Dino Island

At the zoo we were able to step back into prehistoric time and enter the world of the dinosaur! Sixteen life-size animatronic dinosaurs moved, roared and spit in the Zoo's dinosaur walk-through exhibit. It was pretty cool, Logan loved it, but Mason was a little scared. We had some fun taking pictures there.

Here Jake and the boys pose in front of one of the friendlier dinosaurs. There is a nest of baby dinosaur eggs behind the log that Mason is looking at.

The boys and I pretend to be scared of the roaring dino behind us. (Mason is actually really afraid. The poor boy had to run past some of the "mean dinosaurs" as he called them.)

Jake had to run for his life from the T-Rex. The T-Rex's eyes would actually follow you as you moved. After going through the exhibit, we braved it through a dino adventure 3-D movie. After leaving the zoo, we asked the boys what their favorite thing was. Logan said "EVERYTHING!" and Mason said, "Taking pictures with the nice dinosaurs, not the mean ones."

"New" bike & trike

The boys received "new" wheels this week. And have been racing them up and down the sidewalk ever since. All day long they ask, can we go out and ride our bikes now?

Logan got his bike from his friend Blake whose grandparents live across the street from us. They had gotten it at a garage sale for $5 and then found a nicer one at the dump! Can you believe it? It actually looks brand new. So lucky for Logan, he got Blake's old one.

Here are Logan and Mason playing with Blake after school. Logan and Blake go to the same school and ride the bus home together.

Mason got his tricycle from another neighbor friend that was trying to get rid of a few things before they moved. In fact, Mason still refers to it as Neil's bike. And as I'm sure you can tell from the picture, Mason dressed himself. Here he is wearing swim goggles, a Nebraska jersey, whitey tighties, and his favorite Spiderman shoes.

Mason just loves the secret hiding place under the seat. He uses it to store his silkie (blanket) while he rides so that it never has to leave his side.

Memorial Weekend

We were spoiled this weekend with a visit from Grandpa and Nana Neddenriep! We played games, had some good food, and went to see the new Narnia movie. The boys actually sat through all 2 1/2 hours! I was very surprised. I never know what to expect when we take them out in public. They must have been trying to impress Grandpa and Nana with their good behavior. We were all a little sad when they had to go back to Nebraska, but look forward to Grandpa and Nana's next visit.

Martha Stewart Wannabe

Okay, so I'm tryin' to spruce things up around our house on a budget. So here's what I've been working on. First our dinning room chairs. We got the set 7 years ago at a garage sale, why its taken me so long to do something with them? I don't know. Here are the before and after pics. . .


Then I found some cute fabric at walmart and made throw pillows for the living room and curtains for the kitchen. (Our living room, dinning room, and kitchen are all open to each other).


Next, I would like to paint the dinning room table, but Jake likes it the way it is . . . we shall see what happens with that. I also bought a new dinning room light fixture, but am waiting for Jake to install it. I'll be sure to post that picture as soon as it gets done, probably May 2009 right before me move.

Random Reflections from my Mother’s Day!

enjoying the moment (after coming home from church)

“My” day started out pretty good. I had my lesson ready, my boys dressed and ready to go (minus Jake, he was post call and ready to crash in bed), and we were on our way to church with time to spare. This being about the third time in the last 3 years that we have been early to church. I was also adorned in my new jewelry that I had received for Mother’s Day. The gold colored twine really accented the multicolored shrinkie dink and random letters charms that were attached at the front. Logan reassured me that the charms were in fact not random, the Z represented “I love you”, z represented “you love me”, and T represented “hugs”. But I don’t know, I get the feeling that maybe he was making it up as he went, either way my jewelry was definitely eye catching.
After arriving at church I decided to sit in the back pew instead of our usual spot - the farthest row of chairs in the overflow section next to the door. It was after all a special occasion, we were actually at church on time. The boys were unusually reverent, keeping themselves busy coloring (Logan) and eating snacks (Mason), and I was so excited to have a chance to actually listen to the “Mother’s Day” talks. And then this is how the rest of the meeting went.
Glance at Logan and wonder “why are there purple marker dots all over your face?” Grab a wet wipe try to clean them off a wiggling, whining boy which resulted in pink spots that then looked like actual sores. Seeing that I was distracted, Mason tried to make an escape under the pew. Luckily I caught his ankle in time. But pulling the 50 pounder back as his chubby little fingers were clinging to the back of the pew was a bit difficult. Although at this point I felt as though I still had things under control. This thought was quickly dispelled however. By the 5th time I was dragging Mason back from under the pew with one hand and dragging Logan back with the other (Logan noticed how much fun Mason was having and thought we would join in), I realized that this was going to be a memorable Mother’s Day, just not in the way I was hoping for. I began wondering what all the families in the over flow were thinking watching all of this commotion taking place, not to mention the stake president sitting in the front with a perfect view. This thought was quickly interrupted with again wresting with my children and then reminding them to whisper (they are literally unable to control the volume of their voice, and also have NO internal monologue). By some strange fluke I was able to catch glimpses of the speakers’ talks. And what I heard from BOTH of them was the same story in which the mother was saying she wished she had done more of living in the moment and enjoying her children in the little everyday activities that they were doing. This I found somewhat amusing and was thinking that she surely had some Mom-nesia and was not talking about all the not-so-reverent church meetings. Then again most families probably don‘t have wrestling matches during sacrament meeting like ours does.
Nevertheless, I did think that the overall message was great. And after making it through all three hours of church, and coming home to sleep off the pains of dealing with my little stinkers, I mean angels, I’m ready to spend the rest of my day living in the moment and enjoying all of my boys’ everyday activities!

Mason's Bad Habit

It's a pretty safe bet that if you can't find Mason, he's in the kitchen. The last time I went to look for him this is what I found . . .

And it's not like he sneaks to the fridge to drink directly from the jug and quickly puts it back before he gets caught. He leisurely carries it with him to where ever he happens to be going . . .

T-Ball Time

We've been having such nice weather and Jake is FINALLY finished with night float so we decided to play some t-ball in the back yard. The boys had a blast spending time with their Dad. They've become quite the little batters. Logan even hit the ball over our fence a couple of times.

Brotherly Love

The boys seem to have a love/hate relationship. They are either best buds and playing together like angels, or they are wrestling on the floor fighting. Here I caught them having a "best buds" moment. One of my favorite quotes that reminds me of them is "A friend is a brother who was once a bother."

Playdate at Cosmo Park

Our little monkeys love just hangin' around.

Logan is quite the rock climber, even in his flip flops.

Mason's favorite thing was the huge tube slide.

Dad and Logan hanging out on the boardwalk.

Mason hop, hop, hoping!