March 2010

Well, March wasn't a very exciting month. We did quite a bit, but I didn't seem to take many photos. This might be because I started teaching another Metro CC class. This time it's an online class, so it doesn't require me to teach on campus. Some things we did do: we went to a Lancer's hockey game with some friends and the boys, we celebrated Jack's half birthday (he turned 4 1/2) and Barb and Jessie came for a visit. We celebrated St. Patrick's day with a treasure hunt and a leprechaun trap. We also colored some Easter eggs in preparation for Easter. After doing the eggs, we used the vinegar and backing soda to make a volcano erupt. The boys love doing this.

Here are a few of the very few photos I did take:

Jack turns 4 1/2!!

The boys love Star Wars and Scooby Doo.

Our leprechaun trap.

Our finished Easter eggs-Star Wars, of course!



Making a volcano with Aunt Jessie and Grandma Barb.

Funny/Nice Things Charlie Has Said Recently...

The other day Charlie was asking about marriage and wanted to see our wedding pictures. He then told me that his friend in kindergarten had picked out a girl in class to marry. He was saving her for later.

Tonight while I was getting ready to do my exercise video Charlie said, "Mom, do you get Girl Scout cookies so you can do this?" And I said, "No, but that's about right." Just the other way around. I exercise so that I can eat a full box of Thin Mints in a weekend.
Then he said to me, "You don't need to exercise. You are already skinny." Ahhh, just what I wanted to hear. Bonus points for him!

February 2010

Here we are again...February is such a short month. I like that though, because it makes spring come that much sooner.

This month was kind of blah. I had hernia surgery on the 2nd. I was off work for two weeks. I watched a lot of Oprah, Good Morning America and Dr. Oz.

My mom watched the boys the day of my surgery. They made me some cards, got me some treats and flowers. It was very nice (my mom's idea probably!).

The Winter Olympics started this month as well. The boys each made their own "country flag" for the opening ceremonies. They carried their flags around the house and we clapped and yelled for them. They loved this, especially Jack. They decided they were hockey players, so we had to yell, "We love you hockey players!" It went on and on, per Jack's request.

Charlie's flag was the country of Gummi Bears. He loves Gummi Bears. Jack's had something to do with fire and bombs...doesn't sound very Olympic like, but it was very boy like.

Mid-month we enjoyed a great Valentine's Day weekend. We didn't do much and relaxed a lot. Doug and I have been watching all the episode's of Dexter, a series on Showtime. We've only finished season one, but really like it so far. That is what we did most of that Saturday. That Sat. night, I had the boys do a treasure hunt with clues to find one of their Valentine gifts. Sunday morning, we did another treasure hunt for some other little gifts. They got some pencils, a t-shirt, and a Star Wars Lego Wii game. They love this game and played it forever that day...with a little assistance from Doug. That day I also made homemade pecan rolls, which were so good.

I had that Monday off from school, so the boys and I laid around in jammies and also made chocolate covered strawberries, bananas, pineapple and grapes. During this process, Charlie said, "Everything is better with chocolate. Except lasagna. Lasagna is not better with chocolate." He is so right.

The next weekend the weather was a balmy 30 degrees with no wind, so we made a trip to the zoo. We hadn't been there since fall. It was a welcome chance to walk around outside and enjoy the zoo when it was not busy. We visited mostly indoor exhibits, and had a great time. After the zoo, we stopped at Noodles and Company for lunch. It was so good.

On the 24th of this month, Doug and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. I guess saying we celebrated would be a little bit of an exaggeration. I had a meeting at Metro Community College that day after school to meet with a professor about the class I am teaching this spring. On top of that, I had a horrible headache. I went to bed around 7pm that night. Pretty exciting. We did order in Thai food, which was good. This weekend we had my cousin, Jake, babysit and we went to Blue Sushi and to see the movie Avatar. It was a great movie.

On a different note, I wanted to record some funny things Jack said this month. He is such a funny and animated kid!

A few nights ago, the boys were running around the house like crazy and I yelled, "You boys are animals." Jack yelled back, "So send us to the zooooooo, Mommy!" Some days I wish I could!

Another night before a shower, Jack was picking the toe fuzz out from between his toes. This is something Jack has ALWAYS done. We didn't teach him this. He just does it. He informed me that night that he only likes to pick the toe fuzz out every once in a while, so that it's more colorful. His theory is that if he changes his socks every day and wears different color socks, his toe fuzz will be more colorful.

This past Friday night we went to La Mesa for dinner. Jack was being a little rowdy at the restaurant and I told him if he didn't behave, he would get a check mark. (We have this imaginary chart where we give them check marks if they are naughty). He said, "Go ahead, give me a check mark. I want to be on the bad side!" Apparently, he's been watching too much Star Wars and is with Darth Vader on the "Dark Side."

January 2010

I am running a little late on posting for January. I had surgery the beginning of Feb, so things have been a little slow around here.

At the beginning of January, we had Charlie's 6th birthday party at a local bounce place. Charlie invited some neighbor kids and all of his classmates and the party was a great time. It was held on a Friday of a week in which we had snow days due to extreme cold Wed-Fri of that week. So, we were very ready to get out of the house and burn off some energy. The temps that week ranged from -20 to -40 wind chill. It was very cold. We didn't leave the house all week, except for the party.

The week of Charlie's party, we had fun cheering on the Hawkeyes in the Orange Bowl. We all got out our Hawkeye gear and had some good food and fun watching them.

Due to all the cold and snow over Christmas, we had to delay our family Christmas celebrations until after the new year. The weekend after New Year's, we had the Bogardus and Whitney Christmas'.

New Year's Eve

For New Year's Eve we went over to the Bell's house. They have a little girl, Grace, with whom Charlie and Jack love to play. We had a ton of good food and wine and had a really nice evening. We even all made it to midnight....except Grace!

Charlie Turns Six!

On December 29, Charlie turned 6. We had a very busy day planned, starting with eating Charlie's blueberry lemon birthday breakfast cake. It was so good!

Next we headed to the movies to see Alvin and the Chipmunks with Nana Pam!

The boys loved the movie and then we headed to Red Robin for lunch where Charlie opened his gift from Nana and Papa. They got him a little digital camera/video camera. He loved it! Then everyone sang happy birthday to him where he wouldn't even crack a smile! He can be so shy!

We got home after lunch where I hoped the boys would take a little nap. No such luck! Doug got home and we quickly opened presents and had Scooby Doo cake. Charlie's main present was a new bike, but he also got a few other things like a cookbook, about which he was super excited! Then we headed to dinner with Sherry and Des at Old Chicago! After dinner we were on to the Qwest Center to watch the Creighton and UNI basketball game.

The day after Charlie's birthday, we had the neighbor boys over for lunch. The boys made their own pizzas and drinks that were in Charlie's new cookbook. Then during lunch, Charlie lost his second tooth!

Christmas Day 2009

On Christmas Day, the boys were up even earlier than usual! Charlie was good and only peeked downstairs a few times to see what Santa had brought for them. He waited patiently until we were all up and dressed. The boys ripped through their presents in a short time, and then we spent the day playing with everything. With all of the snow we got, all of our family Christmas party plans were canceled and postponed until the following weekend. So, we had the opportunity to stay in our pajamas all day long and hang out. It was nice. Doug and I even put the boys to bed early that night and watched a movie and had a bottle of wine. That was the best present ever--just getting to hang out and relax.

The big present we got this year was the Wii. The boys have really enjoyed it and have gotten good at playing it. And it has bought Doug and I some quiet time upstairs. We've watched a few movies!

The boys were also really excited to get some Hawkeye and Steeler attire. They love to cheer for these teams with their Dad!



The day after Christmas, the boys went outside to play while Doug shoveled. There is quite the mountain of snow on the side of our driveway.