They Are Spoiled...I Mean Loved!

A couple of days ago, the boys received some cards in the mail.  They were Valentine cards from Granny Joy.  She had called on Valentine's Day and told them there would be a surprise in the mail soon.  The boys ripped open the envelopes and found a cute card plus a $5 bill!  They were very excited and can't wait to go spend their money.  They had a few ideas about what they wanted!  I'm excited to take them to the store and let them choose something with their money!

Thanks, Granny Joy!  So very loved!

Enjoying every moment!

Today

Today I could have slept in but my internal alarm clock went off at 5:55 am.  Boo.
Today the boys slept in until nearly 7:30 am.
Today Chris was up and gone by 7:10 am to meet Sebastian for a work day at Sebastian's store.
Today the sheets got washed on our bed.
Today the boys built cars together before breakfast.
Today we all ate something different for breakfast.
Today I dropped off a number of books at the library.
Today we went for a quick shopping trip to Grocery Outlet.
Today the boys had a play date at Heather's house.
Today I spent an hour and a half at school for a meeting.
Today the boys used Cannon's book it pizza coupons and each received a free pizza.
Today Cannon got soaked outside trying to drive the RC boat in the huge puddle in the backyard.
Today Colson took a two hour nap.
Today I watched the Olympics while working out.
Today Cannon worked on his homework and almost has it done.
Today both boys are playing on the website abcya.com.
Today I tried to clean, but didn't have much drive to complete too much.
Today I paid bills.
Today I worked on school stuff.
Today the boys watched Team Umizoomi.
Today the boys fought over the computer.
Today we had leftovers for dinner.
Today Cannon drew pictures from his drawing book.
Today Colson loved playing with trucks.
Today I loaded a bag for the Goodwill.
Today it was cold and rainy.
Today I put away a lot of laundry that had been sitting for days.
Today I watched a great basketball game between Duke and  Syracuse.  (Duke won.)
Today Chris got home late and was exhausted from helping Sebastian at the store all day.
Today I surfed Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers.
Today we sat and watched motorcross racing.
Today I tried to fall asleep on the couch.
Today I forgot to post this blog....so it will go up a day late!
Today was a busy, but good day.

Enjoying every moment.

Bracelets

Rubber band bracelets are the big "craze" right now.  Cannon got a loom from Claire and we have learned a couple of simple ways to make bracelets.  Cannon picked up on it very fast and can make them on his own. His latest is a Seahawk inspired bracelet.  Colson likes to "make bracelets" also but usually makes more of a mess with the rubber bands.  I find them everywhere!  They are mostly all over the living room floor.

Enjoying every moment.  

Valentine's Day

This year Valentine's Day was on a Friday and we had the day off from school.  So our Valentine's celebrations were all on Thursday.

The 4th graders celebrated by having a semi-formal luncheon.  We spent the week learning about table manners, polite conversation, how to set a place setting and just the basic all around basics for when you sit down to a nice meal.  Everyone dressed up nice and looked great!  It truly was a wonderful experience for the kids.

Cannon had a nice celebration in class.  They had a number of Valentine activities they completed throughout the day including some Valentine counting, Valentine coloring, Valentine card making and of course, some Valentine opening!  I was able to sneak in when they were opening Valentine's and it was great to see all of the kindergartners excited and almost overwhelmed by all of the cards and candy they had.  It was a bit like Christmas!

At home, we exchanged cards, had pink waffles for breakfast, spent the day together and ate chocolate and candy all day long!

Enjoying every moment.

Headed to the City

The big city of Seattle is so close, but yet so far.  We don't visit very often.  The traffic is horrible just getting there.  So it's exiting for the kids when we do get up close and personal with Seattle.  They love to see the sky scrapers, stand next to the space needle, watch the monorail and have some fun!

Today we headed to Seattle with Heather and her boys to visit the Pacific Science Center.  There is so much to do and see there.  The boys could have stayed all day long.  They loved having the freedom to go from exhibit to exhibit:  looking, observing, discussing, trying things out, exploring.  They enjoyed the insect and reptile area where they loved the crazy looking insects, and huge snakes.  We took a quick walk through the butterfly house, which is always a beautiful (but hot!) place to visit.  They also had fun in the Healthy Body exhibits.

What a great Valentine's Day for our boys!

Enjoying every moment.

February Snow!

Snow.
Always exciting!
Always.

I love it.  The kids love it.

We don't get snow very often, so when we do, it's a big deal!  The boys played in it as much as they could. They rode their bikes.  They stomped around.  They threw snowballs.  Cannon pulled Colson on the sled and I pulled Cannon on the sled.

Loving the white stuff!

Enjoying every moment.

Birthday + Children's Museum = Loads of Fun

Sunday we had a long, busy day.

First of all, we woke up to about 4 inches of snow. It had started the evening before and accumulated pretty fast.  It was gorgeous and wonderful.  The boys had a chance to play in it for a short time in the morning before heading off to church.  After church we went straight to the Children's Museum in Tacoma for Vincent's birthday party.  They loved having some pizza and especially cupcakes!

The boys played for a few hours and didn't want to leave.  They sure had a lot of fun.  Both were busy doing different things the entire time, but both enjoyed themselves and it was great to watch them engage in such creative play.

When we got home, they were outside again in the snow, playing hard.

Needless to say, they were in bed with lights out by 6:45 pm.

Enjoying every moment.

A Surprise Valentine Package

Who doesn't love a surprise!  Especially when you are a kid.  And especially when it contains fun Valentine's from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson!  The boys worked together to open the package and each had turns at tearing the tissue paper off of the presents.  They got some cool Valentine finger skate boards, some Valentine stickers and some Valentine chocolate candy.  Their favorite was the chocolates, of course!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa for thinking of the boys!

Enjoying every moment.

Valentine Making Time

Valentine Time!
We didn't actually do very much 'creating.'  I found a cute printable online, printed and cut out the Valentine's and then we stuck the erasers in the middle.  Then Cannon had to sign his name to all 24 and we were done.

It took the longest t search for the "right" Valentine printable online.  Cannon really didn't care, of course.  So I hunted and hunted until I found a cute but easy one.

Whew!  Glad it's done!

Now I just have to work on Valentine's for my 4th graders.

Enjoying every moment.

Swimming Lessons

We've started up with swimming lessons again.  And this month, both boys are swimming!

Cannon has moved up to the next class and is swimming on his own.  He's working on technique of the 'streamline' and the 'crawl' stroke.  It's great to watch him and I can remember not long ago when he was in the beginner class, just learning to swim and with a kick board!

Colson started the Parent and Tot class.  Chris is going in with him and after some initial nervousness, he is enjoying himself and have a great time.  He's working hard the whole class and is totally exhausted by the end.  He's pretty quiet on the way home and I think, half asleep!

What great memories!

Enjoying every moment.  

Superbowl Champions!

Oh my goodness!
The Seahawks are the NFL Champions.

This was an incredible year for the Seattle Seahawks.  They had a great season, making it all the way to the Superbowl.  That in itself is a huge feat.

The hype of the game, as always, was immense and the our city has been on a high all season, following the Seahawks on their road to the Superbowl.  The Seahawks were the underdogs going into the game against the Denver Broncos.  It was the #1 offense (Broncos) against the #1 defense (Seahawks).  The game was slated to be a close one!

However, right from the start of the game, it was all Seahawks.  The Hawks scored 12 seconds into the game, receiving a safety after the the Broncos center snapped the ball over Manning's head into the en-zone. And it didn't stop.  The final score was 43-8.  We dominated the entire game and the Broncos never had a chance.

What a great game to watch if you were a Seahawk fan!

Enjoying every moment!

Hello, Colson

I took a few photos of Colson yesterday and today to try and get a good picture of his birthday invitation. He did quite well for me, but he is still only 2 (almost 3!) and his attention span is short!

Here is the good one:

Here are a few of the outtakes:

Cutie!
Enjoying every moment!

Colson's Day

Friday Colson had a doctor appointment in Bellevue.  So I took the day off and we had fun spending the day together.

After stopping for some hot cocoa from Starbucks, we headed to Bellevue Square.  Colson's doctor appointment was just up the road from there.  But we needed to kill an hour of time, so Colson played on the cool toys at the mall.  We visited the Lego store and then shared some frozen yogurt.

We had some good snuggle time at the doctors, reading together, talking, playing some games and playing the tablet as we waited (and waited and waited).  Two hours later we were finally going home and all is well. Just a check back on the knee "bruise" in about three months.

We sure did enjoy the day together.

Enjoying every moment.