31:366 - Dragons and Valentines

When I picked Beckett up from school today, his teachers had asked the class if dragons were real or pretend.  Beckett's answers was, um, surprising!


However, when we got home today the real excitement began! We received a beautiful Valentines package from my mom full of love, goodies and homemade Valentine's cookies.  Thank you mom!  We all LOVE your care packages and YOU!!

30:366 - snow much fun

What an odd winter! The snow was back for a vengeance (at least for a few days). This weather change made for the perfect snowball-making snow. Beckett took full advantage and rolled one around the porch until it was nearly as big as him!

29:366 - bowl, baby, bowl (disco inferno)

We had an awesome bowling afternoon with some fantastic friends! I think the adults laughed as hard at our own bowling as the kids did and the black lights for the first half of it made it even more fun. Plus, Beckett had some "killer" moves on the lanes!

Beckett learns the ball is a little heavy...

Beckett's bowling technique...check out his shoe

28:366 - Water baby

Another swim meet Saturday, and this time was Zoe's first time swimming "away".  While she was not impressed with the "small" pool, I loved being poolside and helping to marshall her team.  What a great group of kids!

Watching her friend's event

Getting ready for her 25 free

...she hits the water

27:366 - A head start

Zoe has a very definitive idea of what her Valentines will look like for her class and wanted to start on them...NOW.  We made a trip to the art supply store and she came home and went to work...Each had to be different from the next.

26:366 - Creativity comes in many forms

Our kids love to create. They love paint, playdoh, markers, foam stickers, crayons, glitter glue, stamp pads, floam, magic sand, chalk on rocks and sidewalks, and bubbles and glow sticks in the tub... you name it and they explore with it.  Zoe is going through an acrylic on canvas phase thanks to Grandma Dianne and her Christmas gift.  The kids come by it honestly, as they have art in their blood: designers, 3 artists, a woodworker and an architect.  I LOVE to see what they dream up.

25:366 - Thai

Sometimes, take out is necessary to get through the week.  While our options are limited, we are lucky enough to having some amazing Thai restaurants in the area.  Dee-lish!

24:366 - Birthday Boy

Beckett turned FOUR today. This alone is still unbelievable to me and yet I could never imagine a day without him and have to stretch to remember our lives before him. He certainly knows that he is loved and he definitely knows how to pull at my heart strings. Today's quote of the day from him "Mama, even though I am a big boy now I will always be your baby".  Yup, you will.

23:366 - Mmmmm, mmmm, cookies

At Beckett's school, kids bring in treats for their birthday and this year is no different.  What was different was that Beckett, who typically wants cupcakes, decided "smiley face cookies" were where it was at!  So, smiley face cookies were ordered, picked up and ready for tomorrow's school celebration for our little man's 4th birthday.

22:366 - Typical Sunday

 Sundays are typically slow, relaxed days that start with pancakes, french toast or scrambled eggs in tortillas.  I really look forward to Rodger's coffee, jammin' to some tunes and the luxury of having no plans. Today was no different: pancakes followed by lots of playing. 

Rodger charged up Xixi, the Aibo dog and Beckett was completely in awe - he loves that it responds to commands and actually gives him high fives.  I love the lack of poop scooping!

21:366 - Competitive??

Zoe swears she does not like swimming - and that she is not competitive - in that order.  However, after today's meet against East Grand Rapids, I would have to disagree.  It's not that Zoe doesn't enjoy it because she doesn't succeed.  In fact, it's the opposite.  Zoe's pretty good.  She swims hard and places in the top 4 on a regular basis.  And, after every heat, she immediately checks out the scoreboard to see where she placed.  Competitive, yeah, suspect so :) 

20:366 - Balloon animals?

A trip to Party City today inspired tonight's images.  Rodger needed a balloon animal balloon for a project which left us 24 balloons out of 25 begging to be turned into something; anything! The kids played and played.  Not sure what creatures came to be but it didn't really matter in the end.

19:366 - Bedtime Stories

Reading is super important to our family. Being a voracious reader (before kids!) I love any chance to get into a good book.  I've been reading to the kids at bedtime every night since the day they were born. Sometimes it's Dora, sometimes it's Brown Bear, sometimes it's The Easter Bunny, but no matter what the subject matter, I will take any opportunity I have to snuggle up with my kidlettes and to hold them close. 

18:366 - Some days are better than others

Today was looong. Like, super long.  For EACH of us.  Some days are, simply, better than others.  Enough said.

17:366 - King for a day

When I picked Beckett up at school today, he was playing with his friends, was full of laughs and giggles and oh, was sporting a crown!  The crown is pretty popular. In fact, the crown was worn on the car ride home, it was worn during dinner, and was finally put on his bedside table before he went to sleep so that he can put it on first thing in the morning. We'll see how long this trend lasts but I have to wonder, if I wore a crown all day, would it make me belly laugh and giggle like it seems to make Beckett?  Sounds wonderful to me!

16:366 - That's Enertainment

As a mom, there are times when I need to *find* an extra five minutes; five minutes to help Beckett get dressed in the morning, five minutes to help Zoe with a homework problem, five minutes to finish dinner.  Beckett loves using my iPad and it's likely that it has more aps loaded on it for him than it does for me! But, for the extras 5 minutes, I am happy to let him play. (A final note: yesterday, I told the kids to "...find something to do for a few minutes." Five minutes later, Beckett was sporting a manicure much better than mine!)

15:366 - Oh, Zoe

Naming a child can be hard work. You hope when you first give your child his or her name, that it will "fit". Zoe, which is Greek for "life", could not have been a more perfect fit. Our daughter embodies life in every sense of the word. She is full of it (life, that is!) She loves big and laughs big and never for a moment do we wonder if she is enjoying herself! And, what is not to love about that??

 

14:366 - Winter, Part II

Snow, snow and more snow.  I think by the time the day was done, the driveway had been plowed 4 times (at least). Mt Eich has arrived courtesy of the snowblower and dad's ingenuity.  The kids are thrilled and (BONUS) Dad already built the tunnel through the base!

13:366 - WINTER...finally

I am a mad woman with a snow blower.  I am not talking about a casual stroll behind a little single stage blower that you can pick up and plop in the trunk of your car.  I am talking about a big, fast, wide swath, two stage with knobby tires.  In fact, I came with one.  We joke that it was my dowry - a bright yellow International Harvester blower from back when we lived in North Dakota...when I was 8! R added his own touch: chrome ladies! 


This time around it's a bright orange Ariens with an electric start (LOVE that!). For the past 10 years, whenever R leaves town in January, it snows.  A lot.  Like, cancel-school-3-days-in-a-row a lot. And this trip was no exception.  So, I know we were all enjoying balmy 50 degrees and spring coats on Wednesday, but the moment his plane wheels were up, I knew it was short lived.


So, in the spirit of winter *finally* arriving, here are a few images of the prettier side of my recent trip behind the snow blower.

12:366 - Tubby Time

Sometimes, it is hard to get a little bit of peace in our house. Two kids, two parents, jobs, school, sports, meals, homework, blah, blah, blah. But there is something about a warm bath that makes the madness stop - for just a moment. And, it's when some of the best moments happen.

11:366 - The morning drive

The morning drive is usually a mad rush from home to school to next school and then to work. The drive home at the end of the day is pretty much the same commute.  Despite all the mad rush, the kids always wonder "what color is the sky today?" B is, and always has been, completely enamoured with the moon.  So, this morning, Z got her pink sky as we went east...

and B had *his* moon follwing us in the west.

10:366 - A new "nest"

When each of the kids were first sleeping in their own big girl / big boy beds, we used to tell them at night to climb into their "nest" and get comfy cozy.  To the kids, our bed has become the big "nest"; a place to sleep, cuddle, snuggle, tickle, nap; the only place to come to in the middle of the night when there is a monster under the bed, a trip to the potty or an upset belly.  Some nights it is a revolving door of bodies big and small; other nights we fall into bed and don't move until we wake. And finally, it was time for a new mattress in the "nest", and only fitting that today's photo would depict exactly that.

9:366 - Mommy "go go" juice and ribbons galore

It was a loooong night here last night. B had wicked growing pains in his legs and so we were up on and off until 4 AM stretching and pulling and trying to loosen the poor little guy up.  Some mornings are rougher than others and I need a little "help" to kick start my day!

Z had swim team practice tonight and received the fruits of her labors from Saturday's meet.  She placed 3rd in her 100 medley relay and 2nd in her 100 free relay.  The BIG news was that out of 30 girls, she placed 2nd in her 25 free AND 2nd in her 25 back.  UNBELIEVABLE! We are SO proud!

8:366 - Cookies

So, it's Sunday and in our house, that means....cookies.  I think the weekly cookie baking may have been written into a pre-nup, if we had one! The kids come running when the chocolate chips come out and the mixer starts up!  YUM!


(I think I am going to have a hard time some days limiting this to ONE picture of the day...)

The "goods"

cookie batter

a very very clean spoon!

dee-lish

7:366 - SWIM!!

Morning came waaay too early today.  Z and I snuck out of bed, got her dressed in a bathing suit and fleece head to toe, scribbled her events on her arm in permanent marker and loaded up the car with bags filled with goggles, extra towels, snacks and drinks, books and, of course, my camera. Today was the WO swim club vs JAG and it was her first meet of the season...

She swam free in a medley relay, the 25 freestyle, 25 back, and a leg of the 100 free relay. And, based on the images, had a great time being cheered on by family and (surprise!) our friends Krisanne and Miles!

ready to go...

waiting for her leg of the relay...

checking out the scoreboard!

 

6:366 - School days

Z goes to a great school and is part of an amazing Montessori program.  But, because it is out of our district, it means I drive her to school every morning.  And pick up every night.  Both drop off and pick up consist of jockeying for parking spots, a mad rush of parents and a crazy group of students filling the hallways.  No matter whether you are coming or going, you feel like a salmon swimming upstream.  

A few Fridays a month, I volunteer in her class to help with spelling tests.  I LOVE it.  And, I think Z does too.  When I left today, I couldn't believe how calm and quiet the halls that had been sheer chaos moments earlier had become....

5:366 - "I am a..."

A photography group that I have very recently joined at the suggestion of a good friend is participating in an amazing project called the "I Am A Photographer" project.  The goal is to take a photo of yourself holding a sign that completes the statement "I am a..."  For every image that members submit, Clickin Moms will donate $1 to benefit RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual assault organization.  While I could have used the word "procrastinator" (the deadline is today), this was my submission: