Date Nights & Family Time

Date night #1 was my semi-annual date night with Tami. I helped her at the kids resale and we continued our new addition of getting frozen yogurt after we are done with the work!

Family/Date Night #2 was with our old neighbors, Ben & Jesse. They have since moved to a new house and it was so great to catch up with them. What made it even better was that Jack was in charge of dinner - so I didn't cook a thing!

Family Day: Haircuts and playground time...
I just think that Justin is hilarious in this photo! He did well and sat by himself - but he had this look on his face the whole time.

The weather started to cool off towards the end of the week. You know us - we still ventured outside. Played at the playground for a bit.

 Jack dug holes for each of the boys...

Justin pushed this tractor around for about 20 minutes. Colin tried to call him over a couple of times, but Justin could care less. Pure happiness.

Date Night #3: Our good friend Alexis watched the kids while Jack & I went out for the afternoon/night. Jack & I love our date night times and the kids love their Alexis time. Thank you, Alexis! And everyone else can thank her too - she took these pics of her night with the boys!

Alexis insisted on getting a picture of us before we left for the night, and I was thrilled. Jack, on the other hand, was less than thrilled. But he puts up with my craziness. =)

Tonight, I was reading book about funny animal sayings...
Me: "In the doghouse" means that you're in trouble
Colin: I'm not in the doghouse tonight. I was a good listener.

Me: "Empty nest" means that the kids have moved out of the house
Colin: You're going to have an empty nest?
Me: Someday.
Colin: But, I can't leave yet. I can't do that much stuff by myself!
Me: Oh, no! You don't have to leave the house now. Kids leave the house when they get much bigger. 

Me: "rabbit food" means lots of fresh vegetables.
Colin: Mom, you eat rabbit food. Sometimes I do. But not that much.

Justin is developing a nighttime habit....he has to have at least 7-8 books in his bed with him at night. I took them all out tonight because they had piled up to 10+. He immediately walked over to the bookshelf, picked his books and put them all back into his crib.

Justin's favorite book right now is about funny looking animals. He pretty much knows all of the animals in the book from meerkats to lions to raccoons. His favorite ones are the penguins and kangaroos. He has to get off of his chair and walk/jump around just like those animals. I have to call "penguins come back for bedtime" before he comes back to the room to finish the book. I don't have the heart to end his bedtime stall tactic...have you ever seen a 2 year old try to jump like a kangaroo? Or walk like a penguin? It's the best way to end the day.

Happiness is 79 degrees

Oh yes, we're enjoying 75+ degree weather in March in Ohio! That's the thing about Ohio - with the snowy and grey winters, we truly appreciate the sun. We spent lots of family time outside - sprinklers, gardening, lounging, relaxing, playing....

Jack pulled out the wheelbarrow for some gardening - and this is Justin's "spider in there" face.

 We love the Farmpark, so we made another visit - and this time, we invited Grandma to come with us!

 We love these little escapee lambs. Colin found his favorite one from last week. Justin was a bit tentative and stayed right by Grandma near the larger animals...we think it's connected to the time that the Clydesdale tried to eat kiss him. (And today we found out that one of the Clydesdales are known for picking up strollers, so we lucked out last time.)

 Colin's horse-filled weekend = grooming a Clydesdale + riding a pony = 4 year old happiness.

 When the weather's nice, we enjoy our after dinner time outside on the porch. Love it. Wishing you a sun-filled week!

*If anyone has found my running mojo, please return it to me. I have 9 more weeks until the Cleveland half marathon and desperately need some new motivation if I'm going for a PR.

Week updates: Ohio Sunshine!

We've had one of the warmest winters since I've been in Ohio...and we're loving it!

We enjoyed playground time this week...Justin was so happy that hugged all of the garden statues. haha.

 We also headed out to the Farmpark. We love it there, and they have over 50 new lambs this season.

 This little guy is known for escaping his area. He and Colin hung out for most of the morning. How cool is that?

There were baby goats and baby pigs too. Many of them were born within the last month...and a couple were only a few days old. So cool.

 1st bike ride of the year...

 And we broke out the water table too.

Our good friend came over last week to try on some new clothes...and we made her do a fashion walk for us. And like I said, Justin likes to imitate a lot...

Justin stories...

We're 2 for 2. Justin, just like Colin, put himself in timeout. He ripped a page in my magazine, and all I said was, "no ripping pages. That does not make me happy." He walked himself over to timeout and sat down. The only difference from Colin is that after about 2 seconds, he stood up, said "timeout's over" and ran away.
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He likes to play the guitar. Normally, he runs over to grab it, screams "quarter" (to use as a pick), then sits down and barks, "sing song!" Which means that YOU have to sing with him. Just like when he has a drum set in front of him, he yells "mommy dance," while he plays the music.
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When his food is too hot, he screams "blow me."
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We were playing on the couch and his game accidentally dropped off. He looked at me and said, "Mommy, no push my things." I told him that it fell off by itself. He responded, "oh, fall by self? mommy no push it? ok."
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He loves to sit on laps. Anybody's laps. Like one of those dogs that keep getting bigger but thinks they are a lap dog. When we're eating, he says, "Sit on mommy's lap." When we're on the computer (like right now), "find airplane. boats too. choo choos." When we're watching TV, "mommy, sit here now." ----
After putting his socks, shoes and jacket on he usually runs to the fridge and says "snack!" then after he gets it, he says, "rock n roll" as he waits by the door.
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When it's time for me to go to work, he still runs to me and says "hug and kiss mommy. mommy go work."

Colin stories...

C & J just got off the phone with Grandma, so they couldn't stop talking about her..

Justin: new house. Grandma's house. Justin go to Grandma's house.
Colin: Yeah. We want to live at Grandma's.
Me: Ok, you can. When you live at home and you don't listen, you go to time-out. What do you think Grandma will do when you don't listen to her?
Colin: Umm, she'll give us cookies.
Me: (after laughing hysterically) Well, if you lived at Bachan & Jichan's house, what do you think they'll do if you don't listen?
Colin: Give us presents.
Me: And at Aunt Natalie's house?
Colin: She'll probably give us snacks.
Me: What about if you don't listen at Auntie Lori's house?
Colin: (lots of silence because he doesn't see Lori too much) Umm, I think she'll do an art project with us.

*And that's why we love our family. The boys know that they'll be loved wherever they go. =)
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Tonight, we read a dinosaur encyclopedia book at bedtime.
Me: This is tyrannosaurus. He is as big as a two-story building.
Colin: Can he pick up a house?
Me: Yes, he can. He's big and strong.
Colin: Can he pick up Costco?
Me: Umm, yes, I'm sure he could.
Colin: Can he pick up Costco with all of the stuff inside of it? Even with that playground in Costco?

Fun at home

Enjoying family time and brother-time...

 Colin is moving furniture to make his own hideout...brothers only.

 And Justin is finding his way into potentially dangerous places. He climbed onto the bench, into the laundry basket and starting shaking it, screaming, "choo choo!"