mini vaca!!!!!

We are having our own little mini vacation right here in the area. :) Yesterday we hit the zoo, pool, and the festival on the levee. D's brother and his family came to mini-vaca with us. :) Here are the pics. :)


ahhh, mud puddles!!! Can't beat it.

D, S, and boys. . .

New Giragge exhibit

Cousin R.

me and the kids!! :)


J and L. I love J's hat and glasses. Stylish girl. :)

pbrrrrrrrr (that an elephant sound. . :)

J and elephant. I love that lots of the exhibits don't have total cages or glass. :)

D, H, and kids

J, L, and cousins R and A.

run cheetah, run.

a squirrel in the garbage. :)

L on an elephant statue

J and elephant

J and L on elephant

monkey. . .

orangatang. . . . :)

Polar bear sitting for a perfect picture!

polar bear swimming

and swimming


I wish everyone would leave me alone to sleep.

More monkey business

birdi birdi.

birdi

my handsome hubby.



skyline on the river.

D and S.

another skyline shot.

J and L on alegator

look at the turtle


J ready for a day.

L ready for the day.

yippeee


D, S, A, and R.

Super pretty flowers at the zoo.


We had a FABULOUS first day of our mini vacation. My favorite thing at the zoo was the bird show. Unfortunately I was walking around putting Z-man to sleep, so no pictures. :) the polar bear was pretty cool too. I loved it. After the kids were asleep we got a babysitter and D,S,D, and I went to the levee to a festival. It was fun to walk around and enjoy food and fun. :)

Happy Birthday to L-man

well, today is L's official 3rd day birthday. . and it was right about now that he was being born. :)
He is such a hoot. He comes out with the greatest things sometimes. Yesterday he told me he didn't need 5 socks because he only has 2 feet. . . It's amazing what little kids think about. L buckles himself in his booster, gets dressed by himself ( sometimes in VERY interesting combinations), enjoys laughing and mostly teasing J. he likes to watch her squirm and scream because of what he's doing. Licking is a new favorite tease. L LOVES playing the computer and has just started doing some phonics games and will hopefully start showing interest in letters. L LOVES to ride his bike and jump on the tramp with "my friends." (the neighbors). L loves being with other people. He is the big kid in Nursery since he's the only one that will really talk back and carry on a conversation with the leaders, etc. He wants to do EVERYTHING that J is doing. My favorite time with him is in the morning. He's always the first one awake and usually comes and climbs into bed on my side. We chit chat about everything while I try to rub the sleep out of my eyes. :) Then he tells me his tummy is crying for food and would like some cereal. :)
He is watching "cars" right now and quoting it. He has an impecible memory. (not that he hasn't watched it a bazillion times.)

Well, we had his party last Saturday and had a blast with cousins. He kept singing "happy birthday to me." and "We'll sing a song that you all knooowwwww, happy birthday to me." All with his happy birthday crown on that we made. :) he was super cute. Well, here are a few pics of his party.

we love you, L

Busy. . kind of.

O.K., sorry about the break in blogs. I have to admit that I only get about an hour of computer time while the boys are asleep and I've been using that time to watch The office. . seasons 1,2 and part of 3. I'm hooked. It will be a good thing when I get through them all so I can get back to life. ..haha. It's o.k. though because it's been sooo hot lately, and I've had a bit of a cold, so we've just been chilin' lately.

So this is ode to my husband. . . isn't he handsome. :) D had to have a portrait done for a convention he is presenting at. Thought you'd enjoy that picture as well as a blast from the past. :)

D's engineering mind at work. . winning an award for the yearly derby car race.


Soccer, soccer, soccer.

We like his hair at this stage of life!! :)


HANDSOME MAN!!

everyone needs a break.

Today we had a "chill" day. We haven't really done anything of great importance except run to the post office to make sure a document was post marked by today.. . . other than that, we've chilled. .. . well, chill days are good. . . but sometimes we get on each other's nerves when we are around each other not really doing anything. So everyone was sent to do their own thing.. . and here's what they did. .


L likes to read books on the couch. . . upsidedown


J, likes to play the piano. She got piano books for her b-day and enjoys going through them.


Z-chillin' with toys in all directions to look at. He is rolling to his side these days.

And the cute smile!!!

bowling

This was from when we went bowling. I forgot I had it. Notice how LONG it takes for the ball to reach the pins. . . . L loses interest before it's even down there. ha ha. oh well. we had fun. :)

so much, so much

So this is one of those boring posts full of typing. . . words. . . and other things. So feel free to skip this while I write a few things that I want to remember in years to come.

Today, J and I snuggled on the couch together while the boys took their naps. We talked about all the fun things coming up that we get to do--Kindergarten, Logan's b-day, Kindergarten, soccer, KINDERGARTEN, Did I mention Kindergarten??? She is sooo super excited. Loved the time I had with her today. She really is growing up. She is such a good girl. She is fun to talk to. We connect on a "girl" level and it's soo fun to have her.

L is my busy wild man. . . LOVE IT. He is the one that keeps us laughing all day. It's so fun to have children that are so different from each other and so good in so many ways. We have been working on following directions, obeying, etc. . . . just as many other mom's out their with 2 and 3 year olds. :) I have found a few things that work and have really helped with obeying and behavior. First, if he is getting into trouble, look around and there probably isn't anything better for him to do. If I provide something good for him to do, he is better behaved. Second, If I prep him when we go places on what will happen there, what people will be doing and acting like, and what he is expected to act like, I get much better behavior and we all enjoy what is going on much better. Third, the power of do-overs. When I was in Young Women's in our church, we would play volleyball and of course NONE of us were all tha great. . . we had many do-over chances on our serves. well, when L doesn't quite get the directions, obeying, etc, we say, "oh, let's try that one more time and "do-over" the process until he gets it right. For example:

Me: L, when you get inside, take your shoes off and find their home.
L: Run into the house, past the shoe closet, and into do whatever. . .
Me: Oh, let's try that again and see if we can follow all the directions and obey
L and Me: go back outside
Me: L, when you get inside, take your shoes off and find their home.
L: Goes inside, find his shoes a home in the closet, and sais, "I did it, mommy!"
Me: AWESOME, L. I knew you could follow the directions.

this helps eliminate a negative comment from me. . and helps him succeed at something with posative praise afterwards.

However, Now I realize why I can't tell D what filled up my day when he comes home. it's because I've repeated EVERYTHING about 3 times. HA!

fourth: provide opportunities for him to DO the things he likes. If he likes to jump on the couches, take him to a gymnastics free-play time and let him jump. . let him get all those jumps out.. then talk to him about where and when jumps are appropriate. If he likes to climb and scale the cupboards, Go to a playground where there are lots of things to climb up and on, etc. If he likes to use the back of the couches as balance beams, put some wood out in the grass and let him go at it.. . etc, etc, etc.

So those are things that have really helped and i'm writing them down so I can remember them for the next child. . Z-MAN. . . Although he will probably be totally different and need totally different techniques. :) I have seen L improve so much. Not that he was ever bad. I don't want to give that impression at all. He is the most loving and AWESOME little guy I love him sooo much. . . . I think any 2/3 year old works on these things, I remember working on them with J too. I'm sure I'll work on them with Z also. it's an age and stage thing.

We went swimming today as a family. . so fun. J swims all by herself without any floaties, L swam all alone with his floatie. He's pretty stoked about that. Lots of "I did it, mommy" from both J and L. Everytime L would make his way to me, I would pull him in and say, "I love you, L." He would always say, "I love you too." Awe, the sweet words. L has always been so loving, though. He always tells me that. i wish I could capture all these sweet moments on tape. . . . I try to get lots of things on camera, etc, but it's the moments in the day that get a laugh, a smile, or an I love you that I usually miss on video.

Z-man is soo sweet right now. . .as always. He is such a peaceful little guy. You can't help but feel calm when holding him. He LOVES to smile and laugh. He will take anyone looking at him or smiling at him. yesterday, D was using Z's foot to "pretend" kick me and Z laughed SOOO hard. he has such a rolly polly chuckle--soo cute. :D

Well, that's about it. Just some thoughts i wanted to put down. :)