Happy Easter 2015

Happy Easter!

This morning the boys woke up to too many presents from a very generous Easter Bunny!  They received mostly McQueen cars and Jake the Pirate stuff with a few books and other trinkets for good measure.  Actually, the biggest hit was their Captain Hook hooks.  Now they hold a "real" hook (as opposed to a wrench like before!) in one hand and a sword in the other!

My new Motorola phone takes horrid pictures...sorry.  Now that I know, it's actually good.  It will force me to use my "real" camera more often now.

A bit out of order, but yesterday we had to do some errands.  Adi talked me into getting him a Superman and Spiderman shirt and some spiderman crocs.  He wore both shirts--one over the other--and even slept with his spiderman shoes.  This kids loves clothes more than any toy he's ever had.

Just a quick word about the snow as well.  It was warm (50s) for the past few days and most of the snow melted!!  FINALLY!  This is still a large snowbank at the end of the street, but most of the snow is off the lawn.  My garden is finally clear--I hope to plant seeds next weekend if the weather allows.

The boys have been asking to go out and ride their McQueen car/Mercedes (Mer-Savers, as Adi calls it) and their trikes as much as possible!

Today we hosted a brunch, and it was so nice to spend time with family.  My brother and his wife and Baby James weren't with us because Jen gave birth on April 2 to little Alice Mei, the first girl in the family!!!!  Finally!!!  :-)  We missed them, though.

I went in the kitchen to cook this morning, turned on the oven at around 7:30 to put the ham in (I had to cook things in stages) and the oven exploded!!!!  Carlos saw sparks fly, and it made a huge bang noise!  It's dead.  So now we have to go out and buy a new oven.  In any event, I was freaking out and planning on going to my mom's to cook when she suggested we use the gas grill.  Duh.  Thank God it isn't buried in snow anymore!  The timing was perfect because just 2 days ago it was still surrounded by a snowbank!  It was damaged a little from all the heavy snowfall, but it worked AND there was enough gas.  My neighbor Sarah also came through--she said we could use her oven if necessary.  It's so nice to have great neighbors...

We had Pioneer Woman French Toast Casserole (a keeper--better than my old go-to recipe), egg casserole, potatoes,  cranberry quiche, yogurt and granola and fruit salad,  "cucarachas" (Greek cookies), a peanut butter and chocolate and caramel cake with ice cream, apple pie, a pineapple/caramelized pretzel treat, homemade turtles (thanks to my mom), mimosas...it was all delicious.  And it's easy to have my family over because they always bring delicious things!

Sebastian was thrilled to sword fight with Kitchen.  Adi was happy to cozy up to Nana.  I took him to the bathroom at one point and he said:

Adi: Nana's sad.
Mama: Why?
Adi: Because she wants Adi.
Mama: Then go be nice to her.
Adi:  Yeah, OK!

It nearly broke my heart.  He was so happy to be with her today.

After everyone left we went to Lowe's and bought a new stove.  It will be delivered tomorrow.  We got a really nice LG one that was originally $999 for 40% off because it was dented on the side.  Then they gave us another 5% off for using the Lowe's card.  It's much nicer than the stove we have now--Stainless steel with 3 racks and black cook top.

Two random things:

1.  A funny saying from Sebastian: Grumpy, you can go now.  You can get in your car. (As they were going to bed when Grumpy was visiting Friday night)

2.  I love this picture of my Adi with his Spiderman hat, shades, and smile.  Also, he has a box of "pasta wheels" with him.  Lately, he things buying a box of pasta wheels is a big treat.  He carries the box around with him and puts it in his "briefcase" (lunchbox).  They are only $.99 and he also likes to eat them, so I bought him a few boxes last time I went to the market.  Then he played with the boxes on the kitchen table like they were blocks.  He made towers and then took them down and then built them again.  You never know what this kid is going to obsess over!!

Missing Photos

GREAT.  Got a new phone--Android based--and as I was transferring stuff over, I was trying to clean stuff up.  Apparently I deleted photos COMPLETELY from everything I had them stored them in--my computer, the cloud, whatever.  So now there are a ton of broken links and lost photos on the blog.  Well, lesson learned.  I might try to re-upload the photos from my computer eventually, but what a waste of time that is.  BUMMER.

"Spring" Break Is Here!

I am so THRILLED to be on vacation for the next two weeks.  And, the best part is, the boys are in school so I have some time to myself.  I love being with them, but I haven't had any time to myself at home for the past two years!  I have BIG plans regarding all the stuff I want to get done.  Most of it is just organizing, cleaning, and selling crap on Craigslist to get cash and declutter.  

Just for the record, before I forget to make note of it, Adi is now COMPLETELY out of diapers, even at night.  He's been dry (knock on wood) for the past four nights now.  

I also hope to catch up on blogging.  Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.  

Sebastian is such a ham...The wrench is his pirate "hook" and I think the level was his "sword" in this particular instance. 

We got a Jake the Pirate ship and a VTec spy glass off Craigslist for a steal.  The boys love it!

I can't wait to take these boys to Disney World!

 Buzz and Woody love Nutella crepes for breakfast every weekend.  They would eat them every meal if I'd let them.  When I make them, Sebastian tells me, "Mama, I love your crepes!"  It's so cute!

With Papa's shoes and his pirates in hand...ARRGH!

The boys finally got haircuts!  They were pretty good.  Adi lost it with the buzzer at the end, but other than that he was fine.

All my pics of Adi's new hair are blurry.  :-(

To kick off vacation, we went to Tia Carol's house on Saturday to see Kitchen's fencing practice.  The boys liked watching him with the sword!!

Then we had lasagna and salad that was to die for.  The boys had buttered noodles and ate every bit.  Yummy.

The boys played Lego City with patient Christian.

And Adi really bonded with Nana.  He spent a lot of time with her this visit.

Sebastian likes to play with his pirate figurines and have them hang from things with their hooks.  He also loves my Jell-O playdough.  We are slowly making a batch in every color.

Grumpy came over Sunday night and the boys attacked him with their swords.  They really go at it hard!!!!!

And Tia Carol's buttered pasta was such a hit Saturday that I had to make it for them Sunday night for dinner.  We went to the market and Adi was SO EXCITED to see they have wheel pasta he made me buy it.  Then he carried that box around with him the whole rest of the day (he may have even liked it better than his Spider Man treats!!!!).  What a weirdo!

Funny Sayings #1 March

Adrian:  "Mama, the snow is dirty.  Have to wipe it with a paper towel."

Adrian: "Mama, I'm gonna share my Spiderman treats with you."

Sebastian: "Mama, I always say thank you when they give you munchkins."  (At the DD drive through)

Sebastian:  "If we're bad boys the Easter Bunny won't bring presents and the blue Mickey." (the stuffed Mickey they saw at Costco)

Sebastian: "We don't have pixie dust.  We have to get one from Saver's."

Sebastian (sword fighting): "Mama, I've got so many moves!"

Sebastian, putting his cowboy hat on: "Mama, do I look OK?"

Sebastian was in our bed this morning snuggling.  He's all about Papa lately.  I asked him for a hug and a kiss good morning.  He begrudgingly gave me a hug and a kiss and then said, "Now leave me alone and go over there," pointing to my side of the bed.  :-(

Sebastian, after I took something away because he wasn't listening: "Heeeeey!!  We don't take from friends!"