Tea Party (the non political kind)

While Audrey has zero reservations about diving into social interaction, she has always been VERY timid when presented with physical challenges (swingsets, soccer, roller coasters, etc.). I didn't think there was anyway she was climbing on a pony, no matter how small.



Well, we now officially have a little girl that says "Daaadddddy, I want a pony!!!!". Great.
Sam deciding he would be the "bad guy" who knocks the princess off her pony. Oh my, we are living the boy-girl stereotypes in real time.

We took a trip up north to see Lisa's cousin John and his family. Here are Sam and Aiden tickling the ivories. Well, if you can see Aiden's great finger technique . . . he is tickling . . . Sam is on the verge of . . . slapping the ivories?

Lisa's mom handed down some china so that Audrey could have an official tea party. Lisa grumbled that this is the same china that her mother absolutely would NOT let Lisa have a tea party with when she was a child. Hmmm, are you saying grandkids get special treatment? Who knew?! Anyway, Margaret and Audrey made cucumber sandwiches and tea cookies while putting on their Sunday best for Audrey's first real tea party. Great, great memory for Audrey.

And mommy came home as well to make the party complete. If you're thinking "why didn't Sam put on his Sunday best?", well then you haven't seen Sam's wardrobe! Frankly, he was lucky to get a seat at the table, odds were seriously against him getting the invite.

Based on Sammy's pinky placement snafu, I'm not sure he's making any follow-up tea party invite lists.

The weather was nice enough to do the old fashioned, outdoor, real egg easter egg hunt. Whoo hoo . . . until the kids realized there wasn't 1) candy, or 2) money inside the eggs. Spoiled little stinkers.

With the disappointment of not getting "free" money in the eggs, I used it as a learning opportunity to teach them about hard work. "Come on kids, let's go put that excess energy behind some elbow-grease!". Jeesh, I sound like my mom.

"Doin good Sam, doin good. Keep working the sponge in a circular motion while I go get the hose. Where's the hose? Sam have you seen the hose . . . ".

"WATCH OUT SAM, INCOMING!!!!!!!!".

Little Mr. 3 Year Old

At 3, Sam is officially no longer "our little baby". We now have friends with 2 children under 3. Sam, it's time to buck-up and embrace childhood! Sam's Cars infatuation makes Audrey's princess infatuation pale in comparison. We don't walk around the house, we drive around the house . . . wait, correction, we RACE around the house. He is soooo boy. Except for when he "crashes" and needs mommy's love. Sam was feeling so celebrity that he decided to join his birthday "via satellite". He was probably stuck out on the racing circuit.

Well, here he is! Thank goodness for all of Audrey's friends. Poor Sam isn't old enough to really have his own yet, and also not old enough to notice. One of the benefits to suburban life is a ready-made neighborhood posse. It really has been the biggest surprise since our move.

While his face might not show it in this picture, Auntie Calie's gift of a Buzz Lightyear action doll was probably the hit of the party. While there is no denying its awesomeness, I think the contrast to "everything Cars" also gave it a nice surprise factor.

And as every parent knows, sometimes the kids find the non-presents the most fun to play with. Grammy came through with an admittedly larger than life gift bag.

Audrey has had a lot of fun letting Sam know about all the things that he can do now that he is 3. See if you can notice the self-serving theme. "Sam, now that you're 3 we can go to Chucky Cheese! It's this amazing place that I've been to for birthday parties, but Mom and Dad wont take us until you're bigger.". GRRRRRRR.

"And Sam, now that you're 3 you get to move into a big boy bed. So it's bye-bye to the crib, and oh yeah, binkies too. See, when I turned 3 Mom and Dad hit me with:

1. You

2. Moved from the only house I knew

3. Took away my crib, and

4. Took away my binkies.

"Now do you understand why I was soo tough on you for the first 3 years?! I'm not saying it was ALL your fault, but it kinda was.".

"And yes Sam, it's time to finally nail that potty training thing. It's getting embarassing when you have your diaper changed during my play dates".

Audrey has taught Sam how to "chillax". It's probably some parenting flaw, but it cracks me up when she comes home from school with the latest slang. I'm sure it's about to get more "slangy" than I want though.

Chillaxin in the awesome new Cars tent from Grammy. He dials the neighborhood posse on his phone and makes "paydates". Not sure what he's collecting on, but go-Sam-go!

Oh no! What the heck is going on with my 5-year old. Lisa thought this picture in Mommy's shoes was cute. I like to call it "How to horrify Dad". Where's my little girl that still likes to watch Mickey Mouse?

Ahhhhhh, there she is. There was no way I could end the blog with that disaster photo above.

Pneumonia & a Rooster

Here are our little angels sharing a rare bath together. During the bath Lisa yelled upstairs "WHAT is going on in there, stop that fighting". They were having a friendly splash fight. I didn't have the heart to break up one of the few instances in which they were having fun with each other.

Sam, bless his little heart, is our sickly little child. As I write this he is in his crib with a fever and a bronchial infection. The picture above, 4 weeks ago, was the hospital visit where they diagnosed pneumonia, pinkeye, and an ear infection. He's literally been on antibiotics for 4 weeks.

He does show glimpses of eye clarity, but as soon as he runs out of antibiotics he falls right back into infection. A ton of other kids seem to be fighting things this winter so we are praying it's nothing more than a tough month.

We are doing our best to keep him fed with healthy foods. Weeelllllll . . . who doesn't like a little burger war. Between Five Guys and Dick's, Five Guys WOULD be the hands down winner if they only offered milkshakes. I mean, come on, how can you be a burger joint if you don't offer shakes?

And the winner is . . . Dick's.

The doctors told us that cool air is very good for Sam's lungs so we took him up to Country Village to feed the ducks.

Notice the rooster starting to stalk the kids. Also notice dad being more worried about getting a decent picture vs. shooing it away.

Sam, showing his good nature, tried to help the rooster out. "Woosta, it's right hea".

"Okay woosta, you too close, get outta hea!".

"Daddy, put down the camera and help me! I'm sick for cryin out loud!".

Holiday Pictures and Santa

"Okay kids, let's take a picture that we can use for the family Christmas card. Come on now, smile . . . just once . . . please . . . ahhh Sam!".

"How cute would a kiss be. Please? Okay Sam, just lean over and give Audrey a quick kiss. Come on KIDS!".

Alas, not even the awkward sibling hug photo could make the cut.

If you're reading this you probably received our Christmas card this year. You're also right now trying to remember the photo . . . yes, it was that non descript and unmemorable for us as well.

The hour and a half wait in the Santa line was brutal. I'm sure every parent feels this way (at least I hope they do), but waiting in a slow moving line with a 2 and 5 year old makes you wonder if your parenting has sunk in AT ALL with your children.

That is until Santa takes them by the hand. They were absolutely speechless while he was talking to them. It was very prescious.

I have to remind Santa next year that the one thing (my) children DO NOT need to hear on December 12th is how wonderful they've been. I need him to put the fear of coal into their little heads. Lord knows Mom and Dad don't strike any fear in them.

Sam was so star-struck by Santa he forgot what he wanted to ask for. Audrey was on the money asking for a bike. Sam sheepishly followed up that he wanted a bike too. Oh Sam, you just got one this fall! Luckily, I think he was so in awe that he immediately forgot what he asked for. Either that or his comprehension is not so good. Even money on that bet.

We immediately put them to work for Santa.

Santa came through for Audrey. I'm not sure I've ever seen that much excitement in her little smile.

You know what is awesome about being the first people through the door at a mid-week aquarium visit? There is actually staff available to answer the incessant questioning of a 5 year old. The girl asks so many questions! I'm constantly struggling with a string of white lies or admitting I don't know everything. I'll let you guess which side I err on.

"Sam, not that one! It's the electric eel! Oh no, you're glowing red!".

Sam is starting to develop into quite a little goofball. Just tonight he was telling a story and as he got more and more animated his hands and arms started flailing about. Lisa laughed and asked "where did he get THAT?". Really Lisa? Pretty sure that's your Italian side and not my Swedish heritage that gets that motor going.

Happy New Year!

Best Friends and Holiday Crafting

A beautiful snow angel from my little angel. Okay, so part of that last statement was a stretch. She's a sweetheart, but angel might be a bridge too far.

Actually, I catch glimpses of them sometimes that melt my heart. Lisa got these two similar pictures that I just love. Maybe it's the eyelashes, or perhaps the chubby cheeks . . either way, I love 'em!

Okay, now to the holiday crafting. Who knew Thanksgiving lends itself to crafting?! If you doubted, then you certainly do not know my wife. Styrofoam ball, brown spray paint, colored feathers, googly eyes, and voila . . . you have the perfect turkey. What, you don't have these items in your craft cupboard? You don't have a craft cupboard?!

Sam was a little looser with the feathers and little closer together with the eyes. Audrey was unwilling to even acknowledge Sam's "crafting disaster". I thought it was pretty good. But then again, when I drew her a picture of her and her puppy she replied "Daddy, what IS that?!".

You didn't think we'd stop at 1 Thanksgiving craft did you? On to the Pilgrim portion of the holiday. Aren't our little early settler kids (meet Haley, one of Audrey's Kindergarten friends) so cute. I know, I know . . . the Pilgrims certainly didn't "discover" America . . .

. . . enter the native of this wild and untamed land. Don't let the blond hair and blue eyes fool you, Sam is very native! Okay, we'll settle for welcoming.

After a season of Lil Kickers with Sam, I've informed Lisa that I will NOT be a coach/dad. His general apathy for all things competitive had me grumbling on the sidelines like the old man I'm pretending not to be.

Okay, so we did get one action photo during the 3 month session. Either he's uber fast or we haven't figured out our new camera. I love his left arm in perfect position to create balance and torque . . . did I say I wouldn't be a coach/dad?

And here he is peering over the fence once he figured out that Audrey and Mommy came to watch practice. Come on Sam, eyes on the field! Coach/dad off again.

I have no idea what has changed over the past several months but the kids have actually started to respect each other, and dare I say care for each other?

Encroaching on each other's forts used to be reason to unleash the full arsenal of fists and feet. Now they actually invite each other into what used to be hostile territory.

Sharing a movie? Impossible 3 months ago when simply agreeing on a movie was an insurmountable task. Thinking they would share the same piece of furniture was absolute crazy talk. I mean seriously, what could have changed that would actually make Sam human to Audrey?

Oh snap Sam! Really?! You'd go there? I guess we all have our price.