My lawn boys

It's not uncommon here in Texas to hire cheap help for lawn care, but how is this for cheep - Free!  Muhahahaha! Acutally, we did have donuts for breakfast and Shaved Ice after. (I know if you add it all up, it probably would have been cheaper to hire someone, but it would have been really awkward if I was taking pictures of that kind of lawn help!) We really didn't know what kind of helpers the boys would be, but they were really hard workers, and Matt and I got done so much faster with their help!  Plus they were the cutest workers ever!

Clearly, they can handle their share of work.  Ian kept trying to out-do his big brother, and Jason was willing to show him who had the "guns" in the family (check out those muscles!)

We even came across some little friends. I found a big black wooly catapiller, lots of little spiders, one giant grub, about a half a dozen lizards, and teensy little snake!  Here's Matt showing our new little friend off.  It was really sweet, Jason asked what we were going to do with it.  Matt replied, "It's not going to hurt us, so I'm not going to hurt it."  I love this man! We talked about how benefical snakes can be in your yard.  I hope my boys undersand how special nature can be!

Some of the weeds were bigger then Ian... and I'm afraid that the winner of this battle was the weed!

Last but not least, here's Ian scaling our fence to see what is going on on the other side. The impressive thing is not him climbing up, but him jumping down! Yikes- it's amazing we've had no broken bones yet!

Oh, and my lawn boys are for hire!

Frisbee 101

This week we've finally had some nice spring weather.  We took to the park to teach the kids some frisbee skills... with our help they could be the best.  I would like to point out the fact that we were doing some pretty fancy frisbee throwing, and photography at the same time.

Tip #1: Don't forget to reach!

Tip #2: stick out your tongue!

Tip #3:  Take a break if you need one... monkeying around at the playground is always a good idea.

Tip # 4: Jump!

Ian's got some supermassive air for a 4 year old!

The Actual Zoo, Not my house

We visited the zoo, it was a warm sunny day!

Jason loved the birds (sorry Em).  No, they're not pouting, they are pretending to be this sleeping bird.

Ian is showing me something ( isn't he getting big)

We were lucky to see some of the animal feedings - here is where the trainer is giving the wild boys cotton candy.

It's a good thing they shared.  Moms get angry when they don't get cotton candy!

Chillin' with the lions.

Sure, Matt if you stand next to an elephant you look skinny.

Cave dwellers

Here is where the zoo feeds children to the paranahs.

The truth about myself.

I was going through some pictures of Christmas, and I came across these pictures of us playing the Wii. Here are a series of pictures that you must view in order to appreciate the humor! A picture's worth a 1000 words, or at the very least a few laughs.

1) My two little guys playing (very seriously)

2) Look at the Joy on their faces... They are having a blast!

3) That looks like fun, maybe I'll join in!

 4) Jason WINS!!!! Terri Loses!

5) Terri gets revenge!!! (sorry I didn't know I was so evil... wait yes, I did)

Well, what can I say.  I'm not proud, but at least it was captured in pictues. Yes, this is the exact sequence of pictures.

Really Flowery Cake

A cake for Mindy's baby shower.

Yes, I may have gone a little overboard when decorating this cake.  Some days being extra girly is fun.  I started out with an idea about making a bunch of royal icing flowers and then placing a few on the top of a cake.  At one point there was style and form, but it all went out the window when I started to grow attached to all the individual flowers I made, and I felt they needed a place.  I know it looks like a flower vomited on it, but I think that Mindy liked it and it really tasted good. For my cake decorating friends- I used a hybrid shortening/buttercream frosting for crumb layer and the basket weave.  It was easy to work with, easy to smooth, strong enough to hold up, and it didn't get soft when in a decorating bag (plus it tasted more like a buttercream then a shortening frosting!)

    

I wanted to thank my hubby for giving me my cake decorating caddy for Christmas - It's awesome and I love it, plus it's much better then keeping my stuff in a paper bag!

The Exciting Solution!

I know you have all been staying up late into the night, unable to sleep until you've figured out just how much force is provided by the electrostatic attraction between Jason's hair and the helium balloon. Well, the wait is finally over! I've hijacked Terri's blog to provide you all with the gripping solution! (And, yes, I do realize that I am a complete nerd for not only taking the time to figure this out, but to actually type it up and post it.)
-Mattamorphasis

Tell me how you really feel...

This picture is unrelated to the story (However it is an amazing display of static electricity)

Yesterday I needed to make a treat for "it's great to be 8" (an activity to prepare the 7-year-olds about their baptism). I rush home knowing I need to making a fast dessert, aware that I'm running low on butter and that I have no mixes either. I settle on making Molasses cookies (which require shortening). I gave the boys a cookie before we left to which Jason exclaims:

"You were supposed to make a YUMMY treat"

Let's see if he actually makes it to 8...