playgroup field trip

We took advantage of free zoo Wednesday & went with our playgroup. After we were done looking at this ginormous lizard, Kosty said, "Momma, please take a pi-ture of that lizard for Bubba. I fink he'll like it." Brayden does love lizards, so sweet of Kosty to look out for him!

this orangutan was hilarious, he held this branch over him the entire time, like DON'T LOOK AT ME!

So this is a terrible picture of both of us, but I just had to show how freakishly much I resemble my brother Justin in it....his hair is longer than mine, but he even has the same sunglasses. Weird.

playgroup

Kosty is still not liking the idea of going to someone else's house once a week, but he sure loves it when they come to ours! Hopefully he'll learn to love it because we couldn't ask for a sweeter or cuter group of 3 year olds. After our first turn hosting playgroup, Kosty said, "Momma, make sure you tell Bubba that I had LOTS of friends over today."

storm

I think this storm was like a month ago, but I forgot to post these...of course we have to take every oppurtunity here to play in the rain, so since it happened to start storming on a Monday evening, we took our lesson & had FHE out on the porch. Well we stayed under the porch, and the kiddos got wet & had a ball. Good memory!

Sentimental lately. I'm sure its because the birthdays are coming up, and soon. I tend to do this around their birthdays. These boys have been sleeping in their bunk beds. Finally. I tell you there is no sweeter sound than listening to them laughing hysterically and whispering before bed. I must say how much it pains my heart to see Kosty's room empty at night though. A completely empty room. When we picked Brayden up from school, Kosty said, "Bubba, guess what! I got some new paint brushes we can share." I love how excited he gets over things like a $.99 pack of paint brushes. Before Brayden's soccer practice, Kosty insisted he put on an entire soccer uniform just like Bubba. He isn't signed up for soccer yet but he wears Brayden's old uniform & cleats to every practice. Brayden shared with us that he was victim of some teasing on the playground. Some kids saw his underwear and said, "You have Monkey underwear!" It hurt his feelings, he said, so he made up a lie to get them to stop. He said he didn't know what else to do, but it worked. He told them there was a war against boys & girls and that instead of teasing him they needed to work together against the girls. It broke my heart to see his sad face as he told the story. Jer and I were tyring to come up with the best advice for teasing. We had some bad ideas & a good one that ended up making him laugh really hard. We told him when someone teases him, steal a line from Willy Wonka, interrupt them and say, "MUMBLER! I don't understand a word you are saying." Then just walk away. (If you've seen the Johnny Depp version of the movie, you get it). He liked that idea best. We role played it a few times.

I stared at them at dinner. I wanted the scene burned in my mind forever. Is there anything cuter than dimpled, laughing faces? Shiny, twinkling eyes? Missing teeth and spaced out ones? Wet shaggy hair and jammies? I think not.

phew, what a day

I spent my entire day today in my mom uniform, aka my sweats & white v.

I planted myself in the office with a mission in mind, and there was no time for distractions.

10 years worth of our lives in our filing cabinets. Needed to be gutted, cleaned & organized .

I have to admit it was pretty entertaining to stumble upon a stack of credit card statements from my first ever credit card. It was the card I got my junior or senior year and used it throughout dating, engagement, and our first year of marriage. I was a good girl & paid it off each month, it only had a {measly}$500 limit. We/I certainly did a lot of eating out...Schlotzskys, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, etc... And I certainly wasted a lot of money at one particular store...Abercrombie & Fitch. Whoa nellie, just about $100-200 a month on that place. I had two ginormous piles, one to be shredded, and one to recycle. I still have to shred pile #1. That might take me a while. I miss the days of when I worked at the bank & could just drop my stuff in the giant bank shredder. I also found our paperwork from our first house. $812.41. That was our mortgage. So sad we left that bless-ed place.

Kosty is the perfect kid to have around on days like this, (after I built a giant complicated lego ship) he played for hours with that & then outside in the nude, in the dirt. His favorite spot. He takes trucks & action figures out there & just plays and plays. Today he even came inside with a major tan. I love my little outside boy. And I'm so glad to put these papers & junk behind me!

Brayden had soccer practice, so Jer took him while I cooked dinner in a quiet, empty kitchen. Kosty, of course was out in the dirt (for round 3). I think it just might break his little heart if we ever do finish our yard & cover his beloved dirt with gravel.

Potato soup for dinner, I'm so happy its finally Fall-ish and we can have soup again. Our Halloween decorations are up and we're just waiting for the cooler weather.

I forgot to mention, Kosty totally pulled a *Lauren today in the backyard, but in his defense, he was naked so I can see how it 'just happened'. Nasty.

It was a good & productive day. I am so grateful I can be at home.

giveaway

My friend Jamie is doing a giveaway on her blog paisleypinkboutique.blogspot.com. Check it out and enter!

embarrassment zone

Brayden has informed me that there are a few rules when it comes to keeping him embarrassment free recently.

#1. He asked that when I volunteer to be a guest reader in his class, I do not bring Kosty. Because he said, "last time he interrupted the story & then he put his underwear in James desk." Understood. (this was a point in time that kosty was carrying around 5 pairs of underwear everyday just in case).

#2. Do not wear your pajamas when you come to my school. Also understood. But, I said, sweats & a tee are not technically pajamas.

#3. Do not sign the letter that my teacher reads about me when I'm Star Student: Love, Mama & Dada. Last year when you did that, everyone laughed. Just write MOM & DAD.

#4. Please don't yell & cheer for me when you are watching me play soccer.

#5. Please don't call me "Bubba" when other people are riding with us in the car.

I'm sure there will be more....

sally.

I bought this doll when I first had Kosty and Brayden requested his own baby to play with. I thought it was so cute that I took him straight to Target and picked out the cheapest baby doll and off we went. Now, Kosty has taken a liking to her and named her "Sally." He goes in spurts, but last week he was feeling particularly paternal I suppose, so he asked me to wrap her in a blanket and then the next day I found him performing a doctors exam on her because she was sick and then he carefully laid her in his bed, covered her with a blanket, turned off the lights and shut the door for her "nap." Then he said, "I wis we had a real baby."

one thing I know for sure

this boy will never be able to say that I was the kind of mom who wouldn't let him get his hands dirty.

clubhouse fun

{My three brothers: Chase, Zach, & Justin, my Dad, Bray, Maria, Erika, Libby & Britt}

{Maria, Dad, Erika, Zach, Justin, Brayden, Tyson, Brittney, Libby, Stefanie, Joann (great nana) and Kosty}

For my brother & sister's b-days we all gathered at the clubhouse for some swimming and then went to my Dad's for some pizza & cake. It was my attempt at getting pictures of everyone, even people who normally don't get in the picture, for memories sake. Twas a fun day. The end.

Madison ♥

Right when we got home from Newport, one of the first things Kosty wanted to do was make a banner for Madison. Then the next day, I was making necklaces and he asked me to make one for Madison. He even picked out a pink crystal and silver heart charm. He's got good taste--in jewelry and ladies. When I asked them to stand together so I could take a picture, Kosty said, "WAIT. I want to hold somefing." I said ok, go get something then. And he said, "No. Somefing wike a hand...... Her hand."

last night we were reading from our "kid" scripture stories and we came to the picture of the continents with 4 pictures. Brayden pointed to each one and summarized it perfectly.

1. "This is with Mary and Joseph when baby Jesus was born."

2. "This is when Jesus was crucified."

3. "This is when Jesus was telling the other Mary that he was ok, he was resurrected after 3 days."

4. "This is when Jesus came back to Earth to teach the people about faith, love, and kindness."

I know its basic, but it really touched my heart and got me all choked up.

I love you Bubba.

Phoenix Childrens Museum

We went to the new museum a few weeks ago, its free admission the first Friday of every month. However, don't bother if you don't like crowds or very long lines to get in :) It was such a cool place though, their favorite part was probably the noodle forest, the suction wall, and the grocery store.
A magician entertained the kids while we waited to get in. Brayden was in pure amazement.

bike obstacle

Noodle Forest

Styrofoam ice cream shop

the very realistic grocery storethe pizzeria
the suction wall
then the real ice cream shop