Bella, Gabe and Josiah

Lucy is a really great cat. She likes to snuggle, she loves to catch mice and she’s super gentle with Josy. You can’t am for more than that. That said, she is also a very silly cat... One of Josy’s friends gave him a Valentine with cotton balls on it. Lucy thought it was great and decided to carry it around the house. Gabe put a necklace on her (which she wore until I took it off the next day...) because he wanted her “to look like a mom.” She sometimes carries the boys toys around the house, sometimes stealing them off of the counter... She was pretty sure she needed to go to school with us the other day. Neither boy was happy with me when I kicked her out of the car. She’s quirky. But she’s the best cat.

I did something drastic this last weekend: Josy got a haircut. It was time. I’d trimmed his bangs a couple of times, but the big problem was the back that was just getting crazy long. So I gave in and made an appointment. We figured it would be easier for Josy if he could watch Gabe first, so Gabe got a haircut too. He did great. He sat on my lap nicely until the very end. It wasn’t until she tried to get the last couple of slips in that he decided he was done. Then he decided he needed to help Daddy sweep the floor, since the kids really does love to sweep... He seriously looks like a different kid. It’s been a few days and I still don’t always recognize him. It also makes him look so much older! I probably shouldn’t have pulled out all the 2T clothes this weekend too. It’s too much more me to handle. My baby is growing up way too fast!!! The haircut also makes him suddenly look like my brother Matt. I never thought Josy looked like him until now...

Silly Josy really loves the snow shovel. I really hope that never goes away, so I have a permanent driveway shoveler... One morning during our super cold snap, Gabe was too cold to eat breakfast, so I told him he could get dressed first. He came downstairs wearing three shirts, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks and two pairs of undies. Hey, he definitely wasn’t cold!! Sometimes Josy insists on bringing out all of his snuggly guys after naptime. Gabe loves to read this book to Josy. I bought the boys new water bottles, since the last one (that they were sharing) got thrown away in a fit of frustration that it was usually discovered on the floor in a giant puddle of water. So I bought them these two. Unfortunately, Josy is convinced that they’re both his and he loves them! He’s finally getting a little better, but for a while there he was getting mad every time Gabe tried to take his somewhere. In this picture, Gabe had put it down to put in his jacket and Josy stole it back. He is

Ask your kid... Word for word, without prompting:  from Gabe, age 5 1. If you won a million dollars, what would you buy? A pirate ship 2. How long does it take to get to the beach? An hour 3. What does Mom always say to you? Clean out your undies 4. What job would you like to do when you grow up? I haven’t decided yet. There are lots of options. 5. Who is the strongest person you know? Daddy 6. Where do babies come from? Mommy’s tummy 7. At what age do you become a grownup? Mom, when did you become a grown up? 8.  What wild animal do you like?  Lion 9. What would you do if you couldn’t find your underwear? Just get new ones 10. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pears 11. How much does it cost to buy a house? 38 bucks 12. Who do you hang out with all the time?  Josy 13.  What’s your favorite song to dance to? Muppet Treasure Island 14. What are you scared of?  Ghosts 15.  What is your favorite game to play? The Pirate Game 16. What's your favori

Josy definitely needs to stop growing up. This morning he tried to make his own breakfast... As soon as I put the milk in, I moved him to the high chair, which he was not happy about. But eating dry Cheerios on the floor is one thing. Milk is a whole different situation... Also, wow, those jammies are small. The 2T jammies are sitting in the den, waiting for me to put them in his drawer. Clearly I need to accept that he’s outgrown his 18 month jammies and let him wear jammies that fit him...

It’s been crazy cold. So cold that just bucking the boys into their careers in the mornings makes me want to cry. But still, I’ve seen all sorts of people posting pictures of going to the ice caves to explore. It’s both made me jealous and made me wonder how they’re surviving in the cold.  Anyway, the crazy cold has finally gotten better and we’re back to normal cold. So we decided to go play on the ice this morning. We knew there was no way that we’d make it to the caves, but we figured that it would be fun to play on the ice a bit. Also, I had to be back for a meeting in an hour... It was perfect and exactly what we needed.  We pulled the boys on the sleds and walked out to one of the icebergs to play. My attempts at family pictures are not appreciated... Then we decided to turn around and Josy was not happy about it. Realistically, he was getting cold too. At one point Gabe managed to tip out of his sled and he landed head first on the ice. He instantly had a goose egg and then both