

This is a random picture post. Pictures that never made any other posts. Until now. Some are old. Some are new. 

Mischievousness

I guess it was time for Finley to get up. And play (yes. Myles was jumping on the bed). 

They were loading up their "car" to drive to Granny's. They needed everything. Including, but not limited to, a wagon, chairs, a kleenex box, some mail and a wedding picture.

Togetherness

Best.

Buddies.

Just Plain Cuteness

He's cute, and he knows it

I propped him up and he kept wanting to sit up on his own. What he didn't realize is he's not quite strong enough. I mean. He did pretty good for an almost-five-month-old. He did fall over a few times, but. He's no quitter. Nope. He would sit back up and try again.

"Look, Mommy! I did it!"

It's like he is saying, "Hey, Sophie. What's happening? Hey, so, I was thinking if you're up for it later we could do some drooling. Or pooping. Up to you, I game for either. What do you think?" 

Weekend

I am lying here in bed at 11:30 thinking that I really should be sleeping... Even more so, that my kids really should be sleeping. It's Monday night and they just got back from a long weekend at Grandma's (Grandpa lives there too, he just doesn't quite have possession of their house). It was a long week and by the time Friday arrived, I was more than ready to ship them off. Maybe I'd even sail away to somewhere they couldn't find me... At least. Not right away. The week started off with a bit of pink eye. It was going around the daycare the previous week but the boys had been home since Thursday. We thought we were in the clear. But. No. Come Monday after being dormant all weekend Myles gets it. Which means, on Tuesday, we have to keep him home from school (we call daycare school. Makes us feel better about life). I thought, hey this could be fun, lounge around and watch movies all morning. Just me and Myles. But. No. Again. (teach me to think things). By Monday night Kaden had also developed pink eye. Which left me with two boys home sick Tuesday. Who weren't really sick. Movies were out. Lounging out. Easy day. OUT. We made it through lunch okay. I put them down for a nap. They started talking and giggling. I ignore them. This is always a very delicate situation. Not easily played. If you go in and acknowledge them they notice your attention. And want MORE. If you ignore them sometimes, just sometimes, they will peacefully put themselves back in bed and fall asleep. This was not one of those days. When I realized I was not going to win the ignore-them battle I went in. I opened the door and... found them both completely naked. And..... Peeing on the floor. I. Was. Furious. They. Thought it was HILARIOUS. Looking back I can see the humor. It's one of those instances where all you can do is shake your head a say, "boys." that's it. There really are no other words to describe it. Boys will be boys. The rest of our week went by. Frankly, I can't remember much else about it. I think that's a good sign. We made it to Friday. And they were excited to go to Grandma's. I was equally excited. If not more so. The weekend came and went. We did awesome kidless things. And then they came home. They came home late tonight. And they were excited to see us. And we were excited to see them. All the naughtiness and frustration from the week before washes away as they wrap their little arms around my neck and feet around my waist and whisper into my ear, "Hi Mommy." and, "Mommy. I missed you." and, "I wove you, Mommy." all without being prompted. So as it is bedtime (or way past) and they don't want to stay in bed because they want to see us; it's hard to refuse. Which is why I am sacrificing precious hours of sleep to let them cuddle up with us in bed. And I know tomorrow will be a nightmare with crabby, sleep deprived toddles. But. For now. We're good.

Mother's Day Weekend

Friday.

Mother's Day weekend started off with Brian in a meeting and the boys and I left fending for ourselves for dinner. I don't cook. I can cook. But. I don't. I figured it was Friday night, so let's party it up. We picked up pizza and the boys said, "We want to eat outside..." I quickly vetoed the let's eat in the parking lot idea as they vetoed the picnic table in the backyard idea. Finally, we agreed upon a picnic in the park.

We went.

We played.

 We blew bubbles.

 After a while I convinced them to settle down enough for dinner. Yummy. Cold $5 pizza. Can't beat that. Kaden likes to eat his backwards. Myles likes to be a copy cat. 

Friday night ended with cuddles. 

Saturday.

Finley tried veggies for the first time on Saturday. He didn't love them.

The boys took me out for my Mother's Day lunch. As part of their present they were only mildly naughty at the restaurant. After lunch we went to the library. That ended with a meltdown. I think the library is my favorite place for a meltdown. You can really garner lots of nasty looks all at once there. 

Saturday night ended with cuddles.

Sunday.

My Sunday morning wakeup call (Well. Besides Brian coming in saying I needed to get up because Finley had poop-exploded all out of his diaper and I needed to watch him in the tub so Brian could wash the poop off of his person...) was Kaden and Myles saying, "Mommy! Mommy! We made you a Valentine's present!" "We made a necklace!" "We made you this!" (holds out gift bag) "Mommy! Open it! It's a necklace!"

They obviously didn't make the necklace. I did. However. Get my fair share of homemade presents. (1 point for daycare) 

I purposely decided to stay in ALL day Sunday. We had a gianormous pajama party all day. I figured if we don't go into public they can't have tantrums in public. 

We built train tracks instead

Myles prefers destroying over building any day. Which is why he sent the dinosaur to attack at the station. 

It was too nice out to stay inside all day. So. We took a walk to the gas station to get a Redbox. 

This is what happens when two year-olds dress themselves. 

Family walks promote healthy families. Right up until... We buy a wagon full of junk for the trip back. 

Bros

"Tickle fight!"

"Did we just become best friends?"

"Yep!"

Bubbles and Sidewalk Chalk

Boys got a little crazy with some sidewalk chalk. 

They are artists. 

"Myles! Don't draw on my back!" 

I think we are running low on chalk.

That's pretty much all Myles had to say about that. 

Making a train track. Not too shabby. For a three year-old. 

Sidewalk art is hard work. Or maybe it's killing off zombies with dad that really did him in. 

 Waiting so patiently.

 He looks like he is in pain. I can assure you that's pure joy on his face. The kind of joy that only bubbles can bring.