And there was this guy, too...

Let's back up to our first visitors, my boy Aidan. I think I shared these pictures on FB, but not here. Love me this baby.

Damn shame he lives so far away and his mother doesn't bring him to see his favorite Auntie more often...<sigh>...

The boys each picked a book for Baby A, and then decorated the cover.

 I picked something out for him, too, but had to amend it. It would be self-indulgent if it weren't true.

 

 Baby A was very inquisitive, and looked about and pulled hair, as babies are oft to do.

 Love saw this and backed away a little.

 He has his momma's eyes and expressions. But cuter with chubby cheeks.

  And fat baby thighs. He's crawling and standing and moving about, so I bet he loses some of the chub by the time we see him again. Too bad. That's good stuff.

The babies got sat.

Behold, our first real babysitters! Amanda and Alex from Camp Keller took on these two for a few hours that same Saturday while we went to see a movie. And it sounds like it all went really well, until bedtime. Then these two seemingly sweet and cooperative boys turn into a think tank of excuses not to sleep, and they have Camp Keller kids a run for their money. I was afraid of this, and this is why we bolted from that movie theatre to race home. But they are willing to come back and sit again, so it couldn't have been that bad, right? ;-)

Here's More Stuff

The day of overwhelming fun at Costco also had a very lunch at a Hibatchi type place. You know, the dude cooks and flips stuff and entertains you while he cooks your food?

But when we got there, the damn place didn't open till noon. PEOPLE. Don't they know our kids nap at around 1pm and we need to get home around then, and therefor they should open earlier? I hate when stores and restaurants don't plan around our nap times. So we thought hard for a minute and decided to kill the next 30 minutes at the mall merry go round.

And when we returned, we met a stampede of people going into the restaurant, but luckily the giant fish tank distracted us while we waited. And it was so neat that even once we sat down we kept turning our heads to stare at the fish.

 One of us stared. The other got a lecture from his dad that I'm pretty sure can be paraphrased into I'm paying a lot for your lunch, you better eat the food. 

 G agreed that he would indeed, eat the food.

Then our chef arrived and we were mesmerized. And, it turns out, we are afraid of the fire. It is pretty big and it was unexpected, and we said we'd go again, especially if our waitress brings us cocktail umbrellas again.

 And if we got to use the "chompers" to eat.

 

Not a bad way to spend a lunch hour.

This is Exciting

The boys have been going with us on errands since they were little. Mostly we needed to get them out of the house, and I'm pretty sure Keith worries I'll spend too much if he's not with me, so for the last 3.5 years Saturday and sometimes Sunday mornings have been errand mornings. We used to load babies into Bjorns and walk and shop and hope they would get tired so they'd nap so we could nap. Ahh, the good ole days.

Then they started talking and walking and having opinions of their own, and sometimes that is great, sometimes its downright irritating. And other times it's funny. Like this past Saturday morning, when we all went to Costco. We checked out and Keith was picking up something from the front desk while we waited. I was busy people watching and talking to the boys, but I was not really looking at them. At one point I started saying "aren't we having so much fun together?" and as I turned my head back towards them, I saw this. 

Then someone realized I was taking pictures and gave it a little extra stretch.

So funny, these two. Not sure those are faces of excitement, but we did get them lots of food samples in the warehouse, so I can't imagine why they wouldn't be excited.

Also excited: the parents. We got movie ticket at Costco for our date night later that night. Did you know you could get them there? I did not, and its apparently a lot cheaper because not much else could make Keith that happy than saving money. He's like Clark Howard.

'Nastics

We're officially doing gymnastics. Or 'nastics, if you're in the know. I had no idea if the boys would like it, honestly. Worst-case scenario is we have a little fun every Saturday morning, best case scenario is that I have pictures of the start of a long Olympic gymnastics career. Heh.

So Saturday morning, coffee in hand Keith and I watched the boys do a little tumbling and jumping. Want to see? 

Grady getting into somersault position.

Below we're on the balance beam and the trampoline.G is up, C is bouncing.

And sorry about this, lots of backlight makes it hard to get good pictures. Both boys at a bar, about to swing.  Actually, Cole is already swinging on the left, Grady is getting the lowdown on how to swing on the right. The lady on the right is grand master teacher, and I think she is very, very good.

Grady swinging. When the class was over, the teacher, Grand Master, came over and told me how good they are doing for their first class and that Cole was doing really well, and that Grady was good too but would naturally have a harder time since he's bigger, but that wow, he was strong!

Dad got bored with the action and was reading the paper.

And we ended the session with a little bouncing action. Jump Coley, jump! Next week we'll take the good lens.

Good times had by all. Things I learned: there's no such thing as too much coffee; dads, as a general rule, can watch 10 minutes of this stuff at a time before focusing on blackberries or newspapers; there is one little girl in this gymnastics class who is going to be on my nerves the entire season; there is one former gymnast mom who is on my nerves already and I need to not stand next to her again; I really wish I had learned to do a cartwheel; if I wear my blue strapless bra to gymnastics class I'll be distracted by it the whole time-that thing is worthless.

The boys seemed to have fun, and they want to go back. Success!

Bits

After all that green paint color drama, I abandoned all those custom colors. While I toil at work today, Keith will be picking up this color, but at 50% and with less black tint. Let's hope my good buddies at Sherwin Williams can make it happen. I feel pretty confident, given the number of times I've been in there and have discussed this green with them. Also, did you know that SW has 10 different tints that make up their paint colors? Interesting. They showed me (and my errand companion, Grady) the new green tint. It's really a dark dark green, not a light green as the word "new" might imply.

This weekend we have our first non-adult babysitter. Exciting! We're so suburban now. It's not a stranger, it's two of our favorite people, and yes, you can expect a full blog post devoted to that later this weekend.

Friday's used to be What To Feed "Em Fridays. I won't give the person who started this and then abandoned it  a hard time, she just had baby #3 when her first (set of twins) aren't even 18 months. I am both happy for her and feel exhausted at the thought of dealing with that day-to-day routine. And I really don't have much new food items to share, except to say that this marinade is awesome on steak. And this rub is great on fish. If you're related to us and you like grilling out, you might be getting the rub in your Christmas stocking this year.

Tonight we order new furniture! WHOOOOOO! The couches have been picked, but the accent tables are still likely to change, so I wont share any links or pictures until the furniture is in place, likely the end of August.

Tomorrow the boys start gymnastics. I am sooo excited to see if they like it. They have been doing this sporty type thing at daycare once a week, and they love it. Love it to the point of trying dribble every type of ball imaginable through the kitchen while I cook while yelling I"m SOCCERBALL PLAy-URRRR! and I go SO FAST! There really isn't a lack of confidence in Team Ellerman. Stay tuned for gymnastics posts.

Also in the works for the weekend is a viewing of this movie. I read the book on our Oregon vacation, and loved it. I am pretty sure I would have loved any book since it was the first fiction book I finished in years, but it really was good. I laughed out loud, winced at the ugliness of human nature resulting from generations of complacency, and felt like I left friends behind when the book ended. And I am thankful every day for a husband who loves a chick flick.

Now go do something productive.

Makeover

The house isn't the only thing getting a new coat of paint. Remember this jeep? Santa brought it for Sara a few years back. And she loved it. And we loved riding in it when we visited.

and the beauty of being the youngest of a set of 5 cousins is that Aunt Karen is also not a hoarder, and we get many a very neat thing handed down to us. The latest is the Jeep. Now I think both boys would have been just happy with the pink and purple, but Keith felt his creative juices flowing one Friday, and now the Jeep looks like this.

Went from pretty to purrrrdeeee.

Green is my Favorite Color

Greetings from my brain, where we are currently trying to decide on a green for the kitchen. So above are 6 samples I crafted from two samples I bought. You're probably thinking they all look the same, but you are wrong. Each is a little different and the possibilities make it really hard to pick the right color.

And makes it really hard to focus on anything else.

UPDATE: We've analyzed the colors in different lights in different spots in the kitchen.

We narrowed it down to two...

And after a length conversation with self, I believe we have a winner.

Keith thanks you for listening, because if you didn't, he would have to sit through this one-sided conversation. Or more accurately he'd have to pretend to listen while his mind drifted. 

Visitors

In the last 5 minutes I've considered the options for new coffee table, wondered how Panera gets the hazelnut flavor in their coffee to be so subtle, did a set of walking lunges in the office (no one else is here yet), adjusted the background on my work computer three times, did desk yoga for a hot second, and thought yet again about paint colors. None of this could mean anything to you, but to me its an indication that today is not going to be productive, nor will it be fun. 

This past weekend was fun, though. BigBoy brought his family to see us. 

And Grady was most happy to have a baby girl visit. He's been asking for a baby sister. He claims he will keep it quiet and feed it, but I told him he'd just have to enjoy spending time with this BabyGirl.

Cole liked the visitor closer to his size a bit more. It could be because that visitor came with trucks?

BabyGirl is so chill. I did not think I hear her cry at all. 

The weekend had all sorts of sweet surprises, like ice cream.

Madam Fannie! She looks so old, but I'm pretty sure she's going to live forever.

And Grady spotted the rainbow, complete with two buzzards saluting the rainbow.

How was your weekend?

3 Boys and a BabyGirl

Tomorrow some of our favorite peeps are coming to hang out with us at the new house, presumably to admire the awesome new color I picked. As Keith and I were discussing how excited we were to have them over I realized that I've not shared pics from our last trip to visit them at their family lakehouse. So here we go.

It was early June, me vaguely remembers. All the boys were very excited to be there. 

 Nice of me to start with a group shot, right? Let's try it again. All the boys were excited to be there, and the first full morning all the boys went for a canoe ride. Ginny the dog  is not a boy, and did not get to go on the trip, but that girl cannot help herself. In the background you see Hancock, holding BabyGirl, still in her pajamas at like 9am. She's so lazy. Sheesh.You'd think she could take a quick break from training for a half marathon while having a 2 year and then 6 month old to put on some clothes.

 Anyways, it was our first canoe trip, and we were cautiously excited. And I personally was loving BigBoy Awecks (having graduated from Baby A'ecks) swirl atop his head.

 Everyone in, and the big boys and little boys are ready.

 Hancock shares some final departing words, most of it along the lines of for pete's sake, don't tip over the boat! As another sidenote, I cannot wait to snorgle BabyGirl's cheeks. I hope they're still this big by tomorrow!

 And there they went. This should be an outdoorsy catalog picture, no?

 The trip was not as long as I expected, but I did get an uninterrupted shower while they were gone, which I liked. No, loved. When they got back, it was snack time. Below you see Alex, and I imagine he's thinking, wow, this is neat, I have playmates during the weekend! and his little face is just so cute. And then there's frick and frack, and from their body language you can tell that they are so over being near someone else 24/7. Hahahaha.

 Much of the morning was spent playing inside. Some of the playing involved crawling under a very nice new coffeetable...see the arm?

 It Also involved showing BigBoyAwecks some bad habits, like crawling on the kitchen floor. Hancock and PrivateSchool, you're welcome. We can let Cole and Grady show your kids all sorts of bad things whenever you want.

 PrivateSchool was gracious enough to take us out on several boat rides. Or he was tired of being cooped up with us in the lake house. Hard to tell, but the end result was fun.

 Love BabyGirl's hat.

 Someone else loved it too.

 PrivateSchool had help driving the boat. This particular helper really just wanted to hit buttons.

 But a strong willed someone else wanted a turn, so Keith took  a turn holding BigBoy. If you're wondering, all the kids got a sports drink that made their lips blue.

 The strong willed one LOVED this. And will probably forever love PrivateSchool for giving him this "driving lesson". At one point PrivateSchool told Grady that proper technique is putting your hands at 10 and 2, and sure enough, the next week Grady piped up from the backseat while I was driving to tell me what proper technique was.

 This guy loved it too.

 And loved the attention from his instructor.

 And I got to hold BigBoy. He looks concerned here, but really, he loves me.

 Boat rides are good, and fun, and tire a kid out. But you know what is even more fun? Dancing. That's right, good ole fashioned dancing fun. While hanging out in the lakehouse one of our favorite songs came on, and somebody had to bust a move. It gets good at about 24 seconds.

The other kid is more of a breakdancer, and here are some of his and his new danceparter's moves. BigBoy's moves really kick in around 24 seconds, too.


I have evidence that Hancock has been practicing her dance moves to dance with the boys, but she's pretty scrappy so I wont share that video here. Yet.

Happy weekend, everyone.