our resident plumber returns...

Our jaw-jetting son with blankie fresh out of the dryer.
(Blankie was almost a casualty of Water Wars IV.)

As I'm cooking dinner in peace Friday night (should've been my first clue), I hear water running upstairs. I thought Finn had turned on the water in the garden tub. Then I hear dripping noise on the ceiling. Not good. I run upstairs to find Finn by the toilet in the master bathroom... water pouring over the sides, water ALL over the ground. Once again, I find myself running to the basement to turn off the water to the house. I had to pull wads and wads of kleenex out of the toilet. Luckily, that was all this time... no toys. I had just opened a new box of kleenex in our bathroom, and a good two inches of kleenex were missing from the box... This child is something else, he's literally into everything.

I have to laugh though, the good Lord gave me two healthy, mischievous, honest to goodness BOYS. Real life, in your face, handsome, rough and tumble, loving BOYS. Honestly, they are ALL BOY, all the time. I can't wait to see who they become and where life takes them.

On another note... The boys are loving pistachios lately. Cullen called them "shamrocks" (he's since figured it out) and Finn calls them "mashed potatoes". :)

our mad scientist

Cullen rocking the swim goggles.

I've been calling Cullen our little mad scientist. We got him swim goggles Sunday and he has been asking to wear them everywhere! :) And, we let him...

Cullen has enjoyed spring break. The boys have: went swimming, saw Tangled, played at the gym, and spent the afternoon with their friends Isaiah and Keegan.

Saturday at the zoo

Now the giraffes get lettuce in the morning.
They get crackers in the afternoon.

Here's Finn dropping his lettuce. :)

Cullen likes feeding the birds.

Finn's poor bird is upside down.

Finn loved feeding the birds.
His bird pecked him on the hand
before he flew away. Finn was a
good sport and just said "Hey!". :)

Finn insisted on being the big tiger. :)

This bear was extremely cranky!
He growled and would hit his paw
against the glass to anyone close to the glass.
Including Cullen. Cullen didn't like it.
It made his "body scared" but he wasn't.

Looking for the otters.

Petting the turtle.

Riding the carousel.

I took the boys to the zoo this morning, since Sean had to go into work. It was a really nice day for it. Finn is getting to the age where he really enjoys all the animals. I will really miss this zoo when we move...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish boys...
about to eat their green eggs and ham.

Ha. Finn poking Cullen with his fork. :)
What made me think they could sit next
to each other for a picture??

They actually ate it all, with no complaints!

We made the ever-popular jello jigglers and
shamrock sugar cookies too. :)

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday (earlier in the month) and St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd make the boys green eggs and ham this morning. We read the book last night, in anticipation of what we'd have first thing in the morning. I like that book, I remind Cullen (Senor Picky) of it often at dinner time. The jello jigglers were definitely the highlight for the boys though. :)

They had a fun day. Pinching dad, for not wearing green. Wearing their shamrock bow-ties. Eating green food. Cullen's class spent the day trying to catch that pesky leprechaun at school. The leprechaun got into some Lucky Charms and made a mess. But later he left a gold coin in everyone's shoe. Their bow-ties were crowd-pleasers, they were so excited to finally be able to wear them. And they both had swim lessons tonight. Great day for our handsome, yet stubborn Irishmen.

Finn sings the Itsy Bitsy Spider

Finn loves to sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider. Actually, Finn likes to sing... period. He really likes country music (well, he loves Michael Jackson too... like Cullen), especially any song that mentions tractors. The other day after Zak Brown Band's Colder Weather song ended, Finn sang the chorus to us over, and over, and over. Today when we got out of the car, Finn continued to sing Luke Bryan's Rain is a Good Thing song. This is such a fun age!

I'm so disappointed, I recorded Cullen telling me all about the Solar System, but it's too large a file. I'll try to figure out how to make it work. He did a great job! He has really enjoyed learning about it at school last week.

Finn sings the ABC's

Here is a short video of Finn singing his ABC's. :) He gets hung up a few times, but I think he's doing great for 2 1/2!

I'll try to upload some of his counting too. He can count to 10. (sometimes he skips #1 and #7)

hand-me-down jammies

Finn was super excited for bedtime tonight! He got to wear his "new" (or new to him) Superman jammies with a cape. And Cullen you wonder? Well, Cullen is just being intense for the heck of it. Clearly you all know by now, that is just the way Cullen is... Goodness gracious.

Colorado Springs Food Tours

Our tour group.
The woman that owns the business is on the far left.

Allison, Tammy, myself, Jessica, and Margaret
with our berry infused martinis at Slayton's.
We had a great girls day out!!

I did my first walking food tour Saturday, in downtown Colorado Springs. My friends and I all went together, for a wonderful girls day out! We had so much fun, we're already planning on doing the Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs tours too. Not only was the food fabulous, but the tour guide (owner) gave us some really interesting facts about the history of Colorado Springs too. It was really interesting and fun to meet all the chefs and owners of each restaurant too.

1. Giuseppe's Old Depot- We had homemade manicotti (with homemade pasta) the sauce was delish. The Chef paired it with a nice red wine.
2. El Tesoro- We had a chicken enchilada with a blue corn tortilla and green chile sauce. A FABULOUS house margarita and mexican cheesecake (cheesecake wrapped in a crescent with cinnamon and honey) was the highlight of this stop for me!
3. Slayton's Tejon Street Grill- We had burnt ends and a homemade onion ring and a berry infused martini. Very good KC style BBQ.
4. Savory Spice Shop- We received a discount on any spices we purchased. They had lots of samples and recipes set out for us to try.
5. Poor Richard's/Rico's- We had their NYC style pizza, a house salad and chocolate (almond and sea salt). Their house salad was great, loaded with tons of different veggies and blue cheese.
6. Paris Crepe- We had a very yummy crepe! Cream cheese, fresh blueberries, granola, and almonds. De-lic-ious!

Needless to say, we walked away stuffed!

I am in charge of planning the next "coffee" for the wives, so I was quick to book Rico's. It's a coffee, chocolate, wine bar (they also serve food). I love having the coffees at places unique to COS.

feeding his baby

Cullen feeding his baby in late 2008.

I came across this article tonight... too funny! I instantly remembered Cullen feeding his baby. :)

common vignettes

a Super Battle Driod, a Stormtrooper, & Woody

These little vignettes are a common occurrence around our house. I'm not sure who set this one up... Finn has been know to carry "guys" around too and set up battles around the house. This one was found on my nightstand. :)

swim lessons

Cullen ready for his Red Frog level swim lessons.

Finishing the spider walk along the side of the pool.
Cullen always has to be first!

Finn trying to be patient during Cullen's lesson.
Here he's eating a snack.

Finn-Finn is ready for his turn! He is actually in the StarBabies class.
I should have put him in the White Turtle class, he's ready!

We enrolled the boys in swim lessons this month. Cullen goes twice a week and Finn goes once a week. Tuesday was Cullen's first class. He did great, he has no fear in the water! The teacher actually asked him to demonstrate everything for the class. He's learning a lot of survival techniques right now. Poor Finn, it was so hard on him to watch Cullen, knowing his class wasn't until Thursday. He made it through, just another life lesson better learned at two. He has been saying every since "My swim lesson on THURSDAY." :)
Finn is a natural in the water too. I have to get in the pool with him, so I don't have any pictures. But he was the only kid that would go underwater (and he would laugh every time he resurfaced) and the only kid that would jump off the side of the pool into the water to me. (He's been doing that for some time, remember the Great Wolf Lodge and Vail pictures?) The teacher was very surprised. I wish I would've known that he didn't have to be three to enter the White Turtle level class, like was indicated in the pamphlet. Ohh well, maybe in April.