March Around the Corner

Ephraim is VERY excited that his birthday is coming up quickly. How did he get so big and handsome?

 

Ephraim is 43" and 36 lbs.
He loves cats and acting like them. He says his favorite color is black (he likes dressing all in black to be a black cat).
He lost his first tooth and the adult one came in quickly. He has a second loose tooth now.
He is in Montessori preschool, but doing kindergarten books. He happily reads easy books ("Ten Apples Up on Top" and "I Can Read with my Eyes Shut") and does easy math (5 + 5).
He wakes up happy almost every morning and actively seeks to find what is funny in the world ("get the PUNCHline?"). He likes to act out scenes with his stuffed animals (which all have names) and hear and tell stories at night. He can be an adorable chatterbox. He spent 10 minutes talking nonstop the other night about a complex story: something about portals and long tubes that took you to different worlds, one world was in a giant eyeball and bats lived there. If there is a creature near (tiny bug to stranger's big dog), he is interested in it and will be kind and concerned

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Bye Bye February

Wait, February is over already? Where did it go? Here's an update with pictures:

Snuggling with mom in the morning before work.

Snuggling with the cat at bedtime.

It was raining one Sunday and Gabriel had too much energy. I got some great shots of him (I'll try to get the movie here too).

On February 12, I drove Gabriel and some of his classmates to their field trip to the Guide Dogs for the Blind training facility. We didn't get to touch any of the puppies though.

Gabriel cut out tiny pieces of construction paper to make this Link from Zelda scene.

Ephraim worked on something similar,

I received a bouquet of flowers for Valentine's Day from my valentine (a wonderful man I'm dating).

 Swinging at the park.

 "OK, bye, Mom." (getting dropped off at Heather's house)

The cats decided to trust him again and Gabriel couldn't be happier.

Yes, our lemon tree is full! These two milk crates are less than HALF of the lemons from the tree. I'm squeezing them and freezing the juice.

The belt on my treadmill was slipping. After Grandpa fixed it for me, the boys had to try it out to make sure it worked.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year! 2015 is going to be great!

I was very thankful that my work gave us a week and a half off for Christmas and New Year's. I got to spend almost all of that time with the kids. It was great! The boys played with old cardboard boxes, cutting them out and drawing on them. Here is Ephraim deep into thought. I thought it was cute.

We went for a hike with Grandma and Grandpa and their dog Basker. 

 

We found a rock maze on our hike too. The highlight for the kids was seeing cows up close. The cows were all over our trails. We literally had to walk around them because they blocked the path.

First week back at school and Gabriel's attitude was amazing! He took pride in being grown up and did his homework without complaint or tantrums. As a reward, he earned video game time. Here he is singing along to the game and being super happy.

Ephraim uses a sticky hand to give himself a goatee. (He has a few uncles to imitate there.)

Gabriel created an encouragement poster for himself, all on his own. It says: Be the master builder (from The Lego Movie)! Be the best boy at school! Be creative! Be good! Be like Emmett! (character from the movie)

Giving Ephraim a haircut, he wanted a mohawk first. I took a picture so it will last longer.

Both kids got attacked by a cold last week. Gabriel drew a picture of himself fighting it. I love the 3D box of tissue on his side.

The kids still like dressing up in costumes. I made this faux-overall outfit (it's just a thing that goes over their head and can tuck into their pants) to go with the Mario hat that Grandma Cook made for them a while ago. 

We played outside on Saturday when it was a little warmer. Ephraim is fascinated by the colors on this leaf.  

BIG NEWS!!
At dinner last night (Sunday 1/18), Ephraim discovered his first loose tooth! He has been playing with it and asking me when it will fall out.

He is so incredibly happy about his loose tooth!! (Nevermind that I'm practically in tears... my little baby is growing up! He will be 5 in March and that is just too old.)

Gabriel's Comic Strip

Gabriel describes what's going on in the comic strip he drew on the chalkboard.

Christmas is Here

Mini photo shoot at home. I love my boys!

 

 Ephraim drew his samari on a horse.

 Gabriel drew an awesome comic strip (movie narration to come).

 Can YOU pick your nose with your toe?!

I made a few scarves as Christmas presents: flannel on one side and fleece on the other. I love sewing! 

I bought the kids some bathtub crayons. Ephraim wrote "ILU MOM" :)

Ephraim and I stayed home sick yesterday (Thursday). We snuggled on my bed and watched a movie on my portable DVD player. My mom bought each of the kids a fleece housecoat. Perfect for this time of year.

Speaking of sweet, Santa came to Gabriel's winter program so I snapped a picture. (video to come of Gabriel's song)

Nice November

On November 18, I got to join Gabriel on his class field trip to the new Exploratorium. Only a few exhibits were the same as I remember, so many new and improved things! Gabriel loved touching and trying everything. He loves science and it was great to see him exploring. The "black dirt" and magnets were a big hit, as well as the whole sound section.

Gabriel is cool!

The kids pushed the bunk bed away from the wall and made it a stage. They hung a blanket over the top bunk as a curtain. It was awesome! Ephraim got stage fright trying to take direction from big brother (who was director, extra characters, stage manager, and script writer).

Ephraim LOVES puzzles. I thought this map puzzle would be too hard for him but he found it on a top shelf and welcomed the challenge. He amazes me. He is reading already and loves to compete with his brother.

Gabriel made a double-decker sandwich with chicken, bread, and lettuce. I love how he grabs handfuls of lettuce to make a salad (and eats it all with ranch dressing!).

While waiting to go over Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving, we got out our Christmas decorations. The kids immediately remembered the snowmen foam sticker kit and wanted to make scenes again.

Everyone is in the holiday mood:
Gabriel

Mommy and Ephraim

And the kitty cats

 Are we excited about Christmas coming?!

Scary October

I introduced Ephraim to Jenga and we had a blast. He was so good at it, very steady hands. His expressions were priceless. 

We were having a bad day the other day. So I made waffles for dinner (perfect comfort food). While the boys watched Mickey's Three Musketeers, I made homemade brownies. It was the perfect end to a difficult day.

Ephraim decided to be a cat for Halloween. He wore the ears and tail every day since I bought them ($5 at Target, yay). Here is a picture of my three cats. :)

A little dark mascara as face paint and we're set. So adorable!!!

Add some black socks for paws. Cheapest and most loved costume ever!

At the beginning of October, Gabriel wanted to be a zombie. Sweet, easiest to make. We took some pants he had outgrown and an old shirt and cut them up. He does the face so well!

Sadly, Gabriel caught a cold for Halloween and didn't like his zombie idea any more, so he stayed home from school that day (with me, home sick with the same cold). Ephraim's goodie bag from school had some teeth in it. He didn't know what they were for, so I had to show him.

Welcome to November. The weather has been crisp lately, I'm ready for Christmas with my boys. After church today, we had a picnic at the local park and then drove to the Oakland temple. It was a gorgeous day. The boys loved the Visitor's Center. We saw a model of the city of Jerusalem that lit up as it told us highlights from Jesus' life in that location. We walked around the grounds. The boys were so sweet to each other, I was amazed.

 

 

Video of Gabriel's loose tooth 11/02/14  (WARNING: not for the faint of heart).