Cousin Night

My overall family is pretty small, and I only have 5 first cousins.  My aunt and uncle had a little gathering last night, where I was able to meet my cousin Kacie's new husband.  They are both scuba instructors in Haiti and are in the US for a short time.  It was great catching up with my cousins Kacie, Joel and Lauren.

Open House

We all visited Matty's preschool last night for an open house.  Zach was so excited to finally be able to go inside the classroom with his brother!  He immediately started coloring with markers and Matty showed him the bin with airplane toys.  They had a fun time playing and we enjoyed seeing some of Matty's artwork.

Matty showed Zach some of his favorite toys.

Enroll me now please!

Heat Wave

When looking out the window today (cold, windy & snowy), it is hard to believe that temps were in the mid-70's on Monday.  We definitely took advantage of the great weather...the boys rode their bikes all around one of the neighborhood lakes, we visited a park, and played outside with neighbor friends.  It was so nice to have an unusually warm day in late January!

No coats necessary!

Matty and his friend Charlotte in the prairie grass.

Outside Fun

Ears

The boys caught colds about 3 weeks ago, and the congestion will not go away.  Last Friday night, Matty kept waking up and saying that his ear hurt, so I took him to urgent care the next morning to find that he did in fact have an ear infection.  So, he started antibiotics right away.  Then, yesterday Zach was acting really cranky and holding his ear, so I took him in and he had an ear infection too...sigh.  So, he started his own antibiotics...only it is so difficult to make him take the medicine.  This morning, the sticky pink stuff ended up on my kitchen floor...still 17 doses left for him over the next 8 days.  To top it all off, it is freezing outside!  In happier news, Matty had 2 great days at school this week even though he prefers outdoor recess to the gym.

Future Mozarts

Time Flies

Four years ago today, Matty came off of his oxygen after almost 8 months!  I can't believe how fast time has flown since that happy day!

Trains

Cold Day

Not too much to report this week...it is freezing outside, Jeremy has been working long hours + Saturdays, and the boys have both had colds.  Matty's cold started last Sunday and, like his colds always do, went into a cough right away.  We have been using the vaporizer at night, plus breathing treatments and vapo-rub.  I know that spring will be here soon, but January is a tough month when you have little kids who just want to play outside!  Thank goodness for the toy room!

Lazy Sunday

New Years Eve Snow

While it was snowing yesterday morning, the boys helped me shovel the driveway and they had a blast.  The snow continued to fall into the evening, and it was definitely a good night to stay inside to ring in the new year!  Today, they tried out their new sled.  Zach wasn't too fond of the sled and preferred to stay on his feet, but Matty had a few good runs where he made it all the way down the hill into the backyard.

Family Night Out

We went over to Erik & Stephanie's new house on Saturday night and had such a fun time.  Erik drove Matty out to see the pond, and the boys loved playing with the giant spotlight.

Looking for deer with the giant spotlight.

This thing is great!

Nana gave them dream light pillows.

Matty loves his Great Uncle Ronnie!

Inside Play

We have been inside a lot this past week due to the cold weather.  The boys have really enjoyed playing with all of their new toys!  And Zach has a new favorite game...he likes to go into Jeremy's closet and smell colognes and then put the caps back on.  He even knows the names to several different fragrances!

They love their new yard equipment.

The new clubhouse is great!

Matty's has a nice John Deere collection.

The sizzle & pop kitchen set is great!

Z loves cologne!

Plaza Night

We took the boys to the Plaza last night to see all of the lights.  We ate at Tomfooleries and then walked around for a bit...they especially liked the Barnes and Noble store because they could ride the escalators up and down!  Then, some snow flurries started to fall!

Christmas

We had a nice, quiet Christmas this year.  We went to mass on Christmas Eve and then had a little pasta dinner at home.  The boys were excited to wake up to see the gifts that Santa brought the next morning...their favorite gifts were a bike, a new train set, the Umizoomi car, remote control cars, and of course some Home Depot lawn equipment (mower, blowers, weed eaters, tools).  We went to my parents' house later in the day and had a nice evening and dinner.  It is so much fun to see the wonder of Christmas through the eyes of little children.  Merry Christmas to everyone!

The blowers were a hit!

This was Jeremy's coat when he was little!