The kids played together so sweetly tonight. I was making dinner and doing kitchen stuff and they were “hibernating” or camping, depending on who you asked. :) They built a fire with wooden blocks and lit it with a Lego match. They tried to build tent stakes with wooden blocks, but they kept falling over, so they made a tent with chairs instead. Lex had a “gun” to kill baddies and ghosts (the first time guns have reappeared since the first time they appeared many weeks ago, not something I’m thrilled about). Eve saw ghosts everywhere and perfected her scared face, all the while with a baby doll tucked up in her shirt “nursing.” It was cute. It might the be longest time they’ve ever played together without fighting and me needing to help or break up fights. I got so much done and didn’t even feel guilty about ignoring them!

I realize I’m slacking with the blog lately. I don’t have my computer on every day anymore (though I get email and FB on my phone!) and life just seems to be busy. Nothing super exciting, just busy. Dad and B were here for a week working on the garage, mudroom, and basement, and then Dad came back for another week. That was fun. Hopefully they’ll come back for more :) We’ve had a few days off from school and are just kicking around. Here are a few pictures from the past few days. I’ll let you know if life gets more interesting. :)

Lex made a really cool K’Nex car and started parking it under the little table. He called it a garage, but Alan corrected him a few times saying it was “a carport, because garages have walls.” So Lex made some walls. What I love about his walls is that the left and right sides are perfectly symmetrical and mirror images. The back wall is a symmetrical pattern as well. I love the design work. And the car is cool too :)

Hugs for Grandpa Tom

Hugs for Mommy (not the most flattering picture of me, but cute anyway)

The kids got little plant kits for Christmas from Jim, Julie, and Molly. Lex got a “body snatcher plant” (eats insects) and Eve got a “sensitive plant” (closes when you touch it). We planted them the other day and it took me A LOT of convincing to get Lex to allow us to plant his. He only wanted to do Eve’s because he was afraid of the body snatcher plant :) I eventually read the package word for word and emphasized the eats insects part and he settled down. Crazy kid.

Isn't this cool? They are supposed to stay in the bag until shoots appear. I think it keeps the plants warmer and moister.

These are the moments I love. They decided to play a game together and after some discussion it was decided that the only game Eve is good at is Candlyand (true and it was her opinion that settled the issue) so they played, happily and all on their own. So sweet.

Alan went down to visit his mom today to bring her home from the hospital so the kids made pictures for him to take along. Lex used stencils to make a house with a garage and a pond (and then later was very upset that he forgot to put a chimney on the house). Eve made pink lines and squiggles and traced her hand (she's very good at that).

We had warmer temps and good snowfall yesterday and today and I managed to get the kids out for a bit. Sometimes it’s like pulling teeth to get them outside, but then they always have a blast. We did some shoveling and I pulled them on the sled and we took a walk up the street and discovered a snow tunnel that someone had dug. It was nice. I love the warmer weather :)

Eve in the snow tunnel. This would be a lot cuter if the snow wasn't so dirty!

Three winter kids. I couldn't get them all to stand still at the same time. This was the best I got. Lex looks like he's doing a little dance move :)

Eve doesn't like her mittens. Often I argue with her, but when the temps are in the high 30's I let her do her thing. She makes me laugh because she'll put them on inside, but then promptly takes them off outside and always finds an interesting place to put them, rarely just tossed on the ground.

I have the most awesome men in my life who built me a super cool mudroom. Check it out! It still needs paint and coat hooks and a door into the garage (kind of an important thing!) but otherwise it’s done. We love it!

Recycling shelves straight ahead, cubbies on the left and door into the kitchen between the two.

Cubbies on the right followed by benches, a big one for grownups and a little one for kids. They are supposed to be able to put their own boots on there, but as you can see they want nothing to do with that.