funniest. thing. ever.

Troy is right now, at this exact moment, in the shower singing...

"All the single ladies, all the single ladies, I love all the single ladies... shake your booty, shake your booty yea yea.. show 'em how ya do it now!"

I can hear him stomping around in their with his buzz lightyear toy singing his heart out.

Loving this!!

my memories

Every once and a while I like to update on the "happenings around here"

My blog is not only my way of connecting with the outside world (since I spend my days trapped in this place with two monsters guarding my door) but it is also my journal. I love looking back at old blogs and reading what God has revealed to me at that time in my life, the important dates like Troy's first birthday, Sophia's cute little phrases, fun things we do together as a family... it's all on my blog... my blog is my journal to look back at the good memories and the not so good ones.

So tonight's blog is updating my memories :)

Tony is doing good at work. He is enjoying the new dealership. He likes working with his Dad, they make a good team. Tony is a good man, the kind of man who brings his exhausted wife a Coke Zero at the end of the night and kisses her forehead and tells her to go get a shower :) We have been staying up late every night working on the house, putting in new light fixtures, painting, building walkways outside at midnight (I'm sure our neighbors hate us). Tony's love for the Lord has grown and I'm so proud of him, happy for him and I see the change in his life. I adore him and I am so thankful that we have come this far. Our marriage is a blessing, it was fought for and it feels so good standing in the winner's circle with him. I'm holding out for a weekend getaway with my man soon, hint hint Tony... :)

Sophia is 6 years old, learning to read, loves math and continues to have her Daddy wrapped around her little finger. She never stops talking. She loves being homeschooled, co-op, Awana and most recently a little buckskin pony named, Coco. Most days Sophia is a joy to our home, she does like to provoke her brother as he does her, but most days she is our baby doll toting, makeup sneaking, always into something girly girl. Sophia hasn't had a seizure in a while now, we are seeking some alternative opinions and second opinions, I'm not ready yet but soon I'll give an update about all of that. We have some big appointments coming in the next two months, I'll keep you updated. She had her eye surgery and all went well, other than her new unique ability to breath out of her eyeball... I'm not kidding, I told her she's like a super hero now. I plan on talking to the doctor about it when she goes for her 3 month post op visit.



Troy is 4 years old, sweet little man, who loves his momma. He can't make a decision these days without "eni- meni- myni- mo-" which sounds cute but very well may drive me insane if he doesn't get over this phase soon. Troy eats everything, he is 35lbs now and quite proud of his skinny self. He walks around saying "I'm 35 points!" His favorite thing to eat is tomatoes... he eats them like apples. He waits all day for his Daddy to get home from work to "fight", he likes to wrestle and sword fight and would probably stay up all night "fighting" with his Daddy (his favorite super hero). He loves praying and every prayer starts with "Dear God, I hope we have a great day tomorrow-" Cutest. Thing. Ever.



That's all for now.. my productive day painting, playing outside, reading books and playing "Momma Bears" with the kids has worn me out.

Church bright and early tomorrow so I better get in bed... can't wait to worship our AWESOME God!!

One on One

Yesterday my man was home...

lots needed to be done

and lots got accomplished.

There was plenty of running around on this day

Chores to be done, rooms to be cleaned out, plenty more to do...

Yet special time was spent with each parent and each child



Sophia got to run errands with Momma and then go to church and have dinner with Daddy

Troy got to work with Daddy and then spend an evening with Momma



We spend many days together but not much time is spent with one child at a time

Yesterday was special time...

Not a special activity but just special time...

time spent enjoying the kids one on one

Sophia is growing up so quickly she loved walking with Momma in the stores



I bought her a soda, she didn't say anything but I could tell it made her feel grown up...

it was nice to enjoy the simple moments like drinking a soda with her.

Troy is such a sweet guy, he keeps reminding me, "I'm four now"



He wants to be big "like Sissy" We made pizza, snuggled and read books and watched Power Rangers, I think he enjoyed the freedom of this one on one time.

Today, Daddy is back to work

First thing this morning Troy wanted Sophia to watch the Power Ranger movie he watched last night.. he doesn't want her to miss out.

She really wasn't interested but seeing his excitement- they are on the couch together watching the episode.

I hear them making plans about what they are going to do today, play dogs, jump on the trampoline, play in the playroom...

I'm glad they like being together

Troy's Muddy 4th Birthday Bash

My baby is four...

Four years ago I had a husband and toddler with the stomach flu. My mom had just flown to Minnesota. The most terribly timing... but my boy decided he wasn't going to wait any longer. Four weeks early he was ready to make his grand appearance into this world.

I'll never forget jumping in the shower to shave my legs (very important when you are going to have a baby)I was yelling for Tony... he wobbled into the bathroom having been up all night throwing up. I told him, "I'm going to have the baby, get the bag and call your mom to keep Sophia."

He looked at me, he was white as a sheet (from throwing up not from shock that we were having a baby) and he said, "Are you serious right now?"

Sophia was 2 weeks late and I ended up being induced so we really thought at 36 weeks that there was no reason to get excited about this boy coming early... we were wrong...

I got to the hospital... unlike his sister's birth, labor was easy and a few short hours later my little boy was born.

And now, he is a curly headed wild man...

Happy Birthday Wild Boy!

Here are some pictures from Troy's 'Muddy' 4th Birthday Bash!

All of the kids on the sand hill...



Awesome Mud Cake from my friend Jenn Crawford... how talented is she?



Me and My Sister...



My little birthday man, getting some 'Monster Juice'



Some of the boys in the mud...







Tony haulin' kids on the Rhino...



Happy Birthday Wild Man







We love you sooo much!

Growing Up

Troy seems to be growing so much.
He was a late bloomer when it came to talking...
he was practically three before we could understand much of anything.
I knew he was the kind of 'talker' that had it all inside,
he was just waiting for the worlds to come.
His fourth birthday will be here in a few months and I love talking with this little guy.
He loves to tell stories.
Often times in the evenings Tony will come home and sit on the couch with him and they will talk and talk...
I love listening to them.
Not just talking but understanding...
He really understands things now.
I used to give direction after direction and wonder why he didn't 'get' it.
He gets it now.
With that understanding comes some new emotions too.
Ignorance is truly bliss...
Until recently Troy didn't recognize when someone was being mean,
he didn't understand when someone was unkind
or when someone wasn't being honest.
He didn't understand that people can hurt one another with their words.
He has been telling me a lot, "people should treat each other with kindness."
Something I've told him for a very long time now,
but now those words have meaning.
He knows what kindness means and he understands when others aren't being kind.
It's a little sad to see him recognize the cruelness in this world
but I am proud of the kind little person he is becoming.
I know there will be many seasons in his life but I hope he never forgets to treat others with kindness.

A new commandment I give to you,
that you love one another: just as I have loved you,
you also are to love one another.
-John 13:34

not too high

I was driving in the car with my little ones.
We were driving to my favorite place on earth. My parents farm... down that dirt road... it is the only place that really feels like home.
Only a short drive from where we live now, a few minutes in the car.
The clouds looked like white cotton floating against the ocean blue sky.
I wasn't the only one who noticed it.
Sophia says, "Mommy, how do we know God is up there? We can't see Him."
She has been asking this kind of thing a lot lately. A question that comes with age, although I wasn't expecting her to ask just yet.
We have talked a lot about faith, about the disciples, evidence that supports Jesus walked with man on this Earth, we talk about heaven, and how God is preparing a place for us, what a joyful day it will be when He calls His children home.
I smiled and told her God is always watching us.
Troy sat quietly and said, "Sophi, He is up there, so high we can't see Him, but not too high so He can hear us."
...mouth of babes.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for
and certain of what we do not see. -Hebrews 11:1

Hand Towel 2 Toddler Bib

I love decorating... and redecorating... again... and again...
I like changing my decor for the seasons. I have fun crafting and creating new and fun things in my home. But with each holiday and season that passes I always have extra hand towels. Hand towels are inexpensive and I love matching them to my different bathroom or kitchen decor.
A few summers ago I had a blue, black and white beach theme in the kids bathroom.
When I switched things up I had a few blue hand towels left over. I never throw things away, I either reuse them in a different area of the house, upcycle them into something else, or give them to my friends.
For the blue hand towels, I decided I could very easily turn these into a perfect toddler bib, for my then 2 year old son. (This upcycle is from upcycles past, but still wanted to share it on the blog.)

Look how short his hair was?? and the hand towel reached all the way to his toes!
So this was perfect. He was too big for bibs yet still needed them, heck he is almost 4 and can still use these. They stay nice in the wash and are super cute. Since then I have made more from old hand towels. They are perfect for art and painting time too.
I just stitched a ribbon to each side of the towel, so that they could tie to different lengths. I also added buttons to the front because this towel was a little boring! You can be as creative as you want with this project.

Have fun with upcycling your old hand towels into cute and creative bibs.

Mama

A name I have become accustomed too.


Maaaaaa--mmmaaaaaa--

I always know who is calling for me.

Maaaaaa--mmmmaaaaa--

That's is what I hear echoing through the house at night and as I walk to his bedroom door.



Mmmmaaaaa--mmmmmmmaaaaaaaa--

A need or a want, he always knows I'm there and all he has to do is call.
I cherish each day, each moment, each time I hear.



Mmmmaaaaaa---mmmaaaaaa--

and oh how he loves me. My sweet little man. He adores his "Mama"

rain, rain, come today...

Allergy season is in full swing and my little boy has been caught up in the constant struggle with itchy watery eyes and runny nose. Central Florida is expecting rain today and weather man don't let me down! Yesterday we went outside and our cars were covered in oak pollen... Troy's arch nemesis... and only one thing gets rid of this all this pollen... a good soaking rain.
The oak pollen keeps us stuck indoors for a good portion of March thru April. Unless we are doing a water activity we are pretty much indoors during this allergy season. Yes, Troy is on plenty of daily allergy medicines but nothing seems to be a match for oak pollen. These tiny little things stick themselves to clothes, shoes, even the dog.



They cover the sidewalks in our neighborhood, the cars, everywhere. It's such a beautiful time of year in Florida, everything is green and lush while the rest of the country is still "recovering" from winter we are almost to summer. So today we sing a new twist on rain, rain go away....

Rain, Rain, Come today,
Come and Wash this Pollen Away,
Little Troy, Wants to Play,
Rain, Rain, Come today.

So today we will stay inside, do some schoolwork, laundry, and lots of playing, maybe a trip to the produce stand, but we will love every ounce of this rain that falls from the sky.

a letter to my monsters

Sophia, my first born, the one who made me a mother.
My little darling. I love you more than I know how to put into words. From first breath you have brought me my greatest joy. You have a way of humbling me, swirling me out of control, only to show me what is really important in this life. I want the best for you, I want you to thrive. I lay awake at night wondering how I can enrich your life, teach you better, be a better example.

Troy, my little man, the one who made me a better mother.
Sweet boy. You melt my heart. You are carefree and wild. You have taught me not to be caught up in the happenings of this world, but focus on the happenings of the heart. You make me stop to play. You are consistent and balanced. You bring superheros to life and can make anyone smile. I strive to bring balance and joy to your life. I don't want to hinder your spirit. I want to see you flourish, help you, teach you, and watch you run, so fast and so free.

To my Children,
I hope when you look back on your childhood you look back with found memories of love and laughter. I hope you think of all the fun things we have done together, but mostly I hope you know that I loved you. I read once that the most important thing for a child to know is that they were loved. So my sweet ones, I acknowledge I make mistakes, I may not meet every situation with grace and compassion, but know that I loved you more I ever knew was possible. The kind of love that taught me how God must love us. I didn't understand the power of God's love until I experienced life with you two. You made me a better person and every morning when I get up I pray to God that he will lead me, so that I can be an example for you. I pray that God use me to show you His love, for as your mother, there is no greater gift I can give you than to show you how God loves. I love you Sophia Ann and Troy Anthony.
Love,
Mommy

whoa baby! this is an update!

Lots going on... as always but I have so much to update family and friends on.
First off, we had a great time homeschooling this week, for the most part of the week we have been learning at home, we did go to co-op on Tuesday. I enjoy low key weeks when we stick around the house. I know it is important for the kids to socialize with other children, but I feel like we go- go- go- all the time so I enjoy the days we hang around the house.
Now that I said we had a low key week and hung around the house- besides co-op, we did have gymnastics, cheerleading, and karate :) and it's only Thursday (well, 12:45am on Friday morning). I just finished my homework for school. Sophia has a basketball game to cheer for on Saturday morning too.
I love this crazy busy life. :)
OK- so an update on my school. This week I made it official. I'm going to complete my Masters in Education with a minor in Education Technology, so that I can, in the future, teach at the college level. I'm hoping while the kids are still small that I can teach online classes (thus the minor). I'm excited and this is always something I wanted to do but there was something kind of intimidating about making it 'official'.
I'm holding on to my Dean's List status and I'm pretty proud to announce that I have a 3.91 GPA. There really is something about paying for your own school that makes you want to do better. I did four years of college with a scholarship and assistance from my mom.. I did good.. well, I did ok, I did just enough to not loose my scholarship.. but now that I'm paying for it myself.. I want to do my best! I remember taking a freshman class with an 'older woman' she was probably only in her 30s, but to me she was 'older', she always made As and I remember thinking. She has no life, she doesn't go out, she doesn't have friends in college, no wonder she makes good grades. What was I thinking?? She was only a mom of 3 kids, who worked a full time job, and she probably was paying for those classes... yea, she didn't have anything to do. OH- how stupid was I??
UPDATE ON SOPHIA
Sophia is doing great. She is excelling with her school work. The neurologist and I have been in close contact. We have met with an occupational therapist and common with high functioning cerebral palsy is a disorder called Sensory Integration Dysfunction (aka Sensory Processing Disorder). Initially I had called the doctor because Tony and I were at a total loss with her behavior. Our days were filled with high emotion and stress, by the time Tony would come home I would be frustrated and need help. Tony would step in and in the few hours of him getting home and her going to bed he would be worn out as well. Tony has always been very patient with Sophia so to see him loose his temper I knew it wasn't just something I was struggling with. It's hard to pin point what was so wrong. There were tons of scenarios and we would constantly play them in our heads, what could we do different, why wasn't she responding, she's so dramatic!! I called the neurologist about 8 weeks ago and talked with him about it. I have read and re-read so many parenting books, I had tried so many different parenting/discipline styles but I felt that the situation was out of control. He listened and listened, and waiting to respond, he then set us up an appointment with an occupational therapist who specializes in neurology disorders... and after an observation, answering LOTS of questions, the conclusion was Sensory Processing Disorder. A name, finally, but what did this mean? Basically Sensory Processing is the way we perceive what happens in the world around us and the way we respond to it. So- sights, smells, sounds, touch, textures, and experiences... it affects many different areas in a person's life. With tools people can live productive lives- awareness and work are key! If you are interested I will suggest reading "The Out of Sync Child" this book was recommended by the occupational therapist and by a friend. At this point the OT has given us plenty to work on and we have already seen HUGE gains. Finally we are hopeful and we are no longer wondering.. does the medicine make her act like this? Why does she seem so out of control? Now, that said, we are not making excuses for her behavior but we do understand it and when we understand it we can better help her handle these high stress emotions.
As far as her seizures are going, she is doing good. Adjusted to the 100mg per day since her last seizure episode. She always amazes me. She is really into baby dolls and animals right now. She is always carrying around a baby doll pretending she is mommy or an stuffed animal. She's getting older now, she gets shy when I watch her play with her toys. She likes privacy :) It kind of makes me sad but I'm also so glad to see her growing and turning into a little girl. She loves getting into my make up, coloring, and play-doh.
UPDATE ON TROY
Last but not least, Troy- Last year I wrote a blog about Troy's breathing issues. The pulmonologist was encouraging us to do a lung biopsy- one of the things they were looking for was Cystic Fibrosis. This really scared me, he had a positive stool test and a negative sweat test... so the next step was a lung biopsy, which I have been 'ignoring'. I just figured his breathing has been doing really well with a daily oral medication and an inhaled steroid and other than a few illnesses when he required additional breathing treatments or higher dose steroids he has been doing really well. This hasn't been an urgent thing and well, to be honest, Sophia has been. Troy has had bouts with "bathroom issues" and I just summed it up to him being lactose intolerant and the possible diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. TMI: but chronic diarrhea, extremely stinky poos, bloating, and poops that float, yes float, these are all symptoms of cystic fibrosis.. along with the well known, breathing complications. Troy hasn't grown, height or weight for close to 17 months and I knew it was time to get back to the doctor because we had to figure out what was going on. So we went to the pediatrician to talk to him about everything last Friday. He ordered some blood work and was going to make the appointment for the pulmonologist for Troy. Then- blood work came back and the levels of nutrition in Troy's blood were very low. His body isn't absorbing nutrients in food. He ordered more blood tests (luckily they did those off of the blood they already had) and turns out Troy has Celiac Disease (sounds scary, but it means he needs a gluten free diet because the gluten in foods prevent his body from absorbing nutrients- that's why he isn't growing). The stool test of Celiac and C.F. are the similar, measure the fat content in poo, thus the positive stool test. So yes, he has asthma and breathing issues but at this point the doctors have ruled out C.F. and instead discovered that Troy has Celiac Disease. Which is great news because it can be controlled with a strict diet. So again, life is changing... Troy is on a Gluten Free diet and in a few weeks he should have no more "bowel issues". HURRAY! There is a ton more to this but I am totally tired of typing.. and I'm sure you are sick of reading. :)
Oh- this is a genetic thing... and once Troy was diagnosed, I requested the blood test as well, yes- I have some "bowel issues" (which I am lactose intolerant so I always related it to that)I have always thought this was just a part of life.. well- my test came up positive as well. So Troy and I are on the special diet together. Sophia has never had bathroom issues so there is no need for her to be tested, but she and Tony are changing there eating habits when they are at home because for Troy and I it is not an option. It is important that I take care of myself, and Troy is growing, his brain is developing, all the more reason he needs to follow the diet so his body can use the vitamins and minerals in food. We are only on day 3 of this so it is still very much a learning experience but I'm so glad there is hope for no more tummy aches! And- Troy should start growing again!!! :) My little man! :) Oh baby- am I going to have some hilarious cooking stories for you in the coming days! ahaha!
Troy is doing great though. He is loving gymnastics class and karate. He is really into super heros, he loves Hulk, Ironman, and Spiderman... I think Troy lives his life to the Ironman theme song.
Yes- Tony is still around :) Good old man! His birthday is this month and if I had not spent wayyy to much time updating everyone on the kids I'd blog about Tony :) But, I'll have to save it for another day.

What happened when Troy asked Sensei to "fight"?

As you can see karate is going well :) We had to miss this week due to illness.

what Troy likes in a woman...

I have never seen a little boy who had such an opinion about fashion as my little Troy. I guess it's not really fashion but appearance...I have one opinionated little boy. I guess he knows what he is looking for in a woman, you better have your hair looking nice, your nails manicured, you better smell good, and have smoky eyes... oh baby!
I was getting ready the other morning, my hair in a frizzy bun on top of my head, I needed to shower and get ready. Troy walks in my bathroom and says, "Oh mommy you look like McPhee." Well if any of you have seen Nanny McPhee, you know this is not a compliment, but for those of you who haven't seen Nanny McPhee here is a photo...

Yes, not a compliment from my 3 year old son.
So I politely kicked him out of my bathroom, got a shower, washed my hair, brushed my teeth. Then, in an attempt to impress the little man in my life, I blew my hair dry and put on a bit of makeup (for those of you who know me personally, you know I have never been big on makeup).
I presented myself to the little man and in the most astonishing and surprised voice he said, "oh Mommy, you don't look like McPhee anymore, you not ugly anymore mommy, you are beautiful."
Perfect response, sort of.
I recently got my nails done (Christmas present that I got from my Daddy)... I haven't had my nails done (other than a quick polish on my short nails) since Troy was an infant. Troy has no idea what mommy would look like with nice manicured nails, I honestly didn't think he would notice... oh but he did. He says, "Oh mommy, your nails are beautiful, you do this all the time now ok?" I assured him I would always have nice nails, but with no thought that I would really keep this up.. acrylic nails are not cheap and rather time consuming... not something I gave another thought too. Well, my nails did eventually flick off, or I ripped them off.. and Troy was the first to notice, "you don't have pretty nails anymore!" So- tonight, once Tony got home from work I went and got "pretty nails" once again- he likes the pink and white acrylic the best.
OH- and he also notices how I smell... I love love love Warm Vanilla Sugar from Bath and Body, it is my favorite scent! Tony bought me a gift set with the shower gel, lotion, and body spray for Valentines Day. I had been out for about a month. The first night I bathed with my favorite scent. I went to Troy's room to check on him and he says, "oh you smell beautiful again!" And what exactly did I smell like before?
Oh- and might I mention that when we headed out for the grocery store yesterday he said, "you should put that black on you eyes, make you look so pretty mommy, you my beautiful girl." So- yes, I was Troy's beautiful girl with a smoky eye while grocery shopping.
Gotta keep my little man happy right?

Isn't he cute?

My baby got his first pair of wranglers... well, he did have a wrangler diaper cover when he was a baby... but now, he is a little man. He asks to wear his 'cowboy' pants all the time now. Oh Lordy!

colors

So, If you haven't noticed from my last two posts... I got a new cell phone and it takes video! :)

Troy has been slowly progressing with homeschooling. We have always worked out counting, colors, singing songs, lots and lots of playing. I really believe that children learn through play, so we play LOTS. We count race cars and group them by color, which ones are bigger, etc.
Sophia likes to color so discussing the difference in colors has been easy, let's color with red today, painting, markers, etc. Troy on the other hand has very little interest in coloring so I have to get creative and talk about colors in other ways.
Now- I know at 3 years old he knows his colors, when I say get the red car, blue car, green car, etc. He will always get the right one.
But when I hold up a color and ask him to tell me....
Red is Ironman, or Spiderman

Green is Hulk

Yellow is "Marine" AKA: Wolverine

Blue is blue, black is black, so I guess we are making process.. but come on Troy!

King of the Road

Troy got an awesome Spiderman bike for Christmas. Yet he LOVES the pink 'Road Princess' bike that my mom picked up at a yard sale for $5 like 4 years ago. HAHA!!!



He loves riding his bike and watch out he is King of the Road, on a pink girly bike :)

"Karate School"

Troy started karate about two weeks ago... and he LOVES it!
Troy has been asking for sometime now to go to "karate school". I contacted a local program and we went to a 'trial class' and my little wild man became an instant karate student! For the first time in his life someone called him "a good listener." I couldn't believe it.. but I was thrilled for him and for me!
Only two weeks and I have already noticed a difference in his behavior at home and in public. He is getting more comfortable at karate and starting to be a little bit of wiggle worm but he is doing so good. He listens to his Sensei and wants to follow his instructions.
Here are a few pictures of my little karate man-



The kids spar and with Troy being such a little guy he always spars with the older guys who kneel down to fight with him.. it's really cute.


And here is one of my two rugrats.. today was bring a friend day and Troy brought his sister and his friend Paul... Paul was a little shy so I didn't get a picture of him but Sophia enjoyed it, but she was thrilled to know that cheerleading starts again this Thursday.. oh we are going to be some busy people.

HOMESCHOOL & RAINY DAY GAMES

My children are some outdoor loving fools! Today is a rainy day in the sunshine state. Lucky for me, Sophia had some schoolwork to keep her busy, we had to change our schedule because of co-op, so we are having "school time" on Monday, Thursday, and Friday mornings now. Troy participates somewhat during "school time".
He usually does the "welcome" part of school. During this time we sing songs about the days of the week, months of the year, remembering our address, and some quick alphabet/shape/number/color recognition games.
Then he is off to watch Spider-Man cartoons while Sophia and I do reading, math, and history or science.
Then Troy joins us again for art. (Today they could pick from a variety of art supplies and make a picture of their favorite thing to do.) Sophia used every medium offered and made a picture of herself playing with her dog, Jazzy-Bell. Troy used a white sheet of paper and a black marker, made a few scribbles and a long line. After they are done we sit on the couch and I let them take turns telling about their art. Sophia went into an elaborate story about how she loves playing with her dog, and how she is "the best dog in the whole wide world". And Troy stood up, held up his picture, and said, "I like poking spiders with sticks".
They had some computer time, navigating www.pbskids.org (which I love).
Then it was the "end of school" song and off they went to play in their rooms.
I wasted some time on the computer, my sister came over and we played on the Wii, then time to make lunch.
After lunch the kids normally go outside and they were pretty discouraged to see that rain falling from the sky. So I got out the animal flash cards and we played "zoo keeper". I hold up a card and they pretend to be that animal while I read facts about the animal they are pretending to be...
We talked about the anteaters very long spiny tongue that they use get down in the ant tunnels,to eat ants. (Sophia and Troy stuck out their tongues and crawled around on the living room floor.)
We talked about the giraffes being the tallest animal, the babies are 6 feet tall when they are born, we measured it out with a tape measure. We talked about how they have to spread their front legs wide just to put their heads down to eat the grass. (They crawled and made themselves appear as tall as possible).
Howler Monkeys... wonder what the neighbors thought we I read that the howler monkeys howl can be heard up to three miles away?
Fun Times!!!
Then of course- we had to play "momma bear" -I crawl around with them pretending to be their momma bear, we go from the cave (Troy's bed) to the meadow (the living room) and my baby bears are quite mischievous, seems I can't get away without playing that with them. They love it!
Well- it is nap time now. So I need to take advantage of this time, get a shower and great ready to take Troy to karate this evening. *More on that later, but he is pretty excited to be going to karate.

Upcycled Batman shirt.

Yes, that is his forced smile, "cheese" face... terrible isn't it?

But the Batman shirt I made him is pretty nifty! and he liked it enough that he posed for a picture. :) I made this from an old, stained Thomas the Train shirt we had laying around. Bought a plain navy shirt from Target on Clearance for $2.70, a few stitches and ta-da! An AWESOME UPCYCLED BATMAN SHIRT FOR MY LITTLE SUPER HERO!

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."