Ice Skating

My mom & dad & Pete came to visit for about a week. It was the same week I was taking the Beehives ice skating, so they came along and we had Logan try out ice skating. He loved it! He did very well, much better than I expected and never cried or complained. He amazed us all. Here are a few pictures:

trying to find skates the right size took a few tries

getting skates on

Logan coming around with my mom

I think Tolan felt a little left out, but he liked when we came around & waved

Its a little dark through the glass, but there we all are!

Little Beggers...What Happens When Mommy Leaves Daddy at Home with the Kids

Claire recently left on a trip to Utah. Logan and Tolan were left to rough it with Daddy for a few days. Ever wonder what happens when Mommy leaves? (click on the pictures for a better view)

So what is on Logan's face anyway.... "dirt" by Maybelline (a.k.a. brown eyeliner)

Tolan...at the end of his rope.
Maybe it's Maybelline! Nope, that is Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. It was easier to put a little chocolate on his face.

Tolan wasn't such a good sport so Logan held Tolan's sign in a second shot. The signs were created using a Cherrios box and Daddy's "bear" hands.

So why did we do it...
I thought it would be fun to share some culture with the kids and teach them the art of fine theater by dressing them up like bums...for some strange reason it sounded like a fun idea when I first thought of it, but I soon learned that we would need to try different afternoon activities if we would survive life without mommy around for a few days.

Love-Hate Relationship

I have a serious love-hate relationship with our Christmas tree. I love it when it's up. I love how big and full it is with lots of lights and everything and its even pretty easy to put up, but I HATE packing it away for next year! It's a 9-foot tree and its HUGE and it came in this tiny, ridiculous box and I've searched online and looked everywhere for some sort of solution for how to pack up & store it but I have found nothing big enough. So we keep resorting to the ratty old box it came in that is almost impossible to get it into then you have tape it shut with about a whole roll of packing tape for it to stay shut. Ridiculous and annoying. So this year, this was my solution:

A little OCD maybe, but yes, I saran-wrapped our tree! One layer of branches at a time. (this is only the bottom 3rd of the tree!) It was the only way I could think of to get it compact enough to MAYBE fit back into the box. We did manage to get all 3 pieces into the box this year thanks to lots of saran-wrap and packing tape! Good riddance - until next year!

Logan's Third Birthday

When I asked Logan what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday there was no hesitation. He of course wanted a Batman cake. I took the simple route and just did the Batman symbol instead of actual Batman, but that was good enough for him. He thought it was very cool.

We are still keeping birthdays pretty simple at this age. No big party, but he had a couple of friends come over and play in the morning, and then when daddy got home after dinner we did cake & presents.
He got some more Cars cars (from the movie) and some clothes and a Spiderman backpack (which he has been carrying everywhere) and a train set, which he has also been playing with a lot. I'll be in Utah for my grandma's funeral this week, so Justin will have the privilege of taking him for his 3-year well check on Tuesday to see how much he has grown since last year! I'm excited to hear how their outing to the doctor goes since 1) Justin has never taken them to the Dr. and 2) Logan screamed & kicked through the entire checkup last year. Hopefully he will do much better this year - I've been trying to prep him better this time...

Besides his physical growth, he has grown up a lot this year. He is using the potty pretty well (at home anyway) and has increased his vocabulary tremendously. That of course, is an ongoing accomplishment. It's been really fun to hear him parroting phrases and different things he hears, especially anything Daddy is talking about. With the new skill of talking in complete sentences we get to hear all kinds of interesting and nonsensical things non-stop, all day long. He loves to talk and talk and talk. That's great though. He also still loves all cars, trucks, motorcycles, etc. He also likes xBox (actually just watching Justin play xBox), "wrestling" or "fighting" anyone who is willing, or just forcing Tolan to play along. He is definitely no longer a baby!