Quirky interests

I have learned that each child develops quirky interests all their own. When she was little, Caroline was obsessed with socks. She carried them with her all over the house, put multiple pairs on each foot, packed them in her purses, and wore them on her hands. There were never any socks in her drawer because they always ended up all over the house. Clayton has a similar obsession with spoons (which he calls "dumas". ) He likes to carry around one little wooden spoon and one other spoon. Even when he is trying to play with other toys, he likes to hold them, making it sometimes more difficult to play. However, take one away and he flips out and laments "DUMA!!!!!" He is also obsessed with the canister vacuum. He likes to take the hose and drag it around or just move the hose into different positions. Then he hops on and rides the vacuum. (For some reason this is more fun than our actual ride-on toys that make noise, display lights, etc.)
Oh my funny little bugs. How I love them so.

The other day I found them both inside the baby doll cradle together.

Sure, there are times when they aren't nice to eachother or are jealous, but all in all, they really do love eachother and like eachother's company!

Videos from her birthday

Here are some videos of Caroline's birthday.
Here is one of Caroline singing "Happy Birthday to Me!"
Here is one of both kids eating "cu-cakes"

Birthday Parties!

We had a few girl friends over for a birthday party, followed by a family birthday party. It was a day full of fun, presents, and (of course) cake!

Family party

Caroline turns three!

I can't believe it. My baby girl has turned three! She had a little cupcake party at school.


She requested shrimp for her birthday dinner, so she happily dined on shrimp, edamame, and sushi (of all things!).

I made a cake and BB brought my favorite bakery cake, so we got to munch on TWO cakes. Hello sugar high! Afterwards, Clayton ran around like a wind-up toy and all he could say was "Cu-cake" for the rest of the night!

What a great birthday for both of us!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was complete with red roses and a carry-out dinner from an italian restaurant. (I gave myself a break from cooking a fancy meal like I normally do for post-kids Valentine's Day and played the 8 months pregnant card.)

The kids had heart shaped toast, sandwiches, and cookies, red balloons, a red heart hunt around the living room, and lots of love.

My Dad also came over for dinner (his sweetheart is in Florida).

It was a good day!

Valentine's Day Surprise

Look what arrived at the door today! It was a surprise from Kevin.

My sweet husband surprised me by sending me red roses for Valentine's Day!

He's never done that before and it was such a wonderful surprise.

It definitely brought a huge smile to my face.

Happy 18 month birthday Clayton Matthew!

Eating "egg-free" cupcakes

and playing with half-birthday balloons!

Future computer tech?

Clayton sees me typing on my computer now and then and started begging to get up and try it himself. So, I put him up on the chair and he grabbed the mouse just like a pro. I ran to the laundry room for a second, and when I came back, he had changed the computer background from the default "Dell" blue to a picture of himself! I don't even know how to change the background and he was able to not only change it in 4 seconds, but to a picture of himself!

Winter boredom?

Ugh - we are SO tired of being inside all the time and are just getting bored with the same old toys, games, and activities every day. We tried one new one this week that I thought I'd share - bubbles (typically an outside activity at our house.) I plunked the kids in the bath, and then blew bubbles all over the bathroom. They loved it!

Superbowl!

Well, the kids didn't exactly watch the superbowl this year, but they did wear football jerseys and eat chili. Baby steps...baby steps...