Will and Nate are into containers lately. They dump out the contents and then slowly put everything back in. Then they clap for themselves and start all over. It is pretty funny. Sometimes they get back at each other. Will likes to scream at the top of his lungs when he is mad which is pretty funny. Nate just grins and looks guilty. Silly guys.
The late great snow of 2011 yielded maybe an inch of snow. Well we decided to play in it anyway. Our daffodils are now covered in snow. Derek made a snow angel and part of a snow man. His favorite part was shoveling (we will remind him in 10 years of this). I offered him hot cocoa when he was done but no he only wanted milk. D has an aversion for anything hot. Geema took pics for us and then checked on Will and Nate who were napping. Yup 32 degrees and Geema is in a t-shirt. We had lots of fun enjoying the bit of snow before it melted.
Derek is into music this week. There has been lots of guitar playing, piano playing, and music. He also made a new drum for himself. He asked Mike to tuck the drum into his shirt to hold it so he could play it better (quite creative). He then marched around the house singing and playing. Mike helped improve his drum sticks so he could play louder.
Will and Nate love their black beans. They end up with black all over their faces.
We have not had the most delightful couple of weeks. Several factors combined for a rough time. D is having a rough couple of weeks. He has needed some more time away from his brothers getting into everything so we set up a play space for him in his room to be by himself with some toys (or just time alone with us). Today he requested to play legos on the table with Daddy (translation- one-on-one time). We also made a chore/reward chart for him. He really likes to help so we put the list of his "jobs" on the board that he gets to put stars by when he does them. We also added a reward star line for stars for special behavior. If he gets 5 stars he gets a special treat. He can also lose his stars. This has made a huge difference in his attitude. Will and Nate both got 2 upper teeth which is part of their crabbiness and not sleeping but it is getting better. 
Will got his first black eye. He ran into tigger being ridden by Derek. There are lots of bumps and bruises around here from each other and from just being boys.
Derek is obsessed with forts again. For the last several days, we have had a fort up and D has spent a lot of time playing in it. Will and Nate loves to crawl through it and giggle. Even Alex goes through the Fort. It is a fun hideaway.
Don't let these sweet little faces deceive you- Will and Nate are into everything and leave a path of destruction behind them. Here are a few from just the last few days:
Derek and I baked cookies the other day and then decorated them. Derek did a great job of helping. We made sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies. By the time we got to the chocolate chip cookies I realized I had forgotten about dinner- oops. So I started making dinner and D mixed the cookies by himself. He did a great job! He also decorated the sugar cookies by himself. To clarify, I frosted and he added the sugar. He loved it. They were a curious combination of Christmas, Valentine's Day, and animal cookies as D picked which cookie cutter he wanted to use. He was very proud of his work and of course wants to sample it a lot. I love the pic of him smiling silly so that you can't see his eyes. Silly kid!
This is such a classic shot of the boys. Lots of love and lots of tackling. Hugs usually involve tackling. We tell D to be gentle but Will and Nate howl with laughter which doesn't really enforce our words!
We went to a party at Pump it up Jr. to celebrate all of our kiddos turning 3. D loved jumping with Daddy. Will and Nate enjoyed playing with toys. It is fun to watch all these kids growing up. We have known them all since they were tiny babies. These fellow moms have meant so much to me. They were absolutely vital for the first year of D's life and have been great friends ever since.
