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!!!

Turkey Day with Mamma and Pappa

Mamma and Pappa made the long trip to Sioux Falls to be with us on Thanksgiving Day. We promised ourselves that we wouldn't "over-do" the meal since we were celebrating with the smallest group in recent memory. But alas, we had leftovers galore. Not necessarily a bad thing. Especially when some of the leftovers are Mamma's family recipe for meat stuffing. Yum. The one thing we did right was keep dessert to one simple and favorite choice: brownies ;)

We also attended the Sioux Falls Holiday Parade. The boys generally loved it, although David was scared of the hot air balloon carts that would ride by occasionally and blast the crowd with much-appreciated hot air.

Thanks for making the trip Mamma and Pappa. It was great to hang out with you for a few days!

Passing Through

Well, sort of. Aunt Gina decided to accompany "her little friend MJ," as David called her, from Portland to Sioux Falls as MJ continued on to Philly, where she is moving. Aunt Gina stayed with us for a few days after MJ left and what a great time we had! Chuck E Cheese, Harry Potter, and general raucous play in our living room. We miss you and love you Aunt Gina - thanks for visiting us!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

On November 19, after weeks and weeks of doing chores/daily tasks to earn stickers to in turn earn dollars, David finally saved up enough money to buy the toy of his dreams!!! This toy plays about 20 familiar kid's songs in about 6 different music styles (rock, hip hop, reggae, jazz, etc) and with about a dozen different musical instruments (trumpet, flute, violin, etc.) David can control the volume and the tempo. He can add special effects to his songs (like an "Ow!" or a wailing guitar). And he can record his own songs. Last but not least, it comes with a working microphone. He has been learning and teaching himself songs including "O Christmas Tree" and "Oh When The Saints." Rock on, Young David!!!!

Michael Cracks Me Up

That is Michael's newest phrase. He will laugh like crazy and say, "I am cracking up!"

He also has been getting out of his bed about 15 times before nap and bedtime. Last night, he would come running out of his room every time with a sheet-eating grin on his face and say to Brian and I: "Look what I did, guys!!!" And I have no recourse. Nothing that I can hold over him to make him stay in bed. So, I just put him back in, over and over again and hope that I outlast him. And that I don't wring his little cute neck. One time, Brian caught him over at David's bed, hitting David over the head. Amazingly, David slept through all of this...

So, last week, we were out playing at a park with some friends. Michael picked up a twig from the ground and poked his friend, Sam, in the face. I was obviously upset, and made a big deal out of making Michael drop the stick and apologize, etc. Sam cried and cried. Later that evening, Michael kept saying: "What did I do to Sam?" "You poked him Michael." "I hurt Sam." "Yes, you did. And what did Sam do?" "He cried." "Yes, he did." Michael says, "That was annoying."

Next morning, Michael tells me "Crying is funny." "Crying is funny to you Michael?" "Yes." "Well, it is not funny to the person who is crying. When somebody is crying, they are sad." "That is annoying," he says. "David is annoying," he continues. "Daddy is annoying, Mamma is annoying, Pappa is annoying." At some point during his "List of Annoying People," Daddy peeks his head out of the bedroom. When Michael sees Brian, he stops listing "annoying people" and says, "I mean...Daddy is not annoying." Little two-faced stinker totally reneged. ;)

My Artists

Michael has been really into art play recently. He can sit for 20-30 minutes with Play-Doh or Silly Putty. He LOVES to paint and color. He is very engaged and meticulous when he works on his masterpieces. And so different from David. We used to give David a crayon and he would make a few marks and be done. Michael wants more than one crayon, and he (over)fills the page with broad sweeps or loops of the crayon or paintbrush.

David's school artwork is on display at the Visual Arts Center here in Sioux Falls for the next few weeks. So exciting to see his name and artwork so prominently displayed!

And both boys have completed the first of a 3 part art course - Michael's is called Toddler Movement, and David's is Arty Smarty. They will finish them up over the next two Saturday mornings...