Special Visitor

Poor Brachi (short for brachiosaurus) almost lost his head today. Luckily, the little guy noticed and we were able to perform a successful reattachment surgery. Now that he's on the mend (haha) he joined us for dinner.

And here's a picture of the kids:

What cheese-balls.

Future Paleontologist

Our babysitter got the little guy a really cute Christmas present-- a plaster dinosaur skull that contains an entire skeleton! He got to chip it out with excavation tools.

He had a blast! (Eric almost had a heart attack because of the mess...)

New(ly realized) Toy!!

My baby girl has never played with her dolls. Ever. They've been crammed into a box in the toy shelf since the boy was little.

Well all that changed today. Daycare asked us to bring a Teddy Bear into school for her. She clung to that thing with all her might as we were leaving daycare. It got worse when we got home. Her big brother showed her the other doll in the box. This one even has a bottle which the boy explained was milk and that the baby wanted to be fed.

The rest of the evening was very confusing for us grown-ups because we couldn't tell the difference between "MILK!" ("Daddy, would you be so kind as to pour me a glass of milk, please?") and "MILK!" ("My baby doll would like her bottle of milk. Has anyone seen it?")

He she is after one such exclamation.

 And here's the boy putting Neigh-bear's apron on the baby doll. Baby Girl is amazed.

Perilous!

Superman was in grave danger this morning. He spent the entire night dangling from the door handle, but was rescued during breakfast (phew!).

I think stuff like this is the true sign of a house with little kids-- random artwork taped to walls and toys in strange places.

Blocks

Our wooden blocks are back-- the kids are both playing with them a lot these days. The little dude built this house. It was so neat that I took a picture, then promptly knocked it over by accident. It wasn't very sturdy, I promise!

I'm a terrible mom.

Sharing

The little guy let the baby play with some of his train tracks this morning before school. She was SO excited about it.

He didn't want me to take his picture, though. Maybe tomorrow.

Strange Happenings?

When I came downstairs for breakfast this morning, this was what greeted me:

That's Neighbear (the State Farm Good Neighbear) wearing an apron over his pjs, sitting in a chair with  a napkin. I think I missed something important.

Bedtime

The little guy is sleeping in a twin bed while we house sit, and he's adapted really well. He's only fallen out a couple of times. Anyway, most nights one of us reads him two or three stories and then lays down with him for a little bit. Usually we fall asleep before he does, so whoever does bedtime comes staggering downstairs, bleary-eyed, an hour after the little guy fell asleep. It's so nice to get to snuggle with the little dude, though, see?

The baby took a break from glaring at the world this morning and tried to lick her reflection. Also, this sleeper cracks me up. I love it.

Tonight, though, she went back to angry befuddlement.

Love is in the air

Two posts in one day.  What is going on?  Because I'm spending most of the time with the kiddos these days while someone has to bring home the bacon, I thought I would chime in on our happenings.

The man child has been talking about hockey ever since we went to see the 'Canes practice everyday last week, though he didn't want to go today for some reason.  Like we said in that post he's been skating around the house in his socks and you should see his poor knees.

Recently his "guys" have begun skating around on all kinds of stuff and having lots of meetings, just like the hockey players at practice.  Today they found a clear tupperware full of baby toys to skate on.  After a quick meeting and the ice getting swept (long story) the guys decided to give each other a hug.  Luckily I was there to capture the tender moment.

Blackboots and Fire Chief share an embrace

His toys are now hugging all the time.  And this from one who is so stingy with his own.

Big Weekend!

Nana and Pops came to visit this weekend. They helped put together the little dude's Christmas present from them... a foosball table! (He couldn't even wait for it to be together before playing with it.)

The little girl rocked a hair bow (her hair is ridiculous) and had lots of snuggle time with her grandparents. All in all, everyone was happy.

Boy House

Despite our new pinkish background and the presence of our baby girl, we are still firmly living in boy-land (especially now that I'm gone more).

 I love it when tummy time becomes a family event!

Also, firefighter and policeman disappeared a few days ago, so we can now introduce their replacements our new friends Firefighter, Fire Chief, Black Boots, and Yellow Boots.

Birthday Money!

The little booger got some money for his birthday from assorted relatives (your thank-you notes are coming!) that he used to buy a front-loader this weekend. He decided what he wanted, picked it out, and even paid for it by himself, and now he can shovel matchbox cars into his awesome dump truck in style.

We are overrun by giant yellow things with wheels!

A Good Night!

Two awesome things happened tonight.

1. The little guy got cake after finishing his spaghetti. Look at that intensity (and those fork skills!).

2. After dinner, we were "Boo'd" by an anonymous neighbor. The doorbell rang and the only thing there were some spooktacular Halloween goodies! We'll pass the Boo on to two more neighbors tomorrow.

Life doesn't get much better than cake, fruit snacks, and a glowing green pumpkin!

More Trains!

The little booger tore up his old train track and stacked up all the pieces yesterday. We started on a new track tonight. I've got big ideas for this one-- I'm trying to figure out a bi-level, figure-eight track.

The little stinkpot is getting in on the planning, too. This is SO MUCH FUN!! (for me)

He seems to be enjoying it, too.

A Boy and His Duck

It cracks me up when the little stinkpot packs his stuff. "I'll take ALL MY SHOES" is his current attitude towards packing. Here he is, getting ready to go to his Nana and Pop's house with his duck:

He's having a blast!

You've Got A Friend

The little guy has a little doll action figure that he calls The Guy. Here's a picture of our little dude and The Guy, sitting on our bench waiting for dinner.

Singing!

The little guy sings all the time. My favorite is when he wails on his xylophone while singing. It always makes me think of the SNL skit More Cowbell.

Also-- I love this kid's fashion sense. A t-shirt, undies, camo-print crocs, and a hard hat. What else do you need?

In other news, my darling husband has been totally showing me up with his ridiculously awesome train tracks. Check this out!

What a jerk.

Wow!

I gave the little booger the Toys R Us insert to keep him occupied before breakfast on Sunday. He gasped and said "Woah! Wow! Look at that! Wow!" because there was a picture of a PLAYGROUND on the front. "Look, Mommy-- a PLAYGROUND!!!" Fortunately he was distracted by milk. Phew!

More Trains!

The little dude asked if he could play with his trains this morning. We told him he could play with them when he got home after school. As soon as we got inside, he said "I play with trains?"

He stopped playing long enough to eat one pancake and about half a pound of bacon.

Things might get a little repetitive around here...

Trains!

The little booger also got a hand-me-town train set the other day. He LOVES it! My brother and I spent countless hours playing with our trains when we were little, so I'm loving this set, too.

Trains are the coolest.