The Bird Blind

What Grace loves... everyone knows about.  Grace's new obsession is birds.  She borrowed a bird book from the library which contained the idea of a bird blind.  One warmish Saturday, the kids decided to try it out.  Never mind the part where you are supose to wait three days before you go inside so the birds are used it you.  They took some chairs and an old sheet and set it up, by themselves.  Then they ripped up some dead grass and threw it on top of the sheet.  Grace had her notebook and pens to document each type of bird.  The boys were her helpers and were working on staying quiet.  (This was a wonderful Saturday activity.  Sit quietly under a sheet...outside?  sure you can have some snacks...)

Tough Love

Or in other words.... Sam and Ruby
I never wanted a Chihuahua, but after Jake offered her as a replacement for Cookie; I jumped at the swap.  Little dogs make littler messes and being married to Jake, I no longer believe a day will come without a dog.  While Ruby occasionally nips at people and barks at whatever she feels like, the kids are not tired of her yet!  Grace lets Ruby out each morning and Isaac will toss toys for her and Sam....  oh Sam.  Sam will smash her, kiss her, carry her, pretend she is his baby, and then smash her again.  Ruby craves attention so much that unless she can't breath, she lets him do whatever.

Say What?

Isaac is a smart funny boy.  Sometimes when he is emptying the bird seed in the garage or heartbroken because I won't let him watch tv, I forget, just for a second, how sweet he is.  He can also be very quiet...until he is not.  One thing is always the same with Isaac, you NEVER know what he is thinking.
We were driving in the car one evening and Isaac said, "Do you know how to make your wish come true?"  Me:  "Do you wish on a star?"  Isaac: "You have to find a pig and lick he's (Isaac language) belly."  SIMPLE AS THAT! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

We MUSTACHE you a question, "Will you be our Valentine?"

I want for... February

On the way to Marmee and Papa's house for Christmas, Grace realized her front tooth was loose.  I told her how Papa would wrap floss around it and pull out my loose teeth.  So Grace asked Papa to pull out her loose front tooth and wished for one toothfor Christmas.  I was hoping she would lose the other one while we were there, but it wasn't until the end of  January that she came home from school with a tooth around her neck and not in her mouth.  Side note: Grace will not leave her teeth out for the tooth fairy.  She thinks they are more valuable than anything the tooth fairy would bring.  (Is this a hoarding tendence?)  Anyway, she smiles like me so it was alittle difficult to get a smile with teeth, but it is so cute when I get a glimpse of those missing teeth.  Grace is such a sweet girl who tries so hard and is getting bigger, and smarter, and lovelier everyday.

Field Trip to PetSmart

Isaac and Jackson attend the same preschool.  Ms Mikki is a great teacher.  This year she took the kids on a field trip to Petsmart.  Since Trisa was out of town, I was lucky to bring Jackson with us.  He was a little shy so he stayed to the back with his hood up.  (I showed him the animals after most of the kids moved on.  Isaac was completely the opposite.  He was in the front of the group asking questions and absorbing all of the information about his furry, scaly, and feathered friends.  He still tells me that a rat, if you set it on your shoulder, won't try and jump off.  (Unlike, hampsters who are not smart enough to hold on... or something like that.)  Sam was just happy to be there and be a pre-preschooler.  I thought back to the days that I worked at a petsmart...  it seems like a lifetime ago. At the end, they each picked out a toy for their respective dogs and then we went for ice cream.  It gave me an excuse to go to Culvers!  I hope they enjoyed the field trip because Ms Mikki said she won't be doing it again ...
 small children + small animals = chaos  

Isaac at the Jazz game

Okay so I can't figure out how to turn this the right way but I wanted to include it so I'm leaving it!

Jake got two free tickets to a Jazz game from his work.  He was going to take Isaac.  He came home too tired and the game didn't start till 7:30 which is practically his bed time anyway.  So I took Isaac to the Jazz game.  It was great because he had just finished Itty Bitty Ball and he was interested in what was actually happening.  Of course not until he had his dip-in-dots in hand.  He was really interested in the defense.  (I think that is because he likes doing it when he plays.  Shooting is still a little tricky.)  We didn't stay for the whole game because it looked like he was going to fall alseep and I didn't want to get stuck trying to carry him three blocks to the car.  He is getting so big!  And he tells me so Every. Day.  He love to stand up against someone and measure himself against them.  He is so eager to get bigger....