Old Toys

These are the same waffle blocks that I used to play with as a kid. And we used to do the same thing, can you tell Mikey is making a car noise by his face?

I've noticed something. The things I get for my kids, I really get for myself. I love watching them play with the toys that I had so much fun with when I was little. Look at that Owen boy just chillin. It was his idea to get inside the blocks...and Mike's idea to push it. Classic toys never go bad.

I've noticed though, that when they don't take care of their stuff I freak out. Which I have the right too. If they break it it's gone and that means no more fun with that toy.

One of our new favorite things are these masks, they were a little more than what I would have liked to pay (about $9 at target), but they're very high quality and I'm definatly going to buy the whole collection for our costume box. They LOVE these things. As soon as a mask is on, they don't need anymore toys. They're no longer my little boys, and they refuse to be called by anything but the name of the superhero mask they're wearing. Xander is especially adamant that he IS spider man. 

I found 2 transformers masks at toys r us, and they're about the same price as the others, eventually I'll add those and the Thor mask to the pile. Owen even likes putting the wolverine mask on. Cute little boys.

My First Best Friend

22 years ago today I got my first best friend. Marshall and I were always doing something or other that was weird. Mom didn't usually put us together in the kitchen to do dishes cause we'd always end up just laughing the whole time and never getting anything done. Marshall put up with a lot of older sibling abuse. I told him it was going to be fun to jump from one bed to another even though they were completely way to far apart. I'm sure a lot of his bruises were vicariously my fault (I didn't do it I swear! It was the bed.) But with his ingenuity he got back at me quite a few times. One instance he somehow tied my bike into the tree in the front yard, very high up. It's funny now, but then I really had no clue how I was going to get it down (I think that was the idea) I was pretty fumed. Marshall was always there to talk to. We always had some secret that no one knew about...or well we thought no one knew about. And for some reason, we loved to wrestle. When we were younger I had the upper hand...but as time wore on. Well lets just say he takes it easy on me.

Marshall has always been true to himself and to others around him. And he "knows" everything (whether he really knows it or not), He has a way of making you believe the most absurd things (ask him about where he was born, or what colors smell like). I've always loved being around him. Everything is an adventure to him. At Christmas time all the guys got marshmallow guns and his was broken. He said the best part about it (other than shooting everyone) was having to fix it first. He's a lot like both of our grandpas. One thing is for sure, growing up around marshall sure gave me a lot of time to laugh and smile. He gave me quite a few memorable moments, and helped me become the silly person I am. Marshall, I love you so much. Thanks for coming along when you did, life would sure be dull without you. Thanks for the bike rides around Willard, the walks in strange fields pretending we were runaways, the late nights of made up obscure songs & nursery rhymes, the tv shows we'd watch together and make fun of, and the sincerer brother who's always loved me for who I am, and a person I always could be myself with. You truly are one of a kind, and I couldn't be more proud to have you as my brother. 

puppy people

Xander and Gavin have decided they are eachothers puppies. They trade off. The thing they're eating in the video is Vienna sausages. I find them disgusting, but the boys think they're puppy chow. ick. The thing I love most about this video is the way gavin talks. I love it. He's almost three but still doesn't have his letters right. I keep thinking about Xander and how at 1 year he was already talking. After 4 kids I now realize that is actually really early. He was Owens age. Yeah...these are the words Owen can say; mama, daddy, hi, num, oooh! yeah...thats pretty much it. He recognizes lots of words, he just doesn't say them, but he does know what you're talking about when you talk to him. Mikey is the strong slent type. He's always trying to take apart something or another. If a toy has a moving part he moves it over and over to see how it works. All of them are so different but they're all best friends. I sure love my boys.

Spiderman Xan

 Just so you know, no matter how much red food coloring you put in white cool whip....it's gonna turn out pink. And the more color you put in it, the pinker you will be when it gets on your hands.

The boys eating cake....and Owen in front of my messy pantry that we forgot to close the door to.

Xander and his birthday presents. He loves his new spiderman friend. He's nice and soft. And the helicopter is a lego set with a lego guy spiderman. The lego guy is the bigger guys son.  When daddy left for work today, the big spiderman left for work and gave his lego man son a kiss and hug and said goodbye. it was really cute to watch.

Theres our little spiderman. And he will not stop wrestling that bop bag. It's his "rocket" as he calls it. Happy Birthday my little 4 year old!

the beginnings of couponing

so I've decided that it's time for me to get serious about coupons. I've never really been a believer...until I met a friend of mine. She has some amazing coupon ninja skills...like getting $70 worth of groceries & toiletries for under $1. Really? you can save that much? So I ask her what her secret was, she said she just follows a few blogs and gets the info from there. So here I go with the research. Some of these blogs she said she read, and a few of them I found on my own. If you'll notice my "coupon blogs" to the right. I've only browsed through these so there may be changes to the list later on if some of the sites don't deliver. Heres to saving money!

Knowledge is Golden

I just saw this and wanted to share it. Lately I've been watching "Horders." Honestly, I was watching it for inspiration, I wanted to see dirt and filth and realize my house is dirty too, but it won't take me near as long to clean it out. I've never been good at cleaning. I always need motivation, and I always get distracted anyway. So I'm always looking for small things I can do to help me out. This is just a little tip I stumbled on today.

Getting rid of clutter doesn't have to be a long, drawn out process. You can complete this entire list of clutter - reducing projects in an hour or less.

1. Toss 10. Grab a trash bag. Find ten items in your home that you no longer need or want and put them in the bag. 
   Toss the bag in the trash or put it in your donation box, and never look back.
2. Clear a surface. Find at least one cluttered surface, like a coffee table or dresser top, and completely clear it of all clutter, swiftly dumping any trash.
3. Toss old magazines. Go through your home and gather any old magazines or newspapers you've already flipped through
   4. Weed out 5. The thought of weeding out your entire filling system may seem daunting, but anyone can weed out just 5 file folders.
   5. Pick through a junk drawer. Whatever you can't identify or is clearly junk (meaning you'll never use it) gets tossed.
   6. Toss anything expired. Go through your fridge and medicine cabinet, gathering anything perishable that has expired. A good day to do this is on garbage day, so you can hand off what you've collected to the trash collector.
   7. Dump junk mail. Quickly go through your pile of mail and dump anything that is clearly junk mail.
   8. 
   1. Put things away. While carrying a large shopping bag with handles, go through your home putting at least 8 things that are not in their correct place in the bag. Then, deliver those items to their proper homes

   ---

   by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now! 

I blame Star Wars

Recognize this?

....no?

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Now do you see it?

Yeah...(sigh) starwars burnt the pizza.