Stratton wins the Lottery!

Yes, that is my front yard looking out our front door. Stratton and Piper were in heaven! Stratton pulled his step stool up to the door and sat with his dog, a cup of milk and snacks and watched for hours....literally. The men you can see doing such a fine job were from the gas company and thought there was a leak in the section of line in front of our house. And while Stratton thought he'd won the lottery, I wasn't so sure myself. Another accesible mud hole is hardly what a house with a little boy and dog needs! Having them dig up your front lawn adds such an element of unpredictability to your day. What fun!

Easter with the Neibaurs

We had a wonderful, low-key Easter this year. Stratton did a fantastic job decorating sugar cookies that were gone all too fast and getting in to the celebration. After all, anything that involves sugar is worth doing well to a 2 year old. So, Stratton and I made sugar cookies and birds nests Friday, the Easter bunny came Saturday morning and the egg hunt was such a hit that the Easter bunny ended up refilling all the eggs with breakfast cereal, and Stratton decided that was just as fun, and much better than the normal breakfast routine.

Here are the boys in their Sunday Easter outfits...I gave in and dressed them in matching vests for the first time, and probably not the last. I think there is something so interesting in seeing my boys dressed the same and still so different from each other. Maybe that's why the parents of twins do it...it makes the differences seem more obvious! And they were very cute. Lately Stratton's favorite color has been pink, so the pink diamond was alright with him. I even wore a pink shirt that day and Stratton said "I lika da pink shirt." He gives me more feedback on my clothes than Brigg! Lately Stratton has been talking with a bit of bad Italian accent so alot of words end with a. Not that he has ever been too easy too understand.

We also dyed Easter eggs and Stratton loved it! Lately his artistic aesthetic has involved using all available colors, whether with his crayons or paints or anything and easter egg dying was no different. Some of the eggs turned out lovely after their 25th dip, and some not so lovely. We had several very interesting shades of brown by the end. And of course, Stratton topped it all off by dumping the red dye all over himself and the carpet. Surprisingly, it came out of his pants, but the rug didn't fare quite so well. But, we weren't planning on keeping it forever, so for the next year, a little red highlighting is no big deal. I think Stratton liked having green/blue hands for the evening too. He seemed a little disappointed that they disappeared after his bath. Maybe he will get lucky again next year.

My brother makes me laugh!

Stratton says the silliest things. He is great for making Dashell, and the rest of us, laugh.We have had a couple false starts on potty training recently. Today while I was changing his diaper, I made a comment about him never being potty trained and he said, " Poopie in potty? Maybe later." If only....probably 5 years later!

Spring Break in Pictures

We were looking forward to a relaxing spring break with Brigg at home this past week. We stayed pretty close to home, but packed every day full! Stratton was ready for anything with his first bike helmet...why do things for little kids always have to be ugly? What is wrong with solid colors? Are the motorcycle riding monkeys really necessary for his safety? Anyways, he loved the helmet, especially since it meant he got to take advantage of our newest household addition- a double stroller/ bike trailer.

He LOVES riding behind his dad on his bike. And I love the quiet house he leaves behind! We also got out hiking one morning, and then went to Sandusky to an indoor water park for one night. Stratton was in heaven "sfwimming" and thoroughly wore himself out. And Dashell was pretty thrilled to go for his first swim...just look at the kid, he looks big enough to have been swimming for years!

Both boys did great and loved the water. We also went to the West Side Market one morning, and Stratton showed quite a flair for choosing his own food. I think the strawberry chocolate crepe was the hands down winner. We tried to get in work on some of our other projects, including pulling out bigger clothes for Dashell- he easily fits into 6-9 month clothes at just shy of 3 months old, starting a few plants for our summer "mini-garden" and Brigg fixed a tree lawn toy box, doing a beautiful job of replacing the lid. I'll have to take a picture after we stain it. Stratton also worked hard on making the house as big a mess as possible.

So at the end of this week, we are sad to see Brigg go back to school, but on the whole are feeling fat and happy in our messy house, although the rest of us don't pull off that look quite as well as Dash can in his too small pjs. We can't wait for next break, and this one hasn't even ended.

Yep, that about sums it up...

I'm So Lucky

Check out how big and strong this little man is already! It must be because he has such a sweet big brother helping him out all the time.

I just wanted to show off my handsome sons. I am such a lucky mom to have two beautiful boys!

Valentine's Day Fun with Cousins

For Valentine's Day we went to my sister's house and decorated cookies...Stratton wasn't sure why the decorations had to go on the cookie first. Why not just eat them straight? Gabriella was quite a bit more prolific. And Dashell got to show off his big belly to Noah. Noah is 3 weeks older than him, but I think it's clear that Dashell is the fatty of the family.