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?"

Happy "I Love You" Day

Cupids and My Valentine

Aidan and Ethan got an annual pass to theDanbury Rail museum for Valentine's day.

Aidan and Kyle bakes a coffee cake.

Ethan waits for the oven timer to go off. In this family food is definitely the way to our hearts.

Christmas 2008

Since Ethan was born we have had fake Christmas trees because he's allergic to pine. My favorite part about putting the ornaments on the tree is remembering where they all came from. Some friends have commented that we have a puppy themed tree from Kyle's ornament collection from when he was a child. And now Aidan and Ethan have one too thanks to their gramdparents. There are straw ornaments I fell in love from living in Europe. Some of my favorite deocrations are home made ornaments from the kids and our craftiest friends. When I look at the tree, no matter how lop sidded we place the ornaments or if Ethan has chewed off the corners of them , our Christmas tree is a fun reminder of Christmas's of the past.

Ethan's little luxury is to have his morning bottle on the bench where he can look at the school bus go by.

We left Lindt Chocolate and milk for Santa.

Aidan and his friends at the preschool holiday party. ( Sebastian, Aidan Keegan, and Charlie)

Happy New Year

All smiles!

Aidan threw the BIGGEST fit on the way to the dentist office. However once we stepped inside the office, the entire staff were all smiles which was very infectious. The whole experience was positive from the start. By the time Aidan left the office he had an arm load to gifts from the dentist. Pencil pouch, water bottle, stickers, and a color chart. Aidan even received a token to put in the slot machine for more prizes on his way out. The token was a reward for answering how old he is. He said " I'm three and a half but my brother Ethan is only one and a half".

Aidan is actually holding out three fingers ( his thumb is the third one) to say that he's three years old.

2008 Holiday Bloopers

Why am I wearing the reindeer antlers? Don't you just love Ethan's outfit? Since Aidan gets to pick out what he wears, Ethan thought he should choose his own wardrobe too. That's our one and a half year old going on three and a half for yah.
What you do not see in this picture is Frank the window consultant and Kyle sitting at the dining room table laughing about how I needed to microwave the frosting to the right consistantcy. About every third piece of candy made on the ginger bread house. Aidan finally went to bed at 9:30pm on a total sugar high. - I'm such a good mom :)

One for the tree and one for ME!!!

Crafting and accidents are a daily occurrence in our home. I don't even kick myself anymore for not putting an apron the boys before we begin a project.

Aidan got so excited about seeing his snow globe. He grabbed this one and Ethan's snow globe that is of the same size in the palm of his hands. When Aidan shook them with all his might, the snow globes crashed into each other. Mr. Snow man was one of our favorite Christmas treasures.

One of the best 2008 Holiday blooper picture is still on our camera. Look for it the next time you visit our blog. It's a classic Ethanism.

Thanksgiving