Opa and Oma's visit

Two weekends ago, Opa and Oma Robinson came out for a long weekend visit. The weather was fantastic during their stay, so we were outside most of the time. Well, I should say, Opa and Jonas worked outside most of the time.

Jonas accompanied Opa with sawing down a dead tree to make room for a compost. Jonas was diligent about dragging every branch out of the way for Opa. And the compost?? Oh, are we excited about that!! We take scraps from our kitchen out to the compost everyday now. Jonas loves to shovel to dig a hole for the food.

Silas enjoyed relaxing and watching.

Opa decided our apple trees needed to be pruned, so that was an enormous job. Nineteen bundles for the garage truck to pick up and plenty of firewood for camping. Jonas was right there by Opa's side every moment to help out.

Homemade shamrock cookies with Oma. Frosted them green with sprinkles. Jonas loves to help so he can lick his fingers and spatulas.

Fixing part of our carpet was one of the hundred things Opa fixed around our house.

Fixing part of the deck that came up over winter. Jonas was right there with his tools.

From plumbing fixes to gutter drain to blowing all the old leaves out of the backyard, Opa deserved fun in the hot tub. We loved having Opa and Oma come for a visit!

We love you OPA and OMA!! Please come again!

Silas is 17 months old

Where do I even start? This time of life, Silas is flourishing in every area of development. The 5 senses of the body are assimilating and he suddenly is so interested in a sound of a dog, poking and feeling the sand in the backyard, delights in every food, rummages through the spice cabinet to investigate the smells, and is Mr. Social Bug when we are in public.

Silas is a talker. He says about 6 words and completes the word with pronunciation to the end. Such as, DOG..instead of "da". Also, duck, book, broke, dad, and quack. When we read together, he is very adamant about wanting to help me turn the pages and points at every animal he knows. He recognizes over a dozen animals and points to them...cow, butterfly, fish, spider, duck, dog, cat, horse, squirrel, skunk, bird, and much more.

He knows more body parts that we have started using more technical words, such as quadricep instead of leg.

Physically, he wants to do everything his brother is doing. Like climbing on the couch and jumping into the bean bag...no matter how far it is. Climbs up the ladder on our playground outside and gets angry if we help him. Not a cautious toddler. Maybe that is why he has a passel of bumps and bruises. We attend a gymnastic class every Wednesday morning so Silas can climb and tumble over surmountable play structures without getting hurt.

Naps...LOL! We were so spoiled(and still are) with Jonas being an amazing napper. We have said goodbye to the morning naps since he was 1 year old and now the afternoon naps are hit and miss.

It's such a joy to have Silas in our family. His emotions are always on the outside so you know what he is feeling. We enjoy his sense of humor, laughter, creativity, and his endless hugs and cuddles.

WE LOVE YOU, SILAS!!!

Bob the Builder and his assistant

I picked up some dress up clothes(Halloween costumes) at a consignment sale and Jonas is just elated about Bob the Builder clothes. Every moment at home, he takes off his clothes and puts on the overalls and his tool belt.

"I am Bob the Builder and I have to wear a hard hat."-Jonas

Jonas has been building and fixing everything around the house. When we were taking down Valentines decoration, he said "Mom I fixed your heart for you." I took it literally and he was meaning a heart decoration that broke.

Here is Jonas and Silas painting a front end loader. Loads of fun!

Dr. Seuss' 107th birthday

Dr. Seuss may be known for his children's books, but lets be honest, his creative "think-outside-the-box" attitude can carry over into so many aspects of our daily lives....especially in the kitchen. We attempted to make green eggs and ham this morning.

You just never know what you may create or discover.

I am Jonas! Jonas I am! Do you like green eggs and ham?

The Cat in the Hat hat, made by Jonas and Silas with simple tools and supplies.

At lunch time, we had the honor to listen to Jonas' interpretation of The Cat in the Hat.

Fave Quotes by Dr. Seuss

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!"

"If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good."

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one."

"If things start happening, don't worry, don't stew, just go right along and you'll start happening too."

"And the Grinch, with Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. The the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

What better way to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday than reading his books?

Silas' ER visit

Sunday night, after a mini honeymoon with Matt, we took Silas to the ER down in Colorado Springs. He and his brother were staying with Grandmom and Grandad having a great time! They enjoyed hiking, read books, played with trucks, made jungle snack mix, listened to Grandmom play her violin, and bath tub time. While Matt and I stayed at the house and were able to snowboard, ride our bikes for 40 miles, went out to dinner, drinks with friends, movie, and sleeping in. We were well rested. Until after we arrived picking up the boys, Silas tripped on the brick flooring under the wood burning stove and fell right on the lip of the stove. His eye immediately bled all over. He was terrified as well as we were. Sitting in the waiting room for hours, Silas was as happy as he normally is. Luckily, it could have been worse. The doctors glued 2 long lacerations with Dermabond and went along our way. So glad he didn't have stitches. Holding him down to get the glue on was painful enough.

Precious angels continue to protect us! Who knows, maybe we weren't suppose to drive back to Denver when we wanted to. :)