Spring is Here

We went to a health fair type of event on Saturday and met Jim Leonhard from the Jets. We hung out, played at the park, rode horses, Shawn did some rock climbing (first attempt), went home and enjoyed the lovely spring weather. We finished off the day with bubble blowing and playing with chalk. I thought it would be nice to have a family pic and an individual pic of us all. We haven't had this nice weather...ohhhh...in months.

March Update

The snow has melted and spring is trying to make it's way in. The place is starting to look green. This has been a busy month. Greg is continuing to work on the home. Shawn and Ethan are growing and being typical boys. And me...not much to say there.

Shawn has made a new friend on the block which will be good for him and Ethan. I will have to upload pics of Ethan sleeping in Foxy's bed. Why he does this...I don't know.

I normally don't take pics but here is one that I like with two of my most favorite boys. The other one is taking the picture.

Ethan's Work

My little guy likes to spend his time drawing. Here are some pics of him doing his work.


Here his best buddy Foxy is keeping him company.


The finished masterpiece!!!!

Our First Snowman

Although I have build snowmen when I lived in England, this was our first family Snowman. Greg made a real small one when we first moved out to NJ when we were still in temporary housing. But is was tiny and only he made it.

This snowman is a lot bigger and we all helped, and it was at our home. Shawn wasn't too happy with it because he likes thing perfect and his way. If you go to our shutterfly site you can see him beating up on the snowman.

Ethan Riding his Bike

This is Ethan's first time riding a bike. See the video below of his efforts. His brother was really helpful too. Greg was taking care of the yard....killing off some weeds so you won't see him. Although ever time we went passed the house Shawn would give a shout out to his dad and ring his new bell.

Playing....

I'M TIRED!!!!!!

For those of you who have young kids will appreciate this. Also, I am sure that some of you will be understanding of why I have been bad about keeping in touch lately. The time difference also doesn't help.

But just so you guys have an idea of what my weekend is like, I think these videos will explain it nicely. I took these today after Shawn woke up at 3 am and Ethan woke up at 5 am. They start earlier. After breakfast and constant activity (you cannot take your eyes off of Ethan) Ethan needs to get out. This was now the second time for today that he decided that the dry dog food should be in the dogs water dish. We go for a 1 mile walk while the boys ride their tricycles. Come back home for lunch and more play. Not enough play so the boys make it over to the neighbors to play on their jungle gym. And then more play. I have work to do so Greg plays with them while I do the laundry. We go out again to get the boys out of the house. Come back they are tired but want to play some more. So I make dinner, give them a bath, and put them in bed. While I went to get their milk this is what they were doing.

During this day we have also been doing other household stuff. So while one watches the other does some form of cleaning. So the reason we are none responsive is because neither Greg nor I have really sat down since 5 am.....Actually, Greg was up with Shawn since 3 am. Shawn and Ethan are also LESS active now then before especially since neither one of them took a nap. If you pay attention and are able to sit through the whole thing you will notice that even my Husky Sasha is beat.

One other note....Greg had also been wrestling with them hoping to tire them out. By the time I got the camera, he was the one that was tired. So I missed that shot. Maybe next time.

Too Funny....

When we first came to New Jersey I went out and bought the boys soft stuffed animals as theirs were in storage. I got these from the company store....one monkey and one elephant. So Ethan gets the monkey and Shawn takes the elephant. I ask each of them if they were going to give their new friends a name. Shawn picked "Mickey", and Ethan "Toc". Don't know where he came up with that name...he just did. He later decides that he now wants to call Toc "Coconut". So, I am out shopping at Target and guess what I find....a kids tear free coconut scented shampoo with a monkey on the package. Needless to say I had to buy it because it was just too coincidental. Ethan, of course, was more than happy to have me wash his hair with the new shampoo. Just had to share the story. Have a great weekend.

In a Matter of Seconds.....

I thought I would give the boys a treat and let them colour. They love colouring but there were a few simple conditions. Both boys were eager to start colouring and promised to abide by the rules....1) don't bother dad, 2) no coming in the kitchen while I cook and 3) no colouring on the walls or objects.

I was checking in on them and they seemed to be doing fine. Greg went to sit with the boys while on his break and that's when he told me to come and see the boys. I can usually tell from the tone of his voice when it's to see what they have done. I was just peeking in on them...what could they have possibly done in a matter of secs so to speak. I start thinking they drew all over the walls or something like that. Below are the pics of what they did. More pictures can be found at the usual spot. I couldn't really get mad as they technically followed the rules and were drawing me a really cool picture.

We Got a New Home....Yeah!!!!

Finally we moved out of the one bedroom suite as we bought a home. You have to imagine 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 dogs in a very small place. It was very hard for Greg to keep his sanity.

We are settling in to the new place but there are still boxes everywhere. The kids are happy with a place to call home, the dogs are happy as they have a yard, Greg is happy as he has his own room(s) (he wants the basement too)....and me...well it's my job to make sure they are happy and stay that way. No...I didn't get my own room, but hey, I am easy to please.

I have posted a couple of videos on our You Tube site. In the meantime, I am not going to lie, I miss my home in Cali. We didn't have that big of yard but the great amenities made up for it...6 pools, a lagoon, and the Olympic pool was heated, dog parks etc. So while I take some pics of our new place I have posted some of our home back in RSM.


Our RSM home


I loved my kitchen




The Lagoon


Just because....

The Discovery Zone

We took the boys to the Discovery Zone today as there was the Bob the Builder exhibit. Shawn seemed to really enjoy himself and so did Ethan. Except Ethan was a busy body as always. I had to watch him closely as he felt the need to throw balls at people. He picked up a toy onion and threw it. Lucky for us the guy he almost hit had quick reflexes and caught the onion. A Kodak moment that I missed. After that, I handed him over to his dad and watched Shawn instead.

Both boys had a good time looking at the dinosaur exhibit. We followed the boys into a cave area where there was a T-Rex on a screen. At one point the T-Rex roars and Ethan quickly pushes past his dad and me shouting "It's going to bite me, it's going to bite me". We've posted the video for you to see it.

The day, of course, didn't end there. We stopped off at the park for a little while. Again, Shawn was well behaved and Ethan felt the need to do things he wasn't supposed to. He decided to put a small stone in his mouth and had a fit when I tried to take it out. Still mad, he tossed sand which ended up in his own eye.

The good thing is the day ended well. Ethan ate his dinner and even had some of my fish. Some jumping on the bed and singing silly rhymes later they went to sleep.

A Day at the Tumble Center

We enrolled the boys in The Tumble Center to help them burn off some of their excess energy. This last Saturday was not so busy at the center so I took some pictures and videos of the boys for you guys to see. There are additional videos on my You Tube channel.

Ethan's Birthday Follow Up

Here are some pictures and video from Ethan's birthday party that I was supposed to upload a week ago. Have to be better about getting these things up sooner.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!!!!

Today Ethan is two. Wow...he is growing up fast. He already received two calls from special people. Early this morning, around 6:15am his Aunty Vanch and Grandma Ruth called to wish him a Happy Birthday all the way from Belize. He was still asleep so he didn't get to talk to them. The rest of the Burke family from Belize also sent their well wishes for the birthday boy.

Then around 6:30 am Aunty Harmeet and Uncle Garrett called. Ethan was up at this time and so he took the call. Not sure what they said to him. All I hear from Ethan is a laugh and "you funny". I will take some pictures of the little guy and post them soon.

The Boys are Growing

Today is Ethan's last day as a one-year-old. I cannot believe that he will be two tomorrow. How time just flies by. Today was also the first day that Ethan stood up to pee in the potty...by himself. I think he learned it by watching Shawn. He likes to be like his big brother Shawn so he copies a lot of what Shawn does. Ethan is also talking more. He makes actual sentences. For example....he will say "Mommy, eat ice-cream", or "Mommy, Sasha eat my sausage...bad doggy". He also likes to read his books. The one thing that has been happening is that both boys are fighting for my attention. So when Shawn wants me to play with him, Ethan will come by and say "Mommy, play with me".

These last few months have been tiring, but so much fun with the boys constantly learning something new. Shawn has an impeccable memory so we have to be careful about what we tell him as he WILL remember. It has also been nice seeing the boys getting closer. They interact more but, of course, will fight more too. Ethan is currently going through the fussy phase, or what some call the "terrible twos". Shawn went through it too but not nearly as bad. Oh...Shawn is getting better at sharing. These last few weeks we have seen progress in this area.

The boys are sleeping now. So with this I say goodnight.

Not Much Happening.

Hey,

There hasn't been too much going on here over the last few weeks. June is usually a busy month with birthday's, graduations, and Fathers Day. My cousin Jusleen graduated from High School so I wanted to go and see her. Then Ilene's daughter and son graduated, so we went to see them too. The boys came with me as the celebration was on the weekend. But as they are small and restless, our visit was short.



In closing I thought I would add in some recent pictures of Ethan. I don't have any of him in a suit so I just took some.

About Ethan

Well, today will be just a short note...about Ethan. It was his first official time using the potty which is a big deal for me. He has tried to use it before but more so because Shawn goes. Today, however, was just a little different. As you can imagine I was very excited about the whole thing. You'd think that I would be used to this by now but it was a new event for my little guy.

The Birthday Party

Today we had a party for Shawn and Ethan at their school. Although Ethan's birthday is not until July 11th, we thought it would be fun if we celebrated them together. We had Reptiles for Parties entertain the kids. The reptile handler, Josh, was great with the kids. They all seemed to enjoy the different bugs, insects and reptiles.

Shawn was a little cautious in the beginning, however, little adventurous Ethan dove right in. He was ready to hold whatever the handler showed. It didn't take long before Shawn finally warmed up.

Check out the pictures and videos by clicking the links.

Overall, I think today was a great day. What better way to end the day than Shawn coming home to play with his Batman car and Ethan playing with his Lightening McQueen car. Of course we had to share the day with Grandpa, who was also happy to hear about the party.

The Cake

Here is a pic of the birthday cake. It is a cupcake cake which will work out great for tomorrows birthday party for the boys at school.

Ethan's Dance