omaha!

we had a wonderful time last week in omaha with brooke. the boys are still trying to adjust to life without aunt brooke at their beck and call :)

below are some highlights from the week.

1. playing in sprinklers and fountains: it was hot, very, very hot with the humidity. simon wasn't as excited by the sprinkler, but he enjoyed watching marcus run around like a nut-job while reclining on the hammock.

2. stalking the cats: since the boys are deprived of pets other than fish, they love it when they have a chance to "play" with cats. brooke's cats were not fans of the boys, they're a bit too loud and unpredictable for the kitties. however, after a couple days marcus managed to not send walter into hiding every time he appeared and both he and simon found a small place in raleigh's heart due to all the treats they gave him.

3. lots of good food: brooke made some delicious meals and a cake. we ate some tasty nebraska beef. we visited a number of local food stops-ecreamery, jones bros cupcakes (and they gave me 3 free cupcakes!), lisa's radial cafe, and sonic, because their cold drinks are absolutely perfect for a hot and humid day. (that's blood orange sorbet on simon's face.)

4. cuddling with brooke: all the kids got plenty of snuggle time with brooke. too bad we don't live closer so they can get it more frequently! even simon was climbing into brooke's arms for hugs, which is saying a lot!

5. the zoo: omaha's zoo is really great, and huge. we only got to a few exhibits during the 4 hours we were there. the boys loved it. marcus sang "i like to move it" to a group of lemurs who looked like king julian from "madagascar", but they didn't appear to want to move it.

if you want to see more pictures, here's a link to picasa.

thanks brooke for having us and giving the boys so many great memories! we'll be back soon!

july happenings

marcus went to vacation bible camp at our church, overlake, during july. he had so much fun! the theme was "superheroes" and he spent a lot of time that week wearing his cape around the house and singing songs he learned at vbc. he also memorized two memory verses. quite impressive! in the photo, he's the one in the light blue shirt, with a mask on, to the left of the headbanded green shirt kid. he was a bit overstimulated by all the people and excitement, as were the other preschoolers, but he said he had fun singing "in the big church".(thank you to ramona, deanna, meagan, kara, and chris for coming to his performance during church. he loved knowing you were in the audience. brace yourself, there will be a ton of other performances in the future!)

one day while marcus was at vbc, simon went to a gymboree art class. he was super shy during the class and wanted me to be right next to him the entire time. fortunately elise slept in the stroller the whole hour. we also went to "the french bakery" in kirkland on day to have hot chocolate and chocolate croissants. you can see that he thought that was a great idea :)

it's amazing to watch elise grow. i'm more aware of all the developmental changes this time around. it's a joy to watch her learn new things and see her brother dote on her. she's going to be one spoiled little sister! she's now giggling all the time and is able to roll over and scoot a bit toward something she wants. she also has a tooth coming in. hopefully it comes in quickly since she's pretty miserable. i can't believe she's already old enough to have a tooth coming in! (photo by marcus)

for more july photos, here's a link to our picasa pictures.

skyhawks!!

marcus spent the mornings this week at a skyhawks sports camp. despite being put in a class with older and more skilled kids initially, he loved the camp. he had a great time running around with other kids around his age and chatting it up with the coach. he said his favorite part of each day was when he got to play "cleanies and messies", a game where one team knocks over orange cones and the other team picks them up. he excelled in the knocking down end of the game :) he had such a good time that we may sign him up for another week later in the summer.

here is a series of videos from his time at camp and simon's time while marcus was at camp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDDAwZ-Pyjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdtzgyCIgN4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1Wrm54UgQg (marcus is the one running into place at the beginning)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgGPfIypRAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjm2LCE980c

simon missed marcus so much while he was at camp. today we went to the lego store during camp and all simon could think about was which legos marcus would like. so sweet.

and here's a video of elise with a couple of her favorite things...a singing star on a playmat and a lamb blanket.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpPbOFZWAyY

i also updated our june and july photos on picasa.

videos

the boys and i were checking out some older videos on youtube...you may have seen these before, but they seem even funnier now that they boys are older. enjoy, or re-enjoy!
where is puppy?
simon abuses roger

it's been a while...

so there's a lot i've missed posting about over the past year...

1. a new house

2. my sister's engagement

3. simon talking non-stop

4. marcus going to preschool, once a week

5. a baby girl! who thought that'd happen???

6. my sister's wedding

7. a niece on the way

8. and lots of time with family and friends

rather than try to give details about everything, which i will never get around to doing, you can link to our picasa site to see photos.

no promises that i will update this on a regular basis, but aaron and susan's new blog has inspired me to try again.

happy 15 months to simon!

since i didn't do a post for simon's 1st birthday, i figured i should get on the ball and do one now that he's almost 15 months. i'll copy the idea for marcus' birthday and post a list of simon's favorite things...

1. marcus. he loves his big brother, and everything he touches. fortunately marcus is a tolerant big brother and dotes on simon. i'm sure it'll end someday, but for now it's really fun to watch them enjoying each other.

2. simon loves to eat, as is apparent by his size. his favorites are watermelon, quesadillas, smoothies, bananas, ice cream, and anything marcus is eating. he's not shy about what he wants to eat either. if he wants it and you have it, he'll snatch it out of your hand.

3. simon squirms all the time. he likes constant motion. the only time he is still is when he's sleeping, and even that's questionable. he has the jimmy legs when he sits too. he's quite the workout to hold since he's moving the whole time.

4. simon loves to snuggle, just like his brother. he's very content if he's being held or cuddled up with, even though he's usually still moving his legs.

5. simon enjoys being chased and cackles like a mad man if you tackle him from behind. it's great to hear such full laughter out of a little boy!

6. simon is pretty athletic for a 15 monther. he seems to prefer playing with sport related balls to other toys. he attempts to dribble a soccer ball and tries to hit a golf ball with a mini golf club. it's impressive.

7. simon loves hear his voice. he has a lot to say for someone with no understandable words.

8. simon loves to be held upside down. he giggles and tries to turn himself upside down again when he's righted.

9. simon likes to put things where they belong. he's fairly observant and knows what items belong to whom and where things are supposed to go. his really likes giving shoes back to their owners.

10. and to stress just how much simon loves marcus, we'll finish with another, simon loves marcus. life is great when marcus is around!

here is a link to our latest picasa photos for july. you should be able to see the older photos as well.

happy birthday to marcus!

(marcus at the zoo yesterday with the jaguar)

marcus turned 3 yesterday. i can't believe he's already that old, where has time gone??? in honor of his birthday, i thought i should post a list of some of marcus' favorite things.

1. marcus loves turning our couch cushions into trains, airplanes, boats, cars, and spaceships. he can do this for hours. while on/in the various vehicles, he's usually going to target or costco.

2. marcus enjoys having very elaborate conversations with his aunt amanda, when she is not around. he talks to her while trying to not fall asleep, while playing, while at dinner...fortunately, he does also talk with her when she's on the phone or he sees her in person.

3. marcus loves reading. he has some favorite books but mostly he just loves to read.

4. marcus' favorite foods are blueberries, smoothies, oshinko, french fries, and sprinkles for his rice. when all else fails, he will eat these.

5. marcus likes to call me sally and tasha and kevin mater and tyronne from "cars" and "the backyardigans" respectively. he is lightening mcqueen and pablo. simon is austin, he doesn't have a "cars" alter-ego yet.

6. marcus loves his little brother. he decided that simon's crib should be right next to his bed rather than across the room (which really is pretty much next to his bed anyways, but apparently not close enough). they like to make each other laugh when they wake up or are trying to not fall asleep.

7. marcus loves to laugh and has a silly fake laugh that makes him really laugh.

8. marcus loves to see deanna. he gets very mopey if more than a couple weeks goes by without seeing her.

9. marcus loves playing with his legos and cars (from "cars"). we are exploiting this love by bribing him with cars and legos if he uses the potty...so far he only wants to talk about what he'll get if he does it.

10. marcus loves a good snuggle with both his mom and dad, the best is if he's between us.

so there's a bit of marcus. here are some links to january photos, february photos, and videos (this links to one of the videos, if you can't get to the others from there please let me know). enjoy!