Not much to say tonight, but a few fun pictures to share. John and I both were in need of new photos for our Facebook profiles. John's was a shot of him on the sledding hill with the boys and mine was a picture I love from our Arizona trip last year. Both a bit dated. These are the updates.

After dinner last night we were all playing together when Edward stood up while playing in the tunnel and declared, "Look, I'm a tuba." We thought this was funny enough to run for the camera.
Shortly after that, Daniel climbed up in my lap and John captured this shot:That made it seem possible that I might be able to recapture what I loved about my old photo, so I forced Edward to come join Daniel. Some slight resistance and goofy faces ensued, but we finally captured the shot at the top of this post. Then of course John wanted one too. We didn't think the boys would stand for it, and indeed, there was a bit more goofiness and a lot more wiggling, but we got one he liked too. Mission accomplished.

Next we have what happens when you go from bike helmet to dinner table without a second's pause:


It was "crazy hair day" at school today, but Daniel apparently reserved his craziest look for our dining pleasure. (And a bit of chin jelly from eating his toast vertically rather than holding the bread horizontally and taking bites like a normal person.)

Here he's showing the "cookie" I made today. It's a recipe from our local grocery store magazine that uses an organic cookie mix plus dried cranberries. Not bad--I thought it had an odd texture, possibly due to being gluten-free--but tasted good. The kids liked them and they're quick and easy to make, so a successful experiment.

Hooray for Team Kenyon and all of our sponsors near and far! So far our team has raised more than $2,300 for the March of Dimes! We had an absolutely beautiful morning for our walk on Saturday--cool and sunny and perfectly dry. This picture was hastily assembled and snapped as the walkers started moving forward. Needless to say, we fell to the rear of the pack pretty quickly. We had arranged ahead of time for Grandma and Grandpa to meet us at the downtown playground and stay there with the boys until we called to say we were nearing the end of the route. We didn't think the boys would be patient with the stroller for the full route and, frankly, didn't want to push them for six miles! It worked really well. When we called they were just packing the stroller and the boys into their car to come meet us at the finish line for treats and more park time. Some friends of ours who usually walk with us, but didn't this year as they just welcomed their third child 10 days ago also met us at the end so that was a lovely surprise.For once we wished we lived on a slightly busier street since we had this yard sign for the first time and hoped it would attract some attention. Actually our neighbors commented on it on Sunday, noting that they'd missed the event but asking us to keep them posted for next year. Always room for more!
It was a little too sunny for this shot, but you get the idea.

The best line of the day came from Edward: "Why is it called March of Dimes when it's not March?" He is very tuned into the calendar these days and was eagerly anticipating his first field trip, which he knew was April 19. He's been checking our home calendar daily, sometimes multiple times per day to see how close it was getting. His class took a school bus to a local theater to see a performance of Slim Goodbody, which coincided with their month-long unit on the human body. Edward enjoyed the show ("He wore clothes that were like the inside of your body!") but it will come as no surprise to learn that the highlight was the four-block ride on the school bus. Four blocks?! Yes, they could have walked, but the schools regulations (from corporate headquarters) prohibit crossing streets with the kids.

This is a favorite afternoon activity. Behind the boys is a bush that last summer was about three times too large for the spot it was planted. We moved it on Sunday and are hoping it will survive and fill an area of the yard that needs some TLC. The boys are not exactly "helpful" with yard work, but at least now can entertain themselves while we tackle some projects around the yard.

This picture was taken before 8 a.m. mass on Easter. Are you impressed? Well, we did cut of the top of John's head, but it was the best we could do with limited time and personnel. By the time Grandma and Grandpa came over later in the morning, we were all back to grungy clothes.When John got Daniel dressed, his shirt was tucked in. This lasted about 2.5 seconds. I didn't even bother with Edward's. I think they look dapper anyway, though I realized later that Daniel's shoes were at least half if not a whole size too small. Oops! Put 'em away for a friend and dug out the next size from the closet stash.

This represents much of what the Easter Bunny deposited while we were at church. The only thing missing are the new swim suits in the sand/water buckets that served as baskets. When it came to hunting the eggs, the wheelbarrow was a handy conveyance. I was a little afraid there would be too much fighting over the lawn mower and wondered whether two mowers would be better than one mower and one wheelbarrow. So far they've been pretty good about taking turns. We'll see what happens when these are transferred to outside.

The biggest news from Easter weekend however, was Daniel's potty training success. We decided to stay home Friday and try the big leap from diapers to underwear with three days to practice before sending him to daycare this way. He was enthusiastic about the underwear until his first two pees of the day soaked him and he realized how unpleasant that was. Then he refused to be redressed. After a calming down period he tried again and had some good successes (with lots of cheering and M&M rewards) through the day (diaper for sleeping.) Saturday was a little better and the last thing he did before going to bed was announce without prompting that he had to go potty, took himself to the bathroom and accomplished the task (with directional assistance from Mom.) Sunday he was dry all day, including through church. He wore a Pull-up because who knew what would happen and Easter Mass is a BAD place for an accident. About mid-way through Mass he was squirmy and I could tell a break from the pew would be beneficial so I asked if he had to go potty. He said Yes, so we made our way to the farthest corner of the church basement where the bathrooms are. I had no expectation that he would go, but I held him up with his butt balanced on my knee and sure enough, he peed.

Now he'll basically pee any time we ask him and will occasionally announce his own intentions to go. We're still working on the other end of things and had one truly atrocious disaster, the details of which I will spare the blog audience. But all in all, I'm amazed at how quickly he caught on. I guess having an older brother to watch really does flatten the learning curve.


These are some outdoor shots from our one 80-degree day last week. The driveway was covered in chalk art, but then it rained for a few days and got colder. We're expecting another warm up this weekend and lots of sunshine. Hooray for spring. Hoping that forecast will hold through the week. We're just one week away from the Iowa City March for Babies, and it's so much more pleasant in dry weather. Not too late to donate or to sign up to walk! We're closing in on our $2,000 team fundraising goal thanks to many supportive friends and family members. Thanks to all!
This is what happens when Old Navy has an extra discount on only one style of boys pajamas. I actually have done very little "matching" shopping for the boys, but these were $5 and other styles were $9.50, so stripes all around!