Mama is not happy.

Boys are ecstatic.

Wes is starting Pre-K this year.  Here he is just outside his new classroom.

Ty loves having his very own desk.  He also loves having his picture taken, as you can plainly tell.

BUT, don’t be fooled.

They are just as rowdy and silly as all the other kids!  At least, they’ll let me snap a photo or two these days.  Of course, they all look like this…

Just when you think they’re the cutest, most well-behaved boys on the block, their true colors will start to show.  Luckily, I think they are cute anyway.

And, I know they’ll get their payback.  It’s not difficult to find ways of torture around the Gurney household!

Heh…heh…

One of them is a little more serious than the other, but both have their own specialties.  The one on the left is more focused on insect life, while the one on the right is more about developing better tools for the job.  It can be stressful at times, for both sides, as you must understand.  However, neither is giving up on his job anytime soon.  In fact, we recently took a week-long vacation and it seemed the smartest thing to do was bring our Explorer gear along with us.  We wouldn’t want to miss a scientific opportunity.  Now, would we?

If you guys haven’t seen these toys yet, they are SUPER cool and an excellent way to get your kiddos outside to play.  I’m lucky, because my boys would rather be outside than inside ANY DAY.  In fact, they don’t even know the meaning of “video game”.  Ty does own a Nintendo DS that he got for his birthday, but it’s mostly used when we’re locked in the car for long periods at a time.  OR sick with a fever for a week long!

These awesome toys, vest included, were purchased at the local Wal-mart.  However, since then, we’ve seen them at numerous museum gift shops and other odd places.  We love them!!  You can find them HERE.

Happy Monday!

He’s got moves…

you haven’t seen before.

Not sure why, but that is Ty’s new “go-to” move when I pull out the camera (watch out John Travolta).  Really.  I guess it could be worse.  He could continue to run from me like he’s done for the past two years.

He’s rubbing off on his brother, though.

and then there’s this…

That’s his mean face.  I have no idea why, but he likes to use it for HIS “go-to” photo face.  Nice.

In other news:  The latest SNAPSHOT MOMS class is scheduled for March 25th or 26th.  If you are interested in either date, please let me know!  Cost is $125 and you can find more information here.

Yep, February has come and gone.  I have taken pictures, I promise.   I just don’t have the energy to share them with you most nights.  So, today is my fresh start.  I may not cook dinner, but I hope to be back here a little more often.  Do you guys miss me? 

So anyway, I posted on Facebook a while back about how I’m not very creative when it comes to helping the boys with school stuff.  I was VERY serious.  But, I have a couple of things to show you, both of which I am very proud.  YAY for me!

First…

Ty’s Valentine’s box.  He did it himself.  I promise.  BUT, I helped glue a few things.  The alligator idea was all his and thanks to the HP website, it was doable.  Thank you , Hewlett Packard.

I know, right?  Totally cute!  He loved it and that was the most important thing.  Here are a few more pics from his party day at school.

Yes, even Wes was there.  If they want my help, he’s part of the deal.  One of these days, they’ll tell me to stay home.  HA!

Second…

Wes turned 4 last week and he wanted a monster truck cake.  Usually, I go to the local grocery store and purchase said cake for around $30 bucks.  This time I couldn’t find one that would work.  Darn it!  So, online I went searching for something EASY I could make.  Yes, me.  AND, I did it!!!

Here it is in all it’s iPhone glory cause I’m too lazy to upload the photo from my P&S camera.  Happy Monday!  I love you guys!

Not bad, right?

These photos are straight out of the camera, by the way, and it was really dark.  My ISO was set at 2500.  Ty brought me the camera – I never moved from my chair.  The 50mm lens wasn’t quite wide enough to capture the shot, but I was too lazy to get up.  Plus, I was trying really hard to ignore the complete mess happening in front of me so I could see the ending of our movie.  Sadly, now I don’t even remember which movie it was.

Notice they put all of the soda in a pattern around the table.  Yep, I have brain children.  I’ve always known that. 

I apologize for my lack of creativity on a Monday morning post, but it’s simple.  I’m pregnant and tired.  Nuff said.

be sure to wear decent shoes or you’ll have nasty, disgusting feet when you get home.

Of course, I didn’t listen very well, because I wore flip flops.

lovely.

Don’t worry.  I didn’t take any pictures of my BLACK toes to show  you (I’m not THAT gross), but here are some fun State Fair shots for you! 

Most of these shots are thanks to my nephew Jesse who was toting the camera around throughout the day.  I’d say he did a pretty good job!

Yes, I snapped a few shots before getting lazy and deciding I didn’t need pics that badly.  Remember, my point and shoot was stolen a few weeks ago.  Sometimes, I get tired of having a big, heavy camera around my neck.  I’m not complaining, but when it’s just me and the boys, I tend to forgo the big camera and just go with the flow.  I didn’t want to miss EVERYTHING, though, so I had my mom bring her Canon Rebel and passed it off to Jesse.  He had fun with it and I enjoyed being surprised by the photos.  Some, pleasantly.  Some, not so pleasantly.  You won’t be seeing the latter.  Heh…heh

The utility wagon was a last minute decision on my part.  It was the best decision I made that day!  It was awesome!  While the boys were riding rides, we laid one side down and had a place to chill.  PERFECT!  Plus, it helped us tote all our loot and free samples.  If possible take a big, strong nephew with you to pull said wagon.  It’s fun to watch.

and last one, snapped by my mom, just before leaving…

Oh, and for the record…I do know my boys DESPERATELY NEED a haircut.  They are starting to look less and less like boys.  Unfortunately, this is the busiest time of the year for me and haircuts have been pushed to the bottom of the list more than once.  I hope to remedy that before the week is over.

Happy Wednesday!

C’mon, Mom.  Just one last swim?

We spent part of our Saturday at my mom and dad’s this weekend.  I was able to keep the boys away from the pool for most of the day, but as things were winding down, the begging began.

I tried to tell them how cold the water had become.  Plus, I mentioned, it was fairly cool outside.

Then, Grandpa caved and away they went…

I hear Grandpas are like that.

Are you wondering where my brown child was?

He woke from his nap in a bit of a mood…

By the time he was ready to get in, everyone else was finished and eating dinner…

He’ll get happy a little quicker, next time.

Ya know, in a pinch…

Well, it’ll have to do for us this summer.  Even though I’m seriously craving some beach time, this will have to be enough for now.  With the house going up, we just can’t afford to take off for the beach.  Who knows what would get done in our absence. 

Since I had to drive South to pick up my “Sonic-style” ice machine (YES, I will have Sonic ice EVERY day) for our house, I decided to make it a fun overnight trip for the boys.

We got there a little late, but these two didn’t care.  We swam until the sun sank below the horizon.  Left with sand in our pants, showered, stayed up late eating popcorn, and went to bed happy.  It was fun!

We were even able to find some shells, AND the waves were big enough to knock little man, Wes, over more than once.  HA!

Then, it was too dark to see and we headed out.  Thanks for pretending with us, Lake Texoma.

Wide-open country…and lots of it.

John Deere EVERYTHING…

not to mention mosquitoes, crickets, fishing, hauling hay, and COWS.  The boys have their very own cow named Sparky and every year she gets bigger.  They love Sparky, but she doesn’t want anything to do with them.  Still, they follow her around like lovesick puppies. 

The point is, we love visiting the land where “Grandma” grew up.  It’s a lesson in history for my two, sweet boys who love the country.  While we’re there visiting, it’s not hard to notice that “Grandma” is in her element.  I think if we’d all move back there with her, she’d be gone in a second.  BUT, she’d never leave us for Kansas.  She loves us a tiny bit more, I think.

So, every chance she gets, she talks us into a visit to her home.  AND, we tag along watching her soak it all in, breathe it deep into her soul to savor until she can return.  It’s awe-inspiring.  It’s not hard to see how she became who she is today.  It’s why we love her…

especially these two.

They get to explore it all from creek beds to riding in the farm truck to catching and frying up their own fish (yes, we did) to picking all-you-can-eat blackberries.  This time around Ty even came home with a big cow skull to add to our place.  Nice.

I’m so very thankful they have a grandma who truly loves to spend every second of her time sharing stories with them and giving them hands-on knowledge of who she is.  They will forever remember this and be able to share her stories with their own children.