Surviving the "Sharpie"

Many of you already know about the art work that Caden created last week in our family room with a blue sharpie. Within a few minutes of being alone downstairs, he quickly found a blue sharpie and literally marked everything in his path. I am still finding little spots here and there that I missed in the 4 hour mayhem clean up efforts.

So, the biggest canvas that Caden found was our leather couch and chair. Ouch. It's been a little over a week now and I am not hysterical anymore. That morning I was. My parents came to help and thank goodness, we were able to make a lot of progress. Today was the day that I was waiting for to see if the "Leather Pro" guy could erase the "permanent" ink. He just left and I am happy with the results. It isn't perfect, but there 6 year old pieces of furniture weren't perfect to begin with. Actually the furniture has been great, especially with little boys. We'll replace them eventually, but they are fine for a few more years...

These pictures are of the same spot.

Before:

After:

If I hadn't been such a wreak that morning, I should have made pictures, as it was everywhere and amazing. Probably could have won $10k on America's Funniest Videos too (but it wasn't funny at the time). Oh well.

So, a word to all those mothers out there - don't leave a sharpie or any writing utensil in the reach of small ones. I've learned my lesson.

Oh, with their masks...

Seeing double, originally uploaded by mama.milton.

Austin requested that I posted this picture too...

Austin and Zack

Revealing their secret identities, originally uploaded by mama.milton.

Austin is such a big boy these days. Aunt Sissy called on Saturday and asked if Austin could go over for dinner and a play date with Zack. He had such a good time there, in their Spiderman costumes, eating pizza and ice cream (probably more ice cream than pizza). It's fun to see our little boy get more mature!

What we do outside...

Caden, the Harley boy.

Here are a few pictures of what we do several afternoons a week (as long as it's not raining). Between the three families, there are six kids that play together ALL THE TIME. Simon, 7...Jack, 5...Austin, 4...Issac, 4...Drew, 2...Caden...1.

Playing a game of ball - Shelly in the street!

Shelly, Shari and I get along great and we often sit, eat and drink (yes, that is how we end up in my cheerleading outfits!) around the utility box in between our houses. So glad that we live in a neighborhood with great friends and kids for our boys to play and grow up with!

Eating a snack!

Friday Field Trip

Last Friday we had a field trip with Austin's class to the World Forestry Center in Portland. It was the first outing with Austin's school that I've taken Caden. Luckily, they were both well behaved and had a great time.

Here are the boys before we went:

Here are some photos of the boys at the museum:

Lots of comments were made to me about their matching shirts. I was glad they were, as it was a quick glance to know where they both were at all times. Going to be the plan for our upcoming Disneyland trip too! :)

Caden, Alexis & Evelyn

Lexi and Zack were over last week after school for a little bit. The boys love to have their cousins over - Zack and Austin usually head upstairs to the toy room or computer...and Lexi loves to be with Caden. Here's a cute photo of them together (Evelyn is Lexi's doll) watching none other than the big mouse. Gotta love it!

Caden

Thought that it was cute that Caden's shirt was the same blue as his blankie, binkie and puppy. He was smiling under that blankie, as you can see it in his twinkling little eye! Can't believe that he'll be 2 in just 3 months!

Here's what a kid looks like after having a piece of black licorice! He loves the stuff, but it sure does make a mess! FYI - he had this after lunch, although he was still in his pajamas. No, I don't feed candy to the boys in the morning (are you crazy?!)!