I miss London

Four years ago, I got to go to England. I heart London. I love the accents. I love the architecture. I love riding in the tube. AND, I love the shopping. Can't wait to go back. I think I know what I'm saving my frequent flyer miles for now=)

Our Favorite Reads

Even my busy boys will sit still sometimes. They love to read and look through books. I wanted to blog about some of our favorite children's series, if any of you Moms need some fresh ideas.

There is loveable Clifford. Shep, especially, loves the Clifford books.

This is a new series we have discoverd. These books are just plain silly. Conner loves them! Jonathon London has also written some real cool truck and train books.

The saw the kid's show Franklin before we found the books. They are similar to Berenstain Bears in that there is always a lesson learned.

The Berenstain Bears was one of my favorites growing up. The one I liked the best was entitled The Messy Room...hmmm, wonder why I liked that one so much??

Another new discovery. Like the Froggy books, these are silly!

This series has been around a long time, but I had never read any of them before. They are hilarious! My favorite story is the one one called "The Cookies".

This is probably one of Conner's favorite books. He loves Babar. We are always having to role play Babar.

The boys love Arthur's Vacation and Arthur's Puppy the best. I love D.W.

Then, of course, there is Curious George. Conner and I have actually read the entire treasury in one setting.

This is one of Shep's favorit series. Each book ends with "Clever Meow". He loves to say that part with me.

Happy Reading!

Enjoying Life

Decorating Easter cupcakes.



Shep quit frosting his cupcake and just ate the frosting.

My big boy.

Shep met a baby at storytime. He found a stuffed animal and decided it was his baby. He named him Roo. Roo even needed a diaper.

Little boys live here!

Blowing bubbles with my boys.

Beautiful blonde-haired boy.

Cutie face!

This boy is a permanent band-aid.

He needs to work on the nurturing part.

Conner discovered he could blow bubbles without the wand.

Silly boy.
Heading back to the construction zone.

Another band-aid...I told you.

Some fun in the sun this afternoon. Love, love this little girl. So cute!!

Hopping around like frogs.

This is what you get when you ask two 3 year olds to pick a spot for a picture. They both picked a spot and neither would move. Our kids are opinionated at all...are you kidding??=)

The Big D

The past couple weeks have been challenging with the boys. Zack had a rehearsal in Dallas Friday night and Saturday that included a free night in nice hotel. The boys and I jumped at the opportunity to tag along and enjoy a change of scenery. I mean, what Mom wouldn't be excited about 24 hrs of no dishes and cleaning?

The boys were beyond excited. Shep's first time to spend the night in a hotel. Conner, my child who goes until he crashes, fell asleep in the car, of course, and was ready to party when we arrived.

Breaking in the bed. I promise we're trying to get rid of the passies=)


Disclaimer: I am NOT a Duke fan. Conner saw this shirt at the consignment store and wanted it. Guess he comes by it naturally seeing that all the men in my life, except my husband, are avid Duke fans.

I was bummed at first when I saw there was no bath tub, but the boys decided to try out the shower and it was a HUGE hit. I think Shep played in there about a whole hour on Saturday. I wish I had one of these at home...

Not ready to get out yet, Mom! Close the door!!

I'll just say that bedtime was interesting. Conner always has trouble falling asleep when he's had a nap and add on the excitement of a hotel...I think he finally passed out about 11 pm and Shep at 10:30.

We usually sing before bedtime. The boys take turns picking a song to sing. Shep loves El Shaddai. Conner: What's El Shaddai? Me (in the middle of singing): It's a Hebrew word. Conner: Why did "she die". Me: Oh...haha...no one died. It's a Hebrew word for God. Conner then picked "There is a Fountain." Conner: Why do we wash all our sins away? Me: We have sin in our hearts. Conner: What is sin? We talked awhile, mostly about sins he would understand like disobedience, selfishness and unkindness. He started listing things off that were unkind or disobedient. Then he said, "God can make my heart clean!" Me: Yes he can! He told me he learned that at Sunday school (thank you Rachel B and Lib K!) That conversation encouraged my heart. God is so faithful and it's neat to see Him working in the heart of my 3 yr old.

How to Eat a Freezer Pop

How do you eat this thing Mom? Well, that didn't work.

Maybe I can stick my finger in there and get it out.

Ohhh, you push it up from the bottom. Yummy!!

Guess it's officially summer since we had our first freezer pop. Guess I shouldn't complain...how many places in the states can you swim and eat freezer pops at least 7 months out of the year. I don't mind the heat so much (remind me of that in August!), it's just amount of it. You wake up and it's hot...you go to bed and it's hot. If you don't get your walk in by 8 am, it's not going to happen. At least right now we can enjoy the mornings and evenings still.

Totally unrelated picture. Boys are so competitive. Appartently, even with food. I set a big bowl full of strawberries in the table to go with dinner. I turned around and they had each gotten as many as possible. They can't stand to think of the other guy getting the upper hand and getting more food. You can see we're still working on unselfishness.

Happy week-end everyone! Trying to decide if we might test the pool out.

At least he's a gentleman

So Conner has his first imaginary friend. His name is Gentleman. He's 5 years old. He's tall and dunk the basketball and can climb up to the top of trees. (Apparently, Gentleman can do all the things Conner really wishes he could do) Here were some of today's conversations. Conner: I'm playing with a real friendly boy. His name is Gentleman. Me: His name is Gentleman? Conner: Yes, and he's a nice boy. He's nicer than Shep. (I'm assuming that is because he does everyone Conner tells him to do and he doesn't hit=) Me: Conner, come help me pick up these cars on the back porch. Conner: Ask Gentleman. He's out there. Me: Conner, please don't throw cars. You know we aren't supposed to throw cars. Conner: It was Gentleman. He doesn't know. Me: Please ask Gentleman to not throw cars. Yeah, those two boys are characters. Maybe they're singing here?

There was a very loud blower outside. Conner decided it was a tornado and this was the damage.

Conner made a drum set last night. He did this all by himself. I was pretty impressed!

Shep gave it a try and sang Jingle Bells.

This is what I found after Conner's rest time. No wonder he was so quiet. He was making a landfill.

Conner's imagination is amazing. He reminds me of myself when I was little. He's always camping, on a trip or imagining some kind of scenario. I'm trying to find the balance of letting him imagine and keeping him from getting every single thing he owns out. He likes getting it out, but not so much picking it up.

Did any of you have imaginary friends or adventures??