Mo-Mo?

It's about as official as it can get at this point. Miles Oliver Moffat will be our next family member. Yes, we know his initials will be MOM, and No, we really don't think it will be that big of a deal (except for those 3 days in elementary school when middle names are the hot topic on the playground- I guess he'll just have to buck up at that point). Eric's co-workers are already calling Miles "Mo-Mo". They already call Eric "Mo" or "Mr. Mo" so it was an easy transition to add the extra "Mo" in front for Miles Oliver.

Hey, maybe he and Cha-Cha can hook up someday. That would be an interesting wedding invitation- "Mo-Mo and Cha-Cha invite you to join them...."

Running off the energy from a couple of 2 year olds

We spent a good chunk of time at various parks in Chico, trying to run off some of the energy the kids stored up while visiting with the many relatives that love them SO MUCH! Sam got his first unofficial climbing lesson while we were there. The first two times up Eric helped him get his weight lifted up every now and then. The third time he just pointed where to put his feet and Sam did the rest, all the way up.

Maggie wanted to walk with Grandma, and told me she needed to use her pockets, just like Grandma too.

We also discovered a new love. Soccer. Although Eric isn't in this pic, he got quite the workout playing with these two that day. This is a cute one of the kids battling for the ball.

Balance. Something Maggie desperately needs help with. Thanks Mom.

Spring Break....installment #2

Here are some cute pics I grabbed off my parents camera from the week.

Easter pic with G & G.

Swinging with Grandpa.

"Night of the Living Dead" starring Maggie Grace.

Easter in Cali

Here are the eggs, the baskets, and the hunt. In that order.

Sam and Maggie really enjoyed the egg dying this year. We had a LOT of violet eggs, we think Maggie dyed somewhere near 10 of them in the blue and then in the purple. Purple has been her color of choice lately. She loved those eggs.

I have fond Easter memories that include warm weather (aka: short sleeve dresses, no tights, and sandals). The kids got to experience a nice warm Easter day this year- it was somewhere around 80 degrees out. Yea!!!

And last but not least, a few pictures of the hunt. My dad and Uncle did a great job hiding eggs for a couple of two year olds and then giving them hints to find them ("Hey, look over here...No, UNDER the chair").

The kids had a great time and we had a great Easter. Praise God, HE IS RISEN!

Fun Facts?

#1: We hit a DQ for a bathroom and diaper break yesterday on our drive to California. Eric and I got an ice cream treat from inside and when we got everyone back in the car we gave the kids each a bag of carrots for their snack. Leading by example at it's finest.

#2: Eric was very good this morning and got up and went running. He got lost and his 4 mile run turned into a 7.1 miler. Oops.

It takes one to know one.

I overheard this from the kids room while Eric was trying to change them into clean dry bottoms after church today, at least one of the kids was in meltdown mode and both were clamoring for his attention-

"I know, I know. Twinage can be hard sometimes, huh guys."

Oftentimes I ask them to 'buck up' rather than offer them empathy. I'm glad Sam and Maggie have an ally in their father.

It's about time...!

Well, we did it. We spent our life savings and got the kids pictures taken...finally. Here are some of our favorites.

Our favorite 'group' pic.

And some of our favorite "rejects":
This one is titled "Sam loving Maggie too much."

And this one we call "The session should have ended by now"...
:-)

We'll have them in your hot little hands (err, mailbox) soon....be patient.

End Petlessness

I had a dream last night that Portland had enacted a law that anyone over 48 years old was required to have a pet. Oh my.

I think I've seen too many of these billboards lately. (I knew Portland was wierd...but seriously?)

I'd say that rivals your Nutria dream, eh Mom?

6 hours.

6 hours.

That's all it took for both bbq's to be gone from the front yard.
Nice.

Rockwood, our 'love' for you has been rekindled. You just saved us $40 or more in dump fees.

Boy Meets Grill

Eric got a new BBQ for his birthday from his lovely wife, parents, and in-laws combined. He was so excited when he got home and saw it that he actually walked right past all of us in the living room and went right out back to check it out. It was pretty funny to watch. We had turkey burgers last night (which typically stick to the grill like no one's business)- and all I heard out of Eric while grilling were things like "WOW, look at these grill lines!! They are, like, PERFECT. These burgers are amazing- they are.....brown! Not one spot is burnt!!" Well, we're glad you like it, honey. Now I just have to come up with a slew of grillable meals....rights before grilling season really starts. Nice.

This is just a step up from our old set up...we were using 2 different hand-me-down grills - and both were ready to see their last burger any day now. So, this afternoon we put them both out front with FREE signs on them....so far- one is already gone. Gotta love Rockwood. Rusty, broken, rotted out grills are a hot commodity down here. Hey Vicki- maybe that can be a selling point for this place at some point: "Friendly neighbors, willing to take your junk unto their home at a moments notice."

A Birthday Quiz

One of Eric's coworkers made this little quiz for his lunchtime birthday 'party' at work yesterday. Click on the pictures to enlarge them, it's worth it. :-)

Who's who?...revealed.

Eric is on the LEFT, Greg on the RIGHT.

So, how did you do?
:-)

Happy Birthday Eric!!

Eric, we love you so much and hope you have a great day! Happy 29th Sweetie!

(take the poll...who's who??)

Eat your veggies.

Quote from dinner tonight: "Maggie, you need to eat your rice and chicken before you can have more asparagus."

FYI- she ate 4 spears before we decided to cut her off. Here's link to the recipe we used for the asparagus tonight.

Opoosites attract?

Eric is off helping to install some flooring at his Uncle's house this morning, so I decided a 'craft' of some kind would be good for the kids. We have an abundance of paper sacks right now, so I chopped a couple up and now we have vests. It helped us to kill about an hour of time this morning while Daddy was out. Do you like the expressions on their faces? I almost always have one that is playing the sad role and one that is rather jolly. This morning, Sam's the jolly one....kindof. :-)