back to the zoo and the last day of kindergarten...

Well, I'm just not a very consistent blogger :) Our only computer (Josh's work laptop) other than ipads is on it's very last leg so uploading pictures takes a decade...hence my lack of blogging. BUT, here is a bit of we've been up to lately. We went back to our summer home....the ZOO!

of course Sydney rode a pony :)

and Miles still loves the goats (because he can touch them!)

this boy was fearless, he got right in there while they were eating

i think he was trying to brush every single one...he got pretty close!

they just opened a new Africa exhibit and it's really awesome

the giraffe viewing area was a family favorite!
they come right up to you....almost face to face!

such a pretty area

fun day!!

And today is Sydney's last day of kindergarten!! This school year flew by.  I'm thankful school is done and to have Sydney home all day every day! Just by judging how fast this year went I dread how fast the following years will go by. I wish time would just slow down a bit! Sydney did so well in school this year. She really came out of her shell and learned so much, so quickly. She made good friends and really enjoyed her teacher. She ended the school year two reading levels ahead what was recommended, she excelled in Math and writing. And is the best little artist I know :)
Look how much she's grown...

Easter :)

We had a wonderful Easter day full of baskets, church, and lots of working on the house :)  I had pictures of the kids with their baskets but my camera decided to not keep those...bummer :( Sydney got to sing in the children's choir at church and really enjoyed that (video below!) It was a great day of remembering that our Savior Jesus Christ is risen and has given us life!!

Ready for church :)

She found an egg
(this was a reenactment since I lost the other photos :)

he found one too!

 

Happy Easter from the Boozells :)

let's get to work...

We closed on the house Friday and wasted no time getting started!! We went right over to Home Depot, loaded up the minivan with supplies, and spent the weekend hard at work. Here are a few "in progress" shots of the house...

kitchen- before and in progress

bathroom- before and in progress

living room- before and in progress

Sydney's room- before and in progress
the color is much more subdued in person

Sydney got to help paint her room a nice bright yellow!

The kids were troopers while we worked!
We set up a little play room and they pretend painted quite a bit :)

And in other news, there was a pretty hilarious conversation going on between our kids on the way to church yesterday. Sydney learned how to play "truth or dare" at sleepover with her cousins a couple weeks ago. (her examples of their game...truth: do you like horses or unicorns better? or dare: you have to lick your toe :) So here was the conversation...
Sydney: "Miles, Truth or Death?"
Josh and I laugh quite a bit
Josh: "it's Truth or Dare, always Dare...never Death" haha
Sydney: "ok, Truth or Dare Miles?"
Miles has no idea what's going on
Sydney: "Ok, Truth? Do you like God or plants better?"
Miles: "I want Elmo."
Sydney: "Ok, Truth or dare Miles? You pick truth. Do you like Jesus or cars better?"
Miles: "I like friends."
It was an entertaining drive, to say the very least :)

we bought a house!

Tomorrow we will be closing on a house!! We are buying the house to remodel and sell in a year or so, so it's more of a project than a home...but in the mean time it's still ours :) It's going to make for a crazy busy month between working, packing, and moving! Below are the before shots...lots of work to do!!!

our little mint green house :)
(we'll be changing the color)

backyard and garage

backyard....yay for a fenced in yard!

kitchen

living room

Master bedroom 

Mile's room

Sydney's room

bathroom

laundry

And before the crazy busyness begins, we took a second to play playdough....

big birthday boy!

Blogging has been sparse this year do to the fact that this is the longest winter EVER. We've done very little blog or picture worthy things around here lately.  However, we did just celebrate a big boy's birthday that I wanted to make sure got some face time on here. It is mind blowing that my baby boy is now officially a two year old....no longer a baby :( Miles is the sweetest little boy in the world. Sadly, he has embraced the terrible twos head on...full of tantrums, yelling/screaming in public (my favorite *sarcasm*), climbing in and out of things, telling me no (really not my favorite), and being incredibly stubborn in every way (really really not my favorite). BUT, on the flip side, when he is not acting terrible....he is wonderful. He loves to sing and dance and is quite the entertainer. He has, like his sister, inherited his father's ear for music and can sing me a song with surprisingly correct melody (not always words, but you know...he's 2). He loves to get and give hugs and kisses...he came up to me the other night and said "I wanna cuddle please" Who can say no to that??? He loves to laugh and make you laugh. He LOVES to color (although him with markers causes some anxiety for me!) He loves playing with Sydney and lets her lead the way. He loves to run, climb, and jump. I call him my little parrot because he repeats everything we say. He has a booming vocabulary so when he's not repeating us he's saying all kinds of things. He is so smart...he can count up to 10 (sometimes more) and  can identify a few letters, shapes, and colors already. He LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba (as you will see in the pics), books, "cool guys" (which are super heroes, football players, army guys, etc That term is a Miles original!) , pretend food, Elmo, blocks, tools, cars/trucks, and anything with buttons that makes noise :) He's a busy little guy and very curious. He keeps us on our toes and gives us lots of joy :) Happy 2nd birthday Miles.....

my attempt at a Brobee cake :)

happy birthday to Miles!

skyping with Grandma and Papa for cake time (see iPad on table)

opening gifts

our new little kitty, Lily,  wanted to help by eating the ribbon :)

Miles LOVED his pretend birthday cake from Nana

playing music with Uncle PC

Sydney  practicing reading with Nana

my fam with my brother Nick (aka Uncle PC)

kiddos with Nana

our big 2 year old!!!!

Miles,

You are my favorite little boy. You have been such a blessing to us and I know that God has incredible things in store for you. You are so sweet and have such a tender heart. You can easily bring on a smile to anyone around you. You give us so much joy, you have no idea. You are like a little sponge, learning constantly and I can't wait to see how you learn and grow this year. We love you so very much Miles and we are so lucky to have you!

How has it been 2 months and 2 days since I last blogged?

Wow, I think I officially suck at blogging :) With the busy holiday times comes lots of busyness and no time to sit and blog. Since the last post, we've been to Indiana for Thanksgiving and to say farewell to my grandma's home (see the post below) , we've been to Pennsylvania for a Penn State game and family time, back to PA for Christmas celebration and back to Indiana for Christmas also. We've celebrated Sydney's birthday (she's 6!!) a few times and are now stuck in our frozen house as the outside temperatures are a mere 0 degrees (-22 windchill!!). It's been a very busy couple of months and in that busyness I wasn't the best at taking pictures. Below is the best that I have of a photo recap of our last several weeks :)



Sydney's "Thankful Tree"
(one leaf for each day of November represents what she is thankful for :)

Thanksgiving in Ft Wayne...

Elijah's first Thanksgiving

Kiddos watching parade

Elijah giving Miles a big fat Thanksgiving kiss :)

family photo :)

Gigi and her great grandkids

Updated pics of the kids...

 

 

First Snow!!!

 

let the Christmas begin....

going to Josh's work Christmas party

 

literally the only picture I took with my camera on Christmas morning :(

To Indiana we go....

Elijah is excited to open presents!

cousin fun!

with Uncle Shaun

they love their uncle PC :)

oh babies and their ipads ;)

more ipad fun with cousin Annie and Grandma Di

Syd's favorite Christmas presents

We made a stop at Maid-Rite (click here) in Greenville, OH

on our way home. THE BEST sandwiches EVER. We had not been

for years and years and boy did I forget just how amazing it is!

Syd and I left our mark on the famous gum wall :)

Let the birthday extravaganzas begin....

aunt Holly made some awesome birthday cupcakes!

And a super rainbow cake at Grandma and Grandpas!

and then finally her requested Unicorn cake with the Boozell cousins :)

had a bit of trouble with the icing, but Sydney loved it :)

 

It was a lot of traveling, but well worth it to see all of our family. Now, we're attempting to get

back into the swing of things but the extreme cold has left us trapped for a few days. We've exhausted about all the indoor activities, but here is what Sydney is doing this afternoon....making a book about the tooth fairy (she has a wiggly tooth :). This is her picture of when you lose a tooth and how the tooth fairy comes and gives money...she said to just follow the arrows :)

 

best.tooth fairy picture.ever.