Pure randomness: a little of this & a little of that

My Z6 LoVeS to draw. It seems his outlet. We borrowed a Draw Write Now from his Aunt & while Hubby took the other 2 to Home Depot one night, Z & I sat & did a few pages (his is on the right, in case you were wondering :)). I have piles of his drawings all. over. the. house! so I bought him a drawing journal recently in hopes of containing his creations a little better :)

 Whew! It's been warm around here! We met some friends at the park & it was 85*... having ice cream after never felt so good :)

 My J5 :) My passionate, strong-headed, amazing little boy who is growing up way too fast...

 I call this the "I'm a Mom Schedule"... because no day ever goes as planned, no minute can really be scheduled (unless it's an appointment & then everything revolves toward it!), & nothing stays clean longer than 5 minutes... This is what I do when I'm bored :)

 A look at my boys' stars... each one has a chore/project written on it in dry erase & I add & take away depending on what is planned that day. If all the stars are completed & moved onto the right side by supper, they get a sticker for their chart. Full chart = "allowance", a.k.a money management or math class :)

Finally Finished! :)

Yay! I love finally finishing things! Literally, we have a whole list of projects hanging on the fridge waiting to be finished. It's a little overwhelming sometimes but it's sure nice getting to cross things off :)

So. This week I received the final missing piece & was able to finish my jewelry photo frame! I've had it for almost 2 years now but it sat empty for most of it for lack of knowing what to put in it (picture wise). I had read years ago that you should never put pics of your kiddos in your room so that leaves pics of C & I but we rarely remember to take pics of ourselves & how in the world would I find the time to find them?? Anyway, while I was cleaning out cabinets recently, I came across a lot of cards that I just didn't want to part with & it occurred to me that if I used them to fill up the frame, then it would be a win-win! ;)

Ta Da! Love it! 

 Next, I finally finished putting our MT trip pics in the clock I got for my birthday! And it's on the wall! :)

It was surprising how much smaller it got once on the wall- almost to the point of looking too small- but it's grown on me & it'll probably stay this way until we move :)

Aren't these little girls cute? We've now had them for a week! On Saturday's to-do list? Make them their own run so they can stretch their legs & get some sunshine :)

I'll be honest, it wasn't what I had in mind. Their roost/box wasn't either. But! They were made entirely from materials we already had so that's pretty amazing :) 'The ladies' love it, too!

switching a toilet

Yippee! We love the new toilet! ....more to come! :)

my backyardigans

Our newest show we are enjoying is The Backyardigans- they are super cute & very imaginative. My favorite part, though, is when the boys reenact it. The show I see coming back the most? Oddly enough it's the mailman one; here's a pic of my mailman backyardigans:

The next common one is "cowboying"- galloping around the house with my broom & mop lassoing objects. Yeah, that one isn't very easy to catch on film nor is it my favorite =]

And with the subject, it reminds me of my backyard which is slowly getting there- I sadly joke that it'll finally be 'perfect' by the time we are ready to move :}

This is right after we moved the swingset & chickens & built the first garden section:

With the second lower level garden bed:

And this one was taken yesterday, after the rain, with the boys thoroughly enjoying the abundance of mud =]

weather-wise

Whew! We had some hot weather this week! When it hit 98*, even the little guy started showing skin =]

We decided to take pity on the avocado tree in a pot & plant it finally... but the boys stole the opportunity to play in the hole first...

And now today it's a perfect 72* & the house is looking great! It should be fully painted in a few days- more pics to come! =]

pieces of progress

Yay! I love progress! This was the boys yesterday~ they were so excited to find out the sink was working =]

J has been absolutely miserable to live with for what seems forever, everyday was a struggle. And then one day he woke up his sweet old self~ I'd say that's the most wonderful thing imaginable =]
My garden! Might be unconventional, but so far the veggies are looking great! If you'll remember, the gophers were (& still are) attacking my yard with a vengeance so I planted the spaghetti squash & (ahem!) a few other plants... I can't remember for sure but I'm thinking maybe pumpkin & a cantaloupe. Yeah, I may have a few things to learn about gardening =]

This lil guy I rescued from the gopher mound & planted in a pot & then the bugs were destroying it so I've been spraying (soap & water) semi-regularly & praying over it & it's finally paying off~ I can't wait to saute it up! =]

{variousness}

With all the appointments & craziness that hit, we took a few weeks off of school & somehow blogging went with it? Not sure how that works, but thankfully the camera was always handy when a cute/sweet/fun moment would arrive. One of the mornings the boys woke up ready to play a game so we tried out our new alphabet bingo- so fun! I am so proud of them for knowing their alphabet so well & can only hope they learn to read as easily =]

I'm not sure when this happened & I'm guessing it was Z that took the pic but isn't this the cutest? I love putting my SD card in the computer & finding sweet surprises =] (yes, J's nose is runny- poor guy got sick & eventually gave it to all of us....)
Z was given a new hat & shirt for his birthday the other day & he was proud to sport it! (notice the buttons aren't lined up? so cute!)
I have been wracking my brain for new bbq ideas- it's been quite the summer! A friend suggested pizza- & it was so yum! The recipe will follow in a few days =]
They were so excited to help =]
And he was too- I swear! =]
We have reentered a puzzle phase- which is fine when all the pieces get picked up & put away...
Yesterday we visited a very fun park on a cliff overlooking the ocean- one of the most perfect beach weather days I've ever seen =]
Today we started back to school =] I think the boys were relieved for some odd reason. Anyway, we studied David & Jonathon- such good friends who shared as much as they could with each other. So we roll- played with our animals & play food
and then goofed off
and then took a nap! (can you believe this??! Z hasn't had a nap in months! Let alone both boys at the same time! makes it very handy to update a blog =])

10 on Tuesday: found the camera! =]

1) Not a very good picture. But! It will serve a purpose... Here you go, Mom: 30 weeks =]

2) We lit a few fireworks on July 3rd with friends; I love the kiddos reactions =]
3) We are in another transition: 1/2 way into bumping beds (as Z calls them)
Z sleeps on the bottom, J sleeps on the toddler bed & we slide the spare mattress out each night so I sleep well knowing there won't be a thunk in the middle of the night =]
4) The boys traded in their hard-earned money for new studly glasses =]
5) The pesky gophers moved into our yard bringing fear that my cute little plants would be eaten. It might be ghetto, but the boys' holey pool got nominated to save them =]
6) A new fence (with 2 gates) has been added to the back of our yard bringing security to ourselves & our belongings =]
7) A little more slipping has been going on =]
8) J is working on growing & is back to taking a nap most afternoons leaving Z & I with a little one-on-one time =] I've been trying to do special projects with him to keep it special & one of the projects was making laundry detergent. I am trying it out this week & will give you the thumbs up or thumbs down later =]
9) We went for a hike! C came home from work early on Sat & threw us into the van for a little outdoors time. It was beautiful =]

10) C & I often joke (somewhat sadly & frustratingly) that we haven't completed a project on this house yet. Well, I am happy to report that yesterday we did! The living room is now complete do to this:
We no longer have a light bulb dangling without a cover =]

el lavanderia

We were so far behind on laundry (can anyone say "potty training"?) that desperate times called for desperate measures. With the dryer put away until the kitchen's done, I knew I'd never catch up hanging clothes outside. So we went to the laundromat... which had I think one english sign in it so it's more appropriately named el lavanderia. The boys did great until the last 20 minutes or so... but can you blame them?