Tool of the Day!

Today Brian is making repairs on the corner of the house where daddy runs into it every once in a while.


Brian is sporting an all leather fully adjustable strapless Leighton four pocket tool apron Model DL 22. His apron contains an Estwing 16 oz straight claw model E16s framing hammer

Oh, and Brian say's " don't forget the Klein 12" model 1200 channel lock wrench!"

And Yes, those ARE steel toe sandels.

Measure Twice......

.......cut once! It's even more easy to measure correctly if you keep your tape measure some where convenient like say, on your Daddy's belt! Brian and Daddy had this repair completed almost before Mommy even had time to get the camera ready!

"I Do It!"

There are several little jobs that Daddy wants to do around the house before it is officially on the market. That might seem overwhelming to a lot of people, but not to Daddy because he has Brian!

Yard Detail

When Mommy falls more than a couple days behind in updating the boy's blogs, we get well being calls from several people making sure everyone is okay here. We are all okay, but we have had a few additional things going on, like........buying a new house! Our current house is almost ready to go on the market. There are a few things that we want to do before prospective buyers start coming by to take a look. Brian and Spencer have been excellent helpers in getting their play area in the back yard all cleaned up!

BAM!

Daddy was feeling under the weather today so Mommy and the boys sent him back to bed while we went on an adventure this morning. Kendall Faith (Daddy's cousin Bill's adorable baby girl) was baptized this morning. It was a very nice service and we were honored to be a witness to this memorable day in Kendall's life.




We left the church and headed straight to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa. After taking some good naps, Brian was ready to help make dinner. He is a chef in training, which is pretty obvious as he yells "Bam" which each handful of toppings he tosses onto the pizza!
















He also did a very good job of making the bread sticks and yes, he is using his left hand for this too!

Fun Run!

Brian's cousins Krista and Erika (as well as Uncle Kevin) all ran in their school's 1 mile and 5-K fun run this morning. Erika ran the 1 mile race (and we do mean she ran it.....the whole way.....no walking, all running!) so she was the first one back at the finish line.
















Brian and Daddy waited patiently to see Krista and Uncle Kevin round the final corner so that we could all cheer them on across the finish line!

Drive Thru Service

Brian plays with the toy kitchen and toy food a lot. Tonight he put a new spin on his "food service". The mail slot on the front door made the perfect drive thru window where he could place his order at Daddy's Drive Thru!

Tool of the Day!

You are never to old to keep learning! Brian is a firm believer in this and subscribes to a variety of trade magazines specifically to keep informed of anything new going on in the construction industry. He saw this book while we were at the Children's Museum earlier this week. The information was was pretty basic for a trained professional such as Brian. For the average person wanting to learn something new though, it would be a very good read and Brian would highly recommend it!

I Need A Boost

When we gave Krista and Erika a ride to Grandma and Grandpa's house last week, we borrowed Uncle Kevin and Aunt June's booster seat. Aunt June stopped by to pick it up today and ended up having to "reason with a 2 year old". Brian thought he should hold onto it so Aunt June needed to convince him that he will be able to use it again when he's a little bigger but for right now, Erika needs it back.

Choo Choo!

We told you about our trip to the children's museum yesterday but we didn't mention what we did on our way home. It was about lunch time when we left the museum so we decided to try a new place out for lunch. We went to the All Aboard Diner in Downers Grove. If you are a kid or a kid at heart who likes trains - this is a restaurant for you! We sat at the counter looking at all of the train decor and before we knew it, our food came - delivered on a train!

There were rides, arcade games and lots of pictures to look at. There was also a big train set with buttons we could push to make things move and light up. Before we left, Brian was very happy to toot the train whistle to let everyone know that he had a wonderful time!

Dupage Children's Museum

Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy and the boys went on an adventure this morning. We went to the Dupage Children's Museum in Naperville Illinois and fun was had by ALL! There was so much to see and do. We were there until the boys were exhausted and we didn't even make it past the first floor! Here are a couple pictures of some of the many fun things we did and saw while we were there!

We had a great time and will definitely be back!

Saddle Up Boys!

On spring, summer and early fall Saturday mornings (weather permitting), Daddy and a few of his friends enjoy some of our area trails by logging some miles on their bikes. The weather is getting nicer so Daddy took his gear out to get it ready. Brian wasn't about to sit back just looking at Daddy's cool stuff - he needed to try it all on! He started with the skull cap......

.......and topped it off with the bicycle helmet. Tools aren't the ONLY thing Brian is safety conscience about. You have to protect your nugget!

The Four B's

Two Boys + Bubbles + Basketball + the Backyard = a great afternoon! Grandma and Grandpa helped teach Brian how to blow his own bubbles......something he was very proud to accomplish!

We played with bubbles and we played with sidewalk chalk. Soon the call of the basketball hoop was more than Brian could stand so he showed Grandpa some of his skills!

Vigfus the Viking!

The boys got a wonderful surprise this evening.....Grandma and Grandpa arrived from South Dakota! Play time was cut short this evening because it was soon time for bed. They did however get to have tonight's bedtime stories read to them by Grandpa!

Tool of the Day!

The latch on our back screen door broke. Fortunately, Brian lives here and with his arsenal of tools - he had a new latch in place and working within minutes! This Sears Craftsman 22.007 6 inch #2 phillips screwdriver did the trick for a quick and problem free home repair!

With the door fixed and operational again, we loaded up into the trusty RSV and headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Great Grandma's flight from Arizona had just arrived and we wanted to welcome her home! She will be going back home to Iowa tomorrow so we tried to make the most of our short visit time together.

Youuuuuuur Out!

The boys have been having all kinds of fun playing with the balls that were in their Easter baskets. Brian is getting in some good practice time on his pitching technique (with both his left and right hand). Mommy and Daddy have been considering wearing catcher's masks when we play with him - at least until he gains a bit more "control" over his pitches.

Bed Head!

Brian's fine soft baby hair makes it pretty obvious when he has just got up from a nap! We have mentioned before that Brian loves playing with the computer. He continues to amaze us with how quickly he picks up on it. He can double click the mouse like a professional and is even comfortable closing programs and opening new ones.

Super Hero!

Brian was chatting away with Mommy this morning and kept repeating a couple word. She wasn't sure what he was saying at first but it soon became very clear that he was proclaiming himself a Super Hero! When his blanket transformed into a cape - it became even more obvious that he will be able to rid the world of evil with a single bound! (And as long as he doesn't have any urges to "fly" off the top of a dresser - Mommy is fine with his current career choice!)

Happy Easter!

Daddy was feeling 300% better today which was a wonderful thing since once again we played host to our family in our annual Easter dinner this afternoon. The boys got up a little earlier than normal and went to our church's sunrise service which was beautiful. Since they got up a little earlier, they took their naps a little earlier too which worked out perfectly! By the time they woke up, not only was our company starting to arrive - the Easter bunny came too!

Thanks to the great weather today, we were able to have our Easter egg hunt out in the back yard instead of in the basement like we have had to do in the past!

Egg-cetera!

Getting to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house to play with cousins Krista, Erika and Haley is fun in itself. Finding out that you get to die Easter eggs too.........well that got some excited cheers from Brian!

Brian and Spencer watched Daddy use the wax crayon to write a name on one of the eggs......

......and then Brian took over and did an outstanding job creating some very colorful eggs!

Haley + Ice Cream = FUN!!!!!!

Grandma and Haley came over today! Grandma got right to work doing her book work down in Daddy's office. Daddy is feeling icky so as soon as he got home from the doctor, he went straight to bed in hopes that he will be feeling better by Easter. Mommy thought that Daddy might get more rest and Grandma might get more work done if there were a few less little people in the house so - Mommy and the kids went out for lunch! Our original plan was to go to a place Aunt June suggested. It's a choo choo restaurant where your hot dog comes to you on a little model train! It all sounded like a great idea until we drove up to the restaurant and Mommy realized that there were a LOT of kids who didn't have school today and their parents all had the same idea of where to have lunch. We made a slight change in our plans, went to Culver's instead and still had a great time!

Also.......HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNCLE COLIN!!!!!!!

Tool Of The Day!

Spencer: So what have we got here?

Brian: It's a Signal Con model 2200 battery operated flashing street barricade.

Spencer: Yeah, but what's it doing in the house?

Brian: Daddy brought it in here, you know, it's the tool of the day.

Spencer: Mommy is not gonna like this. Think Daddy will get in trouble?

Brian: Naw, we'll say we brought it in. We NEVER get in trouble!

Who Loves Ya Baby!

Mommy and the boys were out running some errands today. The clerk in one of the stores we were in gave Brian a sucker. He has had these little dum-dum suckers before but they haven't held his interest for very long. Today was a different story though! On our way home he enjoyed every moment of this blueberry flavored sucker......but you can probably guess that just by looking at him!

Today's Quote!

There has been a lot of potty talk going around our house lately. That is to say - Mommy and Daddy have been really talking up the whole potty subject with Brian. Here's a little sample of today's morning conversation between Brian and his Daddy while Brian's diaper was being changed.

Daddy: So Brian, have you given anymore thought to starting to use the potty?

Brian: Yes

Daddy: You know that if you start using the potty like a big boy, you don't have to wear these diapers anymore. In fact, you could start wearing big boy underwear! So what do you think about using the potty.

Brian: Okay Daddy, but I want breakfast first.

****This picture has NOTHING to do with this story. No matter what it looks like, we aren't encouraging Brian to think of his toys as the potty - its just a photo that I haven't posted until today.

Kids Say The Darndest Things!

Brian is adding a new segment to his blog today. He comes up with hysterical little comments all the time, but sometimes we get so busy with other things that we don't have the chance to share those stories with all of you. Hopefully, this new segment will correct that!









The other day we were finishing dinner in the kitchen. Brian was pointing out whose pictures were on the refrigerator.


Brian: "That's Grandpa.........that's Haley........(while pointing to the picture that was taken on our recent trip to the South Dakota state capital), that's the Gub-e-ner!"

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Brian was a very good boy while he was in church yesterday. He still doesn't know the exact meaning of what his "indoor voice" is yet so he has been known to make some comments that everyone around us hears too. For example, the second the service ended yesterday Brian looked at Mommy and in his non-indoor voice "Mommy it's over"! That got a couple smirks from the people seated near us! Yesterday was Palm Sunday so everyone was given a palm branch. Brian has been waving it all over the house today calling it his "plum" branch.

The Giants!

This is what Brian Thomas would look like if he were a GIANT!!!!!

Rage!

In a fit of childish rage Brian Thomas flipped the basement couch over.















Actually he was helping Daddy clean the floor.

Before and After Pictures

For the past couple of days, Brian has been testing out the waters of this "terrible two" theory. However, life goes on and as you have noticed in the past several blog pictures, Brian has been in desperate need of a haircut. Yesterday Mommy (having some sort of death wish) decided that no matter what his mood was, he needed a hair cut. We had a few issues getting ready to go but when the chips were down, Brian pulled it together and was a very good boy while he was in the chair getting his hair cut. When he was done he looked at the woman and with no prompting from Mommy clearly said "thank you". When it was time to go and Mommy put his coat back on him, all bets were off and lets just say - I'm sure the store was happy to see that we were leaving.

We get a lot of comments from people about the cute pictures we take of the boys. Although we appreciate hearing this, we always think: "If I had only got the picture I was TRYING to get!" Digital cameras are great but there is always that split second from when you push the button to when the camera actually takes the picture. That's the moment when our subject (aka: Brian or Spencer) always seem to move or look away. Apparently Brian has a clear understanding of this problem because this is what he was saying today when he was playing with Mommy's camera phone.

Brian: (after looking at the picture he just took) "Ohh oh - missed it.........try again!"

Talk about a hysterical kid!

Tool of the Day!

Brian: Hey Daddy whatcha doin' at work today?

Daddy: Pouring some concrete.

Brian: You wanna use my Marshaltown model M 1600 magnesium 16" concrete float?

Daddy: Would you mind?

Brian: Not at all, I'm just playing with it.

Looking For Work

Since the economy is tough, Brian has decided to take his fathers advise and get a job. He has his own lawn mower, is fully insured and oh by the way, April Fools Day!