From the mouths of babes...

For the last two days I've been trying to keep track of just a few of the funny, strange, warm-hearted and unique observations and questions that comes out of the boy's mouth.  Here are just a few...

Michael:  Mommy, do dinosaurs have a shadow?

After Gabriel had spent more than 25 minutes coloring a picture in a coloring book, he stopped coloring looked up and said, "Mommy, I think Grandma Virginia would like this, can we send it to her in Heaven?"

Michael:  Mommy, ice looks like peaches."

Gabriel: "Mom, sometimes you do good things and you don't get treats."

Michael: "Mommy, does candy melt in cars?"

Until next time,
Angie

St. Patrick, the Visiting Leprechaun...

I'm sure for the Irishmen and women out there, the story of the visitng Lephrechaun is as old as St. Patrick's Day itself; but for us the story is new.

See we had a visitor come to see us when we were all fast asleep. 

He says he danced a jig, and doesn't wear a wig. 

He left us a wee bit of gold, and disappeared before the sun rose.

His name is St. Patrick the Leprehchaun, and this is how his story goes.

He comes at night, but not to fright... for two boys were snuggled in tight.

But when they awoke, they saw a great sight.

For St. Patrick had left them his gold, alright!

They jumped out of bed, but didn't hit their head.

They raced for the money, and shouted "That Leprechaun's funny"

 And when they put their money away, they said, "Mom, can he stay?"

I asked where he was at, and they looked for his hat.

Out the window they glance, but there was no chance...

 For St. Patrick was gone but he was no con. 

His visit was great and  it made the boy's state...

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you and to all of your mates!

 Until next time,

Angie

The Ostrich Festival...

Yesterday we were able to attend Chandler's annual Ostrich Festival.  Thanks Anita for the tickets.  We had a wonderful day enjoying the warm Arizona sunshine as well as the festivities provided at the festival.

The first thing we did was attend the jousting event.  Dad was very excited about this aspect.  We were running a few minutes late getting out of the house but Jarrett made up for it when we arrived at the park.  I haven't seen dad walk that fast to get somewhere in a very long time.

Here are some photos from that show...

After watching the "Lords" fight until their death, or until they loaded up the loser on a golf cart and hauled him out of the ring, we moved on to visit the stars of the festival... the Ostriches.

We told the boys they were going to be having ostrich races where people would ride on them but it wasn't of too much interest to the boys.    In fact, after I asked the boys if they wanted to go to the ostrich races they said, "No Mom, you can go ride an ostrich, we'll go ride the Ferris wheel with dad."  Guess you can see where I rate huh?

As we moved through the festival we came to the main stage area, where we found the VIP tent (thanks again Anita for the tickets) as well as the wide open grass that the boys LOVED to run around in.  And when I say boys, I don't just mean Michael and Gabriel.

There was also some great music.  Here the boys are dancing to a Led Zeppelin cover band.  I had no idea they were such big fans.  Okay maybe this was the first time they had heard the music and were just getting into the moment.

Here's a short video of Michael dancing and singing along. Wait, maybe he's singing something else... could it be the famous Beber song?

And then there was the ride we did take on the Ferris wheel.  They actually let me go with them.  Gabriel was really excited, can you tell what Michael thought of it?

Then there was the "princess" Michael just had to have his picture with.  Originally he thought she was Princess Jasmine but I explained that she was Ms. Chandler.  Michael insisted and said, "No Mom, she's Princess Chandler" and I just went with it...

I'm not sure if that's his "Mom, I'm picking up this girl, please leave me alone" look or exactly what he was trying to say with that smirk.

As the sun started going down we found a great spot to sit inside the fenced-in tent area and waited for the Eddie Money concert to begin. I guess you could say we are fans of this 80's band and Eddie Money.  He holds a special spot in Jarrett and my heart because 10 years ago we went to his concert at the Casino in Tama before Jarrett left for a long semester abroad in Europe. At the time, 10 years ago, we laughed about going to the concert as Jarrett had won free tickets, but once getting there, we found ourselves enjoying the 80's music and the fun people watching.  There were so many people who had not left 1989and stilll had the black leather pants, the poofy hair and the mullets. It was a fun evening then and last night was the same. While Jarrett and I reminisced about our "concert date" now 10 years ago, we also talked about our life today and the journey we've taken so far to get here. While we sat back and enjoyed the world passing around us, the boys were in having a ball running around, making pretend camp fires out of sticks and leaves, making grass angels and doing gymnastics in the leaves. At one point after running around for 2 hours, they sat down to watch and listen to the music.

Oh and another funny story I just have to share. It seemed other parents had the same idea we did. Sitting inside the fenced-in area was the perfect way to sit and enjoy the day, but also make sure the kids couldn't get too far away. Jarrett described it as a giant play pen. At one point the boys had about 10 other kids running around with them, and then there was this one little boy. His dad seemed to be pretty busy drinking the free beer, so we watched as he tried to play with the boys. Jarrett and I were talking and then we looked over to see this...

The little boy started to take his clothes off.  Given that we've had the "naked" talk and how we don't get naked in front of others, Gabriel must have figured this was too much for Michael's innocent eyes to see. 

All in all, we had a wonderful day at the Ostrich Festival. I'll conclude with a shot of dad.  His look pretty much sums up how we all felt as we got in the car and went home.

We all slept like babies!

Until next time,

angie

The story in his hands...

For the last 10 days my grandpa Ray has been out to visit us from Iowa.  He was brave enough to join our crazy house and stay with us.  It has been a wonderful visit.  The boys love to greet him in the morning and race into the house every night after school to say hi.  Then at bedtime they race to give him a hug and even more fun in between those times.

This past weekend the boys were watching Mary Poppins when Grandpa decided to sit down with them.  First Gabriel was sitting next to Grandpa and then he moved so Michael moved into his spot.  Within a few moments, I saw Michael reach over and gently slide his hand into Grandpa's.  He began to rub his fingers over the wrinkles in his forehand and over the calloused bumps on his fingers.  He looked up at Grandpa and asked him why his hand had wrinkles and bumps.  Grandpa graciously answered his questions, and in that moment I realized the full circle of life and how blessed I am to share my wonderful Grandfather with my boys and visa versa. 

The stories I'm sure my grandfather's hands could tell would wonder my 3-year old Michael for hours.  As I watched them interact, I wondered if my grandfather had done the same thing to his great-grandparents more than 80 years ago.  It was a moment when I realized how quickly time passes and how my grandfather probably wishes he could go back in time and relive the wonderful days when his children were young and his wife, my grandmother, was back by his side.

Everyone always says, "Cherish every moment because they go by so quickly." and in that second I realized just how true that statement is.

I pray that I always cherish these moment and learn to celebrate the wrinkles in my hands.  For wrinkles are the souvenirs of life and I have sure been given a great one.

Until next time,
Angie

Shoes for Brakes

Gabriel has been riding his bike a lot lately.  He's mastered the training-wheelless riding and can race down the side walk with ease.  The one thing he hasn't mastered is choosing the actual brakes on the bike to stop.  Instead he uses his shoes.  Here's my evidence.

Exhibit A:

A lovely pair of shoes.

Exhibit B

Notice the damage to the front of the shoes

Exhibit C

A close of up of the front right shoe.

Exhibit D

A full-frontal view of the damage

Exhibit E

A huge hole.

We will be working on using the bike brakes before riding the bike with our new pair of shoes.

Until next time,
Angie

Imagination...

The boys have a vivid imagination.  They spend hours a day making up pretend games.  If they are not super heros they are farmers.  Can you guess what they are doing here?

They are fishing in our swimming pool.  Last I checked we hadn't added any fish to the pool but maybe they know something I don't.

Until next time,

Angie

Find a penny...

This morning Gabriel found a penny that he had put in the pockets of one of his coats.  It was a penny that he had found on the ground a few weeks ago.  I remember at the time telling him the good old saying...

Find a penny, pick it up...
All day long, you'll have good luck!

This morning he just happened to pull it out of his pocket so I again recited the old saying.  I said it a few times and then I'd say a few words and let the boys fill in the blank.  Here's how it went..

Mom: "Find a Penny, Pick
Gabriel:  "it up!"
Mom:  "All day long, you'll have"
Michael: " a penny!"

 Until next time,
Angie