Monday, June 30, 2014

Schools End, Tearing it Up, Barbie Time and Chopping off Heads

Isn't this boy the cutest kid alive? I love his little legs, his sweet little face even when he wants to tear down the blinds. Ask me if I don't mind again in a few months when he is actually strong enough to bring them down and see what I think .
Play time. Davis is getting faster and faster and into more toys and the boys are trying hard to keep him from grabbing them. 
More baby legs!


Max got a package from Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich, a John Deere lunch box case full of dum dums which he thought that meant he got to eat them  all that day. I had to cut the kid off at 5 even though it was a birthday present. He loves to use the container for all his special toys he doesn't want anyone to play with, which is as many as he can possibly fit.
Max's actual birthday (btw this post is WAY late, like a month and a half or so :)  was a Sunday so he got to celebrate it in his preschool on Monday with his birthday buddy Brooklyn. We came up with these little robot guys to share with his class. He even helped me make them. A little.
As school was coming to an end I one day looked in Levi's backpack and realized I hadn't looked through it in a couple weeks. Maybe I'd given up and was just doing my best to get to the finish line. So. Close. It was full of stuff I should have gone through long ago. Oh well, I'm a slacker mom, at least when it is so close to summer.
In his bag I found a book he wrote when they were working on Dr. Suess. It was kind of like Green Eggs and Ham where they had to pick a food they didn't like. His is hilarious. Heres's how it went.

By Levi
Enchilada

I'm Levi.
Levi I am.
I don't like enchiladas.
I wouldn't eat them with a fox.
I couldn't eat them in a box.
I can't eat them here or there.
I won't eat enchiladas anywhere!



As I read his little 'I hate enchilada's book' at 11pm at night going through his bag, I couldn't help laughing out loud because guess what we had that night for dinner?


More homework I found amusing.


Davie-Doo found someones sunglasses that somehow showed up at the house. they amused him for a few minutes.
I loved this card he had given me for mothers day. I showed the envelope but this was inside. I was very impressed with the picture he colored because I have never seen him stay inside the lines so well.  Also someone at the school took these really cute professional pictures of all the kids to give to their moms (one of the moms is a photographer). Isn't he handsome?

And the last day of school finally came!!! For the day before the last day of school was the last day of carpool so I decided we would have popcorn, brownies and watch Darkwing duck on the way home. I didn't hear any complaints. These guys have been fun to carpool this year.
And me making Levi practice piano. He has his days where I have to fight him tooth and nail, his days where he doesn't mind and every once and a while a day where he actually wants to. I am going to be a mean mom and make him do it, he will thank me one day. I hope. 
For snack the boys decided to have a picnic in the front room with my yoga mat as the blanket.
Davis can be a little tricky to get down for a nap sometimes. I try to rock him and relax him as best I can but most of the time I hold him for a minute or so and lay him down crying but he goes down after a few minutes. He just wants to push me and grab my face and necklace. Silly boy just wants to party but I'm glad he eventually does otherwise he would be one grumpy man.
And on the last official day of school (the last day of school was going to be at pump it up) Max got back all his papers and other fun things from his teachers which he got at his graduation the night before. I used my other camera to take pictures of that so I'm sure I'll get around to putting those up by the time school starts up again.
And for Levi's last day of school they held a talent show, pancake breakfast and yearbook signing where families were invited to attend. I loved seeing their skit and songs, it was very cute. The boys and I tried our best to not disrupt everything but it was a little tricky because someone pooped his pants and then later wouldn't stay still for more than a minute. I won't name names.


Then right after we headed off to Pump it Up for Max's end of the year party after grabbing a quick bite to eat. Everyone had a blast and Davis was pooped so he hung out with me for a little snooze.
It has been a great school year for both boys and I can't believe we survived it! I am going to miss both their teachers and am sad to see it end. But a new year and adventure awaits after an awesome summer. We shall see what it will bring.

Max and I went out to pick some strawberries. Jason is so kind to make sure their watered. When we got them I told him I'd take care of them which didn't last long but I'm glad we kept them. It's fun to go out to the yard and pick some fresh fruit and these Oregon berries are so much better than anything you could buy in a store or even at a stand. Max agrees.
Aaannnnnd for Memorial Day weekend we tore up (by we I mean Jason did and I took pictures) the front bathroom. We have been wanting to remodel this bathroom pretty much since we moved in here because it desparetely needed it. The tiling, tub, window and toilet are origional to the house (early 70's) and getting pretty soggy. There is 80's linoleum and carpet. Side note: Why would anyone put carpet in the bathroom or partical wood flooring under a toilet and tub? The counter is from the 70's as well and only one sink works. The room needed a complete redo.

It was hard to decide to because this isn't our house and it is just a hard decision putting thousands of dollars into one room in a house that isn't ours but since it's not like we're renting we can't really ask for it to be fixed or updated (and my grandma is not in a position to do that either) so we took the leap and got it done. It is a great time to do it especially now that the back bathroom is in working order so everyone can use that while the front is being worked on. Part of the reason I wanted to do it now is, to be honest, is that  I am completely embarrassed by it and am absolutely mortified when anyone has to use it and because of that I didn't like to have people over as much as I normally would. Probably petty and silly of me but that's how I felt. Also now with a new tub I can take baths! I always felt too yucky taking a bath in there and also the water drains really fast even when you close the drain. It's been doing that since I was a kid.

I'm so excited!!!!



Jason has done an amazing job with plants in the yard over the past few years. This used to all be dirt.


Max's Lego creation.
My boys are so awesome and sometimes I think they are much better people than I am. My grandma won't admit it but she has been needing more and more help over the past year and really needing lots of help with a lot of little things like opening curtains, doing laundry, making her bed, turning on lights, taking out the garbage and lots of other little things that before she could do on her own.

So because of this she is constantly calling up for the boys or for me. I get a little frustrated because it is so frequent and for me it always seems to be right when I am in the middle of something like changing a stinky diaper, trying to feed Davis, just walking in the door with my arms full of baby, bags and grumpy kids. Other times it feels like it is right when Davis is down for a nap, Levi's reading, Max is doing Legos all at the same time and I finially have a few minutes to relax and sit down to eat lunch then get some jewelry work done. Or when she calls the boys it is right after they have done a couple of big jobs for me, when they are in the middle of homework, or eating lunch. It is just never a convenient time so can be kind of frustrating, at least for this mama. (By the way I feel horrible for even writing/thinking this because she is my grandma who helped raise me and has allowed us to stay in her home rent free for the past 5 years, but it is how I feel some times.)

Overall the boys are really good and sweet about going down and helping her. There are times when they don't want to but most of the time they just know that's part of life and have good attitudes. They can be such good examples to me.
Library time. I love my boot boy. He was on the prowl for Power Ranger movies.
Progress on the bathroom. Jason gutted pretty quick. There was a lot of water damage so everything needed to go.

I was an awesome mom and let Max 'help' me match socks. He did a decent job. He is so funny sometimes. On some clean up jobs he absolutely fights you on it the whole way but like folding, cooking, working outside he'll be right there with you the whole way.
And now that Davis has become a little more mobile and able to skooch around, the Legos have moved into the dining room because there room is just too small, everyone would be stepping on Legos all the time. So now the dining room looks like a hoarder room. It is the messiest I have ever seen it and I don't see it getting any cleaner anytime soon. Oh well. Boys need their legos.
Last year for Scarlett's 29th birthday I told her I would make her a barbie cake. When we were younger my grandpa used to get us barbie cakes for our birthdays. I only did it a few years I believe but Scarlett was more of a girly girl and the baby of the family, so she had a lot more of them.

Anyways I was a big slacker and never did it. Ok. I have a couple good excueses. I had both boys big friend parties, Max's b-day is days before hers, and I was tired and pregnant with a giant. I just kept putting it off and it never happened. She was kind and forgave me. But this was the year and so I got a pan which Jason was able to make a base for  (it didn't have one which is why I got it so cheap) and do a cake. It was actually pretty easy and I had fun decorating it.

All and all it only took 3 hours from the cooking to finishing decorating. I kind of wish I had more time to do an even more elaborate dress but for limited time and for the first time making one I think it turned out really well.
A story I found of Levis. I was probably still working on clearing out his back pack. I've come to the decision that I can only keep about 15-20 pages worth of work/artwork each year for the boys. So I keep my favs, secretly throw away the rest and take pictures of things I want to keep but not physically.
This is from Mothers Day (I think I found it hiding in the van or something). Max wrote to the statement 'Mom, you have taught me to be like the 2,000 stripling warriors by: Teaching me the songs before church so I know before the other kids'.
A book Levi's class made. I thought it was a great idea where they learned the story, each had a part and drew a picture to go with it. The teacher scanned it then complied it to give to all the kids. They loved it.
I bet Levi was really excited because he got to draw and tell about the part in the Book of Mormon where Nephi gets to cut off Laban's head.
Looking back at all this I can't believe all this happened in one week. My life is crazy.