How To Have A Good Day

You can make the day good by doing a headstand in the Chic-Fil-A tunnel.

Or by hanging upside down on things you're not supposed to.

By playing nicely with your brother.

By being cool in the dentist's office.

By sleeping as if the world doesn't exist.

And cuddling in blankets.

And appreciating the sky.

Most times all it takes is a smile.

Or a funny face.

 

 

A kiss!

 

A good day is easy to have.

If you choose to have it.

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Thursday Sunrise

Today's sunrise was very dramatic and it was the talk of the day.
My coworker said, "Did you see it? Oh my gosh. It was amazing."
It was.

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Bisketti Night!

Caden
"Guess what! I eat all bisketti noodles!"

Me
"Really? But there are lots of noodles in your bowl."

Caden
"That's just for now. There will be no noodles left behind."

Sauce
1 can of meat sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes w/oregano
1 tsp minced garlic
1 minced onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp salt
1 lb browned ground beef
1 package fully cooked meatballs

Add cooked thin spaghetti noodles and serve!

The boys loved dinner. :)

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Mr. Zippity Goes To the Hospital

You might remember that Bruce chewed Mr. Zippity's eye out on Friday. You can read more about it here. I was able to save him but he wasn't in any shape to go back to school. I had to buy a new one.

Instead of taking pictures of Caden's activities with Mr. Zippity, we decided to write the journal and draw about it.

We drew Mr. Zippity recovering in a hospital, thinking about all the fun he had before the incident.

Caden felt much better about the whole thing after we were done.

He's also pretty sure Mr. Zippity is happy with the project.

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Mr. Zippity Loses His Eye

Sean
(In his best He-Man voice)
"For the honor of Grace Skull, I am SPIDER-MAN!"

Caden
(In his best He-Man voice, too)
"Me TOOOOO!"

Sean
"Oh my gosh, Caden! Bruce is chewing Mr. Zippity!"

Like all kids, mine have a habit of leaving toys around. I nag and threaten to throw toys away if they don't show me they care for them. But it's pointless. They're kids. And it isn't a crime to forget to put their toys away. It is, however, a different story when the toy doesn't belong to them.

Caden's weekend project is Mr. Zippity's Travel Log. Each kid in his class will have a chance to take a stuffed animal zebra home for the weekend, take pictures with him, and journal their time together. On Monday they are to bring the travel log and zebra back to class and talk about it.

Caden was so excited to have Mr. Zippity! He ate dinner with him, did homework with him, even brought him to his morning babysitter's house. It was so cute and I thought the project was really sweet.

And then something incredibly ... what's the word ... Common. Yes common. Something incredibly common happened.

Mr. Zippity was found in the mouth of Bruce, our 5 year old bloodhound mix. I couldn't fix it. I sewed his face up and hand washed him. But he was permanently damaged. I ended up purchasing a replacement on Amazon. Thank goodness that store had it.

Caden was so sad but more than that, he didn't want to tell his teacher that he wouldn't be bringing her zebra back. Hopefully this will be a lesson for him--take care of toys!

The culprit. Bruce is known to steal stuffed animals and chew their eyes out. I don't know what it is but he won't do anything else but take out the eyes. Sometimes a nose if its shiny enough.

Caden's tree frog was found mutilated under the dining table.

Sean's Kanga was found under my bed. Thankfully he paid no attention to the baby in her pouch.

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Sean Got His Shots

Sean
"Excuse me, can you make sure you put the shot ON my leg and not in it?"

Med tech
"Aw sweetie, it's gonna pinch just for a second. It'll be really fast."

Sean
"Just do it really soft ok? Don't do it hard because it'll hurt real bad. Just put it on my leg, not in it ok?

Med tech
"Ok hold Mommy's hand."

First shot
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Second shot
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Med tech
"Just one more sweetie."

Third shot
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Med tech
"There, there. It's all done sweetie."

Sean
"But I asked you to not do it hard! And it hurt so bad!"

My poor little guy. He was so sweet trying to ask the med tech so nicely not to let the shots hurt. It hurt my heart to see him cry.

Later, he told Caden that he got three shots. Caden's eyes widened. "THREE shots? Oh my gosh! Can I see your band aids?" It made me smile when Sean nodded his head, as if he just won a battle.

Later he told me, "Mommy those hurt really bad. My heart hurts." Thankfully he doesn't need anymore shots for a while.

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4 Year Old Shots

Sean:
Mommy I don't want the shot to go IN my leg I just want it to go ON my leg.

Caden:
No Sean. It has to go IN your leg. Through your meat!

Me:
Caden don't talk about it. You're scaring him.

Sean:
Mommy it'll go like this- pook! And I'll go like this Ow ow ow ow ow!!!!! And it'll break my heart!

Caden:
But Mommy I'm not scaring him. I'm telling him the truth. The needle goes through his meat!

Sean:
Nooooo!!!!!!

So Monday Caden overheard the front desk clerk at Sean's daycare tell me that Sean is due for his 4 year old shots.

So Caden spilled the beans as soon as he saw his brother.

It is the topic of the week. And poor Sean keeps trying to convince me that the needle shouldn't go IN his leg. It should go ON his leg.

So I told him that since he's getting big kid shots he gets to pick out a small toy after. And Caden isn't liking that idea at all.

Caden's plan is to scare Sean enough that he won't get shots so he won't get a toy. Well... That's what I am suspecting anyway.

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Crayon Art: The Koi Pond

I just posted an art project the boys and I did. It's called Crayon Art and its super easy and fun to do. You can read about all that here.

Each crayon chunk was an art piece to me. So I portrayed them as such. Today's featured Crayon Art is The Koi Pond.

In Phase II of the project, this piece reminded me of a bright orange koi fish at the surface of the water looking up. It's orange glow stands out from the dark water.

Other koi are portrayed but they are further down and display depth in the picture.

The final phase of the art piece portrayed a very different version of The Koi Pond. In this version, the movement of the water is emphasized. The first version was a darker, more dramatic image whereas this one is almost fun to view.

This is one of my favorite Crayon Art Pieces.

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Crayon Art

For some time now I've been saving broken crayons. The boys love to color but they also love to pretend the crayons are swords. So I have been keeping a collection of broken crayons simply because I can't bear to see them go to waste.

Well today I was tired of seeing the box of dead crayons and I decided to do some art with them. I'm a huge nerd so I thought it would be okay to figure it out. But I wouldn't do it on my own of course.

Caden and Sean helped! Well ok, Caden helped and Sean provided us with company. We all had a ton of fun and they were both happy at the end.

We made giant crayon chunks out of the broken crayons!

First we gathered all the broken crayons and began unwrapping them. To make sure we stayed organized we placed the unwrapped crayon pieces in a bowl. Two boys, crayons and crayon wrappers make for a giant mess so it's always a good idea to try to be a little organized.

After wrapping them, we sorted them into their colors. All the greens (light and dark) together, all the reds, etc. This will help you distribute the colors the way you like.

Now that your colors are in order, you can get them ready for baking. Line your cupcake pans with foil and put your colors in each cup.

You will bake them for 10-20 minutes (depending in your preference) at 275 degrees.

If you'd like each cup to be unique, arrange the colors in a selected design. Remember, when they melt there's a good chance they'll stay in the same place--they'll just be gooey.

When they are melted to your satisfaction, take them out of the oven and let them stand to cool completely.

When they're done, you'll take them out of the foil and voila!! Fun crayon chunks!

Caden and Sean are super happy with these. :)

I made some of them into their own individual inspiration for art pictures. I'll post those soon.

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Holiday!

Guess who has time to deep clean the apartment!  This girl!  Yay!  I've been on Christmas Break all week and I've been sOoOo HaPpY!!!  I love having time to do deep cleaning in my home.  It's so therapeautic.  But not only do I have time to deep clean, I have time to rearrange my furniture!  Because my apartment is so tiny, I have to make good use of the little space I have.  My living room is also my office.  :-)

 

My little guy, Sean, is a huge goofball.  After both boys dressed for Christmas pictures, Sean would not keep still for any practice shots at all.  He laughed, smiled with his eyes closed, made monkey faces, and kissey faces.  He definitely made it a lot of fun!

 

Caden is a bit more cooperative when it comes to picture taking.  He has always been my cheeser.  When I take pictures of him he usually asks me if he "smiled good."  Although Caden has his goofball moments, he is definitely more of a sweetheart. 

 

I stayed inside while the boys played in the snow.  I am such a baby when it comes to the cold.  The kids, all kids I suppose, play as if they couldn't feel the cold at all.  They threw snow at each other, made snow angels, and just laughed a lot.  I am so thankful for a white Christmas.  Caden and Sean love that Christmas looks different than the other seasons.  It comes with warm drinks, fires, presents and decorated trees.  But mostly, it comes white... if we're blessed enough.  :-)

 

Wherever and however you're spending Christmas, I hope it is filled with love and laughter.  And most of all I hope it is filled with your children's hugs.

 

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