Mismatch day

Continuing Seuss Week, today was mismatch day - we chose pattern pajama pants, polo shirts and different colored socks. So fun!!

Thing 1, Thing 2

Celebrating Seuss Week at school.......allow me to introduce you to our Thing 1 and Thing 2.

I made them shirts and dyed some bucket hats to be the blue hair to wear for dress up day at school today.

My sweet Thing 1

My sweet Thing 2 - LOVE the hands in motion, Cole is in constant motion!

He has also gotten really good at his pouty lip.

Eli's class - dressed up like their favorite characters.

Cole's class

Catching up

A whole lot of busy going on around here!! So hard to keep up the blog. Let's see if I can do a quick recap.

Weekend of the 18th, Tim took a swim clinic (trying to get him ready to do a triathlon - shhhh, don't tell him I told you). While he was at swim clinic, the boys & I went to the Y and had a picnic in the back yard. Gorgeous day in February. Sunday, church and family day - my favorite day of the week!!

Riding around on his bike, no shorts required.

Eli has been drawing and writing a lot. I love all of his creations!

Cole loves loves loves airplanes. He keeps talking about how we're going to do an airplane birthday party for him - IN JULY!!

Eli's Star Wars drawing - Darth Vadar (left) and Luke Skywalker (right).

Treehouse picnic with a special juice box treat.

Working on their trucks.

Riding Eli's strider bike - this time with clothes!!

Wheelie!!

This cracks me up - Cole looks like he just escaped from his room or something.

Little builders, explorers.......all boy!

Then on Monday (the 20th), we had our big snow. It was funny that Eli was talking about snow the night before and there was actually a little on the ground when they got up. School had a 2 hour delay so they bundled up and went outside to play. They were both so cute talking about ALL the snow. Not sure what they would do in the mountains with real snow. =)

"Look at ALL the snow Mommy"

Hi Coley!

Of course, trucks in the snow.

Making the most of it. Will probably be our only one this year.

THEN......on Wednesday, Eli came home missing his second tooth! We noticed it was loose Tuesday and he pulled it out at school on Wednesday. Of course, the tooth fairy had to stop by our house again. This time, she left three dollar coins. Eli was thrilled, added it to his 1st tooth money and was ready to go shopping. We did go this past weekend to let him spend it. He bought a big Monster Truck, Special Delivery (are you surprised?!) and was so big doing it. We went to Target, he checked out, paid for it himself and got his own bag. He is so proud of his truck, he has even asked about how to get / make money. Looks like chore board and "allowance" will be in our near future.

Two bottom teeth gone! The big boy teeth are already coming in.

Putting his tooth under the pillow.

This past weekend, Tim & I participated in a Chi Running clinic. It was the first time ever that we've done something like that together and I've gotta admit, it was nice to spend 5 hours outside together learning something new. Hopefully we can get better at our skills and get running back into our lives (I do have visions of running again - fingers crossed!). Our friend and the boys' former teacher Amy came to hang out with the boys. They had a great time and so did we. A good day all around! Oh yeah, the boys got new shoes that morning too. That is always an adventure. Sunday, church, haircuts for the boys, errands, nap, family time - a great day.

Eli and Amy's daughter Grace - Eli looked like he had a little crush. =)

Pretend sleeping in his tent hideout.

Found Eli reading to Cole Sunday night. I love their brother-ness.

Hi cutie!! Cole is getting so big. He's leaning out, getting taller, growing like crazy and his little personality just cracks me up. Sweet, cute, defiant at times, stubborn, learning new stuff every day.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We hope you had a great day!

We had such a fun Valentine's Day today! I went to the Y early for a swim and got home about 6:15am, just in time to say Good morning to everyone and give the boys their goodie bags. Eli's first question was "Is there a Monster truck in here?". Of course, my monster truck loving boy! The boys got cards and goodies from both Grandparents - so loved! This afternoon they had parties at school. Daddy had to represent because I couldn't get away from work. We decided to have a nice dinner at home and just have a nice evening. Well, that dinner will be one we'll never forget! Cole gagged on something he ate and threw up at the table. Then, Eli seeing him, threw up all over my dining room floor. Seriously! I could not believe it. After that little episode, they were running around all over and acting fine. Craziest thing and an unforgettable night!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa N for the Mickey Shirts. The boys love them.

Eli's goodie bag

Cole's goodie bag

Monster trucks, puppy dogs and chocolate - who could ask for more?!

Eli's Red Angry Bird shirt that I made to match his Valentine's cards. Last minute execution of a big plan that got sidetracked by me falling asleep!

Party time! Cole loves going into Eli's room for parties. He thinks he's 4!

A super fun busy weekend - swimming, circus and Valentine's Day prep

Oh my goodness, we had a super fun busy weekend!!

Saturday morning the boys had their last swim lesson. They have both enjoyed it so much. We'll probably wait until the summer to do it again when Cole can do the 3 year old preschool lessons and not have to do parent/child. This lesson the "big" kids got to put on life jackets, swim on their own and play polo. It was so cute to watch. We played a lot at home the rest of the day - trucks, play doh, coloring and of course, some tv.

More splashing that swimming. =)

Pre-schooler polo

Swimming to the deep end

Buzz Lightyear came to see us and help make muffins.

He decided to stay for dinner.

Sunday was our super fun day - the circus!! Both boys were really excited and raring to go when it was time to leave. Cole kept talking about the elephants he wanted to see. We had great seats so the boys were able to stand up and watch the entire time with no one in their way. They did great and had a fun time. The performances were amazing. The strength and flexibility of some of the performers is beyond anything I could ever imagine. Both Eli & Cole were tired when we got home - Cole even fell asleep on the way home and thought that was his nap - so we made sure they got a little nap in. It's amazing how much you can get done in an hour's nap! I did laundry, cleaned up some, finished the boys' valentines and worked on some other chores. It was great!! Then we laid low at the house and, of course, more play doh and coloring.

Start of the circus - opening clowns

The Ringmaster sang the National Anthem while the Patriotic elephant walked the arena.

Clowns with cool cars - the one in the back had a see saw on it.

The entire cast in the opening number.

This picture looks funny but these guys were the coolest. They had bouncy shoe things on, were dressed in pink and green, glowed in the dark and did the coolest stunts - very hard to capture on camera!

Center ring horses. One horse got a little too close to the side and almost got tripped up. I must say I had a moment of guilt worried if the animals are treated well. I talked to some folks around us who knew more about how the circus is run and I felt better. Then they were handing out animal training info (they use repetition and reward much like we train our dog) as we left so I felt much better about the whole thing. And truth be told, there were much less animal tricks / shows than I remember from growing up.

Horse walking a wheelie!

Eli loved this skit. The clowns had to replace the light bulb but their ladders wouldn't reach and kept falling down.

Super fun clown car again

Strong men - Two men, two poles, spinning with a clown and four ladies.

Jump roper on a tight rope high above the floor.

Ok, so I could never think of doing a split these days. Or walking on a tight rope. Or especially doing a split on a tight rope!

Amazing balance. Just amazing.

We all loved this funny clown bike. The tires made me think of fun doughnuts - and I don't even eat doughnuts!

Eli absolutely loved this and keeps asking to see the picture of the clown getting run over.

Would love to have of these!

Spinning circle cages - not sure what you call them.

The guys were very entertaining and fearless.

Daddy & Cole - intermission.

Eli & I had fun taking self portraits. When I told him his eyes kept being closed, he decided to ham it up and close them on purpose. Silly boy!

Family fun!

Yummy popcorn snack.

Tiger stunts

Don't think I would get in the ring with them.

Really cool though!

Eli loved this clown as well. He had a smaller version of the doughnut bike but his back tire was flat and wouldn't pump up.

Acrobats - again hard to get pictures but these were so cool.

All the acrobats hanging.

Strong men - oh my goodness. Such balance, strength and control.

Definitely better core strength than I have!

No more cannon, these days it is a crossbow.

Shooting across the arena - I did feel lucky to get this shot!

Cole absolutely loved the elephants.

Elephant finale

Here are the cool bouncy shoe people.

Flipping, bouncing and jumping all over. It made me want to find some!!

Cole was a pooped out little boy. He fell asleep before we got home....and then thought his nap was over, uh not quite!

Working on Valentine's crafts

The boys' Valentine's day goodies for their friends.

Cole had to break out the heavy equipment for play doh time.