PIzza Night!

It has been a long time since we have made our own pizza.  Art and I used to do it regularly, making the sauce from scratch as well.  This week, for reasons unknown, Zachary decided he would like to make his own pizza.  So I went and bought the pizza crusts and all the makings for pizza.  Turned out he mainly wanted to throw the dough in the air like a pizza maker, not just put sauce and toppings on it!  Oh well. next time.  Each person got to choose what toppings went on their 1/2 of the pizza.  Wyatt did the sauce and all the cheese for one pizza and Zachary did all of it for the second.  Here's what we got:

Left: Shayna pizza - ham and pepperoni Right: Wyatt - ham

Wy proudly making his pizza

Zachary carefully adding the yummy sauce

Left: Zachary's pizza - cheese & green peppers Right: Art's - peppers, mushroom, onion, ham, pepperoni

Two pizzas in progress

It was a fun time making them - both boys agree with that.  However, they did not love the Aldi pizza crust and said it wasn't great pizza.  Perhaps we'll try it again next month with a different crust.

Things That Make Them Happy

Sometimes I am surprised by the things that make our boys happy.  Today for instance, Wyatt decided that he would like to take a nap in Yannick's pack-n-play, in the basement, where Yannick normally naps.  I thought "strange, but ok".  So I put Yannick in his crib upstairs, and let Wyatt nap downstairs, not knowing if he would fit.  He did. Barely.

All curled up with "tufty bear", who in another life was "Barnaby"

Zachary with his army

Art has been letting the boys play Heroes of Might and Magic with him every other evening.  Big boys love it!  So much so that they have been creating their own armies nearly every day.  Here is Zachary with one of his.  I like the use of many different elements: bristle blocks, a whale, of course many action figures, but also a wooden robot. :) And no army would be complete without some 30+ yr old Ewoks from my own childhood.  I doubt I ever played with them in this way!

Trail mix

Yesterday, on the way home from YMCA family fun day, Zachary spilled his trail mix in the car.  nearly all of it.  popcorn, sunflower seeds, raisins, m&ms, etc, all over the place.  Needless to say, he was more than distraught.

So today, in a winning "mom" moment, I set up a make-your-own trail mix bar at home before lunch.  Ours had more choices the kids liked.  Then they thought of some ingredients to add too, like Trix.  I enjoyed it quite a bit!

Boys helping themselves to the trail mix bar

YMCA Family Fun Day

After visiting our Sr., Ms. Beanie, we made our way over to the Y to take part in their Family Fun Day.  They have stuff for families all over the Y, with the majority of things in the gym.  A family Zumba class, which we did NOT do, several inflatable mazes, which we did do, and many stations for fun things.  The boys hit the face painting station, the inflatable basketball station, and grabbed some freebies at other tables. Then downstairs for "lunch", make-your-own trail mix, then smoothie station, then the chocolate milk station, with a bit of a break in the artwork station.  Art was pleased with a sign that said "Be art healthy, do art everyday"  I am embarrassed that he stole that sign.  It was just a piece of paper taped up, but still. We ran into several Y friends there which is always fun. Boys had a good time, we had a good time, then off to home for naps for all!

Zachary trying his best at the inflatable basketball

Wyatt giving it a shot, literally, but never making a basket

Zach with an eagle on his face, Wyatt with an eagle on his hand.  They went back later and got more tatts added, then refused any hand washing for meals!

Post party play

The boys needed to burn a bit of energy after another Yannick bday party, so they spent some time jumping off the circle chair.  How is that fun over and over?

Silly Shorts

It has been unseasonably warm the past few days...but not quite warm enough for shorts.  The big boys are desperate to wear shorts to the playground, but mean ole mommy says no.  So they take matters into their own hands by pulling their athletic pants up high enough to be shorts.

Wow, those are short shorts!  It almost goes with the red cape and "superhero" belt he is wearing

Wyatt not sure he is doing the right thing, but happy to copy his big bro!

Storage Cabinet fun

Stephanie W helped me rearrange the office so that it looks less like a junk room with random furniture and more like a functional, professional office.  With this lovely change is that the storage cabinet in the wall (very odd indeed!!) is now more accessible.  I also got in there and organized the luggage, blankets, pillows, etc a little better and now there is room a-plenty.  The big boys caught on to this pretty quickly!

This cabinet is very odd, it sits about 5ft off the floor in the office.  A strange little hidey-hole that Art wanted to leave empty for he and the boys to play in!

Child Labor in CHI

This is why you have kids if you live in a place like Chicago!  Finally, the big boys are earning their keep! :)

Wyatt shoveling the walk

Zachary shoveling the walk

Zachary braving the deep snow

Wyatt stomping in the shoveled snow

It was a nice surprise for Art to see the sidewalks were shoveled when he got home from work.  They MAY have needed a little help from Mom!

Soccer Stars!

Both boys got to play soccer this season - a first time they allowed 3yr olds to play.  Another family had 2 boys, each one on our boys' teams, which made the 2hr commitment every Saturday morning more enjoyable. While Wyatt played soccer at 9am, Zachary played with Riley, then when it was Zach & Riley's turn to play, Wyatt and Carter played with each other's backpack of toys. It was an enjoyable time for them both, but more so for Zachary.  He and one other boy were clearly the best ones out there.  We, selfishly liked it better when Zach and Jordan did not play at the same time, bc Jordan was clearly gifted and very good.  Wyatt had a less good time.  He played on a pre-K team that was 3-5yr olds not in Kindergarten.  He was just a bit too young. He did not get the ball much, and was not terribly aggressive to get it either.  His shining moment was when one boy was dribbling down the field, fell down, and Wyatt took over and scored a goal.  HUGE moment!

Also fun for Zachary was that this time was the first time his team was assigned a name, and not just a color. Zachary was on the "Fire" team, and Wyatt was on the "Blue" team.

Ms. Beanie even came and watched them play one day, then we went back to the King Home and had lunch with her in the dining room.

Here are our boys with their participation Gold Medals (Wyatt's first)!  So exciting!

Proud, silly boys with their medals

EBF Children's Christmas Program

My boys, up on stage at church, singing songs that we did not do a great job of teaching them!  Bad parents.  Still, they look so cute I can barely stand it!

Wyatt looking dapper in his sweater vest

Zachary wearing a suit!

Here the boys are in action for "Go Tell it on the Mountain"  The entire thing was super cute as usual!

Visiting Ms. Beanie

We try to visit a Sr. Citizen, living at the King Home, every Saturday for an hour.  Ms. Beanie adores our boys and they seem to really enjoy being with her.  She does provide snacks for them! :)

Zachary eating snacks, Wyatt listening intently to the Clifford book she bought for them at a thrift store.  She now has a drawer filled with books and toys just for the boys when they visit.  She is also enamored with Yannick and calls him "baby Nicky", which Wyatt has started emulating.  She is a great fit for our family.

Futbol

Or Soccer for us Americans.
Zachary decided he would like to play indoor soccer again this year.  Unbeknownst to him, his parents decided he would NOT play AYSO outdoor soccer this year, because they play on Sunday afternoons and right now it is too much to lead a bible study group AND play soccer.  So, we are utilizing the YMCA's indoor soccer again.  Change for this year is that they are allowing 3yr olds to play on the preschool team.  Before, age 4 was the cutoff.  We were so very excited that Wyatt would get to play, since he has wanted nothing more than to play on a real team!  Now our Saturday mornings will consist of getting up, going to Wyatt's soccer game at 9am, Zachary's at 10am, and visiting Ms. Beanie at 11am.  Lunch, then nap.  For the next 10 weeks.  No lazy Saturday mornings where we stay in bed as late as possible and bum around in our jammies and eat pancakes. It's worth it though.  You can't beat the price either!!  $50!

Here are some pictures of their first practices and games (they practice for 30 minutes before each 30 minute game).  Also, there is a set of brothers, each one the same age as Zachary and Wyatt who are also playing soccer this season.  Riley was in Zachary's Pre-K class, and Carter is currently in Wyatt's preschool class.  That should be a fun time for them, especially during the hour each kid has to wait while his brother plays.  Yannick will likely stay downstairs in the drop-in center.

Wyatt on the "blue" team, holding a yellow ball, in the middle, ready for soccer drills

Wyatt playing in the game

Zachary on the "fire" team, working on drills

Zachary practicing drills

Art and I are excited about another season of funny things kids do on the soccer field!  We have to get our $100 worth of entertainment too! :)

Eschewing Beds

Tonight the big boys decided they would much rather sleep together on their beloved floor mattress that in their respective beds!  Looking more and more like this mattress is here to stay!

Halloween Craft Day

Today Zach had the day off school.  I like to do special things for him on the days we get him home.  Today I planned a Halloween brownie decoration craft.  I picked up a kit last week in prep for today.  We waited for Nick to go down for a nap and then started our craft.  The boys helped make the batter, stir it and put it into the haunted house mold.  45 minutes later we were back in the kitchen, them sitting on the counter decorating their brownie (which sadly, I ate most of).  It was such a fun time!

Wyatt and Zachary preparing to make their brownie mix

Yummy batter!!

Wyatt's fully decorated brownie haunted house (Zach was avoiding the paparazzi by this point)

Enjoying their decorated brownies!

Boys decorating brownies

It was such a wonderful time with just the two bit boys, and Yannick did great and slept the entire time which was a blessing.  

Then we (read: mostly mommy) enjoyed eating the brownies!

A View of the Future - Homework

Here are the boys, sitting at the bar, doing "homework".  Yannick napping.  I love love it.  Love our new kitchen, and they love being at the bar - makes them feel older.

Here, Zachary is working on his sight words.  I write the color word (red, blue, black, brown, yellow, purple, black - lots of 'B' colors) and he has to color the correct matching color in the box.  Wyatt is working on his own "homework".

Wyatt and Zachary doing homework at the bar

Pool Day!

This year we have definitely gotten our money's worth out of our pool passes.  Devonshire has been the best for me, because I can stand in the shade with Yannick and watch both Zachary at the diving board (YES, I said DIVING BOARD!!) and Wyatt in the pool at the same time.  It is totally manageable for me with the 3 boys.  Much easier than Oakton, which is so big, and the big boys have interests in different areas of the pool.

Earlier this summer, I had a total total shock.  Zachary has been talking for YEARS about wanting to go off the diving board.  It has not been too long since he has been swimming with no floaties, so I did not expect him to be ready this summer.  He has talked it up quite a bit.  So earlier this summer, I let him take the swim test, which is where a life guard watches him swim the long length of the pool w/out touching (25m I guess).  He did that with no problem, and then was determined that he would go off the diving board.  I never ever ever believe  it would happen.  Had I even suspected he would do it, I would have waited until evening so Art could go with us and see it.  I like for Art to be there for as many "firsts" as possible since he misses so much by being at work.  Needless to say, I was simply SHOCKED that he went off.  He did it 3 times before going back to the big pool where the water was "much warmer".  I was not at all prepared for him to do that - no camera, no phone, no way to capture the magic!

Today, I still had no camera, but at least I had my phone to capture a few shots.  Here are my happy boys at the pool.

Wyatt hanging out with Spiderman in the shallow end

Zachary preparing to go off the board

There he goes, my tiny 5yr old, going off the diving board

Such a shock really!

VBS Show

This year, VBS for the church we partner with, required parent volunteer for a 3yr old to go to VBS.  Last year they let 3 year olds go w/ out the parent needing to be onsite, but this year they are down volunteers.  I was pretty sad about that.  LUCKILY, another church in Evanston, First Presbyterian, was holding a VBS for little guys too.  So I signed up both boys for that.  Our friends, the W family also went all week, and Stephanie was WONDERFUL to me by taking both my boys to VBS every morning!  It was great bc sometimes Yannick was still asleep, or just about to nurse, etc.  At the end of the week, all the VBSers put on a little show for everyone.  Zach, Caden, and Jack were in one class, Max in another, and Wyatt in a class with his friend Yong.  It was all very cute.  Stephanie took my camera to take pics bc I was nursing Yannick during the show.

Zachary and Jack, wearing the shirts they painted during class

Zach's whole class

Wyatt performed with his class, but for some reason would not get on the stage.  He stayed on the floor, and it was difficult to see him and get a shot of him.  I guess our fearless Wyatt got a little shy!

Aunt Joy Visits: Sunday

First off, Father's Day!  Happy Father's Day Art!  We celebrated with breakfast in bed, though Nick will have to wait until next year to eat pancakes and bacon!

 We tried to start off with the boys at a table at the end of the bed

 But they felt they needed to be WITH DaU

I hopped in for a picture too!

In our house Aunt Joy is known for doing crafts with the boys.  They know it and expect it.  This visit, Joy brought stuff to make their own pinatas.  What a super fun idea!  She used paper bags, stickers, markers, and of course put tons of yummy candy in them.  Big boys loved loved it!

Here they are making them

Then outside to destroy them!

Zach first

 A little dangerous standing on the side there

Seems too high to reach

Zachary going to town on his pinata

Zach with his defeated pinata

Then Wyatt.  Art learned that he should use the rope to lower the pinata so they could reach it a little better

 Wyatt giving it his best and finally enlisting the help of DaU

Wyatt with his goodies

So much fun!  Thanks for the super fun idea Aunt Joy!