Daniel Tiger

Jack was so excited to see Daniel Tiger that he levitated.

We love Daniel Tiger.  The messages in each episode are spot on - long lives Mr. Rogers!  William and Jack had noticed that the real life Daniel Tiger was coming to town.  I talked to a friend and we secured tickets for our four youngest kids.  On Monday evening we headed down town for our adventure.  The boys could barely contain their excitement and it was adorable!

I know this picture is almost exactly like the one above, but that hug just couldn't be left out of the post.

We were literally seated in the 2nd to last row and the boys didn't mind one bit.  I bought them some popcorn and water and they were set.  Before the show began there was an image of trolley from the show zooming around the theater.  They thought that was pretty cool.

It might not look like it here, but they had a blast.  They all loved the songs - which are my favorite part of the show too.  I may be guilty of singing some of those songs in public a little too often.

It was an amazing night.  I love that we were able to share it with good friends.  These kiddos are pretty great and the friendships developing between all the them warm my heart.

It was a late night for my boys they were tired in the morning, but it was totally worth all the headaches.  I'll be on the lookout for more shows for us to enjoy together!

Butterflies and a Birthday

I'm a bit behind - as usual - but I wanted to document Brian's birthday.  It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful outside.  We took full advantage of the gorgeous, and very unfebruary weather and spent most of the weekend outside.  As an added bonus the cousins were in town too!

Brian's birthday was Sunday the 19th.  We started with some baking at home before heading to the park.  All of the kids had a blast running around like crazy at the park.

 After the park we headed over to the butterfly house.  It was actually pretty magical as we entered the butterfly filled dome.  The kids were told beforehand that they needed to be calm and they were.  I think they all had hopes that a butterfly would land on them if they were calm enough.

 Daddy nad Paisley were both lucky enough to ahve a butterflies land on them as we explored.  We headed back outside to explore the outdoor garden.  Things aren't quite up to snuff yet out there - nothing is growing and the pond is empty - but that didn't stop these crazy kids from having a great time.

We wrapped up the birthday with dinner and dessert over and Grandma and Grandpa's house.  See that fancy torte in front of Brian - I MADE THAT!  I was so impressed with myself.  It was pretty funny actually.  The recipe was in the paper about three weeks ago.  Brian carefully ripped it out and requested that I make it for his birthday.  I wonder what he will request for the big 40 next year?

Valentine's Party - Max

It's so much fun to go to Max's parties.  I feel like I know so many of the kids now from all the parties over the years.  It makes me smile when some of the kids come up and say 'Hi, Max's Mom'.

 The craft included a cutout of his hand.  I love hand print crafts - they show just how much the kids grow!  It also showed me that Max has really big hands - they are almost as big as mine! 

I wasn't sure how my perfectionist boy would do with this paper plate on the head drawing activity.  I was proud that he thought it was funny and didn't get upset that his heart was all kinds of off.  The kids also did a couple relays and wow - those third graders get competetive!

I look at this pictures and I see just how big our boy is getting.  Before we know it he will be finished with third grade.  It makes me say to see him gorwin up so fast but at the same time, it sure it fun to watch him grow.

We love out big guy so much that it hurts.

I love the sprinkel of freckles across his nose - they are starting to show up already this year.
I love that he is willing to try new things - he is signed up for a golf training leauge in addition to baseball this summer.
I love the way his brain thinks - he is so clever!
I love when he gets excited about learning new things - like exponents.
I love seeing his creative side shine through - like with his MOSAICS createive congress project.
I love how helpful he is with is brothers - especially Jack.
I love how he really rises to the occasion with his behavior - Aunt Kathy watched the boys for us last night and she couldn't say enough positive things about how helpful Max was.
I love him - sometimes I think of how hard it was for us to become parents initially.  I shed so many tears as we tried and failed to have a child for years.  I now think that God knew exactly what he was doing.  We were waiting to become not just parents, but Max's parents.  It was worth the wait.

Valentine's Party - William

 I love being a stay at home mom!  I think party days make me love it even more.  I always thought that as a teacher I would never have the chance to go to class parties with my kiddos.  William's party started with a special performer.  He was a little bit of a lot of things - comedian/magician/ventriloquist.  I thought it was a bit strange, but William and all of his friends loved every minute!

After the special guest it was time for games.  This game was super cute.  The kids each were given a card with some sort of animal on it.  They had to act out the animal and without talking find the other kiddo that was the same animal.  Watching the two little fishes find each other was adorable!

It might not look like it but that rug is made of hot lava!  The kids had to use the hearts to cross the lava without getting burned.  William had his bottom lip curled up in concentration the entire game.

Finally it was craft time.  William was a bit upset with how this one went - in fact it was way tougher than I thought it would be.  The end product it cute - his little hands made a heart once he glued them down the right way.


I love our little man in the middle so much!

I love his long lashes and hazel eyes.
I love his sense of humor - I can't think of a line now, but he is funny!
I love his ability to talk to anyone - like the woman at Chipolte today.
I love his focus when given a job - today our neighbor's paper didn't come.  When we were finished with ours I had William run it next door.  He took his job very seriously.  It melted my heart when he said "I'll tell her to have a nice day too!"  He loves to have a purpose and he takes so much pride in a job well done.
I love his snuggles - lately he has been a little snuggle bug.  He wants me to lay with him at night for a few minutes and we chat.  I savor those moments.
I love the the excitement he shows over the new things that he learns each day.
I love him - The other day he told me that he loves me from Greenland to the hot melted rock in the middle of the Earth, but I don't think he realizes that I love him even more than that.

Valentine's Party - Jack

There was a whole lot of partying going on last week.  We started off with Jack's class party on Monday.  It was so perfect that the party was at 11:00 and just five minutes away from Daddy's office.  He was able to sneak out for an early lunch and come celebrate with Jack and I - and the rest of his class.

 

It was a prefect little preschool party.  As we arrived the teacher was going over all the choices.  Jack's first choice was the bead sculpture.  He was super excited to show Daddy how to string those beads on his pipe cleaner.  He even helped out by handing beads to friends. 

 Next he chose a math game - he rolled  a die, made a stack of that many cubes and then put the cube stack on the right number on his little heart.  It was right up his alley and he loved it!

 Next up was valentine making.  I think Daddy was more excited than Jack about this one - there were scented markers on the table and it took Brian back to his elementary school days.  Jack wasn't so amused. 

 I just love this little grin so much!  Jack is doing so well in his new classroom.  He comes home and tells me all about what he did at school and he loves all the activities.  As we celebrated 'love day' as Daniel Tiger calls it I couldn't help but think about all the things I love about the boys. . .

I love Jack's big blue eyes.
I love the way he says with so much excitement "You are MY mommy!"
I love the smile on his face when I pick him up from school each day.
I love watching him dig for worms in the back yard.
I love how much he enjoyed being outside - we have had some gorgeous weather lately!
I love when he wants to give me one more hug and kiss at bedtime each night.
I love when he rubs noses with me like Daniel Tiger - complete with UggaMugga
I love him - more than he will ever know.

Muffins With Mom

Oh my goodness what a fabulous morning!  William and I headed to school early to have muffins together.  When Max was in kindergarten they did a Mother's Day tea, but I think the month of May is just too crazy as school so we had this event instead.  It was super cute.

William was so excited about it.  He saw me putting on make up this morning and decided that he needed to wear jeans and a collared shirt for the occasion - and it had to be his special button down shirt which meant I was ironing at 7:00am.  It was worth it.  To finish off his ensemble he even put on a belt he found in his closet.  I love that he got all dressed up for me.

We arrived and had our muffins and juice.  The kids made crowns that were supposed to be for us - but William decided he should wear it instead.

 The kids performed a song that they had prepared with their music teacher and it was adorable.  At one point all the lights went out and each child had a flashlight.  It was his very favorite part of the whole thing.

Before we knew it it was time to head back to his classroom and begin his day.  I walked him to his classroom and watched as he got all settled.  I love how independent he is becoming - at the same time I miss my baby!

Things Will Says

I'm throwing this picture in just because :)

This weekend I was admiring William's gorgeous eyelashes.  I will admit that I'm a tad bit jealous of them. . .

Me: William how did your eyelashes grow to be so long?
William: They grow a little bit every day because of all of your love for me!

My heart may have melted a bit. 

Beautiful February Day

I had a coworker years ago that would talk about the February Funk.  In fact she and her husband threw a party to try to ward it off.  I think I get it now.  I miss the sun.  I'm tired of the cold.  It's a pain to go out nad about with coats, hats, and gloves in tow.

I'm convinced that God knows what he is doing and every once in a while he throws us a bone.  Yesterday was gorgeous.  65 degrees and clear skies kind of gorgeous. 

I was determined to take advantage of it!  After lunch Jack and I headed on an adventure to The World Bird Sanctuary.  It was the perfect outing.  I had taken the boys a few years ago, but it was  whole lot more enjoyable when I was focused just on Jack.  He checked out every bird and had a few favorites.  Like this turkey.  There were some strawberries and tomatoes in his cage and Jack kept telling him that he should eat the strawberries because they are yummy.

 The chickens were a big hit too.  He turned the handle for the food dispenser and they all came running out of their coop.  I felt pretty badly that I didn't have any quarters with me.  They were pretty disappointed, but Jack wasn't :)

 The biggest hit of all was the owls.  There was one horned owl that Jack totally bonded with.  Jack would hoot at the owl and the owl would hoot back.  It was the cutest thing ever!

I just love that smile so much.  We switched Jack's preschools after winter break and it feels like he is exactly where he needs to be.  I am so fortunate that I have the chance to spend my days with this little man. 

We finished off the beautiful day by picking up the brothers from school and heading to the playground.  We had to squeeze every last drop of joy out of that beautiful day.  After all, right now there are snow flurries flying around and the temp is only 29. 

STEM Night

I know I've said it many times, but I just love our elementary school!  Two weeks ago we had the most incredible heritage festival.  Families from the school set up tables to teach the kids about their culture and heritage.  There were even performances of traditional songs and dances.  It was amazing - but I didn't get any pictures. 

Last week I was more on top of my game when I took the boys to STEM night.  They loved every minute!  I mean come on, who wouldn't love smashing a rose that had been dipped in liquid nitrogen?!

 The boys were able to hold bubbles filled with carbon dioxide.  A puff of smoke escpaed when they popped the bubble and they thought that was pertty darn cool.

Will loved checking blood pressure.  I was a little freaked out by the plastic arms all over the table.  He didn't seem bothered in the least.  Maybe medical school is in his future.

 Once we checked out all the science experiments were headed upstairs to see all the math games.  This part was tough for Will as most of the games are geared towards 2nd grade and up.  Max loved it and thought it was pretty neat playing these games against kids that were in high school.  Before I know it my baby will be one of the high school volunteers as this type of event!  It occurred to me yesterday that he is already more than halfway through elementary school.  Sometimes the days seem long, but the years sure fly by!