The Big One

Digging and Shoveling and Digging and Shoveling
The Igloo

Silly Boys

Aiden

Liam is giving the snowman a big hug

The snowman we built with our neighbor

Eating Ice off the tree

Trying to reach the Ice

We finally got the big snow that was invariably going to happen at some point this winter. It snowed around 6-8 inches on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, it began as freezing rain and then changed over to snow which made for a terrible morning commute. The snow began early in the morning on Wednesday and was falling fast at about 2 inches an hour. It was a wet, heavy, spring type snow that was zero fun to shovel but great for building snowmen. The boys all loved it and we spent several hours outside playing in the snow. We are still hoping that spring arrives early this year. We cannot complain too much about the snow since it has been very minimal this year.

I am borrowing the poem below from another blog. I thought it was very encouraging and keeps things in perspective with lots of little ones!

Oh give me patience when wee hands

Tug at me with their small demands.

And give me gentle and smiling eyes.

Keep my lips from hasty replies.

And let not weariness, confusion or noise

Obscure my vision of life's fleeting joys.

So when, in years to come my house is still

No bitter memories its rooms may fill.

-unknown

February Snow

Lots of fun in the snow=Tired Boys and great Naps! This is Luke's typical sleeping position.

Liam is showing me his "carrot nose" for a snowman

AJ took his gloves off no less than 10 times while we were outside. Wonder why he was crying at the end and saying he was cold?

Aiden sledding down the "hill"

Luke is making snow blocks with the dump truck. This kept him busy for nearly the entire time we were outside.

We are finally getting some snow and we have received more snow in past week or so than we have had all season. We are still way behind from last year. Luke and Liam seem to think the snow is going to melt quickly so they are always asking to go out and play in the snow. I keep reminding them that it will be there tomorrow but we did make it outside to play several times this week when it was just a little warmer and Aiden would enjoy it just a little more.

Here is one funny thing from this week. Sometime last year, I started doing bit of a reward system for Luke and Liam for good behavior. We purchased some little wooden boxes and several fluffy balls in various colors at Michael's. We painted the boxes and put their names on them and they were allowed to put one colored ball in their box for various types of good behavior. For example, if they shared something with their brother without having to be asked, then I would tell them they could have a ball in their box. Or, if they helped pick up toys or waited patiently somewhere, then they might get a ball in their box. After the box was full, they would receive a small treat of some sort whether it be playing a special game, reading a book, or a piece of candy. Conversely, they could also lose a ball for bad behavior. Well, we have not really kept up with actually putting balls in the boxes anymore, but everytime the boys do something they perceive as "good", they ask for a ball in their box. Even Aiden, who really has no clue what this system is about, says "I have ball in my box?" all the time. The other day Liam was sent to timeout while we were at the swimming pool. After sitting quietly for 4 minutes in timeout, John told him that he did well sitting quietly in timeout and he could get in the pool. Liam turned and said, "Dad, can I have a ball in my box for sitting nicely in timeout?" Um...NO, I think not.

Working Hard at Play

Another warmer than average day this "winter" in Minnesota

Check out Luke's position on the floor. Just five minutes earlier, this was John's position when he was repairing our washing machine.

The bad news: the washing machine broke this week. The good news: John repaired it and all the laundry is done!

Aiden spends a lot of time each day playing with these little cars. They are one of the first toys he looks for in the morning when he wakes up.

On the floor with his cars

More repairs to do, but first let's organize the tools (at least that is what I would do)

Luke is feeding Aiden some of his pizza at lunch

Three little mowers

Very little remains of our snow this year

The boys are often so "hard at work" while they are playing. They shout orders, follow directions, work and negotiate together, and can often entertain each other for hours. Aiden will generally lose interest after awhile or he won't be able to keep up with this brothers, but Luke and Liam work together so well. They will fill dumptrucks full of toys and haul them from one end of the house to the other and then back again. They run races with their cars around the kitchen and make such loud noises that it feels like we are at a racetrack or something. It is very fun to watch. This week our washing machine broke and all three boys enjoyed watching John (on several occasions) try to figure out the problem. They went upstairs to gather their goggles, tools, measuring tape, screwdrivers, etc...and waited with excitement for John to ask them to hold something or shine the flashlight.

We are continuing to have mild weather though I hear rumors of snow in our future. We enjoyed several afternoons outdoors this week playing in the yard and even riding bikes in February. That was something we only dreamed of doing at this time last year.

A week in February

"Aiden, show me your eyes." This is what Aiden does when we ask him to show us his eyes.

Three Stooges: The boys at the gymnastics open gym

Aiden on the ladder at gymnastics

Does Aiden's shirt above look familiar? Thanks to my cousin Julie for these shirts when AJ was born! This picture was taken in February 2010.

It was pretty much business as usual for us this week. The weather is still quite cold with a few mild days here and there and relatively little or no snow! I have enjoyed the lack of snow this year, though I think the boys have missed playing in it. It has been nice to be outside occasionally without bitter cold temperatures. We are still doing some of our weekly indoor activities including the gymnastics open gym in the pictures above. This is a favorite of all three boys and a great way to do some jumping, climing, running, and screaming for a couple hours. We have really changed a lot over the years we have been going to open gym. The boys are now able to get up on most of the equipment and actually use it rather than crawling on the floor or playing in the water fountain. Another favorite activity of all three boys right now is swimming. We started some afternoon swimming lessons for Luke and Liam in late October and I am amazed at how well they are doing. Aiden enjoys the time with Mom and Dad playing in the water during the lessons and then we all grab a quick bite to eat before heading home for the evening. The boys love it and look forward to it each week. They are now jumping off the side of the pool and going down to get dive sticks in 5 feet of water or so. I don't have any pictures from swimming as it pretty much involves both John and I to watch everyone in the water, but it is one of our favorite activities right now and has been a great thing to do over the winter months. Have a great week!

The Big Race

This picture doesn't need a lot of explanation. Looks like AJ got a hold of a marker.
Super hero capes at a birthday party!!

Warming up for the big races. Luke, Liam, and Aiden are all wearing maroon shirts and black pants (bottom of picture)

Standing with the Tortise

Ready to Run!

On the track with the Rabbit (Hare)

Aj running (we all know he is really good at this!)

Holding up their numbers

Over the weekend, all three boys participated in their first running race. The University of Minnesota and the company John works for sponsored a Twin Cities Kids indoor track race. The boys each ran 3-4 laps around the track and every participant received a medal for finishing. The boys thought it was awesome especially with all the races that John and I have run and the medals that they love to play with. They also enjoyed the mascots, music, and the fun (yet very chaotic) atomosphere. When we asked Luke what he wanted to do for dinner later that evening after the race, he asked if we were going to a "race party" just like we do after many of the marathons John and I have completed.

We have also attended numerous birthday parties over the last three months for many of our twin friends. When I joined a Multiples group at the time when Luke and Liam were born, we were paired with other moms of multiples that also had children around the same age (within 3-4 months of our age). We have kept in touch with these moms over the years and have done many playdates together. Some of the moms have since moved from the area, but there are a few we still keep in touch with as much as possible. We had one party this weekend where one of the mom made super hero capes for all the kids! Lots of work!! I am posting a picture from the party. Its hard to see, but we are all wearing our capes.

New Look

Luke with the Dot paints. Painting is something Luke really loves right now.
Liam working on his snowflake

Aiden is just a mess.

The finished snowflakes

Liam with his puppy hat he made from the craft stuff Calvin sent us.

Daddy and Luke

All five of us (standing, looking, and halfway smiling!)

John and I on an old historic bridge

Stinker

The boys

We are trying out a "new look" for the blog. I did some reading to try to make a few design changes so that we could try to incorporate some recent family pictures we took. I am definitely not a blog designer and now I know why they pay people to do this stuff. As with many projects, it was fairly time consuming. Anyway, about the family pictures....We found a wonderful photographer to take some pictures of all five of us. We have been a little slow in getting family pictures made since Aiden was born, but this actually ended up being relatively easy. Our photographer was very patient, talented, and fun. We basically took pictures of the boys playing outside. It was cool on the day we took the pictures, but not cold so we were able to enjoy the time outside and get some great pictures. I am posting several of our favorites.

We also did a few craft projects recently. We made some snowflakes out of coffee filters and then painted them. We also received some puppy dog craft projects from our cousin Calvin's birthday party and we loved making puppy hats, collars, and eating the "dog food" and "dog vitamins." Thanks Calvin!

I am borrowing this from another blog, but I really liked it and wanted to repost it:

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize

they were the big things. Robert Brault

Here are a couple funny "little things" from our week:

1. Aiden does this thing now where he will be walking along and stop and say, "I stuck, I stuck." So, we will say, no you are not stuck, let's go and he will start walking and say, "oh, there I go."

2. The boys received the movie, "Cars 2" from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers for Christmas and they love to watch it when we are driving in the van. Each of them has a different car from the movie (Lightening McQueen for Luke, Francesco the race car for Liam, and Tow Mater for AJ). They always want to bring their cars with them and when a racing scene comes on the movie, they will race their cars as fast as possible in their laps and discuss who is winning while makes all kinds of car noises. It is hilarious to watch.

3. Liam notices everything, seriously he is so observant. I wore a new shirt the other day and he said, "Hey mom, nice blue shirt you are wearing."

January Snow and Saturday Trains

Liam's snow Angel
Luke's Snow Angel

Dump Trucks hauling snow

This activity lasted almost an HOUR for Luke and Liam! Too bad I didn't have a cup of coffee out there.

Saturday Morning Trains!

Saturday morning trains

Racing the Trains

Checking out the bridge

Cheeeeeeese!

We have had one of the mildest winters on record for Minnesota this year (so far, that is). I keep wondering what the repercussions of such a mild winter will be in the long run. Like more bugs this summer, a longer winter with snow in the spring, etc...? I have no idea because I have never seen a winter in Minnesota where we could actually play outdoors without snow gear in January. But this winter has been relatively mild and it has been nice in my opinion though many of the natives are crying for the lack of snow and "good ice" to play hockey outdoors. We did, however, get some snow over the weekend and the boys love playing in it. They (minus Aiden) love to shovel and could spend hours outside "working" on the driveway. Aiden spends his 10 minutes outside before he is ready to come in, but that is hardly worth the nearly 20 minutes it takes to put on all his snow gear since he is not exactly tolerant of all the clothing.

Another one of our weekly traditions recently has been donuts with Daddy on Saturday mornings. I am usually trying to fit in a longer run either solo or with our running group while John takes the boys out to get donuts. Its a special treat that they really look forward to and I will never complain about a clean kitchen and some time away. We do have days and hours when everyone plays really well together. Luke and Liam do a relatively good job of including Aiden and tolerating his sometimes destructive forms of play as he knocks down their Lego towers or pulls apart the train tracks. The pictures are proof that sometimes it does work for all three to do the same activity at the same time!

In other news, Aiden had his 2 year check up this past week and his is pretty close to the size that Luke was at 2 years of age. He is 34.5 inches and 32.9 lbs. That is about an inch shorter than Luke and 1.3 lbs heavier! We all knew he was a butterball.