Pat - What are you doing??

......I'm resting like a gargoyle.(and he stayed there for like 15 minutes)

Bubble Trouble

Mommy's treat in the mail today was a late birthday gift from Grandma......and it came with treats to share - bubble wrap!
Patrick is an expert at making the loud popping sounds.....he can pop the bubbles with his fingers, twist the plastic together, and "stomp the pop".
This was Elizabeth's first time with bubble wrap. She was really excited to get it but was struggling to pop the bubbles with her fingers......they're so dainty!
However, Elizabeth was elated when I showed her how to make the loud popping sounds by stomping on the bubble wrap. I think she got almost every bubble!

You've Got Mail

Patrick was so excited that this month's issue of "Your Big Backyard" came yesterday.....he had to read it right away.

He is becoming a magazine junkie, just like his mama!

Day Off in Auburn

Brian had the day off today so we wanted to get out and do something fun with the kids. Mom and Dad are actually kind of tired of the zoo (surprised?) so that was out of the question. We headed to Auburn for the morning and had lots of fun.
Our first stop was at Bass Pro Shop. Patrick and Elizabeth loved all the stuffed animals on the walls, the airplane hanging from the ceiling, and the water fall and giant fish tank. Patrick led us all around the store exploring the "nature stuff". When we left Patrick asked if we could go back to the "nature trail store" again :)
Next stop was to Champions for Life for open gym time. Patrick was so proud to show Daddy all the neat stuff he could do there. The kids spent an hour and a half.....
....jumping, on the trampoline and in the bouncey bouncey house. Elizabeth mastered the rope ladder inside and got to go down the giant slide. She was very pleased with herself.

...tumbling, or at least trying to do what the older kids were doing.

.....being mischievous and trying to get into the older girls fort.

........RUNNING, on two feet and four!

.......swinging......

.....and even just lounging around.

I don't know who had more fun.... Pat and Sis or Mom and Dad. On our way home we stopped at Valentine's for some pizza...yum yum. You would think that after such an exciting morning we would all fall right down for our nap. Not so much. Oh well, still worth all the fun we had.

Patrick + Peyton = Playdate Fun

Patrick was so excited to have his buddy from the babysitter's, Peyton, come over on Thursday. He was talking about how much he missed Peyton and all the things they were going to play with all week. The two boys had so much fun together, and they even included Sissy.
They played pirate ships, dress up, stickers, animals, and a quiet game in Patrick's room (Pat wouldn't share what it was).
Everyone had a great snack......and then it was back to playin'!

Here are the kiddos playing lion family. Can you guess who insisted on being the Daddy Lion??

Just another day at the office

Here's our little business man....working in his office, as he informed me earlier today. Pat was very seriously "writing notes". Only white paper would do, and a blue pen, not black and definitely not pencil. Forget the yellow legal pad I tried to give him. When he was done working Pat told me (I guess I'm his secretary) to save the notes....they are for Marcy (the mom of one of the boys with Pat at the babysitters who happens to be coming for a playdate tomorrow). Future lawyer, CEO, politician....???

Great Arters

We spent a big chunk of our morning today painting. We even broke out the new brushes! Between the two kids, there must be about 25 painted plates....seems Pat had to create one in each color.

This really was the first time that Elizabeth has painted with a brush, at least at our house. She did a pretty good job, although she kept needing some assistance on holding it the most manageable way.
A bunch of plates in Pat told me, over and over, that he really is a "great arter" and how he "arts at school".
It wasn't long before Elizabeth discovered that her hands are great "brushes" too. She did well painting with them.
However, when paint began to travel to the walls, chair, and Elizabeth's face and legs, I knew it was time for her to stop. I think Pat would have painted all day if I had let him.

What a Goof!

Big Brother to the Rescue

So we are potty training (or at least trying) Elizabeth this week. Yesterday, during lunch I had a Mommy moment where my first instinct was to puke (Brian probably would have and then thrown everything away). After gathering myself and showering Elizabeth, Patrick wrapped her up in a towel, gave her some comforting advice and sat with her on the couch while I cleaned the rest of the mess. It was very sweet.
His advice you ask.....Its okay Sissy, you can poop in your chair at lunch. Mommy is a good cleaner.

A Valentine's Hug

There is love in the air......

A Week Worth of Hearts

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, Elizabeth wore everything she could that had hearts on it this week. Here she is watching T.V., helping Pat tape lollipops, snuggling with Daddy, eating chocolate covered strawberries and trying to break into the sprinkles sent for Pat's Valentine's party at school.

Valentine's Loot

Tonight the kids opened some of their Valentine's greetings. Patrick was excited to read all the cards from his friends at school.
Elizabeth and Patrick both got a crad in the mail today from Grandma and Pop-Pop. Sissy was super excited for her Tinker Bell card....it came with sparkly stickers!!

In true form, you can see what Patrick was most excited for. He turned to Daddy and said now they should go to the zoo to buy a toy. Patrick was also excited to see that now he has $8.00 in his shark wallet. Thanks Grandma and Pop-Pop!

Getting Ready for a Valentine's Day Party

Tuesday night we needed to get ready for Valentine's Day......there was a party at school on Thursday, a party at Sara's on Friday and then cards to get to our family and friends by Saturday. Pat and I worked together to write out the cards for his classmates...he was so cute, thanking me after I handed him each one so that he could sign them. There were four different ones in the bunch - Hulk, Spiderman, Ironman, and X-man - Patrick would hold up each one and contemplate which classmate was going to get which one.
Our second job was putting the lollipops in each card. Fun.....especially since they didn't fit in the holes in the cards and I had to tape them on.
We also had to do our cards for our friends and family. Brian and I were thoroughly impressed with how well Patrick is writing his letters - cold.

When Daddy came in from walking the dog the kids decided they couldn't wait until Saturday to give their Valentine's Day cards to Daddy.

More Puzzles

Here's Pat's latest puzzle....he did it totally by himself. It was hard to get a good shot of him afterwards......Talons were up and he was in T-rex mode.
Puzzle #2 - What is Elizabeth doing???

Spinning until she falls down laughing, of course!

Sledding and Sunday Sauce on Saturday

After Brian and Uncle John got home from watching the SU game at a local establishment, the Louer's and Gallauresi's headed out back for a walk in the snow.
Davis was all tucked into the baby sled. He did great the whole time we were out. There was barely a peep out of him, although he didn't last long in the sled.
Aren't Elizabeth and Leah just adorable! We were glad today was so warm and the snow has melted from the blacktop.....it makes walking in snowpants and boots so much easier.
Kids had fun and grown ups had fun pulling, pushing, laughing, and throwing snowballs.
Patrick has a new saucer....he had a ton of fun going down the hills out back on his belly, butt, knees, forward and backward. There was no whining or complaining from him the whole time we were out.
At one point I was the target of Brian and John's snowballs....smart boys. I got pegged in the ear by my loving hubby.....Heather got him back. She got low and Brian got pummeled by a girl. Hehehehe.

Brian is a hot picture of fashion, huh. The Santa hat tops off the ensemble!

Brian and John acted like 12 year old boys the whole time. They threw snowballs at each other, me, the dog, trees, snow banks.

They did manage to avoid the kids.

When we headed inside we all enjoyed homemade Sunday sauce....on a Saturday. The sauce was great and so were Brian's meatballs. After dinner the kids had chocolate chip cookies and watched Kung Fu Panda.


Eventually Uncle John and Brian fell asleep on the couch (at 7:30)....happens when you are boozing so early in the day.
John got tortured by the kids once they realized that he was asleep. Patrick thought it was hysterical to wake him up! Brian I should have gotten video of......he was randomly speaking jibberish at different points in Kung Fu Panda. Heather and I had lots of laughs at the hubbys expense.....nothing new :)