Piano Lessons

This is my view while Big Brother has piano lessons. We're finishing up his first month and there hasn't been a single fight about practicing! I know it will come eventually, though. But, for now, I love to get a little listen while he works with Cristin each week.

 I especially love how his little feet don't even come close to the ground. He's getting so big, yet every once in a while I get a glimpse that makes me cherish the "littleness" that he still has left in him.

Have you ever?

had a day like this?

After a particularly long day with no nap, I couldn't find this little guy anywhere. Finally, I went up to his room and found him sprawled on the floor, next to his bed, fast asleep!

So, I've been Sewing

In my spare time (Ha! Did you get that joke?!?) I've been sewing. I ran into this tutorial on making Letter T-Shirts. Little Brother has taken a real interest in learning his letters recently. His favorite is "N" (for his name!). So, I made him this shirt. It's his most requested shirt.

Then, it was my nephews birthdays, so I made them these: (they got C's for their names!)

The Tie Shirts were from here. Little brother is still waiting for his.

I liked how these letter shirts turned out better on the stripes. Too late for Little Bro!

And just because she's so cute, I made these for my littlest niece! 

I can't wait to see her little toosh in these cute ruffles!

And finally, I made these for a friend who had her sweet boy last November! I guess it's better late than never!!!

So, if I forgot your birthday or haven't called you back, now you know why. Just be glad you aren't getting a package of ruffly underwear in the mail to make up for it!

Bass-kah-ball

Part of Big Brother's nightly homework is to write a sentence. It can be anything he wants. Almost always, he starts it with "I like to ..." This day, I was challenging him to try some new words. He didn't "like to" so I left him to write a sentence. When I came back, he had written "a surprise" for me! He doesn't just "like" baskbol, he "loves" it.

When I said, there is an "E-T" in Basketball. He replied, "No, there is not. Listen.... BASS  KAH  BALL." 

Case closed!

What's for lunch?

As strange as it looks, this is the only sandwich Big Brother will eat - turkey and strawberries. He'll substitute halved grapes too. No PB&J for this kid! 

When he was a toddler he used to dip bananas into ketchup. So, I guess his taste buds have evolved a little.

Friday Favorites

A long time ago I started Friday Favorites. I never did it again. These are a couple of photos from the past few weeks that I love.

We made these "spaghetti" cupcakes for April Fool's Day. They are Chocolate cupcakes from a box with yellow frosting, Rolo- 'meatballs' and strawberry jelly 'sauce'. Big Brother got a big kick out of these. I love the way Little Brother is trying to see what his big bro is doing. That is the way it is around here. He says what he says, does what he does. This picture is precious to me.

Found the boys on my bed with every pillow in the house having a pillow fight! Too cute!

Piano Man

Big Brother has asked to take piano lessons for a few months now. His good buddy's mom just happens to  teach piano lessons. He started Monday. He learned a song with 4 notes. He plays it for everyone that visits our house. It makes my heart glad that he is learning the piano. 

(It also makes me glad that it's being used for more than just dusting practice!)

My week

It's been a while, I know! This has been my week....

Yep, a sick little guy. I will spare you the details, but it hasn't been pretty! Let's just say a dose of Mirilax an hour before a stomach bug shows up is not a good combination. And just when I think he's better, he relapsed today. We haven't left the house much. Every time I turned around this little guy was sleeping. 

Being home has had it's benefits. I have an almost clean house, some almost completed projects, 2 sets of vacation plans almost completed, and best of all had plenty of time to look at these...

These are the boys' photobooks from age 4 and age 1 that came in the mail this week. (Yes, I am aware that I almost 2 years behind for them both!) I do a book for each year for each boy with Shutterfly. I use my photoshop and usually templates I find on the internet. These are both about 90 pages and I love every page and every memory they represent. Here are some of my favorites...

When we took the training wheels off Big Brother's Bike.

A fun Halloween memory

Turning 5!

Going back to Pre-K

A summary of a fun one year old!

Days at the park

A sweet toddler with only 2 teeth!

A sweet little boy who loved his pacifiers!

It was a good treat to get these in the mail this week! 

Title-less

I can't even think of a title to go with this cowboy-darth vader-yoda combo Little Brother created!

Move Over Michael

(Michael Jordan-in case you don't get my lame sense of humor!)

Big Brother has been waiting all winter to be on a basketball team. He finally started practice and his first game last week. He's loving it! Check out those shoes. They make him look so official!

He didn't get the ball much during the game. Let's just say there are some kids that like to keep the ball as long as possible. But, when he did have the ball, he did his best dribbling. When I asked him after the game if the game was what he thought it would be like. He answered, "Not really. I thought all the kids would be really nice and pass the ball to me. But, they don't." 

(Not loving the picture quality! I still struggle with indoor light situations. I least I have many more weeks to practice :)

A New View

So, no... this isn't about some new outlook on life. This post is about this baby...

I have been saving every penny of my tutoring money to buy it. I finally took the plunge last Friday and have been playing with it ever since. It is a new lens for my Canon. It is the best quality lens I've had and it's awesome! 

So, in addition to showing you what I love about it, I'll show you what we've been up to for spring break as well! (It takes color photos - in case you were wondering. I just happened to love them all in black and white for a change.

Loving the library 

Time outdoors

Wrestling with Daddy

Train ride at the zoo. ( I love little Bro's excitement to see me!)

A terribly windy afternoon of tennis

Dont' you love his shirt? It's his favorite "show"

Yaaahooooo!

It's Spring Break. Enough said!

Prayers

Every night we pray with the kids before they go to bed. They each take turns praying too. Big Brother prays quietly and privately, but Little Brother lets us hear his prayers. And it's a good thing, because quite often he gives us a laugh before bed. This night his prayer was...

"Thank you God for keeping me safe and for helping me eat my proteins."

Overheard

While riding to the doctor yesterday in the car this conversation was overheard...

B: "I love Laser Tag. We played it at my friends birthday party."

N: "Yah, me too. (doesn't even know what it is) Will you laser me?"

B: "I am going to have laser tag at my 7 year old party"

N: "Can I be on your team?"

B: "Yes. We'll be the green team."

N: "We'll be the GreenBay Packers"

B: "Yah, the other team will be the Red Bay Packers."