Shiro in the house

We have had a whirlwind week (last week). I'm a little behind in sharing details.
Plenty of visitors to help us through Spring Break. Thank you to Amah and Akong, and Grandma and Grandpa, who, were so wonderful to us while the boys were off from school.

But, that's not what this post is about.

Meet Shiro.



He's a polar bear on loan to us for Michael's birthday from his preschool teacher.



We had to chronicle Shiro's week with us in a little diary. Too bad, he spent most of his time in Michael's bedroom.

But, before the end of his stay, we brought him to Michael's birthday party. He had a blast. Michael did, too. More on that later.

Surprise visit

We were thrilled to open the door last week to find our dear friends, Ann and Thomas, with their three children in tow. The boys so enjoyed seeing Lauren, Tyler, and Harrison.



These little ones have known each other for YEARS. Talk about walking down memory lane. I reached back into the archives, and pulled out this one of Lauren and Jason, who are only a few months apart. In this picture, Jason is 9 months old. Lauren is just over a year.



Michael wasn't in the picture, literally and figuratively.
Then, Doug woke him up from a much-needed nap.



It was difficult to wake him up. Clearly, you can see that. Then, I guess there wasn't enough action to keep his daddy occupied.



While the baby snoozed, his big brother scored! Ann & Co. brought some wonderful presents for Michael's 3rd birthday.



Eventually Michael got to play with his new toys--but, not until Jason decided he was finished!
Thank you for stopping by, Ann!!!

Chlorine-free afternoon

Sunny and almost hot--the "swim" moms got together outside of the pool since classes were cancelled this past week.



The kids ate chicken nuggets. The adults ate much, much better.

No complaints all around.

Thanks, ladies, for a great afternoon, and the great gifts for Baby Squishy. You shouldn't have!!!

Easter ham

You can't tell by these pictures, but the boys were a delight during a long Easter Sunday service. They must have used up all their good behavior inside the sanctuary, because I couldn't get them to stand STILL to show off their Sunday best.



I have to admit, worried as I was about their behavior inside, I didn't need to.
We walked into church and immediately found out there was no church nursery available. That meant Michael was hanging out with us.

With no food. I was unprepared.

Surprisingly, he was upbeat, even treating us and people behind him to some Wiggly dance moves during the "Alleluiah."

Happy Easter to you all!!!

Say "Cheese!"

Michael is 3!!!

Baby Michael is no more.
Michael is now 3.

And, today's celebration is just the first of many for this little one.

His first real party is scheduled for the end of next week. Just his friends will be there.

And, you can tell, he can't wait.

Home Run

Jason hit a home run on Saturday during t-ball practice.

I think everyone else on the team did, too.

But, talk about a confidence builder.




Jason leaves practice with his head held high. I can't even tell you how excited he is to be a part of this team.

Doug is, too. That's him, helping coach the little ones around the bases.



Game 1 takes place two Saturdays from now. Go Mariners!!

Girl Scout Cookie Love

Who doesn't love a Girl Scout Cookie?

Michael is on board.

And, he showed us how much the other day.

We were having a dessert of the shortbread cookies.
Michael and Jason each had two.

Michael needed to use the bathroom (Go, Michael!).

And, he wanted to make sure we didn't touch his cookies.

"Are you touching my cookies, Jason?" He yelled that a few times on the way to the bathroom.

"Are you touching my cookies, Jason?"

"Are you touching my cookies, Jason?"

Finally, it morphed to this:

"Don't touch my cookies, Jason. ARE YOU **LOOKING** AT MY COOKIES, JASON?"

Thankfully, for Jason and for the rest of us, they were right where Michael left them.

The "baby's" revenge

This game is called, "Jump." As in, "jump" on Jason.
And, I'm not a big fan of it. But, as you can see, the boys are.



I know I won't be able to call Michael my "baby" anymore.
But, you can see, he's slowly getting his revenge (thanks, Walter!) for being the "little" brother all his young life.

Speaking of little, my little man is doing great on the potty-training front. I should temper that by saying it could change any day now. But, he has spent the past few days accident-free at preschool. AND, he did a #2 in the bathroom at Target. My first reaction, of course, was, "Do you really need to go here?"

He said yes, and then proceeded to follow through successfully! Yay!

The start of something fun

Jason is now an official Mariner.
And, he couldn't be more excited.

He started t-ball practice last week, and he's been beside himself with joy over what the next few months will bring. And, I didn't realize until a couple of days ago what kind of commitment these sports are.

This is my boy at practice, ready to field a ball and throw it back to the coach. It is about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

We had to miss a practice yesterday, once again, because of Jason's social schedule. He had a birthday party to attend right around the same time.

Jason tried to tell me that we could make both events (we could not physically do it). Then he told me, "But, Mom, we need the practice."

Wiggly party

It's nice to know that even though the boys have graduated from Elmo to Rachael Ray, from addition to "mulvibication" (Jason's word), from diapers to Big Boy Underwear (Yay!), some things never change.

They both adore the Wiggles.




Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to admit. They do have the power to get kids moving!
They danced, together, for almost an hour. A wiggly party for sure.

Let's try it again!

A quick update on our potty-training progress.

He did it!!!!

#1 and #2, at different times. On his own terms.

He is so proud of himself.

We are, too.

Of course, he has a way to go before being fully trained.

It's a good start, though.

Michael couldn't wait to show Daddy and Jason his prizes for letting me know BEFOREHAND that he needed to go.

Yay!