Happy Birthday Mikey

We celebrated my sweet nephew Mike's 12th birthday yesterday (today is his actual birthday). It was such a beautiful evening at Aloha Ranch (my sister's place). It was a great chance for the cousins to get together and reconnect. I can't believe two of them are graduating from highschool in 3 months (go Gracie and Ryan).

Jason-Gidget-Nathan

Gracie-Kalika-Ryan

Build and Grow

Today the boys got to go to Lowe's for their Build and Grow program. Now, I had heard about this but never had done it. I don't know if the boys would have been ready before now, but they definitely are now.

Tricia took the boys with her family to build Kaleidoscopes. Nathan didn't need any help and he can't wait for the next project in 2 weeks. Lowe's (and Home Depot) sponsor an hour of hands on building for kids and it is FREE!

Nathan- a happy builder

Jason loves his "star gazer"

Full House

We had a full house on Friday night! We are taking care of a friend's dog and we had our favorite baby, Elise over for the night too. The dog and baby had a love/hate relationship- dog loves baby, but baby does NOT like the dog (especially being licked in the face). It was challenging keeping them apart, but we survived.

It isn't very easy to get a dog and a baby to look at a camera- this is the best I could do!

Elise- 10 months old and growing fast!

i just had to take a picture of this- too funny!

The Great Hair Debate- Part 2

The boys have been growing their hair for a week now- who is winning so far?

Jason- I see a little growth!

Nathan- hair looks blonder!

Dan- as cute as ever (is he in the shower? Scandoulous)

Too hard to tell who is in the lead- we will check in again next week!!

Wordless Wednesday:: $55.15- WOW!!

ICNS Annual Trike-A-Thon

The boy's wonderful preschool has an annual fundraiser called The Trike-A-Thon. This is our fourth (and final) year participating in this great function. We love Irvine Community Nursery School!!

Cool New T-Shirt~

Fun face painting- scary dragon!!

Ms. Donna- beloved director and teacher!!

The pack is ready to ride!

Day One:: Hair Race

I am going to be doing a weekly update on the boy's hair growth. Here they are right after the initial cut. I think Nathan wins for the best shaped head!!

Jason

Nathan

Dan

Stay tuned for future growth. . . . .

Great Hair Debate

Well Jason's little fiasco this past weekend (when he cut his hair) has turned into a fun, family challenge. The boys all decided that they would ALL shave their heads (except Ryan). I thought it would be fun to blog about their hair growth and see whose would grow the fastest. So here it goes......

Here are Nathan and Dan BEFORE the cut

Here is Nathan 1/2 way through!

Nathan cutting Daddy's hair!

A little tuft of hair- so cute!

GI Jason

Well, I really thought I had made it through this classic childhood phase with my kids. I have seen many friend's daughters who have cut their hair, but I thought my boys were immune. I WAS WRONG!!

I came home from church today to find that Jason had cut 3 chunks out of his hair. I had left him home since he was sick and while Daddy was outside checking his email- Jason got bored and sheared himself.

Snip~Snip~Snip

Sad boy who doesn't want his hair to be cut!

The new bald Jason!

Although he is smiling in the picture above, he was balling as he was getting shorn and he cried again when he saw himself in the mirror. "I hate being bald", "I hate that you cut my hair off". I lovingly reminded him that I wouldn't have cut his hair off if he hadn't done it to himself. Needless to say, I don't think he will be cutting his hair again and thankfully it does grow back quickly!!

Roller Coaster Mania

Today we spent many hours hanging out with our neighbor kids and building a Knex roller coaster. It was lots of fun and totally spontaneous. I love living next door to great kids who aren't always busy on a Saturday. All of the kids played outside for awhile, had a snack and then it moved inside to build the structure. Afterwards they all hunkered down and watched Peter Pan (live action version) and had popcorn- what a great day!!

Here is everyone who had a hand in putting the coaster together!!

Ryan~Zoie~Zac~Jason~Nathan~Me (not pictured)

A little video of the Roller Coaster in Action!

Nathan ~The Inventor

Nathan has been on a roll lately with his inventions. His newest phase is drawing blue prints of machines that he has invented. He will sit at his new desk for the longest time coming up with machines that help you eat, bring you your food, make food (I sense a food theme here)- it is so fun to see his creativity have an outlet!

This is a drawing of a pancake making machine-
equipped with a machine to dispense the butter and syrup
as well as make the plates themselves!

Here is another rendition of the pancake machine!

Nathan came home today and put this contraption together.
This is the Super Slider~for sliding down slides easier.
I love the back and foot rests!

Another view of the Inventor in his Recycled machine!!

Jason cracks me up!!

Okay, so Jason is seriously the funniest kid. He will often say grown up sounding things in a very childish voice and that makes it even funnier. Just today we were at Trader Joe's and he just talks to everyone with a big smile on his face- definitely not shy!!
Favorite sayings this past week:

"Your the bestest mom I ever had"

"walk-a mole" instead of guacamole

"I'm gonna break the law in two"

"My Tummy is crying"- when he is hungry

"Dandelion"- for the white puffy part and "Dandyflower"- for the yellow flower.

"Turn off the sour (shower) medatly (immediately)"- said with a very stern voice.

There will be more to add I am sure!!

I am sick of sick!!

Okay, I hope I am not writing this prematurely, but I am praying that there is no more sickness in my house. It started a week ago with Jason being sick on Saturday night (and then again on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday). When I sick I mean coming out the mouth (yuck!!). I was sick on Tuesday and Dan was sick Thursday to Saturday and then Nathan was sick early Sunday morning.

I was pleased that all yuckt-ness made into the toilets, but when Nathan had his episode on Sunday (at 2:30am) he thought he would save his bed, by leaning over the bed rail and throwing up on the floor. Now, don't forget that we just got new carpet 2 1/2 weeks ago. YIKES!!!! It was gross, stinky and really hard to get out- but it was accomplished. I cleaned up for a good half hour right after it happened (meanwhile Jason kept sleeping) and finished up in the morning. I am happy to report that there is no stain or smell and my baby is feeling okay!!

If you had told me a week ago what my week would have been- I wouldn't have believed you. Everything was put on hold and praise be to God- we made it through!!

Pickle Time

We were fortunate to have Pickle come to stay with us this weekend. Who is the Pickle. you ask? She is my dear friend Tricia's 9 month old daughter (Elise by birth). I met her a few hours after her birth on May 17th, 2009 and I have been in love ever since. Actually, our whole family loves her and her big sisters. Anyway, her parent's 7th Wedding Anniversary was today and so we had her for a sleepover- what a joy!!

Here she is- standing up (this is a big step for her)

Cheese- hanging out with Jason!

Here is my girl~I love her!! Thanks for sharing with me T!!

Out with the old....

This address book has been a part of our family for over 7 years. It has served us well. But as you can see- it is falling apart. So.....
...here is our new one! Now I know, most of you have all your info on your PDAs or cell phones, but in here in the Crout house- we are old school. I have just finished putting in the addresses and phone numbers (needless to say, my hand is exhausted).

2010 Brywood Jog-A-Thon

It is that time of year for fundraisers. Today was Nathan's jog-a-thon and in two weeks we have Jason's trike-a-thon. The school raises a lot of needed funds to keep our kids happy and learning at school. I had the fun job of filling water cups. I must have filled at least 200 (boy can those kids drink).

Nathan before the run- no sweat!

Nathan- Eric - Arvin

Nathan was really looking forward to participating today and set the goal of 10 laps. I don't know how many he ended up with, but he had fun!!

Here is Nathan giving it his all!

After the run they got green Popsicles
to go with their cool, green shirts.

Another Change

I am only a renter, but the place we live has become our home these past 5 years. I was thinking about all the changes the place has made these last years and you could hardly recognize it from where we started. We had been blessed with new paint, new carpet (thanks to our landlord) and we have also changed bedding, bought new furniture (bunk beds, new couch, patio set) and bought new appliances (washer, dryer and fridge). We have all decided that we don't ever want to move from here. We are all happy with what we have and don't want to leave!!

Where am I going with this? Well, I am always looking at ways I can make things better (using what we already have). The back yard has definitely changed since we moved here. The back used to have lots of toys and has even housed some Little Tikes play structures. Now it is a place that we can all enjoy, but definitely leans towards the grownups.
I took some used bricks that were laying around in the planter and made a platform in the dirt for the barbecue to live. It has moved all over the yard- this is it's 4th and final place.
Ta-da!! Here it is. It looks like it has always been here. Now we don't have to roll it away from the fence each time we cook. My mom and I are going to plant around the base of it so it won't be just soil. There is an empty place where the BBQ used to be and I have some ideas for it--we shall see!!

Ahhhh, New Appliances

Can you guess what this is? I am sure you can! A new washing machine. Our old one went capoot on Saturday (while Dan was away) and I had to go out and buy a new one. I also bought a matching drier to go with it.
They were finally delivered today. I sure appreciate the guys who delivered them and installed them. They are located upstairs and that is no easy task getting them up our crooked staircase.

Let me just tell you I had a hefty pile of dirty laundry to catch up on by the time they were installed. I am happy to report that the new ones are amazing and much larger than my old ones. It took no time at all to clean and dry all the dirty clothes. Now I just get to pay them for the next 6 months- yipee!!