Thursday, April 29, 2010

a jewelry update

The past 2 days, the weather has been cold, rainy and super windy. Welcome to Spring in Montana. Since Elliott and I have been staying home, and staying in, I have been working a lot on my jewelry.

I have set up a jewelry blog, here. I also am being featured on blog for the Busy Moms of Etsy Team tomorrow! I am having a giveaway, so make sure you check it out!

Here are some of my newest pieces, in no particular order.
We will be in Helena all weekend, and I'm hoping I will actually remember to take a few pictures. Not that we will be doing anything worth taking a picture of, but at least I will have something to go with the post about it. :)

Have an awesome weekend!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

WARNING! EXTREME "ICK" FACTOR

Elliott and I walked to school to get Ethan, then on our way home, we went across the street to play at the park. It was the perfect day for it! I even invited Erica and Carson. The kids had a great time playing, running, climbing and sliding. Jason called on his way home, and said he would bring cold drinks for everyone, so we waited for him.

Right before he got there, Ethan came running to me, crying and holding the back of his head. When I turned him around, blood was EVERYWHERE! Blood doesn't freak me out, I just go into "mom mode" and took off toward the house, almost forgetting Elliott, but Erica was awesome as always and said she had him. A lady, who was with a daycare at the park, had gauze, so she gave us that, and Ethan held it on his head while we walked to the house. Head wounds DO freak me out, and Ethan seems to be prone to them.

This is only a fraction of the blood that was on him. His hands were covered, the gauze was soaked, and it was all over his shirt.
After getting into the house, I got the bleeding stopped and I tried to wipe it off, with no luck, so I stuck him in the bath and poured water over it. It didn't look too bad, but he was really upset, and it was hurting really bad, so I called the Dr and they said to go to the ER. Ethan did not want to go. It actually upset him more.

Jason convinced him he would be ok, and got him in the car. Elliott and Jason stayed home, and I took Ethan to the ER. Ethan wouldn't even talk to me. He was MAD!

After a root beer popsicle, a staple in the back of his head, and Wendy's for dinner, he was right back to himself. :) Jason took him to go get DQ for a treat. I think he's going to live, but I could do without another one of these, at least for the summer. *fingers crossed*
The best part of the story, is the part I wasn't even there for. Erica said after we left, all the kids could talk about was what I said to Ethan. Not the fact that he got hurt, or there was blood everywhere, nope. They were shocked that I had told Ethan to "Shut-Up" when I was trying to see what had happened. Yep, that's me, Mother of the Year!

Sunday, April 25, 2010

growing our own

I don't have a green thumb. No really, I don't. It's totally by choice. I'm sure I could grow things if I wanted to. I don't know what got into me this year, but I decided to put the little garden area in our front yard to use. At first I wanted to do flowers, but then it annoyed me because they are a lot of work, and useless. Pretty, yes, but useless. So today when we finally went to the store, I decided to do a few veggies instead. I still don't like "gardening". I don't like dirt under my nails, I don't like digging up weeds, or even taking the time to water, but I am determined to make this work. I remember being little, and even then I hated helping my grandma weed and plant and water the garden, but I loved picking the veggies. Loved it! I wasn't a big fan of eating them, but give me a break, I was little. Ethan and Elliott both eat their veggies, thankfully. I can't wait for things to start growing, Ethan will be so excited.

Since we are in Montana, it's still a little chilly. We are starting our plants inside and today, we planted the seeds.
Ethan is too much like me. He was NOT impressed with his dirty fingers.
He couldn't wait to wash his hands.
Here are a few. I don't know why I thought one package of seeds would only be 5 or 6 seeds. I was so wrong. We have 40 cups planted, and still have carrotts to go. Right now we have cucumbers, zucchini, and green beans. I am getting excited just writing this.
Good thing I have friends because I'm positive we will have WAY too much stuff.

Friday, April 23, 2010

they are who they are.

An 18 month check up for Elliott is how I started my day. Normally this is not a challenge, but as he has gotten older, the less he likes being around people he doesn't know. He screamed when we were with the nurse, then he was fine until the Dr came in. The Dr was not our normal pediatrician, but I loved that he saw Elliott was uncomfortable, and did the exam right on my lap. Don't get me wrong. I am totally "tough love mom". I think that sitting on the table and learning that it will be okay, is good for them. If the Dr would have preferred it that way, I would have had him on the table.

After we got home, Elliott and I played for a while, and cleaned house, but then he was losing his mind, and I knew it was nap time, even though it really wasn't. He went right down, and took his normal 2 1/2 hour nap, woke up, ate lunch, and then we went to get Ethan.

The boys had a photo shoot with Jaymee today (man I am lucky), so I got them ready to go, and off we went.

During the shoot, they were ridiculous. Elliott was swinging the hockey stick around, banging on the building, and Ethan WOULD NOT stop sticking his tongue through the gap in his teeth. They were driving me nuts! Jaymee brought Raigan, and I tried to keep her wrangled while Jaymee was shooting away. When the boys were done, Jaymee wanted to get a few pictures of Raigan in her super duper cute dress. Well, Raigan was less than cooperative, and me, being the awesome Aunt Mer that I am, showed her how to throw rocks into the puddles. Ooooops. It was over after that. She was totally into it. By the time we were getting ready to be done, Raigan was prancing around in her adorable pink shoes and cute dress, right in the puddle of water. Jaymee and I couldn't do anything but watch. So we did, and Jaymee took pictures. It was at this point we looked at each other and said "whatever." It was the perfect reminder that kids are who they are. Even if you dress them up, and put them in cute shoes.

So when I was driving home, I reflected on my day. Thanks to Raigan for reminding me that Elliott is who he is, and Ethan is who he is. Even if they are brothers, and they are both WAY TOO CUTE, they are not the same kid.
Elliott is wild. He is always on the go, always into everything, and always pushing the limits.
Ethan is a go with the flow kid, he loves all sports, and is a sponge when it comes to learning.
I never thought I could love them both so much. I didn't know there was so much love to give. I love them both for who they are and what they bring to our family. They are special people and will be whatever they want to be.  

Thursday, April 22, 2010

It's a good life

Jason has had the last two days off, and even has today off! It has been beautiful out, so we have been outside a lot. Yesterday, we played outside for a while after school, then after dinner we went rollerblading. It has obviously been a really long time since I have been on rollerblades, and I ended up taking mine off and walking back. My feet hurt so bad. Ugh. It was still so great to get out, be with my family and enjoy the awesome weather.

Just look at that sunshine, and this was about 6:30pm. I love spring.
Ethan is an incredible skater, and was always pulling away. I'm sure Jason got the best workout trying to keep up with him.
On the way back to the car, they left me and Elliott in the dust. We had a nice calm walk back, and they did come back and skate after a while.  :)
We will definitely doing this more often. Maybe my skates will get broken in, and I will be able to wear them without losing all feeling in my feet.

Happy Birthday Dominik! I can't believe my sweet little nephew is 7!
Isn't he handsome?
Today is also Earth Day. I am going to get some flowers, and plant them in the house for now, and try to get the flower bed in front of our house ready. This will be the first year I actually put flowers in it. I'm really excited, and I think Ethan will enjoy helping, and I'm sure Elliott will love getting dirty. I just hope my non-green thumbs don't kill everything.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Couldn't resist

I know it's not high quality, and really not that exciting, but it is super cute. Elliott loves to play "Patty Cake" and his actions for it are so stinkin' funny. I love how he "rolls it", and how he has to go fast. Enjoy.

Monday, April 19, 2010

You can't beat it

This morning while I was getting ready, Elliott and Jason took out the trash. When they came back in, my sweet little boy came to me holding this. He was so proud of it, and I love daffodils. They are a sure sign of spring. I don't know if it's really as pretty as I think it is, or if I love it because it was given to me by two of my favorite people. There is definitely a piece of my heart that melts a little every time my son (either one) gives me something, especially when they have a huge smile on their face as they hand it to me. 
Hope you had a great Monday.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Weekend with Chris

It was fun to have Chris here for the weekend (we missed Abby), and both boys couldn't get enough of him.
The weather was awesome and they spent a lot of time outside.
Chris brought his long board, and helped Ethan with his skateboarding. Of course it didn't take Ethan long to catch on. He isn't quite a pro yet, but by the end of summer, I'm betting he might be.
Elliott couldn't be left out. He was insistent that he could ride, and didn't want it on the grass, but Uncle Chris said "no".
After Elliott perfected the getting on, and standing up, he was bored and decided to combine hockey with skateboarding. He's so busy.
This looks way worse than it turned out, everyone was fine. Elliott had fun pushing the skateboards around, and Ethan loved riding Chris' board.

Hockey didn't go so well, Ethan's team lost 3 out of 3 games, but they did play well, and Chris got to see Ethan play for the first time, so it was fine.

Jason had to work today, all day, even though it was his birthday, so the boys and I took him a soda and a couple candy bars. After that, we came home and rested, did laundry and things like that. A good end to a fun weekend.

Friday, April 16, 2010

SURPRISE!

Chris is here for the weekend to watch Ethan play hockey in the Big Sky State Games.

I told Ethan today that he would get a surprise, but he couldn't ask me about it. Oh, I'm mean like that. He had a really hard time not hounding me all afternoon. So to keep him occupied, Jason took him to the park to play some roller hockey with one of his hockey friends. Then right before Chris came, we said we had to go home to make dinner. I sent Jason to the store for some last minute stuff, and Chris called to say he was in town. 

When Chris pulled up to the house, Ethan was watching out the window for Jason to come home. Ethan saw his car and said "Come on Chris." After a few seconds, Ethan realized who he was seeing, and ran for his shoes yelling "CHRIS IS HERE, CHRIS IS HERE!" He bolted out the door and didn't even let Chris get out of his car before he attacked him. Sadly, Jason was also pulling into the driveway at the same time, and got no welcome home at all. :)

After dinner, Ethan challenged Chris to some street hockey, and now Jason, Ethan and Chris are all playing hockey on the Playstation. Like I've said before, we can't get enough hockey around here.
Now you know the surprise, and it was a good one. It's hard to say who was more excited, Chris or Ethan. I can't believe I didn't ruin it.

Ethan's first game is tomorrow at 1:00. I will probably just post an overall outcome Sunday night. Wish him luck!

Stay Tuned

It's been a pretty uneventful week, sorry. The weather is getting SO nice, and yesterday was the first day Ethan rode his bike to school. He was so excited. Jason's bike had a flat, so he took mine with Elliott on the back and rode behind Ethan. It's a pretty short ride (only 3 minutes) so Jason videoed the whole thing. It's not exciting to watch, but Jason added some extras to spice it up.  :)


Last night, Jason gave me the night off. He took the kids to hockey, and I went with Jaymee to the "Vagina Monologues". It was SO good, and so nice to have a night out. We laughed so hard, and some of it was serious and tugged at your heart strings, but mostly, it was funny. The best part was Jason and Dereck's reactions. They would have loved it if they went, but it's more fun to let their mind's wander and keep them guessing what it was really about.  :)  haha

Jason made this really short video of Elliott going down the slide at the park. It's cute, and since I don't have a lot of other things to put on here, I thought I would share.


This morning I went to school with Ethan for the "Veggie Party". Yes, it was a bunch of kindergartners eating veggies and ranch, then marking on the sheet they had if they liked each one or not. Erica (bless her!) kept Elliott for me, and took him and Carson to the mall to play. He had a great time.

I can't wait for tonight. We have a HUGE surprise for Ethan. Stay tuned for that.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Laugh a little.............

I'm still cracking up about this...........On Saturday, after a long day of briefing, or de-briefing, or sleeping, or whatever it was, we went to "The Wal-Mart" to get in some walking and stretching. Jason found this.....it's for magnifying bugs, but this was way more fun.
Hope this gave you a good laugh.
While our weekend was uneventful, it was nice to get away for a couple days, just us. We left for Helena on Friday, right after Jason got home from work. Of course by the time we got to Bozeman, both kids were starving, and definitely ready to be out of their seats. Not even the movie could prevent that meltdown. Lucky for us, there is a little kid heaven (aka McDonald's w/a playplace) right off of the interstate. I think we were all happy to be out of the car. We ate some grease bomb food, and the kids ran around the playplace like they had been in the car for days instead of an hour and a half.

When we finally made it to Helena, and got all of our things to the room, Ethan and Elliott crawled up on the bed, and stared at the t.v. Cable is a luxury for them.
Saturday was a really long day for Jason and I. I think the National Guard was trying to kill us with the plethora of power point presentations and speakers. While it is important information, there comes a point that you just cannot bring yourself to pay attention, or care. Good thing we have 2 more meetings coming up. Ugh. Elliott went to a daycare for the day. His first time EVER at a daycare, and he did great. He was clingy to the first person he saw, but was sound asleep, and didn't want to get up when we got there. Ethan was really lucky, and got to spend the day with the state youth coordinator for the Yellow Ribbon Program. She is the COOLEST lady. They did fun projects all day, and Ethan had a great time.

After dinner, we took the boys swimming (I know I should insert a picture here, but alas we were all in the pool). As expected, they had a great time and got totally worn out. After going back to the room, they went to bed, and Jason and I were able to go to the lobby bar and have a couple drinks with his buddies. That was a treat for us.

Sunday morning, Jason had stuff to do that didn't include us, so I took the boys and met my friend and her kids at I-Hop for breakfast. I love these little get togethers, where I can catch up with my army wife friends, and their kids. When we were done, we picked up Jason and headed home. The drive home felt way longer than the drive there. We are all exhausted, and we have a lot to do before our week starts. Guess I better get to it.

Have a great week.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Fast learner

Yestereday was our first day "back to normal". Jason went to work, Ethan went to school, and Elliott and I were home doing laundry, dishes and playing. Elliott decided he wanted to wear his ice skates. I was excited after the terrible time he had on the ice with them. After he had them on, he was on wild high. He walked all over the place, and played a little hockey and soccer in them. He was even able to get up without holding on to anything. He is going to be great if he keeps this up.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter, our way

We don't seem to have typical, traditional holidays, ever, and today was no different.

We got up, and the kids hunted for the eggs. Elliott was not all that interested, and mostly just played with the stuff from his basket. He really likes the magna-doodle.
He did help find a couple, but mostly he left it up to Ethan.
He likes looking at them, just not looking for them.
After egg hunting, it was time to open the baskets!
You can't get much more excited than that. :)
The boys and Jason played with the new toys, and we all got ready to leave for the 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch at the Hayashida's. We really do have awesome friends.
Just when we thought we found them all, Elliott finds one more.
Now we are home, just lounging. Jason is making tacos for dinner, and that should pretty much be the end of our day. Maybe it's not "traditional", but I really hope that when my kids are older they remember the holidays as a really fun time with family and friends. That seems more important to me than how we are dressed, or what we have to eat.

Hope you had a great Easter too.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

YOU CAN ENTER TOO!

I am a total blog stalker, and LOVE factorygirlashli, who I met on Etsy. She makes the cutest things, and is great to buy from, and she has the cutest blog too! She is very talented, and is always doing fun things, like this giveaway. Check it out and enter your name too. factorygirlashli's blog

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Early Easter

Jason and I have a really hard time keeping surprises from Ethan, like a REALLY hard time. I wanted to get Ethan some hockey skates for this summer, and we got really lucky and got an amazing deal on these! They were brand new, stickers still on them. As soon as we had them in the house, Jason had to give them to Ethan.
And, of course, as soon as he saw them, he had to have them on and go outside and try them out. HAD TO! And, like everything else he does, he was a total pro.
Safety first.  :)
Within the first few minutes, he was jumping, spinning, skating backward, and his favorite show off move, cross-overs. Like I said, Pro!
After he was done with dinner, Jason put on his roller blades too and they both went across the street to the basketball court. A kid from the neighborhood joined them. I see a lot of time being spent at the park this summer, and probably new wheels at some point. I say, money well spent. Ethan could not be happier.

Then today, the Easter box from Grandma, Papa and Grandma Mac came. YAY! Elliott waited patiently for Grandma to get on Skype so they could open it.
Finally, it was open, and they tore into it. New movies, lots of candy, and some really fun light up cups.
Elliott had to show Grandma everything he got. I love technology.
Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny will still be coming, so there will be even more stuff. Good thing I really do love them.

Sorry about all the pictures.

Happy Thursday.