Firehouse, toolbench & stories

Lately, I have not been known for my planning skills. As of Friday morning, we had no weekend plans. But we woke up Saturday and had a full day ahead of us.
We were invited back to the firehouse - so, of course, we had to make the firemen some cookies. And what's better than cookies with sprinkles?!

Off to the firehouse we went. The boys had very little hesitation and were mesmerized by everything that Fireman Andy pulled out.

Shooting water is always a highlight.

Colin is truly lucky - how many kids get to help open a fire hydrant?!

We were supposed to go bowling with Leela & family, but found out that you need reservations. Bowlers don't mess around. So instead, we just had a big family dinner and loved every moment. My favorite quote of the night was when Leela said, "Thanks for making dinner, Jack. compared to Jamie." (the dads were in charge of dinner - so they clearly worked. so we don't know if it's because I didn't work or if Jack's dinners are better than mine! We had the best laughs.)

Then on Sunday, the boys finally got to plant their flower seeds from Auntie Lori. "Mom, we need lots of water. Water will make these seeds grow." - C

Jack is anti-clutter and hates all of the plastic toys in our house. So in that spirit, we said good-bye to our beloved kitchen...

and the boys started sketching the plans for a tool bench. First the drawings with the measurements...

Then cutting the wood... (I guess the boys were in the designated safety zone)

And when things got a bit boring, the boys came inside to watch some videos. If you take a good look, you'll see that Justin was still abiding by Jack's "wear safety goggles when building things" rule.

Jack got the boys involved and C & J helped out along the way.

Then with the final touches, the boys now have a tool bench made with all wood and all love from Jack. Must say, Jack is amazing with his planning, building, kid-involving skills. Yes, he made it all from scratch - the design and all. He's mine and you can't have him.

*If you're quick, you've already noticed that although we have a wooden tool bench, we still have the plastic tools hanging on the tool bench! haha

Other fun C & J stories:

• When we're in the car, Colin always asks, "how much longer?" I usually answer, but now Justin has taken over for me. As soon as C asks the question, J usually responds, "4 minutes" "20 minutes" or any other variation. It's great!
• Justin loves playing with Colin's classmates sometimes Colin's big 4 year old friends chase Justin around the playground. Well, 1 girl pushed Justin and Colin told her to stay away and she's not allowed to play with them anymore. And when another girl pushed Justin, Justin turned around, pointed his finger and said, "Don't push me again." For the most part, the boys can hold their own. As great as it is to see them stick up for each other and themselves, we're working on doing it with a bit of a nicer tone. =)
• When Colin picks on Justin, Justin says "Go timeout. Go timeout now." haha. We've sent the boys to timeout so many times that we've conditioned them. When the microwave beeper goes off, one of them usually says, "timeout's over" even if nobody is in timeout.
• Long story short, Colin realized that Daddy was the easter bunny (who hides easter baskets on easter) and I was the binkie fairy (taking binkies from kids who don't need them anymore.) Jack & I were relieved that we didn't have to lie to him anymore. Well, except that he thought that Jack was THE easter bunny and asked "does daddy go to all of the homes to hide baskets?" and that I was THE binkie fairy and asked, "how do you go to all of the houses to take binkies?" A bit more pushing and we finally got him to the point that we were only said characters in our house for our family.
• One morning, I was giving Justin kisses. He looked at me and said, "no more kisses, mommy." I looked at him in shock and said, "absolutely not" and smothered him with hugs and kisses. Really? This can't be starting yet. 
• When Justin wants his binkie and Jack & I say no, we have found Colin sneaking around the house and climbing on things to get Justin a binkie in secret. It breaks my heart to catch them, but we do try and maintain some order in the house. Mom's the boss.
• When Justin is about to jump off of something, he points his finger and counts "3-4-5." I swear, it's much cuter in person.
• Colin is in an "I know" phase. If I tell him something he may have already learned, I get an "I know, mom." What am I supposed to do with that?
• If you tell Justin he's handsome, he shrugs his shoulders, tilts his head to the left and smiles.
• Instead of answering "no," Justin will say "I'm fine" and walk away. It took me awhile to catch on to this and it's hilarious how many times he actually uses "I'm fine" to tell someone "no."
• I love these boys more than anything.

Today (Monday) was a long day transition back to work...but I was pleasantly surprised when a friend dropped off sushi at 6:15pm. YES! Dinner life-saver. How lucky am I? Colin ate it up - and well, Justin ate toast. Still pushing Justin's taste buds - but he challenges us everyday.

We wish you a great week and may you be blessed with mountains of sushi!