leprechaun houses

During one of the snow days last week, we got some leprechaun houses ready.  At the last minute Aiden would like to add some double sided tape to his doorways… we will see what we find in a few days!

family dance

We hadn't been to family dance in ages.  It was fun to see Aiden's old teacher there and she said he looked so much taller.  Keaton was able to keep up most of the time (and had some extra style with his pants rolled up because they got a little wet in the melting snow on the way in)  The caller this time was so good with the younger kids.

playground

We are definitely ready for spring!  We had our popsicles and playground time going strong in the 50 degree, snow covered playground.

puppets

We went to see the Aladdin puppet show after an already busy weekend… and with the time change I think Aiden's eyes had glassed over…  just kidding, it must have been the yummy brunch in our tummies that made us all a little sleepy.  The show was well done, and not at all disney related.  It kept everyone's attention, although I laughed at that last picture of Keaton greeting one of the puppets after the show - I think that side eye stare means he was a little skeptical.  

glen e c h o

The weekend weather was creeping into the 50s and even though we didn't quite give up our coats, we ventured over to Glen E cho to see the snow melting and rushing down the creek.  The sun was really working on melting everything off their fun buildings.  

novelty

We had another batch of real snow the other day and the novelty has still not worn off with these guys.  This time Aiden traded his fort building for tunnel building.  He built them off the piles on the side of the driveway which had the perfect mix of ice chunks and fresh snow.  Then we added in some spray bottles with colored water to add some color - Keaton had a blast adding some flowers and some laser blasts... All the tunnels were big enough for both boys to squirm through!  It's warming to fifty degrees today so soon enough we will say bye to our tunnels.

the frowl

After months of working together to research animals and habitats, and using their creativity to create the story of the Frowl, today was the big day to present all their hard work at the D estination I magination regional tournament.

I think the comments from the judges say it all:

Very enthusiastic!   

Your team was the MOST enthusiastic!

Great energy!

Your Frowl was very creative!

Great use of your props

Thank you for making me laugh and keeping us entertained!

Great job with your lines (nice and loud and clear!)

Excellent team work

Very creative!

I can tell your team practiced hard - Loved it!

It sounds like you did a lot of research

Fantastic facial expressions

You guys were very funny!

Super narrator and characters

Great idea to have an announcer to keep everyone on the same page - literally!

Broadway?  Some of these kids are ready for it!

Great, loud voices - All speakers were easy to understand - so great!

Lots of enthusiasm right from the start - awesome!

Excellent props - show lots of hard work!

So much expression - Love it!

Awesome! Awesome!  You guys looked like you had fun doing this!

Awesome Teamwork!

I love your set design! - showed you worked really hard!

Your costumes were awesome - beautiful and colorful!

Awesome presentation - great time management and organization!

Great job!  I can tell you worked hard!  Very fun to watch!

Loved the Frowl!  You all work great together!

The pond looks delicious!  Great Song!

You can check out the whole first challenge here:

http://youtu.be/MoVFH_fSTKA

tidbits

We are "enjoying" our tenth full snow day (plus five two hour delays) here and it's all a big blur since the end of January... the boys are still mostly entertained by each other but the tricky part is when they go a little overboard.  Rowdy guys are hard to calm down and tire out at the same time!  

We did make it to some birthday party fun last weekend before all this weather hit (it's honestly not even that bad!). Although I managed to get J's car stuck in the semi plowed snow on the road by the party at the same time that we needed to pick up Aiden from theater and I needed to hit the road to meet my friends at a cooking class.  But I made it! You can see the smiles and the tasty bolognese they showed us how to make below!   

Check out all the cute ninja turtle stuff:

Above is a snap of the Mantuamals D I team setup for the Frowl's adventure play - a fun skit of a cross between an owl and frog the team had worked on creating at our weekly meetings since November.  This weekend is the final tournament where they get to show off all their creativity!  

Keaton is still talking about the policeman that came to visit them - the loud siren and handcuffs were memorable for those three year olds!

alien towel

This guy loves cuddling in his hooded towel as much as swimming... Especially when he's a funny alien.

KC drawings

This top one is representative of "maps" Keaton is constantly drawing.  He made this one when we had really icy roads - I think there are some power lines and people fallen in the mix and maybe even a chicken that tried to cross the road ;) 

The top left is Keaton's best interpretation of what Aiden calls an angler fish with big eyeball above his head.  Aiden complimented it and Keaton swelled with excitement for some sweetness from his brother.

The top right is a series of letters with his specialty E with lotsa extra bars.  

The bottom left is a typical scene with lotsa "editing" where he scribbles out the parts that are done in his story.  Because as he is drawing he is always mumbling a story.

The bottom right is a type of space ship and satellites.  This one even has fins and eyelashes.

school cool

Some more snapshots from school with a snow covered playground, science experiments, space suit dress up, etc… Doesn't get much better...

interview with KC

It's Keaton's monthly interview with a side of funny brother commentary.

One word to describe you would be: 

Ah, Babeh

(Aiden's note:incorrect spelling of baby!)

Why do you like being a kid?

Because I love to play and kick and [hits head and runs away]

(Aiden's note:this is usual.)

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why? 

A Frowl because I love them even though the aren't real (note: the frog owl combo animal was created by Aiden's Destination Imagination team and is made out of cardboard boxes and bubble wrap)

(Aiden's note:uh-huh)

Tell about a funny time in your life. 

I had a funny dream about I was talking to a hot dog!

(Aiden's note:ha-ha-ha.)

What is your favorite thing to do? Why? 

Playing with ninja turtles because I love those toys!

(Aiden's note:no comment)

What do you love most about your sibling? 

Playing with me - Castle Imaginext!

(Aiden's note:no comment)

What was the nicest thing you did for someone? 

Cleaned up my toys and my clothes

(Aiden's note:yeah,right)

What do you think you will be doing 10 years from now? 

 I'll have to wait just 3 more years until I can drive

(Aiden's note:my suggestion)

What is the grossest thing you can think of?

Aiden picking his nose and eating it

(Aiden's note: I DON'T EAT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

What is your happiest memory? 

cuddling someone

(Aiden's note:definitely not talking about me)

tidbits

The 100th day of school was sometime this past week, I think it was officially Tuesday… Aiden's class took some rotations with the other classes in his family.  Each teacher had a different activity.  His class all brought in 100 items to add to a snack mix (or as I like to call it a germ mix of food all counted out by grubby paws and then dumped into a big mix to fish out with germ paws, but no one is sick yet ;)).   The picture he drew of him at 100 years old is one of my favorites - the subtle nose and ear hair!  The drawing on the right has 12 100s hiding in it. 

Keaton finished out a cycle of swim class and passed to PeeWee Paddler 2.  His teacher this cycle was so wonderful and really kept all their attention so well!

This dry erase board was a full on collaborative effort between the brothers.  They each drew different parts - I think Keaton was blue and Aiden was red. Sometimes Aiden will hold Keaton's hand to help him write letters.  There are sea creatures below the water and icebergs where the spies are hiding. 

Aiden earned another badge in ice skating. He's now officially working on Gamma (finished Tot 1-5, Alpha, and Beta)

We have this really icey layer of chunk snow.  You can walk on top of the thick layer, sometimes cracking through and laughing hysterically in Keaton's case.  Here are some glow stick guys we made with the ice chunks. We were attempting these funny gremlin guys my fun aunt had sent to us, but we couldn't really form them and could barely push the glow sticks into the ice. It's pretty fun to play outside at dusk.

capture play

Another month of daily instagrams for #captureplay…  It starts at the bottom and works up… today is the last day with Imagine, hmm, so many options...

good list

We got a new dining table!  We had our last table through the early baby days of two rowdy guys that really liked to bang on the table with things and spill milk into its expandable track.  A crafty lady on free cycle was very happy to get it for her craft room.  This new table is solid wood from Crate and Barrel in a nice dark finish, and I feel like it is indestructible and classic.  Right before the new table arrived, we had breakfast with a view on the leftover bench in our favorite chairs (someday Aiden's going to grow out of that red chair and I'm going to cry).

Popcorn and Wallace and Gromit and/or Shaun the Sheep makes evenings without daddy home a little more fun.

Some books and games on snow days where pajamas are worn under snow pants…who needs to change when you can't leave the house anyway?!

Aiden has been invited to a bunch of fun birthday parties lately and he makes them secret code cards.

Getting in one last attempt to clear the icey snow before dark - Keaton loves his light up boots!

Making special notes, treats and stickered treats for Teacher Appreciation Week… He picked out a special ladybug mug filled with chocolates on the last day for his Ladybug class teacher…and as he was preparing to give it to her, dropped it and cracked the handle off!  Oops, poor guy was so sad, but it was a good lesson that sometimes things like that happen.  

teefer

This just happened after a few days of it dangling there. He's lucky he didn't lose it in the snow ;) but the best part of this patient guy technique is no blood!  Now he can't get over how funny it feels to have a space there.  I'd reversed the camera so he could see it dangling there and I'm glad I recorded - sorry for the slurps and pop ;)

snow outside

We are in snow day mode again this week... But this time it was for a fresh coat of about two inches that hit at just the right/wrong time (depending on your perspective since I think we are on snow day 8).  Luckily it wasn't too cold to get out and enjoy the packable layer which sits on top of this giant frozen layer with a coat of crunchy ice over it.  Some of the giant chunks by the road were a great start on a snow fort. Aiden worked hard to carry/roll them up the hill a bit and packed them together over a long whole.  He ended up with a really great snow fight arena.

snow inside

My friend mentioned her kids were excited to play with snow inside since it was way too cold to be outside for very long… and I figured I'd bust out our old play table to see if the boys would be into it… We brought batch after batch of snow in and it saved my sanity.  Only catch was the cold fingers so we added a space heater and gloves to the mix after a while.  Aiden created a very careful snow man dissection lab and there were many Imaginext stories on ice.

hammerhands

Keaton ended up with a full week off from school with all the snow days last week!  Aiden only made it to school one day… so we were really looking for some energy burning stuck inside fun.  Enter this Monster's Inc punching bag that Santa brought - Keaton quickly named it the Finger.  The Finger did not survive until daddy came back from his trip, but I have him to thank for at least a few good night's sleep!  Wrestling and punching a bag weighted down with water is hard work.

Hammerhands from LB on Vimeo.

family shot

I like our little neighborhood parties (even when they are crowded and crazy), but I especially love them when they have a fun photo booth setup!  This photographer did a nice job.  Luckily, Aiden's haircut doesn't look as squirrely in these shots ;). But they both have a case of lollipop lips, Keaton especially...

good list

These Big Hero 6 masks and all of our masks are a big hit for pretend play around here.

The stick cave behind Keaton's school got even bigger the other day.  He loves days when it is warm enough to take a pitstop there before we head home.

This guy is still talking about his first chocolate fountain experience.  Yummo!

Imaginext Castle is the big draw lately.  The collection just keeps growing and growing!

Dreambox is an adaptive math learning program that Aiden is in love with!  We found it right before his school signed on to provide accounts to each student.  He actually does his homework lessons for Math on it now.  He will literally play Dreambox over Lego.com which is the strongest testimonial I can imagine!

Scrub Daddy is a product that popped up on that Shark Tank tv show.  It is even better than advertised. It is great for gentle scrubbing, stays clean, and it's cheery.

The Lego store with these brightly colored coats!  They looked like they should be mini employees.

noodle

This kid can really kill a bowl of noodles!  Always with the sauce on the side...

hey mickey

TGIF - with some Mickey cake pops!

Sing it: Hey Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind!

carrey cut

Whoops, Aiden's haircut this time was a little, shall we say off… then it struck me as these guys were wrestling - It's a Jim Carrey a la Dumb and Dumber haircut!  I paid money for that haircut, not even at a kiddie place, and at least he's ok with it and it grows!

school is cool

Lotsa fun photos from Keaton's school lately… They had a visit from a dentist and in preparation they talked about tooth brushes and even made a bar graph with toothbrushes that they colored in at home to match their brush.  There were five pink out of twelve!  Keaton keeps talking about how he was the only one with a blue toothbrush.  

Keaton was excited to share his roboplankton guy and it's amazing how good the kids are at asking each other questions now.  They make a big book of every kid's sharing throughout the year.  I think that is one of the favorite binder books for reading time.  

I should also make some joke about school being cool when you actually go... Since we haven't been back to school yet since last Friday #snowdays #colddays

vday neighborhood party

The G reat Z ucchini was the headliner at the neighborhood Valentine's party. Many people there had never seen him!  We are sorta groupies so I thought I'd seen it all, but oh no, this time he lost his voice! He did nearly the whole show in mime and it worked!  The kids were in rapt attention (despite all the loud distracting parents in the room) and roaring with laughter.  I swear that guy is a wizard!  Aiden was excited to by chosen for a ball multiplying trick where he had to take them in his hand and come and stand by us.  The G Z recognized us ;)

There were lotsa treats and some crafting and it was that easy to have a nice time surrounded by our neighbors…and many of Aiden's classmates.

vday school party

I helped organize the valentine's party for Keaton's class (so I missed Aiden's party but helped by sending in gifts that they gave out as thank you shout outs to helpers at their school - sharing the love was a good lesson on valentines!)  It was fun to see the kids get excited and a little hyped up to exchange their valentines.  We had some special decorations on the door to greet them.  They painted and stickered their own fun valentine's bag and tiny mailboxes.  They decorated their own cookies as a special treat for snack time.  Special plates and napkins made snack time extra special.  

vday tidbits

Some tidbits of hearts and treats from the past few:

Aiden read the Myth-o-mania Cupid book just in time for the holiday.

Keaton's class celebrated valentines and friendship all week long. His favorite was the bar graph with candy hearts, where he used the very scientific method: graph one, eat one.

Lemon cakes were the treat of choice this year!

Keaton gave out ladybug squirters attached to a card that said a Love Bug for you Ladybug Friend, Bugs and Hugs, Keaton" since his class at school is called the Ladybugs.  He wrote at least one letter of his name on all 12 of them and some friends got an elaborate map drawn on it too.  I somehow forgot to take a picture of Aiden's finished valentines, but they said "Shell we be Valentines?" and had the sea shells from FL that Lulu gave us - thx!

Trader Joe's knows how to make a good mousse chocolate cake, and it was just our size (small given all the other treats around).  

Keaton made this very symmetrical minimalist valentine and he was very proud that he insisted on spelling his name with the teacher's special silver pen.  She is so patient.

Gran and Pop sent along these really fun sticker cards (complete with PopPop poetry!) right before leaving on they big South America trip…  We are glad they are having fun, but we miss them!

J not so secretly bought me the new lego bird set, which is very Charley Harperish and I love it.  Aiden even got in on the action and made me the hummingbird one.  They are really fun additions to my shelf mish mash.

Aiden made this fun Valentine with the word bubbles… The cupid arrow cutout from paper is my favorite.

We had a nice lazy afternoon on Valentines where we had a typical at-home lunch with a little extra heart flare.  Keaton was squealing with joy that his strawberries grew like hearts!

We are suckers for packaged refrigerated cinnamon rolls and it was fun to reinvent them and make these puffy hearts as a surprise.  Thanks Pinterest!

Keaton's class made a "Love Book" and Keaton's entry made me think I definitely needed a haircut…only joking, it actually made me tear up, since he's usually not drawing people since he's "too busy" making maps with portals, caves, and doors…I wish I was kidding, but someone loves watching his dad and brother play D&D paper version.

Aiden's nutrition facts tag for the mini lemon bundt cake we made for his teacher is a classic.

I can still remember coming home with the big bag of valentine's after the school parties in elementary school.  This year they had so, so many treats.  He and his brother shared their very first pop rocks!

my valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!
Valentine 1 from LB on Vimeo.

Valentine 2 from LB on Vimeo.

lassi

TGIF before a nice long weekend with this little lassi...  Mango Lassi Smiles: