Go Ducks!

In order to keep Jeff's head from exploding when the Ducks won, Uncle Chris came over to dose him with a booster shot of Little Brother and knock him down a few pegs.


Unfortunately for Bayley, this involved the words 'wet willie' and Hayden was more than happy to do his Little Brother part.

The chaos continued as the boys talked Uncle Chris into a game of Twister...and Grace decided that the Twister mat was not for such a rowdy game. She thought it would be better for a picnic with cake.

Luckily, there was leftover pumpkin pie, which seemed to make everything better for everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year, which meant we didn't even have to put on shoes!

The food was amazing, and that's not one of my usual exagerations for effect. I could have ate until I passed out, but there was a baby in the house, so I couldn't let the opportunity for a cuddle pass. While everyone ate, I got some special time with Natalie.
The boys had a great time playing and eating...and then entertained us all with a couple skits, like The Life of a Raindrop.

Cancelled?

School was canceled today...for snow and ice. The snow is...a thick frost. But apparently there is ice on the roads. I wouldn't know...it's quite toasty in my office.

The boys could have slept in and had a lazy morning. Instead, they've been outside with the neighbor boys trying to collect enough snow for two snowballs so they can have a snowball fight. They're out there with a snow shovel, collecting from the sidewalk.

Dress Up Diva

It's starting! I'm thrilled that Grace has such an interest in playing dress up. After the way she went after the old Halloween costumes, I snagged her a box of dress up clothes at Costco. You'd think I brought her diamonds.

Whenever she starts to get bored, she heads over to the cardboard trunk and starts rummaging around for just the right combination. She still needs some help, and every princess needs a lady-in-waiting...she she'll bring me her carefully selected gown and say "I's a princess!"

Once you help her into her gorgeous attire, she declares either "oh, so cute!" or "Is so bootiful." I mean really...has anything ever been cuter?

LaserPort Birthday Party

And me without my camera. OK, so I opted to let Jeff handle this one and brave an afternoon of cranky girl. So, there aren't any pictures (yet)...but Hayden LOVED it. Truly. He wants to have his birthday there.

They had two parties going on, and had them play each other in 2 rounds of Laser Tag...so Hayden thought it would be great if he and Bayley each had parties there, and their friends could battle it out.

Field Trip : Rice Rock & Mineral Museum

One of the best rock museums in the world is right in town! In second grade, the kids study rocks, and so take a fielf trip to the museum. We've been with Cub Scouts, as well as on our own when Bayley was so fascinated with collecting rocks. (The gift shop is perfect for a rock collector...in fact, the expanded it for a few years and had a place at Streets of Tanasbourne. Amazing stuff.)

I like hearing the history of the house, built as a family home for a lumber baron in the 50's. The built-ins in the closets are fantastic. I think my favorite room is the petrified wood gallery. Hayden liked the black-light room the best.

The kids were VERY well behaved, and engaged. There was lots of oohs and aahs. All genuine. What a great bunch!

The Kiddos Most Wanted List

Bayley's cracks me up...he is such a dreamer.

Star Wars Interactive R2D2 - This is his own R2...voice activated and all that. It's like $180 at Costco
Mindflex Game - so he can practice his Jedi skillz. Like $50
Remote Control Millenium Falcon - like $50 at Costco
Star Wars Millennium Falcon Lego set - as much as the R2D2!
Emporer Palpitine's Shuttle Lego set
Battle of Endor Lego set

The stuff he might actually get ::
LEGO Ramses Pyramid game
Uncle Milton Star Wars Science Death Star Planetarium
Snap Circuits
HeadBanz game
Sorry Spin, Sorry Sliders
Wii -- PokePark, Mario Galaxy 2, Star Wars The Force Unleashed II
DS -- Professor Layton and the Unwound Future , MySims Agents, Mario & Luigi Partners in Time

Hayden is a little bit more down to earth ::
Easy Bake Oven mixes
Bakugan Combat set
Dairy Queen Blizzard Maker
Girl Gourmet Chill Treat and Dessert Maker
BopIt
Wii - Wii Party, WipeOut, Family Game Night, Guilty Party, Sing It
DS - Mario vs. Donkey Kong


Grace...
would love a Pillow Pet
anything Dora or Olivia
dress-up stuff (she already has the cardboard chest from Costco)
boots (size 9 -- I kid you not)

Layered Jello

With nothing planned for a no-school day, and the boys both unplugged, I had to think of some thing fast! I'd been intigued by an idea I saw on a crafty mama blog about layered jello, and decided to would keep the boys entertained all afternoon...

IT WORKED!

Now, this is not a project that is done quickly. You make a layer and wait 20 minutes, and then do another...and so on. Which was great since teh boys seemed to fight less when playing their board games on a schedule. Who knew?

So if you have time to kill, go ahead and try it :: Rainbow Jello

Autumn

In the old neighborhood, the kids would greet Fall by jumping in the leaves that fell from the tree in Miss Molly's yard. We don't have the amazingly productive tree they have, but Bayley raked together a pile for Grace and Hayden showed her how to play in it.

Out Of This World Pizza & Play

Hayden's team did a big end-of-season party at Out of This World. The parents of one of the boys on the team own it, so the boys had a room of their own...plus pizza & ice cream...and a visit from the resident magician! It was better than a birthday party because all the kids got a gift (their trophy) and no one had to sit and watch another kid get everything :D







We used to go all the time before Grace, but we've only been for birthday parties since. This usually means someone takes the boys, and mom is home with the girl. So, there were lots of new-to-me things. The climbing structure has changed, and the rock wall has been moved into it. Both my boys claim it is much better the new way...though I stuck to the smaller kid side of the play floor. They also have two bounce houses with slides...though Grace couldn't climb up to slide on the 5 and under version.







As always, the pizza was great (I love the vegetarian but Jeff needs meat on his pizza so we did the chicken which is great too), the drinks are unlimited (and good thing since I think the kids sweat out 2 drinks while they are there -- oh, hot tip - they have flavored syrups out for the coffee, but you can use them to make cherry coke or vanilla coke or what-have-you), and there is a comfy couches area for those with wee ones.

The boys played non-stop for hours. Grace...was not as much of a fan. We thought she'd like the slides and bounce houses and plasma cars, and she did not. We finally settled her in at the couch flanked kid area and she found that much better.

I hope she grows to like it. The place is a godsend in the wet, winter months!