The bath, pool, and talking on the phone

Today we went to the neighborhood pool with the boys. They had a great time and of course Jake didn't want to get out. Here are a few pics. I took and down below is a little video. We all had a great time today at the pool.

On another note: Good luck with the school year all you fellow teachers that have to return to work tomorrow. I get a little nostalgic this time of year. I do love and miss teaching, but I really needed a break from it and love being home with Ben and Jake to watch them grow and learn.

Jake is talking all the time and I may be bias, but I think he is becoming a genius. One morning we were in the drive thru of Dunkin Donuts and we pulled up to the window where Jake said he smelled coffee. He then asked me if I was getting coffee. It was pretty funny. Ben is getting in another tooth on the bottom along with the two on the top. Poor little guy is getting 3 teeth at once. He will have 5 teeth!

Ben is ready to go!

Getting ready to go out the door to the pool. I can't believe Jake actually smiled and looked at the camera. I think it helps when we take pictures of Ben, then Jake says "take one of me"
Notice their matching bathing suits

Jake used this float when he was only about 5 months old.

Jake in the pool

I was talking to Gina on the phone tonight and Emma got on the phone to chat. Then Jake decided he wanted to talk to his girlfriend Emma.


Lately I have been giving Jake and Ben their baths together. Jake loves taking baths with Ben and Ben loves the big bath and water. Here is a short little video (G rated) of the two taking a bath. Sorry for the bad color.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I love about staying home with my boys:

1. staying in my pjs until 12 or 1
2. not having to be somewhere early in the morning
3. laying around
4. seeing my boys grow and learn each and every day
5. going to the park with friends
6. not having to grade papers or work at home after work
7. playing with my kids
8. reading with Jake
9. giving Jake and Ben afternoon baths
10. afternoon nap times so I can relax
11. actually getting things done around the house (sometimes anyway)
12. enjoying my morning coffee
13. soap operas!

Duct taping diapers?

Okay, I just had to share this article from Parenting I just received today. There are different moms giving their suggestions and advice on how to handle picky eaters, potty training slackers, etc. Well, this one mom says her child loves to remove her diapers no matter where they are. So, she finally decided to use duct tape to tape her child's diaper across the tabs so she couldn't remove it anymore. I thought this was hilarious! I know duct tape is used for almost anything, but this is crazy. I took a picture of it below. Pretty funny.

Using Pampers does have rewards

Finally! I have been putting in the pampers' codes online to collect points. I finally decided to use some of them and get this Blockbuster Night Card. The card is for two free movie rentals, two 20 oz. drinks, and a tub of microwave popcorn. Yeah! It's funny what gets me so excited now. Even though I spent far more money on pampers than this card is worth, it's still a nice gift and Jake gets to enjoy the pampers box too!

This is Jake's reward. Jake had fun playing in the diaper box. He loves to do this. He also hides bear and other toys in it and then asks me were they are. He then tells me they are in the box.

Bear joined the fun too! Jake says that bear is going to make cookies in his house. His house being the pampers box.

Messy first words

Today Ben was eating a biter biscuit. These are the messiest things ever, but he loves them. He was having so much fun that I decided to record it. Lately it sounds as though he repeats me when I say uh oh. See if you can hear it. You can also see the biscuit on the floor at the end since I forgot to turn off the camera when I finished with Ben.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that!

I gave Jake a donut with some chocolate icing on it the other morning and this is what his face looked like afterwards. It also had sprinkles or as Jake says "frenkles" I kept thinking he was saying freckles.
This picture isn't the most flattering since he has left over carrots in his nose and drool all over himself, but I love this onesie. If you can't read it, it says Famous, have your mommy call my mommy and it says sunglasses on it. I love it!


My mom will probably kill me for putting this picture on here, but I just had to. Her cataract surgery went really well. Her eye is still hurting a little, but when I took her for her follow up yesterday morning, the doctor said after examining her that she has 20/20 vision in that eye now. She has had very poor eyesight all her life and it has gradually become worse. She wanted me to take a picture of her with the eye patch on. She didn't know I would put it on the blog. Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers. Another funny story about the follow up appt. When we arrived the office wasn't open yet, but there was a waiting area outside. There were about 4 other people sitting there with the same eye patch on as my mom. I looked at my mom and started to giggle. It shouldn't be funny (people sitting there after having surgery), but I couldn't help but giggle because you could tell you were in the right place. My mom told me to stop because I was going to make her laugh. Then a lady walking around looking lost asked everyone if they knew where Suite 100 was and that she assumed we knew since everyone had eye patches on. This caused me to giggle again. Sorry mom.

My Meme!

Okay, Okay, I was going to do this eventually, but was avoiding it because I am not that interesting.

My friends Lisa and Amy both tagged me so I guess I will do it now.

I copied and pasted the rules you wrote Amy because they sounded good and I am not creative enough to create my own.

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
I really can't remember, but I think I have something. It was the summer before my student teaching and I was going to be graduating from Kennesaw that fall too or winter. Anyway, it was in December. I was living at home with my parents still. (sorry not that interesting yet)

What are the five things on my to do list today?
I hate to make to do lists, but I really should
1. Clean and organize Ben's room
2. Do more laundry
3. Organize Ben's old clothes and put them away
4. Clean downstairs
5. take a shower (pretty bad that has to go on a to do list) you stay at home moms understand what I mean

Snacks I enjoy:
cereal
any kind of fruit
ice cream
For a snacker I sure am having a hard time thinking of snacks

Places I have lived:
Atlanta
Chamblee
Woodstock
Alpharetta
Roswell

Jobs I have had:
Chick-Fil-A
An after school program
5th grade teacher
Mom

People I want to know more about:
Gina (even though I know everything about you)
Jennifer
Audrey
Stacey
Tag, you're it!

July 4th Fun!

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful 4th of July. We went down to Dunwoody to catch the end of their parade and attend the festival. We caught a little bit of the end of the parade and then walked around to see what the festival had, but there was really just food. They did have a military band playing that sounded nice. It was extremely hot so my mom, Ben and I went into the Walgreens there and I bought some water and fed Ben. I think the heat got to Jake or just the excitement because he was pretty quiet the whole time.

We then left and went to eat lunch at the Varsity in Alpharetta. My dad got a Varsity hat for Ben to wear. He also ate some french fries and really enjoyed them. We were going to drive up to the mountains where it is a little cooler, but decided not to do that and just went back to our house for naps. Later in the evening we went to my parents' house to have dinner and some cheesecake. We then went outside when it got dark and shot fireworks. It was so much fun! Jake didn't like the ones that made sounds, but liked looking at the different colors. We could also see some bigger ones from my parents' front porch. It was a hot, fun, exciting day. I even took some video of the fireworks down below.

This french fry sure is tasty


You like my hat? If you notice some red and green coloring on Ben's outfit, he had some of our snowcones at the festival earlier. He loved it!

WOW! Look at those awesome fireworks!

Watching the end of the parade

Ben with his flag. Ben is wearing Jake's first fourth of July onesie.

Earlier in the evening, Jake and Ben got to play a little in the pool. It was Ben's first time and he loved it. Jake would only squat at first and then sat down later.

I don't know if Ben liked the pool better or chewing on the toys in the pool.

Swinging on my parents' front porch.

Lee relaxing

Looking patriotic with Papa

Mimi bought these flags that light up for Jake and Ben, but you can't really see the light up part in this picture. We were shooting fireworks, so that explains the not so happy look on Jake's face.

What a long day!