Our Weekend, Part II

While we were at my parents' house this weekend, we also went to play with Joe. Joe is my friend Katie's son. Katie and I went to school together from 4th grade until senior year. We were also tennis partners in junior high. We never lost a match together in two years! (Do you remember that, Katie?)

Anyway, back to the playdate. Joe and Patrick (or "Pack-it", as Joe calls him--hey, he only just turned two) had a BLAST together! Joe has this awesome toy called the "Jumpy Thing" that his dad was nice enough to set up for them in the backyard. Obviously, it was a huge hit with Patrick (who, by the way, I have decided runs on kinetic energy. The more he exerts, the more he has. Then, when he stops, he completely crashes--which was the case after Joe's house...I have never seen him so tired).

Our Weekend, Part I

Patrick, Ben and I went to my parents' house this weekend. I had a good time letting someone else handle the kids for a few days, and they had a good time playing with their grandparents:

Patrick loves to go down to the creek in their backyard and throw sticks in it. He throws them off one side of the bridge, then runs to the other side and announces when it floats out from underneath. This game is actually called "Poohsticks", and anyone that has read The House at Pooh Corner" (sequel to Winnie the Pooh) will be very familiar with it. Patrick has not read this book, but I have (many times), so I taught him the game. Obviously, it was not too hard to learn.

Here's Ben playing in the excersaucer that Gigi got for him and his cousin Matthew (although Matthew is too big for it, so I guess now it's just Ben's...until Sandi has another baby, that is!).

In this picture Patrick was busy hamming it up for Gigi, while Ben was busy spitting up on Gigi.

Daddy Shots

Here's Luke modeling a Christmas present from David and Sandi. He loves to wear it, but I think the outfit just isn't complete without a camoflauge apron to match.

Luke loves to play his X-Box, but there are only a few games he's allowed to play while Patrick's around. In this picture they are playing Major League Baseball. Luke just gives Patrick a controller that's not hooked up and lets him go to town.

Patrick the Prima Donna

Yesterday was pajama day at preschool. This is what Patrick came home with. Even though we changed out of his jammies right after his nap, he continued to wear the mask all evening long.

The Dancing Queen (and her court jester)

We went to visit Rebeckah the other day (Rebeckah is Patrick's cousin, for those of you who haven't had the experience of knowing her). She and Patrick ate pizza and colored for a while, then when it was time to leave, Rebeckah decided that she just had to dance. Well, whatever Rebeckah decides, Patrick agrees with, so we stayed a little bit longer so they could dance. It was such crazy dancing that I could not really get a great picture of it, but it wore Patrick out, and that's way more important!

What a GREAT-Grandma!

Spending some quality time with Great-Grandma.

Looks like Patrick has inherited his Daddy's uncanny ability to make the weirdest face possible at the exact moment the picture is taken.

FANTASTIC!

At least Great-Grandma and Ben look nice.

Sleepy Time

We went to Luke's parents house this weekend (at our house they are known as Ma and Pa--names given to them by Patrick). It was a really sleepy day, rainy outside and quiet inside. Ben fell asleep with his Ma for a few hours. Since Patrick was upstairs asleep in the bed, I took the opportunity to kick back myself and read a few magazines...which is not something I get to do before 8:00 p.m. these days!!! It was a nice break.

"Ignorance is Bliss"

Consider the title of this post. "Ignorance is bliss." I wonder who first coined the phrase? No doubt it has meant many things to different people over time. To me it means this: being downstairs with the baby monitor turned off, not knowing whether your child is lying awake or asleep in his crib, and not caring either.

Hot Stuff

Here's Patrick wearing his new fleece hat and mittens that Uncle Adam sent for him. Never mind that it's 70 degrees today, he will NOT take them off! Well, that's not such a bad thing. If he took them off, he'd probably want me to put them right back on and...well, my kid is smart and all, but he has a real problem understanding the whole "thumb in the different compartment" aspect of mittens. It took about 15 minutes to wrestle him into them as Ben looked on in amusement. But once we got them on, Patrick was so proud, sweaty hands and all! Kind of appropriate, considering they're decorated with flames.

What a Porker!

We just had Ben's 2-month checkup today and now I know why my back hurts all the time. He weighs 15 pounds! Besides that, he's 25 inches long. That's off the charts for both measurements. I am going to have to start wearing one of those braces that they make the employees at Home Depot wear. Honestly, if he wasn't so darn cute...

What a Mess!

All I have to say is thank goodness Patrick has a closet big enough to house all of his toys. Why do kids toys have so many pieces? If we had to keep this stuff on display in his actual room, I don't think I could mangae to EVER set foot in there! At least with this arrangement, I can just kick it all behind a closed door, and voila!--a clean room. My mother would be so proud of my philosophy of cleaning.

Two cutie-pies!

Some recent pictures of my two cutie pies. Ben is smiling a lot now, which is his only saving grace since he is driving Mommy CRAZY with his new No-Nap schedule! Patrick is doing great. If you look under his right eye, you will see the mark left by his first fight--with a girl, no less--although she's quite a bruiser. He didn't start the fight, but he sure tried to finish it, from what his teacher told me!

Some Christmas pictures...

Who would've thought that I, who love Christmas so much, would not have taken a single picture Christmas morning? Well, this was a Christmas unlike others, with a new six-week old in the house and a three-year-old who understands about Santa for the first time! It was hectic, to say the least.

I did manage to take some pictures before the big day...

The one with just the two boys was our Christmas card picture. It looks great, but Ben was flung to the ground just nanoseconds after this was taken. Luckily, Daddy was there with quick reflexes.

There's also all of us at Luke's parents house on Christmas Eve morning. That evening Ben played Baby Jesus in the children's pageant before church. I don't have a picture of that, because wouldn't you know, the battery died, but Luke's brother took pictures. I am still waiting for him to send them to me, then I'll put them on.

Happy New Year!