A walk in the park

I picked up the boys this afternoon and the weather was way too pretty to head home.

We made a little pit stop to our local park.

(ahem Satch... I may have an alterior motive here)

*Doesn't this park look like a LOVELY place for a birthday party?!?*

Anyway, the boys had a ball and ran off a lot little energy.

As usual they were a hot mess by the time we got back to the car.

Once home it was straight to the shower before dinner.

This was not the simple job of just washing the hands.

They were both in need of a full body scrub!

Oh how I love that spring is just around the corner!

Here we are on the swing.

They loved swinging with me because we went high in the sky.

I guess the smiles make it pretty obvious...

My big boy was in heaven.

"Higher Mama, HIGHER, HIGHER!"

The boys made some friends along the way.

Griff wanted to show his friends how much fun it was to swing with his Momma.

Gotta love when your kid still thinks that you are the coolest!  

Baby Bear  loves swinging high in the sky too!

Glad I captured these moments.

I will keep them in my brain forever.

They also really enjoyed chasing each other through the tunnels.

Here he comes!

Sliding down the slide together.

The boy with the $1,000,000 smile.

Oh how I adore both of these little people...

Valentine crafts

The past week the weather has been chilly.

We have spent our evenings working inside

on Valentine's Day crafts.

I don't know who likes to craft more.

Me or the boys?

Here is our first project.

We made a card from each boy for MiMi and Pop.

We used an empty toilet paper roll, dipped it in paint, and created very abstract hearts. 

Here they are gluing cut out hearts to the inside of the card.

Griff putting a lot of love into his card.

This is so scary.

Letting a toddler loose with red paint!

To add an extra element of danger it is a tempera paint and not washable.

(I guess we all learned a little something from this project)

Nothing like living on the edge! :)

Me and my crafting cuties!

Seriously, how can you not love this face?!?

Inside finished product.

We mailed the cards to MiMi and Pop.

They enjoyed receiving love letters from their favorite boys.

Here is our next project.

Valentine color heart craft.

The first night we had to create the crayon hearts.

He had to unwrap the crayons and cut them into smaller pieces.

Next, Griff filled the heart molds with the cut up crayons.

Next up set in the oven to bake.

Baby Bear watching a little lovin' in the oven.

Once the crayons cooled we took out of the molds.

On another night we had to attach the crayons to the cards.

Here are Griff and Baby Bear attaching Zot dots to the crayons to stick to the cards.

After the hearts were attached to the cards we then stamped their names on the cards.

Ta-da!

The cards look adorable!

(I must confess I skipped a step.  I ran into these pre-cut hearts that we used as the cards.  My goal is to simplify people!)

Here is our final Valentine craft.

We literally hand made cards for Satch and their teachers. 

I do not have pictures of the making of these cards.

Why?

Because I had 2 little boys hands covered in paint.

That's why!

I started out with great intentions.

Once the paint came out it got a little hectic.

I actually imprinted their hands upside down.

I did the inside of the cards first and later realized that the card was now really upside down!

Not a problem.

The upside down hand imprints still worked out just fine.

I then cut the card and used a hole punch and attached with ribbon.

Anything NOT to pull the paint out again, right?!?

Here is the card that they made for their Daddy. 

And here are the cards for their teachers.

We had lots of fun creating these fun crafts and cards for some of the people that we love most!

Lots of love was put into the making of this.

xoxoxox

Simple Moments

Here are a few of my newest "simple moments."

Enjoying bedtime stories with all of my babies...

Reading this book.

Yesterday I had a day to myself and did this all afternoon.

It was nice to do nothing.

It was nice not to feel like I had to do something because I had free time.

Trust me the laundry is still waiting for me today.

 I love this part of the day.

The boys anxiously awaiting the return of their daddy from work...

Holding hands while walking to the park...

I love to watch the bond that is growing between these two.

What will this picture look like in a few months?

Will it be another brother to pal around with 

or will it be a princess to protect?

 Baby Bear watching the big boys play ball...

Griff dreaming of playing with the big boys...

The boys getting comfy in the bleachers.

I am sure over the years we will clock many hours in this same spot...

 Enjoying the view up close...

Baby Bear bringing flowers to his favorite girl...

Oh how I adore this picture.

Griff picking the perfect flowers for his Momma.

"Mommy, do you love it?"

Baby Bear adding a few more to my bouquet.

Beautiful day in the neighborhood

I must be feeling better.

I have not needed a nap recently

and I have noticed an increase in energy.

I would not say that Stella has gotten her groove back totally,

but it is a noticeable improvement.

I'll take it!  

This afternoon the weather was really pretty.

I loaded up the wagon with a few essentials.

Boys, the guys, Ernie, Buzz Lightyear, Woody and my trusty camera.

As an afterthought I grabbed jackets.

Good thing I did because the temperature dropped noticeably on our stroll.

Baby Bear and Ernie

Griff, the guys, Buzz, and Woody

Trying to divvy up the loot.

 Okay so they only actually stayed in the wagon for less than 3 minutes.

Griff said he needed to exercise and Baby Bear was less than a step behind. 

Exercise of the day?  Speed walking!

 In all fairness I don't get nearly enough pictures of melt down moments.

Trust me.... there are a lot of them.

When we are in the moment it is usually intense and a camera is the last thing that I think to grab.

Here you go!

Griff was having a moment because his brother was taking a turn to pull the wagon.
Interesting to note~ he still said "cheese" through the tears.

Sweet baby

Griff heading over to tell the ducks hello.

Hello...hello... hello.... anybody down there....

 Here is one of my VERY FAVORITE perks of being the only girl in the house.

Whenever the boys see wild flowers they must stop to pick some for their favorite girl.

"Here Mommy I have a flower for you.  You like it?"

Roman with his flowers for me.
He picked an awesome handful of clover for his favorite girl.

Baby Bear kicking up the pace once he saw our house.

I love my flowers from my sweet admirers!

Here is what we collected on our walk around the circle.
Flowers, trash, and lots of rocks. (for hopscotch of course)
Soon enough I will use the picking up trash as a teaching moment.

As soon as we got inside Griff told me I needed glass for my beautiful flowers.

I am so in love with 2 boys...