TJ Turns 4!

I got to help at Thomas' preschool on the day we celebrated his birthday. He got to wear a crown and got  birthday stamp on his hand (which is what he's showing in the photo). We brought in the treat that day--Rice Krispie treats--and the kids sang Happy Birthday to him.

We were thrilled that Mom, Dad, Jenn, Pat and James came to visit to celebrate Thomas' birthday. About 2 hours before we had cake, TJ asked where the party hats were. I was able to dig out these dinosaur hats from his first birthday--whew!

I made Thomas a lego cake which I'd found on Pinterest. He loved it and I was pretty happy with how it turned out--better than many of my Pinterest attempts!

Family photo:

Cake close-up

Thomas with his buddy, Miss Nancy.

Blue eyes and blue tongues!

Nancy put up birthday signs in our yard. Then, the next morning, she switched the third sign to say "Patrick" since it was his birthday!

One of Thomas' gifts was my childhood baseball glove. Can't wait til we can try it outside--it's a little cramped in the basement.

Using his tools to help assemble the mini trampoline.

The birthday boys!

Jojo gave James a few spinning rides in the exersaucer.

Grammy and Buppa and their grandsons

James in his "I'm too sexy" pose; TJ tries it out too.

Playing saxophone in Uncle Pat's ear

Jojo has the trumpet down pat.

Sweet Baby James!

Jumping on the trampoline!

Cousins!

Cousins in the toy box

More snow pics

We certainly enjoyed plenty of snowy fun this winter!

Here's our house after one of the snowstorms.

Looking down our driveway and down the street. I love snow-covered trees!

TJ making a snow angel. 

So stinkin' cute and snowy!

Digging out a snow fort.

Chilling in the snow fort we built one Saturday.

Probably our best snowman effort (harder to build than I remember!)

Our neighbor Miss Nancy joined us for sledding a few times. She also loaned us a few sleds!

One warmer day we headed down the street to play on the plowed snow pile in the middle of the cul-de-sac. The boys could play on and around this pile for hours.

Valentine's Day

We had a cupid's workshop in our kitchen through the first half of February. The boys, especially Thomas, made several valentines. I (perhaps unwisely) brought out a few rubber heart stamps and stamp pads, which were a huge hit. So popular, in fact, that Thomas started pressing the stamp pad against his lips and nose. That was the end of the stamp pads!

Enjoying heart-shaped suckers. Did you know that Valentine's Day now rivals Halloween as a candy-giving holiday? TJ exchanged valentines at preschool and 75% of them came attached to candy. I was the boring mom--TJ's were only paper. And also the no-fun mom--about three-quarters of that candy ultimately got thrown out. 

 Rowan, Jojo and TJ enjoying personalized heart cookies. (Made by mom, not me!)

Grown-up Valentine's Day: a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine. Kathy joined us for sausage, spinach and butternut squash-filled cannelloni and chocolate raspberry brownies. Yum!!

February random recap

Self-serve snacking: We had to put a lock on the pantry doors.

Monkey see, monkey do. A common theme around our house these days.

Washing dishes (or just playing in the water...but either way, a good 30 minutes of entertainment!)

The day I did what I swore I never would: I turned a blind eye while Thomas mixed play-doh colors. Note the Santa hat. He sniffed it out after I squirreled it away.

"But Thomas washes his hands by himself..."

A new favorite hiding spot

Brotherly goofing around during lunch one day. When TJ is kind to Josiah, it's easy to see that they are best buds. 

Balloon races in the sunroom--a great game started by our babysitter.

Alice sent Thomas a sweater that Ed's grandma had knitted for Ed as a little boy. It fits Thomas pretty well and he really likes to wear it (we've deemed it "church only" to keep it intact).

We still have boxes to unpack (the number is dwindling, though, thanks to Ed's perseverance!). We finished unpacking all the huge hanging garment boxes a long while back, but saved the boxes with plans to make an awesome box house when winter started getting long. Voila, awesome box house!

It's also known as "another place for TJ to collect and store stuff." This kid is a stasher. A box, a bag, you name it--he fills it with toys, treasures, anything he can get his hands on. He recently discovered scotch tape and now secures any boxes he fills and asks me to send them to various friends/cousins. Currently in the box house is another large-ish box filled with slippers, a trumpet, a saxophone, scrap wood, a few balls, and gold doubloons.

Thomas helps Ed finish installing a curtain rod. Who needs a ladder when Daddy is tall?!

One day we visited Ed at work. Thomas loved seeing all the machines and the robot.

Swenson family Christmas part II

These are all the non-Christmas photos from Christmas with the Swensons.

The boys and I arrived a few days early rather than trek back from Chicago to Kalamazoo for two days. Mom and Dad and I took the boys to a bounce house place. It was awesome! And the best part is that I "got" to go in and help Jojo. I may have had the most fun. :)

We also took the boys to see the Christmas scene set up at the old M&I bank. Thomas is/was in love with his santa hat and wore it constantly. When we returned from Wisconsin, I had to hide it because he still wanted to wear it in January.

We enjoyed some fresh snow in Wisconsin and spent one morning sledding. Here's mom and dad and all three grandsons.

Josiah loved sledding.

TJ got pulled around the yard on the little plastic snowmobile that Jenn and I used to ride as kids. 

We took the boys (and their Santa hats) to visit Grandma Millie.

Grammy and Thomas decorated a gingerbread house.

The boys had so much fun that they fell asleep on the couch. Aunt Jenn Jenn looks pretty comfy!

Later she and James took a nap. Baby naps are the best!

Jojo loves to on the play mat with James. (And yes, it was a Packer game day.)