Summersaults, the beach, animal sounds

Finally - nice weather fell on a weekend! We made it to the beach on Sunday - 58 degrees and so sunny that we had to run back to the car for sunscreen. Really. Who would have thought - sunscreen on March 4th???

Here are some pictures from the day

And some videos from the past week or so

Boys doing summersaults:

Ben scoring a basket - and celebrating.

Eli giving high 5's

Eli naming body parts and animal sounds (with Ben making crude sounds in the background - grrr)

Hodge Podge

I haven't taken many pictures at all, which doesn't lend well to blog posts... Our weather has been a bit dreary, and I usually like to take pictures outdoors. We have remained busy though.

Eli enjoying some chocolate pie:
Some of Ben's 24 Valentines for his pre-school buddies that he helped make and hand signed.

Sweet Eli (who endured 2 burst eardrums last week - what a trooper!):

Active Ben:

Do all kids go through *this* kind of smile stage?

We got to kick the ball around a bit today. He was pretty happy.

Just so I can remember what my days consisted of when I look back 10 years from now... Here was yesterday's schedule...

5:30AM: wake up, shower, breakfast, make lunches for me and boys and breakfast for the road for the boys. Remember to give Eli his nearly last dose of antibiotics. Andy gets boys ready.

7:00AM: out the door - drop boys at daycare

7:30AM: teach - circulatory system and atoms

12:00PM: clean up classroom, grade a quiz, bunch of running around after kids

12:30PM: lunch in staff room

1:00PM: get a call from a cabinet maker about a cafeteria recycling cabinet I'm working on for school

1:20PM: meet with cabinet guy

2:00PM: whirlwind grocery trip - leave food in car...

2:30PM: gas up Andy's car (mine is in the shop), get a carwash

3:00PM: meet with fellow science teachers back at school for a curriculum work

5:00PM: leave school, wait in line for 15 minutes to pick up Happy Panda for dinner

5:45PM: get boys (the latest I have ever picked them up - it's usually at 3:00!)

6:15PM: home - dinner, unload groceries

6:45PM: clean up

7:30PM: night time routine begins - head upstairs

8:00PM: check e-mail, watch Idol on TIVO, fold 6 loads of laundry, catch Andy up on the good parts of SNL from Saturday.

10:30PM: in bed. Phew.

I can't imagine how full time working mommies do this every day, or how stay at mommies can handle their day with very few breaks from the little guys...

Nice weekend.

We had a nice weekend with family. Saturday at Aaron and Rhonda's with Grant, Adam and Barbara - and Sunday Superbowl party with the whole gang at Charlie and Debbie's (no pics from that day...). Lots of Grant pictures!

And (a slightly blurry) one of Eli!

This little monkey is sure developing a personality! He is one tough little brother. Don't let the ribs fool you in the picture - He has got a huge buddah belly. His words are coming so fast, I don't think I can keep track of them! I should try to make a list. Andy and I had a very nice (much needed) weeknight getaway to see The Jayhawks play at The Roseland in Portland. The boys had fun playing with Grandma Jeanne and Papa Doug - thanks for watching the kids for us!

Here is a video of the boys dancing...

And one of Ben doing his Lightning McQueen "I'm a One Man Show" impression.

I love black and white

Belated Christmas Pics and an OMSI trip

A few group pictures from the post-Christmas family get-together with Andy's family (which was very fun!).

And a trip to OMSI - Oregon's science museum with Aaron, Rhonda and Grant. We spent nearly the entire time in the kids zone - the kids had fun, and were pretty worn out. Eli took a 3 hour nap...

My little cutie...

Dontcha think?

We all had some kind of funk this weekend. Ben had a low grade fever and I may have also. Just felt crummy. As Ben said " I just don't feel very well." Ditto that, my son.

I have not been very good at taking pictures lately. Oops.

Some things to remember from the past week or so:

Eli
- Snuggling with mama. He lays his head on my shoulder, sticks his butt in the air and tucks his arms under him. He does this at random times, but usually when tired or not feeling well. Very sweet.

- Does a very funny, excited laugh that I need to get on video.

- Loves destroying things.

Ben
- Has recently declared me "his best friend". He repeats this often. Melts my heart.

- Can sing most of the verses of "Help" by the Beatles with no help. You should hear him say 'appreciate' and 'not so self assured'. Adorable. At songtime before naptime, he often requests 'A beatle'.

- Is really getting good at writing his letters. He did some self-declared 'homework' the other night. A lot of B's, H's, V's, X's and I's. He can write 'Ben' and 'Eli' with no help.

Christmas in MN...

Highlights of the trip to MN:

~Seeing cousin Nick and watching the boys play together with grandpa's homemade construction trucks.

~Hanging with grandpa and grandma and Brent and Patti.

~Grandma's cooking and gold-star-earning-extensive-laundry-duty.

~Lots of Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and Busytown games. Also, Magna-tiles, construction trucks, remote control cars, cookie decorating/eating.

Lowlights of the trip:

~Eli barfing all over me, daddy and himself during the last few minutes of the flight to Minneapolis. Yes, we were THAT family on the plane. Poor Eli was sick for 3 days with the throw ups. See above note about grandma and laundry.

~Ben getting the throw ups in his sleep at the cabin. Again, see above note.

~Jen and Grandpa getting a touch of the boys' sickness also.

~Trying to make good time driving up to the cabin after landing in Mpls on Christmas Eve night, but getting turned around in road construction with horrendous signage in Mpls at 10:00 PM, smelling of barf, needing some sleep. After about 10 extra turns to get us on Hwy 169 N, and a lot of near expletives from mommy and daddy, Ben who had been quiet during the 15 minute delay, suddenly blurts out, "Daddy, you are a funny driver" - which completely cracked us up and then turned into a 'Highlight'.

It was so nice to see everyone in MN (including my girls on New Year's Eve). Here are a few pics from the trip. It was a brown Christmas, but we did get a few inches of snow one of the days, so we did get some sledding in...