Wednesday, September 29, 2010

zoo rules

Here are our latest rules for going to the zoo:

#1- Never go in the summer. Spring and Fall are best and afternoons are great. This will ensure it to be less busy, perfect temps and the animals are all eating their food, which means they aren't asleep in a cave somewhere out of sight.
#2- Always ride the giant elephant.

#3- Be sure to take the nephew that ASKS to have his picture taken. (I know- what I wouldn't give...)
#4- Be sure to come face to face with the giant, beastly gorilla. This is like icing on the zoo cake, although, I was scared he would punch the window. (Why?!)
And finally #5- Always go with the cousins so your kids aren't complaining the whole time.

Here's a funny video of two little monkeys- Linc and a monkey about the size of him. All the other kids had left this window, except Linc and the monkey just jumped right onto the tiny ledge by him. It was like they were looking in a mirror. They played for a bit before we called all the other kids over to see too. It was super cute.


a (half) day in the (busy) life of lincoln noah


I came home to a sitter the other day around lunch time and this is what I found. She said she went to the bathroom and when she came out Linc was sound asleep. He has never done this in his life!! I moved him up to his crib, which is good because he needed his rest for the rest of his crazy day...

After his nap and the boys came home, we broke out the cookies. It was so nice to have Linc busy so he wasn't walking on Elliott's books while he was reading them. He climbed up these tall chairs by himself and was playing peacefully. He looks so innocent right?

Wrong. He was eating the m&m's out of the cookies and throwing them to the floor. He went through most of the pack. The ones that were still on the table were eaten too. And yes, that's a movie that was thrown down too. Darn my eyes that can't even see into the next room and the table that was (kind of) blocking my view of this disaster!

Whenever I set the table, Linc climbs in his chair and waits. But I usually set the table way before the food is ready. So I usually give him an "appetizer" or he gets the hint and gets down. Here he is ready to make a huge milk puddle and splash in it. Sorry- no photos of that.
Measuring a smooshed corn bread muffin I gave him- fresh from the oven. (He thought squishing it and dumping from one cup to the other was better than eating it.) Notice his shorts have come off from his milk escapade.

This is how Linc eats dinner. He has a hard time sitting the whole time, but is definitely getting better. He also likes to do things himself.
Yep, the shirt has come off too. He gagged on something and puked on his shirt. And mine. But you know how you get to a point in your day where you don't want to waste another shirt, so you let them be shirtless? That was him. (Not me. I did a quick change because I still had hours before bed...)
Dancing to Yo Gabba Gabba songs.
Playing on the neighbor's weird thingamajig. Come to think of it, they've got a few crazy bike/scooter/weird shaped things to play on.
Bath time! Pretty sure he learned this technique from Ollie himself... What goes around comes around.
He could stay in the bath forever and hates to get out.
Every morning and every night, he always runs away so I can't put his shirt on. Toothbrush time and into bed.
Phew! And that was just half the day! He is my little hobby. I'm glad I get to spend all day with him. He helps me to be a more patient person. All my kids do come to think of it. He likes to follow me around just like the other boys did. He copies everything I do. If I bend down to take a picture, so does he. He likes to play in my makeup, and I let him put on light purple eye shadow and use my eyelash curler. He watches me comb my hair and he does the same. He even laughs when we are laughing about something, just to be like us. He's my little sweetheart. My baby boy.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

family high

I can't begin to explain the high I get when I go to the mountains with my family! It is so beautiful, quiet and peaceful. Something it seems we don't get enough of in our house. Combine that with the fresh mountain air and some nice little chats with my hubby and boys and I am a happy girl. I find myself taking lots of extra deep breaths in, to get the whole experience. It's amazing. The boys couldn't be happier either. Adam seems to like it too. And with all of his hobbies, it feels good to just have him there with us. A family hobby. I like it.

(All pictures taken at Cascade Springs and the Alpine Loop.)





My handsome boys. (Linc's face!)
Me and my sweetie pie. Before we decided where to hike, Adam had shorts on (I know, amazing right?) because it was hot that day and I had shoes and socks on (again, amazing) so I could have some stable shoes. But when we decided to go to Cascade Springs and walk around, rather than hike, I put my flip flops on and he changed back into pants. Funny.
The perfect Halloween tree. I couldn't stop taking pics of the dried out trees and branches!
Me and my boys, and their true personalities coming out!

Ollie's adventure partner- Optimus Prime.
And now I'm starting to worry that the warm, nice weather is slipping away too fast and I just want to enjoy it while I can. Hopefully after our trip, there will still be some nice days left. I'll be missing my boys and be in need some more mountain family time to refill my mommy soul. :)

For directions to Cascade Springs and a description, visit SPOL adventure here.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

18 months

Lincoln turned 18 months old today. And since today was Sunday- he had his first day of nursery! I knew he would do just fine, and I was sort of ready to let him play in his class with other babies, (instead of my primary class of 6/7 year olds who always wanted to hold him and play with his toys during sharing time!)

Anyway, he went into the nursery room, looked at all the toys and kids playing and walked right in to discover what heaven he had just walked into. The teachers urged me out and even when I looked in the window, he was playing happily. Not even a glance to see if I was there. It always makes me a little sad to take my babies to nursery, I just love having them with me at church. It's the only time I can pay attention to just them... (oh and those people teaching the lessons...) But Linc was ready. And this time it's a mixture of sadness, because he is growing up, but (oh wow!) mostly relief. Adam picked him up and he was crying, but the teachers said he only started when other moms came to pick up their kids. He even colored a little picture in there. (He seems much too little for this!) Happy 18 months to my happy little Linc!

Friday, September 24, 2010

batting cages

We got sucked into the "pass of all passes" and bought family passes to Trafalga, Liberty Land, Seven Peaks and Bees and Flash games for a year. Pretty good deal for only $37 a person... So we finally used them! Elliott and Ollie want me to throw a baseball to them non-stop. They're pretty good at it, so we thought the batting cages would be perfect. It took a little getting used to, but I think they liked it. Is it weird that huge groups of adults were waiting to bat? Maybe not. I guess if you love playing ball...
Watching Adam to see how it's done.
Mr. Oliver in half of his transformer Halloween costume.
Elliott


Linc just loved this helmet and cried when we had to turn it in.



Afterwards we played black light mini golf. The course at Trafalga was pretty sweet with giant whales and sharks. I think the pass might be perfect for our busy boys.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

the great pumpkin harvest

We couldn't wait any longer, so last week we picked most of our pumpkins. I guess they're ready when all the vines start to wither and they were. Plus we are going out of town for a couple of weeks in October and I wanted to enjoy them before I go! I love these cinderella pumpkins!!! They get so orange! I first saw them a couple of years ago in San Francisco.

I can't tell you how much the boys love growing pumpkins! They grow so fast that they are really fun to watch and check everyday. We gave the pumpkins free reign in half of our backyard flowerbed. The other day my mom was over and said, "You know, it would be better to buy your pumpkins since they are so cheap and take up so much room. Then you could grow other more expensive vegetables..." But I can't do it. They are too much fun!

This one grew up into our tomato cage. At least the tomato plant was good for something as you can see it only gave me a few GREEEN tomatoes!!!!




Above you can see our side flowerbed that we planted little mini pumpkins in. I mixed up the starts and a cinderella pumpkin grew in this patch too. If I had a big yard I would dedicate a lot of room to make a pumpkin patch and let the neighbor kids come and choose one for a dollar. Sigh.
Our collection so far.
My neighbor saw me taking pictures and came to take one with me in it. I guess I am the one who helped the boys put the seeds in starter cups a few months back, and reminded them to water them, and watered them when they wouldn't and transplanted them into the garden. Yep- I'm glad I'm in the pic. My real babies and my summer pumpkin babies. :)

We also decorated inside for Halloween. And Ollie wanted to listen to Christmas music while we did it. It was actually lots of fun- a memory I always want to keep- my little boys so excited, showing me all the scary spiders and skeletons with Christmas playing in the background.
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