Fun Friday

This week Andrew has insisted on helping me around the house. He says I work too hard, I agree! Anyway, he loves to do the dishes. I "rinse" and then he dries them. Andrew even helps to unload the dishwasher. Won't he be a great hubby someday in the far, far, future?
Just having a good time helping his mama!

Mason picked out this adorable robe last weekend at The Children's Place. He was very adamant that we buy it. Since it was on clearance and I had 2 coupons, how could we say no to a 2 year old and a 3 dollar robe. He does look adorable in it!

A Visit from Aunt Barbie!

My Aunt Barbie called last week to see if she could come down for a visit on Friday! The boys were so excited!!! However, Andrew was sad she could not bring her cats along though.
Barbie getting Brandon from the bus stop.

Barbie used to read this book, The Stupids Have A Ball, to us when we went to John Beck Elementary. She was thrilled to see we have the set of books now. Andrew enjoyed listening to a very good storyteller read a very funny book!

After reading time, we headed to the bent and dent, Pizza Hut, the fishy store (Barbie gave them each Valentine money and Andrew wanted yet another fish) and the farmer's market!

It was a very nice visit and way too short of a visit, come again soon!

bits and pieces of me!

I do not like getting my picture taken, at all! But, Mason loves to get a hold of the camera and snaps away. This is how Mason sees me!

Valentines 2009

Thinh came home from work Saturday morning, Vday, with these gorgeous flowers and a balloon with chocolate on it. He opened the door yelling for us to come quick into the front yard. So the boys and I went running and looked up in the sky to watch my balloon go floating away! It was so funny!
Our babysitter ditched us, so the boys went along to Aki, the japanese habachi grill restaurant. They loved it!

Mason using chopsticks to eat his noodles, the untraditional way.

Brandon or Mason snapped this picture.

Mason looking naughty, but he did awesome, especially since we had to wait a half an hour past our reservation time and then wait again for drinks and the food. It was a busy place!

Our friends, Todd and Karla, went along. They are getting married April 22 in Belize, lucky love birds!

Brandon's view of the chef firing up the grill.

Notice the little boy bottle in the chef's hand peeing out the fire! The boys got a good laugh out of that!

Brandon, again, snapping the chef playing with the utensils. He was very nice and funny with the kids.

Mason was not so sure about the big fire and this was his reaction before jumping on my lap and we stood back for a minute, it does get hot!

Bike For Sale!

Poor Thinh, currently only has 4 motorcycles and is trying to sell this one. He says it is his favorite sport bike ever. I would like to have more room in the garage and money for a master bathroom, so we shall see what happens! Will Thinh be zooming around on this crotch rocket in the spring, will Heidi continue to have to share a sink with her husband, or will the kids finally convince daddy to hook up the "hot tub" so they can once again take a bath? Stay tuned...

PS~we do have a shower, so no, we don't stink that bad!
Aaron, call with an offer - FAST!

A VERY Windy Day!

Our neighbors, the Cramer's, have some very big maple trees in their yard, and now they are minus one standing upright! They live diagonally from us and at the corner where the bus stop is. Anyway, sometime between the bus coming and Thinh arriving home in the morning, this big old tree fell over, just missed their garage, pulled up the corner of the driveway and landed in the yard between their garage and their neighbor's house. The tree knew what it was doing, because any other way, it would have done some serious damage! The wind reportedly gusted up to 71 mph in Chambersburg on Thursday!

Cookies Anyone?

We made chocolate mint chip cookies one night and I had my helpers right by side just waiting to lick the beaters...boy the apple does not fall far from the tree! My little chocoholics!

Valentines, Ducks and Grandma Grandma, Oh my!

We packed up and headed to mimi and papa's for the day. When we arrived, the dining room was set and decorated for a Valentine's Day dinner. Big mylar monkey balloons were tied to the boys chairs, candles on the table and another balloon bouquet was in the center. We had a yummy spagetti dinner finished with cherry cheese pie. After dinner, the received their valentine's from my parents and off we went to the park near their house.
Mom came along for the fun, but would not turn around to have her picture taken, so I just snapped! a picture that is!

Then...Brandon grabbed the camera and snapped a picture of the big puddle from all the melting snow, which Mason loved jumping in all the puddles big and small. Mom washed their jeans and socks and vests when we returned.

Brandon took this picture of my dad, not too bad! After their clothes were washed, dried, and put back on...we headed to visit my grandma and check out her new apartment at the home. The boys loved seeing her new place, delivering her valentine treats and eating lots of treats there too. They helped mimi push grandma grandma to her dining room and check out her "big house"! What a fun day!

Mason's Fun Day at the Park

While looking for ducks, we found some! Mason laughed hysterically when they quacked and put his hands over his ears and "that's funny".
Getting a very relaxing wagon ride from Papa. That wagon has some miles on it, the boardwalk at the beach, we took it to Disney but were not allowed to take it in (you have to rent their over priced strollers) and many trips down to visit my grandparents when they lived down the street from my parents. It will be a sad day when it "retires" from my kids, but will hopefully be back in service soon for Wendi and Mark!

Such a big difference in this park season from last year. He is more daring and much more independent. So cool to watch him run all over and actually stay in the area.

Look at our sweet little Mason!

He had a great time in the tunnels also, until he scraped his chin, but he got over it quick and stuck to the slides afterward. Mimi and Papa got a kick out of how Mason's hair getting very wild from all of the static on the equipment.

Andrew's Fun Day at the Park

Andrew loves animals and we just had to stop and talk to this friendly dog while on our duck quest.
Look at my Andrew go...way up to the top!

Future ambulance driver? He is a caring little guy.

Andrew was so excited he beat Brandon while racing down the slide.

The Ephrata Park had some fun tubes to climb through and instead of macadam, it had a spongy material. The guys had a great time burning off some energy.

Brandon's Day at the Park

Walking at the Ephrata Park looking for ducks
Wall climbing, of course he was up and down faster than we could even see.

Racing Andrew down the slides.

Playing hide and seek with Andrew

Brandon was so happy to be outside and playing and running...in February!

Super Soccer Saturdays

Thinh in his green soccer garb

Brandon's Indoor Soccer Team


This winter, Brandon and Thinh are both playing indoor soccer, different teams of course. Thinh, I think, is finally starting to feel the effects of getting older. He is having a great time playing the sport he has always loved.

Brandon is learning to embrace indoor soccer. He LOVES outdoor soccer and does very well at it, but indoor is quite different. This past Saturday, he seemed to get the hang of it and looked like he was having a great time. We told him just to go have a good time and to just be happy, I think it is finally sinking in that he does not have to be perfect at everything! We just love him!

Ice Fest 2009

Our little town has lots of fun things to do! Every winter Ice Fest takes place. We walked around town after church on Sunday checking out over 50 (I think) cool ice sculptures.
Here is a self photo of our photographer for the event, Brandon!

Donna walked/ran (Mason keeps us moving) with us for some good times. The big ice throne, Mason was not interested.

Mason shouted and pointed at each one, "Look, Ice" as if he had not seen the previous ones, too cute!

the Stumbaugh's

this is for you steph, love ya