{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 =])

A is for Abraham

I was planning on doing school yesterday eventually but the living area was trashed & there was no way I was going to do anything else before cleaning it. Z drove his truck under the couch & had to pull the couch out to rescue it & got sidetracked majorly when he crawled back there & found his magnetic boards (that's where I store them when not in use). I just thought it cute that both boys ended up back there for a good 1/2 hr "building words" =]

They are on a painting kick right now so they were more than happy to do their letter for the week:

...even in nothing but underwear =]

T is for Tower

2 weeks ago we studied the Tower of Babel. Unfortunately, the boys ended up getting sick so we only did 1 day of activities for it & then last week we didn't do school (it was waaaay to beautiful outside!) so 1 day it was =] I made the boys their own alphabet & number binders so that when they learn a new number or letter, they can put it in & see what they've done =] J was really excited with this =]

So we took our 'T' walk/bike ride to which J finally mastered pedaling his bike- super excited about that =]

And we stopped every time we saw a 't' word and drew it. I was actually surprised to not find very many but I think the boys were kind of glad since they just wanted to go, go, go! =]

expanding

There's nothing constant but change. Right? The boys are so into letters & numbers right now I thought it'd be best to expand a little & incorporate them into our routine =]

This is the one time I'm happy I was cornered by a door-to-door salesman. In the back of the 4 books we bought, there were posters to which are now taped to the back of our white magnetic boards. They have english & spanish on them & so we've been going over both. I even caught Z singing part of the spanish alphabet the other day =]

Then we flip it over & both boys build their names using their magnetic letters. The boys are about equal in their knowledge of letters but Z focuses better (as you can see Z is done & J is 1/2 way) =]

B is for Boat

And of course, Noah's Ark was a big boat! =]

Last week we started incorporating letters & numbers in with our Bible lesson

to which we enjoyed a "B" walk: we walked around the block & drew everything we saw that started with a "B"!

It was super cute & I look forward to filling their binders with more of these drawings =]

We ended the week by visiting one of Z's bf's & doing the story & craft with them! It's so fun doing life with amazing people =]

the snake

Ha! Week 2 of school just didn't go as planned: chaos struck our home & not much got accomplished with it. Adam & Eve was a failure. In more sense than one =] The only thing we did for craft was the snake (which later didn't make it through a play time & so we made them again =]) But we did talk about lies. Did you know that every sin starts with a lie? Either a lie we told ourself or accepted from another. Serious stuff. Which might explain why we couldn't focus or think of many fun things to do during the week. =]

and so it begins

I have found that my boys need at least a few minutes of focused love each day for them to run content. I have also found that they are fast learners that like to keep busy & like to learn. So last week we started "school". My sister-in-law gave us a really cool Bible & a great idea to go with it: read one chapter every day for a week & every day also have an activity to go with it =] The boys learn about their great amazing Creator, have focused time with me, & get to do fun things- it's a win-win!

Last week we started at the beginning: Creation. And for the first three days we "created" our own poster version. We painted, cut, glued, & stickered =]

And on our third day into it, we had a finished project: (J didn't intentionally make the sand look like Noah's Ark- he's just cool like that =])

My parents came for a visit & knocked our schedule off a bit but we finished day 4 with some great hand-eye coordination animal lacing that the boys enjoyed (thank you Michaels!):

And then for day 5 we just played a leaping frog game that I happened to have already =]

It probably takes 1/2 hour at the most plus a few moments of before-the-day-hits brainstorming but it's well worth it! Z was already quoting the Bible story on day 3! If you have a preschooler/toddler, I highly recommend doing something like this- you will not regret it!

After Zeke's super cute Christmas Concert (I was amazed he made it all the way up the aisle let alone him semi-grooving with the beat!),

we headed out to a yummy restaurant in Nipomo to which right next to it was a road washed out by the former creek

(this pic was taken by Zeke =])

Monday we finally said who cares & went outside in the rain to survey the puddles =] The county came out & "fixed" our alley last week- where we enjoyed our puddles before- & we were delighted to find that they made it even worse! Our alley was full of puddles! =] Unfortunately, our camera is drop-proof, freeze-proof, & water-proof but it isn't lose-proof! I lost it & was super bummed to miss getting the boys on film enjoying the ponds outside our yard :( This one below was taken with the cell phone but it was raining pretty good so I didn't want to risk any more shots :(

So after we enjoyed the ponds, we went inside to make boats for the next day's adventures:

Another unfortunately: the rain stopped & by the time we made it out there yesterday morning (after finally finding my camera!), our pond had almost completely disappeared leaving us a little puddle to float our boats. Don't get me wrong, the boys still enjoyed it & the mud left behind but I still think it would've been funner if the water had stayed just a little longer =]

For our floating adventures on video, click here =]

when the rain comes

Well, when this current storm rolled in yesterday, my allergies flared up once again... & I was barely snapping back from the last rain :{ So. I'm wondering if it's time to once again take Claritin? Anyway, I can't take a bath to ease the body aches so I'm doing the next best thing: rice pack =] Why can't I take a bath? Because my wonderful hubby has been working all day long trying to plumb the utility room in order to bring in the washer & dryer! It's so exciting to think- especially after by the time I got my clean & dry clothes back to the house today, they were all wet from the downpour :( So. While I wait eagerly for the announcement that the house is back in service, let's look back on the week, shall we? =]

My bag-obsessed boy in my sunglasses and sporting my new purse (looking mighty studly I might say!):

Thursday is our garbage day here. There for a little while the boys lost interest in this weekly affair but J has resurrected the obsession recently so in honor of that we colored a pic of one:

and also oogled as they took away our undesirables. Speaking of, in my Sunset magazine, a family was featured that literally threw away a handful of garbage a year. And they aren't hoarders, either =] I found that very interesting...

Thursday we also took advantage of our last bit of sun for a while by zooming Tonkas down the sidewalk:

and also working on the new flower bed (I think I bit off more than I can chew... anyone care to help take out the crab grass?)

You know how the boys were pulling objects with their tractors? Well, J took off the string & decided [for the entire day!] to pull me around instead. It was fun & amusing & now that the day is done the string has mysteriously disappeared :}

So today. Today we went to the boys' first "mommy left me at a birthday party"- can you believe it? I'm still not sure I'm ready for that but it happened. And they had a blast =] So much that J fell asleep in the car, didn't budge when I carried him inside in the rain, & he laid zonked like this for 3 hours. Can someone say "much needed"?

So while J did that, Z & I played for a while until he, too, was ready for rest =]

Okay, so now that that's done & the water still isn't on & my rice pack is getting chilly, I guess I'll just resort to resting myself & climbing into bed =] Luv ya~

four on a sunny friday =]

1) Z is into randomly mopping my floors. It's cute & handy but he hasn't figured out the ringing out part so it's also very wet. :}

2) Every time we spend the morning outside, someone steps in cat pooh. Today it was me. :{

3) Z conquered his bike! I am so stinkin' proud of him!

(M is "practicing" steering his as his feet can't reach the peddles yet =])

4) I ordered a book off Amazon last night for the boys & I'm so excited for it to arrive... like the anticipation- is- driving- me- crazy kind of excited =]