Boy #1 started art classes two weeks ago and this is what he came home with last week. I love it and am so happy that he loves his art class. My camera doesn't capture the vibrancy of the colors, but you can get the idea.
This piece is entitled "Gus"
I have never been much of a basketball fan, but I tend to be more excited about college basketball than professional basketball. It has been a while since I actually picked teams for the bracket, but this year I decided to. I am happy to say that on ESPN.com bracket I am in the 96.9% and there are only 141,828 people ahead of me. Now let's compare my ranking with my husbands. He is at 24.1% and has 3,513,630 people ahead of him. I know it's only basketball, but I'm pretty pleased with my picks. Go North Carolina!
Boy #1 had his first soccer game of the season last night. The weather was cold but he seemed to have a great time. He hasn't played since he was 3 and at that time he sat down and picked at the grass or did somersaults. He's come a long way. He scored a goal and made some good defensive plays last night.
Boy #1 at age 3 "playing" soccer
Last week the house two doors down was demolished. I loved the house and was hoping the new owners could add on instead of destroy, but it wasn't meant to be. The house won an architectural award when it was first built and it was featured in Better Homes and Gardens sometime in the 1950s. At least that is what the old timers in the neighborhood say. It had a great butterfly roof, wonderful wood work, and lots of cool angles. I will miss seeing it every day. The boys were excited to see the demolition so we spent some time watching. I'm just hoping whoever buys the house across the street from us decides to remodel and not tear down.
The house before the demo
Front row seats
Equipment in action
The new owners had the fire dept use the house for training the week before it was demolished
Tonight at dinner Boy #1 was excited to see that his spaghetti landed on his napkin in the shape of letters. He proudly announced "There's the word is." He then wanted to take about 20 pictures of it. Luckily the battery ran out before too long.
Boy #1 and his dad went skiing the other day. They had a great time and Boy #1 did really well. It was only his second time skiing and the last time was over a year ago. He loved it and wants to go again next week. Meanwhile Boy #2 and I took the bus to the mall and played on the dinosaur and slide. Maybe next year we can all go skiing together.
This week Boy #2 had a little bug that would come and go as it pleased. He threw up one day, was fine the next 2 days and then the bug manifest itself in other ways. After his first episode of sickness he wanted to lay on the floor like his big brother had done a few weeks ago when he was sick. He also wanted the same garbage can next to him, just in case. Today was a no sick day but we will see what tomorrow brings.
I grew up in a family that had a friend birthday party every five years, yes every five years. I was lucky enough to receive extra birthday parties on my 8th and 16th birthdays. In my husbands family birthdays have always been a big deal with lots of friend parties. Since I felt deprived as a child we decided we would have a friend party every year for Boy #1. I have since scaled back a bit for Boy #2 since it's hard to have a friend party when you are 1 or 2 years old. Anyway we had a bowling party for Boy #1 this last week. He had tons of fun and I think everyone else did too. Here are some video clips of the festivities.
I witnessed what I consider to be two miracles tonight. The first happened at the kindergarten program of Boy #1. Just before the program started Stephanie and Christian Nielson walked in and sat two rows ahead of me. The Nielsons were in a plane crash last August in which their instructor was killed. She came away with burns over 80% of her body and he with burns over 40%. They have undergone months of surguries and rehabilitation. For me it was a miracle to see them alive watching their little girl in the kindergarten program.
The second miracle happened as we were walking down a main avenue in town after attending the local gallery stroll. A couple had just been in a gallery with us and left about the same time we did. The guy held the door open for us. We were standing on the south corner of an intersection waiting for a break in the traffic so we could cross the road and the couple was on the north corner waiting to cross. Since they didn't have two small kids with them they found a quick break in the traffic and ran across. I guess the guy dropped his keys in the road and went back to get them. As he was darting back to the sidewalk a car hit him. I was looking the other way and heard a thud and saw the guy crumpled on the road. In an instant he popped up and went to the sidewalk and then lay down again. The police, ambulance, and fire truck responded very quickly and even though the guy was lying down he was talking to them. It is a miracle that he got out of the road after he was hit and that he is going to be okay. Needless to say we walked to the closest light signal and crossed with the light after witnessing that.
My grandma always had a card table with a puzzle in progress and I have spent many happy hours leaning over a puzzle to fit the pieces together. Some members of my family think it is cheating to look at the puzzle box, although I am not of that opinion. When we were first married we found some great puzzles at the thrift store (Springbok is my favorite brand) since we used to have time to leisurely scan the aisles. Once our kids came along we put the puzzles up in a closet and haven't looked at them since. That is until now. I am delighted that my kids are old enough now to not destroy a puzzle in progress and they can even help out. It helps that they have their own puzzles to occupy them while I work on the larger puzzles. I think it's time to stroll down the aisles of the thrift store again.
Boy #2 helping with "The Dog" puzzle
Boy #2 working on his Lightning McQueen puzzle
I can't believe that six years have passed since I gave birth to Boy #1. He is such a great kid and I am happy that he is mine. He loves birthdays and has been wanting to go to the "restaurant where they cook in front of you" for his birthday dinner. We were lucky to have family in town to share the birthday dinner with us. Then it was back to our house for cake and ice cream and the opening of family presents.
Ready for the entertainment
The gang's all here (well almost)
The first of two cakes for this week
Time for presents, even Boy #2 got a few things thanks to Grandma
