Catching up on the week

We have not been doing anything really exciting, but I do have somethings from the past week to post.
First, I never posted my flowers from Valentine's Day from my boys.... they really are beautiful and still going strong! I am truly loved by all of my boys... thank you.

JT.
The boys have really been lovin' the dogs lately. Here is JT laying with them. :)On our day off on Monday, the boys and I decided to make a bird feeder (We got the idea from Curious George) and so we set out making this beautiful hand-carved bird feeder you see below... Ok, so it is an OJ carton with construction paper and packing tape, but the boys love it! It took a few days, but finally the birds realized it was there and now, they frequent our feeder! The boys are so excited everytime they see the birds eating. The problem is the birds are a bit skidish and don't stay around long after you open the sliding glass door. (that is why the picture is so far away) I can't really say that I blame them!!

The boys LOVE visitors and on Thursday, Uncle Ted made a trip into Phoenix for a conference. We got to catch up with him a bit and the boys were very excited to show him around our house! Thanks for stopping by, Uncle Ted!

Well, it won't be long.... the boys love to help and with this photo I might see the light at the end of the tunnel of having them do some things around here!! They have always enjoyed mowing the lawn with Daddy, but this is the first time they actually got to hold the reigns!

Sam.
I have said before how they want to be like Dad. Well, Sam came out in one of Matt's work outfits - shoes and all! Look at that smile! :)Jackson's birthday party. We spent the afternoon on Sunday bouncing our hearts out! The boys really enjoyed the giant slide. They kept going down together. I love those kids! Look how much fun they are having here...

I made the cake for Jackson, too. Here are a couple pics...

The weekend.

Valentine's day!
A little late, but there are some cute shots of the boys (as usual)! First, Sam had his first official Valentine Party at school where he had to pass out his valentines to his friends. I was so proud of him... he wrote all the names himself. He worked really hard on them!!

And of course, if Sam is doing it... JT has to. He enjoyed coloring his valentines. And yes, (Linda) that is something around his face again.... I think? It could be his bruise from hitting his face though... I know it is bad, but I kinda hope it is the bruise!

Love this!

Finally, Sammy took a break to give the camera a smile. :)

This is a picture of Sam leaving his Valentine Party at school. He made me a bouquet of kisses. He told me I was his Valentine! I will hold on to that forever!

The boys got a little something from Mommy and Daddy for Valentines day. The boys got me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my 3 valentines. I am very lucky.

Yesterday we had Owen's Birthday party. We had a blast! We were at the park from 11 - 3:30!! We had a lot of fun with our friends. The boys were excited to go celebrate with him and I made the cake... here are some shots from the day:

Monster Truck Cake...

Last is a picture of JT blowing out the candle on Owen's birthday cake!
His motto: You snooze.. you lose! I love that kid!

Monkey See, Monkey Do!

We have always known that JT idolizes Sam. Well, now we have more evidence of it. As you know, the boys have been into a lot the last week or so and today, while Sam was at school, JT showed me just how much he pays attention to his big brother.

First, he insisted on wearing the singlet :)

Then he looked at me and said, "Mom, Lets Wrestle!"

Here is the video of him saying it.... It is a little dark but he wouldn't do it again for me in the light. Really, it is how he says it that is the funniest!



Then we were getting our shoes on and we were counting together when all of a sudden he started saying the 222. o - ee - o. He was mimicking how Sam says his phone number. (If you don't remember Sam -Click here.) It was so cute... I had to get it on video too!


Finally, we ended the day with Sam and JT riding their bikes on our street. JT tries to keep up with speed-racer Sam. It has really motivated him to use his bike and he pedaled the whole way down the street! Sam is still doing amazing!! He is learning how to "be a real bike rider" and start all by himself. He is getting the hang of it!! Of course I can not get any pics/videos of that because it is too hands on when I am by myself! Wait until the weekend. :)
Right now they are both outside with Daddy while he is cooking dinner. Sam is crushin' the baseball. I guess that will be JT's next feat!

In Arizona, When it Rains... It Pours!! And then it stops!

The weatherman has been calling for rain. So we were not surprised to wake up to a cloudy Arizona day, even though there is usually not a cloud in the sky! In fact, we kinda like the clouds! But we were surprised to see hail coming down! Of course the boys had to get their umbrellas out and use them since there are very few opportunities for them to do so!

Singin' in the Rain
For those of you who are consistent followers of this blog... another chocolate face JT!Love this pic of Sammy. :)
HAIL!
We were outside playing in the novelty of the rain when all of a sudden, down came hail to which Matt immediately got nervous and thought we should bring the boys in the house because..."That can get as big as golf balls, Missy!" Needless to say, it didn't and we played until our heart was content!
video of it really coming down!




So, like the post says, the rain stopped rather quickly and we were outside again riding our bikes (our absolute fav thing to do right now). JT gained some inspiration from his big bro and decided to give his big boy bike a try. He is really getting the hang of it now, too, Thank you Sam!

I love this shot, you can almost see his determination. :)
The video...


Last night....
Ok, this will need some background information/images. Many of you probably remember the baby wrestling singlet that Sam got from Rob when he was born.
For those of you who need a memory jog/introduction ...

Wrestler Sam 2004
He looks really happy, doesn't he?
This is Sammy at 1 month old. I think the singlet says up to 11 lbs or starting at 11? Either way, If I remember correctly, he fit the criteria in these photos.

Next, we have Sammy at 13 months. Still fits! 2005

Still not exactly happy to be in this thing!

He does looked pretty ripped for a 13 month old, though!

Enter 4 year old Sam. Still fits! 2009

Look at that cute little behind!

These boys are too much!!

Videos of Things we learned this week.

Matt went away and the boys have been working hard on little feats. Here are a few of the things they picked up...
Sam has practiced throwing the football...

Catching the football...

A long throw...

And how to get hit in the face...

JT has been busy learning how to snap! Turn your volume up really loud! :)

Sam has learned his phone number...

And he practiced with me while Daddy was gone, but it wasn't until Daddy got home that he did this... ( you probably want to turn down the volume for this one... it was pretty windy. But if you could have heard him, you would hear him humming the entire way down and back! :) )

If you fall down, get back up and try it again!

I can't believe it, but Sam is beginning to ride his bike without training wheels. It wasn't that long ago when he had trouble riding a bike... period. Now he is really coming along on 2 wheels. Below are a few clips from him and Daddy outside practicing. He kept getting back on the bike and trying again. So cute!!

I call this one... "YES!"

This one I call... "Ya-hoo!!"

This one I call... "Ahhhhhh!"

He is getting so big! Check out his big smile. :)

Go Steelers Go!

Well, we have reached the weekend of the Super Bowl and everyone in Arizona has Super Bowl fever especially with this being the first appearance for the Cardinals. Sam's teacher, Ms. Bridgett, is a big football fan. So she had all the students in her class wear their favorite football team colors or gear. This is how I sent Sam to school this morning.

He had to wear 3 shirts because he didn't want his Dad to be sad, so he wore the Bills shirt under his Steelers shirt and on top of his long-sleeve shirt (because it is so cold here!)

Well, Ms. Bridgett is a Packers fan, but has converted a bit into a Cardinals fan as they have season tickets. So obviously, she is rooting for the Cards. When she opened the door to release the students she had all 20 of them chanting "GO Cardinals GO!" and waving these flags they made in class.

So I said... "Sam!! You are wearing a Steelers shirt! You can't chant for the Cardinals!!" He proceeded to give me the little smirk that he does so well.... the one where he smiles and wrinkles his little nose.
After all of that, I was a little nervous, but asked Sam..."So, who do you want to win the Super Bowl, The Steelers or the Cardinals?" And he, with his unwavering loyalty said, "THE STEELERS!!" and JT said, "GO CARDINALS GO!"
Thanks Ms. Bridgett!