never dull

since crew and kade have arrived i've recieved comments from people just about every place we go, even places we frequent who know how active these three can be.  there's certainly a couple of classics like "wow you certainly have your hands full!"  or "you must be exhausted at the end of the day!"  and the ever present "i bet there's never a dull moment at your house!"  sometimes i smile but mostly i'm trying super hard not to roll my eyes (shocking, i know.)  but the truth is there really aren't a lot of dull moments at our house.  of course sometimes it's cute, other times comedic, sometimes destructive, but mostly they're just so boy. 

 here's a couple videos of the boys being themselves.

here's one of kade at the splash park.  we actually don't frequent the splash park very often because brody complains there's no one to play with, and the twins just sit next to me asking for snacks.  when they finally do go out and play this happens like every other minute:

i should clarify that it's not just crew stealing kade's bucket but vice versa as well, it can get old really fast.

one thing that certainly isn't dull are these guy's exercising moves!  i love watching little kids exercising, it always cracks me up!  this video has it all, summersaults, jumping jacks and hopscotch, enjoy:

for reference crew was both the summersaulter and the hop-scotcher.  kade was the enthusiastic jumping-jacker, and i'd like to think that if your reading this blog you already know which one brody is.

i love that the twins are imaginative, brody is very into practicality and realism, but the twins enjoy making things come to life, it's fun to watch.  lately they've had a lot of fun reenacting scenes from their favorite movies, i love seeing the "magic" of this age.  here's some fun they were having while snacking on teddy grahams:

i certainly hope you don't want me to translate all that!  that's proof that even i don't understand all they say- although they of course understand each other perfectly!  i know they put their bears for a nap and something scary came, and obviously they met an early death, curtesy crew.

this last video is why i don't enjoy giving the boy balloons to play with, and a good example of the boy behavior around here (at least in my opinion):

sometimes people really underestimate kade since he's a sweetie, but he certainly can get a swift kick in there!
so those are our less than dull moments that have been keeping us busy!

5 years old!

brody has been counting down to turning five for about a year and a half!  as the day approached he became very specific about how his day should be and thankfully it was everything we had anticipated!    it was a jam packed day, he started out at swimming lessons, and then we headed straight to the science museum.  we took in a space movie at the planetarium and then headed over to the grossology exhibit.

brody and kade playing life sized operation:

kade and crew shooting snot balls into the giant nose:

the boys love the outside features which is where these two got soaking wet:

soon after we left and on the way out brody got some water action at the splash fountain in front of the museum:

we came home so brothers could nap and after that we headed to the pools for a couple hours!  afterward we picked up some pizza and came home to our pirate party!

all ready for his pirate hunt to find gold treasure:

"R!"

after his pirates cake we headed to some other treasure... presents!

here's brody opening his "big gift" that he was hoping for!

yup, he's been longing for a globe!  he also got a scooter, which we thought he'd be excited for, but he just handed it off to go study his globe some more, this guy cracks me up!

brody planned an excellent birthday extravaganza for us, and we had a great day celebrating the big number 5!

two focused

i took this pic of crewkade looking a their favorite book (toy story 3 look and find) and i just think these little guys are so stinking cute!

brody's room

so months and months ago i mentioned we were going to do a little work to brody's room.  well we did, months ago, and i'm finally getting around to showing what we've done.  here's the before:

 thankfully the previous owners had everything neutral in the house, it's been great to work with!

 brody loves space, planets and astronauts, so he has some space stuff in his room.  we decided to give painting a try, and added some stripes.  this was our test project before we conquered the bathroom downstairs.  so here's how it turned out:

 each wall has the compass direction in the corner, brody loves it!  we also added a hook for his backpack which really excited him for some reason.

 a good astronaut always has his helmet nearby incase he has an emergency mission into space.

 i ordered the vinyl rocket from here on easy.  and picked up a cork board at hobby lobby, then switched it out for a magnetic sheet.  his little desk is the one i mentioned justin picked up off craigslist.

so that's it.  i want to put a little something on the wall with his backpack hooks but just haven't solidified on an idea yet!  so that's his not-so-new new room!

apprehension

well as most know i don't have my ears pierced!  first it was because i was really apprehensive that it would hurt really bad- i mean they are shooting a hole in to your body!  then it was i really didn't want the maintenance.  then prom happened, then some years later i got married so i figured what other fancy event would i need to wear earrings to?  well a few weeks ago i saw a visitor at church with super cute earrings, which is saying a lot because i never notice earrings.  i gave it some thought and decided after 17 years of waiting, that i'd actually take the plunge!  here's my apprehensive look before:

 and the after:

it was a little embarrassing to be this nervous lady at claire's getting her ears pierced for the first time but the girl said i did a "really good job."  i'd like to say that comforted me, but it just embarrassed me more since it was a busy friday night at the mall with lots of young tweens at claire's.  anywho, i just thought i'd show my proof that i finally did it!  now i can't wait for the stud period to be over so i can wear the fabulous earrings that justin got me for our anniversary!

a fail and a favorite

you know how some people with kids can sit and do things like check their email -without it being a problem?  well i thought i'd try that one day, and this is what a found when i came upstairs:

crew and kade brought almost every. single. toy. from the toy room into brody's room. when i saw the mess crew and kade excitedly proclaimed: "look mom!  we made a grocery store!"  darn kids, always too cute to stay mad at!  that being said i have returned to checking my mail only during nap time.

in another side note, this is one of my most favorite things in the world:

oh how i love an empty laundry basket!!  naturally it only stays empty for a few hours, but while it's there i smile every time i walk by!

turning three!

when the twins were a couple months old i seriously doubted i'd live to see the day they turn three, but speaking of time as a relative thing, it seemed to come quicker than i ever thought it would!  oh man, kade and crew, they're such a whirlwind of chaos and entertainment.  i really like the preschool age because they say and do such funny things.  we kicked of their memorial birthday with a swim at the pools and had fun celebrating with rob, jana and jacob!  after swimming we came back for the party:

we had a dinosaur themed party and there was food for all types: chicken nuggets for carnivores, fruit for herbivores, and chinese chicken salad for omnivores.  however the twins were more interested in this:

i really don't know how those cupcakes survived for as long as they did!  

the boys played some rounds of pin the tooth on the t-rex, and you can see from the picture that very few teeth made it into his mouth!

after the eating, it was time for the anatomically incorrect stegosaurus/triceratops piñata.  the boys had fun giving it a couple dents but justin was the one to break it open:

filling up on the loot: candy, dino stamps and dino tattoos

afterwards we had cupcakes and sang happy birthday, these guys were excited to FINALLY dig into those cupcakes!

we also made a giant t-rex to put on the wall, it was the very first thing crew and made noticed when they came down that morning.  here they are with their new larger t-rex's and giving their best dinosaur roar!

this big t-rex lasted two weeks on our wall, but of course the second the rs president stopped by for a minute they proceeded to tear it down and use it to roar at people around the house, awesome.

they both got a a buzz lightyear, and as soon as those were finally released from their child and adult proof boxes these two were in heaven!

we loved celebrating kade and crew!