Potty Time

Rex woke up from his nap and had a dry diaper so I immediately took him to the toilet. We sat there for a while and he peed! So proud of him! He new to just sit there and hang out, didn't fight me. He saw me take the pee and pour it down the toilet then wash it out in the sink, so later in the day he got in the bathroom took the toilet bowl out and put it in the sink. Smart little guy!

Hello Story: week 6-8

I've been really enjoying this class. It's forcing me to use all these fun supplies I get every month. Forcing me to take more photos. I'm really enjoying the instruction, listening to Ali's voice, and the fun stuff that comes out of it.

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

More to come!

He's so cute

He is becoming more and more of a kid. It's crazy. Every day I look at him and he looks different. And I think he looks a lot like me even though people seem to think he looks like Andy. Just love him!

The house today

When we had the appraiser over I took a bunch of pictures, because, let's be realistic- the house never really looks like this! Wanted to share how pretty it looked :)

Hello Story catch up!

Oh yeah I can blog again! My computer security settings got changed and I'm not able to use explorer anymore and had to download Google Chrome. We'll see how this goes. I hate change.

I've been keeping up (mostly) with my scrapbooking class. Really enjoying all of it and have been creating a lot of pages lately which I just love.

Week 3:

Week 4: 

Week 5:

I'm stuck on week six. Trying to come up with a six word story.
A couple I'm thinking about right now:
            Working out will save your life- Jennifer Love Hewitt. Love her
            This is your life. Live it.
            My whole life is "have to" - got that from Parenthood
            No the house isn't done yet
            Let it rain and be fall
            Sign your full name right here- just refinanced, spent a lot of time signing!
           Your life is what you choose.

Just trying to figure out the right story. What's your six word story right now?

Moviestar Bathroom

For some reason my blog doesn't want me to write on it, so this post is going to be off, but I wanted to share the exciting new bathroom we have! I love it! Once Andy hooks up the plumbing and we get the handles on the drawers I will be in HEAVEN!

Such a pretty bathroom I just love it! Also we got the house appraised yesterday- $417,500! That's huge! Super excited that all the work we've put in the house has paid off!

Hello Story: Week 2 cont'd

Having so much fun participating in this class. First of all it's keeping me away from shopping online. But I'm also getting a chance to scrapbook and use all these fun products I have. I've really missed doing pages like this. It's been so fun lately going back through my old scrapbooks and seeing all the stories in there. I love this kind of memory keeping. I've been doing Project Life, which is easier, but not the same.

This layout doesn't belong to the class outline, I was inspired by the circle and after taking the boys to the Jewel ended up doing this. They're calling it a pizza.



Leo

Leo is our special kid these days. He's become very sensitive, the kids who used to be tougher than Vinnie. Gets incredibly frustrated at everything. Bossy. Whinny. I think he was just meant to be an only kid.

We had the boys all last week. Vin and Leo both had camp at the same field, just different camps. Let me add that three hours of camp a day is not enough.

This picture pretty much sums up Leo's week:

Having some fun using my Photoshop. Going to add this to my project life with some arrows. Oh Leo.

This was a tough week for me too. I think Vinnie has moved into his teen years early because he just wanted to whine about everything we asked him to do- shower, watch Rex, put this away, brush your teeth, everything. This is not his normal behavior. Plus with Andy's broken leg, and When Rex got really sick, I had a house full of whiners. I'm exhausted. Mama needs a week off. Am I going to get it? No. A girl can dream though.

Meantime our bathroom remodel is getting so close. More tile arrives Wednesday and will be finished by Friday. Thank goodness. Going to die another week with the kids and only one bathroom.

My new favorite photo of Rex

He's just so cute.

Hello Story: Week 2

The first page I did for week two was "Before I die". Wasn't really sure that I liked this idea very much since it sounds so morbid. I tried to think of it instead as what I want to do in my lifetime...

Thanks to Tati for the photo! Had to make this really simple with the kids yelling in the other room. This was the first time I have printed on 12 x 12 paper. It was fun. I really like writing directly on the paper. Looks a lot better than card stock cut up with writing on it. Having a lot of fun with this! I have a couple more pages to do with this weeks class, just haven't found the time yet.

Hello Story: Week 1

Andy signed me up for Ali Edwards class, Hello Story. This is the second class I've taken from her, and the last class I did not finish (bad me!).
This one I'm determined to finish!
Ali is using videos this time around which I really like. Makes it more motivating to hear her speak.
Having a lot of fun scrapbooking again, and I'm getting to use all the products that I've been getting from my monthly scrapbook subscription with Studio Calico. You can find out more on the kits here. I love their products, and the inspiration from the other scrapbookers.

So here's my pages from week one in which we were instructed to make a timeline (with lots of guidance).

I did two one is a random sampling of important years in my life lately:

This one was supposed to be in a circle. I did my time working for Anchor/TMS/Intercruises. Crazy to think how long I've been doing this for.

We've had the boys all week too, Andy has a broken knee, Leo was sick on Monday and Rex has been sick for three days now with a temp... so this week has been nuts. Looking forward to some peace next week (I can dream right?!).

Happy Fathers Day Andy

Just getting around to posting these!!

Steffie didn't think they should pose in front of Big Red, but it's just very Andy!

And real life with the boys. Not so pretty and posed!

Work

Feels like it's all I do these days. I've hit my hump. Just want to stay home and not answer my phone for about a month right now.

I miss working ships as the agent. It's a lot more fun to be out there running around making changes left and right.


Still having some fun though.

Sailing on the Solstice for the first time with Rachel and Julie. Last time I will ever go cruising.


I brought Rex down to the Pearl. They have a window in the floor that he was afraid to walk over. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled across it!

Almost Warm

We're pretending it's warm around here and filling up the pool on the weekends. We just keep boiling water and brining the tea kettle to the pool to warm them up. Not that they seem to notice that it's freezing cold!

These kids are so excited to go to Hawaii!

Steamship Dinner

I know this was from a couple months ago, but life has been busy lately. We went to the annual Maritime Steamship Dinner in April. Julie and I got our makeup done, pulled out our fancy dresses and had a fun night out! I actually took my camera out, and had a fun night annoying everyone with all the awesome events I was capturing :)

 He looks just like us. I think this photo is adorable. He will probably show this to his friends when he's older and say "see my parents always went out and left me at home with the nanny"

Parents article: My Memoirs, Age 4

Just read the most hilarious article in Parent's Magazine titled "My memoirs, Age 4". It's insane how closely it references Leo. I was laughing so hard I was crying. That kid. I can't find the full article, but someone else had typed up part of it, inserting some quotes here:

“Let me break it down: When I'm hungry I'll try to eat a whole jar of gummy vitamins; you'll say "no" and I'll lose my mind because that manes NO SENSE that i can only have two of those awesome things. Apparently, I can eat all the broccoli I want because it has vitamins, but if I want to stuff my face with just (gummy) vitamins everyone acts like I’ve lost my mind.

I would eat cheddar bunnies instead, but unfortunately my dad scarfs them all at midnight while watching HGTV like some depressed tween. You’re 40, and that’s way too old to eat anything in the shape of an animal that isn’t an animal. Instead of peppering me with annoying questions, you should just turn on the TV. Seriously. When I’m watching television I’m totally Zen and in the moment. Just leave it on all the time.”
“Whenever I yell for my dad to get me ham or come outside to push me on the swing for three hours, he gets annoyed. It’s either because I refuse to wear sunscreen or that I’m interrupting him from staring at his phone. I don’t know what he’s doing on that thing, but he loves it more than my little brother loves my mom’s boob. It's hilarious when my dad can't find it. He asks me where it is sometimes, and I pretend like I didn't hear him because, um, I don't know where your phone is. I love it too. IT HAS A T.V. IN IT. What's not to love?
Only my brother knows where my dad's phone is because he hides it.

This happens at our house all the time! Vin is the one with the phone.

(referencing his little brother) “That kid is an animal. I’m honestly frightened of him. If he throws one more yogurt squeezer at my face, I’m calling a social worker. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s fun to get crazy with him and tear up important tax documents, but a guy like me also needs some solo time building a Lego tower without a cackling maniac in a diaper going all Godzilla on it.”

Leo is terrified of Rex, and would spend his entire day alone and play with his cars if he could.

“We have three cats. There’s an orange one named Oliver who my brother loves to sit on. I yell, ‘Arlo, NO!” but my mom and dad get mad and say, ‘Don’t yell at Arlo!” Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Next time I’ll just ignore him when he uses the cat as a beanbag chair.”

We're telling Leo all the time lately to stop telling Rex he can't do all these things. Rex has figured out how to climb the ladder to Vinnie's bunkbed. Scares the crap out of me. Leo has started yelling at me when he does this. While I appreciate that. Leo has now purposely started climbing up there when Rex is in the room just to get Rex in trouble. Not good.

“It’s chaos, and I think we need some kind of family whisperer. They’re yelling about where the keys are and trying to remember if my brother has pooped or not and where the green sippy cup is and Zzzzzzz – I totally just fell asleep. Meanwhile, I’m standing there…is someone going to put on my shoes? I mean, I can do it myself, but I don’t feel like it right now. Usually I just hang out by the door in one sock yelling, ‘Let’s GO!’ Mom gets crazy and dad becomes quiet and takes deep breaths until she yells at him to help her. Eventually one of them puts on my shoes for me but does it really fast like they’re mad and that usually makes me want to stay home.”

Yep pretty much spot on.



(referencing his little brother eating a lollipop) “Mom gives him one, he licks it twice, then bites it off and chomps on it. I told you he was an animal. Meanwhile, I’m licking mine like I belong in civilized society. he gets jealous and starts crying again, so my dad says, ‘Hey buddy, could you go finish that in the basement so your brother can’t see it?’ WHAT?! Now I’m being banished to the cellar because that spaz can’t control himself around candy? I just stand there, staring at him, slowly licking my delicious lollipop and turning my body away whenever he reaches for it. Then I start running away from him and my mom starts yelling because – STOP THE PRESSES – apparently the WORST thing you can do in the world is run with a lollipop in your mouth. It’s not a grenade, for crying out loud.”

All four year old boys must be just like Leo.

Vegas

I took Rex on his first trip to Vegas! Andy didn't go on his first trip until he was over 30 years old. Rex thought it was great. We stayed at Julie's parents house and they had a pool. He turned into a little daredevil just jumping in. Gotta keep my eyes and hands on him at all times!

He was also great on the plane. Walking up and down the aisles talking with everyone. People trying to give him apples. Letting him play with their ipads. He's a charmer!

 We went to Treasure Island. Rex did a bit of gambling.

 Water baby

He loved the airport.

 We had the whole row to ourselves on the way back- pshew!

Home at last- babies require a lot of stuff!