a little catching up

This post is going to be a jumbled mess of pictures to catch up from last week.

Ethan and Elliott do get along most of the time, I just want to remember that. I love that Ethan takes his time and shows Elliott fun things they can do together. They love playing Tic-Tac-Toe. 

We got a LOT of snow this week. 14 inches on the ground to be exact. It was easier to walk to Elliott's school than to try to get in and out of our driveway. 

Andrea, Harlo and Everly came over to share the snow day with us. Tubs of snow and a fork and spoon were great entertainment. 

Andrea tried to make a snowman. It was not very impressive, but it was funny. 

Friday night, Ethan had a sleepover, and I made spaghetti for dinner. I love watching my kids eat spaghetti. 

We picked up our ceramics this week too. Ethan couldn't wait to see them. I told him they would be shiny and look totally different than when he left them, but he was still shocked. His are on the left, and the ones on the right are Elliott's.  

And this is my beautiful, huge mug. It's perfect for iced coffee. Did I mention it's huge? 

I had a total moment of insanity on Friday night (it may have been the sleepover) and found a haircut online that I had to have. I sent a text to Andrea, and she came right over to chop off my hair for me. She's so awesome.

Last night after the boys went to bed, I was cleaning out my tub from Elliott's bath and found this. You have to park your Hot Wheels somewhere, right? 

This morning I woke up to a very stuffy head, a coughing and stuffed up baby and a boy with a sore throat. I knew if I got up and got going, I would feel better, so I made some pumpkin donuts for breakfast. 

Then for lunch we had homemade chicken noodle soup. Luckily I had just baked a chicken for dinner the other night (fate).  

Then I roasted some cinnamon and sugar almonds.  

We still don't feel well, but at least I feel like I accomplished something today. From the sound of Elliott's cough and very shallow breathing, I think it's going to be a very long night. 

bowling

I love that we had an extra day to our weekend this week. We met up with a couple friends for some bowling on Monday. 

Of course, the shoes. :) 

Ethan bowls like a pro, he even has the crazy curve.

Of course he bowls left handed. You just never know with this kid. 

Elliott had to have the bumpers of course, so he got a lane to himself. He had fun and he felt like such a big kid. 

I so love these boys.  

before and after

Remember this? Elliott's bubble painted mug before......

Today we picked up the finished product. Don't mind the crappy yellowish photo. That's the awesome lighting in our house. It really looks awesome. He is so proud of it. 

Of course when we picked it up, Ethan was a little jealous, and he saw all the ceramics on the shelves just waiting to be painted. So I totally caved, and we stayed a while.  

Ethan and Elliott painted some tiles. 

Elliott didn't really have a plan, but Ethan knew exactly how he wanted his to look. 

We tried some stamps this time. 

They look pretty great. 

This is my coffee mug. I cannot wait to get it back. 

I forgot to get a finished picture of Ethan's creations, but he spent over an hour on 2 tiles. He was killing me. Elliott was done in less than 20 minutes, and I was trying to help Ethan and keep Elliott from destroying an entire store filled with glass. I'll be honest, I rushed Ethan after we were an hour in. He still got to do everything he wanted, and they are going to look great. 

This is such a fun way to spend a little time together being creative. I can see a lot more Sunday afternoons being spent like this.

bubble painting with mom

Elliott is a lucky guy. He would probably disagree (because he's 3 and he disagrees with everything), but he is! 

Today, we tried something new. I took him to The Painted Pot for a toddler class. Parents don't have to stay, but there was no way he was going to let me out of his sight. Maybe another day. 

The teacher started with a short story, and Elliott was stuck to my side. Then it was time to paint. He did walk across the room without me to pick out his orange paint. 

As you can see, painting is hard work and requires your tongue to hang out of your mouth. His snowman mug has a face on one side, and the butt on the other. When you put 4 toddlers together, the snowman butt is funny..... the whole time. Haha.

While the bottom coat dried, he decided he would be ok by himself in the toy area. 

He was so good. 

After the paint was dry, we got to do the fun part. Bubble painting! Of course he loved this. 

And here is his mug. 

I can't wait to pick it up on Sunday. Ceramics never look the way you think they are going to, they always look so much better.  

I think this might have to become a regular activity. He's really going to love it once he sees the finished product.

i love sundays

My morning started with my phone making a strange alarm sound, which was irritating, because I had no need to wake up. My irritation quickly changed to excitement when I saw that Jason was calling us on FaceTime (I love Apple). The boys heard it too and rushed in to talk to Daddy. This picture makes me smile and my heart melt.

Then, for no reason, they started laughing. They think they are so funny. They didn't really have a conversation with Jason, but they loved seeing him and hearing his voice. 

Then Ethan decided he was making pancakes today.  

He even did the flipping. 

He swears that his are better than mine, but I made the batter. Hmmm. 

:) 

I love that our Sundays are so relaxed. I look forward to it every week.

Happy 2012

New Year's Eve was pretty laid back for us. However, I felt totally lame when the 60 something lady sitting next to me at the nail salon asked where I was going out dancing at, and I had to respond "I'm not". I'm not at all upset that I didn't go out, in fact I haven't went out for New Years in a VERY long time, by choice. I would much rather spend the night in my safe home with the people I love most (minus one this year). So we invited our friends the Eckerson's over for some games and snacks. All the kids had a great time, and A and I enjoyed some adult conversation and games with the kids. They didn't stay till midnight, and the boys were in bed at 10:00, but it was fun and I enjoyed their company.

New Year's morning was awesome. Just plain awesome. It started with Ethan coming into my room with this at 9:30. Yeah..........we slept WAY in. :)

Then I made pancakes, and some coffee, and we all stayed in our pajamas for most of the day, playing games, and just being together. Pretty perfect huh?