Priceless

I started Bekah on piano lessons teaching her myself about 3 years ago. It was not going well, but I have not wanted to pay for a teacher since we are still in school. I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore, we were both unhappy dealing with each other and it was a big battle every day. She has had two lessons now with a "real" piano teacher. She hasn't really wanted to go, but last night after practicing for the alotted time she came and asked me, "can I practice some more?". After recovering from shock, I said "Of course you can practice some more!!!". Totally worth the money!

Two Cute Things

We pulled up to the fabric store the other day, just me and the boys. Jonah recognized where we were and said, "You go in and I'll just stay in the car." It was so matter of fact, I just had to laugh. Needless to say he was forced to come in with me.

Today we went to the zoo. As we were paying for tickets for the train Jonah says, "Mom, I've decided to be happy." I don't know if that was because we were going to ride the train or just in general. Probably because of the train.

Yummy Pizza

Ingredients:
Pizza crust-store bought or homemade
1 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup prepared pesto
1 large tomato, diced
1/2 cup black beans
1-2 cup mozzarella, shredded

Bake the pizza crust for about 5-10 minutes. Top the prebaked pizza crust with pesto, chicken, tomato, black beans and mozzarella. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350.

So good! Whenever we have this I feel like I could eat and eat and eat! Two of my kids will eat this, two out of three ain't bad!

Getcha Head in the Game!

Some shots of my boys playing basketball in the backyard. And to think, I almost got rid of the basketball hoop! No one even looked at it before Sam came along.

Show and Tell

In case you didn't know, I love to make cards. Here are some cards that I made this summer. Come see more! I have posted many of the cards I made this summer on my other blog. Here is the link, Parts and Pieces. You can also get there by clicking on Rachel's Crafts under blogs I read, on the lefthand side of this blog. There will be more cards to come, I'm sure!

Sam's Birthday Party

Sam had a Curious George Birthday. He is our "little monkey". I was pretty happy with this cake. I had my heart set on yellow frosting but when I was about to add the food coloring on Sunday I realized that I had no yellow food coloring! I had every other color, just not yellow. I called around and finally found someone who had some. Cake decorating never goes smoothly at my house! Here are Sam's presents from us that he got to open on Saturday, his real birthday. I spent a total of 7 dollars. It was a garage sale birthday for Sam. That big present was brand new though (still from a garage sale). It was a little sand and water toy with canals and boats, it's pretty fun. There will be no sand in it though! He also got a few books and a stuffed, furry soccer ball.
Here he is opening presents from family. We had a family birthday party on Sunday evening. The cousins had so much fun running around in the backyard it was hard to call then over to open presents!
Here is Sam trying out his new soccer ball!

"Mario" Cookies

Lately Jonah has been repeating everything from commercials, which isn't a good thing all the time! He has been talking a lot lately about "Mario" cookies. He has seen pictures and a commercial on TV. We try to tell him they are called Oreo cookies. Well, the other day he saw the Oreo cookies commercial again and got it. He said "OH, OREO cookies!". But the next day he was back to calling them "Mario" cookies again. I think it is adorable. I also think we might need to buy some "Mario" cookies so we can really teach him what they are!

Boys on the Train

We rode the train at the zoo the other day. The boys love the train. They love to wave at the animals all around the zoo and yell in the tunnel. They yell "All Aboard" with the conductor and get excited when the whistle blows. I always think of my Grandma when we go on the train. My grandparents used to take my brother and me to the zoo and we would always ride on the train. My Grandma loved to yell in the tunnel! She was a funny lady, a true child at heart!

The Last Days of the Crib

We often find Sam wrapped up in a blanket, sleeping on the floor. He has been able to climb out of his crib for a while now. On this night, like every other night that he does this, I scooped him up and put him in the crib. I felt something hard down by his foot and unwrapped the blanket to see what it was. He had gotten one of Jonah's dress shoes from the closet and put it on! You will also notice the Thomas the Train book in his bed. He has refused to go to bed without it recently. If he doesn't have it he'll just cry and say "Thomas" over and over.
Yesterday I took the crib down. We have a bed frame that I got at a garage sale for 10 dollars, but decided to just put the mattress on the floor for now. He did a great job taking a nap on the bed and eventually ended up on the bed last night after running around for a while. A pretty smooth transition, I guess he was just ready now that he is two.

Happy Birthday Sam!

Here are a few things about Sam:

• He likes to jump off of the couch. He thinks this is so funny.
• Loves Balls! Spends lots of time trying to make baskets outside.
• Has a new love for trains, especially Thomas the train. Loves to ride the train at the zoo. Says "All Aboard", and "Toot, Toot!".
• Loves to sit in a lap and read a book. You pretty much have to read to him when he brings you a book, he climbs right up and settles down in your lap.
• Repeats everything we say. It is especially cute to hear him say, "peas", and "tank u".
• Loves to dig! Jonah helped him with this one!
• Sam is sneaky and ornery. He is always off doing something or figuring something out. Watch out when he's too Quiet!
• He loves locks and keys and buckles. He has his own keys and tries to unlock everything!
• Loves to put shoes on , it doesn't matter who's shoes.
• Climbs out of his crib, a lot!
• He can find a cough drop anywhere in the house, he loves them!
• Helps himself to Juice and snacks.
• He helped me invent the Duct Tape method of babyproofing. When I get sick of keeping him out of something, I just tape it shut! It has worked on the medicine cabinet and the refrigerator and other lesser cabinets.
• Sings the Bop, Bop, Bop song from High School Musical.
• He keeps us busy and on our toes, Happy Birthday Sammy!
  

The Nebraska State Fair

Alan and I headed off to the State Fair yesterday. We got to go without the kids! Bekah was able to go with her Grandparents so she didn't miss out on any fun. My parents were nice enough to take the kids for the afternoon. I don't feel like the boys missed out on any of the fun, what is more fun than a visit to Grandma's house! Especially when Grandma makes Mickey Mouse waffles and takes you to the park.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot. We saw lots of exhibits that we don't normally see with the kids. Two highlights for us were the photos and the quilts. There were some amazing photos! Very inspiring. The quilts were fantastic and were displayed a lot better than in past years. Things that we usually see with the kids like the petting zoo, birthing pavilion and the park we skipped out on this year. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, but we have spent the majority of our time there in years past. Oh yeah and we got to go through all the RVs on display. I guess I've had a narrow view of the RV, but these were really nice inside. They even had a large screen tv in one and were showing the husker game. That one was pretty crowded!

As fun as it was to see the exhibits, we go the the Fair for on thing, TO EAT! Here is what we had;

1. Cheese on a stick (a classic favorite)


2. Indian Taco (more food for the money)


3. Pineapple whip in a waffle cone (so refreshing)


4. Grater Taters (spiral cut potatoes, fried of course!)


5. Cheese on a Stick (savoring every bite!)

Yes the food is expensive, but so worth the splurge. We really are thrifty so we feel perfectly ok with spending a little once a year on food we love. One thing we can't quite buy at the fair is lemonade. It is so good, but it really is hard to put the money down for it. We bring our own water and focus on the food! Hey, we don't go to the Midway to play games or ride rides, we just eat!

It was so nice to not worry about losing kids or temper tantrums. Mostly it was good just spending time together on a beautiful day.