German Listens to EVERYTHING!

This is our family dog, Tool Box. I posted this picture, because it's rare to get a photo of German and his real smile!
Apparently, Joshua told the boys the story of Adam and Eve one night as they were going to bed. Then the other day German was working on one of his Duplo creations and this is what he made:

Please note: Adam- the repairman, Eve- with her baby, the bushes, and the "apple tree" all contained in the Garden of Eden. Funny boy.

Children's Museum of Phoenix

I'm not sure that they realized that the construction work was not an exhibit, but boy did we spend a lot of time watching the men work!


Finally, now they can do the shopping.


German driving Eli through a "trikewash".

Painting the castle.

So, I thought the Mesa youth museum was great (and it is), but this far surpassed my expectations. I would buy a membership, but I'm cheap and will instead hope for a free culture pass from the library.

I had to drag my children from each station, all the while convincing them that the next room would be just as cool. I thought we'd stay a couple of hours, but we ended up staying until almost closing time. These boys have some great imaginations. Scot loved the little baby areas and was a great baby the entire day.

Sadly, I was lonely. I watched as all these other mothers were there with their pals, and I mingled with the grandmas that were coerced into bringing their grandchildren. Friends, you were missed!

A Sunday Afternoon and a Bag of Pretzels

All I have to say is that I have one determined husband! This project was accomplished using only his teeth - seriously, no knives were used in the creation of this work of art. Impressive.

German turns 4!

We had a rip-roarin' good time at German's Fourth Birthday Cowboy Bash. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Hallberg's Christmas gifts for the boys we had the party pretty well planned. We made paper bag vests with sheriff badges, then we had some tough horse races, lassoed a calf, went to the shooting range, and had a bean eating contest. We finished the party off with some chili and ice cream sandwiches. My favorite game was the shooting range- we had set up some cans with strings attached and placed them at a distance on a box, then when the kids would make their bullet firing sound a dad would pull the string on one of the cans to make it fall. The kids were amazed at how their gun could do that, until Emily figured it out!

I was pretty excited when G said he wanted a cowboy party because I had purchased these ice cream sandwich molds at Williams-Sonoma years ago on clearance and I finally had reason to use them. Joshua mostly made them- he got excited each time one would come out perfectly. (Sorry N's that you didn't make it into any of the photos.)

My Ideal Winter...

I used to hate January.

This blog background is the perfect page for my ideal winter: everything looks wintery and gives you the feeling that you need a blanket and hot chocolate, but then you go outside and you're in AZ! I can appreciate feeling cold and snuggly, but let me tell you it sure was fun at the park yesterday feeding the ducks and walking around in shorts. A few weeks in UT/ID every Christmas is a good fill and reminds me why I now love January.