Top o' the morning to you!

Happy St. Pat's!

Spring Fever

Sorry for the recent silence - we have suddenly been very busy of late for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that I started a new job!

I am working for a website called UrbanSitter and helping them launch in the DC area.  The site connects parents with babysitters through people they know by using Facebook.  I think it is super smart and easy to use.  Not to mention, I get to have something to do with my brain, I can work from home and its part-time.  A dream come true.

Not much other exciting news to report on the home front - we are ready for Spring to arrive in earnest. We have had a taste and really can't wait to get out of the house and enjoy some warm weather.  Which we won't get this weekend when Matt and I go to Chicago for a wedding without the kids.  Oh well.  We are looking forward to seeing Whitney & Ryan and Alice & Brian while we are there,  we only hope that Chi-town has enough green beer for all 6 of us.

And with that, I must go back to work. I'll entertain you with some pics from the last month...mwah!

Angry men...

A bitty bigfoot believer...

Learning to skip rocks...

And to ski! 

What a natural. 

Happy Gus...

Do you know how much I love you?

The scene: bedtime at the Kelly residence. Gus is about to go down.

Maman: "Hank, say good night to Gus"

Hank: "can I give him a hug Mommy?"

Maman: "of course!"

Hank, hugging Gus: "Gus, do you know how much I love you? I'll miss you Gus. See you in the morning."

Maman and daddy exchange a look of surprise and delight.

What a way to end the weekend. Sigh.

Happy 3rd Birthday Hank!

Hank celebrated in style this weekend with a small birthday party at the Playseum, an indoor play space that lets kids run wild without destroying your home.  He had about 6 friends join him in dressing up, playing instruments, pretending to make pizzas and petting small animals like bunnies and birds.  It was all capped off with a trip to bakery where the kids were allowed to decorate their own cupcakes.  Hank, the purist that he is, declined to add anything to his cake, and proceeded to eat the icing alone.

He's no dummy.

Starting the day off right with a pancake breakfast and present opening! 

With his old pal Nate, tickling the ivories! 

Yes, I know he needs a haircut. 

Making pizza at Dominos. 

Nate is comfortable with his masculinity...

Time to decorate the cupcakes...Johnny dressed for the occasion. 

Heavy on the icing, hold the cake!

Gus and Daddy cheered the decorators on! 

3 Years and 6 Months

Big week 'round these parts - these two little monkeys are turning 3 years and 6 months old! Here are the first in a series of portraits I am plan to take at 6 month intervals of the two brothers as they grow up together (if I say it out loud, I have to do it, right?)

And since this blog is taking the place of that sweet hard copy baby book I feel that I should be doing, here are some notes on Hank and Gus at these ages for me to weep over later.

Hank, age 3:

• Enjoys playing with legos, blocks, trains and cars
• Particularly enjoys playing "barista" with the coffee maker that his dad made for him out of legos.  Talk about a city kid.
• Likes to chase and tickle mommy until she falls down begging him to stop.
• His day is not complete unless he has touched Gus' eyeball at least once.
• Still not potty trained, but knows how to remove his own diaper when he wants to.  Which is often. 
• Still in his crib, but in the habit of removing his sleep sack (aka the restraining jacket) and starting to try and climb out. 
• Loves the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
• Asks his parents for money.  When we say "for what?" he says, "for Hank."  Duh.
• Has started saying "Hey!" and "Yeah"

Gus, age 6 months:

• Has mastered the art of rolling over and does so whenever he can.  Can no  longer be left unattended on any surface not the floor.
• Not quite sitting up on his own yet.  I will help him assume the position but when I stop supporting him he slowly folds over on himself.
• Enjoys sucking his own toes and chewing on his shoes.
• Has the worlds most luscious eye lashes and brightest blue eyes.  Strangers stop this child and comment on his baby blues.
• Blabs away endlessly, mostly at meal times.  Is he complaining about the food or praising it?  I fear the former...
• Still no hair...
• Thinks his big brother is high-larious...except when he does this:

Sundance

Dear Readers -

I start today's post with a minor housekeeping note.  You probably received an invitation from me to join my La Famille Shutterfly share site.  If you accepted this invitation you probably also received a "Weekly Digest" email from said site.  Do yourself a favor and scroll down to the bottom of that digest email and click on link that lets you "never" receive digest emails.  I update it nearly never so no one needs to be getting a weekly, monthly or even yearly digest.  Sorry for all of the extra junk in your inbox. And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Tucked under the beautiful Mt. Timpanogos you will find the quirky and charming Sundance Resort. Started by Robert Redford, the resort offers skiing, art classes, authors series, theatre workshops and any other sort of thing you might associate with that handsome blue-eyed cowboy actor. Located about 45 minutes from Park City, Sundance has all of the convenience of it's bigger, more famous sister but none of the downside. Fewer people, more natural beauty,and almost no one on the slopes. The fact that it was film fest week here actually meant that fewer people skied!  God bless those beautiful, lazy people who can't be bothered!

Insert stunning photo of Mt. Timpanogos here.  

Oh wait, we had kind of crummy weather and never got a good view of it.  Oh well!

It also means that people expect to see celebrities, which equates to more and more people staring at Matt, trying to figure out if he's that guy from Homeland. (If you don't know what I am talking about, google Damian Lewis. Matt is of course better looking, but to some people all redheads look alike.  Yeesh.) One woman went so far as to ask the salesgirl at the ski rental shop to look at Matt's paperwork on the sly to confirm his name. I overheard the salesgirl whispering "it says William Kelly" much to the woman's disappointment. Tee hee!

All in all, we had a very relaxing weekend where we actually got to go skiing (a rare occurrence post-parenthood), sleep in, and eat delicious meals that we did not have to prepare.  A lovely way to reconnect and celebrate the 6th anniversary of our "real" wedding.  The one we didn't tell most people about before the "fake" (but amazing) one we had on New Year's Eve almost a year later.  And it is official - we will be fleeing the children every year from here on out to mark the occasion!

Sgt. Brody enjoying a brew by the fire. 

Happy Anniversary mon mari! 

The End of the Insanity

Apologies, dear readers.  This year the holidays were a doozy and I am just now coming up for air. Finding time to do anything but tend to basic needs and recover from holiday upheaval has been challenging so le pauvre blog has suffered I'm afraid.  Hopefully now that we have unpacked, put away the decorations, dealt with a multitude of home-related issues (leaking roof in kitchen, no heat, no internet service, broken alarm system, washing machine down - aaahhhh), the blogging can begin!

In spite of our full plates this Christmas we managed to enjoy ourselves on what we have fondly (?) dubbed "The 2013 Insanity Tour".  Three stops - Park City, Utah followed by Phoenix, followed by St. Louis. 2 car seats, 4  pieces of luggage, 3 carry ons, 1 stroller and about 3 nervous breakdowns.  But,  we did get to see LOTS of cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles and that made it worthwhile.  Some photos from the road...

Hank and S. Claus on the Polar Express in Heeber Valley, UT

Oh, yeah.  Someone hearts trains.

Three little monkeys all in a row on Christmas Eve.

Gus getting spoiled by Lynn, Barb and Auntie Alice

The view from our room in Utah...can't wait to get back!

This weekend we escaped the Inaugural madness (nothing compared to 4 years ago, but still a royal pain with street closures etc.) to come up to Bryce Mountain resort in the Shenandoah Valley.  This is a great little spot with a small mountain (read: 5 runs)  for skiing in the winter and a lake, golf, tennis etc. in the summer.  And it's only 2 hours from DC.  I have a feeling that we will be spending more and more time here since it is a great place for kids to learn how to master the slopes and it provides an easy escape to the country!

Thursday sees Matt and me taking a long weekend trip to Sundance, Utah sans the children to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.  We are VERY much looking forward to the escape from all of the child-related chores, to spending time together just the two of us, and most of all to sleeping!!!

For some long overdue photos of our Fall activities and the entire Christmas extravaganza, please click here: Lots of Famille Photos

That's all for now but I promise to be back soon!  Adieu!