2 Weeks and Counting

I've been completely MIA lately and with good reason. My last month of pregnancy was a little bit miserable and a lot busy as we readied the house for our newest little bundle. May 7th I went in for my regular weekly check up and the Doctor mentioned that it looked like the baby was winning. After two weeks of being told our little man would here super soon...I was MORE than ready. I told him I would have Silas that second if I could so we booked an induction for that Friday. 

Munch was more than a little excited about meeting his littlest brother. 

I felt a little guilty organizing his birth like that...almost like I was taking away something from him. BUT really, it ended up being perfect. The people we needed to be there were able to get there without any rushing. The BIG boys were well taken care of during (and after) labor/birth. 

 It was a completely stress free event. I went in, they drugged me and a few hours later I was presented with a gorgeous baby boy. His brothers adore him. They are constantly checking to make sure he is doing okay and growing well and they CANNOT wait until he's big enough to play with them. 

I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful boys. It's going to be a crazy and wild adventure, but I'm looking forward to it. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope everyone enjoyed a super lucky and green St. Patrick's Day. We had corn beef and cabbage last night with my Mum...today was more about just wearing green. Although, we did have Irish Soda Bread for breakfast and managed a mini photo shoot before my doctor appointment. 

32 weeks! Just 8 short weeks to go!

Just Two Things This Friday

 I meant to post a lot more this week but life threw me a slight curve ball and I've never been very good at baseball...or softball. SO...let's just pretend that I posted this on Tuesday, but be thankful that it's Friday. :o)

1. I started doing a little homeschooling with the boys this week. I pretty much thrive on disorganized chaos...so organizing a basic lesson plan is proving painful, figuring out a schedule might have caused my brain to explode. We were kind of all over the place. But I think the boys both benefited. Yay! Next week will be a little better...I hope.

2. HUGE plus of starting "school" with the kids was starting Bob Books with Munch. We've been doing work sheets and worked on reading the first couple books. Munch is picking up on it so much faster than I could have hoped and he's even been helping me with story time if we come across a word that's in his books. I am so SO proud of him.

Okay...maybe a quick 3rd thing...

Have a fantastic weekend!

Welcome Home Wednesday: Munch's Cave: After

A little late tonight, but I'm finally getting my post up! 

I found a WAY before picture of Munch's room. This is the room as we first saw it. It looks so small. (You can see more before pictures and read more about it HERE.)

Here are the after shots. It's pretty close to his rooms in our other homes, but it's still a big change from what it was and the blue is a little lighter and less bright than what we had previously gone with.
Munch loves to sit on his book case and look out the window.

 Hubby made the art board for all Munch's projects. We haven't switched them out for a while, because Munch remembers doing those particular ones with his Gigi and he LOVES them.

The window looks so dirty in this picture. It's clean, but old. One of the big things on our list of things to do one day.

Had to show a close up of Munch's bed. We started having trouble with him going down for naps, so we would give him a book to read until he fell asleep. At some point he started placing them next to his mattress. He knows exactly what books are there and EXACTLY where he has put them. Don't try to move them...he'll notice.

I'm pretty pleased with how the room turned out. Munch likes it and really that is all that matters.

Welcome Home Wednesday: Munch's Cave

Please excuse the mess while Angie of My So Called Chaos and Health Not to Health Nut works on revamping my blog. Super excited about it!!

This week I'm sharing Munch's room, before he moved into it. 

 (above: view from doorway. window looks over front yard)

 (above: view from right corner)

(above: view from left corner. you can just see the patch of flooring that wasn't completed in the closet. note: there is an extremely tiny opening (about house elf size) leading to the attic in Munch's closet, if we ever have the money it would be really nice to make a human size opening maybe in the hall outside the boys rooms.)



Munch's Cave To Do List:

• Finish flooring in closet.  Thanks, Honey!!
• Paint Thanks, Honey!
• Get and install more sturdy curtain rod.  Completed today!! Thanks, Honey!!
• Get Munch's fan from Mum's and install here
• Hang pictures/artwork

Next week I'll share the after pictures!

Grapevine Vintage Railroad

On Saturday my mother treated us to a day on The Grapevine Vintage Railroad. Having kiddos is such a great excuse to get out and do tourist type stuff. 

The boys weren't sure they liked the train at first. They are huge and loud. 

We stepped onto the train in Grapevine.

The boys loved getting their tickets punched by the conductor.

This shot is one of my favorites from the trip. 

The train stops at the Fort Worth Stockyard's. I really wish we had, had more time there. I've never been and I would have loved to explore a little more. We did have time for a stop at the candy shop. 

The boys got balloons from a cowboy clown. 

Then all too soon it was time to head back. 

I'm going to add a trip back to the Stockyards to my Texas bucket list. Would be fun to even make a little weekend out of it. 

Project Life: Week 24

I hope you'll forgive my laziness this week. I'm going with phone pictures, cause it was just easier with Munch and the Noxman running around. 

Week 24 - Page One:

This week featured the last day of swimming at my grandfather's house. We really miss having a private pool to go to. 

Page Two:

1st dentist appointment for Munch, fun with Gigi, a clean house and Father's Day.

Favorite spots of the week:

An embroidery project I finished using my husband's grandmother's embroidery stash. So pleased with it.

Got John to journal a little for the dentist appointment. I figured it was fitting, since he took Munch. It's so wonderful to see his writing on the layout. I feel like it really makes the album OURS. I'm certainly going to have him journal more often. 

The other day, Munch begged to paint. I love painting with the kids, not the clean up so much, but we all have fun. We always have some left over paint on our palettes so I decided to take advantage and we made some 3x4 filler cards. 

Munch made the two on the bottom right. I LOVE getting my kiddos in on our album! 

 Last week Studio Calico was offering a little box of goodies. I've really wanted to get a monthly membership, but haven't been able to budget it in. Anyway, it was a little pricier than I would normally go for, but I did anyway, just to see if it was something I really did want in the future.

There are some really cute cards included and I can't wait to use them all. However, I don't think I'll be putting in an order again or if I do, I may order more product to make up for the flat fee shipping, cause lets be honest, they have some truly beautiful items.

 This is for a more recent week, but I wanted to share it now. I created it using a free template Scrapping with Liz offered on her blog: HERE. I've always LOVED her templates for my digi pages so I was super excited to see had created a few sets of journaling/picture templates for Project Life. 

 Right now she's offering a buy one get one free deal on her templates, PLUS 20% off (until 3.28.2013). Totally took advantage of that and I really can't wait to put them to good use. 

I will be linking up with The Mom Creative!

A Day at the Zoo According to Munch

 The following pictures were taken by Munch on our trip to the zoo yesterday. Enjoy!

Gang of Crocodiles

Friday was an extraordinarily gorgeous day here. The boys and I were very excited to go for a long walk and enjoy the warm sun. 

On our way to the duck pond, we were attacked. There was lots of screaming and poor Kaiser raised his furry ridge looking around desperately to find the monster he needed to protect us from. 

Munch spotted them first. Three crocs, in an empty field, laying in wait for a imaginative boy to pass by. 

We got away, just barely. 

As soon as we got home, Munch rushed to sketch the gang. They are pretty terrifying; don't let their disguises fool you.

Crocodile in a Santa Hat

Crocodile dressed in a bat costume.

And the most fearsome of all: Crocodile in a pumpkin costume.

If you see this gang of crocs, all I can suggest is to scream and then do some crazy running. It worked for us. 

Week Two in Pictures

I'm still working hard on Project Life. I have a HUGE order I need to make this week. Until I get them, here are some shots from the past week.

1.7

My Batboys were disappointed with The Irish the other night so they decided it was time to save the world instead of watching the game.  

1.8

 Munch has recently decided he loves mazes. He was so pleased with himself when he discovered he could make his own maze out of ABC block.

1.9

 I took advantage of some nice snuggle time and took a picture for Aleida's Challenge. If you haven't heard of it, go check it out. It encourages mothers to take pictures with their children and honors the memory of a beautiful blogger. Seriously, go check it out.

1.10

 

I've been trying to teach the boys patience, which is impossible for me, because I have ZERO patience myself. Munch is MUCH better than I am though. We brought out Nox's new puzzles and Munch started teaching Nox how to do them. It was kind of a proud moment for me. 

1.11

(Picture by Munch)

 70 degrees...and AMAZING...for ONE day. We took advantage of the weather and went for a walk to go visit the ducks...who were all swimming, so we said hi to the geese instead. 

1.12

 Munch and I haven't had a whole lot of one on one time since....well...pretty much since Nox was born. (awful, I know) Anyway, it was WELL past time, so I decided to take him to the movies. We saw Rise of the Guardians and we both ADORED it. We also had fun saying hello to Gandalf.

1.13

Nox discovered the point and shoot. (An Olympus Tough. I HIGHLY recommend it.) His cute little fingers get in the way, but he is so determined to learn. He was really pleased with himself and there were some long joyous minutes where our house was filled with his adorable giggles.

Hoping to have some finished pages to share next week. Cross your fingers. :o)

Linking up with The Mom Creative.