Building Blocks

I love these blocks! They are on the pricey side, but they are sooo cool. Get them here.

I recently purchased two sets of blocks. One set is by Haba and they are available here.

They next set I found on ebay. Vintage, American made Holgate Toys blocks. New they would run about $60+ but I scored them for about $10. They were unused, dead stock from the 1950's. Fab find. You can find them new here.

I love seeing my boys play with blocks and use their imagination. A plus for me is that I love the sound they make as they are played with, and when we gather them up to put them away, they "clack" against one another it's such a great sound. A better alternative to blinking lights and the annoying sounds of most battery operated toys.

Fall Organization

Well, the time change is coming up and I'm in the mood to ORGANIZE! Why is it that whenever I want to organize it always involves buying new things to organize with, shelves, baskets, ikea trips? This fall I am going to try really, really hard to avoid any purchases that are "necessary" to aid in organization. Well, enough typing. I'd better get my buns upstairs and start cleaning!

All About Evs

I do realize that I often write about Em but rarely do I blog about Evs. I think that Evs is due some props. Ya see, he is about 10 months old and doesn't really talk as clearly as Em. Evs repertoire of words goes something like this: mama, dada, hi, and he knows what the word milk means. So, forgive me if I, more often than not, shine the spotlight on his more well versed, older brother. Today's blog is all about Evs.

What a sweet baby. He is constantly smiling with his eyes and his cute little mouth. What a sweet disposition this little one has.
He is practically constantly in motion. His nickname is "Slinky". Always bouncing, crawling or pulling up on furniture.

This past weekend we had a pirate themed birthday party for his now 3 year old brother. Evs represented pirate-wear pretty well. He can say "arrrgh"; did I forget to mention that he has that one down pat? Evs is quite fashionable, as he gets to choose from the cream of the crop of his big brother's hand-me-downs. (P.S. That's Jen from TheFoxDen holding him!)

Even though Evs is only 10 months old, I can tell that he is very strong willed and has a lot of energy. He has a very different personality from his sibling. Turns out, when Evs gets upset, he throws up. Yup, he's a puker. His brother was never a puker. In fact, Em has thrown up once. Evs, yeah, I'm pretty sure, Evs is gonna be a sleep resistant puker. We'll keep you informed on this one. Could just be a passing phase.

Ah, my little guy, I love him soooooooSoooooo much. Can't believe how lucky I am to have not one, but two amazing, sweet, gorgeous little love bugs. I suspect the teen years will bring adjectives such a "stinky" into the mix but luckily I have a decade before then. I'll keep my eyelids peeled in hopes to slow time and drink up the small,
quick,
soul-enveloping moments of their childhood.

Birthday Bliss at City Farmer's Nursery

Em's real birthday was yesterday, but we celebrated it early with a pirate party on Sunday. It was a great party filled with lots of pirates and friends. Great time. We celebrated the real deal during the day on Wednesday with a trip to a place called City Farmer's Nursery.

It is a true oasis in the city. A great escape. There we were one minute at the warehouse signing books, prints and putting the final touches on an original (the hubs had forgotten to put his signature on one) and just around the bend was kid-bliss. I'm talking goats, chickens, ducks, a horse, bunnies, koi pond, even a turtle next to the see-saw! And they give you fresh eggs for free!

I came across this place on the internet when I was searching for a fruit tree for our garden. After Em kept stopping us walk after walk and pilfering kumquats from our neighbor's tree, I decided it would be a great gift to go down to City Farmer's on his birthday and buy him a kumquat tree so we could grow his own. Unfortunately, there is currently a quarantine on all citrus in California. So even though they had citrus there at the nursery, they could not sell it until the quarantine is lifted. However, the visit to City Farmer's was gift enough.

What a great experience, it made our day. The staff is friendly and informative, incredibly welcoming. We met with Martina, Wyatt and Bill and they were so kind. You have to stop by on one of those days when you are feeling wilted, it will lift your spirits.

Arggghhhhh!

We are celebrating Em's 3rd birthday tomorrow with a pirate party! Arggghhhhh. Can't wait. Just fixin' to make the rum punch, rather, fruit punch with a bottle o'rum on the side for the adult-types. Finishing up the stuff we can do the night before and verrrry excited to try my friend Adriana's famous chili! Perfect for the cool weather we've had today. I'd better get my booty back to party planning and will hopefully post some pictures of the event soon.

Tick Tock

Has this happened to any of you? Last week the hubs, boys and I were out to dinner. Another boy about, say five-ish walked past our table and headed to the restroom all by himself. And it occurred to me, SNAP! Em is not a little baby anymore. His third birthday is coming up next week. My eyes moved from the five year old boy and I rested my gaze upon my eldest, beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy and I noticed something different, he had changed. My eyes filled up with tears as I looked at him, I couldn't stop looking at him for fear that if I did, I would miss something, some moment, maybe it would happen so fast that if I took my eyes off of him, he'd change even more, mature more. Or maybe, just maybe I was afraid that he would stop looking at me with those innocent, boyish blue eyes, full of wonder.

Mama's Making Some Dough!

You know, it just occurred to me that I haven't blogged since Tuesday! Travesty. So here I am in the middle of making homemade playdough with Em when I run short of 1/2 cup of salt! Blasted. Luckily that lovely man known as, "Hubs" was heading out for coffee with Em and took my honey do list with him. Good, good man. Love him! So, so much. Anyhow, Em and I are going to a kid-party tomorrow and we decided to make the gifts this year, instead of buying them. If you'd like the recipe too, go here.
The boys just got back home and I'd better get off my mom-butt and get back to making some dough. Ha, ha. Tomorrow I have my first ever sweater knitting class. I am so very excited. I have knit hats, scarves, dishcloths and toys, but never a sweater.
It is called the February Lady Sweater. Check it out.