A Day in the Life

Stratton turned two today. I've tried, on birthdays, to capture a slice of what our days are like at this particular stage. Here are a few from Stratton's big day.

We have been talking about his birthday for weeks, and he was most excited about two things: cake and blowing the candles out by himself.

We started the day with a new book. Schoolbuses was the theme. Stratton thought it was pretty cool.
Big boy eats cereal quite well by himself at this point.
Some playtime with the wooden trains. Squabbling over construction of the tunnel.
After haircuts and getting dressed, we're looking a little more presentable. While I was getting dressed, the boys entertained themselves. I found them sharing a book in the rocker when I came to take them downstairs and off to Target.
Dawson had a field trip with friends to the Art Museum, so Stratton got some rare Mommy time. He loved it and wanted to read books on the couch for about 45 minutes straight. I think he really enjoyed having my attention all to himself. Later on, I attempted to ice the cake with both boys, ah...assisting. There was food coloring involved, which Stratton somehow got into and got all over his hands.
Big, big smiles always greet Daddy when he returns home. Just in time for dinner, a Skype call with the Stillwater crew and then, finally, the long-awaited cake.
Yum. Happy birthday, Strats!

First Camping Trip

It was really fun to take our boys camping. Have to say, I only got a few hours of sleep but they had nothing to do with it. The campground, while nicely situated was LOUD until the wee hours. : ( But it was completely worth it. My favorite memory from the trip is probably Dawson's waking up this morning. I was awake and lying right next to him. At precisely 5:58, he popped up - ready to go, but with a completely wide-eyed blank stare obviously trying to figure out where he was. I put my hand on him and whispered, "Hey, it's OK - we're camping!" The light instantly dawned and the biggest, most sincere smile spread across his face. He lay back down, totally happy to be where he was. A sweet moment. (Disclaimer: I can't take credit for most of these pictures. Out camera is on it's last legs, but the friends we were with took some great ones, which I am repurposing here...)

May! Dawson's Birthday Party, Creek Walk...

birthday parties can be tiring for little ones
the excitement of playing at the creek with lots of friends!
cupcakes
a treasure hunt in the new sandbox
a Lightning McQueen backpack - ready for the plane trip to Seattle!
from Aunt Heidi!!
The Annual Reeves' Men Creek Walk




The cutest things that keep me so stinking busy all day long...

A New Sandbox

Nobody fall off your chair. I am posting a new blog update!

We finally mobilized to create the sandbox we've been contemplating for a while. We conscripted manual labor (mom & dad were visiting and know how to wield a mean shovel) to dig dirt out of one of our unused flower beds. Just tonight a brother of a friend brought over a load of beautiful white sand, drove it into our backyard and dumped it into our sandbox (no hauling a hundred bag from Lowes - sweet!) The boys were excited - Stratton was a little overwhelmed at being in it and preferred to stand outside and reach in. After a very messy sandbox-side picnic dinner, we were ready to call it a night. As we were picking up stuff to go in, Stratton decided to christen the new sandbox by tossing an empty beer bottle down the brick stairs (yes the same stairs on which the terra cotta pot met its demise - pattern, anyone?). So, before the sun set on it's first night of existence we were picking shards of glass out of the sand...hopefully we got them all!

Before - a neglected flower bed

Let the digging begin!

A snack for the hard workers!

Learning practical skills with Grandma.

A real hammer, oh boy!

Eric got to play with his new "toy" - a circular saw.

Measure twice, cut once!

Lined and ready to go! Now all we need is...

SAND!

: )

Another Big Storm

For living in Richmond, I feel like we've had quite our share of winter weather recently. We had another huge dumping of snow (12"+) this weekend. Enough to shut schools down for probably most of the week. Today is day 5 being cooped up at home and I was starting to go crazy (ditto for the boys) and desiring some fresh fruit, so we did head to Ukrops for a quick outing. They plowed our street while we were out, so now it's quite good driving.

We shoveled just enough of our driveway to make a good sledding run. Stratton liked it if we did short runs from one parent to another. It was full out screaming when we took him down the whole thing! Oops.
He wasn't all that happy in the snow - I think the mittens, snowsuit, snow bibs, jacket, big boots had something to do with it - but I did capture a moment or two when we thought it was fun.
Three going on...thirteen??!?
The speed demon.
This was this morning when we had finished playing with water in the playroom. I took them upstairs for baths right afterwards since they were mostly undressed already!

State of the Family

Eric was in Las Vegas the past week for work and he was missed by all of us. Even Stratton seemed to miss him at dinner time. He'd occasionally look at the doors and say "Dah Dah" as if looking for someone to walk in. Although he was sleep deprived from being on a plane all night, the boys couldn't get enough of him when he got home. A huge thanks to my parents for coming and keeping us company in Eric's absence. It made the time a lot more pleasant!

This idea was birthed from Stratton's love of puddles outside. He makes a beeline for any standing water after a rain fall. Both of them really enjoyed the tub of water in our playroom and a few towels and change of clothes later, it was all cleaned up!

Dawson volunteered to "read" this train book to Stratton. Trains are definitely one of Stratton's current obsession - books being the other one - so this was an offer well received.
Stratton's vocabulary is exploding these days. He'll try to say several new things each day - "pasta", "tree" - tonight he even named each person in our family, including himself.

I've recently been on a kick to get more and different birds for our viewing. I invested in this stick-on feeder to go on the window in our sunroom/playroom. It took a few days, but the birds have found it and seem to be willing to come up close - it's a lot of fun.

A few more...

I just really liked this picture. Dawson got to go ice sakting for the first time when we were in Stillwater - Aaron and Eric got quite a workout trying to keep him on his feet, but he had a blast.

Dawson created his own car ramp by turning the table on it's side. Stratton, of course, had to try it out for himself, too.