And something my boy said...

Jake and I hung out this morning, playing with cars and chasing him around the house. But before we left for the day, he took a potty break:


Anyways, so we're driving and this conversation occurs:

Me: "Jake, look at those clouds in the sky! Who made those clouds?"
Jake: "Jesus!"
Me: "You're right! What else did Jesus make?"
Jake: "Um, ummmm.... PANCAKES!"

Yep, Jesus created the whole world; the moon, the stars, the mountains, the oceans and everything in between... but let's not forgot that incredibly important breakfast entree.

A few things my girl said...

1) Lauren's favorite song to dance to is American Idol's "Pants on the ground". I don't know how or why it started, but she LOVES this song. So today as I'm getting Jake dressed, she turns to him and says, "Baby boy, you look like a fool!". Ha!

2) On our way home a few days ago, Lauren tells me she has to go poop. Then she says, "mommy it's gonna be a big poop, so you need to turn on the fan from (because) it will be verrrrry stinky." Okay, thanks. More info than I needed.

3) Lauren didn't take a nap yesterday (actually she did late afternoon, which is the picture above), so I let her come outside with me and pull weeds. After we were through, I told her we were going to go inside and rest. I told her she could play quietly with her blocks and books, and she says, "I just wanna love on you mom. You're da best mommy ever" and hugged/kissed me. Um yeah, kind of melted my heart, so of course I let her "love on me" and cuddle :)

4) Lauren loves knowing what every one's favorite color is. So this morning as we're stopped at a red light, she says, "mom, we have to stop on your favorite color. But we go on daddy's favorite color. And we slow down on nana's favorite color". The girl knows her colors (and favorites) well.

5) And I've had to call her "princess Lauren", "little mermaid" and Diego the past few days. Apparently we're having gender issues.

Pizza eating contest

So a couple of the Top Notch guys got together last week for a Pizza eating competition at a local pizzeria. Our family, along with some of the other employees and their families, gathered together to watch these fools guys try to eat an ENTIRE 28'' pizza in less than an hour. The pizza was SO big that a local TV crew came out to watch these guys compete for the $100 prize.

Tom and Levi were allllll talk before they brought out the pizza,



which by the way had 2 add'l toppings, 3 Lbs of cheese (!!!) and was the equivalent of 45 slices.


Once the pizza's came out, we gathered around,


and watched as they went to town,


but after about half an hour, they were slowing down big time. So we started walking around, playing the arcades, and pretending to barf around the other competition so they'd hurl and be DQ'd trying to assist the other teams in quitting ;)


After an hour of eating, and about 7 lbs. heavier, the guys called it quits. They ate the most out of the four teams, but they had another huge piece to eat, which was the equivalent of about 5 slices. They just couldn't do it. It was waaaay too much pizza.


But it wasn't about winning or losing. I had a great time watching the competition, and seeing all the employees hang out together and have fun. Heck, even the Top Notch kids had fun!


Way to go TNN! You guys rock, even if you couldn't eat your weight's worth in pizza :)

Jammie kids

We hosted our HDC Small Group Wednesday night and while it was a small turn-out, we all had a really good time. Since it was just us four "core-groupers", we made it a nice, relaxing night and dressed the kidlets in jammies. Turns out, Liam and Jake have the same Moose pj's, so they were twins, which was a pretty big deal for toddlers.


Thanks for the laughter and good times Adam and Jamie! We love you guys!

Snackin' cat

So yesterday as I was laying Lauren down for a nap, she asked if Tessa could stay in there with her while she rested. I agreed because Tessa could leave at any point through the cat door. So while Lauren's in her room sleeping not sleeping, I hear the cat door open and out walks Tessa...


Why wear fur when you have a babydoll bib?

BUBBLES!

My girlfriend Mandy started a small group this week, called "Little Learners" and we were one of the lucky few attendees :) Every other week we'll be learning about a different topic and doing hands-on activities to encourage learning. Today's topic was bubbles.


We all brought bubble "stuff"; bubble blowers, bubble guns, bubble wands, bubble everything. If it made bubbles, we had it there. Mandy had a kiddie pool set up, and the kid used their wands to dip them in and make bubbles.

She also got a hoola-hoop and dunked into the bubbles. When Mandy pulled it up out of the mixture, a huge bubble formed. It was pretty cool, esp. for the kidlets.


Lauren and Jacob loved playing in with the bubbles. Jacob was constantly wanting to dip his hands in the pool, which made him very, ahem, interesting-looking after he'd wipe his hair with his soapy, messy hands.


After everyone was sufficiently slathered in bubbles, we took the fun inside. We made crafts, played with play-doh and then had a picnic lunch.


We had a really fun time! The kids loved playing together and learning about the different ways to make bubbles. And I'm really excited about topic for our next meeting, too :)

Dressing while napping

I wish I could have gotten a picture of her standing up, but she had just woke up from nap and I didn't want to ask for too much right after nap time. It's just a Lauren-thang. But here's the low-down on this outfit because lucky for you, you can't see all the little hidden gems ;)


Olive green shirt, pink leggings, a headband and necklace over her neck, multicolored "scrunchies" on her ankles and wrists, and a swim diaper for good measure. Ya know, just in case her pool was set up next to her bed.

This was all put on while she was "napping". Come to think of it, maybe she was sleep-walking because certainly she wouldn't have put this ensemble on with her eyes open :)

Saturday night bowling

They liked bowling alright,


but the highlight of the night was the video games.... for all THREE kids :)

Wounded boy and his nurse

A couple days ago Jacob "bonked his head", which happens a LOT around here. And because it happens so often, he's realized that he gets a whole lotta attention if he cries loud enough. So that's exactly what he did; he let out this ridiculously fake cry and his sister came to his rescue, asking for her ice pack to "make him feewl better".

The crying instantly stopped when she started "doctoring" him, but he kept his pathetic little frown on,


so she continued babying him for a good 5 minutes. He was in Heaven with all of her attention :)


Ya know, they fight a lot. Like every 15 minutes alot. But they're so close in age and spend almost all of their time together that I can't really blame them. But the frustration from the fighting melts away when I see them being so loving towards each other, which also happens alot. Like every 15 minutes too. It's a love-hate relationship, but I hafta say, they are the best of friends and love each other dearly. And that makes my heart swell :)

Friends 'til the end...

At least until they're teenagers :)

This is why...

we love our babysitter:



These are the pictures Tereneh took while she was babysitting the Brownies for a few hours last week. The kids had a BLAST and I was able to get some things done sans the kids. It was awesome... for me and them :)

Thanks Tereneh, we love you!