New Diet

After reading stories tonight, I sat with Jack a minute and cuddled and talked as we do every night. He began to pick his nose and started to eat it. Here's the conversation:

Mommy: "Don't pick your nose - please don't eat your boogers."
Jack: "But I LOVE them."
Mommy: "It's germy and disgusting. Don't eat your boogers."
Jack: "But I am a vegetarian."
Mommy: "How can you be a vegetarian? You don't eat any vegetables."
Jack: "I guess I am a BOOGER-TERIAN."

Yummy.

Charlie Plays Soccer

It's soccer season again. Charlie is now old enough, so we have both Jack and Charlie on the Towers team. Thank goodness for Coach Kim! Charlie made a goal during his first game and was so excited! Jack is getting good at getting in the middle of everything and getting the ball. The second game was a little tougher - the other team was MUCH bigger both physically and in numbers. Everyone is learning a lot about being on a team!

Our One Day of Alabama Snow

We had a good snowfall. It snowed several inches. But, alas, had melted by the end of the day. Mommy had to drive to Florence to do her first batch of candy, so Grandfather had a great time making snowman and having snowball fights with the boys. Thanks Grandfather! It was a preview of our upcoming trip to Colorado.

Our New Pets

Jack and Charlie have been working for weeks to earn their very first pets. After lots of work, we went to the pet store where they each picked out their own betta fish. Charlie's is a crown tailed betta names Jack. Jack's fish is a regular betta named Tiny Tim.

Cute pics at church

Here's a couple of cute pics from church. I love the one with Jack in the pink tutu!

Valentine's Day Party

We had a Valentine's Day party with some other moms and boys. Jennifer (our babysitter) made lovely Valentine ornaments to put on the little silver Christmas tree that is still in the playroom. So we had a Valentine's tree. We also had heart shaped pizza and heart shaped chocolate cake for dessert. The boys had a blast putting on costumes and jumping on the trampoline. The moms had a great time hanging out. It was one of the best Valentine's parties ever!

Chinese New Year

Jack, Charlie and I went to the Chinese New Year parade and celebration at Boutwell with our friends, Melanie, Dylan(5) and Dawson(3). Dawson was adorable in his red dragon costume. The parade consisted of one long golden dragon and some children in chinese garb. Some people handed out sparklers and there were lots of fireworks (hence Charlie covering his ears). The kids also enjoyed playing in the drained fountains in the park. After the parade, we went into the auditorium for Chinese food and exhibits.

More Charlie birthday pics

And let me say that Mr. Charlie is an excellent gift-receiver. He genuinely loved everything he got and said so!

Happy 4th Birthday Charlie!

Charlie turned 4 on December 29th. We celebrated with friends from the Pink and Yellow class, as well as family members at the Pump It Up. A good time was had by all. Mommy loves Pump It Up parties because we get to leave the mess behind. Even Jack got to eat cake because we had a naturally colored cake from Whole Foods. Charlie requested a Spongebob and Power Rangers cake, so we made "zones" on the cake for each of the characters. I can't believe my baby is 4. Except that he always seems about 35 to me.

Botanical Scavenger Hunts

Back in the begining of February, we did a scavenger hunt at the Botanical Gardens. I made a list of a items:

1.bird

2.pond

3. pink flower

4. bridge

5. fountain

We took pictures of each item as proof that we found them. We spent about an hour and a half running all over the gardens. It was one of the most fun times that we have had at the gardens. The bird was the hardest part because it was cold and they were hiding. The boys took a lot of pictures. I included one of the camellias that they took.

My boys like to party all the time...

One of the most fun things we have been doing lately is...Birthday Parties. We have been to parties at the McWane Center, at Pump It Up(many times) and with animals. We have had several weekends with back to back parties. Let me just say that Mommy LOVES going to birthday parties! Good quality, fun times where the boys are worn out by the time we go home. What's not to love. Here's a shout out to all the people have invited us...Thank you!

Christmas Potpourri 1

December is always a fun and busy time for us. I love Christmas and like to do all the Christmassy stuff. Here are some pics from more Christmas events like Jack, Charlie and Emma in the Preschool Choir Open House. Jack answered his "note" question perfectly and Emma and Charlie knew all the words to their songs! At the Santa breakfast at the club where they got to eat lots of Christmas treats and meet Santa. We went with Grandmother, Grandfather and the other Watkins'. Also, some pics of our gingerbread houses - made with Jack's "organkik" candies. Feel free to click on each picture of the houses if you need a close up. They are pretty amazing. I am just surprised there were any candies left to put on the houses since most went in their mouths.

Christmas Potpourri 2

It's a miracle!

One of the things we have been working on has been sitting at the table, nicely, during dinner. Mommy has been pretty good that for a while. Jack and Charlie needed some help. We started off using a timer and they had to sit for 5 minutes. And we went up from there. We don't sit at the big table every day, but I can honestly say that when we do, we usually have a nice dinner. We talk about our day and generally, don't scream about the foods we don't like that are on the table. After a particularly nice dinner, I had to take a picture of my well-behaved boys. Even if one has on a clown costume (Charlie) and a Santa hat (Jack).

Vestavia Christmas Parade 2008

Charlie refers to our neighborhood Christmas Parade as the "Candy Parade" for good reason. This year we didn't even pick everything up and there was still a grocery sack, a candy sack and the bottom of the stoller filled to the brim! The kids also enjoyed the beads that were thrown out too. It was a fun parade with two bands, a bunch of dance teams, karate teams, the city council people and Santa and Mrs. Claus on the fire truck. Even though it was super cold (by Alabama standards), a good time was had by all. And all was: Jack, Charlie, Daddy, babysitter Amy, Grandmother and Mommy! Whew!

Decorating during the Iron Bowl

Luckily I have two boys that love Christmas as much as I do. They wanted to decorate the tree the minute that we got it home, but we had to get out the decorations first. So we ended up decorating on Saturday while we watched the Iron Bowl (that's the Alabama-Auburn game for you Yankees and the most important game of the year).

We listened to Christmas music, sang along and the boys took over the decorating. I just did the lights. The did everything else. Including decorating their own tree in the playroom. It looks beautiful. Charlie had already showed that he had an aptitude for decorating - he did the flower arrangements at my mom's during Thanksgiving. The boys enjoyed the game too. They know how to go ROOOOOLLLL TIIIDDDEE ROLL! Here's a pic of them in their little rocking chairs, enjoying the game after we decorated.