Fun with the 'rents ....

Well we had an exciting, fun-filled weekend visiting both my parents and Corey's parents. The boys always love getting to spend time with their Gwamma's and Papa's as well as Aunt Tracy! Here's a few pics of the boys adventures ...

"Turkey" hunting in the backyard

Sighting in the new gun

Celebrating netting an imaginary fish

"Fixing" the trolling motor

Smelling a plastic worm -- just because, that's what Gage does

Adjusting the time on the clock in the park for Daylight Savings

Fun on the slide

There were several other adventures that we didn't capture on film, but I wish we would have. For example, me climbing my big ol' booty up into the McDonald's Playland when Riley was stuck at the very freakin' top. Good times! Or Gage falling down the stairs not once, but twice. It wasn't funny at the time because it scared us all so, but his little body sure does tumble fast!

Also, the boys investigating the big ol' historic red barn at Gma and Gpa Hubers. I'll definitely have to capture that last one during our next visit.

All in all it was a great weekend with the family and we were even able to fit in a nice dinner with our good friend's the Bruce's.

As a matter of fact, we all had so much fun, we were just pooped by the time we headed home on Sunday. I think this pic of the boys on the drive back says it all ...

Short and Silly Quotes ...

Each day the boys seem to say something that strikes us as comical. Whether it be a mispronunciation or an odd use of a word, their emerging language skills elicit numerous smiles and giggles from their mommy and daddy = ) Here's a couple of our favorites:

Gage:

"My need Booze Booze" - (Wow, he's starting the teetotaling early! Nope, he's just requesting his beloved Blue's Clue's)

"My need Happy Happy" - (You may see a pattern here ... Gage NEEDS everything. Anyhow, his Happy Happy is acutally Laffy Taffy)

"Eggo" - (Not the waffle -- Diego the cartoon character)

"Gonka" - (Veronica - his little girlfriend at daycare)

"New You" - (Love You. Not sure about this one, but it's cute just the same)

"My wike it"/"My don't wike it" - (Gage makes sure there is no question about his likes/dislikes, this phrase is typically spoken in regard to food)

"How doin'?" - (He uses this as his catch all phrase for: How did you do that? What are you doing? How are you doing? etc.)

Riley:

"Where's my hooker?" - (Yikes! A little young, hmmm buddy? He's actually requesting the pirate's hook from Gage's Halloween costume)

"Sarah Tops has 1, 2, 3 horns!" - (Triceratops dinosaur, the big fave of the dino's right now)

"Tysaurusex has big teeth!" - (Tyrannasaurus Rex - I actually think his way is harder to pronounce!)

"Hmmm, let me think ... " - (He says this when contemplating any little thing while looking up at the ceiling and scratching his chin. Where does he learn this stuff?)

"Bronka" - (Also Veronica at daycare. Poor girl, neither of them can get it right!)

"Love you, too!" - (He has basically started saying his "I love you's" this way every time, regardless if he is saying it first or responding back to you)

Well, that's all for this list for now. I could go on all day, but I think I'll save some of the others for another list another day. Hope these little sayings made you smile = )

A Week of Uggggh (and a few bright spots ...)

Well, this dang old head and chest cold that the kids started with last week decided to claim Corey and I as victims as well. Oh joy. We have all been a mostly intolerable bunch without much energy to do anything more than gripe at each other. There have been some good moments, but unfortunately, they deteriorate all too quickly. Bummer.

It snowed a ton this weekend, so we were pretty much homebound the entire time. Yay! Just what we wanted after a week+ of illness! Thanks Mother Nature! (Yes, that was said with much facetiousness.)

Anyhow, we braved the blizzard first thing Saturday morning to grab a few groceries. While there, we picked up new Spiderman plate, bowl, and cup sets for the boys. They had their choice of Spiderman, Sponge Bob, Mickey Mouse, Cars, or Dora; and they both quickly and certainly made their choice yelling "Spiderman!" in gruff gravelly voices. I have no idea where that came from, but their sound reminds me a little bit of Christian Bale's Batman voice. Interesting.

So, from there we headed back home and that is where we remained until Monday morning. The weekend was pretty much filled with cooking and eating. The boys were great helpers as usual. All of the cooking was basically a big science experiment as we discussed textures and chemical reactions as well as cause and effect. First, we made homemade chicken noodle soup. (I typically make chicken salad along with this, just as my mom always did ... but, little Riley and Gage loved the boiled chicken so much they didn't leave enough for chicken salad. Seriously, they ate both drumsticks and about the equivalent of a whole breast!) Next we made dinner rolls from scratch. This was probably the most fun. The boys got a kick out of punching and rolling the dough. However, they were quite impatient waiting for the dough to rise. They thought they could just stand there and watch it. That's obviously not the way it works, so mom had to come up with another project in the meantime. I spied some bananas that were well on their way past their prime, so we started mashing them up for banana muffins. Actually, I think that may have been the most fun part. The slimy mashing elicited numerous excited eeewwwws and pooeys! But, there were no complaints once they came out of the oven. Yum! There were several other little concoctions that we created along the way, but by the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, Riley must have been tired of cooking. I say this because he saw a Pizza Hut commercial on TV and promptly announced, "I want that guy to bring pizza to my house!" Corey and I having had our fill of clean-up, graciously agreed. The boys were so excited they clapped and cheered, "Yay, Pizza!" when the delivery guy arrived at our door. Too cute = )

Well, that pretty much sums up our weekend. We're still all sick, but I think we are on the upswing. Hopefully the next post will be much more fun and include some cute pictures. I did take some along the way this week/weekend, but everyone is dopey-eyed and snot-nosed in every one, so I'll save you from that not-so-lovely sight. Pray for health = )

A sprinkle of this and a dash of that ...

Well, this post will probably be all over the place. My mind keeps wandering between all of things we've accomplished this past week and all of the goals that lie before us. Anyhow, I'll try to keep this in some type of coherent form...

Grandma and PaPa's visit from last week is still fresh in the boys' minds. Each evening at dinner we are entertained by a conversation between them that goes something like this ... Gage will question, "Where's Gwamma and Papa?" Then Riley starts in with, "Gwamma sit here and Papa sit here and...." then he continues on that each of them are eating whatever it is we're having for supper or with whatever made-up story comes to his creative little mind. Good times! = )

When dressing Gage Saturday morning, he chose this flannel top. As we were buttoning it he exclaimed, "This wike PaPa's shirt!" I guess he's recognized that my dad wears a lot of flannel and plaid in the winter. Anyhow, this observation worked out well for me. Gage has recently began refusing to wear a bib at meal time as he is now a "big boy." But, all I had to say was, "You don't want to get Papa's shirt dirty do you?" Then he would put one on without a fight (even though it would come off sometime during the meal, it was still quite an accomplishment and just cute.)

This weekend Riley said good bye to his toddler bed. He is getting so big! It has been coming for a while. If he stretched out, he could touch both the head and foot of the bed and he had virtually no room to move (and he needs a lot, he's a squirmy little devil!) So anyhow, the pics above are of my men hard at work disassembling the daybed.

Here's the finished product. It will be moved over to the left eventually so that it is centered under the jaguar. However, we figured it might be safest to have it hugging the wall for a while until he gets used to it. We are also on the hunt for a cool Diego quilt or comforter as that is one of faves right now. Plus, it will go nicely with the jungle theme we already have going on in there -- although, Corey keeps reminding that it is more important to get him something that he really likes instead of something that matches. Yeah, right. = ) Anyhow, here's another pic of the bed with the boys checking it out. It wasn't long after this that the bed was no longer a bed but a trampoline. Personally, I was surprised it took as long as it did!

The boys developed head colds this weekend that we could have done without, but the darn virus didn't give us a choice. This really bummed me out not only because it bites when my kiddos are sick, but it almost ruined my chances of getting to snuggle up and love on a sweet little baby! We had plans for Shawn and Kari to visit on Sunday and bring their adorable angel baby, Patrick. I called to warn them of the cold situation and after some back and forth, they decided to brave it and come on down anyway. Yahoo! I am so glad that they did, it is always to good to see them. Plus, it's been way too long since I've gotten to cuddle that little bundle! He is so cute and has grown so much!!!!

I have several pictures that look like this first one. Each time I'd click the button, Patrick would inevitably grab Kari's glasses. Yep, that one has the little stinker gene just like his daddy! But, after a couple of attempts, we finally got one where he wasn't obstructing his pretty momma's face = )

After being quite shy at first, Riley and Gage finally warmed up to everyone and we got a kick out of hearing Gage say "baby PaaTRICK." Typing really doesn't do it justice, but I love the way it sounds in his raspy little voice with the obvious emphasis on the last syllable of his name. After they left, we were subject to many inquiries as to "Where baby Patrick go?" I'm sure we'll be hearing that for a while similar to the grandparent queries = )

Well, I know I'm leaving out a ton of things I want to share, but my brain has stopped, so I guess so will this post. I'll leave you with a few parting shots of Corey and myself being silly and hamming it up for our favorite budding photographer, Riley ...

Jam-Packed "Lovely" Weekend

Ok, I couldn't help the corny title ... but, it really was a lovely weekend! Saturday started off with the usual grocery shopping and when Riley and I returned Corey had a huge bouquet of long-stemmed roses waiting for me. They were gorgeous!





Also waiting for us were Grandma and Pop Pop Soukup! Riley and Gage were so excited!!! They had such a great time hanging out. We all exchanged Valentines and the boys were very spoiled by their grandparents with tons of their favorite treats = ) Corey and I also got them fun little candies called "Lightning Bugs." They are little gummy worm type candies that come with a special tweezer light mechanism that has lights in the tips. When you pick up the candies with the tweezers they light up like fireflies. Too cool! Here's a pic, but it didn't come out too clear ...

While mom and dad watched the kiddos, Corey and I ventured out on a much needed date night = ) We started off the evening at Kokoro. This was our first time to the Japanese Sushi/Steakhouse and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our time there! The chef that prepared our food was very animated and really played up his accent which made the experience that much more entertaining. The food was absolutely delicious and we met some really nice people while there. We also got to try some Asahi beer, which is kind of Japan's equivalent of Bud Light, from our understanding. My sister, Tracy, brought Corey back an Asahi shirt from her time visiting our cousin Mitch in Japan, so it was fun to share that story and it will bring back fond memories every time Corey wears that shirt = ) After that we headed to the bowling alley. What was intended to be only a few games turned into 10+ games. We were having so much fun together we just couldn't stop!

The next day we paid for that fun, though, as the alcohol after-effects and sleep deprivation do not necessarily mix very well with rowdy, early-rising toddlers! But, we survived and persevered! Corey's brother, Jamie, and his family stopped by for a quick visit on their way through town. It is always so good to see him, Rhonda, and the kiddos! Plus, they brought presents!!! Riley and Gage were more than happy to dig right into Paige and Hunter's old games and the fun hasn't worn off yet! Right now the overwhelming favorite is a game called Elefun where an Elephant blows paper butterlies out of an extended trunk while the kids try to catch them with nets. Many giggles ensue!!!! I'll have to try to get a video as this picture just can't do it justice ...

After all of that excitement, the boys took a quick nap then we headed to Overland Park for their buddy, Dane's, 3rd birthday party. So much fun! Poor little Gage about had a coronary on the way there, though. The party was held at one of the McDonald's restaurants in OP. Well, Corey and I took the scenic route there (accidently.) Anyhow, if you are at all familiar with the Olathe/OP area, you know that there seems to be a McDonald's on just about every other corner! It was torture for him to see all of those Golden Arches and us just driving right on by. He would point and scream, "Donald's! Dane! Party!!!!!!" Thank goodness we finally arrived and stopped the inadvertant torture of our little redhead = ) The party was obviously a hit and a good time was had by all. Happy Birthday Dane!!!!


When we finally made it home that evening, we were all glad to just chill and relax. The exhaustion was well worth it, though. There's nothing better than getting to spend so much time with loved ones. We are blessed!

Back on Track ...

So, a quick recap of last weekend since I didn't post ... Riley and Gage both had a terrible bout of the flu. Both boys -- both ends. Yep, good times. It started on Thursday and lasted through Monday. Ugh! Thankfully, they are both now feeling much better and running at 100%.

Ok, enough of that yuckiness, but still staying on the subject of bodily functions. We are making some real progress in the potty department! Yay! It's been kind of funny, because the boys are totally opposite. Riley stays dry most of the time and contributes the better part of his urine to the toilet instead of his pants. Yay again! However, he has been very resistant to depositing his poo into the potty. But, we have had a breakthrough the past 3 days and he has made 3 poos in the potty! Another yay! He still made 3 others in his pull-ups, but it's progress nonetheless = ) Gage, on the other hand, can pretty much poo at will. It's amazing really. But, he still rarely pees in the potty. I don't think he has enough control yet, but he is eager to try, so we'll keep at it!

Last night we made Valentines for the kids and helpers and daycare. It was a lot of fun. Riley was really good about making sure everyone was accounted for and selecting which Valentine went to which person. Gage, our little artist, mostly enjoyed putting his crayon scribbles on each piece. Well, let me take that back ... he most enjoyed eating 3 whole suckers that were part of the Valentines package. But, coloring was a close second = )

Corey and I are really looking forward to Saturday. This will be the 10th Valentine's Day we share as husband and wife. My wonderful parents are coming up to watch the boys while Corey and I have a date night. Yay! (there's been a lot of "yay's" in this post ... I apologize for the superfluous use of the non-word, but I just have so much to be excited about!) Anyhow, we have reservations to eat at Kokoro. It is a Japanese Sushi/Steakhouse restaurant here in Lawrence. We will be sitting at a "Hot" table, where the food is prepared right in front of you. We've never been there, so it should be a real treat!

Well, that's all for now. Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and wish us continued success on the potty training front = )

Life is Good ...

Ok, this post is going to be pretty short and sweet and mostly pictures because a) I'm exhausted and b) those are really the best kind anyway, right?! = )

These are a couple of cheesey pics of Riley and Gage on the way to the dog park. Saturday was gorgeous, so we all went for a hike. It was glorious!


The fresh air and exercise did wonders for us all. Below is a short video of the boys favorite activity during our outing -- hiking up a steep hill, then rolling down like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. Too fun!

We headed to my boss's house on Sunday for a little SuperBowl festivities. Thank you Harry & Kim! It was great to see everyone and the Thomason's really know how to do it up right, but we had to cut our visit short. Corey has been fighting a major head cold and the boys were hard to keep up with in their gorgeous (and HUGE) new house. So after a couple of hours we headed home so we could rest. We all needed it! Hope you all had a Super Fun Super Sunday!

Until next time, make every day a great day!!!