Happy Birthday to Michael, the handsome, sweet, smart, sassy, feisty, charismatic, funny, irresistible boy that has brought us so much joy for the past 3 years. Love you, Michael Bear!

Big Boy Bike!

Congratulations, David! How many kids do you know who do their first poop on the potty AND learn to ride a bike in the same yea? :) That's my David Joe! Kudos to Daddy who made a commitment to get out there and practice with David every day for about 2 weeks until they completed their mission. David is very proud of himself, and we are very proud of him too :)

Family Camp Olympics

Family Camp

Our friends from Notre Dame, the Engle Family, invited us to join them at YoungLife's Family Camp in late August in Detroit Lakes MN. We had a fun weekend relaxing, playing on the beach, and doing some of the other activities that they had available for us. Here are some video highlights from the Family Camp Olympics. Also, check out David and Michael imitating the comedic MCs of the Family Camp weekend, Rico and Tico Suave and The Extreme Lifeguards.

Back to School

David had his first day of his last year of preschool today. Same great teachers as last year, most of the same great friends. He was very excited to go back. He picked out his favorite Star Wars shirt and "matching" shorts to wear. He got to choose his favorite lunch to give him energy: Tri-color rotini with sauce and grated cheese and strawberries. And he wore his new Clone Wars backpack. When I picked him up he looked happy as a lark. Pictures to follow...

A few other David tidbits...

The other day he picks up his violin and says, "Hey Dad, listen to what I can play!" And he rattles off parts of Bruce Springsteen's Hungry Heart and Dancing in the Dark. Gotta love this kid.

He is very interested in math these days. He has learned several "rules." He knows that any 1 digit number times 100 is "that-digit-hundred" (e.g., 5x100=5 hundred.) He knows that any 2 digit round number times one hundred is "the-first-digit-thousand" (e.g., 50x100 = 5 thousand). He loves being able to solve those "big" problems.

As you may also have noticed, he loves to email. If you haven't yet received an email from him and you would like to, please let me know. I'm sure he would be happy to oblige ;)

Today, he says out of the clear blue sky to me: "I know how to spell "castle." C-A-S-T-L-E." "That's right, David! How did you know that?" "I saw it written down once."

Oh right, of course. I think we call that "photographic" :)

Putting Us To Shame

Michael got a fly with the fly swatter today. I feel like Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid. I chase the darn thing all over the kitchen for 5 minutes, looking like a fool. My 2 year old picks up the fly swatter and within a minute - BAM! The fly is dead. Beginner's luck.

A few other Michael stories:

We were at Family Camp this weekend in Detroit Lakes, MN. I told Michael we had to get ready to go back to the dining hall for dinner and that the beach was closed. "How can the beach be closed, Mom? It doesn't have a door!"

Lately, Michael's big word has been "HATE." He hates this, he hates that. I have threatened him with tickle torture every time he says "hate" instead of "really don't like." His response: "I hate being tickled."

Sweet and Sour

My Michael said to me this morning, "Mom, you are the best girl ever." And 2 nights ago as Brian walked past his room at night, he said, "Dad, you are a great dad." Sweetie pie boy. Let's just ignore the fact that yesterday he said he "hated the world" and didn't like God because he doesn't have shoes ;)

Sioux Empire Fair

For a while now, Brian has been highly motivated to increase the boys' amusement park ride repertoire. We have told the boys that we aren't going back to Disney World until they get some guts with regards to the rides. So, Brian especially, was looking forward to the fair this year as an opportunity to practice some of the more intense kiddie rides. Namely, the roller coaster. I, being 32 weeks pregnant was not allowed to go on the rides, but Brian went with the boys for their first ride of the day. Michael's face revealed that he was loving it. David, not so much. By the end of the ride, David had vowed that he would not be going on it again. We went and did some other rides, and eventually, Brian brought them back to the roller coaster and insisted that they ride again. Michael was all for it. David not so much. In fact, it turned into quite a scene with David wailing away that he didn't want to go, and Brian and I not giving in. (These are the moments that I question myself as a parent and wonder if it's worth the "trauma." That being said, Brian and I were both wimps as children and only discovered the joy of roller coasters much later in life. If somebody had "pushed" us a little, we might have enjoyed many more years of roller coaster bliss...) Brian patiently explained to David that it often takes a while to get used to new things and to realize how fun they can be. He gave David several examples of new situations of which David was initially scared, but eventually came to love (e.g., going underwater). Long story long, they went on the ride and David tolerated it. He came off saying that it was better than his last ride. Daddy encouraged the boys to yell silly things (like Geronimo and Cowabunga) on the way down the hill, which seemed to add to Michael's exhilaration and to relieve some of David's anxiety. We went off and did some other things, ate some nasty fair food, passed on some even nastier fair food (Fried Kool-Aid????What is that???) and before we left, Brian asked the boys if they wanted to ride the coaster one last time. To our amazement, both boys said yes! They rode one more time with Brian, and then, at David's request, rode again one last time...all by themselves! Brian and I loved seeing them have so much fun, screaming with delight all the way down the "big" hill. The video clip I have attached is short, not in HD, and hard to track, but at the very least watching it helps me remember the joy on their faces. Shout out to Daddy for knowing when to push a little bit. All in the name of roller coaster fun!

Making Fun of Mom and Dad

David is 4 years old and already cracking up over the ridiculous things that his mom and dad say and do.

First of all, as some of you know, he recently got his own email address: davidguarraci4@gmail. He is obsessed with it and checks it often. He's not so big on replies, but he understands that you need to send emails in order to get emails, so he does send a few short emails out...When he was writing out his first email, to be sent to close friends and family members, I instructed him on how to type out his daddy's email address. bguarraci@yahoo. David started cracking up when he saw the address: "Booger-aci! Booger-aci! Dad is a booger-aci."

Brian is doing the P90X workout, bless his soul. David and Michael have not only seen him doing some of these super intense work outs, but have also participated in them! They love "exercising" with their daddy. The other night, I was doing a yoga exercise from my prenatal yoga deck that my sister gave me when I was pregnant with David. It involved standing with your back against a wall and doing a very subtle roll of the pelvic bone that basically rolls the base of your spine up and down the wall. It is designed to relieve lower back pain, and I must say that it does a pretty darn good job of it considering the simplicity of the exercise. David saw me seemingly standing against the wall and said, "Mom, what are you doing?" "I'm doing a special exercise," I said. He starts cracking up and says, "That's not an exercise! You are just standing there!" Ok, so I'm not maxing out my heart doing crazy push-ups and calisthenics, etc. But these are about all the exercises I can manage! A couple days later, David stood up against a wall and made like a statue (complete dumb-butt look on his face) and said, with a definite mocking tone, "Look Mom. I'm exercising." Stinker.

Some Cute Things About Michael

Even in the face of constant corrections and hearing these words/phrases pronounced differently by others, Michael insists on saying...

Hiccup Truck instead of Pick-up Truck

Lightning The Queen instead of Lightning McQueen

Last Sunday at church, Michael was being very loud. I told him his voice was too loud for church. "Why?" he asked.

"Because all these other people are trying to talk to God and your loud voice makes it hard for them to do that."

"But God is way up there. He can't hear them!"

"He can, Michael. maybe you should try to talk to God, too."

"Hi, God." Pause. "I still have that sickaness in my tummy. I've been trying to make it go away but I can't do it."

"Maybe you can ask God to help you with your tummy, Michael."

"Will you help me God?" Pause. Pause.

"He didn't hear me, Mom."

(Note: All of Michael's musings/statements, etc are said at full value."

Some Cute Things About David

When we went "out West" over Memorial Day weekend, we saw a picture of Sitting Bull. I was telling David about Native American names and how they are different than our names. Like Red Cloud, and Crazy Horse. Then I asked him, "If you had an Indian name, I wonder what it would be." he thought about it for a moment, then leaned in to whisper in my ear, "I think my Indian name would be CuteButt."

David is such a math nerd. It is becoming an almost daily occurrence that David will either ask to play a math game, or will randomly offer the answer to some math fact (e.g., Mom, I know what 4 x 4 is. OR Mom, doesn't 4 x 10 = 40??). He gets that from his Daddy ;)

David and Michael have nicknamed the baby Kitzi. I have explained to the boys that Kitzi is her nickname but that Daddy and I will ultimately choose her name. Nevertheless, David asked me the other day, "Mom, do you think her real name will be Kitzi???"

Grandparents Rock!

In the month of July, we have been so lucky! We have had the chance to visit both sets of grandparents! Pictures and posts to follow....someday....no promises on which day ;)

Tummy Floats, Fluoride, and Color Guards

A few random pieces of excitement this past week: We saw a Bugle and Drum Corps competition here in Sioux Falls - it was pretty cool. The kids loved watching the bands march in formation and even knew some of the songs (mostly from the band that went with a Les Mis theme). The color guards and baton twirlers were talented and impressive. As you can see in the picture, we eventually moved to a seats where we had a great view, but the sound was a bit too loud for the little ones ;)

David and Michael each completed 4 consecutive weeks of swim lessons earlier in the summer. David opted to do another 2 weeks and he is in the middle of that session now. I am so proud of both boys. Both of them love to go under water. Michael is constantly begging me to let him swim "I by myself" :) David is a little fish. He can actually swim under water for quite a ways and he is working on his kicking and tummy and back floats.

Finally, the boys each took a trip to the dentist and got glowing reviews. They were so super psyched to have the dentist check out their teeth, and were thrilled when they walked away with a balloon AND a "goody bag." Who has the heart to tell them that this is as much fun as going to the dentist will ever be? It's all down hill from here, kiddos ;) (The picture is of them in the waiting room...)

If We Took a Holiday...

Some highlights from March...

Trip to Minneapolis to visit the Engle Family

Always so much fun to see our dear friends. The kids have lots of fun together, as do the grown-ups. The took us to a super yummy brunch place, and we got to check out the Minneapolis Children's Museum!

David's Group Violin Recital at the "Big Stage" at Washington Pavilion

We learned a bit about performance etiquette. David seemed to experience a form of stage fright, and kept his head straight down for most of the performance. He also was plucking his own violin strings while other violinists were playing. But aside from those "rookie" faux pas, we were super proud of David. Though he is one of the youngest kids up there, he stands more in the middle of the pack when it comes to progression through the Suzuki curriculum.

St Patrick's Day

We attempted to hold the First Annual Sioux Falls South Side St Patrick's Day Parade. Though we invited tons of friends to participate, we didn't do so until March 16th so as you can imagine, our turnout wasn't so hot. In fact, in the end, it was David, Michael, me, Mamo, and Papo. Oh well. The kids had fun, and there is always next year ;)

Daddy's 34th Birthday

Happy Birthday, Old Man! Love ya like crazy ;)

Best Thing About February

Best thing about February, nay, about the whole winter was February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day. That's the day that we found out that after almost a year of trying, we were pregnant! This picture of me was taken on 2/16, just 3 short days after we found out our good news. Yikes, right??? I mean, seriously, I was like 3-4 weeks pregnant in this pic looking about the same as I did when I was 3-4 months pregnant with David.

Winter Fun

Ironic that I would finally be making this post today of all days...The temperature hovered around 95 degrees for most of the day today. Which means that reminiscing about this winter is not only "safe" but also kind of refreshing ;)

Winter, as I was warned, was very long and very cold. A Sioux Falls friend of mine once told me, "Don't let anybody scare you about the winters here. You've lived in Rochester, NY, South Bend, IN and Chicago. Your winter resume stacks up with the best of them." She's right. And yet....The wind chill here is unreal. And winter does seem to drag on and on. Thank God we moved into our rental home near the beginning of the winter because the kids literally have a whole level here that is unfurnished and open for them to run around in and make a mess in. And we made a point to take advantage of the Science Center, and the new SD Children's Museum, and the community center open play times, and our playgroup, and Chuck E Cheese ;)

There was fun to be had this winter, too...We went sledding at Spellerberg Park. (We opted to steer away from Tuthill Park where the slope is so intense that rumor has it that broken bones are a weekly occurrence and blood-stained snow is a common sight - No thanks!). We drove through a snow storm to get to Minneapolis to visit the Engles. Pretty harrowing drive - now that is what I call winter fun ;) And we built snowmen and snow forts in our back yard. As much snow as we got, it was often so dry that we couldn't pack it at all, so being able to build with the snow was a real treat.

Boy Talk

Last week David called his own grandmother both a "butt loaf" and a "stinky pot." Today, when his wet hand squeaked against the wall of the bathtub, he said it sounded like a "laser fart." Butt loaf???? Laser fart???? Do all boys intuitively know what exactly these things are???

Teach Your Children Well

The nice thing about having more than one kid is that sometime when you do the "work" once with the first kid, they take over and do the work for you on the second. For example, yesterday Brian and I overheard Michael and David reading a book together. David had chosen the word "INSECT" to try and teach Michael to read. "What does the 'I' say?" he asked his little brother. "Ih" says Michael. "Good! Now what does the 'N' say?" "Ennn," says Michael. And so on and so forth until they have sounded out the whole word, at which point David guides Michael in putting all of the sounds together to get INSECT. Nice work, David. I couldn't have done it better myself.

Puzzling

The kid who can't sit still long enough for anyone to get a single good photo of him will vigorously "attack" any puzzle that you put in front of him. My little Michael can knock out a 24 piece jigsaw puzzle in 3 minutes flat. I guess it's time to move on to the 100 piecers ;)

Young Love

Recently, David met the youngest sister in a family that we have known since our first month or two in Sioux Falls. Her name is Maryn and is she is 9 years old. We just had a brief encounter with her in church, but she talked to each of the boys. A few days later I told David that we were going to watch her oldest brother's team play baseball later that afternoon. "Is the whole family going to be there," David asked. "Yup," I said. "The sister?" he said. "Maryn, you mean?" I clarified. "Ya," he said. "Ya, she will be there." " I really like her," said David. "Me too," I said. "What do you like about her David?" He sighs. "Her face...her hair...her voice." "And she's really nice, too, right?" I suggest. "Ya, and there is something else that I am a little embarrassed to say," said David. "Well, it's up to you if you want to tell me, David. Either way, it is fine." "Well, why don't you guess Mom?" "OK. You think Maryn is pretty?" "No, that's not it. Do you want me to just tell you?" "Sure, David." "Well, I just keep thinking that maybe if I grow up really fast, maybe I can ask her to marry me."

How sweet can you be? :)

Star Wars

The other day, Michael was busily doodling a collection of oblong/circle/oval type shapes on a sheet of paper when Brian happenned past and complimented him on his artwork. "This one almost looks like a heart," said Brian. At which point, Michael gives him a look like he's from another galaxy and says, "That is not a heart, Dad. These are Star Wars good guys ships and they are shooting out lightsabers." At which point David exasperatedly explains that ships don't shoot lightsabers, they shoot lasers.

I guess these are the arguments that I will look forward to for the next umpteen years with 3 Star Wars experts in the house ;)

David's First Time on the Big Stage

On March 20th, David and the rest of the Suzuki String students were invited to "open" for the Youth Symphony Orchestra. He was so proud to be up on the big stage where the Sioux Falls Symphony Orchestra plays! Check him out...

Michaelisms

A few recent Michael quotes.

He is running around at soccer practice on Saturday morning. All of a sudden he stops and says, "I don't like soccer. I like chocolate chip muffins."

Later that morning, we went to Jimmy Johns for lunch. As soon as we walk in the door, Michael starts asking for his cookie. I explain that we need to eat our sandwiches first, and then we can have our cookie. He seems to accept this. If you have ever been to Jimmy Johns, you know that their decor consists mainly of kitschy little signs with funny one-liners. At one point during our meal, Michael points up to one of the signs and says, "That's the sign that says you get to eat your cookie first."

David's First Violin Recital

It was almost 2 months ago to the day, but I am just now posting about it. David has been obsessed with string instruments since before he was two years old. He could tell you the difference between a viola, a violin, a cello, and a bass. By ear, he could recognize solos from violins, banjoes, acoustic guitars, and electric guitars. He knew about mandolins, and even hammered dulcimers, for Pete's sake. He used to wake up from his naps talking about how he wanted to play the violin someday. So, Mamo and Papo, never ones to let one of their grandchildren's wishes go ungranted, bought him his first violin the Christmas after he turned two. In February of that year, he began Suzuki violin lessons and has continued with them weekly ever since. His teacher in Chicago did not incorporate recitals into David's schedule, but his teacher here does. So, for his first recital he played "Song of the Wind" from Suzuki Book 1. He insisted on wearing his fancy clothes for the recital, as well as his violin pin that Mamo and Papo gave him in honor of his big day. It was so cool to see him perform with absolutely no "nerves" or even realization that he "should" be nervous. Ah, the ignorance of youth :) After the recital was over, he expressed his disappointment that he only got to play one song. He marched around the venue playing songs on his violin, and was the last performer to put his instrument away and leave. Since then, he has discovered that if he can sing a song, he can play it on the violin, even if his teacher has never taught it to him. On his own, he has picked out the tunes to, and taught himself to play Happy Birthday, the Thomas the Tank Engine Theme Song, and a song from Michael's Kindermusik CD. It is really exciting to see him learn and to be so excited about his music. So, without further ado...here is the video clip from his recital...

In the Land of Honah Lee

http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/lyrics/puff_magic_dragon.html

I usually offer David the option of hearing either a story or a lullabye before bed. Tonight, he requested "the song about a dragon and a boy." I had sang him Puff The Magic Dragon once before, or at least the parts that I could remember. So, I sang it again, knowing that again, I was leaving out parts in the middle. When I went back out front, I decided to look the lyrics up on the internet (I have linked you to them above...) to see what parts I had left out. My omission was the verse about Puff and Jackie's adventures together: travelling on a boat with billowed sails, pirate ships, noble kings and princes. I decided to go back in and sing David the rest. Just so he knew the whole story...I almost made it through but when I got to the very last line, I could feel myself getting choked up and started to laugh at myself. At first, David was trying to figure out what was so funny, but he quickly realized that his nut job of a mom was about to start crying. I could see his chin begin to tremble too. I tried to quickly explain that I was crying because it's like the song says: Dragons live forever but not so little boys. Little boys grow up, and you will grow up someday too, David. I can't hold back my tears. David's chin continues to tremble. So, I keep trying. When you grow up, I will be happy for you David. You will grow up and have your own family and be happy, and I will be so proud of you. But it's just hard for mommies when their kids grow up." "But when I grow up, maybe I will marry one of you guys, you or Dad." "Well, David, I'm already married to your Dad. I hope you marry somebody your own age, David. Somebody who you love very much." "I think I will marry Dad then." "But your Dad is already married to me." "Well maybe one of you can get double married." By the end of our conversation, we were both laughing. Until painted wings and giant strings make way for other toys, I am going to cherish every moment with my sweetie boy.

WWJD

David and Michael have their own play village set up in our basement: The Melissa & Doug castle, their dollhouse, the Fisher Price barn, the Little Tikes parking garage, a Little People nativity scene, the Playtown Restaurant, and all the accompanying figures. I come downstairs one day to find Michael thrashing around in his play village, knocking over figurines, and buildings and generally wreaking havoc. "He's fighting everyone," Michael was yelling, "He's fighting everyone!" "Who's fighting everyone?" I asked. "Baby Jesus," he replied, and held up the peaceful holy infant for me to see.

Heartbreakers

The other day, when I was picking up David from school, two different mothers made a point to approach me and tell me how much their little girls love my David. The first mother said that on the way home from the dance party, her little girl was going on and on: "David is so funny. David is so nice. David is so cool." The music screeched to a halt when she finished with, "And David is soooo handsome." "What???," thought her mother. "You are 4 years old!! Don't you dare tell your father that you said that!"

The second mother said that her daughter talks about David all the time. She said that there have been numerous mornings when her daughter was resisting getting ready for school and was convinced to go only by her mother saying "But David will be there."

One of the moms in our playgroup back in Chicago predicted that David would be "that boy" in school that all the girls crushed on. Maybe she was right ;)

Michael's got his own game. Over the past month or so, Michael has developed what I can only call "a following" among David's classmates. At pick-up time, several of the girls literally line up to give Michael a hug. Today, one of the boys' mother caught us as we were walking out and asked if her son could just say goodbye to Michael. I felt like Justin Bieber's bodyguard, granting one more adoring fan their moment with the icon. My Michael Bear definitely has charisma ;)

Let's Get It Started

In some ways, I feel like this weekend was our "coming out" weekend in Sioux Falls. Sure, we've been here for 8 months now, but for the first 7 months we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment that didn't allow us much opportunity to entertain. But here, we have all of our old kitchen stuff (serving bowls, etc) and soooo much more space. In other words, we're ready to party ;) We decided to break up the winter with a Kiddie Dance Party. We've got an unfurnished basement with laminate floor and lots of space. And we have an Ipod. So what more do we need, right? We invited all of David's school friends, our playgroup buddies, and then assorted other VIPs; our former neighbors, our ND friends, my book club pals. In the end, we ended up with about 25-30 children ranging in ages from 10 days to 6 years, and 25-30 accompanying adults. The kids had a blast! They did the Limbo Rock, the Hokey Pokey, the YMCA, the Chicken Dance. They went "Dancing in the Dark" with some Target glow-sticks. They proved that they can "Jump Around" with the best of them. They busted a move for about 4 hours and broke only for a pizza dinner. David and Michael were so excited and were dancing their pants off. David was super excited to greet his friends as they arrived, and to pass out the glow sticks to them. Michael organized the largest game of Ring Around The Rosie that this city has ever seen. And at the end of the night, the boys crashed, with visions of disco balls dancing in their heads ;) Hail hail, rock 'n' roll!! Special shouts out to Aunt Gina and Uncle Pete who helped develop the playlist. You guys rock.

The Sound of Musik

One of the many wonderful things about having young children in your life is getting to watch all of your old favorite moves from childhood through their eyes. They boys have recently discovered The Sound of Music, and they LOVE it. David's favorite scene is The Lonely Goatherd puppet show. And My Favorite Things. And Do Re Me. And So Long, Farewell ;) And Michael, especially loves the part when the captain whistles out each of the children's call and has them state their names. If you think it's because Michael digs discipline, you couldn't be more wrong. If you think it's because Cpt. VonTrapp's whistle "sounds just like a choo choo train" to Michael, then you would be right on ;)

Michael has also started taking Kindermusik classes on Mondays. On the first day of class, the teacher let the kids mingle and play for the first few minutes of class and then brought the kids into a circle and began her initial greeting to the class. "So glad to see you all here! I remember when I used to..." It's at this point that Michael excitedly interrupts. "Th Th Th Th Th," he stutters in his rush to get his voice heard, "These used to be my ears," he blurts out, grabbing one of his ears. Michael, welcome to class. Class, welcome to my Michael ;)

David Joe

David is such a sweet, smart, and awesome little man. Check out some pics of him from December...

Loving Michael

It's so dang easy. Here are a few pics from December of our little firecracker, Michael Patrick.

Celebrating With The Engles

In December, we took a trip to Minneapolis to celebrate Andreas Engle's 3rd Birthday. We almost got ourselves killed driving through a pretty bad snowstorm to get there, but once there, what fun we had! Birthday party at Pump It Up, sledding, and most of all, enjoying the company and hospitality of our dear friends.

Monet and Michelangelo Got Nothin' On Them

A sampling of my boys' artwork from late in 2010...

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do!

Gotta love Michael Bear. At soccer, Michael is the youngest "player." He often isn't quite able to participate in the drills the way he is supposed to because of his age/personality/attention span. But he is an important and well-loved part of each soccer practice just the same. Beginning of practice. All the kids are gathered around their coach. Coach Leo asks, "Did you guys have fun last time at soccer practice?" No kids respond audibly...except for Michael, who yells, with gusto, "Yaaa!!!!!" "You guys ready to have some fun today?" asks Coach Leo. Again, only Michael is heard with his enthusiastic, "Yaaaaa!" "You want to play a game?" says Coach Leo. "Yaa!" yells my Michael. So on and so forth, you get the picture. Says Coach Leo, "I like this kid." Don't we all, Coach Leo, don't we all.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

I remember Brian's mom telling the story about how Brian, as a preschooler, was sitting at the dinner table when he had a "math revelation." "2 5's is 10!," he announced. I bet Brian's folks would have felt like they had experienced deja vu had they been with us a few evenings ago when David, who had been sitting quietly at the table announced, " 3 plus 3 plus 3 is 9." Pause. "And 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3 is 12." Pause. "And 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3 plus 3 is 15!!!" All the way to 21. I know he got those skills from his Daddy because I still have trouble with those times tables, even to this day ;)

The Children's Museum of South Dakota

So, Children's Museum of South Dakota. New, and in Brookings SD, about a 1 hour drive from Sioux Falls. Rumored to be awesome. To take the kids or not to take them? That has been the question. Pros: Tons of fun. Cons: 2 hours of driving for 2 hours of play AND likely messing up Michael's nap (Read: messing up my afternoon ;) We decided to give it a go this morning. Drive went great. Kids had a blast at the museum. They left cooperatively (a small miracle), ate their "picnic in the car," and Michael stayed awake for the whole trip, then angelically went down for his nap as soon as we got home. All in all, a fabulous morning for this stay-at-home mommy and her little boys!

All Stars

On Saturday, David and Michael started playing soccer AND learned to ice skate. They were both super excited about both activities. If a picture says a thousand words, then a video says a million...

Going For It... Again

Again in 2011, for the 33rd year in a row, Mamo and Papo are in the running for the prestigious Best Parents Ever Award. They offered to drive back with us to South Dakota to help occupy the kids while Brian and I continued to unpack our new house. They drove on a parallel route - while we were on 90 from Chicago, they were on 80 from IN. They arrived in Sioux Falls about 30 minutes before us, ran to WalMart to buy a shovel, and shoveled out our driveway just in time for our arrival. With their tireless playing with the boys, we were able to get sooooo much done. Like I said, for the 33rd year in a row, Mamo and Papo are contenders ;) Thanks, guys!

It is RIDICULOUS how much stuff we have in our house; toys, books, kitchen accessories, toys, and have I mentioned TOYS???!!!! I truly believe that we have weeks and weeks of work in front of us...

That being said, we love our new place. We have 2 guest rooms, so start booking your trip to SD ;) And we have a whole basement full of toys. FULL of toys. FULL OF TOYS!!!

New Year, New Blogging Philosophy

So, I keep waiting to post on the blog until I have time to go back and catch up. I realize that I may never have the time to catch up, and for every day that I wait, I am falling farther and farther behind. So, I am going to start posting about the current day as blog-worthy things happen. And then, when I have a moment I will come back and retroactively post things from 3 months ago that I never got to post at the time. So, the blog will be sort of like one of those books or movies that the time manipulation makes it almost impossible to follow. Like Memento. Or The Time Traveler's Wife ;)

2011. We rang in the New Year with a big "New Year's Eve Party" in the well-known party town on New Carlisle, IN with the ultimate party animals, Mamo and Papo. We started off the festivities with a game of bumper bowling. Then, the real insanity began at about 7pm when we busted out the party hats and used our good pal YouTube to find footage of Times Square on New Year's Eve 2009 (one of the many good things about kids is that they don't really know the difference.) We did "The Countdown" and were about ready to call it a night when we realized that there had been some misunderstandings. David wanted to know, "When are we having our party?" "We just had it David," we all explained, confused. "But when do all the people get here?" "Oooooooooh. You thought we were having an Aunt Gina style party. Sorry, David. Just us." Disappointed look that only a 4 year old can give. "When's my birthday party, Mama?" says Michael. "No, no Michael. We just had a New Year's Eve party. It's not your birthday today!" Crazy temper tantrum that only a 2 year old can throw. So, we took our dessert, stuck some candles in it, and sang Happy New Year's Eve To You. Just for auld lang syne, as they say ;) Kids went to bed. But not to sleep. So, the adults ended up staying up until almost midnight waiting for our darling Michael to finally stay in his crib and fall asleep. The kid truly is a party animal.

Happy New Year!!!