February 28, 2011...Bucket Boy 2.0

Alex has taken to playing in this bucket just as his big brother used to at his age.  It's funny how a simple bucket can bring so much joy.  

February 27, 2011...New Skills

Alex has been practicing his scissor skills and is becoming a pro.  I love his concentration when he's nipping away at the paper.  He leaves a spread of confetti when he's finished but it keeps him occupied for a long time so I'm ok with that.  Nothing a little broom can't sweep up.  He'll be all set for pre-k at this rate!  :)

February 26, 2011...Big Brother

Nate was helping Alex gear up for a big brush fire they had to respond to in the bathroom.  I love when he takes Alex under his wing and shows him the ropes.  Too cute!  Perhaps they'll both be Firefighters when they grow up?

February 25, 2011...Crawl Balls

When Western NY brings you months and months of endless cold and miserable days that keep you cooped up inside and going stir crazy, you have no choice but to let your kids strip down to skivvies and go swimming in a bathtub full of crawl balls.  Of course.  What fun they had, though! 

February 24, 2011...Troublemaker

Alex is 2 in every sense of the word.  He likes to push the limits and test his boundaries as often as possible.  Today was no different.  Here we were painting at the table where he quickly takes painting to mean finger painting and finger painting to mean PAINTING on HIMSELF.  It doesn't take long and he KNOWS he's not supposed to do it (thus the evil look in his eye here) but he likes to see how far he can get before he gets in trouble.  Little troublemaker.  <3

February 23, 2011...Lovin' Cup

My precious 4 (soon to be 5)-year-old made me the best cup of hot cocoa today.  

All.  By.  Himself.

It was delicious and meant the world to me!

He's getting so grown up - *sniff*

February 22, 2011...Recruits

February 21, 2011...Bowlin' for $

Ok, so we weren't bowling for dollars, but we did take the boys bowling for the first time today.  They grew tired of the whole idea halfway through the game, but we had fun anyway.  I won and Dave was beat by Alex, but I think we all had fun anyway.

February 20, 2011..."Landin"

Today we met up with Aunt Tiff and Brie to go see a performance of Aladdin at Nazareth College.  Nate kept calling it "Landin" and said Jafar was "a jerk!"  The guy who played the Genie was pretty funny and ultimately the boys did pretty well considering it was nap time for Alex and their attention spans are very short.  As always, we had a great time!  

February 19, 2011...Psych!

Mother Nature is playing a cruel joke on us.  Near 60 degree weather yesterday and today we get high winds, snow, and freezing temperatures.  It was brutal out there.  I would have liked to have been able to hunker down and hibernate but Nate started swimming lessons today.  So we trudged out in this horrid weather to the college so Nate could participate in the most chaotic and confusing swim lesson ever.  Hopefully next week will be better.  Both weather and lesson wise.

February 18, 2011...Spring Thaw

We had temperatures in the near 60s today (which felt downright BALMY, compared to the negative temps we have been experiencing!).  Unfortunately, with warm weather comes snow melting...which at our new house, apparently means pond season.  Luckily I have two boys who love to be wet and muddy and enough wine to make me not care (ha!) - seriously though, I have to remember they (and most things in my house that they may come in contact with) are 100% washable.  Nate even got to dispatch his "fire boat" today to rescue a poor little girl named Hannah who was trapped when a tree fell on her (gotta love his imagination!)

February 17, 2011...Another First!

My first day home as a temporary Work-At-Home/Stay-At-Home-Mom (it's only for 3 weeks so don't get too excited!) had the boys and I meeting up with the Ciravolas for a new first!  Ice skating!  Alex and I went around 1.5 times while he kung fu gripped my hands, but he stayed upright and gave it a whirl so I'm very proud of him.  My fearless Bug didn't need me and while he rarely took his hands off the wall, he went out there guns blazing and gave it his best shot!  Nate was actually mad at himself because he "couldn't skate" right off the bat so I had to explain to him that it's a difficult skill that he needs to practice.  Hopefully that will be enough motivation for him to want to try again.  I was very proud of both my boys for giving it a shot!  They did fabulously for their first time in skates!

February 16, 2011...Angel

Another long day at work brought me home to sleeping babes.  I look forward to being home with my boys tomorrow as Dave starts his training for Fire Dispatching!  

February 15, 2011...Snuggle Time

After working a 10-hour (12 with commute time) day, I was thrilled to come home and find the boys still awake.  I wasn't around much to take any good photos, but I did get to snuggle with Alex until he fell asleep.  That's when I snapped this cell phone pic of him snuggled up next to me on the couch.  I sometimes complain about his inability to sleep in his own bed (ever!) but I do admit I LOVE our snuggle time!  I wouldn't trade this for the world!

February 14, 2011...Cupid Was Here

Nate had a Valentine's Day party at school today and came home with a bag of loot from his friends.  I love the bag he decorated, specifically the "1" badge he so proudly pointed out to me :)  

February 13, 2011...Big Shoes to Fill

Nate has a habit of putting his boots and pants in turnout gear position throughout the house to be ready when the fire alarm goes off.  He jumps into his pants/boots and is off and running to the latest call.  Well, the other day Alex got a hold of his positioned "fire gear" and decided to take it out for a spin.  Nate was none too happy and proceeded to chase Alex around the house yelling, "You!"  Alex was proud as a peacock though, saying, "Yook, me!  I bru-ver!"  It was adorable!  Classic case of Monkey See-Monkey Do!

February 12, 2011...Beauty Regimine

I woke up at 6 AM this morning to the sound of Alex calling my name...I expected he would wander into our bedroom with his blankies and "fway" (pacifier) as he usually does in the morning, but he never did.  So a few (quiet) minutes later I decided to get up and see what he was up to.  This is what I found...He had climbed up to the breakfast bar and helped himself to my make-up case.  He looked so pretty!

February 11, 2011...Mission Accomplished

Nate's completed Valentine's for his pre-k class.  He had to cut out a picture of something he liked, paste it to the paper, cut out his friends' names and glue that to the paper and then write (at least) the first letter of that word (although he asked me how to spell the whole word and only asked me to finish it if he "ran out of room" on the line).  Then he signed his name to each and every one of them.  I was so proud of his work and how many of the letters he knew without my help!

February 10, 2011...Valentine's Day Prep

Nate's school sent home papers to fill out for each kid in his class so they can put them together into a little book for each child on Valentine's Day...too bad his Mom's a procrastinator and forgot about them until the day before they were due.  Oops!

February 9, 2011...Handy Helpers

The boys have become excellent helpers lately...they love to "help" wash the dishes so I let them (play in the water) whenever they ask.  Even if it means I'll be mopping my floor, counters, and cupboards when they're done.  And usually having to rewash their "clean" dishes but they have to start somewhere so I'm ok with that!  As long as they keep asking, I'll keep agreeing!  After all, practice makes perfect!

February 8, 2011...Small Town Library

I went down to the Kendall Town Hall to register Nate for swimming lessons through Kendall Recreation and was a little surprised to find that inside that one building was the normal town hall stuff (taxes, code enforcement, etc.) but also the "court house", the recreation department and the "library".  The library was what shocked me most.  It was quite literally a collection of 5 book shelves in the hallway that had books to take out, and a sign out sheet to take them out from.  You know you live in a small town when that's the town library.  Wow. 

February 7, 2011...Untitled

February 6, 2011...Superbowl and Super Friends

Dave was able to get Superbowl Sunday off from work at the last minute so we extended an invite to the Ciravola Family to come hang out!  We love this family as an extension of our own!  The kids got to play with Chloe, Jayden, and Ava and the parents got to hang out, eat, drink, and watch the big game!  I'm so glad they were able to join us on such short notice!  

February 5, 2011...Bath Time Fun

We had some sledding fun earlier today and did some shopping with Tiff and Brie for our Superbowl Shenanigans tomorrow.  When we got home the boys were pooped so we ate a quick dinner and had some fun playing in the warm water in the bath.  Nate was busy drinking "pee water"(as he called it - which was probably accurate knowing him) out of a squirt bottle he had taken in the tub.  And my water baby splashed, and played, and dribbled, and swam...and "shaved" :)

February 4, 2011...Growth Spurt

Alex must be going through a growth spurt because he has been devouring everything we put in front of him.  That's very unlike him usually as he tends to eat like a bird and just pick at food.  This morning he ate all of his cinnamon waffles and sausage and then proceeded to lick the syrup from his plate.  Now, that's thorough!

February 3, 2011...Simple Entertainment

Another Target find to keep the kids busy on a cold winter day...little capsules that dissolved in warm water and turned into animal shaped sponges...the kids loved these - sure they drove me nuts kicking around after bath time, but you can't beat the entertainment factor for a $1!  Plus I got to use them to as educational references when we went over animals and what sounds they make, what they eat, where they live, etc.  

February 2, 2011...Goofaninny!

February 1, 2011...Artistic Tendencies

I bought these cheap little wooden frames at Target for the boys to paint and it came in handy tonight as a project to keep them occupied while I made dinner.  Alex was very serious about his art until he started testing and "threatening" to eat the paint...I'm sure it was non-toxic, of course, but no doubt made in China so it's not worth risking!  :)  This kid loves coloring, painting, drawing...maybe he'll be an artist like his Aunt Sarah?!?