Lily on her tricycle

Over the last week or so, Lily has mastered pedaling her tricycle. She showed off her skills for me Sunday night before getting ready for bed. She is quite a proficient peddler, but her riding is quite stop and go as she's watching out for bad guys, wanting to stop at the neighbors house, and just chatting! Here are two videos of her riding. The first is very short, but shows her cruising along, going up the slight grade of our neighbor's driveway. The second video is a little bit longer, and you can see some of her silliness!

Another beautiful weekend

After a week that started out feeling like winter, we had an unbelievably beautiful weekend around here. With temperatures in the 80's, it actually felt a little more like summer than spring, but we certainly were not complaining.

We took full advantage of the warm temperatures this weekend by spending as much time as we could outside. We did t-ball practice, played at the park, went on bike rides, ran through the sprinkler, and more. I didn't have my camera out much this weekend, but I did get some pictures of the boys having fun in the sprinkler.

Dylan soaking himself


Dylan loved drinking the water coming out of the sprinkler.


I love the expression on Ben's face - do you think he's having fun?


My big boy

One more picture to share

I LOVE this picture - the lighting, the expression, the sunglasses on her forehead (she loves to wear them this way). I must admit, however, that I did NOT take this picture. I wish I could capture Lily like this, but I can never quite catch her like this. Our city's parks & rec photographer took this picture while Lily was at Ben's t-ball practice last weekend.

My little creative princess

Can you even guess what that picture is? If you look closely (and turn your head to the side), you will see that Lily made a smiley face out of her baked Cheetos. No, I'm not proud of the snack she's eating, but I am pretty impressed that she made this. Prior to making the smiley face, she first exactly copied the picture of the Cheetos on the front of the package and then made a Cheetoh ladder.

Earlier in the week, we spent part of a very rainy morning decorating a very fancy foam cowboy hat.



Finished product


Doesn't she look glamorous?


Today, my friend and Pilates instructor gave Lily a box of princess dress up clothes. Lily was over the moon. She went to bed tonight wearing a princess top over her pajamas.


We are looking forward to some wonderful springlike weather this weekend where I will hopefully be able to get some good outdoor pictures! Have a great weekend everyone.

Dylan's birthday recap

Dylan's birthday is over and my house is littered with new toys.

On his actual birthday, Dylan was very excited to bring brownies to school. I tried a new recipe and they were, according to my husband, the best brownies I've ever made (and not to brag, but I usually make pretty good brownies). If anyone is interested, I used the recipe on the back of the bag of H*rsh*y mini kisses. That night, he enjoyed his dinner choice of cinnamon bread french toast and strawberries. After t-ball practice, we celebrated as a family with a (what else) Star Wars cake.





Playing with the Luke & Darth Vader cake toppers. The light sabers actually light up!


The sleeping 6 year old


We continued celebrating Dylan's birthday on Sunday with a party at a local swim school. Dylan invited the boys from his class at school and some neighborhood boys. The party was great- we had the whole pool to ourselves and all the boys (and one little girl) had a blast (and exhausted themselves int eh process).

Lily on a surfboard bench in the dressing area. While waiting for the kids to arrive, she was dancing and surfing.


All 3 kids on the surfboard


Ben climbing on one of the many water toys


Dylan heading down the slide


Lily having fun in the water. She was smiling and laughing the entire time in the water. For a while, a group of boys were hanging around the float she was on at the time, climbing on and falling off just to make her laugh. It was soooo cute!


Lily being entertained


Some boys in the tipping canoe - every time someone would get in it, it would tip over! I feel ok posting this picture b/c you can't really see the boys' faces. I don't have many pictures of the swimming b/c I don't want to post bathing suit pictures of other people's kids!


Yet another Darth Vader cake


He liked the cake


The kids enjoying their cake


By the time the kids were eating cake, Lily (who missed her nap) was starting to lose it so I didn't get many pictures. Over all, a GREAT birthday party for my great little guy!

Happy 6th Birthday Dylan

Happy Birthday to you Dylan!

My baby boy is 6 years old. I can't believe he's 6 years old. How has that happened?

I was going to write a birthday letter to Dylan, but the words just weren't coming into my head. So, in honor of Dylan's birthday I will tell you a little bit about him. I always talk about Lily, but now you can learn a little bit about Dylan.

- Dylan loves math and always has. He could count to twenty before he was two and has always had a fascination with numbers. One of his favorite Christmas presents was a fractions game/toy. He will frequently fall asleep at night doing math workbooks in bed - we have many sheets covered with pen.

- Dylan LOVES Star Wars. His brother calls him Darth Vader, his birthday cake is Darth Vader, and he loves to read Star Wars books.

- Dylan is very into golf right now. He is taking lessons after school and often is hitting (not golf) balls in the back yard. Since we have a small yard with lots of kids around I try to discourage real golf balls.

- Dylan loves Wii and playing games on my computer. His favorite Wii game is Tiger Woods golf. I have to really limit time on both (for both boys). He asked for a Nintendo DS for his birthday, but he's getting a bike!

- Dylan does not eat vegetables. He has a few times when bribed, but in general vegetables do not enter his mouth.

- Dylan learned to swallow a pill at age 4. I don't know how he learned, but one day he just swallowed a vitamin or something. He is actually better than me - I cannot swallow anything without drinking water. He can swallow a big fish oil pill with nothing!

- Dylan feels everything very passionately. When he's happy, he's really happy. When he's mad, he's really mad. Makes for some interesting days...

Here are some recent Dylan-isms...

- Mommy, did Han Solo turn into Indiana Jones?

- We saw a Brinks truck and I told the kids the truck was full of money. Dylan's comment "Oh, that must be the tooth fairy."

There are so many, but of course I can't think of them now. So, with that I will repeat a big Happy Birthday to Dylan! I am so proud of the boy you have become and I love you very much.

I Heart Faces Week 14 Amateurs

Since I am working on improving my photography, I am entering a picture in a contest on a photography blog. If you're interested in photography, you should check out the site - www.iheartfaces.com - to see this weeks great pictures.

This photo was taken while enjoying the beautiful spring weather with a picnic on the William & Mary campus in Williamsburg, VA. I just love the smile on Dylan's face. He had lost his first tooth the day before.

The rest of spring break

We are now back home in the midwest. We had a wonderful week visiting Grandma & Grandpa in Virginia. What did we do with our time? We were very busy. I will share a LOT of pictures with you to share what we did. Among other things, we...

Visited with another old friend (one of the boys' friends was there, too, but they were so deep in bouncy toys I could never get a picture. This was taken in the little kids area)




We went to an Air & Space museum (not the Smithsonian)




Played some computer games


...and more computer games


Fed the fish




Saw the famous bridge


Crossed the bridge when we came to it


Goofed around with Cousin Rebekah




Met a dog wearing sunglasses


Saw our other cousins


EVERYONE wanted to hold baby Lucy




Celebrated some birthdays (Grandpa's was April 9 and Dylan's is this week)




That's not even all! We also had a very abbreviated Seder for Passover, played putt putt, and flew back home. We arrived home Friday afternoon and were all very happy to see Jeff. We enjoyed the weekend at home before returning to our regular schedule this week.

Thank you to my parents for having us for the week and enjoying such a great time with us. We can't wait to see you again soon!

Dylan's big milestone

Yesterday while Lily and I were visiting with Denise and Maggie, Dylan reached one of those huge childhood milestones (in the eyes of a kid) - he lost his first tooth! The tooth had been on the verge of coming out for a few days, so I wasn't surprised it finally came out. However, I was a little sad to have missed the big moment.

Below is what is probably the best picture ever of Lily with Dylan. Besides just being cute, you can see Dylan's real toothless smile!

A special treat

Today Lily and I had a very special treat - we got to see our friends Denise and Maggie. We have missed them dearly since moving to Michigan 4 1/2 months ago. Their absence has been even more felt lately since Denise gave up blogging for Lent, so I haven't even been able to keep up electronically!

Needless to say, we were all very excited about the day. We met at a cool coffee shop with a play area for little kids in Richmond, about halfway between my parents house and Denise's house. The girls got to play while Denise and I caught up and played Mamarazzi. Lily became very attached to a bouncy horse toy, going a little bonkers whenever another kid tried to play with it. Maggie had a blast on the slide. After playing for a while, we all went to lunch down the street and both girls.

It really was such a joy to catch up with Denise. I am not the greatest long distance friend. I don't call often and don't email much either. I do read my friends' blogs and I will occasionally chat with friends on Facebook. However, when I see certain friends I feel like I just saw them last week. This is exactly how I felt seeing Denise and I feel so lucky to count her as my friend.

Denise & Maggie - we miss you so much and hope to see you again next time we're in Virginia!



Peek-a-boo!


Lily loved this horse. If she wasn't on it, she wanted it watching her play on something else. It caused several altercations with other kids, much forced sharing, and a few time outs.


Lily losing it after letting another kid play on the horse.