Spring Excitement!

This week was filled with so many projects. I love completing my to do list.


Colin and I are starting to do science projects together. This past week we focused on water. He got to boil water and see it turn to steam (gas) and we froze some to see it go from liquid to a solid. Colin was very interested in the transformations. We also colored a piece of paper with crayons and then covered it with watercolors to see how it worked. Another project was to mix things with water. We did food coloring, oil and salt. Colin liked that one a lot. We still have one that is in the process right now. We have two glasses of water on the windowsill. One has plastic covering it and the other is open. We have been watching how much water is disappearing from the glasses each day.

I also painted the first artwork for Meli's room. Since I call her "my little sunshine" I did part of the song. I think it turned out very cute. I plan to do another one with yellow as the main color, with a birdcage and a bird flying out.

Grammie came up this weekend to help out with a few things and babysit. Will and my mom made the table (from scratch) for Colin's Lionel train set. Will and Colin plan to make a cool scene for the train. While they were doing that, the kids worked in their garden. I was able to weed quite a bit and planted some flowers.

Colin & Meli's Garden

It was fun having the kids' help, but it sure makes things take twice as long.

 

Helping in my garden

My primrose flower with Korby, the garden gnome. Colin named him.

I did even more weeding this morning. I am becoming obsessed! Colin got signed up for T-ball. I am very excited to see him try a new sport. I am hoping to sign Meli up for dance here soon. Plus, they both really need to take swimming lessons.  Colin did a week of lessons through his school in January. It was recommended that he get some more lessons. Haha, Will and I had a laugh at the note. Mostly he needs them because he is very timid in water. He also had trouble believing the instructor that they were not in the deep end and that there were no sharks in the pool. We were also able to take the kids to feed the ducks this morning. Such a fun weekend!

The Kids' Garden

I am so excited the weather is getting nicer, so I can have time to do yard work.  Our backyard came landscaped but I want to add my own flowers and change a few things. I have found gardening to be very therapeutic. I actually have enjoyed my time weeding the past two weeks. The sides of our yard got crazy with the weeds.  

Meli was my little helper today. One of our trees that were planted before we moved in died. I pulled it out today and it created a good size corner. We decided to make it the kids' little garden. We bought the kids a little yard decoration and some flowers to start it out.

One side of the yard is going to be the kids play area and then the other side will be my vegetable garden. I am so excited for that! I will hopefully be able to start canning this year.

Once the kids get more of their garden done, I will post pictures.

Celebrating Love

 

We had a good Valentine's Day this year. This is the first one Will and I have every celebrated as a couple (in 8 years!). We even got each other cards. Weird...but sweet. The kids are the reason that I have softened on the commercial holiday. They love it and I can put up with almost anything if it makes them happy...Even pink, red and hearts. Such a horrible combination.

The kids started off the day with a Valentines sprinkled doughnut (to split) for breakfast. Then we finished up Colin's Valentines for his class. The kids each got a goodie bag with some candy and little toys. It is amazing how they never get tired of hot wheels! We danced the morning away until Colin had to go to school. He had so much fun with his class.

 

Grammie came up for the day. She brought some fun gifts. Meli got a fairy princess outfit and loved it! She also got a princess chest to put all of her dress up clothes in. I was so surprised she put everything on. She was a natural with the heels. She was walking around posing for pictures say, "pretty princess".

 

Will and I headed to an early dinner, so we could hopefully miss the crowds. It amazes me how many people go out for this holiday. I FINALLY took Will to Outback Steakhouse. He has not been since we have been together.  I was a vegetarian when we first met and when I was not...I just am not a big steak person. I could do it like once a year, which worked out to be with a co-worker who loved the restaurant. I mean really loved the restaurant. So, I have been a few times in the last 4 years. In Great Lakes, El Paso, and a few other places. Actually the last time I went there was last Valentine's Day with my former co-worker. Poor Will..haha.

 

It was a great dinner. Very nice to be out and about without the kids. We even went to B&N, and a few other stores to just look around. I was in high heels, which I have not worn in a while..Ouchie!

For dessert we had prosecco (one of my favorites) and strawberries dipped in chocolate. Delicious!

Such a good day. Filled with love.

The Year of Health & Fitness: Week 6

 

Not the best picture at all, but thought I needed some progress captures. I made some changes this week, that have made a tremendous difference. Every other day, I am doing kickboxing and the shredding workout. It is intense but I think it will be a great. The other days I am just doing kickboxing, which by itself is a great workout. I have lost 3% body fat. I am so excited about that. I am excited to see how this new routine will change everything this next week.

 

I have been extra good, so that Will and I could go to dinner tonight. This will be our first time celebrating Valentine's Day. Not that we are going out for that reason, it just happened to be a Grammie babysitting day. I will take it though! I want to eat some sourdough bread!

 

Until next week...

A Day Without Electricity

Getting ready for pizza! Since we ate cold food all day.

 

Our power went out very early Saturday morning. Probably around 2 AM or so. I know this because Meli is still waking up every few hours. She woke up at 1 AM power was still on. She woke up at 2:30 AM and power was not on. Her sleeping was worse that night because her white noise maker was not working. Will and I use a fan for noise and so none of us slept very well.

 

Even though it was very cold outside (and therefore cold inside with no heat) and I was worried about our food staying good...we actually had a very fun day with the kids. Usually on the weekend, we let them start with a bit of a lazy morning and either watch some TV or play the Wii U/XBOX. Meli did not understand where Minnie Mouse went and Colin kept hitting the XBOX button (in denial that it would not turn on) over and over. Colin loves video games, so he is very excited for his game time.

 

Below is a glimpse at what outside looked like.

Will and I were so sad about losing our ability to make coffee. We need COFFEE!!!  So, Will ventured out to get us our fix. There were several trees that had fallen down. I think that is what caused the power outage.  There was also ice everywhere!

 

The first thing we focused on...getting warm. Colin was such a sweet big brother. He made sure Meli was all snug and warm. We all bundled up with layers and socks. The kids hate to wear socks in the house. I felt like I was constantly chasing down someone with bare feet.

 

 

Will made several forts for the kids...

Fort 1: downstairs with dining room chairs

Fort 2: Meli's room. They thought it was so cool we moved the furniture

Fort 3: Colin's room.

We did some Valentine's art projects. I have mentioned a few times how much I do not like hearts...but I do it for the kids. I have never made so many hearts in my life. Colin got Spiderman hearts, to make them "more for boys".

I painted Meli's nails. She told me what color for each nail. One foot was all blue with one yellow nail. She is too cute!

We read a lot of stories with these cool head lights.

We also played Simon Says. It was hilarious to watch. Meli was so funny trying to follow directions. They actually got mommy on one game. I totally lost that one. The kids thought it was so funny. Colin made up a story to tell us around a candle. It was like we were camping. His story was cute. The main character was Fireman B. He also lost his other front tooth. He kept saying words with "s". Colin thought it was weird he could not really say those words.

 

After the kids went to bed, Will and I played UNO. I won!! Will played a good game though. It was fun playing on the floor surrounded by candles. In the middle of our game the power came back on, but we just left the lights off.

 

Meli is going through a phase of trying to turn on all of the lights. It was funny to see which lights came on when the power was back. Of course, her bedroom light came on. Thankfully she was so tired it did not wake her up.

 

I took a lot of pictures with my SLR, I will try to post those soon.

The Year of Health & Fitness: Week 5

This week was fairly good. I know one thing I really need for my body and spirit is more sleep. The kids are going through a phase of waking up sporadically during the night. Taking turns to wake me up. I have always had trouble falling asleep and so the past few weeks have been very draining.

Will and I have been very strict at taking our vitamins. I can really tell a difference when I miss my ginseng, vitamin B and D. We also take C, fish oil, and calcium. There are a few more I want to add soon. I hate taking pills though, so I am being hesitant with adding any additional ones. The kids laugh at me when I am trying to take them. I think it all stems from the iron pills I had to take as a kid for anemia. They were big ol' horse pills and had this red coating that was horrendous to taste. Its al in my head...I know.

We are now more in sync with our diets. I am following Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism, while Will is looking at Men's' Health Ab book (forgot the name). The diets are very similar. It helps you figure out how much protein, carb, (etc.) you need for your needs, height and weight. So, he is having more carbs now, but just not at night. Neither of us. That one is hard. I love pasta and rice. At least I can have those for lunch (small portions) now or when we have a date night.

Colin was so funny the other night. He asked Will to flex for him and then said, "Dad, whoa! You look like a real muscle man!!" He asked if he could feel his biceps, then said "they feel like hard...biscuits". Will's face just dropped. It was hilarious. I think Colin referenced biscuits because Will has been calling Colin "little biscuits" lately. Since Colin loves to hang out in just his underwear. We tease him about showing his little tooshie or "biscuits".

This was my last week of Shredding...now moving on to Kickboxing. I am excited for a change, but I really do like the 30 Day Shred workouts.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Slow Down, Timekeeper!

 

It always seems as if the kids are growing up way too fast, but lately it seems to be on turbo speed...SLOW DOWN Timekeeper - please! My babies need to stay babies a little longer.

Colin is in school now, has lost 3 (working on 4) teeth, experiencing little crushes, making school friends, reading, writing, learning to have an attitude, and just growing up. What happened to my little goober? Miss Meli is getting pretty good at forming sentences, learning like she is a sponge, starting to move away from parallel playing (she stayed at that phase longer than Colin), and just becoming a big girl.

There are aspects of the kids getting older that I like. For example, being more self-reliant. I feel like all day I am hearing my name being called for something they need to have done.  Of course, I try to make them either do it themselves (if possible) or practice patience. I want to avoid that dependency that can come with kids (sometimes) that have stay-at-home moms (even if only temporary). At the same time the kids getting more self-reliant scares me...they will not need me as much!

Besides a few irritating or tiresome behavior issues, this age is so much fun. It is so cute to watch the kids play together. The 3 1/2 age difference seems to be a good space. Perfect...so far at least.

My stylish little girl

We had some family over for the Super Bowl yesterday. Both kids chose to support the Broncos. (Meli had a choice between green and orange). So we all got decked out in orange and blue...except Will. He was the solo Seahawks supporter. Until my brother showed up. Who happened to be wearing an orange OSU shirt (did not really think that through)!  Since the Ravens or Redskins were not playing, I would not normally have too much care who won (even thought it is more enjoyable to choose a side)...but I very much dislike the Seahawks. Although, I do like Russell Wilson. Such a cutie! So kudos to him...and the rest of the team. They did play very well.  Broncos...very disappointing. I do like Manning and love watching him play. Such a sad game. It was still a good time. We had great food, drinks, and played a fun game. We had 26 questions we each answered before the game. For instance, who would win the coin toss? Would it be heads or tails? etc.  This is a similar game I played when I won the money for my DLSR back in 2008. I had a good start but by the end of the game Uncle Greggie won. He beat me by one point!! All of us also picked the games starting with the playoffs (Colin and Meli too). Will was the big winner of that one.

My fellow Bronco supporter

Supporting Broncos but still showing love for skins!

 

Playing at a jumping palace - she loved it!

Pink says it perfectly in one of her songs, "These are the good old days

And I wish that I could stay".

The Year of Health & Fitness: Week 4

A Family Workout

 

 

The kids decided they wanted to join in on mommy's workout fun. It actually ended up being a good workout still. The kids tried to follow along as best they could. Meli sat on my back for a few exercises to help out with some extra weight. Will and I tried to be super good this week so that we can have eat whatever we want during our Super Bowl party!! Go Broncos!

 

Since I missed enough days doing the shredding video, I am adding another week to get the full 30 days. I can really see a difference in my endurance.

 

The sweet hubby surprised me with a little black dress (literally) for our (hopefully) tropical vacation. It fits but it is very form fitting, so more motivation!

 

 

 

 

 

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Impromptu Beach Excursion

Yesterday, we decided to take the kids on a day trip to the coast. I love being so close to the ocean. The East Coast may have warmer water but it just takes so long to drive there. It was low tide, so a spot that is usually all water was just wet sand. Very muddy, which the kids LOVED! Meli was covered in mud from head to toe and was in heaven.

The plan was to go to a lighthouse, but Meli was getting very antsy and extremely annoyed with her carseat. We thought it would be more enjoyable for everyone to just find an area for the kids to run around as soon as possible. I have been really wanting to see the lighthouse, so hopefully next time.

The drive home was so much better. Meli and Colin were playing so well together. Even though Colin was getting irritated that Meli kept calling his Batman "bad guy". She would say, "what you doing bad guy?" or "You OK bad guy?" He would keep saying "Batman!" Another word she picked up was "awesome". Everything was "awesome"! She was also having fun dancing to old Madonna songs and the group Fun. Her hair had a little more volume today and looked a bit choppy for some reason. She kind of looked like Rod Stewart (her hair at least).

Here are few pictures from our day. 

 

 

 

Toothless & Sunshine

Our kids are so energetic! They are constantly into something, which can be very admirable but oh so tiring at times. They do provide a lot of entertainment and are so much fun. I thought I would share a few recent (random) pictures from my favorite boy and girl duo.

 

Colin lost his front tooth here recently. This is his third tooth to lose. So cute. He thinks it feels so funny. We have been calling him "Toothless". He thinks it is so funny because of How to Train Your Dragon.

Meli loves to play with ALL of Colin's toys. This can irritate Colin some times, but for the most part he is good about sharing with her. She loves to wear Colin's Hulk costume and growl. Very scary! 

Will started his boxing routine again. Colin likes to have him yell out combinations for him to try.

Both of the kids love to rough house. Meli loves to be rough and tumbly. She has no fear and will just jump at you without consideration. She assumes we will always be able to catch her.  Scares me to death sometimes. One of the games she likes is "Meli taco". Daddy wraps her up like a taco then pretends to nibble on her. She is so ticklish and just loves it.

 

The other day, Colin built a "space rocket ship" to take him to Mars. I love his imagination.

 

Miss Mae at the park today. She just loves the slide