Biker Dude.

In March, I'll be the mother of a three-year-old.  I think I can handle that.

In June, I'll be the mother of a five-year-old, which sounds completely ridiculous to me.

Until I see him on his bike.

And then I realize he's not a baby anymore.

Happy Birthday, Poppa!

Hope you liked your present. :)

Birthday Weekend.

We pretty much partied hearty all weekend long.

Even though I forgot to pull my camera out at Cadence's party on Friday night, the kids (and adults) had a blast getting our groove on at Monkey Joe's.

We had just enough time to recoup from all the jumping before turning around and heading out to celebrate Dax at the local children's museum on Saturday afternoon.  And I did, in fact, remember my camera.

And don't worry:  this place has already earned a spot on the 2011 Summer O' Fun Tour.

It took Babe just a little bit to venture out from the toddler play area, but once she did, she couldn't be stopped.  The "bath tub" area, sand table, and soundstage were some of her favorite hangouts.

The Thomas costume stayed on her body for the duration of the party.  She's all about the accessories.

Harris, as expected, spent the majority of his time at the train table.

He stopped playing only to use the bathroom, eat cake, and dress up like a cow.

In case you can't tell, we had a great time.

Happy Birthdays, Cadence and Dax!!

And Happy Anniversary (evidently it coincides with Dax's big day), Ben and Randall!!



Spaghetti Dinner.

Well, the snow is gone, so it's back to work as usual...

It's actually been a pretty decent week.  On Thursday night, Harris' school hosted a "Spaghetti Dinner" for the students and their families.  I honestly had no idea what to expect, but it ended up being a pretty neat evening.

We were treated to spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and brownies, and had the opportunity to simply hang out and enjoy eating dinner with his teacher, his friends and their parents.

Harris enjoyed being at school for dinner.  He loved getting to play in the "cars and blocks" center with his friends, too.  From what he tells me, he often chooses to play either cars or puppets during free center time.

Babe opted for the puppets.

And the brownies.  She dug the brownies.

Freedom!

After a week of ice, snow, and sticking close to the house, Kim and I let the kids blow off a little steam at Monkey Joe's on Friday.  They had a blast.

Hadley and I went down the big slides quite a few times (note to self:  yoga pants=super slick sliding material), but for the most part she entertained herself in the area reserved for little kids.  I'm certain she jumped for at least an hour, exiting only to give Monkey Joe a hug. 

She climed up and slid down the little slide repeatedly, threw her body as high into the air as it would possibly go, and attempted multiple toetouches.  She was pretty much oblivious to anyone else around her...

I was excited (and content) to see her play and jump and jump and play.  While she's technically on track with her developmental milestones, every once in a while I can tell that she is not as physcially strong as other kids her age.  It made my heart happy to see her jumping her little bootie off...seems like good physical therapy to me.

Harris and Quinn had a great time, too.  They were pretty much inseparable until Harris discovered a friend from school...

It's hard to believe these guys will be FIVE this year...what a wild, wild ride it's been.

And Take Three.

We needed to get out today.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being home with the kiddos, but this not leaving home thing isn't really for me.

So...Kim and I packed up, suited up, and headed to the mall.  And forty-five minutes later, we arrived.

You would have thought the kids had never been to the mall before.

They had a blast running and jumping and climbing and playing, and we had a blast being out of the house.

Auntie even made a surprise visit!

Once we were "played" out, we headed to the food court for lunch...

...and then to Old Navy to look for some Falcons gear.  The only shirt they had left was too small for everybody, so the kiddos got to pick something else instead.

Which they then had to put on before we even left the store.

Oh, civilization.  I've missed you.

Snow Day, Take Two...

...started off with a little Harris vs. Hadley championship wrestling.  Along with reading books, this has been the kids' favorite pasttime since we've been cooped up at home.

Well, wrestling and watching the new "Strawberry Shortcake" movie we found on Netflix.  They've both been really into that as well.

Because Ben was able to be home from work, we suited up after breakfast and headed out for a second day in the snow.  Babe was still not a fan.

Harris, however, was stoked to try out sledding down the street in the laundry basket.

Thankfully our neighbor took pity on our redneck souls and brought out his real deal sled.  Ben, Harris, and I (and another family on our street) rocked it out for about an hour.

Harris loved it!  And Haddie even warmed up to watching from the porch.

She and I spent some time playing with her bubbles from DoDo, and she even got brave enough to touch the snow with her mittens and her boots.  She quickly discovered how much she, too, likes to eat the white stuff.  She also talked about the North Pole all day long...

Toward the end of our time outside, we took a few family pictures.  We gave the camera to Harris so he could snap a shot of Ben and me.  Harry then proceeded to capture the snow fight Ben tried to start with me.  These shots make me laugh out loud...

Contrary to what it looks like, I kicked his butt.

Happy Snow Day!

SNOW DAY 2011.

I wish I'd thought to have my video camera up and running when I told Harris to look out the window this morning.  He had no idea we were even expecting snow, so it was such a surprise to him to see the ground covered in white.  He immediately burst into song ("Frosty the Snowman") and ran to get the view from every window in the house.

We tiptoed downstairs without waking The Babe.  My goal was to get a few pictures of the house and yard.



Harris' goal was to eat snow.

Unfortunately, Ben had to work the Inaugaration today, so he ended up having to report downtown last night in order to avoid the wintry weather this morning.  The three of us had to suit up to play without him.

Harris, as expected, loved the snow.  He ran around the yard, made snow angels, and slid down the snow-covered slides.

And Babe, as expected, completely freaked.

Especially when she realized her beloved froggy boots had snow on them.

We made it about twenty minutes before calling it quits.  Harris decided he would wait for Daddy to help him build a snowman, which is fine with me...I made an attempt today before realizing that I don't actually know how to build one.  I'm a little ashamed to admit that.

We came inside, took a bubble bath to warm up, and have played non-stop:  beauty parlor, trains, wrestling, coloring, puzzles, and reading.  Harris and I even made some Jell-O for him to enjoy after "little nap!" 

Speaking of nap, we're all about to head there now. 

Snow days aren't so bad after all, even if they do have to be made up.

Love, Harris.

In addition to the super cute ornament Harris made for our family in his preschool class, we were also lucky enough to receive a handmade gift from his after-school group:

We love our "puppy candle," and have gotten lots of use out of it!  Explaining that it actually melts away as it's used has been quite a challenge, though...

First Kiss.

Harry and I had the following conversation this afternoon:

H:  "Sofia kissed me on the playground today."

Me:  "She did?"

H:  "Yes.  I do not want her to kiss me on the playground.  She telled me I am her boyfriend."

Me:  "Wow.  Is she your girlfriend?"

H:  "SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND."

Me:  "Do you know what a girlfriend is?"

H:  "No.  What is it?"
Me:  "Well, if Sofia was your very favorite girl, then she could be your girlfriend."

H:  "She is not my favorite girl.  I like everybody the same."

FIGHT!

It's on like Donkey Kong.

Until the truce, that is.

Which, in actual fact, turned out to merely be a decoy...because everyone knows the best way to beat Daddy is with the double team!



Best Christmas break ever.