we've been a little busy...

3-4 weeks ago, weather was still a bit chilly, so we had our flannels on and played inside a lot.  this particular day our indoor play was a bubble day!  i got the "bubble cup" idea from the toddler activity book i have, but that little bubble cup wasn't enough for pace--he had to make bigger bubbles in the sink! 

another day we were lucky enough to have construction on the road right in front of our house!  two happy boys watching the backhoe out the window!

finally--warm weather!  while i was out on my long saturday run (turns out training for a half marathon is time consuming...), the boys woke up from their afternoon nap and david kept them happy by building the sandbox uncle jon erik had sent them for christmas.  ironic that pace is now very much into power tools and wanting to help, whereas ever since before birth he hated the noise!  

pace:  pace do quiet drill!

david: no, pace; power tools aren't toys--we do it together.

pace:  no!  pace do it!

david:  no, pace, we do it together or we don't do it at all.

pace: (a few minutes later, after thinking over david's proposal) do 'gedder, daddy?

enjoying the fruits of their labor:

we totally rearranged the garden areas this year (as we have, every year, now that i think about it--all the beds have been drastically different every year we've lived here!...that's a lot of work!)--the flower beds in the front are rearranged, with our tomato and basil garden in the front, and the back we are remodeling from a veggie garden into the boys' play area.

(we have kept pace's "dig site" in tact)

max has decided to get a head start on piano lessons:

max is also starting to realize there is more to being mobile than crawling around on all fours.  he throws himself out of my arms so he can scramble up the stairs after pace, and the new favorite game is "push pace on the bus".  they both giggle hilariously as max walks down the hallway, holding on to the bus for dear life.  he's biffed it a few times, but the little butterball just rolls right over and grabs the bus to stand up again.  i think he thinks biffing it is pretty fun...the other day he crawled up onto pace's bed while i was getting pace dressed for the day--he wanted to play with the little nighttime turtle that was on the bed.  he made it up on the bed just fine, then sat on his haunches slightly off-center, and proceeded to roll off the bed, landing face first on the floor.  he was a little surprised, but then rolled over, gave a little grunty giggle, and crawled right back up on the bed.  this time, he sat off center on purpose, and intentionally dive-bombed off the bed face first, arms outstretched, and grinning ear to ear.

i'm attempting the potty chair thing.  we've had the potty chair sitting in the bathroom since last summer, and pace goes in waves--he wanted nothing to do with it when we once first got it (and in fact cried when we watched elmo's potty chair movie), then he was ok with it as long as he didn't have to sit on it.  a month or so ago, he asked to sit on the potty chair, and really tried to "push out his pee", and was totally happy to try.  then he went south and wanted nothing to do with the potty chair.  i'm trying to get him into the habit of at least sitting on it first thing in the morning and before bedtime, but his recent protests include "all done potty chair!" and "no pee!", legs flailing as i'm carrying him to the bathroom, tears rolling down his face, and crying so hard his lips turn purple.  i laid off for a week in hopes that the potty chair wouldn't turn into a traumatic experience, and we started again last week, i think.  the bribe?--playing truck puzzles on the kindle.  the potty chair has been as dry as a bone for the last year, but at least he's back to sitting on it.

i'm also finally getting around the painting max's noah's ark for his room.  i've had this thing sketched out on the canvas for at least 6 months.  i am trying to paint one animal pair a day, but that doesn't always happen, between training, church responsibilities, normal household chores, etc.  i told my sister -in-law i was finishing up the painting for max, and then i'd start on a painting for their new one expected in september, but i may have to do their baby gift before finishing noah's ark!