As Promised!

So on Wednesday Taylor got picked up about an hour early which left Nathan and I some extra free time. So we decided to surprise Joel at his school. On Weds. Joel doesn't come home until 8PM because he privately tutors kids all afternoon. So this extra time for Joel and Nathan was well received all around. Since I remembered my camera I took pictures of Joel's classroom. It looks way better than the last time I was there. I just wish I remembered to take pictures of Nathan making laps around desks in another teacher's room or all the teachers oohing and ahhing over him outside as he walked all over the grassy areas. The funniest part was when we got outside on the grass Nathan kept grabbing his feet because he wanted us to take his shoes off so he could feel the grass on his feet. He is our mountain man! This is taken from Joel's desk. He has almost 30 kids and loves to have an open floor space for discussion times. You can see Nathan exploring and making a mess with his snack. Here is the front of his class. Joel's classroom is located to the left of the school and the only one that has a gate by the front door. These are the boards I decorated before school started. I always enjoy doing this part but it was not fun with a little one climbing on your legs the whole time! The mascot is the rattlesnake and the students are called rangers. So Joel has a board dedicated to badges of honor. When the class gets a certain amount he gives them free play or a Super Happy Fun Time Hour! The cleanest his desk will ever be! Let's be honest its the start of the year and Joel hasn't had time to get things piled up.
Just a fun shot to take!



This is a fun Saturday morning for us! Oh and did I mention that Nathan is walking everywhere now. He has the best balance too! Especially when he has juice. He will never give up the juice cup and I think this proves it!

2 days later, The Sand Box!

This weekend, Joel and I built a sandbox for Nathan. Now, its not your ordinary sandbox and its not very small either. This idea of ours started out about a couple of months ago when we took Nathan to the beach in CA for the first time and he loved the sand. He played for hours before it was time to leave. So Joel and I got to talking about buying/building one for him. We know that there are places that sell already made single person sandboxes and we thought that is an option. But if you have ever seen Nathan he can rival a toddler in size! So a small single person one was out. Next we thought of buying a playground with a built in one but those are way out of our budget. Last, we thought, why don't we build one, I mean, how hard can it be?


Well, technically, not that hard, and the labor not that long, if you don't have a kid that needs attention and job that takes up time. Just to give you the info. of the sandbox, its 138 sq. ft. and has 3 tons of sand in it.


This is Joel laying the boards out so that he can nail them together after he digs the trenches.



Next was the part I did after Nathan went to bed and that was filling in the trenches and laying bug killer down, then the weed blocker. I did it at night so there are no photos of that part.


Lastly, the back breaking part of hawling the 3 tons (that is 6000 lbs.) of sand from the front yard to the back yard.


After that part, which didn't take as long as we thought it would, Joel raked the sand, made it level, washed the table and added some toys and we were done!



And the pure enjoyment on Nathan's face was totally worth it all!

Oh wait! That's my enjoyment. Nathan was still napping when I tested it out. Here is a video to show his...

The life of a stay at home mom!

School is back in session and with that means having to watch Joel walk out the door every morning and Nathan, Taylor and myself along with any other babies that I may be watching on a part time basis start our day.

Nathan is a full time mobile baby. He will be 10 months on Aug. 10 and already walking and exploring every thing he can. However, the voice of his mom middle naming him usually works to stop him from doing whatever it is at the time that a he should not be doing.



Taylor is her usual keeps to herself baby. She is by far the easiest baby ever! She's lovable, talkative and hardly ever cries! Plus, her and Nathan love each other so much! They are truly buds!


The main thing that they are learning right now is to share things. Mostly books right now. Nathan will sit directly on the book if Taylor won't let him look at it with her! And Taylor will try to take the book away from Nathan. So our lessons right now focus of sharing!

Joel has started school and as much as I wanted to get a picture of his classroom I forgot. So that will be in a later post!


Now the fun begins. Around 4 pm every day Joel walks in the door and so does Taylor's mom Victoria. They talk about their school day and then we discuss babies and how their days were. Nathan starts to fuss because he wants Joel's attention and then the evening begins!

Most days are uneventful but busy. I love nap time because that is when I eat and for a little while there is quiet in the house. Except for the times when Nathan talks in his sleep!