He's learning...

Auden's learning the classic chicken butt rhyme... Here's how it goes, according to him:

Guess who? 

Chicken butt.

Summer is off to a wonderful start...and it's not even officially here yet.

Logan's almost riding his two-wheeler by himself.

We camped out in the back yard...and didn't cheat by going inside to sleep around midnight like we did last year!

We made s'mores...damp firewood be damned!

We put in a lovely flower garden in the back.

We found the first lightning bug of the season.

We've harvested and cooked kale and broccoli from our garden.

In general, we're loving life!

Two-wheelin'

By the way, Logan's learning to ride his bike, sans training wheels. He does really well until the neighbors cheer him on and he jerks his head in their direction, along with the handlebars...
We're hoping that before summer is out, he'll be going solo. At least, I think that's what we're hoping...

To Boston, to Boston...

So summer vacation has begun! My school let out a full week before Eric's, so the boys and I decided to take a road trip to Grammy Renee's for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was sunny, the family time was lovely. The boys got to play with a marble chute set that used to be my brother's--great fun to build and to watch. The red-throated hummingbirds were at the feeders. Grammy and Papa read oodles of books to the boys and bought them new jammies. They were supermen. with capes. Greggie helped assemble Lego creations. Great-Grandma and pa Kop dished out their own thawed and sugared blueberries, which the boys devoured in seconds. Great-Grammy O. had everyone over for a barbecue. Aunt Marlene doled out goody bags and called out the numbers for BINGO with Auden. Nick and Laura showed their competitive nature. Uncle Rod teased. Tyler showed off his mad poi skills.

When we returned, Eric had brought home a turtle and bull frog to live in our pond. Both have taken their own road trips by now. He had also been hard at work building some cabinets in our kitchen...He's a Gemini; that's all I can say about that.

So now, we're gearing up for our summer trips, starting on projects we've put off during the school year. I've been doing some research on our destinations: Boston, Concord, Amherst, Salem. We also need to reassemble our basement, which is still a partially carpeted disaster after the 48-hour rainfall we had last month. And the boys' room will be repainted soon...once we've decided on a color. What do you choose when you're splitting the room--one side Batman; one side Spiderman?

Today we went to Hadley's graduation party. The boys had a blast with the trucks Karen picked up for them, and they had a blast with Hadley, Paul, and Paul's girlfriend. We reminisced about how the family has changed. It was years ago at Christmas when the now-graduates and college students performed a play they had written themselves, as well as some musical numbers. I suppose our boys will have to carry the torch :)

Tomorrow, what will it be? The zoo? We shall see!

Funny story: Logan weighed himself at Grammy O's.
"Mom, what's 4 and 0?"
"That's forty," I replied.
"I wonder what my belly weighs...What's 2 and 0?" (I'm not sure how accurate Grammy's scale actually is.)
"Well, 4 and 0 is forty, so what could 2 and 0 be?"
"Hmm, that must be twoty."
Hahahaha.

Easter

It was a cold Easter this year, but a fun one nonetheless. Thanks, Auntie Jackie, for having us over! Here are some photos from the weekend:

Happy birthday, Logan!

How have you grown so quickly!? I love your curious mind and sensitive heart. I hope you keep both traits with you your whole life long. Your friends and family, near and far, helped make your birthday special.

We had an early birthday with mom's family, after braving a blizzard on the way there and staying over in a hotel. Good thing there was a swimming pool! Then you shared cupcakes with your friends at school. You wished for a scooter...and got one that evening at Chuck E Cheese's! Such a crazy, fun time you had with Jeff flying around the play tunnels and video games. Then we spent some special time with Grammy, Papa, and Uncle Greggie.

Happy birthday!

We love you, love you, love you!

Proud Moments

Logan's pretty excited about turning five. The birthday party, the cake, the friends and family, the presents, adding another digit to his age. He's been bombarding me with questions about his age in relation to his brother's, as though he's making sure that he will always be the older brother...."So, when I'm seven, how old will Auden be?" I gave him the first five answers or so, but now he's on his own. Working on the math skills... :)

Anyway, I've been a little stuck when relatives are asking what to get him for his birthday. He's really excited to get clothes this year. (Is he five, going on 60?!) "Long-sleeved shirts" (he really means short-sleeved shirts) and shorts are on the list. As for toys, he's non-committal. We stopped by Grammy Sue's yesterday for a short visit, and she asked what he wanted for his birthday. His reply? "Eh, I get what I get and I don't throw a fit." You know, he can be pretty sweet sometimes.

As for Auden, we've ventured out to some stores, church, and to a friends' house for a play date, and he's acting like he's solidly potty trained now. I don't want to get my hopes up, but I'm starting to feel relatively confident that I've bought our last box of diapers. Ever.

And tonight the boys were listening and singing along to Logan's preschool songs--his Jolly Phonics (Some British songs--get the pun?--that take them through the alphabet), days of the week, the colors and the months in Spanish, etc. We sat down to read some stories. Logan wants to sit, not by me, but by his brother. "I love you, Auden. You're my best buddy" "I wuv you, too, Yogan." It's moments like these that bring me sanity and melt my heart.

Fun in the snow

Well, we didn't get as much snowfall as we had anticipated, but we've been making the most of it...

Happily over the new year...and then some

I read my last--very brief--post and realized that we survived the holidays, and happily, and have embarked on this new year without comment. Record for posterity I must (and for the few family members and friends who check in now and then), so here I go!

Christmas, as most things in life, did not go quite as planned. We were supposed to spend Christmas Eve with Eric's side of the family, but the day before Christmas Eve, we ended up taking Auden to the ER just to check on this nasty cough and slight fever he had been dealing with for roughly a week. It turns out he had RSV, a nasty cold virus that can cause pneumonia, especially in kids under two and people with fragile immune systems. So, we decided to contain our germs and stay home. It was quiet and a little strange, but we fixed up a dinner of crab legs (for Eric) and pasta with browned butter and mizithra cheese for me and the boys. We had stopped by Eric's parents' to swap gifts, so the boys opened a crazy amount of presents, and they went to bed at a relatively reasonable hour.

The next morning, we woke up, opened gifts from Santa, which included an indoor trampoline for Auden and a Beyblade set for Logan, and we headed down to my parents' for Christmas Day. Always good to see the fam! My cousin Tyler was on leave, and he was finally able to meet Auden and see a walking, talking Logan. If anything, the holidays remind you how fleeting time truly is. My cousins used to beat me up mercilessly. This year, they just shot Nerf discs at my husband...and, in turn, my children attacked them. Ok, so maybe it's nice to know that we really aren't so grown up after all.

The rest of our break was remarkably productive. As we fought off the cold that Auden so generously passed to the three of us, I did most of those projects that I half-heartedly put on a to-do list to accomplish during break, the ones that never actually get done. Well, this year, they got done! I cleaned out our storage room, donated three bags of toys, organized the boys' room and the new office, organized the pantry and got rid of all the stuff that had expired in '08 or something. Wow. Not that I typed that out, I feel not productive but incredibly lame.

Eric and I had the neighbors and their kids over for an early new year's celebration. The kids played together really well, and we actually got some grown-up talks in. Not bad!

We had time for laziness and leisure. Eric and I saw two--count 'em--two movies in the theater (Les Miserables, The Hobbit--bother entertaining but entirely too long), and I got hooked on the BBC series Sherlock. I also made it through Medusa's Gaze and Vampire's Bite, a so-so book that makes conjectures about the origins of various monster myths.

Auden started potty training full force. It's been weeks since I've changed a poopy diaper. It's so easy to forget how nice that fact is. Still a ways to go, but we're on the right track.

The only thing missing is my commitment to working out in any way whatsoever. But I'm finally at a point in my life when I'm feeling the effects. My legs and shoulders feel crampy in the evenings; my energy level feels rather low, and it's not just because I'm a mom. For the first time in my life, running just doesn't appeal to me. I'm thinking pilates. Maybe next month I'll see if there are any classes out there... :)

This past weekend was great--spent some time with Eric's side of the family. Always fun to see the boys play with their cousins and clown around for grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Hope all of you are well!