a dinosaur walks among us

A friend of ours was recently getting rid of some things and generously donated his Roboraptor to the boys. Once I located enough batteries to power the thing, we spent half the day interacting with our new "pet".

rediscovered toys

While the boys played with their trains, Dad cleaned out the big closet underneath the stairs and uncovered a bunch of toys that were out of sight and out of mind. Owen raced cars down a wooden track over and over while Logan "sat and spun" on the Sit N' Spin.

flags of our sons

Logan has recently become very interested in flags. He notices them everywhere we go and asks what the different ones represent (our neighbor has one for the marines and we routinely pass the MNDOT building where the state flag is displayed). He has spent many a morning creating flags in his room such as the one pictured below. This is an early prototype, the newer ones have the correct number of stars and stripes.

easter 2009

After searching all morning for goodie-filled plastic and fabric eggs, we decided to dye some real eggs. Owen paused from egg-dipping long enough to take a photo.



Logan selects the next egg to be dyed.

sugarbush syrup

The phone rang this morning and we received an invite to visit our friends at the "Sugarbush" for an afternoon of sap collecting and syrup making. The weather could not have been better and a good time was had by all.

Owen collects his first bucket.



Logan carefully pours sap from one bucket to another.



After running the sap through a filter, it is immediately cooked down over a roaring fire. The resulting maple syrup has a smoky flavor that is absolutely delicious.

day of clay

Tracy and the boys decided to get crafty with Fimo clay today and created two wonderful works of art.

Owen uses a tool to cut and shape his clay.



Logan forms the base of his project.



Owen's coiled snake on the left and Logan's bowl on the right.



Logan decided to display his precious stones in his new creation.

jonah's quilt

In a record sewing month (for me), I've completed my first quilt, using fabric from my mom's stash. Thankfully, she had already cut the squares and some were even sewn together. It was a great first project.

I learned to piece the top...



...make a quilt sandwich and "stitch in the ditch"...



...and cut, attach, and hand sew the binding.



So, this one's for you, my sweet new nephew, Jonah. Something created with love from your Grandma Karen and Aunt Tracy.

the building for kids

Logan and Owen believe that a trip to Appleton is incomplete without stopping at the Building for Kids. We spent three hours at this children's museum today and we could have stayed longer.

Part of the multi-story tree where you climb through nets to different lookout points.

Logan tries the invisible ink experiment in the chemistry lab.

Owen builds a castle at the Lego table.

Logan picks up some ball bearings with the magnetized crane.

Firefighter Owen suits up before climbing on the pumper truck.

Logan drives the firetruck while Owen surveys the vast array of switches.

owen's rube goldberg

The boys absolutely love watching online videos of Rube Goldberg devices. After a recent viewing session, they both built their own contraptions and filmed the results with a digital camera.

afternoon delight

What to do when March goes out like a lion? First, get out of the house after the blizzard subsides, then scoop some very fresh snow into a bowl. Top it with syrup and proclaim it the best afternoon snack ever!



Owen eyes up his snow "ice cream" doused with raspberry syrup.



Mama went the traditional route: pure maple syrup.

empty bowl 2009

Tonight was the 15th annual Empty Bowl fundraiser for the Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank. With the school buses running late due to the big storm, we were on a tight schedule to hit the event before Logan's swim class. Although we had to eat our soup and bread quickly, we picked out four beautiful bowls and made it to the YMCA with minutes to spare.


Bowls chosen by Tony, Logan, Owen and Tracy (clockwise from top left)

earth hour 2009

This year's goal was to have 1 billion people on Earth switch off their lights as a call to action, a global vote for sustainability. Individuals, businesses and governments participated around the world--you can view some cool photos here and here.

labyrinth

Grandma and Grandpa's house sits next to a wooded area full of trails and a large open field owned by the Bible College. It is a close and convenient place to let the kids and dogs run off some energy. The college recently added a labyrinth trail that the whole family enjoyed. The kids were quite determined to follow the winding path to the center and back out again. Although it's not that big, the distance you travel is deceiving by the time you go around and around and around.

randomly rochester

Every March we make our annual migration to Rochester for multiple family birthdays. As always, the weekend was fun but much too short. The boys enjoy the new/different toys that stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house and the large basement provides a lot of space to ride various pedal and push vehicles.

Saturday morning we all split up. Tracy and Grandma went shopping for fabric and picked up the birthday cake. Logan and Grandpa went to the airport to service an airplane. The plane ended up not being there but they had fun anyway. Owen and I ran some errands downtown, grabbed a mocha at Barnes and Noble, and played in the play area at the mall.

Saturday afternoon we all reconvened at Great-Grandma's condo to exchange birthday gifts and then back home for dinner, cake, and more presents.

Grandma Linda and Tony make their birthday wishes.



Playing Owen's "Mama Song" on the piano.



Owen takes the old motorcycle for a spin.

speedwalker

This young man was seen speedwalking from one end of our house to the other today while "listening" to his homemade music player. He was gracious enough to stop briefly for this photo before continuing on his way.

shuttle launch

Logan and Owen were very excited to watch the space shuttle launch so the whole family parked in front of the computer and counted down with NASA. The fiery blastoff fascinated the boys and I think they were surprised when the boosters disconnected. Hopefully, we can all witness one in person some day.

school carnival

Logan had his school carnival last night and the place was packed. The whole family was able to attend the fun and games. Afterwards, I dropped Tracy and the kids off at home and went back to assist with the cleanup.

Owen tries the ring toss game.



Logan tackles the inflatable Spider-Man obstacle course.

No carnival is complete without a bouncy tent.

Owen tries his luck at the lollipop tree.

Time for the dentist already?



The evening ended at the sno cone machine.

building with biscotti

This was my first attempt at making biscotti and it will not be the last. Dunked into milk or eaten crunchy, these almond goodies were easy to make, tasty and perfect for snacking. I made up my own recipe using this cookbook as a reference.

music class

Although Logan's school has an open door policy all of the time, today his music class had an official open house which we all attended. It's always fun to see what they are working on and to match faces with the names I've heard about, etc. I don't remember my music class being so animated. They sing, dance, and play games. I think my favorite part was when some of the students played Asian instruments while the others performed a dragon dance.

pegboard pandemonium

Every week Owen checks out a toy from the lending library at ECFE. This week he brought home a peg board, pattern cards, and at least 168 pegs. I guarantee we will find some of these pegs for at least two weeks after we return this item. I helped Owen with a few patterns but he had the most fun filling up the board, taking all of the pegs out, filling up the board - over and over again.