Sun, vacuums, maps and newts!

We have had a nice week that included a few days/hours of no rain and even SUN!!

We went for a hike with some of our friends and got to see several newts that were enjoying the break in the rain.

The boys always want to do everything that Mom and Dad do...so can you guess who was more excited, Mom or Cole, when he wanted to take over the vacuuming? Both Dylan and Cole did a very thorough job and are happy they have a new 'job' to do around the house. Me too!

This weekend the 'guys' came on a work tour that Mommy was helping to lead. The group enjoyed watching the boys switch between walking, pushing, pulling and riding in the wagon. The boys especially loved the mud puddles and talking about how much mud was on the wagon wheels. The boys had just about as much fun washing the mud off the wagon once we got home.
It turned out to be an amazingly beautiful clear day!
The boys have always been interested in maps and when Daddy found some old road maps we didn't need any more the boys were thrilled to look at and draw on them.

They are telling Mom all about the places they see.

See for yourself!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We have spent the last two days celebrating Daddy's big 37th birthday.
On Daddy's birthday morning, the boys woke Daddy up with a surprise 'Happy Birthday!' and balloons we hid in Mommy's closet. A good start to the day.

Then there were some birthday wrestles.

Some birthday presents.

And of course a birthday dinner.

We had to have a party in order to wear our fabulous party hats! And to have cake (or individual pear raspberry pies) and ice cream.

And to have a bigger audience for our birthday sillies.

And fun family time!

January's daily tasks

We are getting back into the groove of daily life after a busy bustling holiday.
The guys are back to their love of cleaning. I'm not sure their version of cleaning helps Mom too terribly much since I usually have to clean up their 'cleaning' projects. But it sure does keep them occupied!

This is going to be one clean door! Now if they could just clean up that huge soapy puddle at their feet!

This past week the boys have discovered the remote control for our ipod speaker system. Several times a day they want to turn the music on. They shuffle through the albums, including several kids albums, and go straight for Nirvana (classic grunge). They turn it up really loud and start to dance. They say 'lets rock out mommy!' And we all dance together.

They have discovered a new favorite way to brush teeth. Sit in your brothers lap while Mom or Dad brush both boys teeth at the same time!

They keep us guessing!

Party time with Lina

Over the holidays one of our good friends had her second baby, so we got to watch her daughter Lina (one of the boys buds) while she was in the hospital. They had a no children under 18 in the hospital, unless they were the patient, rule due to the swine flu. They even had guards at the entrance of the hospital.
But we lucked out because we got to play with Lina for a couple of days! Here Lina and Dylan are cleaning carrots they harvested from the garden for lunch.

Dylan and Lina playing a duet.

Dylan always offers up his seat at the lunch table to the girls that come over to play. Such a gentleman!!

Dylan also offered up his bed to Lina for nap time...which I think he did so that he could sleep in a sleeping bag. But they all ended up on the floor together. If you couldn't guess...no one napped. But Lina read the boys books since she was in the middle and they had a little bit of quiet time.

Tea parties are always better with one more friend! Cheers!!