March Madness

March came in like a lioness with PMS this year, so there were lots of opportunities for us to come up with more inside fun.  Fortunately that included our annual trip to Great Wolf with Grandma Heidi and Pop Pop so at least we could expose our skin to air with >10% humidity.

cutie patootie ready to rock the slides

giving me the what-for

night 1 - awaiting the story time show with all the necessary treats in hand

we're so tired but want to see the shooooooooooooooooooooooow

best seat in the house

still has those squeezable cheeks

with rachel the raccoon

i was honestly surprised to notice how long her stems have gotten over the winter

rode this slide about a kerskillion times

a trip to the arcade was in order!

souvenir ears? check. won't take off their flip flops? check. time to hit it back home after a super fun weekend!

Other things to keep us entertained throughout the month:

a little poodle wranglin'

wrestling, aka the push game.  nothing can go wrong here.

tape the hat on the leprechaun.  not only did that leprechaun hide our shamrocks, he turned gg and luke's milk green.  naughty leprechaun!!

yeah that's right, i used a lucky charms box as our target. pinterest schminterest

which way do i go?

thoroughly enjoying this game

as if i need more reasons to lose my balance...

daddy's up!

finding our hidden shamrocks

i promise, luke was more enthusiastic than this photo would imply

bumpin' at work

Shenanigans aside, Matt and I were quickly growing weary of waiting for construction to begin on the new 4th bedroom addition.  THANKFULLY there was enough of a light at the end of the tunnel for things to get going on March 19th.  More on the reno saga later.

In the meantime it was time for the calendar to say spring and for us to celebrate Grandma Kathy's birthday.  It was a huge relief for me to get the kids over there as Matt was on day 4 of his boy's AZ getaway weekend and I was on day 4 of pregnant lady overload and about to hoist the mommy-white-flag (side note: you know you're done when your kids fall down separate flights of steps within about 8 minutes of each other).  Birthday bonus, the kids got to finally meet their new little cousin, Logan!! 

this picture perfectly sums up what i anticipate happening this summer.  her: totally into it.  him: n.o.t. interested

so proud to hold him

the cousins (all 4, ha ha)

hi, my name is genevieve and i'm 16

luke was totally in love with auntie barb.  and why not?  she was a lot more fun than the sleeping baby

a-dain!

luke skipped over the fruit tart in favor of a 'dween tuptate'

proud grandparents

While I wouldn't call it warm, the sun came out enough to at least give us some 6-layered hope that spring will indeed return.

hanging with mom at the playground

he announces every time whether he's going to slide on his "booty butt" or on his belly.  can we make it through the summer without a broken nose?

matt heads off on a run.  notice his lizard-like footwear.  kyle, this one's for you.

February Has Flown By

A lot has happened at the casa in the last few weeks.  Not a single thing having to do with starting construction on the addition, but a lot nonetheless.  As I type, I am at 25+ weeks with Maio 3.0; Luke has decided he's ready to take on more big boy adventures, Genevieve has really started to come out of her shell at school, and Matt is now running in those weird toe-shoes and loving it.  Innnnnnteresting.  Here's a quick round up of the goings-on of the last few weeks:

Vortex Be Damned!
Last week was the first time we've been able to spend more than 20 minutes outside for months.  So L and I spent the entire day jumping in puddles and once big sis got home she joined the fun too.  Apologies to Ralphie whose one nail I clipped way too short and as such, caused our driveway to look like a scene out of True Blood or something.  What can I say Poodie, it's hard to bend over with the basketball in my way.

snow must be carted from here to there for appropriate smushing into puddle

working on her first snowman of the year

here's frosty!

the *charming* neighbors across the street have their drive plowed into our front yard.  benefit: insta-mountain

trying to scale it solo

and he's down

watch how it's done little man!

round II: with a little assistance.  note: anyone else still have their sorel boots circa about '93 or '94?  ooooooh doctor!

summit reached!

It's No Bedroom, but It's a Project
Matt has been talking about modifying our TV space forever.  I was fine with it but we never got around to pulling the trigger on getting the "necessary" sound system to go with it.  The cold must have gotten to his brain because last weekend he just got all fired up about putting this thing together.  Like, NOW.  So we went to Best Buy, the kid's brains turned all mushy in front of the big screens (seriously, I could see them getting dumber), and walked out with the must-have equipment.  I took a nap, Matt and his lovely assistant got to work, and a few hours later it was done and done.

nothing to be concerned about here, folks

learning the difference between a jigsaw and a screwdriver

luke awakes to find the tools scattered everywhere, to which he says, "oooooooh!"

this is a little too edgar allan poe for me...

a superb assistant at the ready

tools! noise! commotion! i'm in!

mommy, i have biiiiiiiiiiig muscles

finished product.  looks good, huh?  yes, i know we need a bigger tv.  add it to the list.

Keeping Busy

So with the weather returning to vortex-central we have to find stuff to do indoors to keep busy (hopefully that list does NOT include getting strep, bronchitis, croup, or the other pleasantries that we've enjoyed this winter).  The kids love love love to paint and I hate hate hate to let them.  She's ok but he dives straight in and requires 100% supervision.  But on a day with no other places to go or things to do, it's a fun time.  I wonder if this is how Monet's mother felt?

old t shirts on and ready to be artistic geniuses

see?  genius at work.

even more geniuser when he decides to lay his face flat on his paper.

In more prideful news, Lukie recently decided that he was donezo with the crib.  Not unlike potty training, I wasn't planning to pull on that thread until spring, but if he's into it then so are we.  So we busted out the railings and got to work.  The crib is still in his room in case this was a fluke, but four days later he's all about it.  So with new pirate sheets on the big boy bed the crib is heading down to the basement for the next couple of months (you know, one less thing to dust off when the roof is torn off our house). I showed the kids the blog video I did of GG in her first night in her big kid bed and I could not believe how little she looked.  I admit, I had a total prego hormonal moment.  The days are long but the years are short!

ahh yes, the downward-dog mattress test

being silly with sister

day 1 nap time: out like a light!

what a big boy

And now that it's the "worst time of the year" - ie, no football or baseball - the only logical thing for Matt to do is make homemade pasta.  If you saw Silver Linings Playbook you might remember the mom making "crabby snacks and homemades" every game.  It was a big deal.  We made crabby snacks for Super Bowl (just google it for about a zillion recipes) and apparently homemades refers to any kind of homemade pasta.  Now Luke runs around hollering, "I want tabby snats...AND HOMEMADES!"

just an average sunday

And to round out this busy month, we are giddy with anticipation for one more birthday...as soon as Steve & Erin's newest little Maio decides to make his/her debut.  C'mon little baby, time to officially make us Auntie and Uncle!

Exposing them to the Classics

Of all things for a five year old girl to be obsessed with, G has totally fallen in love with Star Wars.  What?  Matt is basically dying of joy and happiness to share his geeky passion with his oldest.  Which translates to his youngest since L wants to do everything G does. Although it's cute to see father and daughter snuggled up in front of Return of the Jedi, it's a teensy bit concerning that G comes home and tells us she played with the boys all day because she's the only girl in her K4 classes who knows who Princess Leia is.  Matt sees no problem with this.  I hope he re-reads this in about 8 years. 

On the up-side, it's adorable that G came home having colored a 'light saver' for her daddy.  And hearing Luke say, "I want to be Darf Bader" is pretty cute.  And let's not forget their new-found appreciation for classical music.  Whod'a thunk John Williams would be the most requested composer in our house? 

Maio 3.0...It's A...