It Goes Both Ways...

Could he have cooler hair? I'm jealous. You?

Making the Most of a Saturday

The new sinks seem to fit him perfectly...maybe he's a little big for a bath in one, though?

Hot water in the water table. This was minutes before he managed to dump the whole thing over, trapping himself (drenched) underneath...didn't get a pic of that, bummer!

Our Retreat

After months of sleeping on a hide-a-bed that is meant for very occassional use, our bed feels like heaven. I don't think the finest hotels could top our bed at this moment. And having our own room...wow, feels like I might be on vacation without the kids!

The Day History Was Made...

...And the beginning of a new era. Yay!

Two Grandpas

We were lucky enough to have five grandparents (great-grandma C too!) here last week at different times. Our boys are over the moon with all of them. They recently took to spending time with Grandpa M out in the garage, even in the bitter cold. Mark snapped these earlier in the week...I think Grandpa's teaching "Cutting Trim with a Miter Saw 101." Seems to be a good and interactive course.

And grandpa D, satiating TT's incredible need for a good read...I think they both liked it.

More Helping

This boy is going to be the housecleaner I've been missing...thank you in advance, T!

Entertainment These Days

Help! Cabin Fever has struck, big time. I'm running out of ideas...actually I think I've already run out. All I can think about these days is escaping to a sunny beach far away (only for a few days--don't judge).

Since that vacation doesn't seem to be in the cards, we're passing the days until spring comes by making as many indoor messes as possible.

Ashen has become extremely fond of the sink and faucet...spending over an hour on as many occassions as I'll allow (the water mess is actually making the wood come off the front of the counters and is seeping under the floor tile...a good excuse for that kitchen remodel we wanted to do...haha.

Torin's work is at ground-level. He loves the baking cupboard (and any baked goods he can get his hands on, I might add)...and always picks out the baking powder as his item of choice to carry around.

Beginning another round of posts...

This week's project: Our bedroom (can you tell I'm excited?) ! I took these photos yesterday before Mark sanded down the floor...stay tuned for the results (it looks good!). Everything beyond the bay window is new--yes, our bedroom was teensy. The black plastic is the doorway to our new bathroom.

What a difference

a year makes.

The Circus is Here!

A project I started in JUNE is finally complete. The boys Christmas gift in living color:
I hope it can withstand these two (three!)--I didn't reinforce it with steel.

11 Down, 1 to Go!

Can't believe we're less than a month away to the BIG ONE! Where has the year gone?!?

To Feel Paint

Ashen's 1st time fingerpainting. Mmmm, love the feel of paint on my hands. Thanks Richters!

Photos courtesy of dutiful Auntie H

Fine Moments in 4am Parenting

Exhibit #2566:

Someday we'll get this down.
Good thing M wasn't home this morning to see the fruits of his labor...instead I captured it for him (and am doing the laundry). Hey, at least he gets up with me in the middle of the night!

No rest for the weary

Two rooms down, one to go (plus the bathroom)
Sneak Peek: Master Bath
This picture taken moments before I was hit with the 24 hour flu...uggh. Glad that's over.

*Note: I went a bit blog crazy tonight. Scroll down for a festival of posts.

Obsession

Ashenafi's new obsession is something we didn't really see coming (no pun intended!). He's always liked to link cars together into a train and push them around the house. His first train came on Christmas. A "Henry" the tank-engine I picked up at our local toystore because I was sure he would *like* a real train. That was soon followed by a gift from my dad and stepmom of a whole Thomas the Tankengine trainset complete with a caboose and track. A HUGE hit to say the least. He spends hours a day with that track now. It's really fun to watch him concentrate on putting tracks together and linking trains up, and his genuine thrill watching the train go over the little bridge.



However, I made the mistake (hindsight only, of course) of picking up a Thomas the Tankengine DVD at the library last week. It fast became an obsession. "Watch the Train Show??!" was asked incessantly until I gave in and let him watch it on repeat. Sidenote: What a boring show! I cannot believe how terrible the narration and scenery is. I don't know what kids like about it, really. Today, we made a special (early) trip to the library to return it TOGETHER and I let him drop it into the box so he could say his proper goodbye and remember where it went. After I rocked him tonight and put him in bed, almost asleep, he said "Trainshow bye-bye at library?" YES! Goodbye, Trainshow. Good riddance. Makes me sad I can't love everything my baby does, but a mama has to draw the line somewhere.