Eggnog night

It might sound odd that we are having eggnog treats in the middle of march, but it was special for Papa so we made it work. Since Gramma and Papa were leaving on Sunday and this was out last night we decided to have some special treats just for them. 

 Right after Christmas I found this canned eggnog..who knew they had this?? I am not an eggnog fan myself so maybe that is why I have never noticed it before. On the back it had some fun recipes which included an eggnog pound cake. I thought it would be fun to make for Papa when they came so I picked up the can and stored it until March. After I popped it out of the pan Sup wanted to help with the powdered sugar. As you can see there is one chuck that had a nice mountain, but he had fun with it ;)

Amazingly our grocery store still had eggnog ice-cream as well so I picked some up so we could have eggnog milkshakes with our cake...really can't beat cake and milkshakes. Since the boys and I again are not a fan of the eggnog we had chocolate milkshakes and Papa and Gramma happily enjoyed the eggnog milkshakes. The cake on the other hand I decided to give a try, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. It really was very good. It had a nice taste...just a hint of the eggnog...and very moist. I think it was a great little send off :) 

Marshmallow fun

For Christmas each of the boys got a marshmallow gun. When Papa was here the boys thought it would be fun to get pepper him with the marshmallows. Sup came into the family room to get him and found that his marshmallow was stuck. And when Thomas got his to help Sup out his marshmallows were getting stuck too. 

 As Papa took it apart they were a little gummy, so once he cleaned it out I think Papa had a little more fun getting the boys. They would run around and Papa would get them with the marshmallows. The boys had fun finding all the marshmallows and giving them back. And Papa had just as much fun getting the boys. 

There was a point where they couldn't find all the marshmallows and some may have gotten eaten. But it was a lot of fun to watch and the boys had a lot of fun playing. 

Thomas' green day

Thomas has lots of fun holidays and he is getting old enough now where he is really understanding how they all work and reasons behind the celebrations. Now to my knowledge we do not have any Irish on either side of the family tree but because it was St. Patricks Day we knew that Thomas would have lots of fun with this day. 

 There is no shortage of green around our home so it was fun to decorate a little. For those who are not aware Thomas' favorite color is green so to find something green to wear again was no challenge. We thought we would have fun with dinner as well. 

Since corn beef and cabbage wouldn't go over really well with some members of our family we decided to do steaks instead for Thomas..a favorite of his. We also had some green potatoes and avocados. Green food some times isn't the easiest to find and some times not as appetizing to see ;) but it was a fun dinner and was really yummy. 

Run Of Luck

Late last month I decided...with a little encouragement.. to enter the St. Patty's day run this year. I was a little hesitant because it was a 7K. Which at first I thought was a little odd for a distance but then it is held for St. Patricks day therefore the 7K instead of a 5K or 8K. I always thought I would just stick to 5K's but   after thinking about it and encouragement from Eric I went ahead and pre- registered for the race. Therefore I had already paid for it so I wouldn't back out and started increasing my runs.  

As I was working on increasing I started to get a little more confidence in myself and thought well maybe 4 something miles isn't that bad. Eric and I set a goal for the time I wanted to run and if I accomplished I would get my birthday present early. So when race morning came we headed out to Newburgh. Since it was St. Patricks I decided to go with some green attire ;) And it just happened to be my number was 17. 

 It was actually a really nice morning for a run so there was a really good turn out. It was hard to say how many people were there but I heard at least 1800 were pre-registered. So at the very beginning of the race because I was in the middle of the pack took a min to get over the start line, but luckily it was chipped timed. 

 It was so fun to have Gramma and Papa bring the boys to help cheer for me. It made the morning a little easier for Eric and I because we had left early so he could help me warm up. Thomas was so excited to see everyone wearing green. It was very cute that they had made signs for me but as you can see Sup was not happy at the present moment. 

 The race course was new this year, although I didn't have anything to compare it to but the first mile was a little challenging with some nice hills. But it was nice that it was shaded. When we looped around to meet up with the trail that runs by the river we where done with the hills. At that point it started to get hot because you have been running two miles already and there wasn't hardly any shade so it was still a bit of a challenge.

When I came up the small hill and seen the finish line I had a great pick up and was very happy with myself. I was able to run the whole distance and met my goal for time. It really was a great experience and I had a lot of fun with it. Surprisingly I am thinking, "well maybe an 8K wouldn't be so bad..really what is another kilometer?" This was a surprised to Eric because I usually do not think this way about running especially about distances. We shall see... but this was a great challenge and I am happy I was able to accomplish it :)

Popcorn tree

When we were making s'mores Thomas took some of the popcorn so that he could make a "popcorn tree". So he placed the popcorn here in the the tree behind him. 

 He was pretty funny because after he made his popcorn tree he kept singing the popcorn song.... for those not in primary it is "popcorn popping". I was really surprised that he knew most of the words as he usually just sits and listens during singing time and to hear him sing the words and do the motions was really very cute. 

To know ones surprise the popcorn didn't go to waste as this is a very popular snack around here. So him and Sup would happily eat from Thomas' popcorn tree. 

Not your average s'more

I got this really awesome book for Christmas, a book all about s'mores. I have always been a pretty big s'more girl and this book took a different take for your average graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate treat. 

 The concept is really keeping the toasty marshmallow but the other parts really can be smooched between anything. Of course it had a lot of different ideas and suggested that if you have a group of people that you could have a "s'more bar". So I had everyone pick a s'more they wanted to try and picked up the ingredients we needed. 

 These days there are a lot of different flavors of marshmallows so we had a variety with just the marshmallow itself. We had raspberry Pims for one s'more so we just roasted the marshmallow and sandwiched it between two Pims...Yum! We had one with graham cracker, popcorn, caramel kisses, and the  marshmallow.. this one was really good if you like kettle corn. The other one we tried was with a chocolate graham cracker, with Junior Mints and the marshmallow...very good with the mint! 

Papa was a fire master and our official marshmallow toaster. He made a great bed of coals in out little pit and made the perfect toasted marshmallow each time. We kept him pretty busy roasting but did give him breaks so he could enjoy his s'mores too ;)

Makin' pizza

It was soon after we moved out here and Thomas had just turned two he started to assign Gramma and Papa what type of pizzas they would get. I am not sure how he decided this but he found a Little Caesars coupon ad and on the front it displayed 3 pizzas, a cheese pizza, a pepperoni pizza, and a sausage pizza.   

 From there on out it was known that He got the pepperoni, Gramma got the cheese, and Papa got the sausage. (Not that we ever actually bought the pizzas but I guess if we did that is how they would be distributed). So when Gramma and Papa came to visit us we thought it would be fun to make our own pizzas.  

My boy seemed to do better with "their" size foods, so mini portions are often used because they eat them a lot better. So for the pizza everyone had mini pizza's they could top how ever they wanted. It really was a lot of fun to have a mini pizza bar and the boys had a lot of making their own. 

Risk with a twist

I must admit I am and have always been a big board game player. And a lot of times after the kids go to bed Eric and I have a "date night in" and play games together. The boys like us love to play games as well, although some of the games the rules need to be a little more simplified. 

 Out of all the games that I have played I have never actually played Risk. From what I hear Risk was a very popular games in Eric's family. So one Christmas I seen they had a Halo version so I picked it up for Eric. From what I know it can be a pretty complicated and all able strategy. A game that for a almost 5 year old and almost 3 year old is way out of their level.  

So when  the Risk game comes out it is about giving everyone their color, placing them on the board and having the guys/monsters fight each other. And if your playing with Thomas the green guys never die...apparently they have some kind of amazing shield that will protect them from anything and of course it only is for the green guys ;) So for all purposes it becomes a role playing game. Gramma and Papa were kind enough to play this with the boys several times while they were here. And the boys had so much fun playing with them :)     

At the park

On Thursday morning I thought it would be fun to take the boys to the park in Newburgh and have the boys play to give Daddy a little more of a quiet house. 

 We have had little warmer weather here then normal for March reaching the 80's this past week so they were very comfortable in their shorts. 

 While Papa and Gramma stayed with the boys, I decided to take my morning running on the trail. Since I usually just run around my neighborhood it was a nice change and a little more challenging as I decided to run the rather long and large hill at the trail head.

 Since I was gone for about 45 mins the boys and Gramma and Papa had a lot of fun. With the playscape and lots of room to run is all they needed. 

Going down slides has never been one of the things Thomas really liked to do. The smaller ones he can do but the bigger ones...not so much. Since Sup is more of a dare devil kid I was not too surprised when Papa told me he went down the slippery slide all by himself. I think we all earned and worked up a big appetite for lunch! So it was home to get Daddy and we were off :) It was a great morning. 

Box cars

Whenever we have visitors coming from Michigan there always seems to be fun packages and/or stuff found that we have left. Since Gramma and Papa were coming from our northern state we had some fun gifts brought for us. 

 We had some family members make these cute little cars out of the cardboard boxes. It took them just a few minutes after they were unpacked from the van that Sup hurried into his to "drive" it. Thomas was a little upset that there was stuff in his, so it was soon unpacked so they both could drive their cars together. 

We gave them a snack to eat in the car and they were off! It was a fun gift and the boys had a lot of fun with them :)

Darth Maul arrives

As Eric decided to get some more material for a Darth Maul light saber the boys then decided that when Papa got here He was to be Darth Maul. After the light saber was made the boys hurried in to the guest room to put it on the bed so Papa would be ready. 

 Tuesday afternoon after a minor flat tire and a quick repair by Papa, Darth Maul was finally here and we were all very excited. I am not sure Papa was in the house for a few minutes and the boys rushed to the guest room to get Papa... aka Darth Maul his light saber.  

 This fight between the two Jedi and Darth Maul was a daily event. A surprise to some but certainly not to me or Eric was Thomas was not the one to watch out for..that would be Sup. He has gotten pretty good at his light saber and his sneaky attacks. It was a good thing that Papa caught on to this quickly ;)

When Papa was not available and worn out Gramma was gracious enough to fill in for Darth Maul. Gramma too caught on quick that you needed to be aware of Sup and when/where he was going to strike :) After Papa and Gramma left they didn't know who was going to be Darth Maul. Now it is the umbrella there back by the green house, not nearly as fun ;)

Potty trained

I am happy to report that our Sup is successfully potty trained! This is an exciting event for both Mom and boy ;) For the last month we have been working really hard and after we got out of being afraid/not wanting to actually sit on the toilet things started to click. 

 For the last few weeks Sup did really well as long as I was watching the time and having him go potty every few hours but now he will go on is own and yell "Pee! Pee!" and run to the bathroom... and if he happens to be eating it comes along, just fine with me...  Thomas has been really great with and taking him to the bathroom and being excited when he went on his little toilet. I will admit he was a much better cheerleader then I was and much more willing to sit with him in the bathroom. 

My last test is always church just because I am not around him for the 2 hours he is in nursery and not always sure if he will say when he needs to go. But the last two weeks he has been great, around the 3rd hour they came to get me saying he needed to go potty :) It is a little inconvenient since I teach 3rd hour but I am so proud of him and I am happy to be done with diapers!   

The making of a volcano

For the past several months Thomas has been very interested in volcanos. He first discovered them in his dinosaur books and some documentaries on dinosaurs (Yes he loves to watch these and he really does listen and watch the videos). He of course learned that it may have been a big volcano eruption that could have killed off some of the dinosaurs. 

 Ever since he learned that little tidbit he is convinced that is was indeed the great volcano eruption with all the hot lava..or as he some times calls is guava... and smoke that killed off his beloved T-Rex. Therefore this is a story that is re-enacted many times in our home. Since we have had some very nice almost summer like weather the boys decided to make one "really big" volcano in the back yard. 

So with a pile of, a stack of sticks and an imagination you have a volcano! Although I am told it hasn't erupted yet the sticks are just representing the smoke..you know before the lava comes out silly mommy.... And then the next day it rained and he was upset as he sat and looked on through the window that is volcano was getting all wet. But we are happy to report the volcano made it through the rain :)

One entertaining hole

We always seem to have some kind of outside project brewing in our minds when the weather starts to turn into spring. After the week of tornado's that went through we started to get some nice spring weather again. 

 Last fall Eric and I were discussing the fate of the tree in the corner of our backyard. It was not a big tree but it provided some shade and the flowers were pretty when it bloomed. Eric had gotten a new chain saw at the beginning of last year and was itching to use it again. After first there was talk of just cutting it down but I liked the tree and wasn't in favor of that idea. Eric knows me very well and suggested that we could cut it down and plant a different tree... a fruit tree perhaps. This of course was much better idea to me.. a fruit tree would be great! We could get a few and maybe get some good eating apples and baking/good for canning apples. I had the winter to think it over. 

I decided that the fruit trees would be great we could still have shade along with some yummy and healthy treats. This was a win win so Eric dusted off the chain saw and the tree came down. We dug out the roots and now we have this nice size hole in the corner. The boys think it is the greatest thing in the world. We didn't fill it in because we are hoping to get our tree soon and therefore save work re-digging a hole. The past few day this is were the boys have been playing. Dirt, hole, and worms and they are literally set for hours...yes hours! I think there might be some disappointment when the tree gets put in, but for now it is the best spot in the entire yard.... "IT IS SO SO AWESOME! " says Sup ;)

$3.00

Eric can come up with some very creative ideas for toys for the boys to play with. A little bit ago he was saying how it might be fun to make the boys some light sabers. They are really into Star Wars these days and thought it they would have fun with them.

 I had really know idea what he had in mind but earlier this week when Thomas and I came home from preschool Sup and Daddy had a fun surprise for them. 

 Since it was Thomas' leader day Daddy had taken Sup to Menards to get what they needed for their light sabers. Some PVC piping, padding (Yes the padding is necessary) and blue and green tape= light sabers. They looked really cool and the boys had a lot of fun with them. And the best part they only cost $3.00!

As the seen goes Thomas is always Obi-one and Sup is Qui-Gon. Since Daddy was the bad guy he was Darth Maul. Poor Daddy had to settle for the stick as he didn't think to make a red light saber for him. Although I think it will come at some point. Oh and for obvious reasons these are outside toys only, not that they needed reasons to go outside but now they get to play with their new toys as well :) 

Worms

The other day Daddy took the boys out to find some worms. After first Thomas just wanted to look at them from afar and it was Sup that wanted to grab 'em and touch 'em. 

 After a little while Thomas got over his fear of the worms and started to fill his dirt filled jar. With these boys they were loving this activity, I mean dirt and worms what could be better? :)

 Thankfully we have a lot of worms and plan to put them in our little gardens around our house this spring. After a bit they started to name the worms after themselves. There were lots of baby Thomas' and baby Sup's.

 The bigger or longer ones were big Thomas' and big Sup's. 

Sup had no problem filling his jar with dirt, in fact Daddy had to keep telling him to stop putting dirt in it. There was a point that when he came inside he had to take his worms with him to the potty so they could see how to go pee in the toilet. As long as he is going in the toilet we are happy so the worm jar went with him. 

Enjoying outside

Despite the tornado weather we also have had some very nice and enjoyable weather. We are all happy to see that spring is just around the corner. 

 These dump trucks that the boys are playing with Eric and I consider one of our best buys at Menards. It was money well spent. I think that we have had them for two years now and they are always the go to toy when we are outside.

 Because this day was clear and sunny Thomas insisted that we needed shade....while the rest of us wanted to soak up the sun. So Daddy was kind enough to put the shade umbrella over their play spot. 

 After Eric put up the umbrella Thomas thanked Daddy and told us this way he wouldn't get any "sun owies." With his skin and light hair this is a big concern in the summer, although we were not at all concerned about it today.    

You can't have a fun afternoon playing out in the sun without a snack and a beverage ;)

Weather of late

Last week was a more eventful week then I think anyone anticipated in the first days of March. I am sure most have heard even if you are not in the area the tornadoes that have hit the Midwest. 

I know for most around the "tri-state area" as we say around here Wednesday was an early morning for many. We live right in the city so when the sirens go off for bad weather we hear them without any problems. For our small family we are not up anywhere near 5is/5:30ish. We were fortunate that around our home we only had some heavy rain and high winds. But that was the morning that the tornado's hit many places just east and south of us. 

Round two lasted a good part of the day on Wednesday. I am not sure how many tornado's hit but in southern Indiana and Kentucky (which from here is like a 5/10 min drive) were hit pretty hard. I remember stepping out that morning for my run and it was like 70 degrees. My first thought was "wow this is going to be a nice day" then I looked at the sky...it wasn't looking like a very promising day. And very sadly for some it was a very tragic day. Thomas was dismissed from preschool early, along with many other schools in the area. It was a sight to see the skies that day. We are very fortunate to have a basement and I am glad it was one of those "must-haves" on our list when we were looking for homes.

Around our little neighborhood we had some pretty high winds, hard rain and hail. The above pic is from about 20 mins north of here in a small town of Fort Branch close to were Eric works. Our hail was not quite that big but many places around here had some even bigger. All the photos above are pics from our tristate area. We were very fortunate and happy to report we had really no damage around our home and that everyone was safe and sound. Sadly that cannot be said for others.