Conversations you only have with four-year-olds....

...of these, there are many.  Here is today's best (which occurred while I was pedaling the kids around in the bike trailer):

Kate: "Mommy, when Will and I were in your belly, how did we come out?"
Me: "Well, I had to have an operation and the doctor got you out."
Kate: "Hmmm"
Kate: (a minute later) "When I have a baby, I'm not going to do it that way.  The way I'm going to do it is there's going to be a straw sticking out of belly button and it's just going to suck that baby right out."

Thanks, Maryl!

Your gift has provided lots of entertainment for them....and relative quiet for me (THANK YOU!!)

Will's buzzed!

I tried to get a good smiley photo, but any time Will sees a camera now, he says, "mommy, I make a silly face!"  Thus, the photo below...

Maybe it's a boy thing, but Will's hair grows SOOO fast.  People always ask me if he's had a a haircut yet, and he's already had more haircuts than I can count.  I originally tried to cut it myself with scissors but that was a giant fail on my part--totally crooked so I was actually glad that grew out quick.  I've been taking him to get it cut by a professional, which he likes and she does a great job but it grows out so fast, I'd have to take him every couple of weeks to really stay on top of it.  After yet another morning of insane, uncontrollable bedhead, I broke down this week and asked Ryan to pick up some clippers on his way home.  A friend of mine who is clipper-savvy came over yesterday and helped me buzz him.  Now, he looks a couple years older but I took these photos right after he woke up this morning and NO BEDHEAD!  Hooray!  Grandpa Bobby, do you remember having a cut like this?  :)

Truck extravaganza!

It's been well documented here that both Kate and Will spend a lot of time pretending to be/dressing as princesses.  Kate loves herself some sparkles, for sure, but, this weekend, she got to bring out her inner truck driver.  I know it's still in her--after all, this is the same girl that wanted a customized Bobcat.  And while Will definitely follows Kate's lead when it comes to princess-y stuff, he does sleep on truck sheets and knows exactly where the "truck book" section of the library is.  All this means that both kids were in truck and dirt heaven this weekend when we went to a fundraiser that is all trucks and dirt.  Literally.  That is all--just a bunch of trucks with open door, inviting curious kids to climb in and honk horns and a big ol' pile of dirt, inviting kids (well, if they're mine) to dig, roll and COVER themselves.  I have to admit that, as a fundraiser, this was brilliance.  I mean, how much easier could it be set up and how much more fool-proof?  Advertise trucks and dirt and kids will come.  A lot of kids.  It doesn't show up in the photos, but Kate and Will were completely covered in dirt.  I'm not exactly sure what Kate was doing to achieve it, but her scalp was even coated in dirt.  Will was nearly speechless when he saw that he could actually get in all the trucks and machines.  We did them all, again and again.  Overall, it was good, dirty fun--and good to see that my "girly" girl (and, sometimes, boy) are not always so sparkly!

Happy Birthday, Will!

Will turned two today!  Honestly, it is seriously hard to believe that I had him two whole years ago.  I'm not sure he knows exactly what "his birthday" means but he knew enough to announce "it's my birthday!" when he woke up this morning.  We spent the day with Grandpa Mac and Aunt Louise and, thankfully, with daddy who is now home from the fire (a welcome change especially since he missed Will's first birthday because of a fire).  When Will arrived a week before his scheduled c-section date two years ago, I was not too thrilled (well, thrilled with Will, but not so thrilled with the whole labor experience again!) but he did arrive at a great time because his birthday falls near the Sisters Folk Festival every year.  The SFF is the BEST event in town all year--a full three days of music, happening all day long at seven venues around town.  It's amazing and fun and is like a whole town party falling right near Will's birthday!  We spent this morning going to the annual Community Celebration, which is held in a park downtown.  Will and Kate got to play and dance and, best of all for them, sit on the top of a double decker bus and eat french fries (it was one of the food vendors).  After the music, we had lunch and cake at home, and then headed to Scout Lake.  Grandpa Mac brought his canoe and we brought our inflatable kayak, so Kate and Will had a great time taking trips being paddled around the lake.  Although it was colder out than last weekend, the kids got to swim with a brave Grandpa and "Aunt."  We came home for presents and dinner, and now a very tired two-year-old boy is sound asleep!  We love you, Will--you're a sweet and snuggly not-so-little boy, but you'll always be our baby boy!

Baby Iris, this is for you! :)

First day of school!

It was Kate's first day of four-year-old preschool today and it garnered two vastly different reactions from the kids.  Kate was over the moon, grinning from ear to ear the moment she woke up.  She got to be the "line leader" and lead all the kids into school, and she didn't even say goodbye to me.  Will, on the otherhand, completely and totally freaked out.  Although we've talked and talked about Kate going to school, he apparently still did not get that he wasn't coming along.  The poor guy gave the teacher a huge hug, just like the other kids, and tried to line right up with them to go into school.  When I broke the news that we were leaving, he burst into tears and kept saying, "NO, I go to school too!!"  I don't think I've ever seen him so upset.  Fortunately, it was short-lived once we left and I kept talking to him about how special it was the it was just the two of us.  He got to take a bath by himself, which seemed to undo the majority of the trauma.  Kate came running out of school and gave both of us big hugs, and claimed to have had "so, so, so, so, so much fun!"  I'd say the day was a success--only one year until Kate is in kindergarten.  It's so hard to believe my baby girl is a school girl now!

Scout Lake through the kids' eyes

We had a great day with Aunt Courtney today, complete with a trip to Scout Lake.  Ryan and I have heard a lot of people around town mention this lake, but we've never visited it ourselves.  Courtney and I decided to give it a try today and I'm really glad we did--it's about 15 minutes from our house and the water is nice for swimming.  The only drawback was the super aggressive little chipmunks.  They were tiny, but relentless!!  After we finished eating, though, it was a really peaceful, pretty place to be.  With the exception of the two pictures of both kids, Kate and Will took all the pictures below.  Not bad!  I think I'll start handing them the camera more because it's pretty fun seeing things from their perspective.

 

Look closely--that's a badass chipmunk behind them!