Gymnastics, Sunsets, and Writing Group

Autumn wanted some pictures today at gymnastics, so here she is balancing before class:

 Practicing cartwheels:

 (she's the cute little green dot!)

Andy and the boys met us at Chick-fil-a, so the kids could climb around in the play area for a bit while Andy and I tried to have adult conversations (nothing steamy, just literally trying to be two adults talking without constant interruptions.) 

And on the way home, we saw the most amazing sunset, so we stopped to enjoy it for a few minutes.

My favorite new thing is our "Writing Group." I'm working on a book app with a developer, and it's content I've never written before, so Calvin was helping me with the plot. He said, "we should have our own writing group!" So we got together, wrote for two five-minute bursts, read a chapter in a book about writing for kids, and then shared our stories. It was so much fun! I love the imaginations these two have!

Calvin: A Lego's Life and Time Eyes (one eye sees the past, one eye sees the future)
Autumn: PB&J Eating Ghost and The Disabled, Out of Control Robot

Brilliant, right? I hope it's something we keep up with, because we all loved it, and it was a fun new way to interact.

Fish Baby and Matchbox Cars

He'd rather be in the tub than anywhere else. He'll stay there for hours, until the water is frigid and his skin has turned to prunes. If Autumn or Calvin try to get in with him, he screeches like a banshee until they get out. He needs his space. He needs his water. He's our little fish baby.

The collection of the week is the matchbox cars. They are in a giant Ziploc baggie that must go everywhere--to bed, in the tub, in the car. He won't let us leave the house without them. And if he's in the car and they spill, they need to all be picked up and repackaged before he will exit the car. He's a particular one, this little guy!

Star Wars!

We have some good friends who are hardcore Star Wars fans and rented out an entire theater for the new film. We were lucky enough to be on the guest list. Sadly, Andy couldn't get back from Chicago in time, so I brought my brother Jesse as my plus-one. Also sad, I apparently can't read things correctly, and we got there an hour after we were supposed to. Luckily we arrived right as the movie started, but I was sad we missed the mingling and prize drawings and all the fun they'd set up before the show.

We had awesome seats, right in the middle, and a big ol' tub of popcorn. Once we were there, we settled in and had a great time.

Since my family didn't grow up on Star Wars and has never been into it, we bought Jesse a t-shirt so he'd fit in:

We left Nicky asleep at Grandma's house, and she did Princess Leia buns for Autumn. Autumn's shirt is her dad's vintage Star Wars shirt, circa 1980-something.

She looked adorable, but she didn't last long. She asked a million questions, said it was too scary, ate half a bucket of popcorn and drank most of the soda, and then she promptly fell asleep for the rest of the movie:

But Calvin LOVED it. We really liked the movie, and it was fun to see so many of our friends after it ended. Next time we'll show up when we're supposed to, but thankfully everything worked out.

We got home at about 2am. Both kids were fast asleep within seconds of their heads hitting their pillows.

Snow Day!

 It's always so magical having the first huge snowfall of the season! The kids are dying to get outside and play in it.

Nicky doesn't remember ever seeing anything like it. He is thrilled! It takes about 40 minutes to dress them all in warm winter gear, and they rush out the door, happy as can be:

They take their new sleds and dive into the powdery soft goodness of the fluffy snow:

They eat snow and pull each other on sleds:

And 15 minutes later, they stand at the bottom of the stairs and sob until I come get them.

To be fair, Calvin and Autumn played for about an hour, but Nicky did about as well as the rest of them did at his age. So he came inside and we packed away all the wet clothes we'd just taken out. Hooray for snow days!

The Hoarder

One funny thing about Nicky is that he doesn't like to do things one at a time. He likes collections. Collections of Squinkies. Farm animals. Matchbox cars. Whatever. He puts them in buckets and carries them wherever he goes. He won't let them out of his sight--even at bedtime.

For bed, he takes whatever collection he's into at the time. His kitty and tiger. His bedtime books. And right now he's got a small collection of Christmas ornaments and snow globes sitting on top of his bucket full of farm animals. They must all be strategically placed before he'll go to sleep. Every morning, we have to unload all of it--including his pillow and blanket--right when he gets up.

Also, a few nights ago around 3am he was crying and yelling my name. I went into his room, and he said, "Pillow." He'd never slept with one or asked for one before, so I went and found one. He groggily said, "good boy, Mom," then went immediately back to sleep.

He's a quirky little kid. We love him.