The Epic Visit

Mom and Jim came to visit in early March.  They were life savers because Matt had to go out-of-town for a week for work.  We spent some time at home and some up in the mountains.  We had a blast:

Both my Grandma and my Mom are outstanding sewers.  They love making wonderful things and have a great talent for it.  It must have skipped a generation (neither my sister nor I sew much) because Elias has been asking about sewing quite a bit.  I told Mom about it, so she brought some material to make PawPaw a shirt. 

 Elias' favorite part may have been the magnifying glass.  I think this pose is so Elias.

 Making stitches.

 The final product.  Orders anyone?

Up in the mountains there was much to do.  Grandpa and Elias HAD to go skiing together.  We went out to breakfast, and Elias wore a crown he made.  The waitress took a picture of him on her phone.  Recently, we went back to the restaurant and she remembered him and showed him the photo.  Pretty fun!

 Riding in the wagon to the ski slopes.  As you can see, Ezra can't wait.

 What is snow made of?  Water, so of course Ezra loved it!

After skiing with Grandpa down the double black diamond...OK, maybe it was the bunny hill.

Since it was close to Mardi Gras, Grandpa and Elias made a King Cake.  Yummy!

 Elias "helping."

 

The final cake.

Both Mom and Jim helped feed Ezra.  Not a small feat, that's for sure.

 

Seems like forever ago Ezra was drinking bottles.

 Lentils.  Delicious!

I do believe The Second Annual Epic Visit has already been scheduled.  I can hardly wait!

New Toys

Elias asked me today why we Ethan and Tate always give us toys when we see them.  I must admit it is pretty cool being the last one in the family to have kids.  We get everything from everyone!  It's like Christmas all throughout the year.  I know I have written about some of the things before.  Here is a list of some recent items:

Workbooks (came in very handy on our last plane trip)
A Wiggles guitar
Clothes & PJs
Hyperdash
Books (Thomas and others)
Thomas memory cards
Stickers
Puzzles
A stuffed frog
Hullabaloo
Crocodile raft and crocodile
Snap together toys for building
Blocks

Luckily, I am not the last one of my friends to have kids, so as Elias and Ezra grow up, on they go to someone new!

Shorty

Once Ezra was 1, it was time to switch him to a new car seat.  With the recommendations now being rear facing until at least 2, Ezra is lucky he is so short. 

Matt and Ezra with the new car seat

Bath Time!

Finally a cute bath time picture of Ezra.  I have way more of Elias.  That's what you get when you are the second kid.

National Western Stockshow

Earlier in the year, we went to the National Western Stock Show.  I fondly remember going to the Illinois State Fair, so I was a bit disappointed in the stock show.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but here is what we did.  We watched a bad rodeo clown performance,

 enjoyed the free petting zoo,

saw the cows getting thoroughly groomed for their moment of glory, sat in big farming equipment, walked by hundreds of booths trying to sell us stuff (and we paid admission to the stock show!!), and paid 50 cents so Elias could play on some playground equipment that was really just a big advertisement to get parents to purchase it for their backyard.  Maybe we will have to check out the Colorado State Fair one year in hopes of reliving my childhood.

Ezra Turned 1

January 9th, 2012 Ezra turned 1.  Funny how they just keep getting older.  We must not have done much because I don't remember, and more importantly, there aren't any pictures of a huge party.  If it weren't for our camera, this blog would be even more pitiful.

I do know that Ezra got this great tent with balls (which I have already bought for someone else because it is so fun).  Both Elias and Ezra enjoy playing in it.  In fact, it got Elias napping again during quiet time.  He would curl up inside it with his toys and books up in his room and fall asleep.  Anything that does that is practically a miracle!

Ezra also got a water table.  He is obsessed with water:  playing in water, drinking it, splashing in it, swimming in it, licking it off the concrete, spilling it and cleaning it up...you name it.  It was winter, so we played it in the shower.

 

I don't have any other pictures of gifts, but I know he got loads of other really awesome toys!

Sigh

I don't mean to get so behind.  Such is life.  I got a wonderful postcard from Aunt Serena a few months back with a great cartoon about blogging.  It is always encouraging to know there are people who enjoy reading about our crazy lives.  Let me work on getting back to it...