Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Why oh why...

Why oh why does my Mommy take so many pictures of me?

Saturday, July 28, 2012

New Portraits - Behind the Scenes

I was really pleased with the new portraits for Matt's desk, but it took a number of tries to get those smiles to come out!  If I just point the camera at Isaac and say "smile!" this is the look I get....
So, I tried a few times without success then let some time pass.  

After a while, I thought that I need to find something for Isaac to play with and then just catch him smiling as he plays.  The hard part was to keep the green trees, and not the trash cans, in the background.  
And, the plan worked!  I brought out an empty bin, and apparently if you put a 2-year-old in a bin, you get big smiles as a result!

An empty bin is also good for pushing around a brother,

curling up and pretending to be a baby bird in a nest,

and wrestling!

Anywhere is a good place to wrestle!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

New Portraits



Matt needed some updated pictures of the boys for his desk at work, so for a birthday gift we surprised him with some new portraits of the boys.

I dressed the boys in matching navy blue, which I thought would look nice with the trees in the background.  Noah was wearing his uniform shirt for kindergarten that day.  When his new uniform shirts arrived in the mail, he insisted that he needed to wear one that day, and he even slept in his shirt.  He's so excited about starting kindergarten!


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Blueberry Muffin Makers

We used to make blueberry muffins every week, but we've gotten out of the habit.  I decided it was time to make another batch, and the boys were happy to help.  Noah got a turn mixing.

And Isaac got a turn too.

Isaac patiently divided the entire batter into the muffin cups.  He worked and worked until every cup was full.

Mmm... picture perfect delicious blueberry muffins!



Isaac dug in and enjoyed every bite, until Noah said that he didn't like blueberry muffins.  He said he wanted plain muffins instead.  As soon as Isaac heard that, he said he didn't like blueberry muffins either.  Neither of them would take another bite.

Hmm...that meant that there were more muffins for Matt and me.  We enjoyed every bite.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

Sometimes you have to stretch to get what you really want...

Monday, July 23, 2012

14 Years!

We are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary this summer!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Faith Family and Freedom Festival

We had a great time at the Faith Family and Freedom Festival.  Noah and Isaac looked forward to it for months because they got to see some of their favorite bands live in concert.  Here's Sidewalk Prophets.

We had great seats right in front of the stage, so we could easily see everything, but it was L-O-U-D.  We were so glad we brought the boys drumming "muffs" to protect their ears.

We saw every band except Laura Story, because we were stuck in traffic, but Noah could hear her sing "Blessings" while we were parking.

It was a large concert - there were 15,000 people there, so there were 7,500 people to our left


and 7,500 people to our right

Here's Big Daddy Weave.

Isaac was happy, really he was, but it was sooo very hot, and did I mention it was L-O-U-D?


Here's Building 429, one of Noah and Isaac's favorite bands, singing "All I know is I'm not home yet"

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Projects

Isaac loves doing projects.  He gets so focused and involved in the process.

He loved using the glue bottle and deciding for himself how much glue to use.

For this project, he was baking rocks.  He carefully divided up the rocks and put them into his "oven."

Later in the day, he came back and decided that the rocks needed some water.  He took an empty seltzer can into the half bath, filled it up with water, and watered his rocks.  He said they were looking sad, and they were very thirsty and needed some water.

The rock project went on for days, and it was fun to watch him come back to it and take care of his rocks.


Thursday, July 19, 2012

Treasures and Engineering

Noah has may treasures in his life.  He is always devising a different way to keep his treasures nearby.  On this day, he had index cards on a circle clip through his belt loop, and a basket full of treasures through another belt loop.  He tried running with all his treasures, but he wasn't very aerodynamic, so he made us vow to keep them safe and protected while he ran.


On a different day, he wanted to have his notebook and pen close by while he rode his bike in case he wanted to stop and take notes.

So, he used twine and made a notebook holder.

The twine was good, but it needed improvement.  So, he used a rubber band.

The rubber band was the perfect solution.  It created the right amount of friction on the notebook and held it in place perfectly!

Our little engineer. 

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Spinning

One of Isaac's favorite things is to ride Noah's bike.  And when I say ride, what I really mean is RIDE.  There's nothing quite like a fearless 2-year-old riding a bike.  It's quite the sight.  He goes as fast as he can and steers out of danger at the last minute.  We've tried to teach him how to break, but he prefers to crash into things while screaming with laughter.

When either of the boys rides the bike, they sometimes get stuck in a low spot, where the back tire spins continuously.  They both love it when this happens, and they say "exercise! Exercise!" because they like to watch the spinning classes at the YMCA.  It's entertaining to them that adults like to ride exercise bikes that don't go anywhere.

In the picture above, Isaac was stuck in a puddle, but he kept spinning his wheel and yelling "exercise!"  He pedaled so hard and for so long, that he spun all the water out of the puddle and got completely wet from the spray.

He couldn't have been any happier!


Sunday, July 15, 2012

Too big?


Our Runner


Noah has grown into a runner!  He takes great joy in running and he's super fast!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

We Love New York!


Thursday, July 5, 2012

Twisted Up

This is how we found the boys sleeping at Baubie's house.  

Their legs were twisted together.

Brotherly love at it's best.



Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Visiting Baubie

The boys had great fun packing for our trip to Baubie's house.  It's a 4-hour drive, so the boys have great fun packing up all sorts of activities to do in the car.  They usually bring etch-a-sketches, cars, trucks, coloring books, construction vehicle toys, stuffed animals. and whatever else gets thrown into the back seat.   
Noah was completely worn out from all the excitement of the trip, so he fell asleep before we even pulled out of the driveway.  Here he is with his pizza dinner and crayons on his lap.

Isaac had already had a nap, so he was wide awake and ready to go.  He had my chapstick in his hand, and he had great fun smearing it all over his chin and cheeks.

At Baubie's house, the boys love sleeping in sleeping bags next to each other on the floor.  This picture is from Isaac's nap time, when Noah decided that he would do "hallway duty" and keep Isaac company during his nap.  Needless to say, Isaac didn't nap, but they had fun together and Noah was such a loving brother to take care of Isaac.

One of the boy's favorite parts of Baubie's house is her dance studio, which the boys call the "running room."  They love the full-length mirrors and the space to run.  This trip, they had a blast playing catch with a ball and just going crazy trying to run after the ball.




They were soaking wet with sweat and happily worn out after playing in the "running room."  That's a wonderful thing!