That's my boys!!

You will all be happy to know that Golden took the day off and took a friend to New York city in order to sit at Yankee Stadium and watch a ball game. I don't know which Golden likes more, being in New York because it means he has a job or being in New York because it means he can go to the city and watch a baseball game. He was soooo looking forward to today.


When we woke up this morning Ryan was in his room talking and guess what he was saying? "Baseball!!! Baseball!!" Of course it was ten to 6 and he was screaming at the top of his lungs but it made Golden so proud. I rolled over and said, "Your son is calling you!! Get up and get him."

Do you know how many times I have sung "The Popcorn Song" in the last week? Too many to count. In fact I dreamed that I was being attacked by a large popcorn tree. Not a tree with lots of little white flowers but a tree that was full of popcorn. And if any of it fell off, more would just pop in its place. I tried to run but I was under water because I couldn't move fast enough and so I turned around and tried to bat it away. It didn't seem to work. I thought maybe if I ate the popcorn faster than the tree could produce it, the tree would lose some of its power. Then I woke up.
Happy Spring Everyone!!

Third time's a charm...

So after trying to post this two times yesterday and something happening both times I decided I would quit for the day. Plus I needed to go make dinner. I know that it really is Friday but I know how much you all love this so here goes..

Useless Information Thursday

There are more than 150 breeds of horses in the world.


The normal body temperature for the Clydesdale horse is 101 degrees Fahrenheit.

With nearly 11 million horses in it's borders, China is the leader of all nations for horse population.


Thoroughbred horses are so thin-skinned their veins are visible beneath the skin especially on the legs.


Though small, the Shetland pony is strong. It was once used to haul heavy cars in coal mines.

Rhinos are in the same family as horses and are thought to have inspired the myth of the unicorn. A rhinoceros's horn is made of compacted hair.


Enjoy!! Have a good one!!

2 things

I was reading an article in the paper about Turn off the TV Week and I decided that my kids watch too much TV. It is really amazing what Reese can come up with to play when she is not in front of the TV. This week she has played store (She came and raided all the silverware from the kitchen so they could buy it at the store), I have heard her singing songs that I didn't even know that she knew(making up some funny words about snowmen to the tune of The Spirit of God), she has been very creative with the toys downstairs (making them all talk to each other) and she has asked me about friends and relatives she hasn't seen in 6 months to a year. Isn't it great what happens when you turn it off!!


Number 2--My poor son has the chubbiest legs. Here is a good picture of the rolls on the inside of his leg. Reese had rolls but by the time she was almost 2 they had gone away. Poor Ryan will probably have thunder thighs forever, he comes by it honest!!

Notes to myself...

I have learned a few things in the past week and I figured I should write them down or I will never remember them.

1. Never give anything covered in whipped cream to an angry toddler. Especially one who likes to throw things.


2. Never tell a 4 year old that you want her to sit still and look pretty so you can take her picture because whatever she has in her hands will end up in front of her face.


3. Don't let your toddler dress himself. If you do, be prepared for this:


4. Last but not least, be sure to stand clear of a one year old when he has a bat in his hands. You may even have to sneak up behind him as you try to grab it out of his hands making sure he doesn't take your head off.

Hats

I was going through my last set of pictures and I started to notice a theme with Ryan. He likes to wear hats. I don't know why I never noticed this before but all these pictures are from the last month.

Here he is enjoying a corn dog. (Yes he does have 2 shirts on because well I don't know why?!?)


Here he is after we went on a walk this last week. For those of you wondering, he is sitting in a stroller inside the house. It seems that he likes to ride in the stroller as well. He also wore this hat when we went to the Zoo and he wore it all day. Those were 2 things Reese hated to do, wear a hat and sit in the stroller. She always wanted to get out and push.


Daddy was happy about this one:) and then he (Golden) added the sunglasses. My little girlie rock star, with out pants.



A winter hat.


Climbing on the crib. It is a good thing he hasn't figured out how to climb out. I dread that day. Again with out pants.

Progress Report

O.K. so here are the things we actually accomplished this week. (Unfortunately so did the rest of the state of New York who was also on Spring break)

1. We did make it to the mall in Syracuse. I bit the bullet and drove up there and we had a good time. Reese was happy because they have a build-a-bear shop in that mall. It is the closest one. Ryan would not let go of his horse and so we rode the carousel a couple of times until I could bribe him with ice cream to get off.

2. We didn't make it to the germ infested Discovery Center that is pretty lame any way. We did however make it to the zoo in Syracuse. It is a ton better than the one here. We went early one morning and went to the zoo, then the mall for lunch and the carousel. The kids had a good time and I learned that Ryan likes to sit in his stroller. He actually had a fit when it was time to get out and go eat. Who would have ever figured, the boy likes to do something better than eat!!

3. We didn't go to the park but we did go on a nice walk. We walked down to the ice cream shop that has been closed all winter and opened up again lately and ate ice cream. YUMMY!!

4. Check. Not only did we go to breakfast but we had a slumber party. We put Ryan to bed and got all of our pillows and blankets and went down to the playroom and ate popcorn and cookies and stayed up late watching t.v.

5. Did it. We went to get the oil changed and I needed to get the tires rotated as well. They said that will take an hour and 1/2. It is a good thing it is across the street from Target. We can always seem to waste time (and money) there.

6. We tried to play with Caleb this week but every time we went to play they were busy. They are really active in their church so they are always rushing off to one service or meeting of some kind.

7. Done. Now I just have to remember to take the books back later this week.

8. Went to the Binghamton zoo and the Syracuse zoo. See #2.

9. I made a deal with Golden to go to Rochester on our next ward temple trip. We will eat at the Cheesecake Factory then (Sometime in May)

10. We cleaned out Reese's closet but not Ryan's. Reese told me that she needs more clothes to fill up her drawers now that we took out all the bulky stuff. Her drawers have been bulging all winter with sweaters, sweat shirts and long sleeved shirts. Now it seems so empty!

It has been a really busy week!! I can't wait for school to start again!!

It's Thursday...

...And you know what that means. Time for some useless trivia.

Numbers

-Smokey the Bear's zip code is 20252.

-Dirty Harry's badge number is 2211.

-Approximately 60 circus performers have been shot from cannons. At last report, thirty one of them have been killed.

-In an episode of the Simpsons, Sideshow Bob's criminal number is 24601, the same as the criminal number of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.

-The Chinese checkerboard has 121 holes.

-The wheel on the game show Wheel of Fortune is 102 inches in diameter.

Laundry

In the last week I have found
-one sticker
-one tube of chap stick
-one neon yellow pen
-two pictures of strawberry shortcake
-4 rocks
-$.09
-one ring
-a bracelet
-a watch
and one folded up 3x5 card with stick figures on it

All in the washing machine or dryer while doing laundry. It is time to start checking pockets with fervor. Luckily nothing was ruined.(I think)

Spring Break

This week is spring break. I would think that we have had enough time off school. No wonder we don't get out until the end of June!! Here is the list of stuff I told Reese we would do this week.
1. Go to the mall in Syracuse (because it is a real mall and they have a food court and a carousel) So who cares if we have to drive for an hour and 1/2 just to get there.
2. Go to the museum. A small dirty place that is going to be packed with every other kid that is not in school this week. Good times!

3. Go to the park. It is supposed to be in the 60's and it hasn't snowed in like a week:)

4. Go to breakfast. It is one of our favorite family things to do since Daddy doesn't have to be "At the office."

5. Get the oil changed in the car!! I know it's not a very kid friendly thing to do but it has to be done this week.

6. Play with Caleb. He lives across the street but it seems like we never have time to do anything together.

7. Go to the library.

8. Go to the zoo. We have a membership and haven't been all winter, maybe because they close for the winter. (And it only takes about 1 hour to see everything they have and it is only 20 minutes away)

9. Maybe Golden will take us to Rochester and we can eat at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM!!

10. Clean out her closet and get out her summer clothes. I haven't even been able to let her wear short sleeved shirts b/c of the cold. She has been wearing her flip-flops around the house for the last week and it makes me want the warm weather here. Maybe if we get out the shorts and sandals we will trick the weather into thinking that it is time to be warm. I also need to do the same for Ryan. He has lots of things that he has outgrown over the winter and I have just thrown them into the closet.


Check back at the end of the week to see how many things we actually got done.

Oh-I almost forgot! Taxes are due this week. Maybe we should get that done too!!

Transportaion

Reese is talking about transportation all this week and to honor this unit of study here goes:

The Kansas City Railroad used to stop their trains to allow the passengers to shoot at passing buffalo.



Traveling by air is the safest means of transportation. More people are killed
by donkeys annually than killed in plane crashes.



It would take more than 150 years to drive a car to the sun.



More than 10 percent of all the salt produced annually in the world is used to
de-ice American roads.

I think a large percentage of that is used in upstate New York.

Have a good day!!

Congratulations!!

Ryan no longer sleeps with a pacifier. It has been a long week and a couple of sleepless nights but I think he finally has it. He is really growing up.


Bye-Bye paci!!

We are going to the beach this summer and Reese keeps asking me when that will be. I tell her when there is no more snow and it is really warm outside and the sun shines a lot. Yesterday it was in the 50's here and the sun was out all day. No heavy coats for us, just sweatshirts. We were on our way home from the store and Reese asked me, "Mom, are we going to the beach tomorrow?" and I said, "No, why?" she said because it is finally warm and you said we are going to the beach when it is warm!" Sorry I really need to be specific with her don't I.

On conference Sunday we spent the whole day at a friends house watching conference, eating and hanging out. We got home late that night after dinner and both kids had fallen asleep on the way home. When we got home we quickly put the kids to bed and started getting ready ourselves. I walked by Reese's door and she was still awake and she looked at me and said, "I need to brush my teeth." And I know it was a horrible answer but I told her she could do it in the morning. She looked at me really funny and said, "But just think of all that food I ate today." Trying to hide a laugh I told her she could go brush as long as she hurried and got right back in bed.

Meatballs and snow forts

Ryan is SO cute when he eats. He is a very good eater and he loves meatballs. The other day he was sitting at his chair and he wanted to make sure he had every last drop of spaghetti sauce and so he picked up his plate and licked it. What can I say he wanted to make sure he got it all.

No it is not a fort made out of snow but it is a fort we made inside because we couldn't go outside because of the snow. It is a few weeks old but I thought it was very creative of Reese. And they played in their "house" all day. And yes it is attached to the front door.



P.S. it is finally spring here. The sun is out and it is almost 50 today!!(And it hasn't snowed in almost a whole week!!

Eat your heart out Carter! (or at least your cream)

This one is for Carter!

One day I went into my bedroom and this is what I found:



Yes that is Ryan sitting on the floor of my bedroom with a tube of cherry flavored chapstick in his mouth. I watched him for a few minutes and this is what I saw him do.


Yes he is sticking his finger in the tube and digging the chapstick out in order to eat it. This is what it looked like.


And this is what he looked like when I took it away from him. I guess he wasn't finished yet.


My kid may be weird but at least he wasn't eating this. (Right Carter?)

Grandpa would be proud

My dad, who is in the construction business should be very proud of Ryan. Just look at the latest 'Favorite Toy.'



My little Handy Manny!

Thanks for letting us have a great time Grandma!! We love you and miss you already.

Todays bit of useless information...

...is all about animals.

It is physically impossible for pigs to look up at the sky.



Deer can not eat hay. They do like to eat marijuana.



Moose have very poor vision. Some have even tried to mate with cars.



Jaguars are scared of dogs.



Flamingos can live up to 80 years.



And last but not least, Eagles mate while airborne.


Now everyone can say they learned something interesting today!