Cousin Love

Two weekends ago (yes, I know I'm catching up again) my brother and his family came to visit us. It was so nice getting a chance to catch with them - we hadn't seen them since Christmas! Plus the kids had such a great time playing with each other. Oh how I wish we didn't live so far away from each other.

Eli's 2nd Birthday

Our little Eli is 2! We started off his day by meeting some friends at Imagination Station. We finally bit the bullet and bought a membership (1/2 price through Groupon!). Eli had a blast dressing up as a firefighter and pretending to drive the fire engine and ambulance. He also really enjoyed the water tables and in his exuberance got completely soaked. Maybe short-sleeved shirts would be a better choice for our next visit. 

After exploring we had lunch and cupcakes then headed home for a nap.

After his nap, Grammy and Poppy came over to visit, have dinner, and enjoy a second round of cupcakes with us. Eli was hilarious opening his gifts - he got so excited and kept yelling "presents!". He certainly didn't need any help or coaxing from us to open all of them.

I'd say overall he had a great day!

At 2, Eli is very expressive with his feelings. He's usually a very happy kid who's independent and self-entertaining. However, if someone or something upsets him, he let's everyone within earshot know about it. Unlike Colin, this kid throws real temper tantrums during which he throws himself down on the floor. Thankfully he is usually easily calmed or placated and back on to being happy again. He loves music and has some pretty sweet dance moves. One of his favorite new toys is a microphone. He loves to sing Bieber songs while dancing around the living room or on his "stage" (the fireplace). He also loves to dress up. He especially loves hats and eyewear. Eli is a mover and a climber and seems to have no fear when chasing after his big brother. Which leads me to his 3rd favorite activity - following Colin around and doing whatever he does. Eli's also a big talker and often repeats everything Colin says. Even when they're being naughty I find it quite comical. Eli is a picky eater, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him. His favorite foods are still cheese and milk but he's starting to experiment with more tastes and textures.

Happy Birthday to our spirited 2-year old. We love you, Eli!

Happy Birthday Chris!

We celebrated Chris' birthday on Sunday. It was a relaxing and gorgeous day. We enjoyed playing outside with the kids, going to the park, and busting out the grill for the first time this year. Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband and best friend!

An Attempt to Catch Up

I have fallen woefully behind on my blog updates. I mean, I completely skipped blogging about our awesome trip to Florida - I got some great shots and we had so much fun. But that's all I'm gonna say about that because I've decided I just need to move on. So here's a quick overview of the last few weeks.

Colin celebrated his birthday at school and decorated a birthday banner that is all about him at 4. Chris helped him fill it out because, let's be honest, his handwriting is way better than mine.

For St. Patrick's Day we dressed in green and went to a TPG party. The boys had a great time running around with all the other boys like a pack of wild dogs. Before we left, I made them do a craft since I volunteered to cut out a gazillion clovers and strips of green tissue paper. Good times!

Since winter has returned, I brought up our easel and had the boys paint one afternoon. I actually think it's the first time I've let Eli paint (he has a tendency to make a break for the carpet or walls with markers so paint has freaked me out). The boys *loved* it.

Eli has been experimenting with new hairstyles.

Colin's class painted animals inspired by the book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?", by Eric Carle. They were then put on display at the Way Public Library in Perrysburg. He was very proud of his frog which he painted blue (his favorite color). I was impressed that his animal was the only one with eyes. Way to be anatomically correct (kinda)!

Hoping to keep up with the blog a little better so I can avoid another recap post. :)

Colin is 4!

On Saturday, we celebrated our sweet boy's 4th birthday. He got to spend the entire day in his jammies. We took him to his first movie at the theater - Tangled at the Maumee Indoor Theater. He had a blast! Despite claiming that the movie was a little scary, he's looking forward to his next opportunity to go the theater. Grammy and Poppy watched Eli while we took Colin out and then we enjoyed dinner, cake, and ice cream with them. It was just right for Colin.

At 4, Colin is very creative and talkative (at home at least). He loves to play intricate make-believe games and is getting very into playing with action figures. His favorite toys include everything Toy Story, super heroes and pirates. He loves to read and really enjoys his Leapfrog Tag books. One of his favorite outings is going to the library to pick out new books. He also loves to watch TV and movies, but is really looking forward to warmer weather so he can ride his bike and play more outside. He's not as keen on coloring or drawing, but enjoys craft projects that involve painting, cutting, gluing, or stickers. He is a fantastic big brother and plays really well with Eli, most of the time. He hasn't enjoyed any extra-curricular classes I've put him in, but he loves school. He loves his friends and asks everyday for me to set up more playdates.

It's really fun to watch him grow into his own person more and more everyday. Although, sometimes the process can be frustrating to us - he can be very argumentative and is always negotiating. Thankfully he's also a huge helper and out of the blue will just tell us how much he loves us. He truly is such a sweet boy and we love him so much. Happy Birthday big guy!

King of the (Snow) Hill

I'm not sure if we've gotten enough snow over the last week. The last doozy was supposed to be 1 inch that turned into 8. As much as I feel I complain about it, I really don't mind the snow that much as long as I don't have to drive in it, which I haven't, recently. Plus the kids have been *loving* it! Now that we have mini-mountains in our yard, the kids have been having a great time attempting to climb them and build forts in them. I remember how much fun I had playing in the snow when I was a kid and I love watching my kids enjoy it just as much.

Love Day Activities

Something I'm discovering about myself is that I take a lot of inspiration (and motivation) from holidays. Even with a Hallmark holiday like Valentine's Day, I've gone from feeling completely stir-crazy to feeling like I just don't have enough time to do everything I want before the said holiday has come and gone. Granted, I really don't have 2 weeks worth of V-Day projects to do with the kids - this is *not* like the 25 days of Christmas - but I do have a few projects up my sleeve.

We started with making heart-shaped cookies. I have actually been looking forward to doing this since probably January 2. I always seem to be looking for good excuses to bake scrumptious treats. It feels more justified if I involve the kids and even more justified if it's theme-related. We used a strawberry frosting that I've been craving ever since we attended a TPG Valentine's Day party 2 years ago and decorated cookies with this frosting. It was so worth the 2 year wait!

  

Then Colin helped me create a "conversation hearts" banner. I was originally going to make a different craft involving a toilet paper roll (which we may still do) but Colin insisted he wanted something to hang on his door. He's been very influenced by the "Toy Story" movies and wants to add lots of decorations to his door and walls so he can be more like Andy. Back to the craft, Colin helped me cut out hearts. Then he helped me come up with something to write on each one. Last, he helped me glue them all together. Voila! A love-day themed art project that he can use to decorate his room.

Having activities that I want to work on coupled with Punxsutawney Phil's predicition of an early spring, makes me not mind so much that we just got hit by a blizzard. In my mind's eye, winter is practically over and I'm already envisioning sunshine, green grass, and less layers. Ahhh!