Cameron!

Fourth time around, and I still said, "If you say so," when the technician said things like, "And here we see his ear..." It all looked the same to me, except of course the obvious images of his head and then the, uh, outdoor plumbing. I had a dream a long time ago about a boy, so I wasn't surprised, but it's still exciting. Parker is very happy to have a little brother and hugged the CD of images as we left. My due date is still August 26, so let's hope the air conditioner works well this summer!

Art Contest

McKenzie decided she wanted to enter her elementary school's art contest this year. I bought her a few canvases and some paint, and she told me repeatedly, "I love painting! I think I'm going to be an artist someday!" As we filled out the entry form, I told her she needed to think of a title for her painting. I had to post this simply because I didn't want to forget the title she immediately came up with: "The Flower of Liberty." Such a funny kid.

Toothless

McKenzie's second front tooth had been hanging crookedly in her mouth for weeks. She didn't want to pull it out (probably because her parents kept begging her to do so). Finally tonight during dinner she got tired of her tooth bothering her while eating and she got up from the table to go pull it out. She had fun drinking through a straw in the huge gap in her mouth now that all four front teeth have been lost!

Happy St. Patty's

For some reason, it has become tradition for me to take pictures each year as the kids help make Irish soda bread on St. Patrick's Day. I guess there's just so little going on in March for us that it gives me something to post about. This year, I just figured I'd better keep up with the tradition.

I liked how blurry their hands were - they took kneading (or in this case, karate-chopping) the dough seriously.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How to Wear Parker Out

Step 1: Play blacklight putt-putt on a Friday afternoon, letting him run around excitedly telling everyone, "Okay, you just need to golf it over to that hole!" Repeat for 9 holes.

Step 2: Wow. Success already. That wasn't hard.

Step 3: Wake him back up with chocolate ice cream. Lots of it!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

McKenzie had today off school, and I had some discount tickets to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum, so we spent the day there. At first the place was overrun with two different preschool groups, so my timid kids were a little shy, but eventually they had a great time!

Parker turned and turned this wheel at the water table for a good 10 minutes straight. I finally sat down on a fake rock to wait. (He's cute in a smock, though!)

Last time we went two years ago, Parker wasn't too excited about the helicopter. This time we had to visit it three separate times - Kenzie was nice and let her little brother pilot.

She was far more interested in this spirograph-type thingy. We have five or six pages floating around the house now of pictures she drew while spinning the wheel.

We left for a little bit to eat lunch, and then came back when the preschool crowds had thinned a bit. Once refueled, Parker was ready for a second round of the ball area!

And, what a surprise, we went back to the helicopter!

They joined in a little art class, featuring today's specialty: painting with pieces of bubble wrap. Kenzie claimed she didn't want to at first, but then she made three paintings!

Parker was too busy to look up for a picture. He was very possessive of the blue paint and took it personally when the other little boy at the table would use it.

Right outside the museum was a free event sponsored by the local PBS station in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday. At 11am when it began, the line was out the door, down a flight of stairs, and even beyond. I did not think that line was worth standing in for a free Cat in the Hat hat and a book. However, around 2pm, there was no longer a line at all, so we decided to have a look on our way out. They were out of hats, but each kid did get to pick a free book. Kenzie then made some Dr. Seuss trees out of pipe cleaners while Parker plopped down on a rug and watched Cat in the Hat on a big screen for awhile. And then...

...the Cat in the Hat showed up! Kenzie was too scared to say hi, but Parker ran to him and gave him a hug! I thought it was way too cute. At that point, we headed over to Daddy's work. Kenzie said several times, "This is the best day ever!" Then she convinced us to go out for dinner on the way home (not that I needed much persuasion by that point; I was tired!).

Snow!

Here's a picture for my in-laws in Tahiti (although come to think of it, I don't feel bad for them missing the snow...)! Finally, on March 1st, Parker had enough snow to march around the backyard in and throw snowballs with. He had a great time heaving snowballs the size of his head with a giant grin on his face!