Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On Saturday evening, we went to Mim and Poppa O'Finkelstein's to celebrate an early St. Patrick's Day.  Nikki, Scott, Sam and Levi were in town so it was definitely a house full!  The menu included corned beef brisket, mashed potatoes, maple glazed carrots and Irish soda bread.  For dessert we enjoyed Luck of the Irish brownies and mint chocolate chip ice cream (my favorite!).  The boys all enjoyed playing together and the adults enjoyed the chance to sit and visit. We didn't get back home until almost 9 o'clock, so both boys were wiped out and went straight to bed!  We just loved getting together with our family and feel so blessed to live close enough to see them often and celebrate holidays together!

The adult table in the dining room complete with shamrock plants we got to take home!

Sam made nameplates and even gave each of us St. Patrick's Day word searches.

The kids' table in the kitchen was also decked out for the occasion!

All the cousins!!

A Day at the Zoo

Thursday was the perfect day for a family outing at The Dallas Zoo.  Before Jonah was born, we had been zoo members but let our membership go when we had an infant and knew we wouldn't be visiting as often. Now that he's almost two, it was time to re-enroll!  Jonah is definitely an animal lover and we knew he would have a wonderful time seeing all the animals we read about in real life.

We arrived at the zoo about 30 minutes after it opened and it seems as though we beat the crowd.  We headed over to The Giants of the Savanna to feed the giraffes first because we were told that it gets busy very fast.  We knew this area of the zoo would be the busiest, because it's newer and definitely has the "high profile" animals most people want to see. 

The weather was crisp and cool but warmed up nicely.  We left the zoo around noon and at that time it was really starting to warm up and the zoo was getting really busy.  Definitely time to head home for nap time!  It was such a fantastic way to spend the morning and we look forward to going back very soon!

Because it had been a busy week at the zoo (with record attendance on Tuesday), the giraffes weren't very hungry and we were told they were getting tired of all the people.  We waited patiently and finally, a few started coming over for some lettuce!

It was already quite crowded and difficult to get a good picture of Jonah feeding the giraffe!!

I love this guy!

One happy boy!

We loved watching the cheetah roam around!

Jacob loved watching the elephants!

Jonah loved getting out of his stroller to stand with brother and enjoy all the animals!  We learned that the zookeepers had been working for the past six months to integrate the zebras, giraffes and elephants.  It was interesting to watch them all in the same area!

The boys loved watching the (stinky) warthog!

It's Pumba!

Jonah loves the book How Loud is a Lion and loved roaring at the lions!

We headed to the cafe located next to the lions for a quick snack and a better view!

Jonah was not pleased I turned him around for a photo, he wanted to see the lions!

Watching the penguins

Yay!  We actually got to see the tiger! 

Jonah was so excited to see the tiger, he was laughing so hard that the people all around us were cracking up!

Proof that I was actually in attendance (with coffee in hand, of course)!

New Fence!!!

When we bought our house (almost nine years ago!), one of the biggest selling features was the amazing backyard.  Because our house is in the "elbow" of two streets, we have probably one of the largest backyards you'll see in this area.  As DINKs, we didn't really use the backyard and therefore, didn't put any money into it.  Now with two active boys, we've been spending more and more time outside.  Unfortunately, the fence (which was original to the house) was in poor shape and continued to get worse and worse over the past year.  A few years back, we had a fence company come out and give us a quote but at the time we had one income and there was no way we could swing the price tag on a new fence.  Finally, after many years and watching our fence continue to deteriorate (we arrived home from school one day to find part of our fence completely blown down!) this past week we were finally able to replace our fence and finally be able to have the privacy and safety we've been longing for!

Here are some before and after photos:

From the front yard

Interior

Coming up the driveway (notice part of the fence is down up by the garage door!)

From the alley

In about a month or so, the company will come back out and stain the fence, once the wood as acclimated and cured.  We had such a great experience with Texas State Fence and the boys loved watching the workers build the fence each day!

Now on to other backyard projects...

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was the first official day of Spring Break and it couldn't have been better!  We had originally planned on going to The Children's Aquarium at Fair Park, but Nathan woke up not feeling well and the fence company didn't get to the house until nearly 11 to start demolition and get started on our new, beautiful fence.

Instead, we had a low key, relaxing day at home and enjoyed just playing together.  After nap time and OT, we all went to dinner at Posados to celebrate.  The night was absolutely perfect, so we spent some time outside playing for a bit before bedtime.  It was a little strange to play in our backyard with only metal posts sticking up and no real fence, but we enjoyed it nonetheless!

We are certainly looking forward to the remainder of Spring Break!!

No birthday is complete without strawberry cake, candles and singing!

Healthy Teeth!

Jacob was due for his 6 month check up with Dr. Jeff on President's Day.  School was out, but teachers had a work day, so Daddy took him!  Jonah came along, too and it'll be his turn to see Dr. Jeff soon!

Jacob has been doing a much better job brushing his teeth and not fighting it lately.  All the hard work paid off and he had zero cavities!  Quite a while ago, we purchased the Sonicare toothbrush for kids and couldn't recommend it more.  We were able to order it through Mim's work and it has really helped Jacob brush for the correct amount of time because of the timer built in.  It beeps when it's time to move to a new quadrant and as long as he doesn't get lazy, he's able to get nice and clean!

We're still working with Jonah to brush his teeth and not just bite the toothbrush when we try to brush!  He usually loves to do it and won't fight too much, thank goodness!!

Brushing up before the appointment!

Jonah watching on as Jacob gets his teeth cleaned. 

Valentine's Day!

After this year, I've decided that Valentine's Day should always fall on a Friday!  The children are always so excited and you don't mind getting them all sugared up at school knowing that they'll be home for the weekend afterwards!  This year was even better because President's Day fell on the following Monday so it was a three day weekend for the kids.

Jacob had to bring his class valentines to school on Monday (which I thought was a bit odd) and we ended up making the same valentines as last year.  A new school and new kids so we didn't mind the same valentines!  I ordered a digital file of Jonah's tags on Etsy and just had them printed in color on cardstock.  Then we bough the GoSqueeze applesauce and attached the tags.  I think they were a hit with all of Jonah's friends!

Jonah's valentines this year-his friends loved the applesauce he brought! 

Jacob's valentines (tags also ordered on Etsy) attached to individual Chips Ahoy cookie bags.

Jonah loved having a pizza party at school with all his friends!

After school, we gave the boys their valentines gift from us.  Needless to say, Jacob received a new Lego set and we gave Jonah a transport truck that holds all the Go Go Smart Wheels vehicles he has collected since Christmas.  They played for a little bit before we headed to the mall.  We love taking the boys to the mall because there is so much to do!  Jacob used his money he got from Mim and Poppa to buy a new Lego set at the Lego store, we stopped by Starbucks for a little treat and bought some new books at Barnes and Noble.  Then it was time to ride the carousel.  Jonah had never ridden it before, and to say he had fun would be a major understatement!  He LOVED it!!  Just as the mall was beginning to get busy, we headed for home.  A special Happy Meal dinner for the boys and then bedtime.  Truly, the perfect way to spend Valentine's Day!!!

More police station Legos to add to his ever-growing collection!

Jonah couldn't wait to take his truck out of the packaging and play!

Jonah was so excited for his first ride on the carousel!

Photo bombed by Jacob!!!

Flashback Friday: Valentine's Day Edition

Valentine's Day 2013