Creating in the kitchen

10/18- We did a lot of cooking today- made some meals for our freezer and some to give away to friends.  Boaz was a great helper!  Here he is layering his chicken ravioli lasagna!  First the ravioli...

 And then some cheese....

We recently decided to bring these end tables up from the basement  to give the boys some extra play surface.  They had a blast running circles around them tonight. 

10/19-  One of the words Boaz is trying to master lately is 'Girl.'  He says it so funny!  Here's a video of daddy helping him practice saying 'girl' and Boaz getting embarrassed that he can't say it right!  :)

 10/22- We put together a Christmas shoebox for Samaritan's Purse.  We shopped and picked out presents for a boy Boaz's age.  He had a hard time putting these things in the box!  He wanted them for himself!!   :)

 After our shoebox work was done, Boaz helped me start making his Halloween costume!  After all the scarecrow fiasco this fall, he still chose to dress like one for Halloween!  I think he'll make a pretty cute scarecrow!

 Dad brought the basketball hoop outside this evening for some fun... enjoying the nice weather while it lasts!

My day...

Hi, All!
My wonderful parents have the boys today and I'm having my first ever 'scrapbooking' (or blogging) day!!  I have friends that go on scrapbooking retreats and I decided I needed one, too!  I'm hoping to do some catching up!  I posted 5 new posts this morning.  I'm planning to work on more posts, but will wait and put them up in following days.   So- if you really do care to read all about everything we've done- know that there are five new posts just before this one!!   Enjoy!   (and thanks Mom & Dad!)

Happy Birthday, Cainan!!

10/16/10- Happy Birthday, Cainan!!  I love the way you greet me with a big smile each morning.  I can't believe how much you've grown this year.  You are such a sweetheart, and a determined little guy.  I think you are going to be intense about things like your daddy.  You LOVE balls, eating, and 'talking' (or screaming!)  You adore your older brother and are so eager to keep up with him!  We couldn't ask for a better little man- we love you so much!!

 Boaz is pretty excited that it's Cainan's birthday, too!!

 I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on the birthday cake.  Not my best work ever, but it will do just fine for a one year old!!

 The drum Animal will sit on for the party....

We were so excited that our families got to celebrate Cainan's birthday with us.  Grandpa Glace brought this firetruck to us tonight so we could use it for Cainan's 1 year pictures later this week.  Grandpa played with this truck when he was a little boy!!

 My big man-

 The kids table... and Ozzie knows exactly where to be to get scraps!

Apparently so does Grandpa Bartlett!!   :)

Boaz & Blake telling jokes...

 Present time!

Excited about his gears game. 

 Enjoying the bubble lawnmower!

 This is going to be lots of fun for all!

Then is was time to celebrate the birthday boy!!

The finished cake... 

 Cainan wasn't quite sure what to think of his cake at first.  But it didn't take him too long to figure out that it tasted pretty good!

 All done!

 Mommy and Cainan...

Cainan had a major major accomplishment tonight... he walked for the very first time with the entire family here to see it!!  Check it out!!!

Grandpa Glace making Cainan laugh...

We sure our blessed by our fun family!!  Love you all- thanks for making Cainan's first birthday so special!

A great fall day

10/14- Today was a really fun day at our house.  We started the day with a kitchen band.  Boaz created a stage with the kitchen chairs for his drum and shaker song.  Cainan joined in on the recorder. 

It was another beautiful day, so we decided to go on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood!  Boaz and I drew all the things that we wanted to look for on our walk.  We borrowed Daddy's work clipboard (which Boaz thought was really cool) to help us on our hunt. 

 Then we got to work looking for the items!

 Our neighbors joined us for the walk....

 Boaz getting silly...

Boaz took his shirt off and ran away so I couldn't make him put it back on.  Silly boy!

 We did some bike riding in the garage...

 And Cainan looked on...  He really enjoys being outdoors and taking walks.

We ended the evening with another concert by Cainan.  He thought he was pretty funny. 

Attempts

10/13- Cainan attempted to use a spoon today.  It didn't go very well, but it sure kept him entertained while I worked on his birthday cake!

 I decided to make and Animal cake for Cainan's birthday.  I often call him my little Animal because he screams so loud, is very intense, and every single thing he holds is a hammer he uses to beat on things.  I thought it'd be fun to try using gumpaste to make Animal.  It wasn't as fun as I thought it'd be!  It's hard!!

 I had the perfect Animal face the first time around, then as it dried it got flatter and flatter... and couldn't be salvaged.  I ended up building Animal's head around a golfball the second time.  It helped, but it sure didn't look as good as the first one.   Not sure I'll do gumpaste again- may just stick with drawing with frosting!

More pictures of the finished product to come on Cainan's birthday post!

A sneaking suspicion...

Guilty??

10/12- I helped a friend learn how to make her own babyfood last night.  She brought us this delicious banana bread as a thank you.  I left the kitchen for a bit today and came back to find Boaz sneaking some- he thinks it's delicious, too!   This was his explanation of what he was doing...

The CF marching band had an exhibition show this morning that I took the boys to.  It was Grandma Bartlett's day off, so we asked if she wanted to meet us there. 

 It was a beautiful day for a concert...  Cainan really enjoyed the music. 

 And of course, Boaz enjoyed it too!!   I did as well... a little too much!  It was today that I had a sneaking suspicion that I might be pregnant with baby #3.  While the marching band show was really really good, I doubt that it was good enough to make me cry on a normal day.  However, I sat there watching it and had to fight back tears!!  I was overly hormonal and went home that night to tell Luke that I thought we might be having another baby.  (it was too early to test, but I was pretty positive!) 

 After the show, we caught up with our friend Hannah- she was kind enough to let Boaz try out her big bass drum!

 Hannah's mom (and our good friend), Jane, was there also.  It was fun to see her for a bit!

 We had a nice gentle rain this afternoon and we decided it'd be fun to run in the drizzle and splash in the puddles after naptime!

 Our friend, Walt, is running for office.  We've helped a bit with the campaign and Boaz knows Walt from church and dad's softball team.  Today I brought in the paper and Boaz said, "There's Vote For Walt!"  On the rolled up newspaper, he'd seen a tiny picture of Walt's face.  He's so observant!  Walt's campaign signs are white, navy, & yellow.  Anywhere that has a sign those colors (Walmart, Subway,etc)- their signs also say "Vote for Walt" according to Boaz.  He enjoys spotting Walt signs while walking around the neighborhood or driving around town. 

 Boaz really likes taking pictures with our camera.  I thought this one actually turned out good!  A fun shot of the daddy we love so much...

Go, Tigers!

10/8/10-  Tonight was a big night for Boaz (and for Daddy!).  Boaz got to stay up REALLY late and go with Dad to the CF Tigers football game in the dome!  Boaz thought he was pretty cool in his Tigers warm-up suit (that I found before we even had kids at Walmart!).  Boaz did really well and had a lot of fun. I think Dad is looking forward to a lot more of these sports outings with his boys. 

10/9-  Cainan with a mouthful... he's really enjoying food these days. 

10/10-  I walked out into the kitchen and found Boaz attempting to clean up a mess.  He had spilled the Oxyclean laundry detergent all over the floor, then proceeded to get the broom out of the pantry and use various hats and things to try to clean up and hide the evidence.   

10/11- Pots and spoons became the entertainment of the morning here.  We haven't done this for awhile and I forgot just how long this could entertain two little boys! 

Here's some video of Cainan making lots of noise with his pots...

And then Boaz decided to join in!