Golden Gate Bridge

We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge this morning with our playgroup.  I didn't get as many pictures of the boys as I wanted to because it was too difficult to take them out the stroller every few steps.  Plus the thought of them not strapped in

 while on the bridge made me nervous.  Here are the few that I was able to take.

Alcatraz

San Francisco

Pictures

These are just a few pictures from the last few days.

I asked him if he wanted to put on his clothes before I took pictures, but he said no.  In a few years, he will be embarrassed by this picture.

I cut holes in Benjamin's pacifiers to try to get him to give them up.  These two pictures are of his first reaction.

Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory

We went on a tour of Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory today with our playgroup.  I thought that this was a local sticker factory until we got there, and I realized that it is a huge company and that I have bought many of their stickers before. (especially when I was younger and had sticker books)  The boys were very well behaved, and we were very happy to get out of the house.  They gave the kids some free stickers, and they got to make a picture.  I couldn't believe how well they concentrated on their work.

  

Benjamin showing me one of his stickers.

Making Pizza

All three of us have had a bad case of cabin fever this week because of all of the rain.  It has finally stopped raining, but everything is saturated, so we are still stuck inside and searching for anything to entertain us.  I decided to make a pizza at home and let the boys "help" me.  It would have been a lot more relaxing and less of a mess to have a pizza delivered, but the boys enjoyed it, so it was worth it.  

Here they are watching it cook.

These are just a few pictures from the last few days.  

These are the beads that Joshua gets for his reward cup.  He gets beads for picking up his toys and doing his reading cards, and when the cup is full, he trades them in for a treat.  I don't normally let them play with the beads, but somehow (I can't remember how.) they managed to get them the other day.

I know that it is hard to tell from the picture, but Benjamin is leaning over and shaking the beads.

Playing with the farm

Tuesday's Tribute

I want to pay tribute to my wonderful husband who I admire greatly, but I am having trouble putting my feelings into words.  He is the spiritual leader of our family, the financial provider, a loving husband, and the best father that the boys could ask for, but how do I explain this to everyone who does not get to see him in action?  I constantly think about all of the sacrifices that I make while he is at sea, but just in the last year have I begun to think about all of the sacrifices that he makes to provide for us.  He is so strong to handle being away from the boys for months at a time.  I know that it makes him sad to miss so many holidays and so much of their development, but he doesn't complain.  He tells us how much he misses us, and asks how we are doing by ourselves.  He is always positive when I ask him how he is doing.  I know that he is a wonderful example to the boys of how a Christian husband and father lives his life, and I can't wait for them to realize how blessed they are.  There is much more that I love and admire about Matthew, but it is too difficult to put it into words.  I hope that this gives a small amount of insight into his character.

Potty Trained!

Joshua has made it an entire week with no accidents!  He is very proud of himself and keeps saying, "Papa is proud, and Mama is proud!" which of course we are.

These are just a few pictures from this morning.

Joshua laughing as Benjamin walks away from the picture

I know photographically speaking this is not the best picture, but it makes me smile.  It cracks me up when he makes this face.

Flowers from my wonderful husband

Tuesday's Tribute

I read about "Tuesday's Tribute" on Kathryn's blog, and I think that it is a wonderful idea.  The whole idea is in response to Tuesday, the two year old who recently died of cancer (see earlier post).  The authors are encouraging everyone to shift our attention away from ourselves and pay tribute to someone from our own lives.  I realize that today is not Tuesday, but I read Kathryn's blog this morning (which she wrote on Tuesday), and I had to do my own "Tuesday's Tribute."
When I think about who I want to pay tribute to, there are many people who come to mind, and in time, I hope to write about them all, but for today, I need to write about two people: my mom and my mother-in-law.  I love my mother very much, and I am thankful that she is just a phone call away so that I can tell her about my day or ask her advice about parenting or decorating our new house.  I do wish that we lived closer to my parents so that we could see them more, but I know that I can talk to them whenever I want.  There are many times that I need to just call and tell my mom that the boys are driving me crazy or tell her about the sweet thing that they did that day.  Just the other day, I called to tell her about Joshua's breakdown at the grocery store because one of the worker's told him to sit down in the cart.  I knew that she would understand because that is EXACTLY how I would have reacted as a child.  Even though she is not literally here, I know that I can always talk to her, so I never remember to tell her that I am thankful for her.  That's the point of this whole thing though right...to appreciate the people in our lives while they are here?  So that is what I am doing even if it is long overdue...paying tribute to my mom and everything that she has done and continues to do for me.
Writing about my mother-in-law might be a little harder to do because she is not here.  I wish that I had been able to spend more time with her because there are many questions that I never asked her.  I never knew her before she had cancer (at least I don't remember her then because I was very young), and through all of the pain and everything else that she went through, she was ALWAYS positive and never complained.  To this day, I have never heard anyone say anything negative about her, and there are so many people who use her strength as an example.  I can't tell you how many times I have thought, "Gena would know what to do.  I wish I could call her and ask her."  I want to ask her how she handled two young boys who were very close in age.  I want to ask her how to be a military wife.  I want to ask her about all of the activities that Matthew remembers her doing with them.  I want to ask her how to take care of two boys while I am by myself and how to convince them that Papa is coming home and he misses them.  I want her to meet her grandsons, and I want them to know their grandma.  There are so many more, and they come to mind daily, but I just have to try to remember the stories and advice that she was able to share.  I know that I am very blessed to have had her in my life as long as I did.  

More Pictures

These are just a few pictures from today.

When Joshua got out the Legos, he said that he was going to make 5 dinosaurs.  Then he added that they would be happy dinosaurs.  It is very important that all dinosaurs are happy because that means that they are nice, and 5 is his favorite number.  When asked how many he wants (of anything), he will always say 5.

They decorated Valentine's cookies today at playgroup.

Pictures

The boys have decided (well, Joshua started it, and Benjamin does whatever Joshua does) that they should take all of the books off of the bookshelf and put them on the floor.  This way they have easy access to all of the books.  It seems to me that it would be easier to find what you want with the books on the shelf, but they don't seem to agree, so every morning for the last week or so, this is the first activity of the day.

Apparently Joshua found something on the bottom of the table that needed to be fixed, but his Handy Manny screwdriver and keys did the job.

Joshua playing with his cars last night.  

Benjamin with one of the toy boxes on his head.

Joshua helping Benjamin take his shoes and pants off.

Pictures

Joshua made this sign for Papa.  In case you can't read it, it says, "I love you! Love, Joshua."

Benjamin playing

We have all been sick the last few days, and I could not resist taking Joshua's picture while he was laying on the couch looking very pathetic.

This is Joshua trying not to smile.