reading party

recently micah decided he wanted to read the bedtime book to me, instead of me reading it to him. up until that moment he'd been reluctant to let on that he could read, always saying that 'jonas is the reader'. i was so happy for him, and shared that excitement with him, saying 'you read the whole book!' he took it from there, and he and jonas started planning a party. who can argue with celebrating reading? so we had a party.

soon after waking up, micah and eli reading 'going on a bear hunt'

our wonderful neighbors, reading 'one fish, two fish'

grace and micah

caleb cutting the grass 

mmmm....pizza....

the cupcakes had a bit of blue dye in the frosting

finishing up the day with a run through the sprinkler

jonas

reconnecting

the boys had been at each others' throats lately. i was feeling pretty stressed too, so i figured we needed an adventure to get reconnected and have a little fun, just us. we went to seven lakes for a hike and some beach fun. we hadn't planned on the beach, but it was perfect. we had the place to ourselves.

NOT the rattlesnake the signs warn about! micah was worried about that. 

toddler math

jonas: eli, if you've got 3 bowls and 1 plate, and you take away 3 bowls, what do you get?

eli: french fries.

blizzard?

it wasn't as much snow as predicted, as usual, but we still had a good couple snow days. here are some highlights.

snowy oatmeal

one of the reasons we love our neighborhood so much- the neighbors and their neighborliness

sugar on snow

its been a long time since i last visited this site, and entire season it looks like. 3 boys have had birthdays, a new year has begun. so here we go!

we first learned about 'sugar on snow' in a book we found at the library a couple years ago. the book, maple syrup season, is about a family tapping trees and making syrup, but they also make 'sugar on snow' as a special treat - something we knew right away that we HAD to experience. and we were right. we don't yet have many traditions in our young family, but this one? yes, this is one we are keeping. here are some pics from this years edition. our friend abby joined us.

the day the tree fell

we love a good storm. even better when huge trees fall in our yard, providing an instant playground and endless opportunities for fun.

woodpecker nest!

monkey boy

balancing

groundhog family in their nest

climbing and balancing

we went to san diego

eli thought the clouds looked like the bubbles for washing dishes

Hold on!

that's 3 car seats, one bag for food, one small and one large bag of 'stuff' on one single stroller

at the san diego zoo- this orangutan was just sitting there, looking at all the people looking at her

on a treasure hunt!