When did this happen?

Where did those freckles come from?
When did he lose his baby cheeks?
When did his eyes get so deep brown?
How did he get so tall?
And skinny?
What is that look?!?!
When did my baby become such a little man?  I must of dozed off or blinked!

Cowboy Picnic

Being home with the boys the last few days has been a rare treat for Jer and I.  It has been a nice change of pace. We have forgotten our hectic daily torture commute and are just, well....being totally and completely LAZY.  It's been heavenly!  The boys have loved it too.  Lazy in their world means staying in pajamas and being more rowdy than any teacher, aunt, or even Granny would ever allow.
Complete freedom from routine has made them a powerful force...a force that brings me to my knees, in exhaustion and prayer, pretty much hourly. So, early this morning when the house became silent, I was terrified to look and see what new messy disaster was waiting for me to clean up.  To my shock and awe, I found my darling duo sitting quietly on their sister's bed having a "Cowboy picnic"...according to Jack.  

I think Jude was just taking a breather before taking on Jack in a jumping on the bed duel.

There was something so sweet and peaceful about my rough and rowdy boys being surrounded by girly pink, just enjoying some quality time together.  

Like most events similar to this, it was fleeting.  Jack broke the calm with a "YEEHAW" and duel was on!  First one to get a knot on the head that doesn't require stitches is the winner!
Life with these two is exhausting, but it will never be boring!

Robot Birthday Party

I love to plan parties.  When I was single and childless I would regularly have friends over for every possible occasion.  If there wasn’t a reason to have a gathering, I would create an occasion that we needed to celebrate.  I just love the whole planning, creating, and cooking tasks involved.  Call me nuts, but it’s true.  I tend to thrive under pressure.

I haven’t been having many parties or planning much of anything lately.  Now that Jack is 2 and Jude is heading towards 1, I am coming out of my baby blur.  For me the first year of both my boys' lives have been all about survival.  

So, when it was time to plan Jack’s 2^nd birthday party I was MORE than ready to dust off my party planning skills.  He had a lovely little party last year, but with being 8ish months preggo with Jude…it didn't meet my normal standards as a hostess.

This year was a tad different…

If you read this blog regularly, you are very aware that my Cracker Jack is obsessed with robots, or “bobots” as he likes to call them…so we had a Robot Party…

I found this darling shop on Etsy, Love the Day.  She has A.DOR.ABLE custom printable parties.  Not only does she have totally cute Robot Party package, but she also has a nice selection of parties for many ages and celebrations. Check out her really cool blog to get other great party ideas.

The signs, cupcake toppers, cupcake wrappers, goodie bag decorations, etc. are all from the printable package I ordered from Love the Day.  So pleased with how they turned out!

I have always wanted to make these tissue paper pom poms to decorate for a party.  You can find instructions HERE…these took hardly any time to make.  I put them up a week early in efforts to space out my party planning tasks.  The kids were in LOVE!  I don’t know if they will ever let me take them down.  The star garlands are just diecut stars sewn together.  Again, super easy to put together!

We had about ten children in attendance…all age 6 and under!  To prevent complete chaos with so many young ones, I had a few activities set up in various stations around the house.   There wasn’t a set schedule, I just let parents help the kids choose what they would like to do.

Robot building with marshmallows and pretzel sticks…

And a robot craft made from self-adhesive foam pieces.  These were all precut and packaged in freezer bags…

I also had some basic coloring pages downloaded from free printable websites.

I ordered barbeque from a local place and made mini pizzas for the kiddos.  I like to wrap up plasticware together in napkins so that everything is easy to grab when my guests are making plates for themselves and their little ones.

A drink and snack station were set up to make sure everyone stayed fed and watered!

I think my favorite part of the party was putting together the goodie bags.  Sounds silly, but I have always looked forward to the whole goody bag making event...so much fun!  Everything was ordered from Oriental Trading.  They have a large selection of robot goodies.  I simply had a ball putting these together! 

I also labeled some basic lunch sacks for the kids to take their goodies and crafts home.

Jer surprised me by decorating our walkway with sidewalk chalk.  It was his special party planning touch.  SO COOL!  This is why I call him my Prince.

What a great day!  Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday boy.  How could you not with all that sugar!  Just look at all of it!

Now on to dreaming up something just as exciting for Sweet Baby Jude!

Check out some other great ideas at...

 

Jack's Turning 2!

I cannot believe that today is Jack’s last day of being a one year old.  I can’t stand it!  Like every new mother, I am wondering where the last two years have gone.  I knew parenthood would bring me joy, but I never realized how just how overwhelming that joy could be.   These are just a few things Jack is doing right now that keep the joy overflowing…

• His love of anything that beeps, roars, zooms or crashes.
• If it doesn’t beep, roar or crash…he is going to make the sound effects to make it do so.
• When he doesn’t want his picture taken, he says “No cheese, Momma!  No cheese!”
• He says “cookie” in the same voice as the Cookie monster.
• If allowed he would stay in his pajamas all day long, and Elmo slippers as well.
• How he says “hi” to every cow, bus, fire truck, bird we pass on the road…”Hi cow!”…”Hi bus!”…
• How proud he is of himself that he sleeps in a big boy bed.
• Every container turned upside down is a drum.
• That he thinks his tricycle is a bicycle and corrects us if we call it a tricycle.
• That every ball now has its own special name….soc-cer ball, feet-ball, bass-ball.
• When he wants to go home, he says he wants to go to “Jack’s house.”
• That he loves to eat breakfast for dinner, and if given the choice would eat pancakes for all three meals.
• His love of books, books and more books!
• His infectious and precious laughter!  Once he gets going it’s hard to stop.  Jack LOVES to laugh!
• His protective nature of his baby brother Jude.
• But most of all…how he lights up and says “Hi Mum!” when I walk into a room…every single time.

I am so proud of the amazing little boy he is growing into.  His smile, laughter and sweet spirit remind me daily that I am blessed beyond measure!

Bobots on the Brain

I have so many goals and plans for my house this year.  It is time to whip this place into shape! Hopefully I will accomplish the projects/ideas that are piling up in my head and filling my notebooks.  I have probably set my goals a little high, but I figure high expectations equal positive results.  Right?  I look forward to sharing all my decorating, organizing, and remaining sane ideas on a very limited...oh let's face it...a nonexistent budget!

But right now, I have robots, aka "bobots" on the brain.  Jack turns 2 this weekend.  I can hardily stand it!  I am planning a totally cool party using his love of robots and teleporting skills as my inspiration.

Stay tuned...lots to share!

Tuesday Texts on Wednesday

Jer has been home with the boys over his semester break. It's definitely hasn't been boring...



Apparently Jack not only teleports, but breaks through child-proof drawer locks with his super toddler powers.

And this one...well...it's just funny...sorry Hun, but it is...



Poor Daddy! Jude always seems to save those messy explosions for him.

Christmas Ham

I don't know why I continue to be surprised, but Cracker Jack "hammed it up" at his Christmas program last night...just like last year.

For some reason, I expect my very verbal and charming toddler to suddenly have stage fright.  I truly thought I would have to run up to the stage and dry his tears...rescue him...

Nope.
Again, shocked.
Hundreds of parents staring at him...so what.
Can't see his Mommy...who cares!

But..It's the same little guy whose teachers pry loose from my legs each morning.  The one, who shrieks so loudly, I can hear down the hallway as I rush to my car. Before I burst into tears myself.

No disappointment here...I was beaming with pride.

Jude did great too!  I just expected him to be easy-going about it...just like he is with everything else.

It amazes me what these wonderful teachers accomplish with my baby boys.

Jack 2010

Jude 2010

Jack 2009

Jack & Daddy Chats

A daily scene between Jer and Cracker Jack...

JER:  Jack, what does a cow say?

JACK:  Moooo!

JER:  That's right!  What does a snake say?

JACK:  Ssssss!

JER:  That's right!  What does a car say?

JACK:  Vroom!

JER:  That's right!  What does a tiger say?

JACK:  Roar!

JER:  That's right!  What does a robot say?

JACK:  Dee doo, dee doo!

JER:  That's right!  What does an owl say?

JACK:  Who! Who! Who!

JER:  That's right!  What does a shark say?

JACK:  Da da da da da da!

JER:  That's right!  What does Darth Vader say?

JACK:  Haw-ker, haw-ker!

JER:  That's right!  What does Mommy say?

JACK:  Grrrrrrr!

JER:  You got that right, buddy, you got that right!

JER and JACK:  (Hysterical laughter)

Glad I can make 'em laugh!

The Teleporting Toddler Strikes Again!

Cracker Jack lived up to his reputation today...no doubt.  While I was out braving the crowds at Walmart, I stopped to check on the boys by sending Jer a quick text.  This is what I get in return...

"Caught red-handed!!!!"

"I looked away for 2 seconds while cleaning."

"Bathing BOTH of them now."

"Jack thought he'd fix his bro's hair too!"

Jack had obviously teleported again...ending up with his hands straight into his hair pomade!  Sigh...at least he knew how to use it.

The good thing about getting texts like this while battling the crazies at Walmart, is that I pretty much forgot about the holiday chaos.  I was too busy laughing hysterically and causing everyone to think I was the one who was insane!

Jack the Nibbler

Look at that face!

This darling little baby would never hurt a fly, right?

Wrong.

Cracker Jack has turned into Jack the Nibbler.

He has taken to nibbling on his friends at school when they disrupt his toddler world.

Yes, my sweet boy has entered the stage of biting, and it is causing me much stress.

Monday was bad, but today was better.

Let's all pray that Jack learns to use his growing vocabulary instead of his teeth in times of dispute.

He will either outgrown this stage or become the star of the next Twilight movie.

Cupcake Happiness

  

When everyone at our house is either sick, grumpy, sleep deprived, or all of the above, there is always one thing that knocks the blues off all the big and little humans in our house.

Cupcakes.  We all L.O.V.E. them!  But who doesn't?

Jack has a terrible case of the croup, and it looks like Jude is heading there too.  So, with both of them sick Prince Jer and I are "all of the above."  I think we needed the sweet treats more than the kids.

Don't be too impressed with the picture above.  I am far from being Martha Stewart.  I love to cook, but baking is not really my thing.

These were made with a cake mix and my super easy, never fail icing.  I take...

a tub of vanilla frosting, 

a small tub of cream cheese, 

and a tub of whipped topping,

Sometimes I buy the light versions trying to convince myself that I am cutting the calories.

I whip them together in my mixer, add a little food coloring of choice, and YUMMY!

Again, I am not Martha.  I don't own any fancy shamcy cake decorating tools; so this Mommy uses a plain ol' Ziploc bag.  I just spoon the icing in, shove it all into a bottom corner, cut a hole about the size of a dime, and pipe the icing on the cupcakes.  For these I sprinkled on some sugar crystals and plopped on a Halloween decoration.  Sometimes I will blend in some berries, but today called for SUGAR-straight up!

Jack loved them and forgot about being sick and whiny for a moment...

Mission accomplished!

That's not green boogies in his nose...

Jer was...

Well...

Being Jer...

Jack wasn't pleased.  No worries, he got over it quickly and commenced to demolishing his cupcake.

Sweet Ending

It is not often that we get to go out...minus children...these days. We were in shock when we had plans for both Friday and Saturday night. Surprisingly we found a babysitter for both nights. Normally I would feel very guilty about this, but since it is a rare occurrence I was thrilled to have some Tracey/Jer time.

It was a fun and busy weekend, but the today was my favorite.

My Prince Jer wanted to clean the house...you see why I call him Prince Jer. Since I was overjoyed that we would have a clean house, I helped out the situation by keeping Delaney Bug and Cracker Jack busy...outside.

We water colored...

We drew with sidewalk chalk...

We went to the playground...

A very sweet ending to a fabulous weekend.