Ice Cream Cones!

We happen to have a lot of cake cones for ice cream, for a project B-rox and I have planned. Since there will be a few left over, the boys got to use them for thier original purpose.

schmear that ice cream into his hair...

It was not nearly as messy of an endeavor as I expected.

One in color, just cuz.

Gems...

Some priceless moments from my oldest.

Sunday morning at about 8:30, Mark and I hear Braxton wake up. We figured he'd come into our room when he was ready, so we continued to keep our eyes shut and enjoy the last few minutes of slumberish type laying in bed. After a few minutes we hear Braxton open his door and run into our room. He pauses, then runs back. We vaguely hear him talking to one of his "friends" (one of the 9 stuffed animals he keeps on his bed to keep the monsters away). After more talking he runs into our room, pauses, then runs back. I am a pretty light sleeper, and by this point my brain is pretty much up and running even if my body isn't. So I manage to tune into what he's saying this trip back to his bedroom:

"Purple Puppy [fyi, he's a black and white dog...] Captain Mark is not waking up. Dash Elephant - we need to get a plan. Ok, That sounds like a good plan, Ox."

So after that we hear his little feet race back to our room. This time instead of pausing in the doorway like the previous couple of times he comes in and goes around to Mark's side. This is where Braxton enacted his "plan to wake daddy". Mark doesn't wear shirts to bed. Often times it gets so warm that he doesn't even cover up with a sheet, either. Leaving his back - which was what was facing Braxton - completely exposed. Braxton stands there for a few moments then I hear this "pfffffffffffft", then a yelp and a squeal of laughter. Braxton gave Mark's bare back a huge whompin raspberry.
Seriously awesome plan B-rox. Love you kid. Mostly because I got to catch another 30 minutes of sleep until Kieran woke up.

So this morning, we're doing our daily dance party, (Where I turn on itunes and we move around like a bunch of wounded, rabid, seizing, platypuss' . Don't ask me why a platypus.) When Braxton turns to me and says, "Mom, I need a credit card."
I reply "Uhm, no."
Braxton: "Ok, how about tomorrow?"

How can you not love him?

Zyrtec anyone?

Ahhh, spring. One of my two favorite seasons. Love spring and fall. All the colors, not too hot, not too cold. I'm a temperate kind of gal. Spring and Fall are as temperate as it gets around here. Along with spring comes this wonderful explosion of cherry blossoms. They're gorgeous, and absolutely killer on my allergies.
The very tippy top of the cherry blossom tree in my back yard against the backdrop of the beautiful blue sky and teeny weeny puffy cloud. Do you really need anymore adjectives?

A frightening trend...

This afternoon was a normal Sunday afternoon. Watch a movie with the kids, nap time, run, dinner, dessert then bathtime. Bathtime is where we hit the snag... Things seemed to be going great, I was sitting in the hallway keeping an eye on the boys lest they drown in more than a spoonful of water, texting my Bob and SIL. Then, Braxton stands up like a shot, and cries "poop mom, yucky gross poop". So I stand up - finish the text I was writing to Kelley, and went to take a look. I was expecting a turd - a scoopable - problem solved - kind of turd. Didn't happen. No, apparently Kieran's tummy is a little upset... Yeah, I won't go into more detail than that. Lets just say Mark was put in charge of "rinse off shower duty" and I went in to bleach it all down. Ugh.

Leftovers

So, this years Lent sacrifice has been quite the doozy. One hour is not as much as it seems. I have some photos to finish touching up, then burn to a cd for my friend, still have to blog, update my status on facebook and watch new clips on failblog.org. (Please watch dancing fail, honk fail, driving fail, and soccer fail if you need a good laugh.) Plus all that responsible stuff like take care of bills and whatnot. I've gotten a few comments regarding the lack of bloggage/new pictures. Sorry. God calls...

Anyway, Here are some way awesome things from the circus:

My boys have apparently been reading my cousin Lindsay's blog. Her girls are hilarious, and days that she doesn't post are sad ones. The poor woman has dealt with more body fluids in her four (almost five?) years as a mom than I hope to in the twenty or so years I will have kids under my roof. Well, yesterday the boys decided to take a page out of Mya's book and experiment with poo. When I got my iphone, my sim card had to be updated, so they just left it in my old cell phone. Which meant that it would still act like it functioned, but not be able to make calls. The boys thought it was pretty nifty (as long as I had remembered to charge it...). Well, Kieran is Braxton's little cheerleader, and likes to go along on bathroom breaks with him. Weird, but if it means I don't have to sit there for half an hour while B-rox takes the browns to the superbowl - then by all means, I'll take it. After what seemed like an awful lot of maniacal laughter I went in to check on what was going on. They were leaning into the toilet bowl laughing pretty hard. What did my eyes behold? The "awesome" cell phone laying on a nice brown pillow... I so wish I could say I was strong, and a super mom and just reached in to pick it up and throw it away, but I can't. I "forgot" about it (and for a while I truly did forget about it) until Mark came home. After a quick decision that hands SHOULD NOT reach into the toilet, I sacrificed one of my slotted spoons and had Mark put it to use. Don't worry - both the spoon and phone are in the garbage. Thanks honey. You're the best! It was gross, and a message that bathroom breaks should be monitored a little more closely...

A little angle experimentation. Braxton looks kinda big here. Which, he totally isn't. (He asked if I could put a picture of him on the "bwog" again. Here ya go kid.)

I haven't posted any pictures of our new house lately, the only real difference is that now we have a front door - and siding. The rest of the work is happening inside the house. It's almost time for a post-drywall walk through. It's very exciting. (for us anyway)

Oh, and a totally random note. I made meatballs. I cooked them in chicken broth. It was fantastic. Here's a completely random picture of them to accompany the completely random post I've just about concluded.

(This is the kind of thing that happens when housewives go crazy, folks.)

Well, Its time for me to go get dressed. I have a shift at the hospital tonight, and need to start getting ready.

The two best surprises...

... EVER!!!
I really, REALLY, really love these boys. Thanks for the glasses, Mom.

A little Davis Family Awesome.

Today I watched my friend's five children. Well, okay - she actually has six, but her eldest is almost as old as me and therefore didn't need to be babysat. I owed her a photo session. This is what came of it. (I do hope to improve once finished with my class...) A little Abbey Road action. Coincidentally, Abby - Luann's youngest, is not in this picture. From left to right. Alan, David, Ruth and Caleb.

There's Abby. She's the one in the middle. Dancing.

So, I'm going to admit that I totally stole this sort of idea from my cousin Lindsay. Its sort of her funbooth type of photo. Only hers are way more awesomer.

And the eldest. Thanks for a perdy good day Davis children.

Crafts, Clothes and Sibling Rivalry...

Saturday Mark and I decided to postpone our errands and let the boys have a [mostly] schlepp free day. We wanted to do an art project with them instead. So, we schlepped them to JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts... Yeah. This was the result: Braxton's Easter BunnyKieran's and My Easter Bunny.

For those who don't know, or haven't seen Kieran and Braxton are pretty much the same size. Kieran is a couple of inches shorter - but they weigh the same and are in the same size clothes. So, after a couple of months of belly shirts for Kenny, I've cleaned out his drawers and only left the stuff that actually fits. How ridiculous is this? This is AFTER I've done laundry. Well, this problem has led to the third part of the post title - Sibling rivalry. Since B-rox and Kenny are wearing the same sized clothes, I figured I would just raid Braxton's drawers for clothes. Whoops... Braxton has a cow every time Kieran is wearing a shirt that is supposed to be his. "Mom, thats my shirt!!!". The next day is always just as much fun because Braxton will insist on wearing whatever Kieran wore the day before. Ew and Gross!

All the clothes Kieran has outgrown in the last eight months. Insane. I guess this weekend holds yet another trip to the mall.

Monster in my Closet...

So, we've hit that stage. Nightmares. It used to be bugs, but has morphed into monsters. While I have theories as to why it morphed - we won't go into it here. The reason for this post is I'm looking for some advice that will help quell (or is it qwell?) the monsters in my closet routine. I would really prefer he dreams about 'xhaust pipes and Jesus. (Hi Brendan!) I don't know what to do. I've done some reading - but those suggestions don't seem to help any. Any real life experience in how to slay a [fictional] dragon? PLEEZ help. I'm begging.

Bend it like... Braxton?

I'll admit that I don't understand soccer. I broke my wrist in the fifth grade just as we were getting to it in PE. Kinda killed the joy for me right off the bat. Anyway, its one of the few (major) sports I don't know how to play, and I don't watch on television. Somehow, Braxton has fallen in love with it. So, we go out and kick the ball around. Neither Mark or I can teach him how to play. Here are a few pics of him being awesome anyway. Look at the intensity with which he goes after that ball. We do have an actual soccer ball, but its smaller and more Braxton sized. This is NOT ok with him. He wanted the "big einsteins ball" because it was "big like a real soccer ball".
No joke - he planted that foot, then swung around and kicked that ball halfway across the field. (ok, halfway is a little exaggeration - but he kicked it purdy darn far). I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but I didn't think my three year old could pull sweet moves like that.

Nostalgia

For all those fellow-former-OSUNROTCer's out there.
A little Northwest Navy head gear action for the next generation.

Lol

After Mark saw this upcoming pic he said "classic Sarah". Since I don't often have a mirror in front of me when I make faces, I'm going to need a little input on this one. Cuz' frankly this face is just a tad weird.
Mark said this picture made him look just like me. To which I replied "then how in the world did you find me attractive enough to ask out the first time?".

Brotherly Love

Did anyone else ever watch that show?

Anyway... Just a few pics of my boys. They are fast becoming friends - the one thing that mollified me when I found out Mark had shot out another Y chromosome. I figured two same sex kiddos, very close in age would be pretty good pals. (For the most part- I'm not completely delusional.)

Aren't they adorable?

Smushmellow Clown.

Thanks to Jon and Kate + 8, my boys eat peanut butter and smushmellow (marshmallow) sandwiches. Being the ages that they are, and me being not quite as anal/uptight as Kate, they tend to make a mess while doing it.
Way cute right?

She's gonna kill me...

As you have probably figured out by now, my best friend bob was here over the weekend. I thought I would blog one of my favorite moments of her with my kids. Kieran found a good spot to put his phone... I love the way he's all non-chalant (sp?) about it, too. Oi, just going in for the goods like that, I'm totally going to have to watch this kid in high school.

Whoa, wait! - What just happened here?

Miss you bob.

Bookish

I totally stole this idea off of the blog "Marrying the Navy.

As a fan of all things book-y and British, this Facebook note caught my attention:
Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.
Instructions:
a. Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
b. Tally your total at the bottom.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen x
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien x
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte x
4 Harry Potter - JK Rowling x
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee x
6 The Bible x
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte x
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell x
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens x
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott / (that means half an x because I always fall asleep halfway through...)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller x
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien x
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger x (this book was seriously awesome.)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell x
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald x
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens x
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy x
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams x
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck x
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll x
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame x
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy x
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis x
34 Emma - Jane Austen x
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen x
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis x
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Berniere x
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden x
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne x
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell x
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown x
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery x
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood x
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan x
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen x
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens x
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley x
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez x
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck x
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tart
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold x
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas x
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding x
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville x
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens x
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker x
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett x
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath x
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray x
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens x
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker x
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert x
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom x
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle x
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupéry x
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams x
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas x (named one years pigs after them...)
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl x
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo x

The total (drum roll please...) is 60. I think that is perdy darn good. I'm especially proud that I read most of those BEFORE the movies came out. Go me. I also have some new books to add to my list of must reads.

The Yeti...

Ok, this post has to be really, really short because I only have seven minutes in my computer allotment left for today. Silly housing contracts that need to be e-signed. Anyway, my bff Bob was here this past weekend - and lucky for me it snowed and she got stranded here for another day! This was a picture I took of her at the top of the sledding hill. (Bob, this is the pre-played around with image...) She looks like a Yeti rising out of the swirling snow. It's awesome!

Hello, God?

It's me Sarah. I want to ask where the heck the idea for snow in March came from - and thank you. I had just been complaining to my mom, that living over here, my boys would never know snow. Last night you dumped about nine inches! We had such a great day! Amen. Ok... maybe Kieran didn't like it as much as the rest of us... Pushing them to the sledding hill...All of us trekking up the hill.Braxton and Aunt Bop. "The fun one." I love that my three year old can take digs at me... Braxton and I at the top of the sledding hill. Those are my thighs. They're apparently still too big to keep out of the frame... Aunt Bop "wiped out"!!!!!!Cold chin....

A little cold weather snot wipeage.

We went out a total of four times today. It was alot of fun, and each time us parents had to be the whistle blowers on the festivities. Even though Braxton's cheeks and fingers were freezing - he so did NOT want to go in. By the end of the day our sled trail was slick as the snot B-rox licks off of his upper lip. We could fly. Braxton said "oh, mom I loved going so fast down the hill!" Great day.