Long Time No Post

I know it's been a really long time...actually 1 month...since I have posted anything about the boys on here. Let me tell ya, life with 2 almost 3 year olds and a husband in a very demanding program leaves very little time for anything other than necessities! That being said, here's what we've been up to!

Christmas was a whirlwind. My parents were in town for a week and Eric's parents rounded up the weekend with a short visit. The boys were more than ready to get back to their normal routine and so was I! They started going back to Mother's Day Out 2 days a week, I got back into my gym and grocery shopping routine. Exciting I tell ya!

I'm planning their small birthday party for next weekend. Thanks to the Heros At Home program through Sears, we purchased the boys a 14 foot trampoline for their birthday!!!! We desperately needed something in the back yard for them to play on. We don't always have the time to load up and head to the park, but there's always time to play in the back yard. We figured a trampoline would be easier to move than a swing set. (Since we are up for a possible move summer of 2011) We've invited a few little friends to come over for some barbecue and a jump on the trampoline! Hopefully we can get it put together this week without the boys seeing it...should be interesting!

I have a few cake orders in the works! One for this coming week, 2 big ones the first week of March and another at the end of March. It looks like I'll be spending my 30th birthday IN THE KITCHEN! Yes, I will be turning the big 3-0 on March 3rd, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping to get a girls only overnight trip to Raleigh sometime in April as my 30th birthday present. There are about 3 or 4 girls that are definitely up for a night away from the kiddos, dinner at The Melting Pot, and a morning of shopping without multiple potty trips, goldfish crackers, and endless 3 year old chatter!!!!

I've been debating for a while about preschool for the boys this fall. Registration usually starts in February or March and can be somewhat cut throat...the good ones anyway. After a lot of discussions with Eric, we've decided not to put them in school this year. They will continue to go to Mother's Day Out 2 mornings a week for socialization, but I'm going to do a preschool curriculum with them here at home. If I put them in 3 year old Pre-K, I'll have to pull them out when we move, put them in a different 4 year old Pre-K, and then a different Kindergarten. Educational continuity is one of the hardest aspects of the military life. I feel that my decision to keep them home is the best for us right now, and will look for 4 year old Pre-K programs when we find out our next duty station in January of NEXT year. I bought a few 3 year old preschool books and am going to go through them with the boys 1 page at a time! I need to pick up a couple binders to put the pages in so I can mark their progress and see how much their little minds expand.

We had our first little preschool session this morning. We talked about the color red, how to spell it, object that are red, and colored those object red. The boys really liked it! Then, Brandon asked me to draw him a Bee, and Connor wanted a Lion. I think my artistic skills, however elementary they may be, are going to be put to the test with these two!

We color naked...yep...that's how we roll around here!

I've teamed up with a good friend who also has a 3 year old boy. We are aiming to do 1 education session/outing per week together. Christopher is a little more advanced than the boys, but that can be a very good thing! Encouragement is never a bad thing!!! She arranged to go to a reptile exhibit on Monday, but I already had plans...BOO!

Other than the things I already listed, we are just hanging out, enjoying life, and laughing along the way. The boys continue to eat an unbelievable amount of food. They are the most UN-picky kids I've ever seen. Connor is about 34 pounds right now and Brandon is still hanging out around 28 pounds. They have their 3 year old check up on Feb 15th and luckily, Eric will be able to come since that is President's Day! He has yet to go to an appointment since before he deployed!

Here are a few pictures on HOW TO HAVE FUN AFTER DINNER at the Danko House! You can get very creative with Marshmallows when you pull them apart! It's amazing what they will stick to!