face it!

just in case there was any question
about whether alex gets out and has fun ...

i have PLENTY of proof.

my bedtime confession

i have one kid who would like to sit and talk for hours
about probability, estimations, and the magnetic force.

i have another who sees his school desk chair
more as a gymnastics aparatus
than a desk chair.

is there really ANY question why some days i just REALLY look forward to bedtime?

it's about time!

alex HATES haircuts.
he swears that when you cut his hair it hurts.
he is certain that every time they touch him they are hurting him.
and he doesn't care if i hold him down (which i've done) while they cut it ...
he'll just scream!

yet somehow ...

i FINALLY convinced him to WILLINGLY
get a haircut today.

he sat and ate his sucker,
watched dora,
pretended to be amused while the lady blew bubbles all around the room,
and then ended it all with a request for 'spikes and blue stuff'.



NOW ...
i'm hoping it just gets easier from here ...

but i'm not holding my breath.

the brains of the bunch

as of tonight swim lessons are officially over.

ben and drew ROCKED.
they LOVE the water
and if they could ...
they would spend HOURS at the pool EVERY night!

THEN ...
there's alex ...
as usual ...
he had his own agenda.

i suggest swim lessons to him and i either get

this ...



or this ...



it's only when i suggest
mountain dew and cheese curds
that i see this ...



what a smart kid.

proof that alex has fun too ;)

a blast from the past

this morning we decided to go to the childrens museum.
because of everyone having the day off,
we were all able to go together (which doesn't happen very often)
so it was really fun! :)

as i sat down tonight to edit my pictures
i thought ...
we really have come a long way in 8 years.

we came to the museum today with -
three independent boys.

no stroller.
no diapers.
no wipes.

no fear of them running off.
no fear of them getting plowed over.
and
no concerns about them putting things in their mouths.

it really is a change.
but it's a good change.
and it's fun to look back at.

SO ...
i decided that before i post my NEW pictures ...
it might be a little fun to take a look back at where we've been.

some of my favorite childrens museum pictures.

can you tell who is who ???
i made it easy for you ;)
i went in order.

hugs and kisses!

our valentines day started NICE and early.

before going to bed, i set up a treasure hunt for the boys -
SO ...
it didn't matter that it was 6:30 when they woke up ...
they saw the clues and INSTANTLY got started on their hunt.
their last clue lead them to me
(still in bed, of course)
so i gave them their 'giant kiss' and then we sent them downstairs to play
while we rested a bit longer.

about 10 minutes later they surprised us by delivering an 'incredible' breakfast in bed -
lukewarm chocolate chip eggo pancakes and about 16 ounces of orange juice ;)
mmmm ;)



how do you top that??

well ... i tried.

nothing beats strawberries and whipped cream.
right???

WELL ...

ALMOST nothing.

and ONLY because it was valentines day
did we throw everything out the window ...
and let them enjoy their 'giant kiss' ...
all 11 ounces of it ...
at 7 in the morning.



now THAT is love.

hoarders

i'm beginning to think that i have a contender for a future 'hoarders' episode on my hands.

yesterday i went to ben's valentines party.
when it was finished i walked out to his locker with him
and just about died when he opened it.



stuffed into the bottom of his locker was -

* ONE winter coat
(this is not the one he wore that day. so really he had TWO winter coats)
*ONE pair of slippers
*TWO gloves
(also in addition to the ones he wore that day)
*ONE mitten
and
*SEVEN shirts!

he is in first grade.
his locker is 1 foot wide.

can you just imagine what he could do with 1000 square feet?!

dear chewy ...

ben has a 'letter station' in his classroom.
at any point during 'free time' the kids can take the time to write a letter to anyone they would like.

i've been on the receiving end before
and of course i LOVE it.

well ...
today i had to share the love with someone else.

ben's other love ...

now it's cute and all.
and it really made me smile.

but ... it also encouraged me to write my own letter.

dear chewy,
first you convince everyone in the house
except me
to let you kiss them right on the mouth ...
ewwww
now you're taking my love letters ...

you better be careful, puppy.

ben's valentines party

just another ...

normal day

celebrating global warming

although we haven't gotten hit as bad as the northeast ...
we've still gotten a TON of snow.

the problem is ...
it's seems like too often we get the snow
and then the temperature drops ...
REALLY low.
too low.
as in ... below zero ... why do i live in this state ... low.

THANKFULLY, though
the past week has been different.
we got a bunch of BEAUTIFUL snow
AND
it stayed nice out.

that gave the boys the perfect opportunity to go outside after school today
and
take full advantage of our 'sledding hill'

drew's friend, jack
(who also happens to be our neighbor)
came over and they kept VERY busy.



even alex got in on the action!
when it comes to sledding
and ONLY sledding
the kid has no fear



it's safe to say that
they spent more time tackling each other
and 'being boys'
than they did racing down the hill -



but ...

they aren't TOO rough.
usually.

and ...
well ...
they always help alex when he ends up sledding into the weeds ...

well ...
usually :)

so ...
really ...
it's all good.

i have a 'sledding hill' in my backyard.
i have a camera (which i am SO thankful for at times like this) with a nice zoom lens.
and
i have a warm house to watch from.

if only starbucks delivered.

drew knows.

drew knows football.

drew knows baseball.

drew knows it ALL.



well almost.

what he doesn't know is whether he should play for the vikings when he grows up
or for the twins.

he's fairly certain it will just be too difficult to play for both.
(he's talked it through with me)

thankfully he has a few more years to weigh the pros and cons.

in the mean time -
we have 2 months to teach drew what it means
to know baseball when it's a kid pitching to you and not a coach.

um. ya.

never under-prepared

so ... this is my 2nd post for the night ...
but i couldn't let the day pass without this ...




do you notice something a little odd in the above picture?
PERHAPS
that alex isn't just wearing one pair of underwear??
or maybe that he's not even just wearing TWO pairs of underwear!?!
(that happens more often than you'd think)

IN FACT ...
the truth is ...
alex spent the entire day today with ...

wait for it ...

THREE

pairs of underwear on!

one pair of madagascar
one pair of lightning mcqueen
and
one pair of buzz lightyear

now, i don't know if it was that he was indecisive ...
or maybe he just didn't want to be caught without any, should something happen ...

but whatever the deal is ...
why is it that i have one kid who we HOPE is wearing JUST ONE pair
and then i have another who walks around wearing THREE ?!

a kid-o on a mission

on sunday the preschoolers at church were each given a tube of mini m&m's

alex was excited about getting it -
BUT ...
he was more excited just to tell us about it

'first, i need to ask you when it is ok to eat these.
THEN, i need to take this (the tube) and fill it with moneys.
then bring it to church
and they will give it to hungry kiddos'

SO ...
right away when we got home we let him eat the m&m's
and he immediately started his collecting
we didn't make it too tough on him -
he went and found our coin bucket and filled it up with coins ;)

since then ...
he carries it around ...
dumps the money out ...
'counts it' ...
and then puts it back.
today he did it and told me ...
'see, they told us this was going to be hard work'
thinking i should've given him jobs to get the money so that
the hard work part wasn't dumping it out and putting it back ;)

he continues to refer to it as his 'money for the hungry kiddos'
and he is SUPER excited to take it back to church

it's funny how something as simple as
one mini m&m tube filled with quarters can do so many things.

most importantly it ...
* can feed 82 'hungry kiddos'

but ...
* it's also taught lots of other little 'kiddos' about the joy that can be found in helping others
and
* that even though they're little they can make a big difference
and
i love that.

my perfect shopping partner

the music at abercrombie put him to sleep ...

making the clothes i bought there worth every penny ;)