Playdough and LLS @ Chickfila

Sunday afternoon I made Noah some playdough after he found my "Spring" bag of cookie cutters while trying to decide on a snack. He really enjoyed smashing it down and pushing the shapes into the dough {he still has no concept of pulling the cookie cutters out of the dough though...}. So when he asked for the "dooo!" this morning, I pulled out a different bag of cookie cutters - letters and numbers! I suppose it goes without saying that the boy was in heaven!

When each cookie cutter was smashed {and I mean, smashed!} into the playdough, it sounded something like this: "Dooo! Z! Zuh-zuh, Z! Dooo! Four, hibe {5}, teteen {16}!! R! Urrh... Y! Yuh-yuh, Y! Dooo!! Momma, DOOOO!!"

Never a dull moment around here, I tell ya.

***

Tonight, partially so that Ben could actually see the kids, and partially because the three of us that actually eat food really like to eat there, we met Ben up at Chick-fil-a. A portion of the proceeds from all the sales during the evening went to LLS, specifically Ben's fundraising campaign! My favorite moment though, was when Noah tried to go behind the main counter to get some ice cream while Daddy was "working"!

Good food, good cause, and some Daddy-time - who could ask for more?!

Cookie Tuesday: The Outdoor Version

The weather lately has been just beautiful. Windy, but warm. So, what to do on a nice warmer day, but head out to the park:

Noah would play on the slides all day if he could.


It was all I could do to get him to go back to the car to get a couple of cookies and his water.

I've never known the boy to not want to go get a cookie....

... or to eat two so fast!

I'm hoping Ellie will be a little more willing to slow down and share a cookie {or two} at the park.

My Little Foodies

In an attempt to go be a "Sneaky Chef", I made Noah some personal-sized pizzas with vegetable purees mixed into the sauce... he never knew the difference!

But Ellie? She'll only willingly open her mouth to eat bananas.

Daddy-Time

Ben has been working some seriously long hours the last couple of weeks. Between the early mornings at the office and the late evenings both at the office and working on LLS fundraising, Daddy-time for all three of us has been a little lacking. Ben and Noah took advantage of the nice weather this afternoon and went for a walk in the wagon...

...and attempted to play some Frisbee.

This little guy sure loves his Daddy and time spent with him!

Happy Meal = Happy Baby

A Playdate Out

Since the Orkin man was coming to our house today to spray and we needed to get out of the house {because Ellie is right at that six-month-mark}, I made some plans to go out with some of our friends to the Zoo. We hadn't been since Ellie had been born and since the weather this week has been just beautiful, it seemed like the most perfect option!

Both of the Noah's were fascinated by the snakes, lizards, and frogs in the Reptile House.

One of the Zookeepers was even kind enough to let us watch as he put the newest {and youngest} Poisoned Dart Frog into the exhibit. Can you see the bright green little guy?

I laughed when I looked at this picture because despite the wind {it was SO windy this morning!}, both of the boys barely had their jackets on!

My Noah's favorite part of the Zoo? Feeding the "ducs snac"{ducks a snack} with Ms. Lacey and Ms. April. It's all he talked about all afternoon.

And, proof that my Monkey really is a monkey:

After the zoo, we ate lunch at Chick-fil-a and headed over to Chuck E. Cheese to use up some of the tokens leftover from Noah's birthday. Noah loved riding the rides with Ms. April... I think they rode the ride in the photo above at least three times! And, just a little proof that Ellie did, in fact, go with us:

April, Lacey, Noah and Zoe, thanks for going with us - we had a blast!!

A Day in the Life {of King}

If you look closely in the photos on this blog, you'll find that some things are very well loved by this Little Dear One. One of those things is his blankie. We even had to order two back-ups after an evening of torture while a very sick Noah waited for it to be washed. Now, we have two "lovies": blankie and King. King is with Noah nearly all day, every day. And, we've already lost one and I just bought another back-up on Sunday. So, since King is such an important part of Noah's life, I give you....

"A Day in the Life of King":

King almost always enjoys breakfast with Noah.

But, he doesn't spend every waking moment in his hands... though he's nearly always nearby.

Sometimes he has company with him... like Sally at lunch.

Most of the time, King joins him for his trips to the potty.

Sometimes, Noah wanders around hollering, "Momma, King! Momma, KING!" which is my cue to help him pick up his toys and find where he last laid King down.

King always enjoys a pre-nap book with Noah and Ellie.

King doesn't, however, get to play outside with the "callks" {chalks} with us, but he does get to color with the crayons while Mommy gets dinner prepared.

He usually joins in with the prayer over Noah's chicken quesadilla.

And plates make really good "gawges", in case you didn't know.

Especially on particularly messy dinner nights, King takes a bath with Noah and Ellie.

Sometimes he plays "p-woahs" {hippos} with Daddy too.

And King is always there, for bedtime stories and throughout the whole night, with Noah and blankie.

{Not a} Wordless Wednesday

I've simply got too much to say about these photos!

Ellie has been sitting up for a little while now, but only just in the past couple of days has she been able to sit for any length of time without falling over from trying to reach some other toy she wants. And, even when she topples over, she's not too fussy... as long as the toy she wants is within reach!


Noah loves Cookie Tuesdays... because it generally means that he can have a cookie after dinner if he eats most of his food. I just don't like cleaning him up after a chocolate chip cookie... hence the reason he only gets one AND only before bathtime.

And look who finally loves his Cars slippers?!? For the longest time, he'd only play with them {like a Car}, throw them at you, or try to put them on me or Ellie.

Now he cries when I tell him to go get his real shoes.

Lovely {Warm} Weather = Park

The weather today was perfectly lovely. Warm. Well, almost hot. And, since we were already out and about, we stopped by the park to play a little with Daddy before he went to run with Team in Training {don't forget, you can donate here}.

Noah and Ben played on the slide a little {please ignore the fact that Noah is the only one in the park with long sleeves... I seriously didn't check the weather before we left the house and didn't know we were going to the park until we were on our way home from an appointment!}.

Ellie got to go on her first swing. She was so chill about it!

And Ben taught Noah how to scare Mommy later on.

Whoever heard of that?

Whoever heard of an Akers girl {or guy} who didn't like to eat?

Picky? Yes. But not like to eat?

Clearly, this one breaks the mold.

The munchkin doesn't like baby purees - go figure, I don't either. So, at the suggestion of a friend that she might just want some table food {since she practically stares Noah down when he is eating}, I made her some biter biscuits {similar to ones we gave Noah, only not store bought and far less messy}.

So far, she's mostly just had fun banging it onto her Bumbo tray.

PJ Saturday

It's cold here today. So cold, in fact, that Ben started a fire in the fireplace. Crazy, considering that just two days ago, the kids and I were playing outside. So, we had a PJ Saturday. No one changed out of their PJs {well, except for Ben during the short while that he was out in the cold and wind to run in the Samaritan's Purse 5K with TNT} and we were quite content just to spend a little time together, lounging around:

Noah saw the Wii remotes still sitting out from last night and wanted to play the "day-ee game!". So we broke out his Baby V-Smile. I suppose it goes without saying that he enjoyed himself immensely.

MMoM: Craft/Work Day

Last year, the guys got MMoM {Man Month of May} and, unfortunately, the gals didn't get a month {for multiple reasons, the least of it being that we had two pregnant ladies, one deployed hubby, one hubby whom we were prepping for a deployment, and busy schedules all around}. This year, we decided to claim March {and possibly part of April too} as MMoM {Maiden Month of March}. Today, we had one of our "events": a "Craft/Work" Day!

Erin came over and we got to work:

she on her bibs {my favorite was a toss up between the puppy and the cowboy hat}...

and I on Ellie's Easter outfit:

Later on, after the other girls got off work, the rest of the gals {and their hubbies} came over for dinner,

snacks, desserts, and then some more craft/work time for the gals while the guys played some Wii. It was awesome to get some good work done in the company of good friends!