If I had a hammer....

I am always looking for fun and different things to do with the boys.  I love making memories with them and this weekend, we had a new "first" experience:  The Home Depot Kids Workshop.   A few months ago on a mom-blog I read, I saw that the author often had pictures of her kids in Home Depot aprons and I wondered what it was about - well, about a month ago after seeing another picture, I googled "home depot kids" and came to find out that once a month, they have a free kids workshop so I signed the boys up.   This past Saturday, we took the bus crosstown to the Home Depot for our first workshop.

Immediately upon walking in, Dylan spotted the "free popcorn" cart and declared it the best day when I told them they could each have a cup (at 8:45 am).  Ryan said the workshop was a great idea as soon as he was given a personalized work apron and he asked me to sign him up for the next workshop before we even sat down.

The March project was a Trojan Horse Bank which is featured in the upcoming move, Mr. Peabody and Sherman.   The project was cute and relatively simple and the only tools requires were a hammer and a screwdriver (plus we got to teach the kids about what a Trojan horse is).  Ryan did a terrific job reading the directions himself and he needed minimal help (I sometimes needed to hold the wood in place while he held a nail and hammered/screwed in a screw etc). 

It was a lot harder for Dylan and I am pretty sure Jay almost lost a finger or three, but for the most part, Dylan stayed focused and wanted to do the work himself.

Once the bank was fully assembled, they decorated it with stickers and then received their certificate of completion and their commemorative pin. (each project has its own unique pin).



 As excited as they were to successfully complete their banks and that they got to take them home, along with their aprons and pins, they were equally excited that they got to have more popcorn on the way out.   They even found another use for the pockets of their workshop apron.

After all of their hard work, the boys were very tired and needed to sit and rest before we left - of course, after they took a better look at their "couch" they also got very thirsty so it was time to head home.

 



It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that the boys were so excited about their workshop aprons, that they REFUSED to zip up their coats on the way home, even though it was 30 degrees out because they wanted everyone to see what they got!

I am so glad we got the chance to go to the workshop and the kids really enjoyed using the tools and making something.  Next month's project.... a bird bath from the movie Rio 2.

Reading

Almost everyday since Ryan was born, we have read him books at bedtime. We love the quiet cuddle time with him and he loves looking at the pictures and asking questions about the books. Ryan has really been paying attention while we read to him, and we have recently found him more frequently trying to read the books on his own. I don't think that he really looks at the words but I think that probably will come with time. I recently found out that many of the New York city library branches have a story time and I mentioned it to Elizabeth and she has started taking Ryan at least once a week. Jay and I have yet to have the chance to go, but Elizabeth says Ryan loves it and sits very quietly as the librarian reads to the group. After the first story time, Ryan and Elizabeth walked around the children's book section and read some more books in the children's section. Ryan was very unhappy when he could not take any of the books home so we decided to get him a library card and told him when he behaves at story time, he can borrow some books. Ryan was so happy and excited when he got his card

Elizabeth helped Ryan pick out some books and everyday since he brought them home, Ryan has sat at his table and read his books.

I didn't ask but I am guessing that Ryan picked out the book about Engines and Elizabeth picked out the books "Baby on Board" and "Mommy/Daddy love their baby". I LOVE the mommy/daddy book and Ryan loved the engine book and in theory, the baby on board book should have been perfect for continuing to prepare Ryan for the new baby to come. I am sure that is why Elizabeth picked it out but I am guessing she didn't read the book first. It goes through the different stages of pregnancy and changes that happen to mommy over 9 months. I was not surprised to discover the book was written by a man when I read the lines "Mom gets cranky a lot at the moment", "Mom says dad should practice sleeping on the sofa", and that dad brought sports magazines and his game boy in mommy's hospital bag. It is lies, all lies that mommys would do any of the above things, I have had wonderful behavior for the past 9 months and Jay I am sure has no interest in looking at sports magazines in the hospital. As a result, this book will be heading back to the library asap. (just in case any readers think I am being serious, the entire time I was in labor with Ryan, SportsCenter was on the tv and on more than one occassion over the past 9 months, I have told Jay he better bring home cupcakes or else!!)

Are you sleeping or singing?

From almost the time Ryan was born, he has been "singing" himself to sleep. He used to do it any time he was falling asleep. Then he did it only in the car and when he was falling asleep for a nap. Now, he usually only does it in the car when he is tired. It makes me laugh every time and before Ryan stops doing it, I wanted to catch it on video. Finally, I got a chance to get it:

and to answer any questions: no, I was not driving while I took the video; yes, he is always that loud; yes Ryan did fall asleep soon after I turned the camera off; and yes, I am still laughing about it.