Tyler's Pirate Store

Tyler is so creative and always thinking up something new. For the past few days, he has had a little corner of the house blocked off (to keep baby Luke out) for his pirate store. He loves to sit in his little corner with all of his playmobil pirate accessories, organizing and trying to "sell" them to Ethan. What a silly boy!

Let the countdown begin....FINALLY!!!

Jeffrey is finally at a point in his deployment where I felt that I could make a countdown chain for the kids without getting sad every time I looked at it! Yippie!!! Ethan and I made it this afternoon. It's hard to believe that Jeffrey has already been gone for almost six months. We found out that he will be coming home on my birthday, what a wonderful present that will be!

Luke always has a big smile on his face. I just love this sweet baby boy!!!

My big boys

I took this picture Sunday afternoon....aren't they cute?! Oh wait, I'm not allowed to call Tyler cute...aren't they HANDSOME?

Oatmeal Fun

The boys had a couple friends over yesterday so I decided to bring out the oatmeal. I put down a sheet, got out some tupperware, spoons, funnels, muffin pans and cups, and let the kids go crazy with the oatmeal. Of course only about half of the oatmeal stayed on the sheet and the kids were all covered in oatmeal, but it was a huge hit and kept them all happily entertained for over an hour. After realizing that dry oatmeal doesn't taste very good, even little Luke joined in the fun! When they were finished I scooped up all the oatmeal I could and put it away (to play with another time...we don't eat it!) and then vacuumed up the rest. I highly recommend this activity to those of you who don't mind a little mess!

Love that hair!

I just loves Luke's crazy hair. No matter what I do, it always seems to stick up on the top just like in this picture. A couple days ago Jeffrey sent an e-mail saying that it looks like Luke is ready for his first big boy haircut. For some reason, I just can't get myself to cut it. I guess I'm just not ready for him to grow up (and I want his daddy to be the one to give him his first haircut). So it looks like my poor little Luke will just have to live with crazy hair...after all, it gives him personality!

Friday Fort Night

One thing that I love about being a parent is that I'm able to start any random tradition that I want. When Jeffrey left in November, I decided that the boys and I needed something to look forward to each week. We already had Monday family nights which the boys loved, but I wanted something fun for the weekend....that's when Tyler and I came up with Friday Fort Night. After dinner, we build a fort in the living room and watch a new movie. We also have a special treat, usually popcorn and lemonade or indoor s'mores. It's been a few weeks since we've been able to have or special night, so the boys were so excited when I started building the fort last night. I truly enjoy this time that I have to relax with my boys and just love to see the pure joy on their faces each week as we build our fort!

Rainy Day Fun

I love the rain, especially on days when it's warm outside. Late in the afternoon today it started to rain, and rain, and rain! It was the perfect day for a walk in the rain! The boys put on their boots and got their umbrellas (Ethan refused to wear his adorable frog raincoat because "big boys don't wear frog raincoats", so sad!), I put Luke in the front carrier and put on my flip flops, and off we went. Jumping in the puddles brought back so many memories of when I was young. Ethan did NOT like getting wet at first, but he soon got over it and by the end of our walk we were all soaked! It was great! To top it all off, the sun came out a little and we were able to see a beautiful rainbow! I hope it rains again tomorrow!