Project52: Moody

They say the apple don't fall far from the tree....

While the boys inherited my brown eyes, witty sense of humor, and small stature, they also inherited my moodiness.

When thinking of a picture that properly captured Moody, these pictures would not escape my thoughts.

So, now almost four years later, we bring to you Moody.... recreated........

Beyond thankful for these crazy boys, Moody and all!

Looking for more Moody that is cuter than can be?

Head to the Terpblog....

project52: Shoes

It was the Christmas of two thousand and seven.

I hadn't had a full night of sleep in seven months, and all I wanted for Christmas was a baby that slept four hours straight and a pair of jeans that actually fit me.

When the time came for this tired Mama to open her brand new pair of jeans, two sizes bigger than she had ever worn before, Steve instead walked to the curtains, pulling them back to reveal.....

A snowboard.

A brand spanking new snowboard.

I wanted to cry.

I had snowboarded once before. Once.

I secretly did not like it at all, but did it because Steve loved it.

And now, much to my chagrin, I was the proud owner of a K2 women's white snowboard with a splash of lavender.

Steve could see through my fake excitement and told me he bought it because he knew that one day  we could take our boys snowboarding, and now I could join in the fun.

.....

Yesterday, one day  finally arrived, as we took our boys on their first inaugural snowboarding trip.

With the sun shining, each of our boys took to the slopes.

As Gibson and I were riding up the chair lift, he looked up at me and said, Mom, this is the best day of my life.

With that, my heart melted, and for the first time I was thankful for what stood behind the curtains on that Christmas day six years before.

They were Shoes I never had any desire to fill, but sometimes you just have to lace them up, face your fears and try something new because one day  you may love it.

Now, lace up your shoes and head to Katie's beautiful post to see the many places her shoes have taken her.

Hot Rock Art

Oh, to be five again...  

...when the biggest obstacle in your day is having your mom apply sunscreen and your favorite meal is PB & J.

...when you find caterpillars and tadpoles magical and want to save them all.

...when you can combine your two favorite things to make the most amazing art you've ever seen.

RoCks

{heated in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes}

+

CrAyoNs
{peeled and placed on large paper to catch any stray melting}


=

Melting Crayon Fun
{until the rocks run cool}

Oh, to be five again.

One Word: Kid Edition

One word has been all the rage this new year.

After picking my one word, I have noticed a dramatic shift in my thinking and the way I approach situations.

Do I have a long way to go? Yes.

Am I more intentional? Yes.

In addition to the one word challenge, Steve took a class at church last fall {And, I just had my first session last night} in which he had to pick one word to describe how he was feeling at the end of each session.

As it turns out, it seems that one word has become a recurring theme, one I wanted to incorporate with the boys.

I think all too often, we are so busy that we are not even aware of how we are feeling, let alone able to describe it.

And, all too often, I am so busy with my own feelings, I don't stop to check in with how the boys are feeling.

So, I dug out two small canvases we had sitting in our craft cupboard and decided to coat them in chalkboard paint and create a space for the boys to have one word.

With the simple spray of my favorite crafting medium,  {A few coats over, on both sides}

I had myself a mini chalkboard ready to be primed with good ole' fashioned chalk.

And, after dinner, the boys wrote exactly how they were feeling. {I did give them example of feeling words}

With Gibson feeling hungry and Elliott feeling playful, I felt that overall, it was a good day.  And, even on a bad day I think it will be good to be able to talk about what we are feeling, instead of stuffing it.

We shall see.

I am linking to...

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Southern Lovely

The Great Ice Dig

A few weeks ago while searching for kid friendly activities on pinterest, I stumbled
upon this clever idea.

It looked right up the boys alley, and it was something we could do without having to 

run out to get supplies. 

So, with a quick hunt in for a bin and random, small toys in the toy box, {to freeze in three different layers} I was on my way to having the boys entertained with some
good 'ole ice mining.

The adventure started with a hammer, a nail and ice flying everywhere.
The uncooperative ice proved to be frustrating,

until the boys solved their problem and pulled out their shades.

It was smooth sailing now that they were sporting their shades....

However as the duration of their ice mining adventure increased, 

so did the coldness on their little hands.

So, out came the gloves.
Now, it was time to get down to business.

With each slam of the hammer, ice sprayed all over the kitchen,

{Note: Common sense should have told me that this should be a summer activity}

and the boys retrieved one more treasure that was buried within the ice,

proudly pulling out each rescued toy as if it was the first one.

Which made the ice catapulting all over the kitchen and the massive amounts
of water covering the floor totally worth it.

The Plot Thickens...

W hat was once a battle between three, that seemed to have resolved itself, has taken a dramatic turn in what looks to be a joining of enemies.

What would cause such a unthinkable union...?

...Army men.  They have taken a hostage in attempt to claim the territory.

 And they have them surrounded.

Will the clueless Eric and his resting shark catch on and save the unlikely trio in time?

Only time will tell. Stay tuned for the next bathtime adventure...

one man band

Today is three weeks ago, when the weather was warm and the sky was still blue.  when the indian summer was calling our name and shoes were optional. when i captured elliott and his one man band and thought it was time to take a snapshot of his recent elliottisms.

we waited so long for elliott to talk.  as an infant he would babble until my heart was content. until the day he stopped.  yes, stopped.  we watched.  we listened.  nothing. 

as time passed, and the secrets of elliott's personality were revealed, he started talking again, on his own terms, in his own time.

and now, when his teacher tells me that she has a cute story to tell me, i brace myself, remembering that it is a blessing he is so fluent in his speech.  praying however, that the next time he toots in class he says excuse me instead of fire in the hole, like the first time.

i am thankful for his quick wit that responds to daddy asking, are you coming up to visit me? with no, i'm coming to visit the bathroom.

our house is filled with joy as he walks around randomly chanting sayings such as,  winner, winner chicken dinner and bubba bubba choot choot chicken airplane soldier.

and although his new favorite response is, that's so bo-w-ing, life with our elliott drew is anything but.  and we are ever so thankful.

life with boys

this was the scene i stumbled upon in the shower.

apparently the alligator won.

puddle jumping

thunderstorms have been rolling into grand rapids almost as often as the trains that pass through our neighborhood each day. according to gibson there has been so much drumming in heaven that there must be a concert. and a concert there was. the entire weekend was filled with crashing thunder, sudden bolts of lightning and dark clouds looming in the not so distant sky. but what a great weekend it was.

sunday we decided to try and squeeze in a trip downtown before the next storm was supposed to hit. the festival of the arts was underway and we wanted to make sure we could take it in before it was gone for another year. in our usual fashion we decided at the last minute, much to my chagrin, to ride the bus downtown. steve loves public transportation and i saw the spark in his eye when he brought the idea up. so...we packed up the double stroller, ran back to the house for milk and the camera and finally loaded up onto the bus, destination downtown. each of the boys sat in awe on the bus. claiming his very own seat elliott wave his arms and sang 'rou an rou' (wheels on the bus go round and round). and as usual, barley containing his excitement gibson sat, knelt, squirmed trying to take it all in.

we got off the bus and headed down to the festival hoping to find great entertainment and even better food. instead we found a big dark cloud moving quickly in our direction. wonderful. no car. two kids looking for excitement. severe weather and no plan of how to escape it. we managed to make our way to the art museum and took cover there while the storm passed overhead. as the rain slowed we made our way outside once again looking for any type of adventure for the boys. what we found were food booths just making their way out of their make shift shelters and sound stages that were unoccupied. none of this mattered to gibson. he was completely in his element having his pick of puddles to jump in, and elliott as usual was loving watching him. as the streets began to fill with people once again our puddle jumping came to an end as we searched for elephant ears.

after sharing gibson and elliott's first deep fried festival treat we decided we better make our way to a bus stop to head home before the next storm hit. and once again because we didn't have a plan or know the bus schedule we found ourselves running, sprinting..ok,as fast as you can sprint with two young boys and a bulky double stroller...towards a bus that was accross the street and already at the bus stop. we must have looked desperate because the driver waited for us. we had a brief rest as we rode to the bus terminal to make our final transfer. but as we arrived at the terminal, we had to have even more drama and sprint to our next bus...which, by the way, was at the opposite end of a very long terminal...because it was ready for departure. and we did all of this to go probably at the most six miles...a ride that would have taken us five minutes in our own cozy car, and it would have been cheaper. but when it was all said and done we arrive home safely, exposed the boys to a little culture on the bus and laughed a lot along the way. it was a great day.