Mmm, Mmm, Good

This boy loves him some chocolate.  I love me some blue, blue eyes.

Three-Ring Circus

We took the kids to the circus last weekend with our friends the Jones fam.  The kids loved it.  Overpriced food and sketchy people, what's not to love?  

This is how the kids looked through most of the show.

Then things got a little crazy.  I think Matthew and Cooper are actually dancing.  I know, who woulda guessed.

Matthew got to go for an elephant ride.  That was one of his favorite parts.

This was as close to the elephants as James got.  Poor things, don't you just want to set them free in Africa?  

The Gilbert Fire Department

Last Friday Matthew's preschool class went to the fire station.  He loved it.  They got to climb all over the fire truck.  The fire fighters even got a call at the end of the tour and had to hustle out.  It was very impressive.  They got all of the kids out of the truck, loaded themselves, and were pulling out onto the street in under 45 seconds.  It's good to know they'll get to you quick in an emergency.

They sang some really cute songs to the fire fighters.

James loved the truck.  He could not get enough of it.

Crazy Eights

Tagged by Jamie  

8 T.V. shows I love to watch:

-America's Next Top Model

-Project Runway

-Gossip Girl

-Privileged

-Jon and Kate plus 8

-Clean House

-Tori and Dean

-The Hills

8 Favorite Restaurants:

-Buffalo Wild Wings

-Macaroni Grill

-California Pizza Kitchen

-The Depot (Helena, AL)

-Chili's

-Cafe Rio

-Taco Time (I know, I'm real fancy)

-Chik-fil-A (again, I know)

8 Things that happened yesterday:

-Took Matthew to preschool

-Shopped

-Sent Matthew to his room 5 times (no joke, I don't think it's having much of an effect)

-Did the dishes

-Swept

-Cleaned the boys' rooms

-Watched all my shows after all the boys went to bed

-Read a book

8 Things I look forward to:

-Trip to Utah next month

-My craft room being finished (hurry it up, babe!  what's the hold up, do you have a job or something?)

-Not sweeping after every meal 

-Having another baby (not an announcement)

-Lindsey's baby

-Decorating for Christmas

-The Twilight movie (I'm a tiny bit nerdy)

-The release of the next book of a series I'm reading (it's actually like 3 books I'm waiting on, by now it's no secret I'm nerdy)

8 Things I love about Fall:

-Halloween

-Thanksgiving

-Black Friday 

-"Cooler" weather

-Baking

-Decorations

-S'more making in the backyard

-Get to switch out of my summer clothes

8 Things on my wish list:

-Having my front room fully furnished

-New clothes

-Write a book

-Inherit lots and lots of money

-Know what paint colors to use throughout the rest of my house

-I'm with you Jamie, No more zits

-Finding the perfect curtains for the family room

-A pill is invented that keeps me at my dream weight and I can still eat whatever the heck I want to 

Egghead

Blogger is only letting me post these two pictures for some reason.  I'm going to try to post the other ones when I can.  

Lindsey sent Matthew a little care package when he hurt his hand.  It had an egg in it.  But not just any egg, this one was a turtle egg.  You put it in water for a few days and it hatches.  Matthew loved it.  The first morning after we put it in water, he got up early and ran downstairs to check it out.  He ran up to my room shouting,  "It's hatching!  It's hatching!"  And all day we checked on the turtle's progress.  Matthew had so much fun with it.

Here is the turtle fresh out of its egg.  Matthew thinks it is so cool.  "It has strong bones in it."  

James had to get in on the picture taking.  

Delicious

James has started putting his food on his head.  It doesn't mean he is done, but just bored.  Because when he takes it off of his head, he eats it.  Maybe his shampoo adds some delicious seasoning.

Say What?!

Matthew told me this "memory" (aka: made up story) today.  

"Mom, when I was 25 and had my mission and then I was a shopper and had a box of knives and 25 didn't get out.  And I bought it and they falled, not the knives, the knife box."

Walking with Dinosaurs

On Saturday we took our boys to a dinosaur show called, "Walking with Dinosaurs" at the USAirways Arena.  It was so much fun.  The boys loved it.  There is a paleontologist that stands down in the center with the dinosaurs and tells you all about them.  He had a wonderful mini-mullet.  Very archeologist-y.

When we first got there, security checked our bags and told us that one of our cameras was a professional camera and was not allowed in.  Maybe I should start charging everyone to view my pictures, since I am a professional.  Anyway, while Tim ran the camera back to the car, the boys ran around the lobby to get out some extra energy.  Well, they didn't know that's what they were doing.  

My cute boys just before the show started.

The mommy brachiosaurus  had to come out and save her baby from  the allosaurus.  Matthew was a little worried about the baby.  

Then the best part, which James fell asleep during, the mama T-Rex came out to save her baby from an ankylosaurus and a torosaurus.  The baby thought he could eat them all on his own.  Boy, was he wrong.  Mama came out and she was ticked.  Fortunately for Matthew, no dinosaurs were harmed and they all made it out alive.  

It was a great show and if it's coming near you, you have got to check it out.  

Filet, Anyone?

Yesterday Matthew decided that he wanted to take the blade off of my razor.  Well, the blade wanted to stay on.  The blade won.  Poor Matthew.  I was putting some clothes away in his room when I heard him start screaming.  Honestly, I thought he saw a bug, so I wasn't too concerned.  I just made my way towards him.  And then I saw all of the blood.  Lots and lots of blood.  He had cut his palm, right where the thumb meets it.  Ouchy!  I sat him down on a bench and tried to clean it up and wrapped it up with some gauze.  All the while James is handing Matthew his precious blanket, which he carries everywhere with him.  But then he would want it back, so he would take it and say "thank you!"  Then feeling sorry for his big brother, he would share it with Matthew again.  This repeated for a while.  I decided to take Matthew to the doctor to have his wound looked at.  It was really hard to see it because it would not stop bleeding.  And judging by the amount of skin left on the blade, it was a bad wound.  Oh.My.Goodness.It.Was.A.LOT!!!!!  Anyway, so we left for the doctor.  And the whole time Matthew is saying, "Why did I do that?  Why?"  "I shouldn't have done that."  

When the doctor looked at it, she said it was what they call a filet.  That name just makes me shudder.  The skin was so tore up that there was nothing she could do by way of sutures.  Anyway, she just cleaned it and wrapped it up.  And told me to put super glue on it when it finally stopped bleeding.  After she left the room Matthew said, "I was so so brave, Mom.  You're proud of me."  On our way home, he was excited to take the bandages off, and I told him that he would have to wear until morning.  "Oh no!  But I like to sleep with this hand under my pillow!"  Forget the horrible location of the wound (which I'm sure will cause it to take a long time to fully heal), all the skin and blood lost, he can't sleep with his hand under his pillow!  That's the real travesty here. 

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, Dap!!

Matthew loves to say, "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself" a lot.  And with just the right amount of hesitation, which isn't much, you must quickly respond, "Aww, snap."  If you don't, you receive the wrath that is known as Matthew.  And then you must practice it over and over.  So much fun.  I think I say "Aww, snap" in my sleep.  You never know when you'll be caught off guard.  While I was making a snack for the boys, Matthew marched into the kitchen and said, "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself."  To which I responded, without any thought, "Aww, snap."  It's just a reflex now.  Anyway, immediately after my reply, James shouted, "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, dap!"  And no, my finger did not get stuck on the w, that's how long he drew it out.  It's so fun to watch him learn new things to say, even if it is a little street.   

A Visit from the Tyrantus

Yesterday we had a little, green visitor in our backyard.  You'd think that you would see a praying mantis more often, but I can count the number of times on one hand.  So we took the boys outside to see her.  

They both thought she was pretty cool. 

Matthew was telling me all about "tyrantus"

James just kept pointing at her.  

Excuse our lovely backyard.  The previous owners killed it.  And now we're just waiting for the weather to cool down before we do anything.

Labor Day

For Labor Day we went to Tim's parents' house for some swimming and dinner.  Tim's cousin Bill and his family came up, too.  We had so much fun with them.  And we live so close to them, we should get together more often.

Matthew and Betsy really hit it off.    

I think the best for James was the chips and guacamole.  He couldn't get enough of it.

Boy in the Cupboard

James loves to get into the cupboards and rearrange everything.  I cannot keep him out of them.  We have those child-lock thingies, but I keep forgetting to put them up.  So I am constantly putting everything back all day.  He's a funny kid.  So much busier than Matthew ever was.