Volcanoes Erupt!

On Monday when Caleb was home with me, I decided to try the volcano experiment again that we had done last year. I chose the "pumpkin spice" play doh that we had made together back in October and I had kept in an air tight container. It still smelled nice, and they looked a little more volcano-esque! I also had three dixie cups this time, and I still used three bowls. He helped me get out the supplies and was SUPER excited! We made the volcanoes while Joshua was in school because the Bean didn't want to help and they take time to dry.

That night after dinner, we started the eruption experiment. First, we took 3 TBSP of baking soda and put them in the dixie cup.

Next, we poured 1/3 cup vinegar into my measuring cup with a pour spout along with a couple drops of Dawn dish detergent.

Then we added food coloring to the vinegar - the boys each got to pick their own color.

The first night, Caleb picked green. The second day, he picked blue!

I let them pour their colored vinegar into the baking soda inside the volcano and watch the overflow!

They LOVE the lava spewing out! And they love the bubbles that came with the detergent!

Fun times in the Good home!

Joshua waited for Caleb's turn to be done and then he went. He picked green the second day and red the first day.

The red overflowed onto our table cloth because his volcano must have been leaned just a touch to the one side. He also just dumps verses watching and waiting and slowly adding more. But, it was still fun and not terrible to clean up on this nasty plastic table cloth I only break out for craft projects!

We let Ryan look at one. He was excited for the empty volcano! But, once I poured the orange liquid and it started erupting, he cried and cried. Not so exciting for him even though his brothers were in awe!

After the eruptions were complete, I dumped the excess liquid and dug out the excess baking soda and put the volcanoes next to the sink to erupt again and again for a few days until they tire of them. Then they will go in the trash. But for now, they've provided lots of entertainment for these boys! :)

A Monday With My Little Men :)

On Monday, Caleb & I decided to make snowflakes together. I looked up some examples online and it was a little more complicated than I remember it being between the folding and cutting. BUT, it was still fun. We each did one using a hole punch too, just to see the different effects. :)

I called Shawn and asked if he would like to meet for lunch. We've agreed to only meet once a month (unless it's summer time and we can eat a packed picnic lunch) to save money. We agreed that this would be our one day. We went to Chick Fil A where the older boys could play while Ryan sat with us to eat his lunch. The older boys ate in the car when play time isn't so important. :)

That morning, we also made our play doh volcanoes, which I will post about separately. After dinner that night, we decided it was high time we finish this rocket ship we've been working on since Christmas! The boys had already changed into their PJs when we brought out the final pieces and the 150 crayons tower to keep working on it. We had been steadily coloring for weeks.

Finally we finished! And Daddy started construction using the instructions we had kept in a safe place. Caleb said he was "Coach" and held onto the instructions when Daddy wasn't reading them.

Here are the builders together. Caleb asked where we got this gift, and I reminded Daddy it was from Santa. Santa purchased it at CVS, though, on Black Friday. :)

The first one to climb in to this very cool rocket was Caleb Luke. He was thrilled!

Big brother was quick to follow him in. :)

 I love how cute they are! We told them they weren't allowed to fly away into outer space - and there was to be no taking off in the middle of the night. They giggled. :)

 Ryan decided he wanted to go inside the rocket ship, too. We even allowed the boys to eat their bed time snack in there. :) They had a blast!

The rocket is still in our living room for now. The boys have had a lot of fun playing in it. The project is finished! :) :) :) Yeah! It had been a fun and creative Monday with my little men.

Brunch

On Sunday, January 13, we invited our friends Chris & Lisa and their kiddos Isabella & Aiden over for brunch after church. I made a baked french toast casserole and bacon, Shawn made scrambled eggs and sausage, and we also enjoyed fresh-baked biscuits, the pumpkin spice muffins I had made with Caleb on Friday, fresh fruit, coffee and chocolate milk.

After we ate, the kids all played together and the adults enjoyed catching up. We talked about new houses and vacations and jobs, etc. It's always fun to see them. Ryan played the hat game with Mr. Chris (calling him "Bella" since the boys were excited for Isabella to come play! He also enjoyed saying hi to Aiden. The older kids played with toys, ran around and eventually played Mario Kart on our Wii.

We gave our friends some hand-me-downs for little Aiden that Ryan has outgrown and after they left, we cleaned up breakfast and eventually I took the older boys to the second Kings' Kids Choir of the Spring season. While they were in their classes, I joined a small group of women who use that time to pray for each other. They are all in a Sunday school class together, but I know a few of them from Study & Share. They seem like a sweet group.

When I was picking up Joshua, the lady in charge of the smaller children's group came up to me and told me that Joshua was a really great kid, very kind and very considerate with the other children. I haven't even seen this woman so much as smile before, so I was surprised and delighted by the news. I made sure to tell Shawn when we got home in front of Joshua, praising him for being a good boy when we're not around. He beamed. :)

We got the kiddos ready for school the following day and watched an episode of "Homeland" before calling it a night. It had been a fun day!

Happy 1/11!

The number 111 is my favorite. As I was praying in high school that God would send me a husband, I would notice the clock being 1:11 am when I felt He was saying "YES!" And an amazing husband He sent me indeed! I have held the number 111 as precious as it reminds me of God's faithfulness and love for me. So, whenever I see it, I smile. Sometimes it's on the clock, sometimes it's the number of calories I've been burning at the gym, and once a year it's a date on the calendar. :)

On Friday, 1/11, I took Caleb & Ryan shoe shopping. I bought Caleb a couple pairs of shoes (one brand new pair that he was THRILLED to pick out himself) and a couple pairs of used (but 100% washable) shoes that are that high-end Tsukioshi (sp?) brand that we love so much. The used ones are only $3 a pair, and they looked almost brand new! His favorites were a pair of red ones. I bought Ryan two pairs of used ones (one for now, one for the future) and I got Joshua a pair of used ones for the future. They were all in great shape and since I can wash them, why not?

Later that morning before picking Joshua up from school , Caleb asked if he could wear his Luigi costume again. He LOVES it! And he might as well get some use out of it for the money it cost! We decided to bake some pumpkin spice muffins. He enjoys helping in the kitchen, and every time I read Ryan his "cake book" (AKA "You Can Do It, Sam!") I want to bake. :)

I took the boys to the gym that afternoon, and Caleb did the "Little Ninjas" while I did pump and ran. That evening, Mamaw asked to have the boys spend the night and agreed to watch little Ryan too while we went to dinner. We had a gift card to Red Lobster from Christmas from Grandpa Georgia, and I called ahead. They were on an hour wait, and we knew we had to take the kids to Mamaw's yet, so the timing worked out perfectly! I had fed them pizza for dinner and packed their overnight bags, and they were super excited!

Daddy bought me these two dozen beautiful roses to celebrate the day. :) I asked if we could get a picture together, which he normally doesn't like but said okay to.

 We picked up Ryan after dinner, and the boys handed me the pictures they drew me. I LOVED them!

Joshua's says "I Love My Mom" and had hearts all over it. Sweetness. Mamaw said they both went right to bed at 8 pm and slept well until almost 7 am. I know they played hard that day with no naps! Ryan also went to bed easily that night, but he woke up upset at midnight and we held him for a little while. Eventually he went back to sleep. Shawn & I looked at all sorts of options for traveling on our upcoming anniversary before calling it a night. Hopefully we'll get something booked soon!

I love love! :)

Say What?!?!

Ryan told his first knock-knock joke last night. He said "Knock Knock" and after the boys asked "who's there?" he replied "Cow - MOOOO!!!" as they said "Cow who?" Shawn & I cracked up!!!! We have been snuggling in our bed as a family before tucking the boys in at night. The older boys usually have some time "wrestling" with Daddy there (where it's safe) while I get Ryan ready for bed and read to him. Typically then the older boys tell Daddy what they're going to dream that night and he tucks them in while I tuck Ryan in. But, the last couple nights we've all snuggled together before putting them in bed - after all, they will only be little for a short while and we feel extremely blessed to have special moments to share with them. These sessions have turned into telling jokes - Why did the chicken cross the road? Knock-knock jokes, their favorite "pea green soup," the counting of the skunk (getting to who "8" it), and anything else silly the boys think of. Ryan likes to follow his brothers' lead, so he said knock-knock and LOVES to give animal sounds, so the two naturally went together and cracked us up!!!

Today when we dropped Caleb off at school, Ryan pointed to his seat in the car and asked "Cageb?!?!" I think he thought we forgot him! When we got home, he went straight up to the office and said "DS!" and picked up Joshua's new Christmas device that was there charging and thought he should get to play with it. No, thanks, little man! Soon enough you'll be big enough to play with these things.

On Saturday, January 12, I put away all the 12-month and 18-month clothing and got out the 24-month and 2T (thankfully all of it has an adjustable waist from his older brothers). The day before I had taken the younger boys shopping and bought Ryan one pair of size 6 sneakers. He is getting so big! But, at the doctor's office recently he was still only in the 20th percentile for weight. Does he look skinny to you (see that double chin in the picture above?!?!). I guess it's all relative.

I love my little chatter box! :)

Say CHEESE!

These were some of the other pictures created on Caleb's 4.5 year birthday. I liked the collage above of all three boys, but I wish she would have gotten one of Ryan smiling.

The one above was the best one of the boys, but I'll admit that I cropped it. There was a few inches on the other side of Joshua and a ton above them. Her spacing was completely off. I also wish that they were in better birth order rather than Caleb looking so much lower - why have Joshua on the seat with Ryan and Caleb on the ground with the goofy monkey?

Ryan was pushing Joshua away in this picture and they all giggled. He did NOT want to be in the box, and she kept asking to put him in there.

Here was another collage she made. With the great picture of Joshua below, not sure why she picked the one of him above.

Here was a rectangular version of one of the photos she made. Ryan was pushing his older brother away.

Two other collages she made:

 

This was her first attempt at a photo. I love that they are all smiling, but none of them are looking and Ryan isn't even sitting up.

 Here are a few more tries:

 

 

 Caleb and Ryan look good, but what is Joshua doing?

Her spacing was completely goofy. I purchased one picture of Caleb and that was it. We'll try again sometime, I'm sure. Hopefully I'll get a different photographer and my littlest will cooperate better.