Quiet book work

I've been working on my boys' quiet book again. I decided to redo the apple tree page after the Jasper became frustrated with the small snaps multiple during church.

Old and New

I got into a "tree" mood and decided to do seasonal tree-


I'm now working on a rocketship and robot page, a camping page, and a colors page. I'll post pictures of my progress in a few days :) It is REALLY weird how this becomes a bit addictive. Once I get going, it's all I can think about and I can't wait to get the boys down at night so I can pull out my felt and sewing machine and get cracking!

Super boys

My mom made the cape that Gid is wearing and sent us the superman outfit Jasper has on. They make for some excellent dress-up around here.

Poopy face

Ha, ha, ha! I couldn't resist posting this picture. It's as though they think they just might be able to go unnoticed when they suddenly stand still, grunt, and make THIS face :)

What we do on a rainy afternoon

I scrub out the kitchen sink, plug the drain, pour in a little dish soap, lay a couple of towels on the floor, pull up a stool, and let the boys soak themselves! They played at the kitchen sink together for over an hour the other day. It was a great way to pass the cloudy day blues away :)

Hiking at Saint Edward State Park

So, last week Rob and I were talking about summer plans and realized we better start getting our boys conditioned if we plan on doing any backpacking and hiking this summer. We decided to try and see how far we could get Jasper to hike. It's funny, because we hiked about a mile downhill and Jasper really disliked most of it. We ended up carrying him almost the entire way. BUT he was in much better spirits after we had spent some time throwing rocks and sticks into Lake Washington and miraculously hiked the entire way back up by himself! Saint Edward State Park was beautiful! We are definitely going back as soon as we can.

Rocketship

The boys have been working on a rocket for the past few days.

What little boys do

My boys like dirt. And bugs. And construction equipment. And sticks. Did I already mention dirt, which inevitably leads to getting dirty. We spent the whole morning doing these boyish things. How could I know how much I would love these two boys? A mother's love is unexplainable. It's sunny here. I feel so much happier when the sun is out, and much more laid back. Go ahead- get dirty! No worries!

The first few picture are right outside our apartment, which as of late, has become Jasper's favorite dirt mound playground.


Gid trying to pick up a bug


sticks...


excavator...


Gid's been eating dirt again...


Jasper with is pal Max


Gid with a backhoe

Valentine's Day

I've been reading on facebook, blogs, etc. about how so many people don't like Valentine's Day. I totally understand the dislike of the materialized symbols that have overrun the true meaning of the day and all the loud, obnoxious marketing of it all, but I have to admit that I LOVE Valentine's Day. Here is my wrap up on the holiday:

I have loved this day since I can remember. In Elementary school, each kid would make their own mailbox for notes and letters out of a shoe box and decorate it with hearts and xoxox's. I would spend hours decorating my mailbox and making it adorable. I remember hoping and praying everyday for a love note from my crush (or crushes). I think I still have a few of these from 3rd or 4th grade tucked in childhood box :) As a little girl, I loved making Valentines for all my classmates and friends, writing little coded messages for the special few whom I admired and gluing the candy hearts onto each one. The air about Valentines Day was so fun and suspenseful and exciting to me. Thinking about it makes me smile.

As I got older, some Valentine Days were really, really awful. There were two Valentine Days in college that fall into the "10 worst days of my life" category, where all my friends and roommates were getting flowers and chocolates and balloons from their admirers and the lame boy that I had been dating for 4 months did nothing. So I went through the "I hate Valentine's Day" period, because I did hate it. It wasn't fun. It's in the past, and seriously, I'm not bitter about all that stuff. It doesn't matter to me much anymore.

But I love Valentine's Day because it is about love and taking time to communicate that love to those who are important to you. Part of loving someone is knowing how THEY want you to express that to them and figuring that out is one of the most important things to learn while on earth- understanding people and what makes them happy. Communicating that love is so, so important. Just assuming someone knows is silly.

When Rob and I fell in love, I thought he would turn into a Sara mind-reader or something. I would get frustrated when he couldn't understand why I was feeling what I was feeling, and I'd blame him! That's what I thought love was. So the journey of marriage continues for us and we are still trying to work out the kinks. I have to say, though, we've worked very hard on communication and expressing our love to one another through actions and words, and part of that was me opening my mouth and very plainly saying "I'd like you to bring me home flowers every so often. That would mean alot to me". And cute Robbie, now brings me home flowers every so often :)

Life is really busy at this time in my life and even though Rob and I tell one another multiple times a day that we love each other, we don't get the chance to go out on a date very often or do some of the things for one another that we used to. So I love Valentine's Day because it helps me just slow down and really think about how much I love Rob and then do something about it!

We went to a play last weekend and out to our favorite restaurant- Bizarro's in Wallingford. And this Saturday we went down to Pike's Place and I got to pick out some lovely tulips and we exchanged love notes (which is STILL my favorite part!). I love my Robbie!

Sports shorts

We've been hearing this phrase about 30 times a day lately. Jasper started a sports class and has subsequently become obsessed with "sports shorts". He wants to wear them all the time and it takes quite a bit of work on my part for him to be talked out of the notion of wearing them everyday.

His friends Max and Forrest are also in the class. It's through the parks and rec. Here's some shots of the boys with their teammates and coach Thomas.









Right outside the building of Jasper's sports class is a fabulous playground. The sun came out for awhile and we played for a little bit after class.

I'm a sucker for matching pajamas

These ones are really stinkin' cute with little alien monsters all over.

My Dad's experience in Haiti

My dad was interviewed by a Eugene new station. Here is the news segment of his interview:

Dear Gideon,

Please, please don't grow up so fast. I try to snuggle with you, and you only try to squirm away. I try and hold your hand while you walk, and you run away from me. It makes me want to cry. I just can't believe you are almost 14 months old already. Where did your babyhood go? Why are your rolls beginning to disappear. It's not fair! I see little newborns and realize what a big boy you are now. Boohooo :(

The new obsession

The boys are obsessed with riding bikes. Jasper LOVES this little balance bike the Hawkins lent us (thank you again if you read this). Gideon, of course, wants to do whatever Jasper is doing. It's really cute and most of the time really fun (except for when neither have napped and they end up both wanting to be carried on the way home...)

Preschool!!

Jasper has started a once a week, evening preschool class!! He had his first day last Wednesday. He did so great and loved it. I feel so good about this environment, his teacher, the classroom, and the other children and parents in his class. The atmosphere is prefect for Jasper. The preschool is the Phinney Neighborhood Preschool Co-op. Parents have to help every other week which keeps the price really affordable. Each kid has a "buddy" and the parents of the pair are "parent buddies". When it is your week off, the parent buddy keeps an eye on your child and knows your child's likes and dislikes. It seems like a great system to me. Hopefully Jasper does alright when Rob or I are not there. I'm so glad they offered this new evening option, because it makes it possible for us to participate in a co-op without having to arrange childcare for Gideon.


Jasper on his way to his first day of Preschool


He went straight for the excavators when we walked in the door


Dancing with scarves


Reading "From Head to Toe", one of our favorites at home

Jasper is so ready to absorb any kind of learning right now. His brain is like a little sponge, asking me to read to him every minute of the day, doing puzzles, building things, figuring out how things work. I love this stage! I love almost every stage my kiddos go through, but this is definitely one of my favorites.