Twas The Shortest Spring EVER

This weather is crazy. We went from a warm, sunny, spring to a windy, snowy, winter in 2 days. The proof is in the pictures.

We had a fun family evening on the back porch on Friday. The boys were in the sandbox. Ribs were on the grill. Wine was in my glass. Gerard made it home from work fairly early. It all added up to lots of fun!!!

Owen is so HAPPY with his sandbox!
And, so is Liam.

Owen and Daddy played lots and lots of soccer. Here's Owen's big kick to the goal.

Owen playing goalie. Looks like we need to work a little bit on his positioning. He was nowhere near in between his goal and the ball. Oh well--his stance is fierce!

Master O thought the ribs were finger lickin' good. This kid loved them! I ordered them for him today (Sunday) at lunch, and he didn't get as into them. I guess he just likes 'em they way his momma cooks 'em. Good boy.

And, here we are on Sunday. Can you believe this! Owen getting into his Cozy Coupe after shoveling the drive and de-icing the windshield ;-)

Tobie having a blast in the powdery stuff. Gives you a sense of how much snow we got.

Owen shooting some chilly hoops.

We ventured out in the snowy weather to meet up with Pa to wish him a Happy 60th Birthday in person! Liam had lots of smiles for Pa today!

I caught Owen mid "Happy Birthday, Pa"...

Wow, what a weekend.

Family Gymboree

Today, I took the boys to a Family Gymboree class. The class consisted of lots of kids like them...close-in-age-siblings! Before class, I asked Owen to sit next to Liam for a quick picture. He must've focused on the "quick" part of my request.

Owen crawled through the tunnel to sit next to Liam....
Got situated...

....and was off.

Where did he go?

Oh...there he is.

Happy Friday!

Got a little change in my pocket...

For the last couple of years, Gerard throws the change he has at the end of each day into a jar (well...he might leave it on the counter, or in the bathroom, or by the bed--and then I throw it in the jar--either way, it gets into the jar!). Today, we decided to cash all of that change in and use it to buy a sandbox for the boys!
The sand and water play table we have just wasn't cutting it for us. So, we upgraded! This change resulted in over 1.5 hours of sand box play today for BOTH boys!

Since Liam is a crawling machine, he and Owen are playing together so much more. Liam has just grown by leaps and bounds each day and can do so much more now. Just yesterday, Owen was holding an Easter basket while "Baby Bruder" threw the eggs inside. Owen would move it over to be under Liam's hand so that Liam would be successful...then, he would cheer for him, and then Liam would smile SO BIG!

Watching them together melts my heart. And, today in that sandbox, those boys had an absolute blast! They would have stayed in it; but, I got a text that some of their friends were at the park. Owen convinced me that Liam wanted to go--further, Liam wanted to go by BICYCLE. Are two year old kids really this manipulative? Regardless...its good exercise so "Liam" got just what he wanted. It was about a 45 minute ride, round trip!

But, the whole afternoon made this little guy oh-so-happy!

Handsome Irish Boys

Take 1.
Take 2.

Take 3.

This will do.
Happy St. Patrick's Day,

From Owen & Liam!

Who's that chugging down the tracks?

It's Thomas the Tank Engine
Hip hip hip hip hooray
Chugga chugga chug chug, Chuff chuff chuff
He rides along the way
And when you hear that whistle
It can only be one train
Our favorite little engine Thomas is his name
What a fun afternoon, punctuated by one excited little boy who quietly wished Thomas good night as he drifted off to sleep tonight.

Spring has Sprung!

Last weekend, the whole family ventured to the local nursery for a free class on growing veggies, fruit, and herbs. Inspired, we spent the evening planting our Meyer lemon and Satsuma orange trees.

I found some cute Owen-sized gardening stuff at Target for Owen. He so enjoys being a part of what his dad and I are doing...down to the gardening gloves. Ha!
He and Gerard emptied the old soil out of the containers as the plant guy suggested...we don't want to pass any disease onto our new fruit trees!

Liam was an awesome supervisor! He really must have listened well last week, because he only got upset when we forgot to put the coaster under the lemon tree. Poor tree would have frozen if we couldn't move it indoors in the cool weather--thanks, Liam!

Owen was awesome at digging and watering. Only problem is, he wants to keep on doing it. He doesn't get that the tree is now planted and that the dirt now belongs in the container WITH the tree. AND, poor thing only needs so much water. Oy.

Next week, I hope to replace a couple of my herbs that didn't make it through the winter. I also plan to plant a few veggies, and maybe a strawberry plant, in containers on our balcony. I think that will be a fun Spring Break project for the boys and me.

Here's hoping Owen has a green thumb, because the plants I have tried to grow in the past didn't fare so well.

Pa and Grammie's House

The boys and I took a road trip! On Saturday, we loaded the car and headed to Pa and Grammie's house. Owen was so excited to be going and was awesome the entire car trip! Liam did great, too, he only cried once when he was needed a bottle. Once fed, he was happy as a lark!

Sunday and Monday were rainy. But, Tuesday! Wow!!! Grammie ended up taking the day off work and spending it at the park with the boys and me. So fun! Pa kinda got to join us....that's him on the phone in the pic below ;-)
Tuesday evening, when Pa got home, we all walked to the park. Owen insisted on carrying his football. And, he commentated the whole walk.
Sweet Liam loves the swings!

Owen does, too. Owen likes it best when I do a "big, big swing" for him.

Owen and Pa played lots and lots of football. Owen just might make a good kicker one day! He is very serious about practicing.The boys really enjoyed all of the attention they got from their grandparents.
And, I enjoyed the extra helping hands!

Owen...

...can count to 12 all by himself. It goes like this: "two, two, tree, foaw, pive, six, seben, eight, nine, ... , eleven, twelbe."

...knows his primary colors, including black and brown. He seems partial to orange. I think its because it sounds like "Owen" to him ;-)

...refers to himself in the third person, as in "Owen hit that baseball, mom" and "Owen, get his cup" and "oh man, Owen".

...loves to put on socks and shoes. HATES to change shirts.

...is potty trained. Accidents are just that, accidents. They don't happen very often.

...talks non-stop. In the house, in the car, in the grocery store, etc. I am thankful for his gift to gab...I love to hear the things that come out of his mouth.

...loves to play trains and puzzles. He can put together a 24-piece jigsaw all by his little self....can be bribed into sitting for a photo session in his cute church clothes with a bag of chips ;-)

8 Fun Facts @ 8 Months Old

One. Even though he looks bigger to me, little-bit still weighs 18 pounds.

Two. Liam has two teeth. See?
Three. I pinky-swear that he is saying "mama" and meaning it.

Four. He is getting a lot of blond peach fuzz.

Five. He likes to use his paci and his bottle as a teether. Doesn't like to use teethers, though.

Six. Is a wiggle-worm in the bath, making bathtime very stressful now. He either tries to crawl around (which means he can fall face first in the water) or he tries to pull up on the side (which means he can slip into the water). We keep baths pretty short now.

Seven. Liam LOVES his baby mum-mum crackers, gerber puffs, yogurt bites, and m&ms ;-)

Eight. He has the sweetest, most amazing, smile.

Happy 8 Months, Baby.