The Mall

We went to the mall today to return something and to find Steven something for Father's Day.  While we were in J.C. Penny's a lady asked me if the boys were twins.  I told her no and then she wanted to know how old they were. This is the first time I have ever gotten this question.  Usually, it is "Are they brothers?" or "Are they both yours?"
When we were done shopping we went to the little play area, so that the boys could play.  They love this little area.  While they were playing, Andrew walked up to a little boy waved and said hi.  He normally only does this with little girls or woman.  It was cute.
After we got done playing Isaac said that he wanted to ride the carousel.  I told him that we couldn't because Andrew doesn't like them and he can't go on by himself yet.  They have this little one (like you see outside of grocery stores) so I asked Isaac if he wanted to ride that and he did.  There is a truck, a train, and a dog you can sit in.  Isaac choose the train and he absolutely loved it.  I tried to get Andrew to sit in the dog, but he wouldn't.  I don't understand Andrew's fear of spinning things.  He could swing all day, and I don't see how a carousel is much different than that.  Oh well!  Andrew is just missing out on all the fun! :)
When we were leaving the mall Isaac heard a fire truck and said "I want to be a fireman and squirt water on a fire."  This is the first time he has said what he wants to be.

The Cinnamon Incident II - Andrew Style

While making dinner I had to go to the bathroom pretty urgently and didn't think too much about what might have been left open.  While in there I smelled cinnamon.  I immediately panicked and finished my business.  I walk out into the dinning area to see a big pile of cinnamon on the floor and Andrew covered in it.  I couldn't believe it.  Isaac had done this same thing at almost the same age.  I am at least thankful that Andrew took it out of the pantry before spreading it everywhere.  When Isaac did it he did it in the pantry and I had to take stuff off the shelves in order to clean it all up.  Isaac is also the reason we have a child safety lock on the pantry door.  So, the lesson learned is always make sure the pantry door is closed no matter how urgent the bathroom is calling. :)

What a Shitty Week

About a month ago Steven told me that lay offs were possible at his work.  His boss didn't think the server team (Steven's team) would be affected, but we were still a little concerned because Steven has only been there for eight months.
On Tuesday, Steven went to work as usual and the boys and I went to story time at the library.  When we got back, Steven's car was out front.  I was hoping with all my might that he was just sick, but deep down inside I knew.  I walked in the house and asked Steven why he was home and he said, "Lay offs."
Steven has been talking about maybe finding a new job this fall for the past several weeks.  We have to stay in the house for three years since we took the fist time home buyers credit and we can't really afford to pay back that $8,000.  He was pretty unhappy at this job, so he said he felt relief that he doesn't have to do it anymore and the decision was already made for him.
They are giving him some severance pay and benefits until the end of June.  Steven has already been in contact with several companies here in Austin, so hopefully he should find something soon.  If he can't find anything here, then he is going to look for places in the Midwest.
I'm freaking out more than Steven is and he keeps telling me to relax, but I can't.  It is hard knowing that you have two little kids, bills to pay and food to buy and really no money coming in.   I just have to keep telling myself that in the end everything will be alright.

Welcome to the Family Sorbet

Today we went to Pet's Mart and picked out a new fish friend for Spaz.  Isaac was so excited.  He held the bag the whole way home.  

She is a very pretty fish.  She is dark orange, black, and white.  The guy at pet's Mart said that she won't necessarily keep the black, so we shall see.  We decided to call her Sorbet.

So far, Spaz and Sorbet seem to be getting along.  Feeding time was a little competitive, but hopefully, once they get use to each other that will calm down.  They are definitely easy to tell apart and even if Sorbet does loose the black we will still be able to tell who is who.

Happy Easter

Our Easter started out by going to church as a whole family. It is very rare for Steven to come and I really enjoy when he does. My church is rather large, so they have 3 different masses going on in three different locations. We choose the children's mass, like I did last year. Last year, we were in and done in 30 minutes. I have never been to an Easter mass that short before. This year, it lasted 45 minutes. Steven had to take Andrew out about halfway through, but Isaac did really well the whole time. On the way home we at lunch at Torchy's Tacos and then home for naps. Once they were up, they got their baskets and we had an egg hunt in the backyard. I made a nice dinner of ham and pineapple, with green bean casserole, and crescent rolls. It was a great day!

Isaac got a bubble bucket, sidewalk chalk, and a kite. Andrew got a kite and a plush house with animals that make sounds inside. There was no wind today, so we could take the kites.

Egg hunt in the backyard.

He found a way to make jelly beans messy. :)

My Boys!

Andrew's face here makes me laugh.

He loves his bubble bucket!

Carpet and Cats

During Christmas the boys and I were gone for 3 weeks visiting family. For work purposes Steven had to stay home. For whatever reason the cat(s) decided to start peeing under the window in the playroom. I have spent the last three months trying to make that room (and our whole house for that matter) not smell like a giant litter box. I finally gave up and called the professionals. They came last Wednesday and the carpets look great now. There is still a little bit of an odor, but you only notice it when you are sitting in the playroom, so the carpet cleaning was mostly a success.

Since the cats spend the majority of of the day under our bed we decided that we were not going to put it back on the frame. This way Malcolm cannot throw up under it anymore and they will be forced to be out more. So far, it is working out pretty good. Malcolm has been more tolerant of the boys petting him, which they just love. River still won't let the boys pet her, but she is more social with Steven and myself.

Since the mattress and box springs are on the floor it looks like we are in college again. We plan to get a whole bedroom set sometime in the near future. When we do, we are more than likely going to get a platform bed, which will be nice.

Lizards

When I was putting stuff into the shed the other day, Isaac kept asking "What is this?" I looked and it was a green lizard about six inches long. We have tons of geckos here, but I have never seen anything like this before. A few minutes later, a smaller brown one showed up. Every time they got near each other they would make this noise and this pink thing would puff out from their necks. I put a post on Facebook and everybody said they are Green Anoles. I did some research and based on what we saw, they were courting. I am going to keep my eye out for little baby anoles. I also found out that they eat cockroaches. We have plenty of them around here and they totally gross me out. I about did a happy dance when I read this information.

Good Bye Gomez

Sometime before Christmas we decided we would get some goldfish at the beginning of the new year. Once we got back from our trip to Indiana at the beginning of this month, we decided to get some very soon.

A week and a half ago we went to a birthday party that was Nemo themed. The party favor was goldfish, so both boys got one.

I had bought all the supplies weeks before, so all I had to do was set everything up. We named them Gomez and Spaz. Gomez was the name we had given Andrew before he was born and had decided on his name. Spaz became Spaz because while I was trying to get him in the tank he flopped out of the bag onto the floor.

This past weekend I noticed that they had white spots on their tail fins. This disease is called Ich and is treatable with medication you can get at the pet store.

They appeared to be getting better, but this evening after dinner, I found Gomez dead. He was the smaller of the two and had more white spots than Spaz.

I explained to Isaac as best I could what happened, but I don't know if he fully understood. I know that Andrew did not. Isaac kept asking where the second fishy was.

I can't do burials at sea, so I bury fish. I wasn't going to let Isaac be around for the burial, but I changed my mind. This way he would know where Gomez went and hopefully not ask me 20 million times what happened to him. Before I covered him up with dirt, I told Isaac to say good bye to him. I expected him to say it, but all he did was wave. It was sweet and so sad at the same time.

This was our first experience with death, and even thought I don't' think Isaac fully understood, I think he understood enough.

Hello Again

It has been a very long time since I have put anything on here. I use to do this mainly for family and friends back home. Now, most of them are on Facebook and can see the boys grow up through pictures on there. So, this is going to be mainly for me. There is just so much that I want to remember about the boys growing up. I think this will be a good place for that and if anybody should stop by to read, I hope they enjoy it too. It is never a dull moment when you have two young, very active little boys.