Mousercise

We checked out a CD called Mousercise a few months ago. The boys LOVE dancing to the music.

Here are a few fun videos of the boys dancing.

Celebrating Daddy's Birthday

I realized a few days ago that we will soon be celebrating birthdays every 2 weeks during February and March. It's a lot of fun but it definitely keeps us busy. The day after decorating Brad's door we were able to celebrate his 42nd birthday. Brad usually grabs a banana and yogurt for breakfast but today he had a special birthday breakfast of pancakes, eggs and orange juice.



Unfortunately he still had to do some work on his birthday but he was able to leave the office a little early to celebrate.

Brody had seen instructions on building an excavator in one of his library books, so Brad went to work building one out of cardboard.

After the boys were bored of Brad's engineering skills we had some birthday dinner and finished it off with chocolate cherry cupcakes.

We used the musical candle. Here is a video of all of us singing Happy Birthday

After dinner the boys played on their bus. The hat is the bus driver's hat.

The boys also decided to give Brad presents and found lots of their toys to give to him. It's a good thing Brad gave the presents back otherwise we could have been in trouble.

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you!

Decorating Daddy's Door

One of the many great ideas I have gained from my MOPS group is decorating the door of the birthday boy or girl. This week our birthday boy was daddy!

I thought it would be fun to have the boys help me with this task. I tried to get some streamers and wrapping paper but I realized it was up in the garage. Since Brad wasn't home I had to find something else so we used Christmas wrapping paper, ribbon and bows to decorate the door.

The boys were so excited about it.






Brody was so excited he even made up his own song.

In case you can't quite hear him the lyrics are:

Decorating Daddy's Door
Decorating Daddy's Door
Decorating Daddy's Door
All Day long



After we put up some decorations both of the boys wanted to take them all down. Brody wanted to put them up in other parts of the hallway. Colt just wanted to take them off and eat them. I started putting some ribbon up and they were once again excited to decorate.

Here is Brad and Brody with the decorated door in the background. You can't see the ribbons hanging from the top of the doorframe.

Snoqualmie Weekend

My friend Ganesa has a condo at Snoqualmie Pass. She has always said we can use it if we ever want to (as long as she isn't using it). We were able to use it this past weekend. It was so nice to have a place to stay where we could quickly come in from the snow if the boys needed us to.

It was also another nice mini vacation for our family.

One of their favorite places was the game room. It was in the condo building and it was another space for the boys to play.



Colt at the foosball table.




We went for a walk/sled ride to the lodge to get a latte for Brad and a snack for the boys. It was a nice excuse to get outside. The boys were so excited about the statues of the bears.




Colt and the bear. He kept saying hi to them.




Brody & Colt in the sled. They absolutely loved this!




Brody trying out the skis. (I'm so glad Brad is good at teaching him because I am still a beginner myself)



And of course anything Brody does Colt wants to try too.

Another trip to Moclips

We have less than 3 weeks until we welcome our next baby. (We have our scheduled c-section for March 11th). We have a lot of stuff that can be done before the baby arrives but we also have felt that it was important for us to take a few weekend getaways as a family.



Last weekend (which was also Valentine's Day) we went to Moclips. We have been there a few times before and absolutely love it. Our greatest joy is going to the beach and watching the boys play and play and play. We left Friday afternoon and arrived later than we had wanted but still managed to watch some of the Olympic opening ceremonies.



Saturday morning we went to a local coffee shop for coffee and chai and some cinnamon rolls. It rained for most of the day so we stayed inside while watching some Olympic action. We did take the boys to the beach even though it was cold, cloudy and a little rainy. That is one of the beautiful things about Washington beaches. The boys LOVED it.



We went to a restaurant for a pre-valentine's day dinner. It was nice to not have to cook or clean up dinner.

Me and my Valentine!



Sunday morning was another trip to coffee, chai and cinnamon rolls. After we got back to the cabin we went to the beach. It was absolutely beautiful. Colt and I had to go back inside after an hour or so because he would not stop eating the sand. Once I took him inside and gave him lunch he was much happier. I had a difficult time getting Brad and Brody to come in because they were having so much fun.



After they finally came in they had some lunch and we started packing up. It was a quick trip but a nice getaway.

Video of Colt doing one of his favorite things...throwing sand.



More pictures

Celebrating Mommy's Birthday

Originally Brad was going to be on a business trip on my birthday. I don't like it when he is gone but I had mentally prepared myself. My first thought was to spend my birthday with my parents, since it was also my mom's birthday. But then I found out they were going to be out of town visiting my sister. I resigned myself to thinking that my birthday would be spent with just the boys. I was excited when Brad told me he canceled his trip and I would now be able to celebrate some of my birthday with him.




It was a pretty typical "mom" day. I woke up with the boys. I fed them breakfast, cleaned up breakfast and got them ready to go to a playdate. After the playdate we stopped by Brad's office to visit him. We went back home and all took naps. Brad came home early from work so it was nice to spend a little time with him before he left for his ski racing. Brody, Colt and I had made cupcakes. Plus my friend brought over carrot cupcakes for my birthday.


Brody waiting patiently for his cupcake.



Colt trying to eat my cupcake.



My special plate. Brad reminded me that I'm special every day...not just my birthday.


Colt enjoying his cupcake.



Brody & Brad singing Happy Birthday. I think they sang it at least 5 times. The annoying noise is from the birthday candle. (This candle was accidently thrown in the trash last year and Brad heard it singing. He spent a long time looking for it. It still works)

Go USA! Go Apolo!

In the spirit of the Olympics I couldn't help but post a picture of us with Apolo Anton Ohno.

After the 2006 Winter Olympics Brad was invited to the Governor's mansion to congratulate all the Washington State Olympians. Since I am married to Brad I was able to tag along.

It was a pretty low key event but it was quite obvious who the star was. Brad was excited when he talked to Apolo in the bathroom. We later had a chance to talk to him a little more and get our picture with him.

The lady on the left is a cross country ski racer. (I don't remember her name...sorry. But she was a VERY nice lady)




Two funny things about this picture.

1) A man who appeared to be Apolo's assistant took this picture and definitely had been coached to take it from a low angle. We were very surprised at how short Apolo was.

2) Brad and Apolo have matching outfits. :)

We have been fans of Apolo ever since, even cheering for him when he was on Dancing with the Stars. He was also the inspiration for our turtle's name. On our drive home we named our turtle Apolo. (although we later found out our turtle is a girl)

Brad has been invited back to the Governor's mansion again. Hopefully we will get to go because it is one week before our baby is coming.