february 22

i was lucky enough to be able to pick jackson up from school today and bring him back to our house for lunch and playtime.  it was such a warm day, so we headed outdoors for some good old fun.  i taught jackson how to play bocce ball (and let him win :), and then we all threw the frisbee around.  i decided it would be fun to throw the frisbee and have jackson and gavin race for it.  and it was fun.  i loved watching jackson and gavin running as fast as they could and wrestling each other for the frisbee.  brooke got in on the action by throwing the frisbee a couple of times, but mostly she stood next to me and watched the crazy boys :)  after nap and quiet time, megan came over with chase and joey, and we all played together outside.  megan, jackson, joey, gavin and i played soccer while brooke pretended to be the "coach" and kept track of how many times we kicked the ball on her pink clip board.  if this was a movie, i'm pretty sure you could call this foreshadowing :)  the kids also had fun "exploring" and finding sticks and worms and pine cones around the yard.  after a runaway soccer ball almost landed in the little stream at the bottom of our hill, all the kids became very interested in what might be in the "pond."  it's hard to put into words how much i enjoy seeing brooke, jackson, joey and gavin together.  they are at such a great age for playing together, and they all love each other so much.  i really couldn't ask for anything more.

february 21

back to the normal swing of things today... after dropping brooke and gavin off at school, i headed to hyde park for some grocery shopping.  as i was driving in the rain, the sun came out, and i thought "maybe there will be a rainbow."  in the next instant i looked ahead and there it was!  as i drove under the rainbow it disappeared from view, but not before i quickly snapped this picture with my iphone :)  what a good way to start the day!

february 20

another nice day = another day at perfect north!  we were happy and relieved to pull in and find that the place was practically empty compared to saturday.  we had lots of time and lots of space to practice with the kids on the bunny hill.  brooke did such a great job and had a really great attitude today.  she has great control of her skis - going where she wants to go, controlling her speed, stopping when she needs to,  etc.  brooke feels so comfortable on her own skis that now she has taken to trying to help gavin :)  i love the way brooke acts as a little coach and cheerleader for gavin.  we had lots to cheer about today because gavin was awesome on his skis.  i can't get over how much natural ability he has.  gavin has great balance on his skis and makes turns like it's nothing.  which is a good thing because turning is the only way he can slow himself down (he refuses to learn how to snow plow/do the "pizza wedge").  after a great morning skiing, we had lunch and headed back over to the tubing hill for some fun, fast runs.  it felt so great to be outside enjoying the snow.  i told kevin that it kind of feels like we took a ski vacation this weekend without leaving home.  can't beat that!

february 19

we enjoyed a quiet day at home today.  brooke talked me into finishing our sewing project, so we sat down together to sew big bear (we completed little bear on christmas day).  while i did most of the sewing, brooke did help me with parts of it.  she was so afraid of messing up, but she did great.  and now she and her american girl doll have matching stuffed animals :)

tonight we ran to the mall and then met randall, antje, lexi and kenzie for dinner.  even though the food was pretty good, we're 0-2 on good, fast service.  thankfully, all of the kids were very well behaved through our very lengthy dinner.  i think next time we'll cook!

february 18

what to do on a beautiful weekend day?  head to perfect north!  we went skiing this morning along with everyone else in the tri-state!  i think i counted 7 buses that pulled in right ahead of us.  there were people everywhere!  it made it a little rough skiing with two little ones, and it honestly was not much fun.  there were so many beginner skiers out, and i saw several adults completely wipe out just getting on the magic carpet.  total craziness.  so, we headed for the lodge for a great lunch outdoors, and then we decided to try some tubing!  brooke did not want to go tubing, but kevin, gavin and i won that battle.  brooke was adamant that she did not want to try it, so i stayed at the bottom of the hill with her while kevin and gavin carried their tubes up the moving sidewalk to the top of the hill.  we met them at the bottom, and gavin was so excited that i think brooke decided she really should give it a try.  so up we all went!  kevin and i held the tubes together so we could all go down the hill together.  the look on brooke's face as we were flying down the hill was priceless!  i wasn't sure if she loved it or hated it, but thankfully we got to the bottom and she exclaimed, "that was so fun!  let's do it again!"  i was so happy that she tried it.  and liked it.  so, what started out as a bit of a rough day turned into something great after all.

february 17

what a fun, busy day!  this morning gavin and i had a play date with jennifer and jack mcghee.  it was quite funny because jack really had no interest in having a play date.  he hates to share :)  gavin handled it well though, and we had a nice time visiting with them.  gavin was particularly impressed that jack had a little baby (sister).  gavin loves babies :)

this afternoon i watched the boys for a couple of hours so megan could go for a run.  we played outside and enjoyed the nice weather.  it was quite a change worrying about a busy, on-the-go, could get into trouble any moment 1 year old :)  it seems like forever ago that gavin was at that stage.  how quickly we forget!

tonight we added family game night to our friday night pizza tradition.  we had fun playing chutes & ladders, zingo and doing a puzzle together.  i think this is something we'll do every week.  so simple, yet so much fun... as long as everyone was a winner :)

february 16

gavin "lost" his hippos yesterday in the midst of everything that was going on in our household.  megan and the boys happened to borrow a ride-on toy from us, and when they got home they found gavin's two hippos hidden in the seat of the ride-on train.  aunt megan was nice enough to bring gavin's hippos back to him this morning, and gavin didn't let them out of his sight.  he even cuddled with them on the couch, which is very out of character for gavin.  he also showered them with kisses and whispered to them that he missed them.  and i was left wondering... how can my sweet boy be the same little boy who yells and screams and hits when he doesn't want to do something (like take a nap)?  it's like another child has taken over my son's body this week.  and i think, my God, is this what the age of 3 is going to be like?  gavin's behavior this week has been a huge parenting challenge.  for the first time ever, he screamed/growled "you're a bad mommy!" at me when he didn't like my answer to one of his requests.  he's had many time-outs, and i've taken a significant amount of his toys away from him three out of the five days this week.  kevin and i are standing firm and trying to teach him that this is not acceptable behavior in this house.  i pray he gets the message sooner rather than later!