My dirty little boys

It started getting hot again around a month ago, so when Alan comes back from preschool we have lunch and then we go out to the backyard so that the kids can play in a shaded area. So I thought about sharing with you a little bit of our everyday playing.

I remember before I had kids I imagined myself having a couple of girls, having their hair cutely done, wearing pretty dresses and bows on their hair. Now that I have two boys, the image of my kids is soooooo different. They are nothing else but my lovely dirty little boys (not all the time of course) and I love them so much for that. I never imagined how much fun it would be to play "the boy way".

Alan and Eric love going in the sand and rolling on it (Eric trying to eat it), playing with dirt, and with any living creature (bugs mainly) that they find in their way. Eric is now refusing to wear a bib when eating and of course he thinks he can do it all by himself, so between the fun that they have playing and getting dirty and not wearing a bib. I find myself changing their clothes at least twice a day. Especially Eric, he loves turning on the hose in the backyard and getting himself soaked.

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My way of looking at the situation now is: the messier they get the more fun they have, and I actually love looking at their little feet all dirty and then washing them off. It is so fun to watch them playing with water, dirt, boats, airplanes and then going for a jump on the trampoline. You guys have to watch the video of Eric on the trampoline, he was eleven months back then and he loves it:

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I think the trampoline is getting too small for Alan, but he still loves bouncing on it. Lately what he likes to do is jump for a few minutes and then lies down on it and puts his feet up on the bar. He puts his hands on the back of his neck and relaxes for a few minutes and then back to jumping.

Anyway, even though the kind of fun I have with my boys is so different than what I had expected, I enjoy it so much and I'm so greatful for being able to experience being mother of two little fun boys. It is a lot more fun than what I could've ever imagined.

Boys' Birthdays

Last Saturday we celebrated the boys' birthdays. Eric is now one year old and Alan is four. For those of you who don't know this, Alan and Eric's birthdays are only one day apart, and that's only because Eric was born in Dubai. If he would've been born in the US like Alan, he would've also been born on March 2nd because of the time difference. Anyway, we threw a birthday party for both of them since they pretty much share the same friends.

Lately, Alan is really into Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so the theme for the party was Mickey and it ended up being really cute. It's amazing to see how even though we're so far away from where Mickey Mouse originated, we were able to find all the decorations, plates, cups, napkins and even balloons with the Mickey Mouse theme, not to mention all the other themes (e.g., Winnie the Pooh, Cars, Spiderman, Princesses, etc.).

Sixteen kids (and their parents of course) came to the party , and we had a great time. We ordered pizza, and my neighbor Kathy and I made a cute Mickey Mouse cake that ended up taking forever to make. I was afraid I wouldn't even have time to take a shower before the party, but it was worth it. The cake ended up being really cute and Alan loved it. I hope Eric liked it too, but since he can't talk yet I'll just have to take his smile as a yes.




We played some games as part of the party. I wanted to have them play the egg and spoon race, but I figured eggs are pretty messy. So I asked Justin to get me some lemons from the store. However, when he got back home he said they didn't have any lemons, and he brought the weirdest fruit I've ever seen. It's the size of a lemon but it kind of looks like an avocado, and when one of them fell down and broke it looked like nasty boogers on the inside (I didn't dare try it). The kids also played with a parachute thing that they would move up and down. They played Ring around the Rosies with it, and they were hypnotized like half an hour with that thing without even needing any assistance (which is so nice when you're trying to be a good host).




I also made a Mickey Mouse pinata, it kind of looked like the classic Mickey because I didn't find any skin-colored paper for the face and I was afraid to paint it and ruin it, but it really turned out OK and it was fun to make. The kids loved hitting it and of course getting the candy once they broke it. We also filled up a bunch of balloons with water and the game was supposed to be to make a basketball shot with the balloon, but they ended up just popping them on the street as fast as they could.




I loved having a party for the kids. I think this is the first year that Alan "got" the concept of what a birthday party is, because at two he had a party with a few little friends but I think he was still too young to understand what was going on; then at three he was at the hospital waiting for his brother to be born, and the only cake he had was the one that the hospital gave me for dessert. But this time he actually got to have fun and blow the candles with Eric by his side. Every time someone would say, "How old are you now, Alan?", he would answer, "I'm four, and my little brother Eric is one year old."

I'm so grateful for having my two boys. I love staying at home and being able to be with them all the time (even though they are both so high maintenance). Justin and I just can't imagine our lives without them we love them more than anything in the world.