Jim and Nancy's wedding

In mid-March we headed to Columbus, OH, to attend Uncle Jim and Nancy's wedding. Nancy has been in the family for quite a long time, and now it's official! It was a fun, laidback, laughter-filled celebration, and so great to hang out with so many from the Ruble clan.

Cousins! Love Eli's tuxedo t-shirt!

Upside down Ben

Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed some Ben time during the reception.

Whenever we get together with the extended Ruble family, TJ and Jojo spend all their time with the (older) girl cousins. Which means we get to pretend we only have one (low maintenance) kid!

The boys hung out with Kylie and Keira, dancing up a storm

TJ started calling Ed's cousin Michael "Meathead Rob Lowe" (from the DirecTV commercials). Here he is wrestling with Michael. TJ couldn't get enough of hanging with him!

Another favorite cousin--Adrianna

Some dance moves:

And some more, reminiscent of TJ and Ed at Alli and Micah's wedding:

Saying goodbye to Kylie and Keira

What a fun weekend! And congratulations to Jim and Nancy!

Ben and the exercise ball

The big boys can always make Ben giggle, but I've rarely heard him have as much fun as when they rolled over him with the exercise ball:

Lots of brother love!

Fun in the snow: sledding and skiing

We had another winter of fantastic snow this year--easily 2 feet on the ground from early January through early March. I think Thomas had 8 or 9 snow/cold/ice days--fewer than last year. We spend plenty of time sledding, and even better this year, skiing!

Jojo and TJ sledding with Nancy. Most days Thomas got off the bus and then played in the snow for a half hour or so.

Snow angels!

As the snow got deeper, the boys liked sledding on the smaller hill in the backyard. Sledding became a contact sport!

They also did plenty of their old favorite, penguin sledding:

TJ and I did some nighttime sledding one night--chilly but fun!

Thomas and Ed got season ski passes to a small hill about 15 minutes from our house. After a day of ski lessons with Karen, Corey and Niki in Wisconsin, Thomas and Ed went weekly throughout the winter. Thomas loved it, and soon his only speed was FAST. He is quite the daredevil skier!

Here's TJ on the bunny hill on one of his early days skiing.

In early March we got a babysitter for Ben and the four of us spent a Sunday afternoon skiing. Ed skied with Jojo on the bunny hill and TJ and I hit the big slopes. I hadn't skied in years--it was fantastic! I had to ski fast and straight to keep up with TJ and keep his ego in check. :)

Love these two ski bunnies!

Ed helping the boys out to the tow rope

Jojo learning to ski behind Ed. He did a great job!

Thomas and I got one other evening of skiing in before the snow melted:

Every year, the last snow to leave are the huge piles in the cul de sacs of our neighborhood. Here's Jojo on top of one of the piles:

And Ben, who didn't get much time outside this winter:

And one last look at our sledding hill with snow on it--it got plenty of use this year!

More birthday weekend pics

We had more fun besides the Batman party!

Dinner at Highland House:

And the littlest two:
(I love Isaac's shirt!)

Looking for a little pre-spring weather, we took a trip to the Mitchell Domes so the kids could explore and we could enjoy being "outside" without coats. Here are Jenn and I with the babies:

And a flashback to last year's Domes trips with the bellies:

Grammy and Buppa with the grandkids

Watching the fish pond

Cousin love:

Playing Musical Chairs in the family room.

The old Nintendo power pad made an appearance!

And of course some sledding!

I love watching these two together! Ben always looks so petite around Isaac, even though they're only 6 weeks apart. 

Ike had perfected his standing and bending over skills. I kept waiting for him to tip into the basket!

The Cake

I had a lot of fun making the cake for TJ's birthday. It was an idea I found on Pinterest, and for once it wasn't a Pinterest fail! 

I made the cakes blue. I used about 5 bottles of food coloring. Since I needed two batches of cakes for stacking, I made one batch of vanilla and one of "blue velvet."

I made grayish-black frosting and cut the centers out of 3 of the 4 round cakes. I stacked those up with frosting between layers and then filled the center hole with black and yellow (Batman colors!) M&Ms. Then a whole circle goes on top and the whole thing gets frosted.

Here's another look at the finished cake:

At one point in the evening, we looked over to see Jimmy on a stool checking out the cake. He was grabbed before he got to sampling it!

Cutting the cake...the great reveal, since TJ didn't know about the M&M surprise!

Surprise!

The colors of the cake--specifically the blue cake, but also the black frosting--had an effect on everyone's digestive systems. But hey, when you're six, blue poop is almost as cool as the cake itself!

Holy Birthday Batman, TJ's 6!

We celebrated TJ's birthday weekend in Wisconsin. The original plan had been for the Swensons and Ellestads to head to Kalamazoo, but then Ed needed to be in Milwaukee the week before, so it made more sense for us to head west. Ed took Jojo with him on Wednesday for a little Grammy and Buppa time, and the plan was for me, TJ and Ben to follow on Thursday afternoon. Then it snowed, got really cold, and really icy. TJ had no school Thursday or Friday, but we couldn't get out of Kalamazoo because the highway was so slick. Thursday evening we went over to a friend's house so the kids could all play and the moms could hang out. TJ cried on the way there and the way home because he wanted to be going to Milwaukee instead. After we got home that night (8:30ish), I put Ben to bed and TJ and I went sledding. That helped, a little. We got up Friday morning and left, and the roads were slightly improved. By the time we hit Indiana, the roads were much better and we made it to Milwaukee. 

On Saturday, we had a Batman-themed party. Decorations courtesy of Grammy (masks) and Pat (signs). More on the cake later...

Posing with the cake and cousins. It was a Batman shirt/superhero cape day!

Pat's birthday is the day after TJ's, so we always celebrate both. Note Pat's homemade Batman logo on his shirt. Here they're singing to each other.

The birthday boy!

Bat babies attacking Ed

Five bat cousins

Our bat family

Ben and Buppa

Grammy and Buppa and the boys

TJ is already working on themes for next year...  :)

Ben turns 6 months!

This little munchkin has been around half a year! He continues to be such a smiler, and such an easy, go-with-the-flow baby. Still a bit challenging at nights, but just fine during the day!

At his 6-month appointment, he measured 27" long and 17 lb. 11 oz.

To compare, Jojo was a very comparable 26-3/4" long and 17 lb. 10 oz. TJ was 27-1/2" long and a chunky 20 lb 2 oz!