Brusha brusha brusha

Learning the morning routine from big brother.

Fingers crossed potty training comes just as easily.

Don't compare your kids....

I was filling out the 18 month survey form from the doctor's office for Tyce's upcoming visit.  Since there are quite a bit of things that they want you to "test" with your toddler they send the questionnaire home.  Most of the questions or activities are basic...."Does your child say more than 6 words?, Can your toddler stack more than one item?"   Then there is, "Does your child talk as much as other toddlers his age?" 
Hmmmmm,
Kind of a loaded question for me.
I don't hang out with tons of other kids his age, so I always think back to what his big brother was doing at the time.  (Which was talking A LOT)  Which puts me in another predicament.   I'm now comparing the two...again.
Why does EVERYONE always say (with a sort of snide tone), "Don't compare your kids...."?????

For the record people, I'm never comparing them like one is better than the other!
I love them both more than anything in the world.
I love them equally, even though they are very different.

Why is it not natural and OK for me to compare my kids?  It seems instinctive and normal.

Just a quick example.  Ryder was talking very early.  Small sentences by age 2.  It was really cool.  At the time I didn't think anything of it because I only had him.  Everything he did seemed normal and on track.   Now that I have another one, nature has given me a reference.  Tyce is saying some words and babbling, but nothing like his brother.  Ryder is very book smart.  Sometimes I wonder how photographic his memory really is?  This doesn't make me love one any more or less, they are just simply different.   On the other hand, Tyce can dribble a soccer ball all around the yard for several continuous minutes.  Ryder wasn't interested in many sporting activities until recently.  Also, unlike his brother, Tyce seems to have quite a handle on his hand-eye coordination and motor skills.
Again, doesn't make me love one more than the other, I just love them.  They are both unique in their own way.   Both beautiful, smart, DIFFERENT kids.  I love them for who they are.
I feel it's perfectly logical and normal to compare.  Even the questionnaire is asking me to "compare" my toddler to other toddlers.  Not to mention the first thing another mother does when you tell her a story about YOUR kid is tell a similar story about HER kid.  
So....
it's OK for you to compare YOUR kid to MINE, but not for me to compare MY OWN kids to EACH OTHER?!
That's just weird.
I say compare away, just love them.
Hug them, kiss them and let them know they are special...and unique...and different...and that's why you LOVE them so, so much!

Earth Day 2013

Happy Earth Day!
(well, yesterday, but it's Earth Day Everyday, right?!)

It's amazing how beautiful and complex plants and flowers can be.
As an ode to the day, I went around the yard and snapped a few shots of the flowers that are blooming in my garden right now.


The climbing Jasmine is my current favorite because it smells so unbelievably fantastic.  We have a whole hedge worth, so it permeates the entire yard.

The Jasmine has started climbing up one of the near by Chinaberry trees.

 An elephant ear still holding some of the day's moisture

 

A Solenia Begonia with a big bloom.

Bush Daisies.  I just made this garden but they are a "Florida friendly" plant so they should tolerate a drought and a light freeze.    Trial and Error is how I learn when it comes to what I can plant.

 Tiny marigolds are good for the soil.

I found this bad boy at Lowe's this spring.  It's a Picassa petunia.  Cool, huh?  I have them in my planters and they are trailing and blooming fantastically.

A milkweed that I'm hoping multiplies like crazy.  These guys will keep Monarch butterflies coming to your yard year after year.

There is more, but it's all not blooming right now.   Which is good, I wouldn't want to put all my eggs in one basket.  I like a show for as many months as possible.  The amaryllis just got done their post winter show and the day lilies and lily of the Nile are about to start theirs.  My hubby's mom also scored some Easter lilies the day after for 50 cents each! Their bloom period is short and only once a year, but they do come back year after year.  And who could resist a deal like that?!  ( I got 12 )
Speaking of shows, if you live in Florida and want a plant that blooms a lot, is drought tolerant and can stand a freeze I would recommend double knock out roses.  The only complaint I've heard is the thorns, which of course, is just what you get with any rose. They are great.  Practically no maintenance.  Here's one that's started a new bud.

We also started a salad garden for Ryder.  He got a kit from Growums.com.  Very kid friendly, with free little cartoon veggie videos that narrate what should be happening week by week. He's already asking for the "stir fry" garden.  So, if you wanna promote some gardening skills or healthy eating check 'um' out.

After 6 yrs of living in this plant zone, I think I have finally figured out what does and does not make it here.  This year's garden should be the best yet, as mostly everything I planted last year came back!

As a special little treat, I got a few shots of this red-bellied woodpecker coming to and from his nest.   It's really fun to watch the male and female alternate feeding the babies.  You can barely hear the little peeps from the ground.  This Chinaberry tree has several nest holes where they have come back year after year.

Before I head out to plant some African Iris that my hubby's mom got for me yesterday, I leave you with an image of the wildest, ferocious, car chasing beast I know. 

A quick upcycle project

With the baby now totally mobile, our older son was having a hard time getting on the computer without little fingers trying to press, push or rip off the keys, mouse or screen.  This meant I was going to have to do a project....(yay!)
Conveniently, I had just purchased an old sewing machine desk at the thrift store for $15 AND had some gray paint in the garage waiting to bring new life to something!!
Sanding, priming and painting all went slowly, but smoothly.
I put the desk in place and it fit perfectly.  I grabbed our old computer chair out of the garage and........oopsie.....it doesn't fit under the leg space.  Not gonna work, now what?
I crossed my fingers and called my mother in law.  She had recently replaced her computer chair and I was hoping she still had the smaller wooden one.  I was in luck, she did.
Later that day, my husband grabbed one of the old beat up stools he used at his work bench in the garage and put it at the desk for a quick fix.
After staring at it, I realized it was perfect!  I could tuck it all the way under when it wasn't in use and it was less bulky that a chair with a back.
I had more paint from the desk, so all I needed was some fabric to cover the hideous, faded green pleather that was currently there.  My first option was just shy of enough to cover, so I went on the hunt.  I knew I had some left over outdoor fabric from years ago, that would be fine.  But, what I found instead would be much, much cooler. 
Old Jeans!
I split the inseam and it was just enough, not a millimeter to spare.  So perfect for a boys playroom stool!

Here is the Before....

 and After....

Cute, yet masculine, right?!  I totally love it!

My husband liked it so much, I did the other one too.  Now his work area in the garage looks cool, too.

There's the old sewing desk.  (Pardon the face, I took this pic on a day he was home sick)

Turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.  Now, I'm looking all over the house to see if there is anything else I can cover in old jeans.
;)

Keepin' it current

.....well, current in our minds.
We are in our mid-thirties and we like to think we are still hip.  I'm starting to sense that our infinite coolness may be slipping away from us, since we still like mostly the same things we liked before we were 30.  :/ 
Both boys have baby books with pictures and things that happened in their first year of life, who the President was, how much a stamp was, etc.
I sort of forget to update them after that, but who needs to when I have the internet.
Today, I'm gonna add some current commercials that make us giggle.
You never know what's gonna be on TV when they grow up.  I mean, when we were kids Mtv actually played music.....crazy, right?

So the insurance commercials seem to dominate right now. But at least they are competing with humor.  There's the Mayhem guy and the "everything on the internet is true."
I always get a chuckle from the "no mas pantalones". 

My other half likes "discount double check"

Ryder's favorite is probably the hamsters dancing.  He makes us rewind it when he sees it.

Tyce is only 1, so he's not into TV yet, but he loves the Fresh Beat Band, which isn't technically a commercial, but they do play little snip-its on Nick Jr.

He also just loves to dance, so if you play anything especially Bluegrass he'll do a jig.

If you ask us about movies, I don't think our answers today are "current", but I'll add them in because they have stayed at the top of our list.
My hubs would definitely pick The Rock.  I would have to say National Treasure.  I guess it's safe to say we like Nic Cage movies.  :)
The last thing we saw in the theater, I think was The Lorax, before that maybe Cars 2, both very hip and very current.
Our music choices are typically classic not current (Allman Bros and Grateful Dead).  Although, my hubby's favorite (Yonder Mountain String Band) is very current in the land of Bluegrass.  We do, however, tend to keep our phone ringtones or alerts hip.  This probably makes us look very, very uncool to the teens, but we think it's hilarious.
On that note, I'll leave you with my ringtone, which I'm just realizing is from last year...... 

The baby turned 1 and I haven't even had time to document it.

The baby turned 1 in January and it is clear that he is totally mobile now.  I haven't had time to sit down and type up anything about him.
The party was small, but successful.  The main event was the smash cake, of course.
Since this baby enjoys food so much, I knew our friends and family were gonna get a good show.  And the Meat didn't let us down, he practically polished off the whole cake.  It was awesome, amazing and almost sickening at the same time.

The past year has flown by and we've pretty much settled into a good daily routine.
Tyce has mastered walking and now working on running and climbing.  He can climb up the two-stair watermelon stool in the kitchen and the couch in the playroom.
He wakes up every morning anytime between 4:30 and 6:30 (obviously I prefer the latter).  Usually the first thing out of his mouth is, "Whrrraderr", which is baby for Ryder.  It's for sure the clearest and most used word in his vocabulary.  He also says, "Cat." and attempts to say "ooottsie" (Bootsie), which is the cat's real name.  "Hat" is the other clear word, but you can definitely distinguish between the two.  Most everything else is baby jabber, but he is pretty successful in getting his point across.
I would say his favorite thing to do is anything that his big brother is doing.  They have actually started playing together.  It's so amazingly cute and it melts my heart every single time.  His second favorite thing to do is eat and he is usually toting a cookie and/or his milk around with him.
As more words are spoken I'm hoping I have time to get on here and write it all down, but for now I can't waste anymore of this precious nap time on the computer.
Except to add a bunch of pics......

Oh yeah,
And....
I got a new camera for Christmas!!!!!
Best gift ever!
But that's a whole 'nother blog for another nap time.

Teacher Christmas Gift: DIY Crayon Wreath

Trying to come up with an original, heartfelt teacher gift can be tough.
Here's a fairly easy, super thoughtful craft that would look great hanging in the classroom.
A Crayon Wreath.

It's colorful and you can add any cute, personalized kid art.

This particular wreath has two wooden embroidery hoops (6 and 10 inch),
two and a half 24 pack crayons, some ribbon, a few wooden shapes and plenty of hot glue.

I made one of these last year for his preschool teacher and gave it as an "end of the year" gift.
I basically used the same technique, with a few minor changes.
This time I tied the ribbon that would be used to hang the wreath to the actual hoop.  Last year I hot glued it.  Ryder colored the wooden heart, added his name and picked out the apple and owl to personalize it.
Definitely lay out all the crayons first to make sure they are straight and you have enough.  I had to dig in to our reserves, as I only bought two boxes.  Luckily I had some unused ones on hand.
And be careful not to touch the tip of the hot glue gun to the crayon wax. I learned the hard way that the color will transfer to anything else it touches.
It came out great and I know she will love it!  
I think rulers and/or pencils would be cute too.  Maybe next time.....

Also, here is what I did this year....Teacher Christmas Gift: Cookies in a Jar
I will happily answer any questions, so feel free to fire away...

Update September 2014:
My sister in law got a new job as a guidance counselor at an elementary school.  What better gift to spruce up her office?!  So I made another.  ;)

 

 

 

They are all over the web now so I got a few tips and added some accessories. Perfect!