What makes boys happy?

Dirt, sticks, and railroad tracks are what make these little boys eyes light up.

Scratch that, I guess sticks and dirt make everyone happy.

Is it summer yet?

My kids love to play with a water filled bin on the kitchen floor. I did it all winter while making dinner. They would "wash" toys and pour water with cups. They amazingly rarely spilled a drop and I made dinner in peace. I decided to use this trick with Amelia so I could hang diapers on the line outside (finally). I filled the bin with some luke warm water because it was not warm enough to use the hose straight up. I got her started and hung 4 diapers on the line and looked back to see this:

She hopped right in, no hesitation. She's not even that coordinated yet. I still have no idea how she did it without me noticing (I was 10 feet away). Apparently, this bin inside= bucket, this bin outside = pool.

Yep, I said it

Today Oliver, Amelia, and I made cookies for our Earth Day play date tomorrow. After the chocolate chip cookies with extra spring colored M&Ms on top cooled down enough to eat, we all had one. They were really good. Amelia wanted another one really bad. I said no because we were going to eat dinner soon and really she only needs one. She whined and tiptoed around the table trying with all her might to reach one. I was trying to clean up and starting to get really frustrated with her whining. "Here Amelia. Eat that chunk you dropped on the floor" Yep, I said it. She eats off the floor all the time but that's usually because she beats me to it. I have never pointed dropped food out to her, let alone used the tone like she was lucky to have gotten more. I sat back and chuckled to myself and thought,"there's today's blog".

Oh, go fly a kite!

Oliver got 2 new kites for his birthday. We all went to the fields at North Dale to try to get Thomas in the air. It went amazingly smoothly. Everyone had such a great time. What a fun family outing!

Amelia LOVED flying the kite. She held on for dear life and only let go once. The kite would slowly pull her forward and I would have to pick her up and pull her back. We will definitely be flying the kites a lot more this year.

Happy 3rd Birthday Oliver

Happy 3rd Birthday Oliver!

We had a pizza party on Sat April 4th to celebrate Oliver's birthday. We invited all of our friends. It was fairly laid back party and there were only minimal injuries. Sorry Aiden. My sister made the Car's cake. I know she worked really hard on it and Oliver is still talking about it to this day. Thank you to all of our friends and family who came to celebrate Oliver with us. It was very special.

The next day, Oliver's actually birthday was called "Oliver Day". I took work off and he got to choose what we did that day. Any guesses? Yep, that's right. We rode trains. We took the light rail out to the Mall of America and rode on the Azul the train ride. After those two activities were accomplished he wanted to go home. We convinced him to eat lunch at the mall. FYI- the MOA Subway does not have $5 footlongs. We took the light rail home and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

On Wed the 8th we went to Tim's sister's house and had had a joint party for Oliver and our nephew Braden who turned 4. I made the race car cake. I'm actually pretty proud of it. It's my first really decorated cake. Alicia made homemade spaghetti and sauce, yummy. We played hard and slept hard on the way home. It was a great party. Thanks everyone.

Oliver is turning into such a cool little boy. He is very sensitive to other people's feelings and is learning how to use his words to express his own. He is still very into trains and cars. He loves going to the park and playing with his friends. He's already a pro at riding his new 2 wheeler bike, with training wheels he got for his birthday. His attention span is still really short and he has zero tolerance for his sister playing with his toys. I think he's pretty on-track for being 3 years old. Oliver has changed a lot in the past year. He went from a needy toddler to an independent pre-schooler. I love watching him grow and learn even if it comes in the form of "because why?" Happy 3rd Birthday Buddy. I love you so much!

The best kind of hugs.

I know how much I talk about Amelia being a rough and tumble, tomboy sorta girl, but she also has a very sweet side. She loves giving hugs, but not just any hugs. She squeezes me so tight and grunts like she is hugging me with all her might. It melts my heart. Her hugs are definitely one of the reasons I wake up in the morning. I love you, Amelia.