Silas turns 5!

"My birthday was great. I was so excited for papa, momo and Sarah to come! I got a new bike, and it is great. I had wanted a new bike and I got one. Hey, and my cake was so yummy, I loved it. I wanted a lizard cake and it was so good. The food at my party was hot dogs, watermelon, yogurt tubes, those are my favorite foods. My friends were so nice to come to my party, I wanted to hug them (like this...)."

"Here I am getting my new bike."

"These are my school friends. We had fun riding our bikes together at my party."


"Asher rode his push bike and had fun trying to keep up with the big kids."

"I love my new bike and I can go really fast on it."

Silas turns five on June 8, but we wanted to have a party with his school friends on a weekend when Sarah and papa and momo Roth could come down for the weekend, so May 23 it was! There is a public park nearby that has a skate and bike park and since Silas was getting a new big kid bike, we had the party there, asked all of his friends to bring their bikes and had a blast riding around together! Silas had also requested a lizard theme, so there was a lizard themed treasure hunt and cake! It was super fun, and made possible with the help of Sarah, papa and momo. Thank you.

Silas is the definition of intense, interested and interesting. He has lots to say, is very creative, very thoughtful and loving, uses words creatively and articulately. He is full of five and we look forward to the next five!!!!! ("that is five exclamation points for five years"- a direct quote from Silas)

Asher has gone and been cute again!

Asher is a scrumptious little two and half year old who is full of cute! But don't just take my word for it......

Uncle Zachary Gets Into March Madness (Literally!)

So, my brother Zachary was in a web-ad for Coke Zero and the boys thought it was SOOO cool to see him on the Internet. Unfortunately, I was unable to get Silas's reaction on camera, but I got a series of Asher seeing and then realizing what he was seeing. Enjoy!

Spring Break- FL

After two very quick days at home we were packing up again, this time to go South for a camping weekend at the beach in Florida. The beach was amazing- white sand, bright blue water, really hot sun- and it's only mid-April. We had a great time watching the kids entertain themselves at the beach and then back at the campsite, and kept reminding ourselves to store these memories away for a time when these little people will be big people and these friends may not be so near at hand..... A magical weekend of freedom- a true Spring Break.

Spring Break- VA

We had a great trip to Virginia at the beginning of Spring Break- just me and the boys! The drive up was...okay..... I didn't have to pull over to sleep at all- it just got really long, what should have been 8 turned in to 11 hours! As I recently told a friend, it just gave me that much more time to ascend to new heights in parenting excellence! Really, though, the boys did amazing, they were so patient while I drove one handed digging through bags blindly to find what they needed while cruising along at 70mph. However, there were times when we just had to stop, all sit in the back seat and get out the books and read, or have "run around time" at a rest stop to "get our wiggles out." When we finally got to VA we had a really special time playing with the toys that live there, meeting Ben's family, being with Ben and Sarah, going bowling with Sarah, momo and Ben's siblings, going to EMU's Spring musical (a totally engrossing production about fairies that the boys were totally mesmerised by), going to a cookout at a horse farm and playing with the barn cat....... The standout experience, though, was having lots of papa-time; Silas spent all of Saturday mostly alone with papa- going to the Stockyard across the street, playing Uno, going to EMU to play tennis together on their bikes, going back to the Stockyard, going to Dairy Queen for hot dogs and ice-cream, and then playing more Uno. Because we don't live nearby, the times together are so special.

A fun weekend in the city with Sarah, Karen and mom

Asher-isms 2009 take 1

This morning:
"My hands play wit toys.
My head has hair.
My eyes hab eyebrows.
My pop-pops (Rice Krispies) hab honey.

Mommy, I tell you about honey;
Honey comes from bees.
Bees hab wings on their backs.
My pop-pops hab honey on them.
I love honey.
I love pop-pops."
About three days ago:
"Mommy, I want to tell you about cheese;
Cheese is melty.
Cheese is stringy.
Boys eat cheese."

Back in January Asher was in a very clingy stage- I couldn't put him down or leave him for any length of time, and if Silas needed me, Asher would get kind of sad. One time he said;
"Lilas need mommy- NO! (purse out lips in exadurated pout)
Mine need mommy!" (again with the pursing of lips)

Two more:
"Mommy, dats wunny" (that's funny)

"Doot, doot, doot, mommy, weeze" (asking to please ride horsey on my foot)

There is nothing quite so fun as being creative with my brother

The title above pretty much sums it up for our two boys. As it is for so many siblings, they can be one anothers arch-nemesis, but when it is good- it is really good! They absolutely love playing together as well. Here they play in "goop" together, and they pretend to be bears hibernating for the winter in their den.

Silas the artist 2009 take 1

It is time to update Silas's online portfolio (so that I can purge a BIT without feeling AS guilty.....). Of course, this is but a FRACTION of what he puts out. He is quite prolific- there is also art that comes home from school each day as well as the many, many pieces that are done quickly to get a burst of creative energy out (the walls of our office area are covered in pieces, as well as the doors in the boys room and all around their desk area.

Here Silas explains exactly what all is in this masterpiece.











a multi-media piece; watercolor, sticker and collage







a large dessert scene








ocean creatures in clay



















Silas created clothes for this "animal parade."



















Finally, here are the words to a song that Silas wrote:
And we love Jesus, loving
And we have him do our chores each day,
anytime

chorus:
Then we open up the present
And see the seasons change
We celebrate Jesus' birthday
And Santa gets to come

Spring has Sprung in A-town!

Spring means a return to the woods for our favorite family activity- hiking! (with frequent stops along the way for the continuing adventures of Silas and Asher the bear/cougar/opposum/lion/etc.- especially if there is a great rock or similarly inspiring "spot in nature"- "look mommy, a great spot in nature!" is how the phrase is generally used.)


But, in general, I LOVE spring in this city- until pollen littleraly coats all things indoors and out with a yellow dusty film...... For now, though, it is glorious. Everything is blooming and you get to remember what you have planted in years past and why. These pink blossoms are from two flowering pear trees that we planted in our front yard a few months after we moved in to this house.