New Year's Eve, 2012

 Our boys are so lucky to have a Daddy who loves to get his hands dirty.
I was about to throw out an expired box of cornstarch when I heard "Wait! There's an experiment there!"

Apparently, when you mix cornstarch with just the right amount of water, you get this amazing liquid/solid (AKA a non-Newtonian liquid). The boys could roll it, or let it roll off of them.

 Every year since T was little, we've spent New Year's Eve with the Bluesteens. The initial plan was for them to come up to our place this year... but, alas, I am still so freakin' sick and tired (and sick and tired of being sick and tired). So we had to rough it on our own.

 His brother custom made that hat.
And "sparkly juice"

 This one wanted Gatorade. Luvs that Gatorade.

 Heck yeah! Dance party! With the new light-disco-ball! And chicken legs... and Scooby Doo pajamas ;)

And we finished out the night by watching old home movies on TV. Trenton as a baby in IL, Trenton in utero, Oliver's first year, etc... I think this might be the first year in a long time where we are 1)sober and 2)hittin' the sack before midnight.
See 'ya, 2012.

Day Trip to the Children's Museum

 We HAD to get out of the house. We were all going stir-crazy. And the Groupon that I purchased last January was about to expire.
Reminder: don't give Oliver a pen in the car.

 Workin' in the Construction Zone.

 Chillin' with the piggies in the ball pit. (He later said it was his favorite part of the whole museum. That shows you how many ball pits I let him go in.)

Learning about pulleys and gravity...

 Ahh, the ants that go through the tunnels...
And the fish waiting to be caught.

 Trenton still loves this indoor hockey rink. It was his favorite part of the trip ;)

He's getting better and better at rock climbing.

 Oliver on camera, with Jim at the film.
Ah, and the kids were soooo excited to participate in this puppet show. The lady working it was very much into it... and the boys (although they could see her) talked to those puppets like they were real.

 See ya, Children's Museum! Both boys want to return again soon.

The Progression of a Tease

This begins as follows: 

I asked Oliver if he wanted some strawberries, and he declined. So I gave them all to T.

Well, he changed his mind.

And T, being the stubborn, rule-based six-year-old that he is, refused to hand some over to his brother. 

(Until I made him hand it over.)

 

 

 
...and it begins again

Christmas Day 2012

Well let's just cut to the chase now: 

 Two very happy boys running down the stairs, looking to see if Santa came.
At seven-thirty in the morning. Crazy-late! Why? Perhaps because both have pink eye?

 Ah, but the eyes are healthy enough to see this brand new NINJA CASTLE! Shoot yeah!

But what is this? Could Santa have brought this kid a Nintendo DS?
We had told Trenton that he couldn't have one until he turned seven. So he asked for one on his Christmas list, from Santa.
And Santa wrapped it in a huge box. And put it in a really cool Lego holder. So cool that T didn't realize it was, indeed, a DS.

 OK, in that picture, he did.

 And wait! He ate the cookies! And gave the reindeer food and veggies to the loyal reindeer!
Oliver was so very pleased to have the 25th sticker put on his Advent calendar. He's been diligently doing this stickering every morning.

 Some new video games. New hat.

 Plenty o' things to keep da kids busy. Oragami, new books, games, toys...

 Oh yeah, and a disco ball. Will come in handy when we have our daaance partays in the kitchen!

And home-made gifts from the kids, such as these neat-o binoculars that T created for Jim!

Time to eat the gingerbread houses (I let them nibble, then toss them when the interest fades...)

 And here is how the story ends: as the morning wore on, Jim returned to bed, sick. When he awoke, I high-fived him as we passed on the stairs, and did the same. Turns out I had the beginning of the flu... which I suffered with for four days before going to the doctors. The boys were excellent-- watched TV, played with their new games... and then Jim took them to his parents' house for two days so I could rest. Turns out, the doctor won't give you anything for the flu unless you are in day 1 or 2 of your sickness. Ha! No worries- at that point, it had turned into a sinus infection... so my best gift this season was:

Haha. It's been a week, and I'm still a bit surprised about how tired I am. This illness is insane. Totally threw us for a loop this Christmas.

Holiday Writings

Here are some pieces of artwork and writing that I collected from the boys this holiday season.

 

 OK, I think the two above are what Oliver wrote to Trenton when he was bugging the heck out of him. I think it was supposed to say "Leave me alone and stop bothering me or I'll tell Dad"

Below, Oliver writes out the book he wants to read and the shows he wants to watch.

"Twas the Night Before Christmas"

"Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood"

and

"Wild Kratts, Lost at Sea"

 (Daddy helped with the spelling)

 And below, a project Trenton did for class.
Babysitters, beware!