The Pirates of Playa del Carmen

Frank and I took a trip with our friends, the Robinsons, to Playa del Carmen to celebrate both couples' ten year wedding anniversaries. I won't bore you (or make you green with envy!) with pics of our trip. Instead, here are a couple of shots of the boys wearing their shirts we got them in Mexico. 

Leo's says "Pirate for Hire, Playa del Carmen" and Gus' says "Blackbeard's Sunset Cruises, Playa del Carmen." Gus' also says "We get the booty" which makes me giggle. 

And yes, Gus is almost as big as Leo. Just five pounds to go! 

This is where I found Gus after breakfast. Who does he think he is, Tyler Robinson?

Okay, fine. Here are a few pics of our trip :)

Jolly Rogers

As you know, I'm not a hoarder. But I do love getting new things for the house. Right now it's okay because we need a lot of things.  But one day I'll have to stop. (Or perhaps just replace?)

Every time we get a new little something for the house, it's like new eye candy for a couple of weeks. Frank says it's how I get my jollies. And when he says that, that makes me think of the Jolly Roger since Leo is into pirate stuff.

When I got my lamp in the living room, every time I would walk by it I'd get a little giddy. It's like a little surprise for your eyes. Eventually I get used to it and my eyes just run over it like they do the toys. Here's one that gave me jolly rogers for at least a month:


This cute little table for the entry to our bedroom.

I'm also pleasantly surprised every time I walk in our kitchen and I see the new yellow paint that Frank's dad put on the walls last week. I love the color, but to tell you the truth, I think I really get my jolly rogers from the smell. Nothing like a paint fume high.

So here's my latest: We just took down the baby gate between the living room and the stairs. Part of me is a little sad because it means Gus is growing up. But that's just a little part. A bigger part of me gets my jolly rogers every time I see the unobstructed view of our foyer.

The bad news is this too will wear off. The good news is it doesn't have to be a big thing or an expensive thing--a new picture on the wall, fresh seat cushions on the kitchen chairs or this goofy sign I got from Hobby Lobby: "The Laundry Room: Loads and Loads of Fun."

Frank says he thinks we need a thicker comforter for our bed. I said, "I'll get right on it! That's how I get my jolly rogers!"

Dove Hunting

Leo's preschool class is called "The Doves" (or "Lovey Doveys" as his teachers say). Today they had their class Easter Egg hunt. Frank had a rare vacation day and since Granny Jo was in town, we made it a family affair. (Popsy stayed home with a sleeping Gus.) 

Here are all the Lovey Doveys. They are screaming "Happy Easter!" 

This egg hunt was very clever: The teachers asked each kid to bring in 14 eggs, numbered 1-14. Then each kid was assigned a number and he/she could only pick up the eggs with their number! Leo was number 10. It was also written on his hand so every time he would pick up an egg, he would compare the number on the egg to the number on his hand.

Each kid got 14 eggs which makes for some happy doves!

Shoo Shoo

Behold, Gus has bestowed a name upon his blanket and thy name is Shoo Shoo.

We do not know where this came from; it's not like it's a variation on another word for blanket. We just started noticing that when he said "shoo shoo," he was pointing to one of his three blankets. 

I usually wash two blankets at a time but today I tried to see if I could get away with washing all three. So right before nap I offered him a different blanket. It's SO similar. It's blue, soft and has bindings on the edge AND the entire back. It's a superior shoo shoo IMO.  It does not have stars all over it like his though. He wouldn't even sample it. He pulled it off the chair, threw it and said, "No, shoo shoo!" (As in "That is NOT my shoo shoo!") Fine. Sleep with your stinky shoo shoo. 

Later we were about to have a picnic. I said to Leo and Gus, "I just need to get the blanket. That is the first step to a successful picnic, the blanket." When I returned from the garage with the picnic blanket, I found Gus waiting by the back door, his shoo shoo in hand. Of course, he heard what I said and brought the blanket to the picnic! 

Here are a few shots of Gus with his precious shoo shoo: 

Greedy boy, bringing two shoo shoos in the car when we already have one in there! 

"Look, we're a package deal. If I go, the shoo shoo goes." 

Clinging to his shoo shoo and sleeping like an angel.

A Perfect 10 for Leo

Leo took a trial gymnastics class this week. I thought it was a big success, not because he was an amazing gymnast but because he listened, cooperated and had fun. If you think gymnastics is just for girls, well, it mostly is. But there were a few boys in his class and in another part of the gym, the high school boys gymnasts were practicing and made me think Leo could be like them one day. Or maybe even an Olympian! And speaking of Olympians, this gym in Frisco is where Olympians Carly Patterson and Nastia Liukin train(ed)! 

Here are a few videos from the class. Let me preface this by saying 1). I took these through the window in the waiting room so you can't hear anything (except my narration) and please excuse the glare. 2). Leo is in the white long-sleeve shirt and workout pants and is also one of the only boys. 3). They're kinda boring. 

Okay, now watch if you are still interested! 

Night night, Le-lo

Gus is into night night books. He calls Goodnight Moon  "Night night, Moon" and he calls Goodnight Train "Night night, choo choo." When he says night night to the rest of us it's so cute. He doesn't have the intonation down right so it comes out sounding funny but adorable. He loves to say night night to Leo ("Le-lo.") Leo is usually too busy to respond though. Here, I captured a cute bedtime pic (thanks for the pirate pjs, grandmother!) and a video. 

Media Culpa

We saw this house that we are currently living in a year ago this week. I liked everything about it except two things--there was no window over the kitchen sink and there was a media room. See, I had actually written down on a list of "wants/don't wants" that I did not want a media room. Every one we saw looked like a dark storage closet (not that there are bright storage closets).

I had this theory (which I still think is pretty solid) that media rooms were something popular way back in the early to mid 2000s. It was an inexpensive way to make houses bigger since media rooms don't have closets or windows. Since they're expensive to outfit (with projectors or giant TVs and recliners with cup holders), most people just use them as extended playrooms or junk areas.

So anyway, we got the house with the media room and Frank made it his priority to do that room first. He got the giant television and started hanging out in there almost every night, watching Lost. I figured a man cave was better than a storage room. I still didn't have any use for it though.

But then we got a sectional! It has one of those double lounging chairs on the end and I love it. In fact, I'm sitting on it right now after just finishing an episode of Homeland. Yes, I am hanging out in the media room! And we come up here almost every night, mainly because we're obsessed with Homeland.  But we also watch movies up here and other quality programming like Nashville. Oh, and our neighbors gave us their old Play Station 2 so we sing karaoke after a couple of glasses of wine. Frank and Leo get up on Saturday mornings to watch a movie while I sleep in. What fun we all have in the media room!

Next to the laundry room, I'd say it's my favorite room in the house.

So I owe this media room and media rooms everywhere an apology. I misjudged you. If used correctly, you can be an asset to a home. And just think of all the money we're saving never going to the movie theater (not that we went a whole lot anyway).

We have room for two to three more people on the sectional (plus two more spot on the boys' bean bags) if you want to come over for movie night. Unless you think that is "so 2004."

"Hah Cut"

Gus had his first haircut at 20 months, 3 weeks. That is almost exactly when Leo had his first haircut! Just like Leo, Gus did great. He fussed a little when she touched his ears but other than that, he had a good time, sitting in the car, watching Toy Story, getting a balloon and a "pop pop." Gus kept saying "Hah cut." So cute. 

Here is Gus before. (Notice the Alfafa sprout as Frank calls it) 

Ready to go! 

 Ooh, a car!

Hairdresser talking to him about how she had to move his ear.

Mowhawk!

Finished product! 

Ta dah!

And the obligatory picture by the shark that Leo insists that we take after each "hah cut."

So Happy Together

It's been in the last couple of weeks that Leo and Gus have really started playing together. I mean, they have played together for a long time but now they're almost on the same wave length. Like tonight they were spinning in the living room and laughing. And earlier today Gus started a game of "night night" where he would pretend to go to sleep and Leo would do the same. Sometimes Leo creates this whole imaginary world and says that Gus is in on it. "We are playing pirate and we are on a ship. I am the captain and Gus is a kid pirate." Gus really does seem like he's going along with it!

And at the YMCA, the people in the play center have told us many times that Leo and Gus are "always together." Leo likes to draw treasure maps and Gus will just sit next to him and watch. And at Parents' Night Out at the Y, they told us that "Leo and Gus were pretending to be in a band. Leo was playing the harmonica and Gus was playing the keyboards." I would have liked to see that!

Here are a few of their "together" moments. (Capturing pictures is tough these days because Gus sees the phone and screams, "I see! I see!")

Coloring, Rocking and Picnicing

And in the pictures at the top they are reading. But be glad it's not a video; Leo is making up his own words to the book and the story is all about poo poo. Gus totally got it.

Breakfast Rules

Speaking of avocados for breakfast, can we discuss how I think all of these rules we have for our first meal of the day are so silly?

My avocado breakfast is only acceptable because I toast the bread and eat the two slices separately. If I didn't toast it and put the pieces of bread together, well, that would be a sandwich. Can't eat a sandwich for breakfast; that's against the rules!

There is one way to make a sandwich breakfast-approved: add an egg to it. If you put an egg on a hamburger, it's fine to eat for breakfast.

Well, that's not completely true. Cow is not an approved breakfast meat. Only pig. You can have a ham and egg sandwich for breakfast but not turkey and egg. Ridiculous, right?

And what about breakfast-appropriate alcohol? Frank made a good point on Christmas (which partially inspired my blog). We were having a traditional Christmas breakfast of egg casserole (Mexican'd up, of course) and I can't remember what else. Frank asked if we had the fixings for mimosas. Nope. What about screwdrivers? Nope. But we did have rum.

So Frank poured Bacardi into his OJ.

Everyone kind of stared at him and then laughed in judgement. He said, "What? So if I put vodka into my orange juice it's fun and festive and if I put rum in it, I need an intervention?"

Here is a working list of what I believe are The Breakfast Rules:

Bread must be in the form of a croissant or biscuit or English muffin. If it is sliced bread then it HAS to be toasted (and called toast).
Jelly is allowed on any of the above breads as is its partner peanut butter, but not together
Vegetables can only be eaten as part of an omelette
Most fruit is okay (but apples and pears are frowned upon)
Meat should come from a pig (Although Chick Fil-a has broken some breakfast barriers on that one!)
The following alcoholic beverages are allowed but only if they are mixed with orange juice: champagne and vodka. If it's after 10am, the champagne may be mixed with cranberry juice.


If I were breakfast, I would feel used. I mean, it can't have any of the food from lunch and dinner yet lunch and dinner are allowed to have breakfast food (brunch and "breakfast for dinner.") Maybe breakfast would like to be allowed to serve salads, soup or pasta.

Yes, this is America and pasta for breakfast should be okay!

Expanding his Ball Vocabulary

Gus used to call every ball a "football." But now he has expanded his ball vocabulary. He can also say "Soc-ah Ball" but I didn't have one handy.

Raundy Loom Decor

Earlier today we were at Bed, Bath and Beyond getting some necessities from the "beyond" section when I took a spin through the wall art aisle. Leo asked why we were looking there and I told him I wanted to find something to hang in my laundry room (my lady cave). Leo pointed at some picture of a skyline I couldn't identify and I said, "That's nice but not really laundry room-ish." Then he pointed at something else and said, "Look, that's raundy loom-ish!" Hahahaha, we chuckled at his reversal of first letters. Gus sucked his thumb and stared at us. 

When we got home we did a little art (glueing cotton balls as clouds; that's about as crafty as I get) and Leo said that he thought this would look good in my laundry room. So thoughtful (and affordable)! 

He was right; it's a perfect fit. 

Lots of Love

Who knew that Valentine's Day was a total kid holiday? It's not about romance, flowers and candlelit dinners when you have little people in the house. It's about paper heart crafts, Valentines and candy.

Leo got really into it. So much so that he insisted on making his own Valentines for his classmates.

"We're going to go to Target to pick out your Valentines that you can give to the kids at school. Won't that be fun?" I said.

"What about this heart I made? Can't I just make more of those?"

"Um, sure. So you could either make a bunch of hearts or you could pick out Valentines with characters on them like Star Wars or Transformers!" I said (not encouraging one way or the other, of course).

"I want to make them myself!" he said.

So he did. Well, we did.

I would draw a heart and write "Happy Valentine's Day" and "Lovey Dovies 2013." (His class' name is "The Doves" and the teachers call them "Lovey Dovies" so he asked me to write that.)

He would cut out the heart, sign his name and then decorate the back.

Then we attached Kit Kats to them with tape (which Frank said looked ghetto).

Oh, and I punched a hole in the top, tied ribbon and curled it. The ribbon couldn't be too long or else it looked too "gwirlie" (girlie).

They were cute in an "obviously homemade" kind of way, not in a "clever Pinterest" kind of way. And upon seeing the ones he brought home I can tell you we were the only ones who went this route! 

Gus and I attended the class party which was so fun. They made hats, handed out Valentines, decorated  their bags, played "heart potato" and bingo. They also ate lots of Valentines-themed food like heart-shaped strawberries, heart-shaped muffins and Leo's favorite--strawberry milk which he got to drink using a Twizzler as a straw. (Now that surely came from Pinterest!)  

Leo and Ben playing "heart potato." 

Gus thinks he is a Dove too! Here he is sitting with Ms. Desiree during a story.

Leo, Gus and "Lovey Dovies" playing bingo

Gus playing heart potato! 

Gus leading the class in song? 

"Hooray for Valentine's Day! It's all about us!"