February update

Two sick kids and a house full of laundry. Where has half the week gone? Inspired by my sister I began pilates classes last month. I fell in love with it and started going three days a week with the enthusiastic help of my love Kyle. The snow has melted and I’m finding another great charm to this house which is the sky light in the kitchen. On days like today when the sun shines yet it’s not warm enough to stay outside for long, it’s wonderful to play ring around the rosie bare foot in doors.

Aidan has grown to be a wonderful story teller. He asks” mama, do you want me to tell you a story or sing you a story”. I always say “lets sing about it”. Aidan also had his first lesson on public speaking in class last week. He brought one of his favorite books titled “ ‘Dinosourumpous” to share with the class. I am such a sucker for capturing Aidan and Ethan’s first time experiences that I almost wish I skipped my Master Gardener course that day to go to pre-school with Aidan to see him up in front of the class. Another sign of Aidan’s maturity is his voice of reason. I really do not mind it because his rebuttals are usually good ones that Kyle and I can’t dismiss.

I am loving the independent side of Ethan. He wants to do everything by himself. If you try to help he pulls your hand away and says “ no, no”. Now that he’s learned to run, Ethan tries at every attempt to play catch me if you can. Kyle, Aidan and I take turns wearing Ethan out. A good way to stop him is to offer to read him a book. But he only likes book with animal pictures in them. Other signs of maturity are Ethan's wardrobe choices. Along with his mustard color sweatpants he like to wear Aidan's shirts and boots.

I dragged the isle into the kitchen to make painting a daily event. Aidan and Ethan like to paint after breakfast. We work with two colors at a time. Slowly they are leaning the color wheel. The kids are also forcing tulip bulbs this winter. Aidan worked on an observation chart which I think he lost his patience with because he said “ I just can’t wait for it to grow!” and started drawing the leaves off the page. Ethan has been an exceptional water boy. One day he kept on asking for small amounts of water in his drinking cup . I remember thinking, "boy he must be thirsty". After he was already in bed, I found dirt and water overflow on the floor around the flower pots.

These times are so precious. Aidan and Ethan leave signs of their presence that Kyle and I stumble upon once they are in bed: hot wheel cars in a line, spilled water and block towers. Sometimes I think they were left out intentionally as if to say " see mom and dad, how you can be mad at us for not picking up?"