Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

We might be sporting last year's St. Paddy's T-shirts...

... but this year's tattoos are courtesy of Gamma Rita:

  

And I'm very sorry Gamma Rita, but try as I might I couldn't get anyone to sit still for a close-up of the ones that simply said "Happy St. Patrick's Day".

Unless you count the slightly out of focus one where Nate decided to do his best James Dean: 

We also tried out some St. Paddy's Day crafts. There were two that involved paint - and we never got around to the rest because... paint. 

The first one was a bell pepper shamrock. Nice, but the novelty wore off fast.

The second was a thumbprint shamrock (it's up there in the left-hand corner, I swear!). Also nice, but one was enough. 

After that the boys just wanted to paint, so that's what we did. 

"Bugs" by Nate.

"Untitled"* by Seth.

And it must have been my lucky day because while I was cleaning up the mess everyone else made a very civilized "parking lot" in the hallway, complete with spaces in between "so the people can get out". 

The weather was nice so we even got outside and had a bit of a run around.

It's been awhile since either of my boys have been able to use their Nickel Fortress so it was very popular (today at least!). 

I had to trick Seth into sitting still for a photo by pretending I wasn't taking his picture. I guess it worked. 

And if wouldn't be a proper St. Patrick's Day without a gross green dessert. I refined things a little this year and also set some regular non-green pudding aside for myself, but it was still a hit: 

Hope you all had a great one too!

– L.

*This picture does in fact have a title, but I've left it untitled for now because that is a separate post for another time. If you can figure out what it is in the meantime, I'll give you a nickel towards your own fortress.

It's A Brown New Year!*

And a day to celebrate if for no other reason than managing to get my boys in a photo together where they are both 1.) looking at the camera and 2.) smiling with everyone in focus:

– It's a New Years Day miracle everyone!

Happy New Year! 

- L.

FYI, "brown new year" is what a toddler hears when you say, "brand new year". It's also high comedy for a couple of almost 3 year olds so I expect it won't be going away any time soon. Bet you didn't see that one coming – I know I didn't.

*sigh*

PS. I am woefully behind on blogging, but you can expect a few more (belated) Christmas posts in the near future.

A (Seriously) Merry Christmas To You!

You might recall Christmas last year was a rather somber affair, and in spite of some of the serious faces this year, I assure you a very merry time was had by all. I was fairly excited myself since this was the first year my boys really seemed to "get" what Christmas was about. As such, I took a picture of the tree and presents before they woke up this morning for posterity:

And then I made a little noise and peeked in the boys' room a few minutes later to see a couple of sleepy heads beginning to stir. I love Seth's still-sleepy eyes in this picture as they survey the loot under the tree for the first time:

Of course, Seth did his due diligence since the first thing he did after that was to make sure the plate of cookies and glass of milk we'd left out for Santa were empty:

– Carrots for reindeer is also gone. I is convinced everyone!

The boys tucked into their stockings first. Well, Seth tucked into his stocking – Nate needed a little coaching after he unloaded half of it and started putting things back in. Still, his look of concentration is admirable:

And unlike last year, Seth showed us all how to unwrap a present like a pro (or at least in record time):

– 'Dis is how it done, everyone!

Nate needed a little coaching here too (and in case you were wondering, that's a pensive look Seth is giving his brother even though it looks a little like nose-picking):

This is easily one of my favorite moments from unwrapping presents today. Nate finally got the paper off and the box open and exclaimed "Paper!" and the truth is, he was pretty excited about getting a box of paper. I had to tell him to keep looking since there was a gift (other than paper of course) still in the box:

I love the look on his face when he found it! Nate is fairly obsessed with foxes lately and he didn't let his new friend out of his sight all day:

This is the last of the Santa gifts that were opened before breakfast. Twig was a reasonable hit, but required some serious concentration:

After breakfast (and a change of clothes later) we got down to the business of opening up the rest of the presents. I didn't have anything special planned in terms of "Christmas outfits", but their shirts from last year still fit so I went with it. I'm glad I did – same shirts, but a year later and oh... how things have changed:

One of the boys' favorite presents were some new slippers courtesy of Gamma Rita. Said slippers by Gamma Rita's own admission are "so ugly that they're kind of cute". Truth be told, I kind of love them too.

Mr. Potato Head was also a hit:

... but not so important that Nate couldn't take a break to hug his new best friend:

Of course the gift that got the patented "big smile" from Nate was courtesy of Uncle P.:

It even warranted a "really, really big smile" as things turned out:

Merry Christmas everyone!

- L.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

When all you need is love: 

And maybe some new friends (courtesy of Uncle P.): 

Plus one that is nearly as old as me (and first sat atop our tree when I wasn't much older than my boys are now):

Also important – two boys decorating a tree for the first time because they are old enough now to get excited about Christmas: 

– I would look more excited everyone, but as it turn out...

– ... this tree decorating business is serious business!

– I would also look more excited everyone, but as it turn out...

– ... I totally messing with you. Nothing serious about this and I love it!

And even though the wooden candy canes I made three Christmases ago will be forever known as "the letter J" – as they were last year also – it was easy to overlook... especially since Nate and Seth were so pleased to be reunited with them:

– Look! It's letter J!
– That's a letter J, alright!
– Too bad Mommy hang thread on wrong end.
– Also a shame Mommy forget rest of alphabet for tree.

On the other hand, I think watching my boys roll around on the floor before bed with their Uncle P. was easily my favorite part:

And since Nate's got his "really big smile" on, I think my boys felt the same way:

My least favorite part however was realizing if I lean over like this I look like I'm sporting a fine Viking beard:

It was too funny not to share though. 

- L.

PS. A picture of the finished tree for posterity in case it gets demolished before the big day:

With two toddlers on the loose and all those tempting "J's" I can't guarantee the tree will be in the same shape come Christmas.

PPS. A very special thanks to Uncle P. for photos 4 through 9 (and most especially number 12 in case I ever want to tell the boys I once worked with a traveling circus). 

Hallowe'en: The Bizarro World Edition

On this lazy, reasonably rainy Friday my boys decided the thing they would most like to do is put on each other's costumes so I waited for a break in the rain and that's just what we did.

Things started off with some of those patented Nate "smiles"...

– I is smiling right now everyone...

–... and still smiling here (believes it or not).

... and a bit of a startled look from Seth. I think he forgot he was playing police officer, but he quickly got back into character which happened to be about the same time Nate noticed the ball and chain. 

And despite an attempt at an "innocent" look from Nate...

... Seth was determined to get his man. 

I'm still feeling confident about my casting on Hallowe'en night, but I'll give full credit to Seth for knowing exactly what to do with those handcuffs. 

– Gotcha bro'.

– Er, yes... I suppose you does.

– Of course you know if we join forces maybe we get through

'dis gate and make a break for it.

– Shhh! As you point out that other time, mommy can hear us.

We maybe wait until she not looking, OK?

• • • • • • • 

Four more things:

1. I could not choose between this photo of Nate and this one of Seth...

– Is time to get your swoon on cuties!

... not even if I had a million years to do it. Truth be told, they both make me swoon a little.

2. My boys had a great time Hallowe'en night. After the last two years (here and here) I wasn't sure how they'd react, but in the end we went up and down a very long block of houses. Total time out trick-or-treating was just over an hour and their costumes were greatly admired by all. I had bought a bag originally to use as a prop/loot sack that I didn't end up using in photos or as a loot sack per se, but M. and I took it along in case their pumpkin buckets got "too full".

Their buckets were "too full" after the first half dozen houses so the sack came in handy to at least periodically collect all the loot. Every time we did a bucket dump, Nate would declare "go get more now!" so clearly I trained them well. 

3. When I say I trained them well, I mean I trained them really, really well. We came home with almost more than we could carry. 

I'm not sure this photo does it justice, but we got a lot of loot.

4. Lastly – and on a different note – I am still in awe (and not in a good way) of the photos taken of the flooding in lower Manhattan which isn't even where the worst of Hurricane Sandy struck in the US. Geographically speaking though they are our closest neighbor. I can't complain about getting a little bit wet while we were out trick-or-treating. Our power remained on, we had heat and light and good things to eat. Some people didn't and still don't.

If you are in Canada and are in a position to help out, please consider a donation via the Canadian Red Cross as they appear to have the best access to disaster relief in the US from here and are accepting donations specifically for relief there.

Once again we are the lucky ones and despite the rainy weather and a lot of indoor time with two toddlers who would have rather been outside (but not in the rain) the gravity of this disaster is not lost on me. I made sure we had extra water and could live off the canned goods we had stored. Our power stayed on and in the end none of it was necessary. I cannot imagine having to evacuate our home with my boys in tow or the effect it might have had on them if such measures should have become necessary. Our biggest hardship was trick-or-treating in the rain where everyone's hair got a bit wet. $5 or $10 or whatever you've got... if you've got it, please give it.

- L.