June-uary

Samuel our landscape professional.

Gloom. That is one word for it. As Samuel put it one day upon looking out the window to find dreariness once again- "It's raining. Cwappy. cwappy, cwappy, cwaaaapy!!" He sort of sang a little crappy ditty about the weather. I have no idea where he could have possibly learned to call rain crappy!? I really (try) to spell it out (almost) every time! So I haven't blogged for a little longer that I hoped. I just did not feel there was much cheery, goodness to blog about. Don't get me wrong, we have had happy, fun times. Adventures, laughs and even some nice days! But not enough to stir me to sit down and write. Although it has stirred my craftiness! We bought a chair at a Thrift Store and are taking on the gi-normous project of attempting to reupholster it! This has the makings of being a never completed, mess of an undertaking. But hey, I am stubborn and a quick learner. I made a shirt last week, with no pattern! I just looked at a picture for it and went for it!I figured, " I watch Project Runway!". I made a pillow a few months back. And for those who know, I don't sew things very much- as in like hardly ever. My sewing skills harken back to Jr. High Sewing and Home Ec. class. So, I think thats pretty good. It has awoken a sleeping, sewing girl inside of me. Hopefully there will be some more projects ahead. I might use a pattern. Here's the shirt:

 So on to the good stuff! The boys. Silly, sweet, rowdy, messy, loud little boys. That is exactly what Samuel has become. He's not a toddler anymore. He's a running, jumping, climbing, talking, singing, little boy. He has opinions- "Mommy, no dancing!" He got his first grass stained knee today! He is obsessed with all things wheeled- cars, trucks, fire engines, monster trucks, trains. And he loves to READ!

Brennan, oh Brennan. He is a crawling, climbing, eating, squealing, standing, snuggling almost 11 month old! Did ya hear that? He is getting near the big 1! He has these mysterious eyes. They are almost a non-color. Sort of a Navy blue, grey, green, hazy shade. See, non-color. He is a passionate, determined little fella. When he eats he SLAMS his open hand down onto the waiting and innocent cheerio and closes his chubby little fist around it. Then he smacks his hand onto his wide open mouth and shoves in every morsel of food. He is constantly pushing his high chair back from the table and putting his feet up. Cute now, but not so cute at 13. So we're working on it.

On one of the nice days- you know it's nice because you go to the park or shore and EVERYONE is there. SO we did and they were. David and Samuel went for a bike ride around Seward Park and Brennan and I strolled. We stopped at a small beach area for a "rock throwing break". This is a must do activity for our 2 year old. Nearly on a daily basis he finds a rock and throws it either into the water, which can be a nearby creek or a storm drain, or the bushes. Just as long as he gets his rock throwing in for the day he can rest well.

The view from our stroll

Rocks are hours of fun

After a lovely afternoon, we hunted down a well reviewed hole in the wall taco eatery! Yumm. Only it wasn't exactly a hole in the wall. It's more of a... well... it's a bus. Not a taco truck where you walk up and order and it drives away. A bus, you go up the stairs and order inside then sit at the counter and devour your scrumptious tacos, burritos etc.I don't think it drives anymore. It's not in the greatest part of town. But it was still light out so no worries. I cannot wait to return and make a bus stop- heh heh.

We went on a family outing to Remlinger Farms on what turned out to be a really nice day! Samuel will gladly tell you ALL about what he did there. We'll call it a success! He/we rode a train, sat in a bus and fire engine, drove a car, rode a pony, sat on 2 tractors, rode a roller coaster, the pumpkins, and some spinning barrell ride (the kind that makes some of us want to lose their lunch). Plus a carousel, and a mini ferris wheel. Oh and a BOAT! Whew!

I'd say the ferris wheel was more of a "put your kid in a cage and they go around" kind of thing

first pony ride

Samuel driving!

wheee! Mommy's hair went fast!

tractor

Samuel driving The bus

The BOAT

(canoe)

Driving the fire truck!

Hopefully, July will be God's gift to us! We are certainly looking forward to it!

Here are the videos:

MAY all your dreams come true

The family at a winery :)

Whew. What a whirlwind! But who could expect anything less from a month packed to the brim with birthdays, mother's day, vacation, Disneyland, travel town, wine tasting, friends and family! It has been wonderful and each day brings more laughter and love.

Jumping

golfing at Uncle Darrell's- good form huh?

running

Seriously, these two boys are at some of the cutest ages! Samuel, almost 2 and a 1/2 is constantly echoing what we say AND coming up with some random hilarity of his own! Plus his activity level is ever increasing. He loves to "color on paper". He colors, "ABCDE" and "circle" and "motorcycle".. which are all scribbles to the untrained eye. Samuel, is a running, jumping, climbing boy! He loves to "get the mail" with Daddy which usually includes a trip to the pond or stream where he "throw rocks in da water!" This is very high on his list of fun. In fact he really enjoys playing in water. He plays in the sink with cups and bowls; gets out pots and pans and transfers water from container to container. Some of his latest gems have been:

• "Mommy, no phone. Make food!" ( Yes sir!)

• "Trash truck! Diapers in there." ( Diapers make up about 90 percent of our trash these days)

• "Brennan! Be patient"

• "Where Grampa's weenie?" (Oh- randomly whilst eating dinner at my parents house.)

• "Brennan! Whatchyou doin' Brennan? I miss you!" ( In a super high pitched sing-songy voice, you know, how you talk to babies.)

little mover

so big

Brennan is 9 months old and he is our little scooter. He is army crawling all OVER the house! He is a super bouncy, smiley, chatty, inquisitive boy (grabby might be a better word). He loves to splash in the bathtub with his brother, whom he just cannot get enough of. He babbles and squeals, bounces and giggles and just gives you the most adorable grin that draws a straight line across his face, not showing any of his 8(!) teeth. He has cat-like reflexes grabbing on to random object with a super-speed swipe or, most often, slapping his food right off the spoon onto his lap. Sometimes he even gets a hold of the entire container. So fun for mommy to clean up.

Splashing in the sink!

In line for the roller coaster- Samuels review: "That fun!"

Disney land was a blast! The boys both did great. Samuel took a nap like a champ in the stroller and Brennan basically hung out all day. NO meltdowns. And Samuel even got some special stickers. You can only get these stickers if you get lost at the Happiest Place on Earth! Not such a happy moment for everyone else, but he seemed just fine.

checking out his "special stickers"

pajama time!

Oh yeah, I turned 30. Joyously opened a gift for 30 days leading up to the bid day. All things from, soap, lotion, chap stick, shirt, headband, nail polish, cd's, i-tunes gift card, bracelet, framed photo and on Day 0 a sweet framed list of 30 things my family loves about me! Some randoms were:

1. Her hair always looks good. (What they hay, let's start off good. I can promise you, NOT all the time. But thanks)
2. Her outspokenness, you never have to wonder if she has an opinion on something. (Umm thanks? I'll work on that)
3. She is willing to take risks ( My trust is in my God!)
4. I remember roller skating in the kitchen when we were kids. ( Where are those roller skates? I could get things done a lot faster if I was rollin!)
5. Her laugh, I love when you laugh, and when you smile, or when I've made you happy even in the smallest way. (thanks my love .. tear.)

So I guess I'll start using anti-aging cream now.



 We spent 10 days in California, celebrating lots of birthdays and mother's day and just filling our tank with family time! It was sooo good to refresh, yet so sad to see the boys looove their families only to take them "away" again. Soon we will be back, soon.

water dancing!

Grandad and Brennan

Gram and Samuel

Cousins (2nd)

Coopers

Uncle Jared and Miss Rachel!

Cappocchi birthdays at San Antonio Winery

travel town

Brennan videos. Apparently we like to video while he sits at the table. Probably because he is sitting still.