Moving

Ephraim did something cute so I scooped him up and kissed him. He wiped off my kisses (nothing new) and said "germs, eeeew!" What?! My son thinks I'm giving him germs when I kiss him, I'm so sad. Paul was right there, so I complained to Paul that my babies won't let me kiss them anymore. So Ephraim runs over to the toybox and grabs the baby doll and hands it to me!

Gabriel has been talking about how he wants to be a superhero when he grows up. This evening, he points to the wall and screams "spider!" Before I can even react, he says, "I'll get it," and grabs a shoe from the pile by the door, and smashes the shoe against the wall. Wow, my hero! I am comforted to know that I will have a spider smasher in the family.

Just as a point of family record, Paul got his new apartment keys this last Wednesday and we spent most of yesterday moving boxes in 104 degrees Sacramento weather. Whew! Thank goodness for air conditioning. We made a significant dent in the storage garage and emptied a closet in our current apartment. I think we'll rent a small moving truck next weekend and get the furniture that won't fit in my van. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, our bid got accepted on the house in Pinole. The boys and I went with Dad and Mike to inspect it on Friday. I am so excited. There is so much space (1820 sqft) in the four bedrooms/two bathrooms and I am already arranging toys in the huge playroom. There is a brick planter along the front of the house that I hope to fill with some of dad's fertile dirt/compost and plant herbs there--mint and rosemary for sure. Lots of good things to come, focusing on the positive.

Gabriel-isms

Just wanted to record some cute stuff Gabriel says:

The other day, he was playing with dinosaurs and said he was looking for "dinosaur apostles"!! It cracked me up, and I corrected him with "fossils" but he continued to say "dinosaur apostles" the rest of the day.

Gabriel's new big number is: "80-50." This works for "80-50 stormtroppers are coming!" or "80-50 cookies please!"
 

**And I'll add a quote from Ephraim (of course I laughed at this so he told everyone at the pool last night): 

"E-um two-half (holding up two fingers), Gay-Gee five (holding up four fingers because his birthday is next month but he's still only four), mom (pointing with one finger) old!"

Change is in the Air

Gabriel likes making faces.

We visited the Children's Museum again. Here's my fireman and doctor.

We got out the paints and had lots of fun! The first day we used brushes. Gabriel painted my portrait.

The next day we used fingerpaints. Ephraim doesn't like to get dirty. He complains at a few water drops spilled on his shirt, crumbs on his fingers from a slice of bread, etc. When he got paint on his fingers from the paintbrush, I showed him that paint all over his hands was okay and even fun. He had a blast!! I got several great handprint masterpieces from both kids!

Ephraim still naps most days. So sweet.

We visited Grandma and Grandpa McMillan and enjoyed fresh raspberries and mulberries.

 

 Gabriel poses as Link (from Zelda).

Ephraim loves giving me great big CHEESE smiles.

End of Soccer, Start of Summer

We had our last soccer practice and game last week.

 

Ephraim has been making cute faces for the camera lately. I wish I could post them all.
Peek-A-Boo!!

 

 Happy brothers!

We went to the Children's Museum in Rancho Cordova. It was very small, but they had fun playing in the grocery store and in the water.

 

 

 Smile!!

Friends and Family

It's the little things that count, one day at a time. Here is Ephraim asleep in a drawer. He falls asleep most afternoons. I like it better when he doesn't nap though so that he goes to bed at a decent time (8:30pm instead of 9:30 or later!).

We visited our good friends back in San Jose twice in one week. It was great to see them again and they played together so well! We even went to our old favorite park together.

On the Saturday of Mother's Day, we went to a mini family reunion. My dad's four cousins flew in from different states, and my mom, the kids, and I met them about 45 minutes north of us. It was very convenient for us and wonderful seeing people I hadn't seen in 20+ years. We used to get together with them every Christmas and Mother's Day, so it was kinda surreal to see them on Mother's Day weekend again... only I have kids now instead of being one of the kids! Kathy has a gorgeous backyard which was perfect for the boys. Here they are enjoying the hammock.

The boys are getting along so much better now. Gabriel still finds ways of tormenting his younger brother but there are more and more times of sweet cooperation at play.

Crafty Letters

A while ago, I found a great craft book full of ideas to make with felt (the frogs and monkeys from before). Since I have two huge bags of felt just waiting for inspiration, it works out. I've been trying to keep myself sane and less stressed by focusing on doing at least one thing that makes me happy each day. Today I decided to finish the project. I was about halfway done with the letters previously. Gabriel helped me pick out eyes and I added loops to the back to hang on the wall above each boy's bed. They love them... and the googly eye stickers too.

Easter, Soccer, and Beyond

My heroes! Gabriel has a karate robe and is showing off his moves. Ephraim is shirtless with a Spiderman mask and Batman cape. So cute!

Easter has come and gone. Gabriel made bunny ears at preschool and I caught him eating lettuce--appropriate, I thought.

We went to Paul's sister Lynnessa's house for Easter Sunday. She has worked hard on her house and the kids went egg hunting in her front yard. Ephraim had his own section to find eggs.

The three cousins loved being together. Gabriel makes a face while proudly holding his full basket. Sweet Everett gives cousin Ephraim a hug for the photo (who is stunned at such gentle affection from someone Everett's size). So awesome!

My silly boys caught laughing, snuggling in bed in the morning!

Cool block city that Gabriel made one day, complete with trees and green bubbling lava (or poison, I forget, both are often required for play). (by the way, love his eyes!)

Soccer has started!! He is on the 3 and 4 year old team and I started as coach. Thankfully another parent took over as coach, but not before our first game! Here are two pictures of Gabriel warming up before his first game. He was really good at taking the ball away from the other kids and kicking it. Then his teammates would take over kicking it toward a goal. He fell down a lot, so we're going to try cleats next game (not required at this age).

As a general update: because of so much stress, etc., we have put our search for a house on hold temporarily. It was great experience collecting so much data about the houses in the greater Sacramento area, but we didn't like our realtor as much and we need to focus on other things right now. Since that decision, we have made plans for a couple of date nights (way overdue), got together for a pizza night with a young family from church who live in our same building, enjoyed soccer and walking this neighborhood.  Plans for more blog posts more often are on that list somewhere too. :)