Silent Sunday

Happy Birthday :)

Here we are, Dylan.  Our first photo...

...and now, you are one!  Auntie loves you, and I hope you're having the best day ever!

And to my mother-in-law, Diane - who so graciously shares her special day with my nephew: Happy Birthday to you.  I am so lucky that I get to be a part of your family every day.  I love you so much.

St. Patty's Day

Today was another snow day.  Have I told you how much I love snow days?  Because I do.

*****

This morning began when I heard a little sniffle coming from my side of the bed.  I rolled over, opened my right eye (Remember?  I have to open my eyes at different times to allow my left eye to adjust to light after a full night's sleep.), and listened to Hannah as she told me, "I pee pee'd in my bed."

"No, you didn't, Hannah.  You have on a pull-up.  Remember?"  (Yes, we're back in pull-ups at night time for awhile.  Mama can only change the sheets so many times before her back starts to really hurt.)

"My bed is wet."

I opened my other eye and pulled myself out of bed.  We went to check out the bed situation.  Sure enough, it was wet.  Not sure how she pulled that off, but we stripped her bed (again!) and got her changed.  We got some juice and turned on some cartoons.

Our day had begun.

Within an hour, Miss Hannah had pretty green toenails with gold glitter specks.  And I only had to paint her big toe four times before she let it fully dry :)

*****

While I cleaned up the office (note: scanned, filed, organized, shredded the millions of pieces of paper my littles produce within a week), the kids did some artwork at their little work station.  It makes me happy.  Posting soon, I promise.

Then, somehow, they got inspired to throw a pretend birthday party for Jack.  They went to work decorating the family room while I attempted to plan parts of our upcoming Disney vacation.  (I know, more on that coming soon!)

I didn't plan for long.  It's overwhelming, so I wrapped that up and decided to make lunch.  Lunch - I can do :)

*****

After lunch (only two spills!), we watched a cartoon together in our bed, and then I napped with the littles.  I love these times so much - I can't even tell you.

Don't they look so cozy?

*****

After nap, we decided to go outside and play in the snow for a bit.  We shoveled the driveway and did some sledding on the side of the house.  This time, both of them enjoyed the sled!

When I finished shoveling, I sent Brad a text:

*****

I decided to be a bit adventurous and do a painting project with the kiddos before Daddy got home.  We don't do a ton of painting around here, but I found this cute idea on Pinterest, and I thought the kids would enjoy it.  I was impressed with their work, and they couldn't wait to show Daddy when he got home!

It was a good, full day.  And tomorrow we have a two-hour delay.  It's always nice to have such a slow start back to our work week.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Silent Sunday

Spring is close - we can feel it.

{Also, one of our little lovelies is learning to pedal, and the other is learning to balance without training wheels.}

Just Now

A day full of shopping for spring clothes, riding bikes, and fresh air.  I know you're sleepy.  Good night, little ones.

Manners Matter

We've been working on manners with the kids.  Well, I'm pretty sure that all parents are always working on manners with their children, but still.

One of our best opportunities seems to come at dinner time.  The kids have a tendency to announce when they don't like something as soon as they come to the table, and Brad is really good about reminding them to thank me for making them a nice dinner.

Most nights, even if they don't like what we're serving, they say thank you.

But tonight, Hannah gave manners a new twist.

Daddy had worked from home, and I was feeling especially sleepy after work.  I took a tiny cat nap on the couch before dinner, and he decided to make salmon for the three of them while I planned to eat leftover nachos.

When we sat down to eat dinner, Hannah, in her most polite voice, said, "Thank you, Mommy, for not making dinner and sleeping," without a mean or condescending bone in her body.

She really was trying to be sweet.  I think...

Just Now

{Those lips...}

Future Engineer

Tonight, Brad and I were tucking Jack into bed, and he was talking about all the fun he'd had building Legos with Grandpa earlier in the day.  Today they put together a race car, and Jack said he'd made a few mistakes while putting it together, but that the kit was made for seven year olds.

He really is very great at building things and following Lego directions step-by-step.  And normally, the mistakes he does make are because his brain is thinking three steps ahead.  He puts things the way he knows they are going to be before he's necessarily ready for them to be that way.  It's hard to explain, but I'm telling you he's a Lego-genius.

Anyhow, we were talking about how great he is at Legos, and I made the comment that maybe one day he'd be an engineer.  To be fair, I don't really know what engineers do.  I think I get them confused with architects.  But Jack questioned the word engineer, and I tried to clarify by saying maybe he'd be an architect and plan buildings.

Daddy suggested that maybe one day he'd create a miniature black hole with super-electro magnets so that everyone in the world could have free energy and no one would be cold at night.  (You can only imagine if I'm thrown by what engineers do, that this threw me for a loop.)

Jack thought about it for a few seconds, and then suggested that maybe he could use blueberries.

"Because that would make it more black."

I love the way that boy thinks.  I really do.

I love snow days.

Not So Silent Sunday

{Video: You Are My Cupcake}

From what we can gather: You are my cupcake, my sticky little gumdrop, my (unintelligible) sweet pea, my (unintelligible) cutie pie, my honey roasted peanuts, my chocolate pumpkin.  Baby, I would just eat you up!  Chomp, chomp!

You are welcome.