Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Boo
Well, we are upgrading the size of our laptop hard drive at the most inopportune time, ev-er! Our poor little (only a year old) laptop is already out of space because we take so many darn pictures. If you had the cutest subject matter in the world, you would be out of space too! We have some great pictures from the boys birthday on Sunday and Mother's Day. But our laptop is stuffed and Aaron is in the process of copying all the files over, and I'm not allowed to touch it. Boo. In the mean time, I have internet via his work computer, but no pictures. Boo again. So, stay tuned. New pictures and post coming soon.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mason and Owen are Two
They've come a long way in two short years...
Congratulations guys on the milestone. We love you more than you'll ever know.
Congratulations guys on the milestone. We love you more than you'll ever know.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Funny Little Videos!
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(0:53)
I just LOVE this video of Mason. He is singing his favorite song. I knew he knew the words but I've never seen him sing it for so long at once as well as do the motions. There's even a musical break and he knows exactly when to chime back in. So priceless!
(2:01)
Here are the cute little pirate wheels that Raetta and Bill gave them. We have since mounted them to their swing set, and later will move them to the wooden fort that Santa will hopefully bring!
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If you haven't already gathered, the Backyardigans is their favorite show. Here they are taking Uniqua and Pablo shopping in their new grocery carts from Numna. Since this video, they've learned how to RUN while pushing these carts, narrowly missing walls and furniture. So much for that!
(0:23)
Here's Owen telling us the toppings of his pizza. I had to remind him of some of them but his little voice is so stinkin' cute when he says 'pepperoni.' Also, watch his little mouth the first time he says 'mushroom' and his eyebrows the second time he says it. He is so precious!
(1:25)
Rollerskates from Uncle Kyle and Aunt Manda! Oh boy! They were asking to put these on by name...I had no idea they the right name. The poor kids do great except when they fall. They can't manage to get their feet back under them. I wonder why? The vid gets super cute when we're signing off and telling Kyle and Manda bye bye. So sweet!
(2:43)
Monday, May 4, 2009
Owen and Mason's 2nd Birthday - - A Pirate Party
On Saturday we threw a great 2nd birthday party for our little pirates. Here's what we did...
I made this door hanger to welcome our guests. It let them know to come on inside since we were all out back and couldn't hear the doorbell. Inspired from polkadots & pirates.
I replaced our garden flag with a Jolly Roger, of course!
And the back yard decorations:
A fun pirate pennant banner for the ropes that hold the patio awning in place.
We did sack lunches for everyone. The kids had a choice of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or jelly only and goldfish crackers. The adults had ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, and a pickle spear. The sandwiches were so delicious. We ordered Sheila Partin's Sweet Sourdough bread. Yum! Each bag was sealed with a cute little sticker that we designed and had printed at zazzle.com. My hubby made the signs for the sandwiches so everyone knew what they were getting.
The awesome cake made by HEB Central Market.
I feel it is important that Owen and Mason know that they are their own person. I will always order them their own little cake so they can feel special blowing out their candles. We also sing them each Happy Birthday separately. The look on their face when they hear just their own name is priceless. They share every other day of the year so why not!
Here is the table set up this year. Last year the kids were to come in swimsuits so the majority of the party was outdoors. It was pretty hot for the rest of us so this year we decided to have a bit more indoor activity. We did not have an 'official' time to sit and eat, in fact, there wasn't even enough table space for every single person. It worked out perfectly though, since some chose to eat earlier (or later) than the majority of the crowd. Tableware was ordered from The Celebration Shoppe. The pirate ship centerpiece is made by Step 2 and was a gift for Owen and Mason from Aunt Lindsay.
The kids even had their own special table.
Here is the banner I made for our fun pirate party. I think it turned out great and I'm leaving it right where it is until Owen and Mason's actual birthday on May 10. Also inspired by polkadots & pirates.
For entertainment, we had a table set up immediately outside our back door. Each little guest was to stop here and transform into a pirate.
Red gable boxes with our personalized stickers from Zazzle included a spyglass and a treasure hunt checklist.
Here are the steps to becoming a pirate. My hubby made the sign.
Our little pirates had their choice of sash and eye patch.
Of course, every pirate needs a hook for a hand. I guess we didn't get a close up of the little pirate hats.
What would a pirate party be if there were no plank to walk? My wonderful husband found some large buckets, drilled holes in the bottom, tied the plank on with a very pirate-y rope, and painted the words.
Here is the activity that went with the treasure hunt checklist found in the red boxes. A kiddie pool draped with burlap and filled with sand and treasure! What a hit!
The treasure that needed hunting was everything from pirate coins, loose jewels, giant gem rings, shiny necklaces, a bouncy pirate ball, and even a crocodile...tick tock, tick tock.
We also had this bean bag toss. I have to admit, it sure was hard to get those bean bags into the holes! There were a couple of activities that didn't get their portrait taken. We had a table set up with pirate tattoos, stick-on jewels, mirrors, and black face paint to paint your own pirate mustache or beard. The tattoos and jewels were a hit but the face painting was not. Oh well. We also had a table set up to design your own treasure map. A large piece of paper that looked old and a sticker sheet with everything needed to make it look map-like. These cool little things were ordered from Oriental Trading.
Since our crowd of kids were too young to follow and actual map and find a treasure, we hung our treasure from our patio awning. Inside was filled with lots of kid-friendly goodies...goldfish, smarties, raisins, fruit chews, and of course, ring pops! What's a pirate without a giant ring pop?
Here are a couple of views of our backyard. Nothing too crazy, but it sure worked out great!
Here's a video of Owen and Mason walking the plank:
Happy Birthday to Owen:
Happy Birthday to Mason:
Owen, Mason, Brynn, and Amelia try out the new bouncy house:
And finally, visit this album for pictures of the party in action!
I made this door hanger to welcome our guests. It let them know to come on inside since we were all out back and couldn't hear the doorbell. Inspired from polkadots & pirates.
I replaced our garden flag with a Jolly Roger, of course!
And the back yard decorations:
A fun pirate pennant banner for the ropes that hold the patio awning in place.
We did sack lunches for everyone. The kids had a choice of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or jelly only and goldfish crackers. The adults had ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, and a pickle spear. The sandwiches were so delicious. We ordered Sheila Partin's Sweet Sourdough bread. Yum! Each bag was sealed with a cute little sticker that we designed and had printed at zazzle.com. My hubby made the signs for the sandwiches so everyone knew what they were getting.
The awesome cake made by HEB Central Market.
I feel it is important that Owen and Mason know that they are their own person. I will always order them their own little cake so they can feel special blowing out their candles. We also sing them each Happy Birthday separately. The look on their face when they hear just their own name is priceless. They share every other day of the year so why not!
Here is the table set up this year. Last year the kids were to come in swimsuits so the majority of the party was outdoors. It was pretty hot for the rest of us so this year we decided to have a bit more indoor activity. We did not have an 'official' time to sit and eat, in fact, there wasn't even enough table space for every single person. It worked out perfectly though, since some chose to eat earlier (or later) than the majority of the crowd. Tableware was ordered from The Celebration Shoppe. The pirate ship centerpiece is made by Step 2 and was a gift for Owen and Mason from Aunt Lindsay.
The kids even had their own special table.
Here is the banner I made for our fun pirate party. I think it turned out great and I'm leaving it right where it is until Owen and Mason's actual birthday on May 10. Also inspired by polkadots & pirates.
For entertainment, we had a table set up immediately outside our back door. Each little guest was to stop here and transform into a pirate.
Red gable boxes with our personalized stickers from Zazzle included a spyglass and a treasure hunt checklist.
Here are the steps to becoming a pirate. My hubby made the sign.
Our little pirates had their choice of sash and eye patch.
Of course, every pirate needs a hook for a hand. I guess we didn't get a close up of the little pirate hats.
What would a pirate party be if there were no plank to walk? My wonderful husband found some large buckets, drilled holes in the bottom, tied the plank on with a very pirate-y rope, and painted the words.
Here is the activity that went with the treasure hunt checklist found in the red boxes. A kiddie pool draped with burlap and filled with sand and treasure! What a hit!
The treasure that needed hunting was everything from pirate coins, loose jewels, giant gem rings, shiny necklaces, a bouncy pirate ball, and even a crocodile...tick tock, tick tock.
We also had this bean bag toss. I have to admit, it sure was hard to get those bean bags into the holes! There were a couple of activities that didn't get their portrait taken. We had a table set up with pirate tattoos, stick-on jewels, mirrors, and black face paint to paint your own pirate mustache or beard. The tattoos and jewels were a hit but the face painting was not. Oh well. We also had a table set up to design your own treasure map. A large piece of paper that looked old and a sticker sheet with everything needed to make it look map-like. These cool little things were ordered from Oriental Trading.
Since our crowd of kids were too young to follow and actual map and find a treasure, we hung our treasure from our patio awning. Inside was filled with lots of kid-friendly goodies...goldfish, smarties, raisins, fruit chews, and of course, ring pops! What's a pirate without a giant ring pop?
Here are a couple of views of our backyard. Nothing too crazy, but it sure worked out great!
Here's a video of Owen and Mason walking the plank:
Happy Birthday to Owen:
Happy Birthday to Mason:
Owen, Mason, Brynn, and Amelia try out the new bouncy house:
And finally, visit this album for pictures of the party in action!
 |
| Party Time |
Monday, April 27, 2009
New (and old) Tricks!
Wow! I've been meaning to write a post about all the cool things Owen and Mason can do but it seems like I always find something else to do instead. We're coming up on 2 years old in just two short weeks...I can't believe it! Here are the accomplishments over the last couple of months...
Owen and Mason can:
-recognize all letters of the alphabet except G, V, Y and Z. They still love to turn the J upside down and shout CANDY CANE! I used to teach 4 year olds and the goal was for them to exit PreK knowing 10 letters. Most did, of course, but there were still some who were clueless. So for my kids to turn up knowing 22 of them before 2 is amazing to me!
-tell you all the colors and even sort objects by color.
-count to ten...one, two, free, four, fi, sis, seben, aaa, nine, TEN!
-sing the ABC song...they love to accentuate the "next time won't you sing with MEEEEE! YAY!"..and then they clap for themselves.
-speak in 3 to 4 word sentences. some favorites are "I'll do it." "Mommy hold it." "(Someone's name), where are you?" "I hear 'em" (referring to the dog barking or Granna whistling while playing hide-and-seek). "Take a baff." "Get up" when they want you to get up and go somewhere with them. "Hold you" when they want to be picked up. "Shut the door"...Mason's little voice as he says it is so cute. It comes out as "Shucka door." "Open it" has been shortened to 'Ope nit.' They'll even attempt the hard words with pretty good accuracy...'umbella' 'ocotus' and band-aid has been reversed to 'am baid.' They both understand the meaning of yes and no, big and little. Owen loves the little version of his big blankie. He calls it little but pronounces it 'iggle' and it is so darn cute. The other day Daddy was doing yard work and the kids came outside as he was finishing up. Owen saw the pruning clippers, squatted down, picked them up, and said "wow! woooow!!" I guess he knows the meaning of that too. He sure was impressed!
They are getting better at sharing and taking turns. Poor kids are forced to share everything being twins. They are very possessive of THEIR milk cup though. Owen's is blue and Mason's is green...and don't you forget it! But most other times I hear them letting the other one know when it's his turn for something. Owen will tell Mason "Owen's turn" and vice versa. They are so sweet towards each other too. If one is crying the other will bring him his blankie and/or pacifier. Ugh! Speaking of pacifiers...we're about to ditch 'em but just can't bite the bullet and do it!
The amazing thing to me is their vocabulary. Apparently, by two years old kids are expected to have something like a 50 word vocabulary. I know they have at least 200 words by now and they pick up a new word for something by just hearing it once. The other day I realized they knew the word starfish and even knew which object was the star and which was the starfish when we were playing our color sorting game.
Right now they are crazy about pirates, soccer, and surfing. They love to walk around singing..."A pirate, a pirate, a pirate says AARGH!" and "treasure, treasure, where's the treasure" while pretending to dig up the carpet with a shovel. They also love throwing or kicking a soccer ball and yelling "SOCCER!" Another favorite thing they do is pretend to surf while standing on a lid to those plastic bins. They say "surf's up, hooooo daddy" and then they fall down and say "wipeout!" The get all these ideas from a few different Backyardigans episodes. I know people say TV is bad for kids but so far, in our case, it has really helped their imagination when they are just in their room playing.
Bath time is also crazy around here. Naked babies egging each other on is so funny. In the tub they love to pretend to go night-night. They lay back in the water and make the snoring noises. Lately Mason has discovered that it is fun to flip over onto his tummy with his face still in the water and then pop up really quickly. He used to be freaked out by this. I am hopeful that this is a good sign for a fun summer of swimming and less clinging while in the water. After bath they turn things up a notch by wanting to flop around in their diaper on our bed. (We lay them on our bed right after bath to dry off and put on PJs)...so much so that we are getting them an inflatable bouncer for their birthday. The darn bed is just too scary for mom and dad to let them flop around on. Someone's gonna break a neck!
Granna taught them how to play hide and seek. She hides and they seek. One of the times she hid on the other side of our bed. The kids were having trouble finding her so I coaxed them into my room. They followed my into the bathroom and looked in the closet. Mason said, "noooo" when he didn't see her. Then they were both standing there in thought wondering where she could be. Owen was looking straight at her but I guess didn't realize it at first. His serious face turned into a giant grin as he spotted her and then he yelled "YA!" It was so darn cute! He ran over and gave her a big hug, pulled her hand to get her up, and demanded "again, again!"
We're gearing up for potty training, swimming lessons, toddler gym, and Mother's Day Out (in the fall).
These kids are just amazing and I have no idea what I did with myself before May 10, 2007. If you ever spend just 5 minutes with them you will see what we mean. They are true blessings and we just love these little boys!
Owen and Mason can:
-recognize all letters of the alphabet except G, V, Y and Z. They still love to turn the J upside down and shout CANDY CANE! I used to teach 4 year olds and the goal was for them to exit PreK knowing 10 letters. Most did, of course, but there were still some who were clueless. So for my kids to turn up knowing 22 of them before 2 is amazing to me!
-tell you all the colors and even sort objects by color.
-count to ten...one, two, free, four, fi, sis, seben, aaa, nine, TEN!
-sing the ABC song...they love to accentuate the "next time won't you sing with MEEEEE! YAY!"..and then they clap for themselves.
-speak in 3 to 4 word sentences. some favorites are "I'll do it." "Mommy hold it." "(Someone's name), where are you?" "I hear 'em" (referring to the dog barking or Granna whistling while playing hide-and-seek). "Take a baff." "Get up" when they want you to get up and go somewhere with them. "Hold you" when they want to be picked up. "Shut the door"...Mason's little voice as he says it is so cute. It comes out as "Shucka door." "Open it" has been shortened to 'Ope nit.' They'll even attempt the hard words with pretty good accuracy...'umbella' 'ocotus' and band-aid has been reversed to 'am baid.' They both understand the meaning of yes and no, big and little. Owen loves the little version of his big blankie. He calls it little but pronounces it 'iggle' and it is so darn cute. The other day Daddy was doing yard work and the kids came outside as he was finishing up. Owen saw the pruning clippers, squatted down, picked them up, and said "wow! woooow!!" I guess he knows the meaning of that too. He sure was impressed!
They are getting better at sharing and taking turns. Poor kids are forced to share everything being twins. They are very possessive of THEIR milk cup though. Owen's is blue and Mason's is green...and don't you forget it! But most other times I hear them letting the other one know when it's his turn for something. Owen will tell Mason "Owen's turn" and vice versa. They are so sweet towards each other too. If one is crying the other will bring him his blankie and/or pacifier. Ugh! Speaking of pacifiers...we're about to ditch 'em but just can't bite the bullet and do it!
The amazing thing to me is their vocabulary. Apparently, by two years old kids are expected to have something like a 50 word vocabulary. I know they have at least 200 words by now and they pick up a new word for something by just hearing it once. The other day I realized they knew the word starfish and even knew which object was the star and which was the starfish when we were playing our color sorting game.
Right now they are crazy about pirates, soccer, and surfing. They love to walk around singing..."A pirate, a pirate, a pirate says AARGH!" and "treasure, treasure, where's the treasure" while pretending to dig up the carpet with a shovel. They also love throwing or kicking a soccer ball and yelling "SOCCER!" Another favorite thing they do is pretend to surf while standing on a lid to those plastic bins. They say "surf's up, hooooo daddy" and then they fall down and say "wipeout!" The get all these ideas from a few different Backyardigans episodes. I know people say TV is bad for kids but so far, in our case, it has really helped their imagination when they are just in their room playing.
Bath time is also crazy around here. Naked babies egging each other on is so funny. In the tub they love to pretend to go night-night. They lay back in the water and make the snoring noises. Lately Mason has discovered that it is fun to flip over onto his tummy with his face still in the water and then pop up really quickly. He used to be freaked out by this. I am hopeful that this is a good sign for a fun summer of swimming and less clinging while in the water. After bath they turn things up a notch by wanting to flop around in their diaper on our bed. (We lay them on our bed right after bath to dry off and put on PJs)...so much so that we are getting them an inflatable bouncer for their birthday. The darn bed is just too scary for mom and dad to let them flop around on. Someone's gonna break a neck!
Granna taught them how to play hide and seek. She hides and they seek. One of the times she hid on the other side of our bed. The kids were having trouble finding her so I coaxed them into my room. They followed my into the bathroom and looked in the closet. Mason said, "noooo" when he didn't see her. Then they were both standing there in thought wondering where she could be. Owen was looking straight at her but I guess didn't realize it at first. His serious face turned into a giant grin as he spotted her and then he yelled "YA!" It was so darn cute! He ran over and gave her a big hug, pulled her hand to get her up, and demanded "again, again!"
We're gearing up for potty training, swimming lessons, toddler gym, and Mother's Day Out (in the fall).
These kids are just amazing and I have no idea what I did with myself before May 10, 2007. If you ever spend just 5 minutes with them you will see what we mean. They are true blessings and we just love these little boys!
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