Mother's Day Tea & Art Show

Today at Drew's school was the Mother's Day Tea & Art Show. It was precious! When we arrived, Drew had a "corsage" for me...tissue paper and pipe cleaners...adorable! We then walked around his room and looked at some of the art projects they had done recently as well as samples of projects from the year. When all the moms were there, the kids lined up and sang a cute MOMMY song and even signed the letters M-O-M-M-Y. Drew had made a gift for me - a key chain he strung beads on and a picture album with photos from the year and he had made the cover as well as the first page inside. Then we went out in the courtyard where they had tea, punch and cookies for everyone. They had one room where there were art pieces from each kid in each class so you could see what other classes were doing and get a glimpse of what your child would be doing in future years.

I really enjoyed the hour and Drew had a great time showing me around, even though I'm there for drop off and pick up twice a week! It was fun to have some Mommy/Drew time which we don't get much of these days...











I'm attempting my first video upload...hopefully it works and you can hear the song!

Some pictures of the boys just being cute...every now and then I'm able to capture the good moments...

Our little man after he shoved himself into a little box...


A rare moment when the boys have a good time together...without beating on each other...


Peek-a-boo! I wish I would have recorded the giggles at this point!

Taking Care of Daddy

Allen has loved spending time on our bed hanging out with Daddy. The other day, he brought in the Elmo doctor kit, asked (in his own way) to get on the bed, and gave Patrick a full check up. It was extremely cute and made Patrick feel much better!

On a happier note...

Allen enjoyed a snack of peanut butter crackers and applesauce this afternoon. Clean and neat? No, that is not how he eats. However, he is happier when he feeds himself no matter how messy it gets!

A picture is worth a thousand words...AKA "Seeing Is Believing"

Tonight I went on a walk with the boys and we found "Daddy's Cactus" (as it has become known around our house). Let's just say that seeing it, seeing the "branches" on the ground that just yesterday were attached to Patrick, and seeing the chaos surrounding it made it all a little more real! Patrick used the term today "cactus man" when describing what he must have looked like waving down a car on the side of the road. The huge branches were hanging off him everywhere. I can't even imagine what he looked like.
I took some photos to try and really capture what happened...it was getting dark so they aren't great, but you get the idea...

The Evil Cholla

The larger branches on the ground are just a few of the ones that were hanging from him

His tire marks on the curb and some of the tiny branches

An idea of what the rest of him looks like...

Our First Desert Casualty

Well, today the desert plant life got the best of Patrick. He was out mountain biking and had a run in with a bee. It stung him between the eyes and then flew into his sunglasses. As he was trying to get it out, his bike hit a curb and he flew off and landed on a jumping cholla (or teddy bear cholla...not sure which one!). Pretty to look at...not so pretty to land on! Luckily, he was between trails and on a road so he was able to flag down help. A nice lady called me to let me know what had happened and called 911. They were able to remove enough to get him on a stretcher and into the ambulance (and get him some Morphine!). At the hospital they sedated him to remove the majority of the spines and gave him some fluids and more pain meds. His face and head luckily were spared as well as most of his back. But other than that...covered in tiny cactus spines. He is bruised and in serious pain but it could be worse! Luckily he did not break anything or have any serious injuries.
The boys were napping while Patrick was out so it took a while for us to get to the hospital. (Patrick kept saying "don't wake the boys" every time I talked to anyone on the phone about him!) Allen was not happy at all to see Daddy hurt - he cried when we walked into his room. Drew did better but wouldn't touch him - he stayed back from the bed and just talked to him. The hospital is new and very nice and the waiting room had a great play area for kids so they boys were much happier waiting out there for them to finish with Patrick. It was also not busy (I think there were 2 other patients in the ER) so Patrick received top-notch care and lots of attention. There were 3 nurses removing spines when we got there!
The photo is not of his actual friend, but you can get the idea of what he was up against...see how fuzzy it looks? That's not soft...those are tiny, individual spines! Thousands of them!!!

Easter Cakes

Patrick and I made some little cakes last night for Easter. Well, the plan was for Patrick to decorate them since he does such a great job on the boys' birthday cakes. He wasn't so in to it so I finished up the job. They turned out ok...next year I'll start earlier on Saturday and have a better plan of attack for the decorating!

Easter Morning

I'm working on getting Easter photos loaded (we have over 250 from today!) but here is my favorite from this morning...the boys were coming around the corner from our room where they had been waiting patiently to open their baskets from the Easter Bunny. The expressions on their faces are just priceless...
(Click on the picture to make it larger...)


Followed closely by this one!

Easter has begun!

Today we went our church for an Easter egg party for the kids. Grandma and Grandpa were able to join us which was quite fun for the boys! We started in the sanctuary where the pastor read a child-friendly "what Easter is all about" story. Drew was so cute and went right down front for the story and sat so still - we were very proud! After the story, everyone went to the gym to dye eggs. Each child got their own dozen and they had multiple dyes on the tables along with stickers and other decorations. It was great and very well organized. Drew dyed all 12 of his eggs and chose all his colors...Allen sat for the first 2 to be put in cups and that was about his limit. Oh well! Mommy finished for him and we came home with 2 dozen lovely eggs!

Poor Little Guy...

Thursday was Allen's 18 month check up. Everything looked great, minus some allergy issues but nothing too bad. He was 27lb 14oz (73%) and 33in (75%) (not an overly accurate height measurement due to some wiggling on his part!). He got two shots and barely cried which was a welcome change. That afternoon he was a little cranky and tired so I put in a Thomas DVD and he sat and watched for a long time...much longer than his usual attention span! He did look quite pitiful sitting there...I had to take a picture! (Drew was spending the afternoon and night with Grandma and Grandpa so Allen got to be spoiled a little!!)

Hockey!

(Sorry the photo is a little dark!)
Drew and Daddy had another night out on the town last night...Drew went to his first hockey game! Patrick figured with only 2 games left and the chance the team may leave after this season, they might as well go. Drew had a great time - although he said it was quite loud! His favorite part? Eating popcorn. I guess it's the little things in life!

Favorite New Word

Allen is still not saying a lot, and most of his words can only be recognized with a lot of practice. However, one of his new words and my current favorite is "cactus" or "cac-cac" as he says. He points right to it and it comes out plain as can be...or plain as Allen can be at least! Love it!

Baseball!

Patrick and Drew headed out last night for a "Daddy-Drew" night. They like to go out every now and then, just the two of them, and do something fun. It's been a while since they have been able to have a good night out, but last night they made up for it. Patrick's team from work was going to a Spring Training game and he decided to take Drew along. Drew had a blast! It was his first baseball game and I was concerned about his attention span, but he didn't get antsy until the 6th inning and they stayed almost to the end. He ate pizza & peanuts (loved dropping the shells on the ground!) and got a foul ball tossed up to him from the dugout. He came home so proud of his prize and wants to put it up on his shelf! I think it was a very successful night for the two of them!