nboysmommy's blog: Posts from May 2009

Water werks...

(ABOVE: Nathan catching water from the sprinkler in his watering can!)

Sadly, today was departure day and we were forced to say our goodbyes to Mema & Big Cousin Jerell! Rod took them to the airport which left one wailing Nathan at the front door. He is surely going to miss his Maw Maw and the big boy play with Jerell. He brought on the water werks for about 15 minutes after they drove off. After many failed attempts to cheer him up, Daddy returned and all was made well with a little time outside and what else? Water!

Watering the plants - NO HELP WANTED!

Nick supervising from the shaded garage

Thanks for letting me play outside Dad! BIG KISS!

High tailing outta there...The water is coming!

Our knockout roses have bloomed! "How pretty!" says Nathan

Cracking up at the sprinkler!

Posted at 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1st Movie @ The Theater

For Mema & Jerell's last day in town, we all decided to go out to dinner and a movie. Golden Corral was the resturant of choice. It seemed that the smallest bellies in the group (Nick & Nathan) got thier fill of buffet selections, eating the entire time we were there. (And more of Daddy's to go plate when we got home!) We then went to the theater to see the new Disney movie UP in 3D. This was Nathan & Nick's 1st time seeing a movie at a theater! Nathan sat in awe starring at the big screen for several minutes and later decided he wanted nothing to do with the 3D glasses. 30 minuties into it, Nick fell asleep and remained sleeping the entire show. Midway through, I heard snores from Jerell! But guess who watched the entire movie? Nathan! Yup, sitting in the best seat, Mema's lap! He became scarred once, burying his face into the comfort of his "Maw Maw's" shoulder, but once he started watching again...he was glued the entire time, making sporadic comments about the "bird". This was really a cute movie. I think I may have enjoyed it more so than any one else. Laughing out loud and tearing up too!

p.s. We lost Nick's brown pediped loafer! Oh, boo! - These pair of shoes have "history". They were Nathan's before, and we once lost a side in a Kohl's parking lot for several hours. I searched high and low, up and down the theater, but no luck! I've been previously undecided about which pair of shoes to bronze for the boys. Now that the pediped pair have finally dismantled I think I'll go with the lone loafer. These shoes have been dependable when no other shoe could take on thier overly chubby feet. I'm going to mount them on a base with the one bronzed shoe and a question mark on the other side, on the plaque it'll say "The Loan Loafer" - a well loved "pair" of Nick & Nathan's baby shoes.

Posted at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the Zoo!

A few shots from Memorial Day at the Zoo!

Posted at 02:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

More FUN with FAM!

We all love having Mema & Jerell here! It's one fun adventure after the next...

It's so cute hearing Nathan yelling out "Maw Maw" throughout the day and to see Nick sleeping peacefully on his new nap time resting place...you guessed it, his Mema! Big cuz J is so good with them, giving Nick plenty of kisses and playing along with Nathan. He is quite the helper in the kitchen too. He's been my sous chef each day. We've made banana waffles, homemade pizzas, cupcakes and more! I want to keep him! I love his age. Still innocent, willing to help and learn, yet very independent. (Plus, there are no diapers involved! ;-)

We've had a great time so far. For Memorial Day, we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo. It hosts the world's largest indoor desert and rainforest! After that, a couple of Drea's friends came over and we cooked out, had a water ballon war and made silly feet cupcakes! Tuesday was "Art Day", the boys spent an hour or more making Play-Doh masterpieces and paintings. Even Nick got to do a little paint project with his footprints. Today, we ventured over to The Amazing Pizza Machine! This place is like Chuck E. Cheese's on steriods with mini golf, bowling, go-karts, games, rides and a great buffet! We had a good time!

J Making Banana Waffles

Nathan wrestling his big cuz J - (he thinks he's his size!)

My sous chef making homemade pizzas

Jerell's silly feet cupcakes with sprinkles

J & Nathan's Play-Doh Mania

Jerell's play-doh worm

Nathan & I's play-doh butterfly

Posted at 01:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Our 5th Anniversary!

Rod and I celebrated 5 years of Wedded Bliss on Saturday! (The "Wood" Anniversary)

We spent the day with family having fun at the CoCo Key Water Resort! Mema (Rod's Mom), or as Nathan says "Maw-Maw" and our newphew "J" are in town for the week! We have all been enjoying thier company so much! Especially the N boys. Nathan finally has someone "his size" (actually quite bigger) to wrestle with! He just tackles and jumps on his big cousin and think it's the best thing ever, giggling uncontrollably. They've been shooting a lot of basketball too! And for those of you who know of big cuz Jerell...you know he's a b'ball STAR!

Saturday evening, we got dolled up for dinner and a night out. Grandma, Aunty and Cousin were left to tend to the boys, while Rod and I enjoyed a fabulous dinner at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant. We had four courses of pure satisfaction! I cannot rave enough about this place. We had a private table closed off by curtains (bouquet of red roses waiting for me - awe!) with the fondue cooking station built in. We enjoyed cheese & wine fondue, cooked our own vegetables, fillets, shrimp, lobster and tenderloins in a burgundy wine based broth and the absolute best part was the flaming turtle chocolate pecan fondue at the end which had cheesecakes, fruit, brownies,etc. for dipping. That, along with an emptied bottle of sparkling cava, great reflection and dinner convo, all made for a great meal and good time. We headed back to CoCo Keys for the night and did something we rarely do - SLEEP! Hahahaha... A whole night of it too! Uninterrupted, no little feet poking your sides, no bottles at 3am...good old fashioned sleep! For me, that was a GREAT gift in itself!

We returned home Sunday to exhausted caretakers that recouperated with long naps and children who'd been very well taken care of! Doesn't get any better than that! By the way, where did 7 years go that fast?

CoCo Keys

Mema & J

Aunty Drea

Us with the boys

Nick sun bathing

Nathan sun bathing

Posted at 04:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Vroom Room...

Car Themed Boys Room

Cars, Trucks, Tractors, Trains & Planes....

All the things little boys shout "VROOOOOOOOOOM" about! Oh, and let's not forget "Chooo-Choooooo"! I'm pleased to report that I completed the "painting/drawing" in the boys room! Finally! Painting was loads of work, but it turned out really cute. I really love the bedding with the twin hugger comforters sewn at the bottoms and bright wooden wall letters. There are painted clouds, trees and birds, mixed in with "raised" painted wooden cars, birds and planes as well as glow in the dark stars on the ceiling! The "road" wraps around the room. I turned one of my drawings of a smiling sun into a vinyl sticker to save myself from having to prime and place over the blue sky color. That turned out really great! (Maybe a new "product" for the E-Shop!) I also found some extra long, extra tall "hide-away" bedrails too. Turns out the mattresses were too deep for the regular kind. Nathan loves it! He's napped in there daily. (Not overnight, until the bedrails went up!) Well, mission "Boys Room" has been accomplished! On to the next painting adventures... The dining room (sage green) and kitchen (chocolate brown).

Posted at 02:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

2009 White House Eggs

The White House eggs I ordered a few weeks back when the Annual Egg Roll took place have finally arrived. NICE!!

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I'm looking forward to taking the boys next year!!

Posted at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Home Improvements...

The first of many...

We got some landscaping/planting done this week to add some curb appeal to our home. It's been 6 months since move in. Truth be told, we're not even "fully" unpacked yet. Time has a funny way of zooming by these days. The subdivision still has quite a while before it's complete. We, as well as many of our neighbors are tackling many home projects to turn our houses into homes. I really love the simplicity of our installation and can't wait for the blooms and color to show in the coming weeks. Both driveways are lined with green velvet boxwood bushes and alternating yellow brick road shrub roses. The sides of the house each have 1 dwarf burning bush. In front of the porch, there are more boxwoods with 3 sets of red knockout shrub roses. For trees, we chose a spring snow crab tree in the front yard and there are two apple trees in the backyard: Gala and Sweet Sixteen.

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The front "before" picture.

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Sod removed and plants in place.

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Dark brown mulch going in.

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Nathan "supervising" the workers while stealing/eating thier snacks. (Off the ground) ewww! He poured them out of the bag and wanted them there. Why? I dunno. Notice the cheeto in the mulch...LOL

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View from the porch. I LOVE THE CURVE!

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left side of driveway

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Finished project!! Looks so much better than plain sod!

We put in some solar landscape lights and also have some new house numbers, garage lights, a tree spot light and planters to add to the porch as well. We're also tackling painting in the dining room and kitchen. The next big project will be the fence and a playground for the boys. So much to do... the frequent trips to the home improvement stores don't help. We just leave with more projects in mind! Home ownership...gotta love it!

Posted at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sesame Street Birthday...

It's not often I share my work on the blog, but this custom Sesame Street birthday ensemble I've just completed for a client is so awesome! It features all the birthday child's favorite places in the neighborhood like: Grandpa's House, Gymboree, The Park, Daddy's Barber Shop, etc. It's a long 3 panel double sided Z-Card that folds down into a 6x6 square. I included characters from the Sesame gang within the neighborhood, as well as the bunch in birthday hats at the party stop. It was loads of work with all the digital drawing, but such a fun project to create!