they're dropping like flies

for some reason we loose teeth in twos at this house. caleb is kinda whimpy about pulling them, but they never hurt since they are so loose by the time they fall he doesn't really even notice they're gone.

caleb finally let mom get ahold of it with a tissue and he was in control of her hand. he moved it a bit, and out it came, followed quickly by 'i can't pull it, it hurts.' too bad it was already out!!!


a few weeks later and same dillimna. doesn't want to pull. so finally mom convinces him to tie a string on it. baby g did the honors although daddy's camera hand isn't quite so steady....

and another ones gone...another ones gone....another one bites the dust....

my handsome and toothless little man

holding frogs does not cause warts

we are trying to make the best of our last weeks in el paso. we love the rainy season as we have mentioned before, but we haven't had many opportunities to frog hunt. usually too late, too cold, too much lightning, etc. but we had a chance to late one night and off we went. for those of you not 'in the know' you have to frog hunt when it is still raining and has been for awhile(night is best). also, they are usually found closer to the sidewalks and curbs
such sweet brothers, hunting for froggie treasure

caleb helping ethan scoop it up! caleb was quite the frog hunter. didn't want to touch them much but was happy to scoop!

checking out their finds

caleb scooping one up

checking out the catch in the light. they would make this funny noise as we carried them along. not like a croaking, more like a squeal. the boys thought this was hilarious and said they were calling to their friends to watch out for the frog hunters

their catch. they caught 6 each i think-i told you they really were good at it

letting their catch go, can't really see it but needed proof no animals were harmed in the taking of these pictures.

next day it rained again. we know where the good puddles are and there is always fun to be had in a muddy puddle. add a bucket that your butt fits in and you're golden

puddle splashes

huge puddle

that evening our frogs returned. actually i think we dug them up with the yard work. the boys were so happy they stuck around (please don't mention they may not have actually been the same ones). they played with the frogs for hours and got really good at carrying them around gently. even 'baby g' got in on the action

ethan really liked the frogs, he was amazingly delicate and didn't freak out when they jumped around.

e shows off his new talent, the frog whisperer

4th festivities

this year the primary did an activity day on the 3rd of july and the boys loved it. there were games, crafts, and at the end they got to ride in a parade around the church with their newly decorated bikes. they especially loved the watermelon spitting competition.

the contest begins..

it took awhile to grasp, but when they figured out it was okay to spit they really stepped up!

ethan heads out on the parade route. i let the boys pick which bike to decorate and take and the need for speed took over in ethan! he was not happy though, because we kept having to remind him he needed to just push the gas and not rev the turbo when there were so many kids around.

caleb rides along..he's gotten amazing at riding his bike. he was so timid to try and now he is an old pro. he tries wheelies, and is determined to give me a lift someday. pretty scary thought!

garet along for the ride. he wasn't sure what was up, but had fun anyways

e rides along, here's the parade route, it was probably a total of 5 yards, but heck-it was fun!

g in the parade, i know you're jealous of the cool hat

waiting for the real parade. there is a small parade every year in el paso. we have tried (for the last 4 years) to go and it has always been fun. it seems to take forever to start though and its hard to contain and entertain until time to go!

after the parade.the boys are so cute, everyone decked them out in leis, beads, stickers, candy, all sorts of goodies

then we headed to a friends to watch fireworks. it was a ton of fun minus the mosquitoes. ethan still doesn't like the explosions

didn't much care for the fire either. guess the odds this kid ends up in the military are pretty small! scared of fire?? check! loud noises?? check!!

my favorite part of the 4th! is the calm that surrounds my boys as they take in the awesome show in the sky. it usually only lasts a few seconds and call me crazy, but in that quiet surreal moment i like to think my kids actually get what our independence is all about.

random adventures

time for a clean the camera off post. if you haven't noticed, i pulled these pics to blogger a few weeks ago and am just getting to post them now. sorry!
what?
not sure how this got in here! or what its all about

rock on..4th of july parade (more 4th pics to come)

keep on truckin. ethan loves his 4 wheeler

what a treat. sister gonzalez is the best! she buys my kids ice cream from the ice cream truck!!!

and they love it!!

the mess begins. i didn't know popsicles could be so messy! lucky we were already outside..

caleb finished, not too bad

ethan finished...he's got a lot to learn


this tank is at a weird little road side town park. totally un-marked, totally open for kids play. the boys were in heaven!!!

so i figured they probably didn't advertise this because its not the safest place for kids to play. but heck! it gave me a chance to stretch my legs, feed a screaming infant,and soak up some sun before climbing back in for the long haul

and caleb was so good to help brother up top. normally i would freak, but this day they were both quite coordinated and good together and we escaped the adventure without so much as a scratch or a sun-burnt nose


my boys on top of a mountain. we went on a hike a few weeks ago. one of those rare, but wonderful cloudy rainy days in el paso. i just can't stay inside when that happens.the boys loved it and today ethan was looking out the window with his binoculars and said, look i see the mountain i hiked-way over there! such memories

what we've found so far

now that we have tons of new pics to post, here are some that should have been posted long ago.
swimming pools by the ton!the only way to beat the heat is to stay wet or stay in the a/c. we choose wet most days. its just more fun that way.

wet faces are my new favorite things to see. the kids never throw a fit when there is water to be had.

splash time! these splash pads are great for the little ones but also make for cool calm down time places

alls well that ends well. and the 2 have to dry off before heading to the hot car.

i have a hard time with these random murals considered art? but here is one of them in downtown phoenix. the boys like scorpions so they climbed aboard.

we headed to the science center were the lego exhibit was in full swing. it was really fun, even for us adults.

this guy is made with legos. i know, not as cool as legoland, but still fun.

this took me forever to get since ethan was a bit afraid to stand too close.

watching the game

we hit the ball park on the way home. after the game was a concert but that required waiting and waiting until they set up the stage. the concert was kinda lame (lifehouse) but the boys enjoyed hearing live music

here's us all waiting

ethan waiting

caleb

even baby g is ready for the concert

ethan rocks

waiting on the light rail to carry us home. a long but fun day. you better believe we all slept well.