around here....

 We finally purchased a new a dryer, but I still feel the need to dry my clothes outside a-la-mexicana on a line. I'm not ashamed. I'm saving $ and the environment at the same time. 
Problem is, it just takes twice as long but it's good for going outside with the boys :)
We have incorporated a 'chore-list' for Andrew, which we check off every night.
He's been learning his numbers so we count the check-marks and explain to him he needs to complete most of them to get his reward.
We have 6 chores: put your sippy cup in sink, put shoes up, take a nap, brush your teeth, eat your supper, and put your monkey towel up after bath. 
We made a piggy bank out of a mason jar for him to put his quarters in
He loves listening to them 'clink'

Have you guys grown onions from onions in a jar before? I did....
...and it is finally warm outside to put out my poor, beautiful plants.
My Calla Lilies were hard not to photograph one afternoon...
And the little daffodils that grow near our driveway tells me springtime is near...
And the red berries that the kids like so much are abundant in our area, the kids love picking them off.
LOOK! Jonah has a mustache!!!
The husband let the boys have their art kit and then left them alone "to draw." Then I wondered what that noise was on our pantry door. A beautiful work of art from none other than our Jonah Rett.
However, we gave Jonah a rag and made him wipe his mess off.
Then Andrew came in when he heard the big fuss, and this is what we found...ON HIM.
Take 8 markers, take their tops off, and draw all over yourself like
I guess it's my fault since I exposed him to it. 
WHAT JOY KIDS ARE!!!

SNOW for the 3rd year in a row!

Hello all!

This is our third year to have snow fall in February.
However, I've never seen snowflakes this HUGE!
Luckily Unfortunately, our snow didn't last long...
and our snowman didn't either!

In honor of my 200th post...


 Happy Valentine's to me, from the hubs.
My favorite flower: the calla lily.
A potted flower so it can bloom every year.
 No need to wake up early and catch the sunrise--
This is why washing dishes in the afternoons are so great! 
 And Pizza Hut pizza to remember where the hubs and I first met.
Almost 10 years of knowing each other this spring. WOW.

some montessori schooling & scissors

Last I visited with my awesome sis, she showed me around her new work areas at the school she teaches. It's a Montessori pre-k school (or whatever they're called) and I was amazed at how much stuff they had.
Lately, I've been getting overwhelmed just thinking in my head how I can be helping Andrew learn more and more, and if he's progressing enough and all those mother-y things that one does...
It's not good for me, I freak out when I hear other 3 year olds speaking longer and better words than he does, but then I smile smugly when I know they can't pee by themselves...'cause you know, Andrew can. 
So all this stuff has me spinning out of control of how to teach him and he's ONLY 3.5 years, I mean he's got the rest of his life to learn, right? But gotta get on a move-on in life....
This fall, I will be enrolling him in pre-k and hopefully not taking him out (like we did last October). I could not bear that, he loved going to his school for the short month he attended, he still asks if he can go to school, it tears my heart into little pieces when I tell him "Not yet, love."
So my sister's classroom is full of activities kids can do to practice on their concentration, their motor skills, and yadda yadda. I promise, she can tell you the better story and I'm just ruining it for you all, but really, it was amazing how much stuff they had there. Andrew would have a seizure if he were left unsupervised in that school house. 
Their areas look likes this:
source
Neat, colorful, and organized. One of the activities that my sister recommended was pouring objects/liquids into containers of different sizes. Having them repeat the task over and over. 
They can use beads, rice, sand, water, anything that's pour-able and have a blast doing it.
Now, I've never been a fan of little trinkets or knick knacks, mostly because they have no purpose other than to look pretty on a shelf. But my sis convinced me that if I ever went thrifting, to grab little things that Andrew could play with and learn from.
So I did.
And they're ceramic and white, and he fell in love with them at first sight.
 As soon as we arrived home from good ole Goodwill, Andrew knew that he was going to get to play with them. He said, "I wan TEAAA!" I really don't know what they're called so we're gonna go with tea pitchers, mkay?!
So I got his 'station' all set up, and he began pouring. 
Pour, pour, spill, spill more, pour, pour.

 I even encouraged the use of a funnel...dunno if that was smart come to think of it.
Every time he would pour stuff, he would hunch down and say "waaattteeeerrrrrr" in a very Frankensteinian way...sorta creepy. But when he knew I was recording, he didn't want anything to do with it and frankly, I hate being interrupted as well so I just let him be.
{Sorry it's so dark, when I upload to youtube/blogger, it makes it darker than it actually is}
Brother was SUPER upset that he couldn't get to the water....
You ask, "what's wrong with his face?" Well, I'll tell you. He rolled down some cement steps and scraped his face off. And the other stuff was chocolate cookies. Yeah, I know, I'm a terrific mom.
Some time this past week, I encountered Jonah's first piece of furniture art:
What? It wasn't me, says he.
 I used Clickin' Mom's Amethyst Lightroom filter.

Andrew also had his first scissor test. I tried showing him to follow the line, but he had other plans. 
It was obviously to make Valentine's Day confetti!!!....all over my floor.
The great thing is that he was learning his shapes while cutting it all up. He correctly stated he had cut up a 'triangle'. I guess this whole teaching thing sticks!
I gave the hubs his early V-day present...and wrapped it all pretty for him.
He ate all his cookies like the cookie monster, and then preceded to watch his movies that I gifted with extreme pleasure.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S ERRRBODY!

What have we been up to?

Peek-a-boo! Andrew's been hiding from you!
Hello! I should really split this post into two parts but I won't. 
This whole post is about my kiddos. You don't like it, go click elsewhere.
I've been thinking, I feel sorry for all the close relatives that miss out on this picture goodness. 
Those people that don't care about checking up on one's blog but really should, since they're supposed to be family...I mean after all, it's why I blog.
We might not live close but through my pictures, you can watch these boys grow right before your eyes. And when you fail to have any contact with me, you fail to have contact with these goobers.
I'm posting all these pictures because they remind me of the little things we enjoy together, the important things.
As a photographer, I tend to get caught up with settings.
As a mom, I tend to get caught up on milestones.
And as a blogger, I get caught up on what's my next post.
Well, right now, I'm stopping to smell the roses.
If I didn't appreciate every little booger they pick, every scrapped knee they make me kiss, every shriek of joy they make, and every laugh they give me, I don't know what kind of mother I'd be.
So prep yourself, enjoy, Right-click & save, it's all good....
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That's all folks!!!