.burnin’ breakfast.

So…this morning I wake up to Alec in my room saying that he did something…Chris saying something else (all of this was a blur) before I knew it, I was in a smokey, STINKY kitchen trying to figure out what Alec had done. 

 **What a great way to start a Monday, huh?!**

Alec is usually the first one to get up.  He doesn’t like having to wait for his breakfast, so this morning he decided to fix it himself.  He got out a frozen breakfast croissant sandwich (thankfully he took it out of the plastic wrapper), put it in the microwave for who knows how long (when I got in there, there were 73+ minutes left on the timer!!!)  The whole living room/kitchen areas were smokey and it hurt to breathe…ughhh.  I turned off the microwave, started opening the doors and got fans going to try to pull the smoke out. 

It has been about 3 hours or so, and the house still stinks.  Thankfully that is the only ‘problem’ we have.  There were no actual flames in the microwave that I saw, just a nasty-burnt-to-a-crisp sandwich (see below).  We are so grateful that the Lord protected all of us.  It could have been much worse.  Now we ARE planning on redoing the kitchen, but that wasn’t the route we were planning to take. 

So, all is well in our house.  We now have a good story to tell! 

Goings on…

Well, there has been a lot going on around here.  We are doing pretty well, just staying busy.  I am having a hard time finding the time to post – I hate that.  But I thought I would update on some things over the past few weeks.

Park Day…

One Saturday, we had a work day around the house.  We decided to have a picnic lunch at the park.  So Chris and the boys rode their bikes while Ella and I drove in the van (with the food!)  It was such a fun little outing.  It was such a great day – relaxing, fun and productive!  Doesn’t get much better than that!

 

Alec LOVES to swing!

Havin’ fun!

 

Ella also loves to swing!  She was in there a long time!

 

Sweet kiddos!

 

 

Ella’s Ducky…

Recently, Ella has a new love for the bath.  She liked it before – well, most of the time, but now she gets excited!  Her favorite thing in the bath is her ducky!  She now says, “Duh” when she sees the ducky.  (We were at the store the other night and she started saying it – I turned and sure enough, there were a whole bunch of rubber duckies! )  She also says, “Ba” for bath.  It is so fun to see her making connections and figuring things out!

 

 

{happy birthday, alec}

It is hard to believe that is has been five years since my precious Alec made his appearance into this world!  Little did we know how much joy (and laughter) he would bring to us.  He is such a gift to us – we are so grateful that God chose US to be his parents!  We can’t wait to see all that He has in store for Alec’s life!

Alec has recently learned to ride his bike with no training wheels!  He is participating in Caleb’s school and even doing some PreK work on his own.  He LOVES video games (and is quite good!)  He also likes to play with Playmobil and legos.  He really enjoys playing outside, running around, riding bikes and scooters.

Some of his favorites:

Food – chicken, Mac’n'cheese, hot dogs

Dessert  – Cookies & ice cream

Color – Orange

Toy – legos

Movie – The Incredibles

Video Game – Star Wars Complete Saga (Wii)

Sport (to play) – Soccer

Team – Orlando Magic

That is just a little glimpse into Alec’s life right now! 

Here are a few photos!

Just a few hours old!

4 days old

7 months old

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old!

Happy Birthday, Buddy…we love you!

[] lego party []

We had a little party on Saturday to celebrate both boys’ birthdays (which are next week). They love legos right now, so it seemed an appropriate theme for the party.

We had a building challenge for the most creative car and they also raced their creations! They had a ball!

I made their cake. It was a fun challenge, but butter cream icing is quite challenging to get smooth. I will try fondant next time. But I think it still turned out pretty cute. The boys loved it, so that is all that matters!

Here are some pics of the fun day!

-pretty girl-

*my girl*

*love this look*

*she loves to stick her foot up on the table*

* look closely to see her new teeth*

*this was a rare time that Ella enjoyed having Alec hold her – had to catch it*

{the great debate}

Sand People ~or~ Tuscan Raiders

that is the question

-Cj

‘Ratatouille’

This is a video that we took early this summer.  Alec loves this scene from the movie, Ratatouille.

The Last Couple of Weeks

I have had a hard time keeping up with the blog over the last couple of weeks.  But everyone seems to be better and we are getting back to a “more normal” life (for now!)  Here are some photos…

 

Alec was helping Daddy mow! 

  And here he is being silly.  He has Ella’s “bumbo” seat on his head!

  

The last day of soccer…

The boys and their medals!

Happy Birthday, Dodo!

Ella’s Pink Converse! 

We took the boys to Pioneer Days in Pine Castle.  It was a lot of fun, since we are studying the Early American Settlers/Pioneers in school right now.  They had some demonstrations on Pioneer life.  It was a fun family day!  Andy and Emily joined us and we met up with the Davis’ later in the day.

A Penny Saved…

Over the last several months, the boys have been saving their money.  They have been wanting a new game for the Wii – Lego Star Wars: the Complete Saga.  These games are not cheap and we let the boys know that if they wanted to get this game that they would have to work and earn money to buy it – we were not going to buy it for them.  This is the first big purchase they have saved for. 

So for months now, the boys have been doing extra jobs around the house (not chores), and helping Gremmie & Dodo do things.  The boys don’t get an allowance,  but we have certain work days that they have the opportunity to earn a few dollars.  Caleb has also lost a couple of teeth – so he contributed his “tooth fairy money”.  (At one point I was afraid he was going to try to pull all his teeth in order to get enough money!  ha!)

Thay have had to make decisions and not spend the money on other smaller items.  This past Saturday, they were able to finish earning the money needed to buy the game.  They were SO excited!    Hopefully this little exercise will help them understand that we have to work hard to earn money and that we don’t just automatically get everything that we want!

Here is a photo of the boys and their new game!

-soccer season begins-

Yesterday was the first day of the soccer season for the boys.  They have been SO excited about this!  It is amazing to see how much more they are “into” the game now that they are getting older.

Caleb stayed well hydrated, so no headaches!  Yay!  That was amazing, since it was so hot.  They had a great first day…and…both of their teams WON! 

Alec was pretty funny when he found out he was on the purple team…he said, “But Mama, purple is a GIRL’S COLOR!!!!”  I wouldn’t have chosen purple as a team color for him either, but he had an opportunity to work through his bad attitude.  And let me tell you, he DID NOT look like a girl out there!  ha!

Here are some photos from soccer:

Afterwards, we changed and went out to Liki Tiki for the afternoon.  The water felt great after having been in the heat all morning.  Ella loves getting in the water!  So much fun!