Let the Mugging Begin

Casey and Ryan are in to giving each hugs these days. Casey actually just likes to give Ryan a hug and then pull him to the ground. Yes, this is Casey trying to pull Ryan to the ground, not Ryan. Enjoy the pictures and the video!
Big Bear Hug!

Yes, I know I'm smaller than Ryan, but I can still take him. (One of these days Casey will really thump Ryan. Right now, Ryan enjoys teasing Casey).

Here is the hugging getting a little out of hand.

Here is a video of the two trying to hug. This is not the best video as it doesn't really show that Casey is the instigator and wants to pull Ryan to the ground. As it usually turns out, Ryan ends up hurting Casey.

Monsters vs. Aliens

During the Super Bowl, there was a trailer of the new DreamWorks Monsters vs. Aliens movie. The trailer was in 3-D and, luckily, we were at the grocery store the day before and got 3-D glasses for the boys. I was excited to see the trailer since Brandon (my brother-in-law) worked on the movie when he was working at DreamWorks.

Here is Casey getting excited about putting on his glasses.



Daddy, we're ready to watch!
Do these glasses make my head look small?
Casey, got excited about the football game so we taught him how to signal a touchdown. He ran around the room with his arms up. Too bad though, I was routing for Arizona.

One HUGE Preschool Post....

I LOVE preschool (and so does Ryan). With my friend Ali from church we got our boys in the local Adult School Parent Participation Preschool. It's $125 for 4 months of preschool!!! (There is an additional materials fee and then money for field trips, but still, so cheap.) What's not to like? It is actually a parenting class that I am enrolled in but Ryan gets to go more than I do. It's Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30-11:30am. Ali goes on Tuesday with Ryan and Jake while I watch her daughter, Alisa and I go on Thursday while she watches Casey. It works out great.

Ryan has come a LONG way since starting preschool. At first he didn't want to participate in any of the activities. For example, those are rhythm sticks he's holding and he was supposed to walk around the room hitting them together with the music. Let's just say that didn't happen.

This is a reading station at preschool where they have a story read to them through the headphones.

Ryan and Jake listening during rug time.

Ryan doesn't particularly like cutting, and usually doesn't watch what he is doing. He likes to look around the room while he's cutting. He definitely gets lots of practice because sometimes it feels like that's all we do.

Our first preschool field trip. We went to the local university and went to their Botanic Gardens.

Every month we have a party. Our first party was a Luau. The kids wore their bathing suits and grass skirts (not Ryan) and did the hula (not Ryan). Casey gets to come to the parties too.

Field trip to the local pumpkin patch. The kids got to pick out a pumpkin to take home and we went on a ride in the wagons behind the tractor.


Ryan probably picked up 5 pumpkins before deciding on one.


They had a really cute maze for the kids. There were several ways to get around and the kids just ran wild.

As you can see the adults could see over the bails of hay but the kids couldn't, this was probably Ryan's favorite part.


Ryan patiently waiting and watching for Ali to arrive.


What's not to love?


Field trip to the local apple orchards. Here is Ryan helping to crush apples to make apple cider. Do you know the difference between apple juice and apple cider? For apple juice they cook the juice out. For apple cider they squeeze it out.


Jake demonstrating how the apple picking bag works.


Attempting to take a group photo.


Here is Ryan with all of his preschool art projects. The white foot print at the top is a ghost, and he's holding his spooky house.


That is the apple tree they made in preparation for their trip to the apple orchard.

O.K. so this post wasn't as big as I thought it was going to be. The original plan was to include everything from preschool up to this point. But I'm tired so that's it for today. I promise to try (the key word being try, of course) to post more regularly. This is basically my journal and I need to be better about keeping it up to date.

Well, at least I made my sister, Kristin, and her roommate, Morgan, happy tonight. Goodnight Girls.

Gingerbread Train

It's the annual "Build A Gingerbread House Day" or in our case "Gingerbread Train". I remember making gingerbread houses every year during Christmastime. Melissa says she never did. Since she missed out, Melissa and I tried last year to build a gingerbread house. Needless to say, it almost fell over. We had to use a ton of frosting and use toothpicks to keep the roof from falling off, and it still looked terrible. This year she decided to build a train which was much easier. The boys have a great time building the train (actually just eating the frosting and candy). I think Melissa had the most fun. Check out the pics.

Here is Casey with his cheesy smile. He doesn't know how to smile like a normal person.

Here is another one of Casey.

And another.
Here is the train nearing its completion.

I finally got Ryan to look at me and smile.

I had to get Melissa in here, since she was the master architect.

I had this one so you could admire Ryan's teeth. I actually took Ryan to his first dentist appointment this week. He did really well. A little bit of crying and whining. Once the dentist told him there was a "treasure chest" of toys to pick from he was a perfect angel. No cavities!!

Here is the final masterpiece. Very nice!!

I had to add this final picture. Even after I bathed the boys and got them all clean Melissa was still working on the train. She was really trying to make sure every inch was covered with frosting and candy. Perfection!!!

Cardboard Boxes

Ryan is probably like most other little boys. He loves to climb inside large cardboard boxes. We should stop buying toys and just get a whole bunch of cardboard boxes to play in.

We have a pretty big cardboard box hanging around the house and Ryan keeps trying to climb inside of it. The problem is the box is really tall and narrow. Once he gets in, he can't get out.

Ryan started playing in the box again today and while he was trying to get inside I had an epiphany. I decided to build a small house for Ryan so he could easily get in and out of the box.

Check it out. I bet your jealous of my fine engineering skills. I first pulled out the handy dandy kitchen knife - useful for all kinds of things. I sawed out the door and stuck in a door handle and a peephole. It was a little dark inside, so I cut a small window on the side.

Now I'm sure your wondering why I taped a Huggies box to the back of the box. Well, Ryan doesn't play in slow motion, so the first time he got inside the house it just tipped right over. I taped the Huggies box to the back and threw a few heavy law books at the bottom. Ka chow! -it's not tipping over anymore. (I've been watching way too much "Cars". Casey loves it.)

Here is Ryan in his new house. He just loves it.Here is the small window.

Ryan just can't get enough of his new pad. He feels like royalty.

I'm pretty happy with the finished product, since it only took 10 minutes or so to make. Once Casey and Ryan start playing in it together I'm sure it won't last too long. At least if I don't make it in my current career choice I can always fall back on building playhouses out of cardboard boxes. These things would sell like hot cakes.

Going to School...

I think Melissa is on a blogging hiatus. She's on a kick and reading Harry Potter, so I thought I would post a few things while she is away. I know Kristin (Melissa's sister) has been waiting to see some new posts, so here you go.

Since Kristin started school again, I thought I would post a few pictures of Ryan at preschool. I know Kristin is probably learning some pretty cool stuff at college, but so is Ryan. Take a look.

What is more fun that learning how to bang two sticks together! Go Ryan! You're on your way to starting your own band.

Of course, what would life be like if you didn't know how to use scissors. I think he is a little too excited to be using those scissors. Watch out!

Now he is getting the hang of it!

Ryan is learning how to sit quietly and listen to the teacher. Amazing! Anyone who knows Ryan can see this is a miracle -- Ryan sitting still. I don't think he likes sitting. Not his favorite pastime. Oh, the kid in front is Ryan's friend Jake. He loves to play with Jake and if he doesn't get to hang out with Jake, we're gonna hear about it (with some screaming, of course).

Kristin, I know you have some cool roommates, but look at these guys.

I believe today was the Hula Party. Ryan never turns away good fruit.

And I couldn't finish this post without Casey. He wouldn't turn down a party that has food. He's daddy's little boy. We're foodies!

A few more years Ryan will be doing derivatives and taking Melissa's place on the couch to do some reading.

Preserving Marriage and Proposition 8