Easter in Seattle

Easter egg hunting was a huge hit this year. Piper is a pro, she has had lots of practice throughout the year, as one of our favorite front yard activities is "hide the lizards and frogs". The boys caught on quickly as well, but mostly loved dumping all the eggs out of the bucket instead of filling up the bucket. We had a super packed fun filled weekend in Seattle, spending time with Grandma and Grandpa playing toys, going to parks, hanging with Auntie, Uncle Kevin and cousin Garret. One of the highlights was scootering out front after dinner. My dad got out my old scooter that has been hanging in the garage for 25 years (is that even possible, wow) just waiting for this very occasion for the grand kids to enjoy. They pumped up the tires and it worked great, except for the lack of breaks! Garret took it to the top of the hill and sped right down. Piper had her own mini kick razor scooter that she raced down the hill on. She was so pleased with herself that she went down the whole hill without using her breaks. She got speed wobbles, but stayed on without crashing.

The neighborhood community center, Loyal Heights, where I grew up playing peewee basketball and t-ball, had a egg hunt on Saturday that we participated in. It was was fun to revisit my old stomping grounds and funny that the gymnasium had the same smell I always remembered. The kids had a blast and I even ran into some old high school friends who had their kids hunting for eggs too.

This is a cute picture of my mom loving hanging out with her grand kids.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because I had already filled up my memory card on my camera by Easter Sunday, but we spent the afternoon at my cousin Celeste, Tim and their new baby Mercer's new house. It was our first time meeting baby Mercer and I couldn't believe what a smiley little guy he was. So cute and fun to see all the cousins race around and play together.

Then on the way home we stopped by Shannon and Kyle's house who had a huge gathering of family, friends and neighbors. We made it just in time for their big Easter egg hunt with over 400 eggs hidden throughout their yard. By then, that was Piper's 4th egg hunt over the weekend, she was spinning from all the sugar. As always, so good to see the Tyler's!

Saturday afternoon was a beautiful, warm and sunny day. We met up with Uncle Topher and Grandma Alice at Gas Works park, it felt awesome to be outside in t-shirts! We are lucky to have Grandma Alice staying nearby us in Bend for a little more than a month, so she traveled up to Seattle with us and got to spend time with Christoper at his new place in Capital Hill. It was super fun to meet up with them and watch the kids play. We picked flowers, threw rocks in the lake, played in the sand, and slid down the fireman's pole. Piper loved the fireman's pole, she must have slid down it 10 times!

It was a whirlwind, but a really good trip to Seattle. Fun to see family and visit a big city. Feels good to be home now too, I just wish the warm weather would come and stay for the summer. It was beautiful yesterday and snowy today?!

We did get to sneak in a visit from Dan and Alyssa who were in town for Easter. We enjoyed a beautiful hike this week around Smith Rock with the Shaws and their two dabooboos Payson and Nolan. It was a quick visit, but always fun to see these guys and meet their new addition.

Around the house

So that is what it feels like to have all five of us sick over the last 3 weeks. Ugg! Piper kicked it all off with high fevers and an ear ache. It is so sad to have little ones in pain, and not being able to fix it. We did eventually get her in to see our friend a chiropractor, and this seemed to be the most helpful - Thanks Brandi! The boys followed suit and came down with something too, oh the snot that came out of these guys, non stop runny boogers, we couldn't keep up with all the goober getting. Yuck. =-(

Dave stayed strong the longest with constant netty potting, but I fell hard and couldn't believe how bad I felt. I don't think I really got sick last year when the twins were little...no time I guess with all the nursing and diaper changing, but this cold helped me regain some sensitivity to people that are in the middle of a cold. This was a bad one that kept teasing me to think I was better, then it would hit hard again and knock me out again.

Unfortunately this all hit during Piper's spring break from school, which also was a super cold yucky week weather wise. So we were pretty cooped up, it was a long week to say the least. We read lots of books and enjoyed several movies to get us through. I have to say, it was so cute and cuddly to have all 6 of us (Mango included) snuggled up on the couch as we watched the 1979 original "Benji the dog" movie. The first 15 minutes there are pretty much no words, just shots of this awesome dog making his way around the town. Even the boys had the attention span to enjoy this part of the movie. They kept pointing and saying "dog, dog"! So fun!

Here are a few random pics over the last few weeks...

Watching a movie!

This is Jett's toothy smile!

Piper's recent favorite activity...washing dishes.

Calvin loves playing dress up.

The boys watching Daddy go out for a run.

Pigtails!

After dinner fun with Piper and Hazel - Look at that blueberry tongue!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Staley Fun

Grandma Alice came for a visit and Piper had a full schedule planned...candy store, ice cream store, boat park, scooter ride, toy store and lots of stories to be read. Mission accomplished!

The boys got lots of Grandma time too, with long walks to town and lots of play time in the playroom upstairs. Grandma Alice is great with the kids, she loves the time with them and we love the break and opportunity to get out too. We snuck in 3 date nights and one daytime cross country ski and lunch date. So fun, Thank you Alice for being so strong and confident to care for our three munchkins.

Also this past week we had Piper's first Parent/Teacher conference at her Montessori school that she goes to 3 full days a week. It was fun to hear her teacher talk about what a fun, silly, well-liked girl Piper is at school. Ms. Heather gave us a better idea of some of the different things that Piper likes to do at school, which was great to hear because it is hard to get Piper to tell me about her day, so as far as I know, all she does each day is eat lunch and paint. =-) And I know this because her lunch is mostly gone and she brings home piles of artwork each day. Funny thing is that some of what she brings home are gifts from her older four year old friends that love showering Piper with attention and presents. Piper loves school, it is great to see her thriving and learning and making friends.

A cute story one of her teachers, Mr. Brian told me was that recently he was trying to get the attention of the kids so they could move on to a new project and they weren't being good listeners so he was starting to get frustrated. Piper sees this happening, so she goes right up to him and says, "Mr. Brian, do you need a hug?" He said that just made his day.

I do notice this about Piper, she is so in tune with how other people are doing. She is very caring and sensitive to the energy and mood of people around her. Piper is good at asking questions and communicating in ways well beyond her three years, so good that it is easy to forget that she is just three.

Calvin and Jett are quickly becoming "little boys", it is fun to see. Their understanding and ability to follow simple instructions like, "Go get your jacket." or "Can you pick out a book?" and they actually do it!

Calvin is pretty animated, he makes all sorts of faces and sounds. He has repeated several words, but only once each. I think we are in trouble with him because he is quick to throw a tantrum by laying on the floor whining if he doesn't get his way. Calvin is super physical, a favorite activity lately is climbing up on a big storage bin and flinging himself off on to pillows. If soccer is Calvin's sport of choice, he might be a lefty! He likes kicking balls and his left foot seems to be dominant.

Jett has the "d" word down pat. He points at everything and says, "Da da da da" or "Do do do do" or "Doy doy doy doy". Jett love burps and farts! Whether from himself or someone else, bodily functions are sure to get a good belly laugh from him. It is interesting to see the difference in sleep that the boys seem to need. We are down to one nap a day and Calvin is usually up after an hour and 45 minutes. Jett will sometimes nap for three or four hours! And the rough life of being a twin and sharing a room, if he accidentally gets woken up before he is ready, he is sooooo sad, but won't go back down. This can make for a long rest of the afternoon. =-(

Jett is a lot more timid when it comes to physically climbing on things, he is way more cautious, but slowing gaining confidence by watching Piper and Calvin climb all over everything. After all the fun we had sledding a few weeks ago, Dave set up an indoor sled hill using our couch and cushions and a thermarest. Piper and Calvin right away were all over this fun. It took a while for Jett, he loved sliding, but was unsure about getting up to the top by himself.

We are looking forward to warmer weather and all the playing that will happen OUTSIDE!! It is great that the boys are now walking and can participate in all the fun. I am happy about the stage we are in and all the stages to come. However, this past week when our friends Dan and Alyssa Shaw had their second baby. I saw the picture of this tiny little one and it made me panic a little. I feel like I can barely remember, especially Piper, but even just one year ago, Calvin and Jett being that small and babyish.

The realization that I wont experience that tiny newborn baby stage again caused some anxiety in me. Don't get me wrong I know I don't want any more kids (we already have a bonus baby), but it makes me wonder if I took it all in and was able to experience all there was to experience during that sweet beginning of life time. I am sure I did, but it all happens so fast, it feels like a blur. I don't want to stop time, but I feel very conscious of it moving right on by. I guess these feelings are just a good reminder to live in the moment, the now is right now, and it can't get any better than that. Everything else is the past or the future and just in my head anyway!

Upright and on the move

It is official Calvin and Jett can add walking to their skill list as it is now their main mode of transportation.

For a comparison Piper started walking at 14 months. The buddies narrowly beat her to the punch and at 13 1/2 months we will give Jett the credit to be first to walk, though just by about 2 days.

When they were just born we all guessed that Jett would be first to walk because he was always so stiff and when you held him up he would stand up even with the weight of his own body. Calvin was always super squishy and just a pile of mush. But then he surprised us by being the first to crawl by a whole month. He just went for it, throwing himself into it and moving across the room by any means possible. Jett just sat there and watched, until one day he just started crawling and with pretty good form too. At this point we changed our mind and thought Calvin would be first to walk.

Then around Thanksgiving Jett started practicing standing and really worked at understanding his balance and was furniture walking by Christmas. Calvin wasn't as interested, he stood up sometimes, but was mostly happy just crawling. It wasn't until Calvin saw Jett getting so much attention for all his walking attempts (Jett has been taking 5 to 7 steps for several weeks now), that Calvin decided to give it a go too. Anyway, last week it all clicked and now there is no stopping them. What a change, to me it is official they are no longer babies, we have actual little boys on our hands now. Kind of sad, but so cool at the same time to watch our little people grow up right before our eyes. I love being a mom.

The other exciting thing happening in Bend is all the snow we just got. Just when we thought it was almost spring and warmer temperatures were on their way. Oh well, the snow is fun too and we are taking full advantage getting in some great sledding and xcountry skiing. Dave and I even took turns this weekend skiing from our house through Drake Park and the Old Mill. I love where we live!

Belated xmas and bday

This past weekend we had a successful visit from my parents and sister's family to have a belated Christmas and birthday celebration. January 28th marked the boys turning 13 months and my mom turning 65!!! Am I allowed to publish that? Oh well, be proud mom! =-)

Thanks to the camper van we were able to host the whole crew. We ate yummy meals and played lots with all the new Christmas toys. It was fun to watch cousin Garret (6years) play with Piper and the boys. I am always impressed with how gentle and caring Garret is with the kids. They all did great sharing toys and interacting with each other.

A highlight of the visit was heading up to the sled hill. It helped that it was a beautiful day, but I was surprised how long the kids lasted playing in the snow. Garret was a super brave and on the first run of the day he went to the tippy top of the icy sled run and ripped down the hill. He had the best expression on his way down..."the fear of death" I would call it. Luckily he still went back for more. We all must have taken 20 sled runs by the time it was time to go, which was amazing the last time we tried to go sledding I think we did two runs is all. Piper loved it this time, she was a great big sister and held on to the boys as they had a turn on the sled too.

The weekend was full of Grandma and Grandpa snuggles and attention. Calvin and Grandpa Skip found a special bond over sharing ice cream.

Thanks for making the trip down to Bend, we had a great weekend!