nano days

When Nano has a conference or work related reason to head east from Hawaii, he tries to make a point to stop in Phoenix for at least a day.  In May, we got the privilege of a few days.  When grandparents are in town, the boys usually count on getting a special breakfast.  As Jimmy says, "Nana makes fat pancakes, and Nano makes thin ones."  Nano's are known as Bunyas and we usually put cinnamon or powdered sugar inside with butter.  This time we had some Nutella on hand as well so they were extra delicious.

Nutella mustache:

We had a nice time in the park playing with our dragon kite, frisbee, and airplanes.

Then we finally took Nano to Pizzeria Bianco.  I can't believe he has been to Phoenix so many times and we hadn't made it there yet. 

We always love having a Nano visit.  It is hard to say goodbye, but the boys took some consolation in the fact that Nana was coming shortly thereafter.

kersting kiddos

This past semester I took on an extra babysitting job to help out my friend Angela who was going back to teaching part-time.  Mon-Thurs. I had a house of five kids every afternoon.  I am not going to lie and say how great the kids were all the time, but ultimately, my kids loved getting to have their friends over everyday.

Jimmy and Lucia pretty much fight like brother and sister... but that just means they love each other, right?
However, some days they would play so well together. For example, the day they made this zoo set-up they were so very proud of:

Looking at books together was another past time that usually involved little fighting.

And then there is Gus and Kolbe.
Not that they don't frequently fight over who gets to hold which McQueen, but really they have much more of a love-love relationship.

And then we can't forget little Blaise.  My boys have grown to love him so much.  It has been good for them to have a baby around because it will help them adjust easier to the one that is coming to our house soon.  Jimmy has become super helpful with Blaise and loves holding him and playing with him.  He tells me, "Mom, I think I am going to be really good with the new baby."  I snicker a bit, but I actually agree.  Gus just says things like, "I love Blaisey because I love his smile."  Cuteness.

I think Gus went through withdrawals once they stopped coming every day, but we fortunately still see them a lot. Thanks goodness for good friends.

may the forth be with you

Okay, I am a bit late as usual since it is already June, but Star Wars is an important part of our household and since last month has a certain day dedicated to just that, I thought I should share one of my newest inventions:

Homemade Glowing Light Sabers!!

...Okay, they only actually glow in photos (with the flash used), but they still look cool in person as well.  I would love to give you all a more in depth tutorial on how to make them, but let's be honest, I just don't have time so take what you can get.  Here is the basic rundown:

You may recall, that we had glowing light sabers in a photo booth at the boys Star Wars themed birthday party.  This little trick was taught to me by my father-in-law who is in the Army.  They use special reflector belts on base and someone showed him how they look like light sabers if you use flash photography (don't try with a really good camera though or it won't work; camera phones=best results).  He had some belts and sent them to us.  Basically, they are something like these if you are interested in trying this yourself (pretty cheap if you ask me!).  After the party I had saved them in the boys closet and the kids would always try to get them out and play with them.  Only problem was they weren't really good for anything since they didn't stand up.  I suddenly realized how easy it would be to just wrap them around a wrapping paper roll.  I had two old ones I was saving for just such a crafting opportunity.  One was decently strong and one pretty weak, but we went ahead with it anyway (honestly, I really want to find some heavy duty ones now and remake them so they last longer).  The handles were pretty much ready to go since I had already created them out of paper towel tubes and duct tape.  I just had to cut them down a little bit to fit.  Then I wrapped the belts around the long tubes and covered them with clear packaging tape.  It took me all of 10 minutes and my boys and their friends were so impressed.  I don't know how long they will last at this rate because there have been some pretty intense light saber fights going on, but they will certainly be loved.

summer haircuts

Dad always insists that the boys get a nice short haircut for the summer.  I am not one to love really long locks on boys, but I ,like it a little long.  However, I am pretty lousy at cutting hair and hate to pay for it to get cut.  Also since I figure Dad really know better on the matter, I have to let him to do it.  

Here they are BEFORE:

 Unlike his brother, Jimmy is not a fan of the buzzing process, but he did let me snap a shot with his hair half done which he thought was funny.

 Here is how they felt about the cuts:

 Okay, not really.  Sometime they just don't like to smile when I ask.  They actually were pleased.  

Gus said it looked "so beautiful."

Heck, they are cute no matter what their hair looks like.  Why do I even worry?

theatre fun with mom

Rather last minute, my sister remembered her family was supposed to go see Beauty and the Beast at Gammage Auditorium.  

The older kiddos had a birthday party to attend as well, so I got the privilege of taking Finn, Jimmy, and their neighbor Isaac.  

The whole experience with three little boys was entertaining to me.  Jimmy had seen Shrek here when he was only three and fell asleep for the second half (he did love the Dragon though) so I was anxious for him to see this (one of my personal favorites) now that he is old enough to appreciate it.  He said he liked "Be Our Guest" the best because they shot streamers at us out of cannons.  He and Finn both seemed interested through most of the show, but not enthralled.  Isaac on the other hand (who is hilarious in general) LOVED it!  He already has the acting bug so he loved when I told him that he would make a good Lumier and now has future plans to do so.  Somehow I don't see my kids being on the stage anytime soon, but maybe they will blossom a little later like their mom.  You wouldn't have pegged me as a theatre kid when I was five.  My first performance in the Girl Scout International Dinner was supposed to be my troop singing "Frere Jacques," but I faced my back to the audience the entire time.  My troop leader (and best friend's mom) still likes to remind me of that and say she never would have guessed for me to choose theatre as my career.  So who really knows, right?  I would still put my money on Jimmy being an engineer... but maybe he could combine his love of building with his artist ability and be a scenic designer like his mom.  He would probably end up being way better than me at it.  He was very impressed when I took him to my school and the boys got to stand on the stage and go backstage, too.  I didn't design this set, but they still thought my job must be pretty cool.  Jimmy couldn't believe we managed to fit a whole gym onto the stage. (FYI: It was for Reefer Madness: The Musical which they are NEVER allowed to see).  I can't wait until I can take them to see a play that I design or direct someday.  Then they will really know how cool I am.

preschool rocket day

A guy came to Jimmy's Preschool from the Arizona Science Center to help the kids build and launch rockets.  

Even though it wasn't our regular school day we got to come for the event which meant Gus and I got to be there, too.... which obviously meant I took lots of pictures.

Gus was pretty good and was excited to walk in the back of the line and hold Miss Ilda's hand. He loves her.

I love getting to watch Jimmy play at school.  

He has loved his school and is always excited to go every day.

All the rockets got filled up with the fuel and the kids patiently waited for their turns.

Jimmy was pretty excited for his turn and we were all impressed by how high they actually go.

I have videos that Jimmy loves to watch, but posting them is too much trouble.  Basically they went higher than the trees.

Our friend Ann took her turn, too.

I love their expressions as they watch the rockets go up.

Yay, Rockets!

t-ball 2013

We did our second year of t-ball this spring through the St. Francis-Xavier Athletic Association.  

We didn't get on the same team as last year, but we did get to be on the same team as our friend Ruby McHale.   

She cracked me up at the first game in her string of pearls.

Jimmy is always very excited and enthusiastic about playing sports, which is really what counts.

He tries hard and sometimes really does well.  He has never gotten discouraged or been a bad sport and I am so proud of him for that.  

I am sure the day will come when his parents competitive genes kick in, but for now we are doing well, at least where sports are concerned.

 Dad usually took on the responsibility of being third base coach.

 Jimmy made some good plays from the field and always did well when the coach put him at first base.

 His coach was a really nice guy who was very patient with a large team of kids.

I even have to admit I like waking up early on Saturday to go to the games.  It is a pleasant way to start the day and got us all up and moving instead of lounging around for hours trying to make a plan as we usually do.  I am sure I will tire of going to games at some point in my career as a mom, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet.  Gus was usually entertained by Ruby's brother Declan who has become a good buddy lately.  Good thing they would find rocks and other random items on the ground to keep them entertained.

I didn't take nearly as many pictures as last year and only brought my camera to the first game and the last....

The kids all got trophies after the last game (which some may find silly but it makes to kids happy).  I can imagine at this rate we are going to run out of room for the all future trophies in our house pretty fast.  Jimmy said since he already had one, he would let Gus have his old one, which Gus was thrilled about.

They also got their team pictures which Jimmy immediately wanted to put on his bulletin board when we got home.

The snack afterwords are always a highlight as well.

These kiddos were pretty cute and excited. Glad they had so much fun with it.