OK, so I guess I have been pretty lax in posting any recent pictures here! Sorry about that. Keeping up with the blogging was made difficult a while ago before I got my new computer since it needed more RAM and uploading new images was painfully slow and tedious. Then I guess I was just out of the habit. I'm going to try and make an effort here to catch up a bit since now everything runs much more smoothly and the kids are not getting any younger!!

I'll start with the most recent...as Andy was organizing his tool closet, he took this picture of the confiscated tools that have been congregating above our refrigerator. AJ LOVES to play with "real" tools though he has about 7200 of his own, but as he gets out of hand with them, they are regularly put in "time-out" above the fridge, never to return. The contents included:

A Multitool

2 screwdrivers

A 3 lb hammer

2 bungee cords

A socket wrench

A wire stripper...

And a hatchet.

(I'm pretty certain he never used the hatchet...probably just picked it up!)

Then after the big "Blizzard of 2011", we went out to my parents house and I let the kids play in the snow on her deck. My dad had shoveled all the way around the deck and made some tunnels and caves (with Karly I think?) so it was a great space for Lizzy since she could actually walk. AJ was in his glory since he has finally grown into his mittens and understands that playing in snow is a lot more fun when you keep them ON.

Here's AJ with the big middle snowball for the snowman he built with Omi.

And here's Lizzy with the finished snowman. Pa helped collect some creative items for decorating him...my favorite update was Ritz Flips for the ears.

What a cutie! AJ was happy using my parents old spoons as snow tools.

Our precious little snow-baby. She actually did a pretty good job of trying to keep her mittens on. Next year she'll be a pro like her big brother.

Having fun with her Omi.

The kids also got a kitchen from Santa for Christmas and Lizzy loves it. Here is a little clip of her cooking up (or washing up?) something delish!

It's so fun watching them grow...I'll do my best to get a bunch more up soon!

Aj's stories...

AJ - Mom, do you know what a Tree Monster looks like?

Me - No, I don't. Are they real or imaginary?

AJ - Oh, they're very real!

Me - Really. What Museum can we go to to learn about Tree Monsters?

AJ - (pauses to think...) Um, they are at a very var away museum....in Texas.

Me - (stifling a laugh) Oh! Texas?

AJ - Yeah, Texas. I think the museum is close to Gooma's house.

Me - Oh, but Gooma lives in Illinois, not Texas.

AJ - Well, I meant the museum in Texas that's close to Gooma's friend Rick's house. Do you know his grandchildren?

Me - No, I've never even met Rick.

AJ - Oh. Well, he knows all about the Tree Monsters then.

What to do if a Witch Comes to Your House

by AJ Holub

If a witch comes into our house, we will take the witch far far away to a lake. Then we will throw the witch into the lake and the witch will sink down, down, down and will land on the ocean floor without his bathing suit and will be trapped in a sea volcano.

Another Conversation

AJ came home from school today while Liz was still napping. I love the times when I have just one child to love and cuddle. We had a special little snack in the living room and then AJ came to sit on my lap and I rocked him.

Me: AJ, I love you so. Will you always let me hold and rock you?

AJ: Yes mom. I love you too.

Me: What about when you are older? Like 12?

AJ: Yeah, you can always rock me mom. Even when I'm 20.

Me: 20! Wow that's pretty old though.

AJ: Yeah, but even when I'm a 20-big-kid you can still rock me. I'll like you to do that.

Me: (laughing silently and seriously doubting his future scenario) ;)

AJ's Prayer

Tonight AJ said he wanted to add a special prayer to the end of what we normally say at bedtime:

"Dear God, thank you so much for making...everything, and all the wonderful things, and the world...out of...cardboard, and thank you for God, and for everything."

I said, "That was a very nice thank you prayer, AJ." and he asked, "Mom, did God make the world out of cardboard?"

"No, He made it with his power. He just said, 'Let there be a world.' and there was." I answered.

Pretty heavy topic for the very end of the day!

AJ - with the Power to Spell!

AJ has been watching a lot of Word World and Super Why lately, both shows primarily about words and spelling. I thought they were just entertaining to him (and maybe they are), but recently he has been showing a lot of interest in spelling words. He asks me how to spell things a lot, sometimes tries to write letters and words, and last week brought home a coloring sheet from school that had his "b's" all the way down the side.

So, I was surprised and excited to come into the kitchen yesterday when he said he wanted to show me something...only to find that he had spelled his whole name (well, OK, not "Andrew") on the refrigerator with Lizzy's letter magnets! He had the U and the B switched, but then fixed the problem and was so proud of himself! Awesome. Then as I got the camera, he proceeded to add more and more letters and laugh as I tried to pronounce his new "word". :)

AJ's First Assembly

In September, AJ's school was celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and it culminated in a school assembly. This was AJ's first time at an assembly and also his first (scheduled) appearance on the school stage since his class learned a song in Spanish and were the first to perform. For a couple of weeks AJ walked around the house singing his song in Spanish. He knew it really well and even knew all the hand movements that went with each verse, so I was really excited to see his performance! They all filed onto the stage, the curtain was drawn, and the music started...but apparently AJ forgot that the point of being up there was to SING! lol

(AJ is second to the left)

So at least he was not the kid who cried and had to leave the stage, right? That's the silver lining. But it was still pretty cute...and he doesn't seem to remember anything wrong about that day and will fondly tell me how he sang at his assembly. Well, maybe next time!

Garfield Park's County Fair

At the end of September, I took AJ to the County Fair at the Garfield Park Conservatory. I had rained a lot beforehand, so I wasn't sure we were going until the last minute but I'm so glad we did. AJ had so much fun! We saw a huge pumpkin being carved by one of the professional carvers, visited chickens, ate yummy food, and jumped around in the requisite moon walks. OK, maybe only AJ jumped around in the moon walk. But we both had a great time!

One of the big deal attractions for AJ was the pony rides. I think this was his first time ever riding a pony, so he actually stood relatively still and waited with me on the line. Anyone who has ever seen me trying to get him to wait on a line before can attest that this was no small miracle. He named his pony Pepper and was VERY happy and proud to be riding Pepper around. And around. And around. :)

Isn't he cute? (Pepper's cute too, I guess...)

This was the coolest thing. Inside a little mobile home, a whole "3 Little Pigs" environment was there to interact with.

They had an area to build a straw house, build a house with sticks (below) and then a whole brick house to play in.

There were also bellows with wolf faces that the kids could pump to try to blow down small maquettes of each type of house, a face painting area that AJ loved (another first!)...

...and this really neat conveyor belt that held AJ's attention for a LONG time. There was a tree off to the right that you could stick the apples on, then pick them and put them in a basket, and then unload the basket onto the conveyor belt and crank them off into another basket to bring them back to the tree. All these jobs kept a bunch of kids busy and working together until one little girl decided she would not put them back on the tree...so we finally left the mobile home and went back out to eat lunch from the Wishbone booth with our friends the Byerly's and head home. For a nap. Whew!