March Highlights

Tower

 

TJ assists with hanging our new living room art.

 

 

"Dearest Mother, please may I request additional time to explore the back porch snow.  I would be ever-so appreciative."

Bite.

Consider.

Approve!

 

Hiding.

 

Feline measurement.

TJ playing "Hit. Ball. Bat." (a.k.a. baseball)

TJ batting.  Carrie catching with official "gub".

 

G-Ma catching for TJ.  ...and yes, the bat is a skillet.  It matches well with the official glove.

 

My birthday dinner capped off a great weekend of March Madness and family time.

Birthday #2

Here are some overdue shots from TJ's second birthday...

The video of our first bowling session captured the spirit well, but I liked this still shot as well.

Julia helps TJ with the gift unwrapping.

Sidney gets some quiet time with our pets.

TJ is fascinated by babies.  We're very optimistic about how he'll be as a big brother.

Stick some candles in front of this kid, and he'll know just what to do.

Sidney creates temporary illustrations as transient celebrations of the day.

BONUS: Europe Pix from Tree

I grabbed these from our friends in Barcelona.  They're great additions to what we took on ourselves during our time with Tree and BK.

TJ teaches BK how to use the iTouch.

Even big kids need a break from walking now and then.

Raminta and Tree celebrate with tapas during our last evening in Barcelona.

TJ and his balloon was by far the most entertaining thing happening in the plaza that evening.

Bye Bye, Barca... onward to France!

February Highlights

Just some random happenings around the house during February...

Whenever I pull out my tool bag to do any work around the house, TJ grabs his and sets is beside mine, grabbing his equivalent tool.  This kid is mighty handy!  (Thanks Rasa & Craig.  You nailed Xmas... no pun intended.)

...and I bet you didn't even know about the broccoli wrench, a long-forgotten utensil.

For G-ma.

Raminta threw together a quick sheet fort.

The butter bandit strikes again!

TJ and JT

Coloring is hard work.

Shocked by colors!

Sometimes, everyone just needs some time alone reading in a quiet corner.

Playtime: Fort and Couchball

I'm really enjoying editing video footage, so there's bound to be a lot more to come.  I hope you enjoy watching these half as much as I did making them... [BTW - Be sure to click the lower right corner of each video as it starts to watch in Full Screen mode.  Don't let the HD go to waste!]

Thanks to a large cardboard donation from Sidney and her parents, TJ and I built our first fort recently...



On Saturday evening, TJ and I were playing with a ball (and the dogs) as our lamb was cooking.  Every time I went out to check the grill, I moved the camera.  I loved finding and mixing the patterns in our play.  Although the generic "couchball" was out title, I almost went with "TJ's Turn", a favorite phrase around the house...

Alaska

In January, Ra and TJ took their annual trip up to Alaska to visit Les and Zaden.  Since I didn't go, I don't have a lot of details to share, but the big items to share include...
1. It's cold in Alaska during the month of January.
2. Anchorage has a lot of super-fun indoor activities for kids.
3. In a rare instance of "sharing is NOT caring", everyone in the house handed around a ~24 hour sickness.

Zaden and TJ play catch while either Les or Ra was sick in bed.

Bathtime!

TJ entertains himself with detergent on the day Raminta was sick in bed.

Les, Zaden and TJ check out the animals at the zoo.

Ra TJ and Zaden at the zoo.

Wolves size up a toddler-sized snack.

Step 1: Climb.

Step 2: Prepare.

Step 3: Slide.

Step 4: Smile and repeat.

Frosty

One of the few outdoor adventures.

Cold enough to put frost on your eyelashes!

 

Les, Zaden and TJ pulling the boys up in a chair at the science center.

Up we go!

TJ plays with centripetal force.

South Beach Yurt

For a pre-TJ-birthday weekend adventure, we went to the coast near Newport and stayed in a yurt.  We had a great storm on Friday night and a long hike with the pups on Saturday.

TJ suited up for a hike to the beach.

"Boing" is our favorite command for Olive.

TJ working on his Chuck-It throwing skills.

TJ and JT topping out at the beach dunes.

View from the beach.

Suiting up for a quick afternoon trip outside.

TJ has started to insist on walking Olive.  She doesn't take advantage too much, but we all know who's in control here.