The little red shovel.

When we were living at the pink house Alec would always use a little shovel that Nanny had from when Erik was little. Erik loved that little red shovel.  Alec loved that little red shovel more.

And I mean Alec LOVED that little shovel.  When we moved out Alec wanted to take it with him but Nanny wouldn’t let him because it is easier for her to use with her arthritis. He was sad but understanding.  I think she felt bad that she couldn’t give it to him.

The other day Alec and I had been out and about doing some errands. We walked back into the house and what did he spy in an instant? His new, very own, little red shovel. She apparently had seen one while she was out shopping and just had to buy it for him. Erik’s dad (Grand-pooh-pa) delivered it while we were out.  I would rate his reaction with the equivalent of me winning money.  Oh the joy and rapture. (I do love money).

(he thinks he is smiling)

Happiness is…a little red shovel.

What we’ve been reading

The other night after daycare Alec requested to stop at the library on our way home.  This is a completely unusual request.  We had stopped going to the library a little while ago. While our library has what I would consider to a great children’s room; when we would go Alec would rarely, if ever, take any interest in the books. He would talk with the fish and play with the train table but no books. I always ended up dragging him out kicking and screaming and it just wasn’t worth the effort.  Now we all know he loves to read so I would randomly grab some books off the shelf to take home as we were walking out the door so we could get some fresh reading material.  He has enjoyed many of the books I have grabbed but apparently this one book stuck in his mind and he wanted it back!

I’ll admit I was reluctant to bring him. I didn’t really have the fight in me to try and direct his attention to the books and away from the train table, fish, stuffed animals etc as we didn’t have time to linger -dinner still needed to be made and the nighttime stuff taken care of. He was very insistent in the most pleasant way and he threw a decent and non-whining argument to me and he won. Off we went.

I am happy to report- I was wrong. I explained to him as we walked in that I needed to use the computer to see if the book was in and who the author was so that we could find that section.  Alec was so well behaved. Walked with me to the computer and helped me type in the name of the book. We walked around to find the book and not an eye strayed to trains or fish or anything else. He was on a mission. We took more books by this author. Alec carried them all up to librarian himself, told her his name and stayed right there while she checked them out. Determined to get these books I tell you.  Once the last date was stamped on the books, his mission was complete and off he dance to the train table and to visit this fish….AND TO LOOK AT MORE BOOKS!  I talked with the librarian for a while and when I told him it was time to go ….and wait for it…..he put his jacket on with no argument!  This is MY child? Wow what did they feed him for snack at daycare? DO IT AGAIN!

So what book was it?

Alec belly laugh when we read it. And the funny this is I know he doesn’t get half the jokes! We own this next one and it is usually in his pile of favorites:

And we picked up

We climbed into our cozy fort. Radiant heat makes building forts even cozier-it was like a heat hut in there! The cat loved it.

And that’s all we’ve been reading since Thursday night.  And reading and reading and reading…..

Feels a little like Groundhog Day

Remember that movie?  Over and over and over….

You may remember I posted here about our lovely  snow day! last week. Well…we have had a couple more. I am no longer thrilled.  I am slightly horrified. And it just keeps repeating.

Tuesday:

We baked some pumpkin bread:

We went outside:

Ben and Noelle came over (thank goodness)

And then on Friday….GROUNDHOG DAY!

We did switch it up a little because Noelle and I had the boys bake together and then we went outside.

A little baking of cheese breadsticks:

We let them bounce for a while while we tried to delay the inevitable trek outside…

They had little interest in it. They went upstairs and went CRAZY:

(standing on the kitchen table that was made into a fort)…then they climbed on top of the play kitchen….

And then, of course, we consented to go outside and play.

It is suppose to storm again next Wednesday….GROUNDHOG DAY……..

What to do on a cold day?

Get some friends together and bounce!

And a little bike riding….

And they are off…..

Yeah for unfinished basements during these cold winter months.

Weekend fun….

We had the Rutherford family here this weekend while they attended a swim meet. Colin was awesome with Alec all weekend and played like a real trooper! The majority of their time was spent dressing up and fixing things.  Alec loved Colin a little too much sometimes but they had a great time.

 

I got a chance to go to the swim meet for a few minutes and see some old friends on the pool deck. It’s fun to see which coaches are still coaching and who has moved to other teams and it is completely awesome to run into swimmers who have grown-up so much in a few years and still want to say hi to me.  Alec loves the pool atmosphere (that’s my boy!) and wanted to just hang out and watch the kids swim but we had things to do and kids to feed. I had one of the coaches ask me which team I was going to put him on in 2 years. I just laughed. I can’t even imagine him 2 years from now!

Indoor Soccer

Here a few shots from indoor soccer.

 

 

 

 

What? You don’t see anything? Look closer.

 

 

 

Still nothing?

 

 

 

Ummmm……yeah….that’s cause we didn’t go this Saturday. (sorry Simmons men).  We had company and stayed up too late. Dedicated athletes we are not. I guess it will be something for you to look forward to reading about next week. I know we are looking forward to going…after we go to bed at a normal time!

Jam Session

Nope I don’t make jam.

This should not surprise you.

But Alec and Ben did have a jam session.

They rock!

Snow Day!

The forecast when I went to bed Tuesday night said we were going to get 8 inches of snow.  I think we had 8 inches by the time I woke up Wednesday morning. And it just kept snowing. The paper says we got 13.5 inches of snow but I think it was more like 18 inches. Since it was falling fast and furious and the wind was howling I declared my own snow day. (thankfully I have a flexible job!) Poor Erik –hospitals never get snow days. :(  Alec and I stayed inside all morning and made some calzones for lunch (thanks for the calzone reminder Noelle)!

We played pretend:

  

Finally at 2pm I relented and we geared up. Alec was more than ready to get out there. Me? Maybe a little. :) It was a lot of snow!

Some outside shots:

Alec somehow managed to get the girls across the street to pull him in the sled! Wahooo!

And then Ben and Noelle came to play…

They stopped to watch Erik snow blow…..

There was a lot of snow….it took him over an hour to clear the driveway.

After 3 hours outside Alec finally decided it was time to come in and we made some cookies (chocolate oatmeal- YUM!).. yes it was 5 and almost dinner time but really …warm cookies after playing outside? Just awesome. Look at those red cheeks!

He loves his chocolate..just like his mom!

Awesome snow day!