Saturday, April 25, 2015

Circus!

Abbie and Wade invited us to go to the circus with them since they had access to free kid's tickets. Coincidentally, Ryan had just drawn a whole book that week about the circus and all the things it would have and asked if we could go to one sometime. After debating which of the kids could actually sit through it plus the car ride to Sioux Falls, we decided to just take them all and even though Cohen got antsy sometimes, I think they all had a fun time! We had pretty high corner seats in General Admission and I think they would have paid attention more if we were closer (or if anyone could understand the announcers at all) but they still had fun.

Waiting for the circus to start
Little circus girl slept or sat quietly through the whole thing!
Power kids with their little light-up toys
Cohen's turn with the light sword

Ryan wanted to try cotton candy (and Adam loves an excuse to buy it)


Tigers!
Cohen eating Wade's chips
We went to the afternoon show and decided to head home right afterwards which is good because the kids conked out in the car on the way. It was a fun outing for the day!

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Birthday and Anniversary

We celebrated my birthday by going out for Mexican food with both our parents and I brought these frosted tulips and butterflies to work. They were delicious, but MAN flooding frosting takes for-ev-er.

The next day, Adam took a day off and I left work at noon so we could head to Chanhassen, MN for the weekend. The boys switched off staying at grandparents and they had a great time while we got some time away to refresh and celebrate our 11th anniversary. We saw Mary Poppins at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater and it was probably my favorite show yet. On Saturday we did a little shopping and then walked around Centennial Lakes park before eating supper at Houlihans and catching a movie. It was a nice weekend away getting to sleep in and eat full meals without interruption, not to mention having a full conversation!

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Cohen: 2 years, 4 months


I look at this little man and have to remind myself he is not even 2 and a half! He is quite talkative and keeps us laughing with his funny sayings and observations. One of the funny things he learned this month is "high five...on the side...down low...too slow!" He remembers a lot of people's names now and can tell us stories about what he did during the day or something he saw.

He can sing the ABC's and now counts objects up to 10. He tries to go higher, but it's a random combination of sounds ending in "teen". He loves eating breakfast and will ask for all kinds of things from yogurt, ce-rull (cereal - wucky chahms are his favorite but the box is now gone), egg bake, bana bread, and donuts on Saturdays--he somehow actually knows when it's Saturday!

We've had some nice days to play outside and he loves his bubble mower. He loves riding the plasma car down the street and we had to put it up on a shelf in the garage since he's snuck out of the backyard, grabbed it from the garage, and headed down the block before we even realized he was out of the sandbox before. That kid is fast!  He tolerates stroller rides but would much rather be powering his own vehicle.

He likes reading books at night--currently into Curious George "Costume Party"  and "On Top of Spaghetti" and he liked checking out some new flap books we're borrowing from Aunt Megan.

Frequent phrases from our little talker:

  • "What you talking about?"
  • "What dat for?" "What he name?" "I don't know ee-ver"
  • "She say no" (reporting back to "Ry-run" after he convince Cohen to come ask me if they can do something they probably shouldn't)
  • "I wanta summa da dat" (I want some of that)
  • "You bought some at da go-shee store?" (when we magically have more yogurt or cereal in the house)
  • "Mommy say shut-up" (He keeps saying this and I honestly can't remember ever saying this in front of the boys but Ryan is convinced I said it to Nika once...which is not totally out of the realm of possibility, but was more likely "Shut it" She probably deserved it, but regardless, you might hear this from Cohen...daily...so just wanted to give you my side of the story! Little tattle-tale!)
  • "I got dat from my hair-cut" (his answer whenever you ask how he got an owie. No idea why.)
It gets a little loud in our house with 2 big talkers (and one little squawker) but it sure is helpful when he can communicate so clearly, like "I need more milk." "I'm ready to get out." and can defend himself somewhat against Ryan's side of stories. They fight like brothers at times, but can also play really well together and of course he loves his "this-ter".





Saturday, April 11, 2015

Avonlea: 5 Months

How did our little girl get so big? She is pretty in pink this month, rocking a cute dress that came with a bunch of clothes we are borrowing from a friend. Did I mention how nice it is to have a tub of clothes in each size to go to when the weather changes or everything is suddenly too small? I seriously don't know what I'd do without it as she's jumped sizes quickly to feeling most comfortable in 9 month clothes now!  For daycare and everyday, her go-to outfit are long-sleeves onesies and soft stretchy pants. I think this girl has only been in jeans twice! It is kind of fun to dress up on Sundays though!

We started trying to sit up a little with the help of the Boppy and she still likes her Exersaucer. She's usually getting up once at night, but goes to sleep fairly easily at 8 and gets up at 6:45. She is usually only doing one nap for us and it varies in length by day.


Smiles usually come pretty easily and she is generally a pretty content girl. She has filled out considerably (check out the triple chin!) and has been very healthy, which we are so grateful for.

Her nicknames lately are "sweet pea" by Adam, "sweetie" or "missy" by me, and "seetie" or  "pincess" (interpretations by Cohen).



Sunday, April 5, 2015

Easter Sunday

We attended the first service at our own church on Easter morning and it was a great service, except for that part where we lost Ryan for 5 minutes during the middle of the  singing. We were standing up singing with Ryan sitting in the chair between us working on his Children's bulletin and the next minute, I look all around and don't see him anywhere. We were in the last row before the "bar" where ppl sit on bar stools, so there was a wall behind us and we were in the middle of the row. After looking right, left, up, down, Adam finally left to go look out in the narthex-that-we-can't-call-a-narthex-instead-i-think-it's-the-Great-Hall?  After several minutes, I finally got all the way down to look under the chairs...and there he was. Totally sprawled out laying way under the chairs against the wall behind us. No way to see or feel him unless you totally squatted down. I quickly made him come up and sit and eventually motioned to Adam to come back in. The people behind us were probably laughing the whole time about our desperate search for our hiding son.

After Adam got home from working the Welcome Booth, we headed to his parents for pictures and Easter lunch. It's amazing to me that for as happy a baby Avonlea is, she isn't smiling in any of these pictures! Probably because we just had to take what we could get from her two uncooperative brothers.
Pay no attention to the man behind the tall grass.

Two Schmoes
Two Schmoes and a Baby
Threats were made, elbows were thrown, babies hung in the balance.
Big girl in a rocking chair.

Avonlea and Madilynn
Otherwise known as Avi and Madie!

Grandpa Mol and the 4 Boone great-grandkids.
We were so glad Grandpa Mol could come down for Easter. Great Uncle John drove him down halfway and we are so grateful for his help. It was hard remembering that last Easter was the last time we saw Grandma Mol and this month will be hard for Grandpa. But, what better reminder than Easter of the promise we have of new life in Christ!

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Easter Saturday

Great Aunt Connie meeting Avonlea

We spent Saturday with Adam's family. Connie, Chuck, Ashley and Brandon got to meet Avonlea for the first time! Madie and Avonlea also got to spend some quality time together while the boys played down by the creek with Grandpa.
Madie and Avonlea.
The boys' favorite part of the backyard.
After lots of stick-slapping and rock-throwing, the boys were hanging out on the bridge when we saw an oddly familiar shoe floating in the water. Somehow Cohen had managed to drop his shoe from his foot into the murk. So, while Ryan played soccer, Cohen was confined to the cement until his shoe dried.

He took full advantage of this and managed to cover a large surface area of cement, hoodie, and jeans with yellow chalk.  The boys also enjoyed an outdoor egg hunt and made out like bandits in the candy department.

I think the fresh air and all the playing wiped someone out. Cohen slept like this for over an hour right in the middle of all the hub-bub.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Good Friday

On Good Friday, we had my family over for a grill-out and an Easter Egg Hunt. The kids had a great time playing together and it was nice to be together while my sister and her kids were home during their Easter break.


Grandma with the two little girls.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Ryan: 5 Years, 6 Months

Ryan is officially 5 and a half! At times he acts like he should be in elementary school, like when he is making up (and solving) math story problems or explaining the main points to a long story I've just told. At other times, he is using his toe to "brush" his teeth or is hiding from us somewhere in our massive church after specifically being told to stay by us. *sigh*

We've had just enough of a taste of nice weather to look forward to what summer could bring. We had some great long walks where he either rode his bike or walked Nika. He is NOT interested in riding his bike without training wheels, or having help getting his little bike over the 4 feet of rutted dirt  the city left between the sidewalk next to our house and the lovely new road (juries out on when this will ever be connected).  In fact, I believe his quote was,"This is MY problem, and *I* need to solve it, NOT YOU!" Probably advice we could all use.

Ryan and Cohen have already spent hours in the sandbox and Ryan is just waiting until the bugs come back so he can hunt them down and starve them to death in his bug box. Despite his lack of empathy for crickets and other unfortunate captives, he has been very concerned lately with animals becoming extinct. We read a lot of wildlife books and we've seen some cool nature shows on Netflix, and he keeps asking what we can do to help the elephants or save the sharks, etc. I can tell he's really be wrestling with it because he posed the question, "Is it more important to make sure people have enough food to eat and things they need or more important to make sure animals habitats are protected so they don't become extinct?" Delicate balance, dude.

Inside, Ryan likes building things like forts, slides, obstacle courses, marble runs, elevators (bucket on a string hanging over the stairwell), etc.  I feel like he would enjoy a class like Physics, but never having taken any Science beyond 11th grade Chem, I really can't be sure. I feel like inclined planes are his jam, though.  He had a great time making up his own Lego creations too instead of following the directions which was a big step for this classic first-born.

Ryan really enjoys being the oldest at home, I think, and he is also one of the oldest kids in his preschool class and the oldest at daycare. As great as those experiences are, we've really noticed that he could probably benefit from playing with some older kids. We invited 2 of his friends from his old daycare over one Saturday and they had the best time. He'll also be playing soccer this Spring and tee-ball this summer with 5 & 6 year olds. He is really looking forward to Kindergarten and will have his screening and round-up day soon. Already he has informed us that he is most looking forward to recess and gym time, so I'm hoping the screeners are impressed by that fine academic ambition.