Birthday ideas...

I've had some requests for birthday gift ideas for the kids, so I thought I'd put a few ideas on here for anyone interested. There are a few "big" ones on here that I obviously don't expect anyone to get for them (too expensive!), but these are things we would put gift certificates toward. So much will change this year, too--the boys will be in toddler beds before their next birthday, the boys will be walking soon, and Sophie is really into "pretend play" now--so they might seem too "big" for them right now, but they'll be using them within the next few months...

I'm totally uncomfortable posting this list, because I know it comes off as us expecting amazing gifts for their birthdays--I PROMISE THAT WE AREN'T! Money is so tight for everyone right now (we know first-hand!). Remember: we love to shop at garage and consignment sales, so if you find any of these things second-hand, even better!!!

• Play house like this one: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1301
• Play kitchen like this one: http://www.step2.com/product.cfm?product_id=1218
• Membership to Exploration Place (they have a great "hands-on" kid area for little crawler/walkers through school-age kids)
• Two plush child-sized chairs similar to this one (doesn't have to be Elmo)--Sophie has an Elmo one and they all love it! http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2749019
• Toddler pillows/pillowcases
• Play food for the kitchen (and the grocery cart Sophie pushes all over the house)
• Matching ballcaps for boys (denim, khaki, navy, etc.)--12-24 months or 24-36 months
• Shoes for boys (fall/winter=size 3 or 4; spring/summer=size 5 or 6)
• Shoes for Sophie (fall/winter=size 6 or 7; spring/summer=size 8 or 9)
• Cool mist humidifiers like these (one pink, one blue): http://www.target.com/Crane-Nursery-Ultrasonic-Humidifier-Pink/dp/B000E5RCAM/sr=1-10/qid=1220207583/ref=sr_1_10/601-6004225-6092101?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Acrane%20humidifier&page=1
• Clothes for boys: 2T or 3T (any season)--remember they still dress identically because their mom is neurotic...
• Plain denim jean jackets: 18 months for the boys, 2T for Sophie
• Swimsuit cover-up for Sophie: 3T. I've been looking for one on clearance at the end of this season, but haven't run across one yet!
• Any arts/crafts things: washable markers, washable paints, fingerpaints, paper/posterboard, chalk, crayons, kid-safe scissors, PlayDoh, etc.

We found some great toolbenches for the boys on craigslist, a police car rocker, and a rollercoaster at a garage sale, so don't worry about us trying to make them into girls with the playhouse and kitchen. :-) The basement is full of macho boy stuff. Ha!

Surprise guests!

Look who stopped by on their way back from vacation--Dad & Louise! They had a great time traveling around for the past week, and I'm sure they're happy to be home tonight.

So many things!

I've been so bad about updating the blog! I'm going to be better about it this week. I have so many things to talk about!!

1. A week ago I attended a beautiful funeral for my friend Jim's mom, Norma. Jim and Becky are dear to us, and Norma was a wonderfully kind person. She's struggled for the last several months, and died peacefully. Heaven is a brighter place with her in it.

2. My friend Jen had her baby last night, SIX MINUTES after arriving at the hospital!! I haven't been able to talk to her personally yet, but that is a story I have GOT to hear!! His name is Nolan, and I can't wait to meet him.

3. SOPHIE IS IN A BIG GIRL BED!! She has officially moved up to her toddler bed! She loves it, and hasn't abused her freedom at all (yet). We close her door at night, but can hear her on the monitor. When she wakes up in the morning she yells for me, and waits on her bed until we open the door. It is so sweet!! Surely the boys will be that obedient when it's their turn to move to toddler beds, right?! HAAAA! Here's a picture of Sophie in her bed:

4. Blake has tooth #4! Now he has 3 on the bottom and 1 on top. He's working on the second top one, though. He's catching up with Graham, who still has 6.

5. SAVE THE DATE! We're having a birthday party for all three of them on Sunday, September 14 from noon-2pm at Sedgwick County Park. All are welcome! We'll have hot dogs and hamburgers, and let the kids tear into cake. :-) Just RSVP so we know to watch for you!

6. Brent has a new LOVE: He got a new Snapper lawn mower. It's the craziest story--I bought him a new Craftsman mower about 2 years ago, and he took it in to Sears for service (it was still under warranty). They had it for a couple of weeks, and Sears lent him a Snapper while they were working on it. HE FELL IN LOVE. I was counting my pennies trying to figure out how to get him a new mower! When he got his mower back, it was in worse shape than when he took it in, so they gave him a BRAND NEW mower...which he promptly returned for a (you guessed it)...brand new Snapper!! Wooo hoooo!! He's happy, I'm happy, and the kids think it's pretty special, too:

7. Dad and Louise called from Wall, South Dakota (the home of Wall Drug Store)--they rented a cabin, and were calling from the comfort of rustic log chairs on their covered porch, where they were drinking Bahama Mamas, eating peanuts and watching the sunset. AWESOME!!!

Pictures!

As promised, here are the pictures from this weekend! The cake is a carrot cake--Brent's favorite.

I found these red hawaiian hats for the kids--they match Dad's shirt, and kind of blend in on these pictures. Blake kept tipping his up as if to say "top o' the morning to you"!

Louise and Sophie with one of Brent's cards.

The boys were helping with Grandpa's toolbox! They love playing with their walking toys, too!

More card reading!

Trouble with pictures

I'm having problems uploading pictures to the blog--I'll get them uploaded as soon as I can! We got some cute pictures yesterday. Brent had a great birthday! We loved having Dad and Louise spend the day with us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENT!!!!

Today is Brent's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRENT!!!!

Dad and Louise are on their way to spend the day with us--I'll post pictures later!

Meal time

Sophie loves to help out with the boys, and if she's eating she wants them to be eating, too. If they're not eating their snacks fast enough...she first helps herself to the snacks, then force-feeds the boys...

Here she is helping feed Blake breakfast (press the play button below the picture to play the video--turn your volume on, because her laugh is too funny!):

This is the outfit she's picked out for the day (in this order)--jammies, a bikini top, a smiley-face backpack, and a terrycloth tank dress. It's a Quasimodo-inspired design:

I left the boys alone in the bathroom while I changed Sophie's diaper a few days ago, and this is the trouble they got themselves into. (I'm a lightening-fast diaper changer, too, so that should tell you how quickly they find mischief!) Yes...that's toilet paper. The only reason there's not more is because the roll ran out...

Busy Weekend!

This has been quite a week for Brent. He had two job offers this week, so he's spent a lot of time mulling them over and trying to decide what to do. Both offers are with great companies and were good opportunities, but the negatives outweighed the positives in both cases. He's decided to stay where he is. I know that wasn't an easy decision--it really weighed on his mind. Why can't we just win the lottery?? :-)

Boy--weekends fly by, don't they?! Kelly and I spent Saturday morning at Dream Dinners making our meals. We made 24 meals each--our freezers are works of art! We had the Buffalo Chicken last night and oooo-laaaa-laaa it was awesome. I am in loooove. I swear I should be their spokesperson... Last night dinner was on the table in 20 minutes--I felt like Rachael Ray!

Saturday night was our neighborhood party, and part of my job as Recreation Chair is to help with the event. Two neighborhood bands played, we had a moonwalk for the kids, and popcorn and popsicles by the pool. Brent brought the kids over for an hour (it was sooo hot that night!!) and Sophie liked dancing to the music.

Sunday was spent getting things ready for the upcoming consignment sale. We have a lot of the boys' clothes and stuff to sell (I use the proceeds to get their next season's clothes). I tell you, I am SAD, SAD, SAD to see their tiny clothes go! It makes me want another baby so bad!! Brent won't even discuss such craziness, though. :-) I won't be so sensitive once the consignment sale is over.

Jammies

The boys are sporting their new PJs! Blake was crying in this picture because he wanted to be held--he is such a snuggle boy! I think the jammies were a little warm for them, but I was worried that we've been freezing them out at night. I'll probably pack them back in their drawer for a month or so, but you can get a peek at them first:

Speaking of peeks, the Dream Dinners event last night was a blast!! There were 18 of us, and we all got to make a 6-serving meal to take home. There were lots of samples to snack on, and everything was SO tasty. They had an incentive to come back and make a month's worth of meals (10-15% off!), so several of us are going back over the next couple of weeks to make ours. I'm going Saturday morning--I can't wait! There's something exhilarating about making that many meals in two hours...I feel a little like SuperChef... I took my camera with the intention of taking pictures of us in our aprons, but got caught up in the action and completely forgot!