I LOVE IT!

Our hambone of a 2 year old, little B, has some very favorite phrases--which often correlate to food: I love it! I like it a lot! Of course, it's more fun to hear him say it, but his enthusiasm for everything (including water) is pretty contagious. And talk about enthusiasm...spring has truly sprung here and the warm temperatures (hovering around 70! today, 75!) really make the days sparkle a bit more. Here's a quick update on the ribclan:

Peeps! Peeps! My coworkers, Heather, Trace' and I submitted 2 entries into the Pioneer Press's annual Peeps diorama contest. Seriously, this was quite funny to work on together. We made the most of common materials like tin foil, garbage bags, Kdee's barbie clothes & accessories and, of course, a box and peeps. Our entries were: 1) Peeps Prom and 2) Britney Shears. Click on the included photos here for more details. We have plans for next year's contest all ready in place...watch out world!

'THE' playdate: Kdee finally had a playdate with her best bud, Ally! For many reasons, our schedules never quite syched but it finally happened this past weekend. The girls were SO excited--they planned for the past couple of weeks everything they would do together, and talked non-stop about getting together. It was so worth the wait--they had such a great time and really played together so well. Ally came to our house from 11-5 and then Kdee went to Ally's for an overnight. It was Kdee's first overnight without us since September, so it was doubly exciting for her. Some highlights from their time at our house include making "makit & bakit" sun catchers, the girls taking lots of digital pics of such odd things as a potato and strangers during our walk to the school playground, lots of giggles and outfit changes.

With Kdee gone, Little B got lots of fun playtime with just mom and dad--a special treat for him. He's continuing to be quite the growing, silly boy. He's still a bit of a klutz (probably due to my genes), but we think it's a combo of being so big on his little feet and his nature of running stiff-legged. I asked a PT friend of mine about it and she thinks he'll probably outgrow it...we'll see. As for his other skills, etc., his talking is still going strong--lots of multi-word sentences and even decent grammar (which makes this journalism mama proud). I need to start writing down some of his phrases (like telling Kdee to backoff or telling us "I'm not..." for things he doesn't want to do). He currently is very interested in umbrellas, doing "work" (which is a calculator or hand-held poker game) and being naughty with touching Kdee's computer (aka our old computer). He's definitely been testing us a bit more lately, just to make sure we know he's 2. He continues to show quite the impressive athletic abilities (in between falls :-)--awesome throws and even good golf swings. We are still crossing our fingers that someday mom and dad may get to retire early because of his talents. One can dream!

ribB played lumberjack this weekend and complied with our city's request to cut down a tree near our property (hey, we enjoy the benefits of a bigger back yard, which is actually city property). He really did a ton of work and literally worked himself ragged! "Our" back woods area looks so much better, and even though he claims he needs a full week to really get our yard in order for spring/summer, he made it look 100% better in his weekend of effort.

For me, I've been working on some personal development "stuff" lately. At times it feels a bit heavy, but overall I'm reaching a good place. Even though struggles are a pain in the rear during life, it is also encouraging to know that we never stop growing and learning about ourselves and others. Pretty amazing, really. Feel free to ask me how things are going...but as for the blog, I'm gonna keep it light. (Afterall, as you know, I do prefer to share the humors of life!)

Our next couple of weekends will be busy with family events and roadtrips, so I promise to get some good photos of the kids to share. (I swear they change daily--especially Kdee, who outgrew her shoes in a night...I kid not!)

Have a great week!