Balls!

My boys love balls. I know I've said that before, but I'll say it again. They love to point out balls, talk about balls - when asked "what is that?" , they actually say, "It's a ball". Grandma Rodriguez got them a ball play area with 150 plastic balls for them to frolick in. They loved it and actually popped a hole in it, which was later patched. Anyways, lately, Sam has been throwing himself over the sides of the ball tent and landing in dangerous positions- mainly on his neck and head. We figured it was time to get rid of it.

One of the last play times in the tent:

Poor guys. Little do they know it's going bye-bye:
We just couldn't take the balls away all together- they just love them too much! But, we could't keep the tent because it was a head/neck injury in the waiting. So, what did we do??
My mom gave us a blow up swimming pool that is now filled with balls in our living room! They love it and it does the trick. Notice the construction hats- those were given to them on the public works tour.

Sam got bored....Ben stayed true to his balls:

And, he's back......and, they're posing!
Ben is so rico suavee:

Cute close-ups...

"We represent the lollipop guild, the lollipop guild...."
"Why I otta!"
Crazy eyes:

"Don't cross me, I will cut you!"

I wonder where Ben and Sam get their silly face-making abilities?:

Public Works Tour

I know, the title sounds riveting, huh?

Our Parents as Teachers program arranged for the kids to go on a tour of the Prairie Village public works department. I pictured us going from office to office watching people file papers and send emails. But, you know me, I'm up for anything that will get us out of the house - so I signed us up!

In true Parents as Teachers style (can't get enough of that program!) - it was AWESOME! They had all their big trucks out....lawn mowers, bulldozers, salt trucks - and they let the kids get in them and pretend to drive. They also had their big salt room open and kids were climbing up the huge mounds of salt. For the grand finale, they let each kid and mom take a ride around the parking lot in a huge truck. I'm not sure what kind it was but it was the size of a trash truck. Sam loved it but Ben was ready for a snack so he cried. I know this sounds boring to many of you- but for little boys who love cars and trucks of any kind- they ate it up!

Sam riding the bulldozer:
Ben riding (he look's pretty happy about it too!)

The boys playing around in the front part of some sort of big machinery:
They did not climb on the salt piles...but they did find one small puddle in the room to splash in.

Playing in water

The boys and I met my friend, Karen, and her son, Adam, at the park yesterday. It was a park we have never been to before but is very close to our house. I'm always a little nervous about going to parks because the boys take off in two different directions and it's hard to be in 2 places at once to help them down from the structure they managed to climb up. They are at that age where they can go up, but not down...at least not gracefully.

Luckily, there was the PERFECT spot that kept them in one place and was great for the 80 degree heat. The park had a type of babbling brook with water running through for the kids to play in. Right next to it is a big sandbox. The boys were in heaven!

Ben trying to get around a log...he finally just crawled under it:

There was a little waterfall where all the water came out of. The boys liked to climb the rocks to it...the moms did not like it!
Sam and Adam getting all up in the waterfalls business:

Someone is excited!
They were all soaking wet afterwards so we stripped them down and Karen had a yummy snack for them. It was a great day at the park!
Karen and I went to our own "park" last weekend....the Princess Diana exhibit at Union Station. It was so wonderful!! I loved Princess Diana so it was very special to see all the aspects of her life. It is here until mid-June and I would highly recommend checking it out:

Trip to Costco

Here is a video of the boys playing together in the cart at Costco. Sam keeps trying to give Ben hugs....it seems like Ben has mixed feelings about it :) At the very end, they are tickling each other and if you listen carefully you can hear them say "tickle, tickle".

They always make me laugh! Funniest people I know, I tell ya!

On mothers day

Stealing this from a friends Facebook status:

"Great thought today in my brother's church--Pastor Pat shared that he thought today should be Yom Isha (sp?)--which means Day of Woman! I know the pain of not being a mother when I wanted to be--so here's to all the WOMEN out there! It's our day, whether we're a mother or not!"

Happy Belated Women's Day!!!

(I'm having major problems with font size so I apologize how big or small this looks to you!)

Lovin' Maggie

Maggie is the centerpiece of the boys lives. We talk about Maggie and other dogs all day long. They hug her, kiss her, talk to her, play with her, hit her (and then go to time out)....basically, Maggie is waaayyyy cooler than Matt or me. I'm not sure if Maggie likes it our not but she definitely gets a ton of attention. She also gets to eat enough people food to feed a small human now that the boys have taken a liking to throwing food on the floor. They will give her food and then cry and try to act like she took it from them. Of course she took it...when it was offered to her! Daily, there is an attempt to ride Maggie like a horse, and hourly, she is rolled over, bulldozer style...twice! She will just lay there and look at me like, "why, WHY?!".

I have to say, Maggie is the BEST dog we could have asked for to be a friend to our boys! They truly do love her and I think she loves them too.

Maggie getting some nuggles:
Inspecting Maggie's ear. Her ears, tail and other orifices often get "inspected":

Easter egg hunt

I'm about a week late putting this up here but I wanted to share some pictures from Easter. We go to my Aunt Linda's house every year and she always has a huge kids Easter egg hunt and a quite dangerous adult Easter egg hunt. This year was no exception....let's just say there were injuries.

Here are some pictures of the kids hunt. Last year the boys were too young to participate but this year they got right in there. Ben only wanted to pick up the eggs with different sports ball patterns on them. He thought they were just misshapen balls.
Sam running for the eggs:
Ben had just woken up and was kind of a grump during the entire hunt:
Aunt Linda and Uncle Dave always spoil the kids! Here is Sam riding on his new toy from them:
...and Ben, still in a friendly mood:

After the kids hunt we had the adult hunt. There is candy in each egg and some of the eggs have numbers in them. For every number, you get a prize. Each year, a few people try to tear open others bags and steal their eggs. Inevitably, someone gets thrown to the ground and everyone else scurries to pick up their dropped eggs. This year, my cousin's girlfriend got knocked to the grown and then flipped over so everyone could grab her eggs. My other cousin had found the "grand prize" egg and her own husband flattened her and stole the egg. She emerged with a scraped chin- there was actually blood this year - a new family tradition, I guess :)

I was very happy because Matt's mom and dad came to my Aunt's for Easter this year! They were troopers and also participated in the hunt. Actually, I"m pretty sure Matt's mom got the most eggs of anyone!

Everyone takes off running:

Notice the man on the far left in the beige shirt (my dad)- someone has ripped apart his bag with all of his eggs in it:
Apparently, it was my cousin, Christian who ripped his bag. Notice my dad (man in beige shirt) has grabbed a hold of the man in the black shirt (Christian). Click on the pic to make it bigger if you can't see.
Still attached to him....
He's still got the poor guy....
Lauren's boyfriend (left) and Matt's mom (green sweater) guarding their eggs with their life:

Ben and family friend, John, playing with the empty eggs after the big hunt:
Looking spiffy in his Easter outfit:
Aunt Nancy and Ben:

He couldn't stand it - he just had to get in!
Of course, then Sam had to get in too:
Family pic:
Ariel view. Notice how Ben is getting shoved down into the eggs:
This post is for you, Aunt Mary Lou! I heard you wanted to see Easter pics!