Pete 2 years 2 months

He wakes up with the best smile carrying as many blankets (and his pillow) as he can hold and will give you the best hug.
He will randomly put things back in their place but if you ask him to pick up his room he acts like he hasn't heard you.  He gets that from me!
He is a spotty eater at best but will always eat fruit or anything crunchy.
Loves to follow Pieper around, even when she doesn't want him to.
Is a very fast runner.
Falls down and says 'I'm okay' right away and gets up.
Will give multiple hugs and kisses at night time. Not just to keep you in the room, right?  Ha!
Loves the book Head to Toe and any books with dinosaurs. sharks, crocodiles, ducks.  see a theme?
Will bring you a book first thing in the morning and at random times during the day.
Likes Bugs bunny, George the monkey and Bubble Guppies.
Loves to squeal at bugs his sister finds for him.  I have even seen her go and get him and see if he will squish a bug for her... he always goes, I don't know if he squishes or not.
Will randomly hit Pieper, I am pretty sure she has earned it but he still gets in trouble.
Is starting to not like having his head rinsed in the bath.
Always wants to help; paint, cook, vacuum, laundry, clean... except pick up his room... how does he know that?
Will walk up to you in the best way and say 'hold me'
He likes things to be in place, ie glasses in the kitchen or books stacked just right not crooked.
Loves to play ruff with Daddy.
Likes to walk by and hit my plant, some of the leaves are shredded... he gets that from his cousin Jacob who used to do the very same thing.
Loves to take Pieper's puppy so she chases him, actually he will take almost anything if she will chase him and she doesn't chase quietly. He laughs the whole time.
Still likes anything electrical. This is a constant challenge.
I can understand most everything he says but he doesn't really use more than three or four words in a sentence.  He will repeat anything new you say, word or phrases.
Words I want to remember:
Thank you
Okay mommy
Pieper hit me
cookie
Grandpa
outside
Bubble
Bugs Bunny.
Shark
Squirrel no no
I like the way he will do what animals do if you don't get what he is trying to say right away... (elephants stomp, crocodiles chomp ect)
Will always dance and do the movements to any new songs.
Likes to turn circles...?  Then laugh when he can't stand up straight.
He is a smiley sneaky sort in the very best of ways.

Memorial Day

 She decided to wear her hat that morning... :)

 So many things to see, like the puppy sitting next to us...

We went to the Wilton Parade... nice morning to be out and the kids liked the fire trucks at the end but if I may... apart from seeing the veterans that have served and the single small tractor in the parade the east coast is a bit of a bust when it comes to parades.  I thought it was just a Greenwich thing but they really like to just see groups of people marching down the road...that is about the extent of the parade.  Now to be very positive I LOVE hearing the bag pipes... at every parade they have bag pipes, a little band of bag pipes and they are fantastic!
This Iowa girl remembers the parades that lasted for over an hour (sometimes three) when she was growing up seeing new and old cars, tractors, combines, wagons, Shriners in the little cars, clowns and bouncy cars. How could anyone forget the candy throwing or the pork tasting and from when I was really young... when the beer wagon went by... that was the only time you ever saw the dads that were scattered around get up off the chair! :)  Sigh.  I am sure it is another sign of political correctness in the world but they sure are good memories.
Hope you all have a wonderful family and friends kind of day.  We had the most wonderful weather of the week on Monday and we are now back to some rain, we are in a bit of a drought you know?!

Playing with Daddy.

 Planing their strategy. Do you think I put my hands on my hips a lot? I know eyes are closed but it is the only picture I got after running for the camera.

Bubbles!!!

Where's Pete?

 This is what I saw.

I had to go find him...

Quiet time.

She wore herself out.

Rainy day haircut.

I am getting better, but he still doesn't like to sit still.

Happy Birthday to me.

I know the picture is not that great but turn your sound up, it is pretty great great.  Of course I should also add that they are enjoying birthday cake so there could have been some bribery involved. :)

Waiting for Daddy.

On nice days they love to wait for Jeff, I have told them they have to stay off of the driveway so they have taken to waiting in the mulch.  Sometimes they even step on my lilies that have not come all the way out yet...

Really fast

Look mom how fast I can run and make sure you take a picture.

                                     

Such a look.

We tried to cut his hair after this picture was taken.  We have decided not to take him to the barber anymore as he threw such a fit the last time we did so we are down to home hair cuts for now... boy are they fun.

Sweet Pieper.

Yep, she is in there.  Although not on the days when she comes back from school... that is 'bear' Pieper! :)

Just playing.

 'No mom, let me show you how to do this really great trick'  This entailed throwing the ball up to touch the leaves.  A really great trick obviously.

 No matter how much I tell them to stay off the wood pile when they still think it is the greatest jungle gym... even without shoes.

A very curious Pete.

A lot of cheese.

Sorry for the lines in the pictures but these smiles were to much to waste. 

Airplane!

Note to  self, change their clothes BEFORE using sharpie markers.

Happy Mother's Day!

I know it is hard to see but I didn't want to make the birds to mad, we have three hatched that we can see, (Jeff saw them this morning) the babies are the cream color in front of the blue egg.  there is a beak and an eye visible... on my picture anyway...
Hope you all had a good day!

Sleeping Beauty x2

 I think she had a good day at school.

How he sleeps after he climbs into our bed...

Surfing!

She has started calling our rock her 'surf board', we have to take a picture of her standing on it a lot so get used to the back drop, you will see it often I am sure.

                                           

Pete joining in on the fun.

Trout Lillies...

Everywhere.They grow up in the lawn and all over.  it is kind of hard to see the blossom but it looks like a yellow split violet (if that makes sense) Quite pretty. 

First nap in the toddler bed for Pete.

He crawled right in and took all of his blankets off the sides, that is how he likes to sleep. We had just switched rooms that morning.

Where is the nest you found?

 It is right next to the deck but I didn't tell the kids that.  Can't wait to see the babies.

Pieper 3 years 9 months

Loves to help do everything.
Does not like to clean her room or pick up.
Will get ice for Pete and kiss any boo boos he may get.
Worries about him if he falls or is bleeding.
Wants to call Grandma all the time but then sometimes won't talk.
Likes to dig the bulbs herself and wants them to grow quickly.
Loves to show you how really really fast she is by running by you.
Breaks into random songs.
Loves to look at pictures of family.
Tells you what her puppy likes, he or she is her baby. She will tell you how to hold him and things like that.
Made me the cutest clay pot for Mother's Day for plants at school and them proceeded to water it until I am pretty sure the seeds have been washed away.
Some Tuesdays she doesn't want to go to school but she really wants to ride the school bus.
Always asks you to close your eyes so she can show you something, like a clean room or that Daddy is home.
Loves to have picnics on the living room floor and must always use the picnic blanket we were given when we got married.
Loves art projects of any kind.
Is becoming less shy and is better at saying goodbye to her teachers.  But she knows she is shy.
Will tell you if you say a bad word.
If she gets in trouble, she will tell you she loves you and is sorry right away. Oh yes, she is good.
LOVES princesses.
Pink is usually her favorite color. ( I have no idea where that came from....) :)
Always wants to make cupcakes.
Favorite food today is bacon and eggs (basted or hard boiled) I asked her.
I think her favorite food is soup, this girl will eat three bowls!
Sometimes I forget she is only 3, she acts much older.
She is very silly a lot of the time and will talk very silly.
Likes to talk about what she will do when she is older.
Gets very upset when Pete does something she doesn't think is right and will run away very dramatically, we are really working on that. Very dramatic.
Likes to give kisses.
Wants to play ruff with Daddy when she sees Pete do it but then doesn't really like it when it is being done to her.
Tag and jump rope are her favorite things to play ( I asked)
Is very good at getting her own snack and drink.
Doesn't like to practice letters for any long period of time but is getting better at writing her name.
Likes to be outside, the last two days we have had some rain so it has been challenging.  :)
She is a good exercise buddy.

Sorry no pictures

It is no secret, I am not the most patient of people when it comes to electronics.  When I have a few minutes to put pictures up I want the silly computer to work.  I have not had much luck lately.  I forget to tell Jeff when he gets home so we are now almost a month without any, sorry!  Now he can read the post and hopefully remember to take a look when he gets home.

We have been spending a lot of time outside which I can honestly say is WAY more fun when you have this big yard.  Now to get rid of the poison ivy that grows like crazy out here.  We really have gotten a lot of the pachysandra out, that is another reason I don't like the stuff, poison ivy and it live together in harmony.
The kids love to help me plant the flowers we have been ordering like crazy but mostly they like to do the watering.  I fill the wheel barrow up and they have their watering cans... away they go, that is ALWAYS followed by a bath as you can imagine.

I can not believe as of May 1st we have owned the house for a year already.  Slow and kind of steady is our motto I guess when it comes to getting things done, there is just a crazy amount of things to do!But it is getting better. Pretty soon we will have a house warming party... maybe. :) 

Pete 2 years 1 month

He repeats almost everything you say, or tries. He is getting better.
He loves muffins and cookies.
He likes to hit and doesn't think it is bad.  If you spank him sometimes he will even laugh at you... yep, I sure earned that one didn't I Mom? (and yep, I spank.) :)
Climb, climb, climb... and when he falls he will cry for maybe 20 seconds... even if there is blood. Dare-devil.
He is finally without a cold (knock on wood).
He must pour his own water.
He will throw himself on the ground if he doesn't get his way, it doesn't matter if it is tile floor, grass or driveway, he throws...
He still likes to follow Pieper around but will not always do what she wants him to do.
He is a grazer when he eats most days then out of the blue he will eat three helpings.
My dancing boy still going strong.
Very helpful, if I am painting a wall or mudding or sanding he will always try to help.
He is very good at puzzles.
The vacuum is one of his favorite things. Especially since we got the new one with all of the fancy filters and fast wheels!
He has only fell into the stream once, I hope that is all we ever do!
He has amazing balance. ( except when he leaned over to far and fell in the stream...)
He loves to play 'ruff' with daddy.
He has been sleeping in the toddler bed for almost a week, no real transition problems but we may have a few just starting.  He twice has walked into his room and put himself down for a nap!  Amazing how exciting that was.
When he sleeps he will pull almost all of his blankets ( he has a lot) onto the bed with him and several stuffed animals, sometimes I wonder if there is any room left for him!
He is fast when he wants to be.
He does not like anything in his shoe, dirt or rocks or mulch, his shoe must be taken off immediately.
He likes to act like a frog in the bath.
He likes to sit on the potty if there is a little one just his size. (like at the mall in the family bathroom) No success yet. 
His favorite books: Head to Toe, anything with ducks,Olivia, word books.
He can reach door handles and light switches well.
He needs a haircut, I am trying to get up the nerve to buzz it! :)
He is still the best hug giver around.
Loves to peak, around corners, under blankets, over chairs even just tipping his head down and of course he smiles a sweet smile the whole time.
Gives the best Good morning smile and will bring at least two stuffed toys and two blankets out of his bed with him in the morning.
Still laughs when he plays hide and seek if he is peaking but if he isn't he is so quiet you can't even hear him breath.
He still has the best belly laugh especially when he is playing with Pieper.