New Bike!

Stirling got his first bike today- thanks Grandma and Grandpa!  He was so excited!  He hopped right on and began riding which was amazing because Stirling can sometimes be a bit of a pessimist and often says he can't do something or doesn't want to.  But he totally rocked a great attitude and even got right back up when he fell a couple of times.  He didn't let anything stop him.  I was so proud!

My Boys

Love.

Visiting

The boys and I recently went for a quick weekend visit to the west side of the state.  On Friday night we visited an old high school friend of mine who lives down in Spanaway.  In the past year we have both moved back to the northwest so it was nice to be able to see each other.  Stirling and Logan had fun playing with her five kids, two of whom are pretty close in age to my boys, and we enjoyed a pizza and movie picnic for dinner.  She and I got to stay up late and have some grown up time to chat as well.

The next day we got up early and went up to Tacoma and met Aunt Colette and Cousin Tyler at the Pt. Defiance Zoo.  This was Stirling and Logan's first ever trip to a zoo.  I think they enjoyed it....?  Logan refused to get in the stroller, and Stirling was extremely impatient, and all three little guys had their moments of tantrums, crying etc.  But overall I thought it went pretty well.  We got to see some HUGE walruses, polar bears at feeding time, and tiger cubs.  Stirling really liked the aquarium and the sharks.  We never made it to the elephants, but got to go on the carousel twice and have a picnic.  It was really beautiful weather.
After the zoo, we ended up going to the playground where Logan did the slide over and over and over; he was so smiley and proud of himself.

On Sunday, we were able to go visit Katie and Dave, some college friends, and their daughter Amelia.  We went to the playground near their house and the kids played there.  At one point I thought I lost Stirling, but it turns out he just went to the bathroom.  He is too self sufficient sometimes and I need to reinforce some safety rules for public places!  It was a short visit, but nice to see them and have some grown up talk!

Logan

Today I was supposed to sub, but when I got there, it turned out that there was a mistake and I wasn't needed until tomorrow.  So, I left Stirling at the daycare so he could have some much needed interaction with other kids (and some non-mommy adults!), and brought Logan home with me.  It has been such a blessing to have a day alone with Logan.  I really haven't had many opportunities to interact with just Logan without Stirling being around.  So today he had no big brother to boss him or push him or direct his play.  He and I did some finger-painting, which he loved so much that he cried when I put the paint away, and made a batch of chocolate chip cookies!
Logan is so full of silliness and giggles.  He loves to twirl until he is dizzy and makes the funniest faces and mischievous expressions.  He has started putting a few words together in little phrases like "ay taato" (hay tractor), "ne-we out" (Nelly is outside), "biiig taato" (big tractor), or "lello car."   He knows a few colors- yellow, purple, black, white, and then everything else is also yellow.  He finally moved past what seemed like a plateau in the vocabulary department, and is now learning words quickly again!

Logan's most favorite thing in the whole world is tractors!  He stands at the window and talks about Opa's tractors, the hay tractor, etc.

Logan likes playdoh, though doesn't sit still well enough to do it often!

Another new word is "unnies" (undies) and the other day he said "me, me, me, unnies!"  So I let him wear an old pair of Stirling's!  Logan loves the dogs and cats and is always trying to catch and pet them!

Look at that cute face!

Basketball

Stirling recently started playing basketball with the parks and rec department here in town.  The "Tiny Tots" age group is 3 to 5 and these kids are pretty funny.  They have so little coordination!  There are basketballs rolling all over the elementary school gym and kids running into each other.  The kids are learning how to dribble, shoot, pass, and just plain hang on to a ball without dropping it!  They also play "Red Light Green Light" and "Freeze Tag."  Stirling has a lot of fun playing with Coach Sean and the other kids.

Our Latest Sensory Play

I made an ocean sensory tub with a beach made of oats and water made of hair gel.  We put in some little plastic sea creatures.  It didn't look cute for long.  It turned into a big mushy blob of glop that Stirling decided to put his feet into and required an extrordinary amount of cleanup

Purse Project

So I got a couple of gorgeous new handbags for Christmas this year.  They are both on the larger side as I transition away from diaper bags, so that I can still fit things in that the boys need.  But while having a larger purse is nice so you can fit all those items like wet wipes, a spare diaper, snacks and a matchbox car along with all my items, it does tend to get a little disorganized (ok, a LOT disorganized!).  So after looking around in the blogosphere and on Pinterest, I came up with an organizational system that I think is working fantastically- meaning, I can now find what is in my bag!  Here is my project!

Step 1: Dump entire contents of purse on floor in order to discover how much crap is really in there!

Step 2: Throw away most of aforementioned crap and decide what items are essential.

 Step 3: Find a small box and measure how tall it will need to be to fit in the purse.  Cut and tape box to fit inside.

Step 4: Cover box with super fantastic patterned duct tape.  I used zebra, and when I ran out of that used cheetah- you know, 'cause it's a jungle in there!  Then cut some small squares of cardboard to tape in box to act as dividers, using items you kept as a guide.  Cover those with super cool tape as well!

 Step 5: Admire your work!

 Step 6: Fill 'er up!  I have compartments for wallet, checkbook/coupon file, wipes/tissues/snack, sunglasses, keys/lotion.  

Step 7: Insert box into handbag and admire your amazing skills at organization!

Voila!  An excellently designed system in a lovely purse!

And P.S. I have been using this now for several weeks and it works great!  You could probably get really fancy and use fabric too, but I am loving the overall effect!