Wordless Wednesday

Mini-Golf for a VERY Big Boy! Oh...and some Baseball too!

It will come as no surprise that we had a wonderful weekend at home. Unless the Little Children are sick, every weekend at home is a wonderful weekend. We thought we would hone Henry's innate golf skills by exposing him to miniature golf. Conceptually, mini-golf was the most absurd thing he's ever seen. I mean, why can't you just SET your ball down 10 inches from the hole and hit it in the hole? Why, in the name of all that is holy, would you start all the way back there, when it isn't possible to even see the hole from there? Therefore, this is how we played the game:

1. Henry forges ahead to the next hole (I will say, for the most part, he did go in order) and sets his ball down a few inches from the hole and just starts putting away.
2. Meanwhile, Daddy starts where you are supposed to. Waits patiently for Henry to make his putt, or at least move far enough away that Daddy's ball has a chance.
3. After Daddy hits the ball (which I swear every time he would say, watch this, its gonna be a hole in one) the offense in Henry's blood is just too strong to fight...so he blocks Daddy's ball with his foot and kicks it back toward the tee, picks up his ball and quick steps to the next hole.
4. Meanwhile, Mommy is following Charlie around trying to avoid what seems to be an inevitable disaster as Charlie-Baby has a strong fascination with any and all water features and bridges. I am absurdly strapped down with a diaper bag crossed one way over my body and a camera strapped the opposite way, which obviously means I cannot bend over to pick up my little child, who is staring danger in the face, because it upsets the balance of my baggage and sends everything hurling forward. I am sure we were quite a sight for others.
And so it goes...just like that....18 holes...in less than 30 minutes. Impressive.

And a short pit stop for a photo on the 9th hole: And then on to the batting cages. Let me set this stage for you. Nathan just couldn't help himself. He needed to hit a few balls. It was cold. It was misting. We were T minus 2 hours past our normal naptime (really? need I continue?) and Henry was still getting over the fact that his ball disappeared when he put it in the cup at the 18th.

And then Henry saw the helmet. He loves helmets and hats and headlights of any sort. I was certain his neck was going to crack as he held this bowling ball atop his little neck. As you can see, he worked hard to hold it up strong. But he had trouble walking, or seeing for that matter.

So, Daddy got him an XS red helmet and a little tiny adorable bat.

Henry watching Daddy hit balls and just waiting for his turn to be like Daddy.

It fits! Sort of.
It balances a little better if I tilt my a head a little to the right just like this...now...don't move!
A very proud, sweet moment below. Of course, it took me a while to get to my "moment" seeing how Nate had no hesitations of bringing our first-born into a batting cage with rogue softballs flying toward him at 80+ miles per hour. Ok, it was slow pitch, but still. And Nate, where is your helmet? You don't have much room for error buddy.

Together, they won the game.

And when the balls stopped coming, and the red light turned dark, Henry turned to Daddy and sweetly whispered "Daddy, can I take the helmet home?" to which Daddy had to say "No, Henry. We need to leave the helmet here. We just borrowed it to play the game." To which Henry responded:
And then, we headed home for naptime.

Love, B

ELVIS....is in the building!

But, before we see Elvis, how about a little fun!

Charlie jumping on our bed. He would stand up and fly/flop face down.

Nathan caught this great action shot:

There really aren't any words to describe this beautiful little guy:
Hello there baby! Its baby Elvis:
He can immediately snap out of his Elvis character as seen below.

"Um, what did you say mommy?"
And right back in to character:
And that apparently wraps up Black and White Thursday.

Love, B

One Word Wednesday

PERFECTLY PRECIOUS

Love, B

"I'm NOT Henry, I'm 'fill-in-the-blank'" and other Warm Weekend Musings

Nathan: "C'Mon Henry, lets go sit on the potty.."

Henry: "I'm NOT Henry! I'm a Walker" (from Star Wars)

Nathan, caught off guard: "Ok Walker, lets go sit on the potty."

Henry: Sits and stares at Daddy with a slight grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. His upper cheek/lower eye dimple goes in out of dimpledom...

Nathan: "C'mon Henry, I don't want you to peepee in your pants. Lets go try."

Henry: "I'm NOT Henry, I'm...I'm...a dinosaur." Then gives the look/dimple exercise.

Nathan: "Ok, I don't care who you are, if you don't go sit on the potty....."

And then we all just start laughing. He is SO 3 years old! And very into mind games as of late. We need to come up with a parent game plan as to not be overtaken by our small children.

It was a beautiful weekend and we spent the majority of it in our outside living space*.

* Backyard

We are slowly transitioning the outside living space from the winter pooping field (the dog, not the people) it becomes from November to April, into our extended living space of sprawling (by sprawling, I mean your standard 100 x 50 standard Portland lot...but when your house is small, that leaves LOTS of room for "sprawling".), green grass, lawn furniture, and every outside toy ages 0-5 you can purchase. It becomes pure summer heaven if you are under 5 or if you like to watch those little people under 5. If only it had a pool, or hot tub, or a gardener...but we take what we can get and are thankful for extra shaded space during warm weather.

Here is some of the family fun from the weekend:

Why is the grass so darn hard to toddle in??
And cue the DRAMA:
Is it wrong that Charlie's dramatic moments actually make me laugh and that I take the time to take a picture, or five, because I think it is so cute? Didn't think so.

My favorite summer look. Hopefully, there will be a lot of this in the next 6 months:

And a lot of this:

So that I can take a lot of these kind of pictures:

Oh my, are those CURLS? You see, I come from a long lineage of STRAIGHT hair, as in straight as a visor that can shade your eyes...so when this one little itty bitty curl reared its precious little head this weekend, I squealed. Literally. Now, I may never cut this poor boys hair. Ever.


And next, for your viewing pleasure, is what I will call...
"Popsicle Montage" or maybe better named "Look at my absurdly long one-year-old eyelashes Montage"

But not to be outdone by my other long-lashed baby. It is so hard to look at these little tiny beauties, because it makes me miss them so much. I hurt when I am away from them.
The "Happy Henry" whose eyes smile like Daddy's when he smiles!

Saturday, we spent the morning cleaning up the yard (theme here?) and the played a little before we wagoned the boys down to Alberta Street for some lunch. And then our new refrigerator came!!!! I am in appliance heaven! It had been so long that I actually forgot that milk isn't supposed to be frozen when you pour it in your cereal.

I completely realize that all parents SAY this and probably FEEL that their kid is excelled in some way...but Henry had taken a self-propelled liking to certain sports. I really don't know what a 3 year old is supposed to be able to do, but this boy amazes me when he can hit a ball that is pitched to him, can swing and hit a golf ball and it soars (!) and can dribble and shoot a soccer ball into a goal. He is happiest when he sports-it-out in the backyard.

Saturday night, we took the boys to a sports store to check out their golf clubs (because Henry snapped two of his plastic clubs in half). Henry loved being in the putting practice area of the store and claimed that it was his "stadium" (he was surrounded by clubs and was on an elevated green)

In the end, he chose a pint-sized baseball mitt which is too cute for words. But what is even cuter is when he falls asleep with the mitt on his little hand at night. Sigh.

Sassy can now get on and off his bike all by him self. But since it is on the grass, cannot go anywhere, but seems happy nonetheless.

Going toward the light....

I hope it is safe to say that Spring Sprang and we are so happy about that!

Love, B

A Fine Easter Sunday

But first, the beautiful birthday flowers among other loverly birthday treats from my wonderful husband:

Henry on a one track mission to FIND THE EASTER BUNNY droppings....droppings? leavings? treats is probably a better way to word that. Charlie was just going in for the morning hug and got stiff-armed by bones.
All dressed up in my Easter finest...cracking eggs and getting my first taste of M&MS.
At Grandma & Grandpa's (NEW!) house, Charlie gets straight to his chores with his vacuum.
It's cousin Bodhi!

Wrestle-time! Henry and Cousin Wyatt:


A simple picture that speaks a thousand words. Charlie in the background doing his own thing, hair a-flailing. Henry taking care of the bad guys and Wyatt on a rampage.
The little brothers want to participate SO BAD! A typical scene in our house, and apparently in Aunt Mimi's too! Another stiff-arm followed by tears.
The dudes...just being dudes.


Easter Brunch in the NEW kitchen - so big & beautiful!
Crazy kooks!
If you can't tell (hehe)... those are bunny ears and bunny teeth
"THE CAKE", after which the kids all fell fast asleep because Grandma made it with LOTS of grand marnier. Kidding. Just a little grand marnier, and the just got super wired.
Love, B