My Little Monday Men

Today started off in the 30's, but made it into the 60's.  Since I had seen the weather, I knew I had to spend the majority out of the day outdoors.  Doug had plans to bust Koen out of school early for the Pirates home opener (someone gave them tickets, thanks, Pat!!) so they were going to take advantage of the day too.  But Tav really didn't seem to mind when he found out.  He was excited for the regular, fantastic Monday Mommy, Tavin, Penn Rye time.  We took a walk to the library, then to Tav's speech therapy session - pic break...reading library books while waiting for speech therapist...so cute!,

then to the grocery store, then back home.  The boys ate en route (we were out and about for 2 and 1/2 hours!).  So when we arrived home they were ready to run around and play.  I got them right into the backyard while I got some things done in the kitchen before joining them out there.  They are amazing playmates.  They entertain themselves or play together.  Tav made up a great game for them where he threw tennis balls the length of the yard and then they raced to retrieve them.  Tav won every time, but Penn thought it was the best thing ever.  I had to run out and take a picture of the brother buddies.  Oh my goodness.  I cannot take the cuteness!

Here's the picture Koen and Doug sent from the Pirates stadium.  They had a blast.  Can you tell?  (And for you non-Pittsburghers, that's a pierogie, a Polish potato dumpling thing).

They also sent this cool video for Tav.  Some Air Force paratroopers dropped out of an airplane at the beginning of the game.  Pretty impressive!  Koen loved it.

Just Because It's Bathtime

Penn is in the snuggliest phase he's hit yet (and he's pretty much been a snuggler since the beginning).  Doug brought him down from bath the other night so that I could catch a glimpse and then carry him up for his bedtime routine.  It was the perfect opportunity to snap a few photos of this adorable phase.

Indoor Hockey Rink = My Dining Room

These are the types of things that happen when you are a mom of boys.  The hardwood floor turns into ice.  The trucks littering the living room become zambonis and ice crews standing by for the next time they are called out to smooth the ice for the players and yes, my 4 and 6 year old become the Pens' goalies (Zatkoff and Fleury).  I had to record a little glimpse of their inventive game.  It has literally pre-occupied any time the two of them are hanging out here in the house for over a week now.  I'm so thankful for this game to get us through what is hopefully the last days of the long winter and the cabin fever that has resulted from it!  (PS - On Sunday, the day these videos were shot, we woke up to 30 degree temps and snow!).

After taking that last one that mostly highlighted Tav goals, I told K I would take another video until he got a goal.  This video is about 12 seconds long.  He was thrilled. =)

Thanks to the Pittsburgh Penguins for inspiring this fantastic game that helps the boys get some competitive and physical exercise out at the tail end of this crazy long winter!!  

Squeezing in Some Fresh Air

Although Friday was a nice day, Saturday the winds changed (literally) and rain came in and the temps started to drop.  In between rain showers we did end up getting the boys outside (our oldest two especially need the chance to run off some energy!).  I, of course, grabbed a few photos of the family outing.  Penn was in an adorable toasty get-up.  Seriously looks like a little baby clothes model.  Could he be cuter?

Koen and Tavin have been getting along really well lately.  We had a rough patch a few months ago with them always being at each other's throats, but in the last 6 weeks or so they are just doing a great job playing together and teaming up with each other.  Koen even jumped into the picture I was taking with Tav.

Koen wasn't impressed with the speed level Tav was able to produce on the merry-go-round, I had to eventually jump in to get it going fast enough to please Koen's need for speed.

I couldn't resist a photo opportunity with my littlest cutie.  Check out that smile pose!!

Penn again enjoyed mostly just enjoyed walking around while holding my hand.  At one point we walked to the edge of the park to get a better view of the diggers working on a building complex nearby.  Penn was thrilled.

I'm glad we ended up getting the boys out and enjoying some moments of fresh air as today we woke up to snow and temps in the 30's again.  There is hope on the horizon though.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 60!!!

Spring Production 2014

Koen's school puts on a Spring Production every year.  It's a huge deal at the school and comes with a lot of tradition, hard work, volunteerism and enthusiasm.  Koen LOVES it.  They prepare for weeks by practicing songs, making costumes, sets and decor and then rehearsing all together.  The much-awaited event time came on Friday at 7pm.  The theme this year was "Heroes" (they always base their Spring Production theme on their largest unit in the Fall).  Most of the script is carried out by 5th graders (only K-5th are in the production), but the younger classes are all involved in special numbers throughout the show.  Koen's class was in the second and final acts.  Here he is doing the song with his class in the second act.

Then here are some closeups I was able to get during the last act when the whole elementary school is on stage and so the youngest grades are right up front.

And Doug grabbed a video on his phone of this final number.

Doug and I loved watching Koen enjoy being a part of this big show.  He took so much pride in it.  He looked like such a handsome boy with his hair all done and wearing his little cape and all.  These kids just grow up way too fast.  In celebration of his hard work and our special opportunity to be out just with him, we made a quick stop at Coldstone Creamery on the way home.  Koen was thrilled to get some chocolate ice cream (a boy after my own heart) and we were happy to treat him.  Here's my big boy and I.

Good job, Koen.  We were so proud watching you work so hard on this production and then participate with such enthusiasm.  It was a special night!

Smiles on the Slide

Doug got to spend most of the morning with us yesterday on his day off, which was a huge treat.  This year has been full of partial days off for Doug which has all worked out fine, but to get a day with Daddy is a much appreciated one!  Since the weather was seemingly on the upswing, we decided to get Tav and Penn out in the fresh air as much as possible.  They were pretty much outside from 9:15am until lunchtime and then again in the afternoon after naps.  It was great (and a taste of what's to come I hope if this weather ever really breaks for more than a day or two!).  We took them to Arsenal playground for some sliding smiles before Tav's speech appointment at Children's.  Could they be happier?  This first picture was an awesome snap of luck.  Look at the glee!

Handsome, happy Tav smile.  

Penn got in on the sliding action since Tav was making it look so fun.  He agreed.

Penn also spent some time wandering around watching some dogs play and just enjoying walking around the different terrain, then he grabbed a quick break with Doug on the bench.  He's in a super snuggly phase right now that Doug and I are just soaking up!

Thanks for hanging with us on Friday, babe.  We love to have you around and share these precious, happy moments with you!

A Squealing Good Time

When Penn gets excited, you can tell.  Check out these few videos of some recent favorite brotherly play activities around here (you made need to hold your ears, what can I say...it's a loud household here!).

Little Visitor

This morning my friend, Julia, and her 5+ month old little girl came over to visit.  Penn is getting used to seeing babies around here with Marshall stopping by from time to time and our weekend stay with Miss Kassi and her little Marshall.  Penn was a great host, sharing his toys and showing interest in the baby while also mostly just entertaining himself around the playroom so we mommies could chat.  Oh, how I love this kid!  Anyways, before his little friend left we had a quick photo shoot.  Here are my two favorites. =)

Patient Penn

Penn's age and birth order lends him towards just going with the flow, playing wherever he is and rolling with the punches, but I am also convinced that he has one of those pleasant personalities and it proves over and over to be such a gift.  Almost every week he attends both of Tav's speech therapy sessions from the adjoining observation room with me (and I'm decked out in huge earphones so I can listen in to Tav's session).  Usually Penn just plays with the same few toys in the room and then spends some time cuddling on my lap when he gets bored of them.  Monday we had a very exciting surprise...new toys in the observation room.  See how happy Penn was!  We enjoyed playing with the boxes containing an object of the letter on the box and Penn loved sending the polar bear and gorilla through the jungle/arctic Fisher Price scape.  I was happy he got to play with some new things, but mostly I'm continually thankful for this happy, healthy, go-with-the-flow little pal with whom I get to share my day.

Penn's First Giant Eagle Drive

Yesterday I had to drop into Giant Eagle with the little guys.  Tavin talked me into one of those ridiculous, huge shopping carts with the car attached to the front.  He asked if I would let Penn sit in it with him (how could I say no to such a brotherly request?).  Well, Penn was ecstatic and made beeping and vrooming noises all through the store.  Tavin was a sweet big brother, just letting Penn enjoy the drive and didn't mind sharing this usually solo space.  They loved posing for pictures too.

Busy Visit Weekend

This has been a busy week of entertaining.  This weekend continued that trend.  On Friday, we had an unexpected and super fun visit from "Megan Magee" (that's literally what the boys call her because we know so many Megans).  She's a favorite babysitter who used to live here and now lives in Philly.  We miss her so much, but thankfully she visits the Burgh often and we are usually one of her stops.  Tavin screamed her name when he saw her and had a blast playing ball with her after lunch.  I was trying to catch a picture of Penn warming up to her (amazing!).  Check out this action shot!

Penn loved Megan and he gave her hugs, snuggles and blew her lots of kisses when she left.

Thanks so much for the stop-by, Megan!  We'll keep hoping you move back to the Burgh!

Friday night, I got to babysit little Marshall again so that his parents could have an adult night out (lecture series at church).  Marshall came over right before all my boys went to bed, so I got to experience what it was like to have 4.  It went pretty well mostly because Marshall was content and sweet and my boys were on great behavior with a guest baby in the house.  Marshall sat with Koen and I during our reading time.  Of course we had to snap a few pictures.

On Saturday morning, we had a house guest arrive.  Miss Kassi and her baby Marshall (yep, that's right, another baby Marshall!).  The boys had been looking forward to this for a long time.  They love Miss Kassi and as usual, they love a baby guest (even Penn loves them, it's so sweet!).  I did a terrible job of getting pictures of this visit though.  The only time I had my camera handy was when Marshall fell asleep while playing in the jungle gym (how precious!!).  He was definitely shying away from the camera.  But here's a little proof that he was here.

It's been a busy weekend, but it's such a blessing to share our home with our friends.  It's great to see how much the boys enjoy it too.  

Tavin's Spring Break in A Nutshell

So this week Tavin didn't have preschool as it was their Spring Break.  Koen still had work and Doug still had work, so this was a stay-cation for Tav.  The week ended up being full of some really fun special moments.  I'll take you on a review of the highlights.

Tuesday
I had some errands to run in the suburbs, so on a whim I contacted a friend in that area to see if she could meet up at a playground late that morning and it worked out.  That morning I got to tell Tav that he was going to see Will and he was so excited!  The weather was forecasted to be sunny and in the 50's and instead it was cloudy and in the 40's, but it was still great to have the boys play outside and Will's mom, Bethany, and I had fun catching up as we always do.

We had a super surprise in the afternoon with a spontaneous visit from Nana!!  The boys were so excited to see her.  They really didn't leave her presence the whole time she was here for her few hour visit.  It's great to see how all 3 are so comfortable with her.

Thanks for stopping in on your business trip, Nana.  It made our week so special and it's always great to spend time with you and see you with the boys!

Wednesday
Tavin got to have another playdate on Wednesday morning with a neighborhood friend visiting for several hours and lunchtime.  No pics (sorry, Tav, don't want to freak out our new friends with snapping tons of pics).  Wednesday evening Doug was playing with the boys after dinner and they developed this simple, hilarious game.  Basically a silly version of ring-around-the-rosy.  They all love it, but Penn is just beside himself with joy when they do this.  It's fun to watch.  I got a few great pics of their facial expressions.

Thursday
This morning Penn had his first meeting with his speech therapist.  It was just an introductory meeting, but it went really well and I like the therapist, so that was a positive start.  My plan for after the session was to take a long walk with the boys to the library, Whole Foods and the bank, but again the weatherman was wrong and although it was supposed to be in the 40's and sunny, instead it was in the 30's, windy, cloudy and flurries of snow were blowing around.  I made a quick decision to stay in and asked Tav if he wanted to make cookies.  He was ecstatic.  I got a little creative and made chocolate hazlenut cookies.  I let Tav lick the spoon I used in the hazlenut spread.  Can you tell that this kid just had his first delightful taste of Nutella?

I turned the camera around to snap a picture of Penn and he totally tried to imitate Tav's huge smile and head tilt, how cute!?!

Here's our finished product.  Let me just say they taste even better than they look.

While I was switching the cookies in and out of the oven, the boys developed a fun little game.  Tavin would stack up randomness from the pantry and Penn would knock it over and then they just laugh their heads off and throw themselves on the floor.  It's ridiculous, but it was so fun to see them playing together like this.  I loved it!

After our cookie project I decided we would dive right into getting these two straggly haired boys some hair cuts (by me).  Tavin was all excited to be Penn's example and go first.  He was an easy client and made it look like no big deal for Penn.  Here's Tavin after the cut.

When I was done with Tavin, I asked Penn if he was ready to have his hair cut in the chair like Tavin.  He patted his head and tentatively nodded yes.  It turns out the great example by big brother Tavin worked wonders and Penn was also an easy client (although I kept his haircut very brief!).  Here's the shaggy silly man before the cut (he's learned to stick his tongue out at the camera, can you tell?).

And here's my clean cut, handsome little bug after the haircut.

Big thanks to Tavin for making this work.  Oh, and thanks to Bob the Builder On Site: Houses and Playgrounds.  Penn watching diggers, dumpers, mixers and more made this a much simpler ordeal!

Well, it's been a simple week with some fun highlights, but I think Tavin would say he's had a nice Spring break.  He's my homebody, my contended, chill, go-with-the-flow pal.  I love that about him.  On the way up to nap today he looked up at me and said, "wow, Mommy, we had a really nice day today."  Like I said, this kid is easy to please and so much fun to do everyday life with.  Happy Spring Break, Tav!