loot vs. loo

 The loot, of one child.

Yesterday, one of my children was busy all day counting, sorting, and pondering his candy loot.

It is hard work for a little guy.

Yesterday they put a piece in 21 envelopes to enjoy from now until Thanksgiving.

The rest is getting donated...why am I having a hard time letting this stuff go. 

Probably because I enjoy this stuff, sadly, just as much as them...

And while one child finds candy entertaining...

Another little finds our loot  entertaining...

(get it loo...as in bathroom)

Lot's to do today.

Guests this weekend.

Busy morning.

Productive afternoon...

GO!

piggy bank treasure...

When it comes to our Henry...

A morning spent counting his piggy bank treasure...

with his Grandma Barb by his side...

means he can count up to 60 without issue and he can smile...and giggle while doing it.

Last time he counted his piggy bank treasure it was with his daddy.  And Ed wrote the amount on a post it note and dated it.  It has been almost two years and he has doubled his money.  

A great way to practice counting, coin identification...and a fun tradition to write the amount on a slip of paper and keep it in the piggy bank!

Our boys now have wallets where they keep their spending money. 

Their piggy banks have been a work in progress since they were born and we tell them it is a special saving place.  It is not yet spending money.  I think the grandma's tend to be the big contributors.  

Do you let your kids spend their piggy bank money?

differences I relish

Two boys. One hamster.

Very different personalities with little white furry things.

There's this guy.

And then there is this guy.

This guy. 

And then this guy.

Charley had a gentle kind touch that started out shaky but his confidence grew. 

And Henry...well, he just couldn't stand the excitement.  

His grin was there for the entire little pre-bedtime hamster playdate.  

And it is the mix of these two personalities and the fact that this hamster sleeps ALL. DAY. LONG and wakes about 25 minutes before bedtime that has me pondering this addition to our family.  

However, the excitement that this little guy has over that little creature is something I also have to ponder.  Can we handle it?

Only time will tell.  This week we will enjoy him for one more day.  And then say "Good-bye Coconut! Come again anytime."

What we've been up to...

Charley asks often if he can go ask the neighbors to play.

He says, "I want a friend to play with."

Even though I don't remind them ALL the time, but just once in a while that they could consider each other friends.

I know that someday they will realize that the greatest gift we gave them

was each other.

But for now they only see each other as brothers.

  

Brothers who worked together to surprise the little ladies in our neighborhood with some sweet treats on St. Patrick's day.

The dollar section at Target had some rainbow striped taffy type candy.

I bought a few packages and we threw a few pieces of that and some golden wrapped candy in zip bags.  (rainbows and pots of gold) They put them little goodies in a lunch bag and wrote
"Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Love, the Leprechauns"

 

Then they were stealth little spy delivery boys. 

They snuck up to the houses and rang the doorbell and ran.

Or rather, big brother directed Henry where to hide and he ran up and rang the doorbell.

It was quite comical to watch.

They had a great time.

Looking at these pictures I have to snicker because it has been the reality for over a year.

Henry is catching up to Charley in size.  His feet are almost the same and many of the clothing items that Charley wore just last summer fit Henry.

Interesting.

And yet, when we see our boys playing out with the neighbors they still look so little to us.

They are great buds.

They really are.

Great buds who also recognize this little sweet treat.

Every once in a while they break from their big boy play and give her their undivided attention.

She has figured out the game of chase.

She will crawl quickly, pause, look back, giggle, and then quickly crawl again.

And she loves when they catch on and play along.

It is kind of a surprising little gift the third baby.

You get to sit back and watch the game of chase evolve instead of being the one to necessarily teach it.

Three of Syd's favorite things these days..

1.  Smoothie drinks --- If she sees you making them she gets quite excited.

2.  The outdoors -- she loves to roam and explore.

3.  Her brothers -- she loves watching their shenanigans.  And she actually puts her little hands out in front of her and flips her wrists and lifts her shoulders like she is saying, "I have no idea what they are up to..."

Today:

--gloomy but no rain yet.
--boys to school ...girls did a little spring cloths shopping (for the kids).
--the rest of the afternoon will be hunting for shorts.  I need to take inventory of who fits into what.

Boys will be boys....and this mama is okay with it.

A little something about me, I LOVE when my boys are playing outside, make believe, exploring, running free.  That is why I love our week up north so much.  I spend time and precious packing space making sure we have toys...but we rarely even crack the tubs that they sit in all week.  They find their own fun with sticks, rocks, minnows, and water.  Henry went to a friends house and when I pulled up I saw him running outside, free, smiling, and happy.  And this makes me happy.

Something else about me,

I NEVER thought I would be okay with my boys playing with guns, shooters, whatever you want to call them.  But the thing is, boys naturally seem to figure it out.  Sticks become swords, rifles, or laser shooters.  And they are in their glory.

And even though I still get a little sick feeling when I see them playing with guns, it also makes me giggle and smile, and think to myself, "I am a mom of two boys, and ....boys will be boys."

Note:  Sydney's favorite thing to do is swing long objects and make raspberry noises...hmmmm...

And the shooter play is balanced with

exploring chicken coops...

And guess what we got to bring home?

A dozen eggs that were retrieved just an hour before I arrived to pick up Henry.

How cool is that?

 

Never cry ice cream....

So wanna here a CRAZY story about a four year old boy and ice cream.

Tell me he isn't crazy.  Because, when I told his brother and friend this story they could not believe it.

Today Henry joined Sydney and I on an outing to get my hair cut.  A good friend, Ms. Katie, joined us to help.  We had lunch first and then I scooted across the street with Sydney to begin my hair cut.  I left Henry with Katie.  (NOTE:  Henry didn't hesitate or make a fuss when I told him I was running across the street.  Whenever I mention Katie or Katie and Casey both my boys get excited.  They are special to our boys.  I would have assumed Henry would not want to be left.  He is growing up.).  So I took advantage of his go with it attitude and escaped to my hair appointment.  Katie had asked if it would be okay to buy him some dessert. Sure.

I later learned that she ordered him a fun ice cream treat and he wouldn't eat it.  Crazy?  I think so.  What kid doesn't eat ice cream that is treated to them?  Luckily, Ms. Katie is expecting her first and you know what that means....of course it means she was up to the challenge of conquering the ice cream treat herself.  After their treat they strolled some fun shops and then joined us. 

Without knowing the ice cream story I offered Henry an ice cream treat at the neighboring ice cream shop.  He picked a scoop in a dish, not a cone, of the blue cotton candy ice cream complete with sprinkles smattered about inside the ice cream.  Did he eat it?  Nope.  So Sydney and I nibbled it up.  

So this afternoon I shared the story with his brother, that TWO fabulous women bought Henry ice cream and he didn't eat either.  Crazy?  I think so. 

Katie and I both learned something about Henry.  He is an ice cream fibber.  We will no longer offer him ice cream treats or  believe him when he asks for ice cream.  Kinda like the "Never cry wolf story"....

Speaking of ice cream.  Ed brought home some frozen yogurt, trying to be more healthy.  It was a new flavor.  Key lime pie.  It was delicious.  He claimed to have only gotten one bowl.  Sorry Ed.  Anyways, what's your favorite ice cream to keep stashed in your freezer. 

Catching up on birthdays and ski hills...

Last week....

...we had pie.

This proud papa turned ...

well he had a birthday last week.

And this is the following day when he watched his second son take his first ski lesson.

A ski lesson that we wondered about.

Would Henry dig deep and find the confidence to take the lesson.
Last summer's tennis lessons didn't go so well.

All morning the kiddo wavered back and forth.

But when we arrived the lady who checked us in to get the ski gear just assumed he was there to ski and she assumed he was ready and Henry never looked back. Even with a half hour walk around time while we waited for the lesson to begin.

While we checked out the hill I listened as Ed talked calmly to

Henry about little things, not ski related. 

He is such a good daddy.

And Henry took in the surroundings.  

And when it was time...he headed out with the rest of the adorably small ski bums.

He did everything the teacher asked him to do.

He got down to practice getting up.

See, there I am. 

And there's Miss Syd. 

That trooper girl goes along and cheers those brothers on.

Wave to daddy!

Henry survived his first ski lesson and also THRIVED.

He is looking forward to his next one.  He will have three this year.

And this is a year sooner than Charley started.  Yikes.

So proud of him.

So. proud.

Today:
Lots on our minds these days.
Taking the days as we go.
More updates to come.

Hitting the slopes...

Daddy's Super Hero cape got some snow action.

He took his TWO boys to the ski hill on Sunday.

Here are the three of them going up on the lift.

They spent almost the entire day at the hill.

When I popped over to see them in action I think about the future.

I know that right now it is a lot of work for Ed.

They stayed on the bunny hill most of the day because that is where Henry needs to be.

 

But in the not too distant future Ed will have two boys who will hit the slopes with him.

And that is a pretty exciting thing.

I get a little jealous watching the fun and adventure that they have.

I sometimes get caught up in the day to day mothering...and I see Ed's interactions with the kids as sometimes less about the daily grind but more about the moments. 

 

Moments that are so thrilling.

Moments that bring being a daddy to the next level.

And though I wouldn't give up the day to day grind with the kiddos,

I hope to find some hobbies and little adventures to just plain enjoy with the kids.

Henry is ready for an official ski helmet.

And our big puzzler is whether the kiddo would participate independently in a lesson.

He wouldn't do the tennis lesson last summer.

It is too expensive to sign him up for this...if he isn't going to take in the full experience.

He did say many times that evening, "Hey Charley, wasn't that fun skiing with daddy?"

So, we'll see.  February is a month full of potential.

So I will now focus on getting my knee stronger so that I could take a lesson or two...

And when Sydney is ready....we can all enjoy the slopes. 

Wishful thinking...we'll just have to wait and see.