Little Picasso's

Jackson had a snow day from school Thursday so we broke out the painting supplies.

I thought I would let the twins have a chance to paint on their own for the first time.

Until this started happening...
"What mom? I'm just painting!

The United States

Ok, so I am going to be a bragging mom for a second. I figure it is ok since most of the people that read this blog are family who would be equally proud of little Jackson. Santa gave Jackson this puzzle map for Christmas (Jackson even told me that he thought the elves did a great job carving all of the states!) He has picked up on this so well, I cannot believe it. He is seriously a little sponge; he knows almost all of the states by shape and location. Now he will be eating something and compare the shape of it with Louisiana or some other state. He is also recognizing the words of the states. Yesterday he saw the words "New York" in a book and knew what it said because of this map. Santa got this on Lillian Vernon in case anyone is interested. My Dad got him a globe earlier this year and he knows where Sri Lanka and Madagascar are as well. Great way for him to learn!

Throwback Thursday

She gets another "throwback" since her birthday's coming up. Totally classic picture. Love it.

Unique dance moves

This video isn't the best, but I wanted to show Liam's funny dance moves. I really need to get both of the little boys dancing on video. It is quite hilarious and they have their own unique moves already. Liam's signature move is this curved hand/arm thing. I really can't even describe it, but he does it all the time when you ask him to dance. You can see it towards the end of the video. They really crack me up sometimes.

Always cute

No matter how often I see either my own children or others playing with babies, it really squeezes my heart. For them to pretend to feed a baby, hug the baby, put the baby to bed,

or give the baby a kiss says so much about their ability to love and nurture. Let's just not talk about the times they throw the babies on the ground...

Thirty-one balloons

Although this didn't scan the best, I wanted to share my birthday card from Jackson-complete with 31 balloons. Really looks like a lot when they are all together doesn't it?

The benefits of sharing

Liam is definitely enjoying the benefits of his big brother and sister

sharing with him--double drinking!

Somebody loves her Nana

Birthday Bash

Matt's parents had us, his sister, Kelly and her husband, Charley over this past Monday. We celebrated Charley's birthday, which was on the 16th (he is only 23, wow am I starting to feel old!) and my birthday which is next week (I will be 31 for those of you keeping track). Kathy made us a cute cake, we had a delicious meal, and the kids played with our birthday balloons.

Charley and I blowing out the candles
Mia playing with the balloons

You can't really tell in this picture, but we tied the balloon strings onto the twins pants to keep track of them. If you sat down on the couch, all you could see was the blue and red balloons bouncing all over the house. They didn't even notice!

Liam (left) and Grant (right) enjoying the birthday cake

Kathy pointed out that although I think it is getting easier to tell them apart, they still look pretty identical in the bottom picture for sure. So weird still to me that we have twins.

Thanks to my in-laws for a good party!

Throwback Thursday

Cannot believe this little one is about to turn 3!

Miss Amelia, you have always been such a cutie pie.

Telling the twins apart

I will admit that at times it has been difficult to tell the twins apart, but I think it is getting easier. If anything, Liam has discovered zippers and Grant has not. This is how we find Liam every morning. Zipper down, yet somehow he hasn't figured out the button on top. Very cute, but beware if you are wearing a zipper on your own shirt. Must remember to layer my clothing...

If only...

Enjoying the Snow

Pajama Day

Yesterday we had pajama/movie day since it was so very chilly outside (thermostat Friday morning said -14!) I went to make the bed and pulled all the blankets off, then got distracted. The kids went in our room and thought the blankets and pillows looked like fun so I got this shot of them all laying down on the floor. They were pretending to sleep, then get up for work after their self made alarms went off. Oh, kids-don't play going to work now. Many years for that later. Enjoy your youth!

Mia's Ponies

I love that the kids toys are some of the same toys we played with as kids. We have the Sit-n-Spin, Viewmaster, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Legos, and Mia's personal favorites the My Little Ponies. She gets her ponies and her little dolls out of her room daily and puts them all back far on the couch (so the babies can't get them she says) and plays on and off with them throughout the day. In this picture she was putting them down for a communal nap. This morning she ran out of the living room telling me, "I'm going to see if my ponies are awake!" So cute.

Stylin'

Jackson thought the babies needed a new "do." What do you think?

Baby Talk

I am so glad I got this video. The twins are trying to talk so hard. Grant is saying more than Liam right now, but I think Liam will catch up soon. This is Grant talking to my mom one night last week. I love the age of the twins. Now that they are over the sickies they are at this great age where their personalities really start to come out. Grant says quite a few things and it sounds like he tries to repeat us often, but doesn't quite get it right. They both frequently ask for "Caca's" daily which means either cookie or cracker, depending on the situation. They grow so fast...glad I am catching it on video and photo.

Our boys

Soap Making

Nana got the kids a soap-making kit for Christmas. This was a perfect gift since she is often a bath giver at the Steuer house. While I gave the babies a bath, she snapped these pictures of Jackson and Mia making their soap.

Concentrating on the perfect design

Put a little elbow grease in it, Jackson!

Here's mine!Mia showing hers off

Children's Museum

The day after New Year's, Nana and I took the kids to the Children's Museum. They had a blast playing with everything and looking around. That place never gets old-so many things to see and do for all of them. Hopefully we can go again soon because fussy 18 month olds needed their nap before we could see Jackson's favorite, the carousel.

Dorrell Visit

The week before Christmas we stopped to visit the Dorrell's, but I never got the chance to blog about it. We had not seen Ryan and Katie for some time and when I received their Christmas card saying they were expecting a 3rd baby in May, I had to call and catch up. It was great visiting them. Their little boys Owen and Carter are so adorable! Owen shared his toys very well (can't say the same for my kids) and the twins really enjoyed checking Carter out. Carter is much younger than the twins, but he his pretty much the same size as them. My little peanut boys!

Throwback Thursday

Here is a classic picture of Jackson when he was 3 months old. He had the pout mastered even then!

For the love of Laurie Berkner

Santa brought the kids the new Laurie Berkner CD, "Rocketship Run" for Christmas. Jackson has been in love with Orli (for some reason this was how he used to and Mia now pronounces her name) since he was nearly 2 years old. We were first introduced to her on the Noggin show Jack's Big Music Show which may be some of where the kids get their love of music. The music on this show is tolerable, in my opinion, for parents as is Laurie's. Sometimes the music CD's the kids want to listen to make blood shoot out of my eyes, but not so with the Laurie Berkner Band. Her lyrics make the kids laugh everytime they listen and even on your worst days, there are little things better in life than the sincere laughter of kids. If you have children, I recommend trying one of her CD's. My kids are also big fans of her DVD "We are...the Laurie Berkner Band." My only hope is that Jackson and Mia like the songs on her new CD enough to let me change up their bedtime songs. I am definitely tired of singing Mia, "Moon, Moon, Moon" and Jackson either "We are the Dinosaurs," "I'm Gonna Catch You," or "Victor Vito." Don't get me wrong they the kids also enjoy a good Mozart, Buena Vista Social Club, Jimmy Buffett, or Gorillaz diddy from time to time as well. I'm trying to raise some well-rounded children here, right?

Cake Decorating

I am excited to announce that I am starting cake decorating classes this Wednesday. It is just the beginning Wilton classes, but I hope to eventually take all of the classes. My mother-in-law is a great cake decorator and she has helped me with many of my cakes (especially the carousel cake and my first roses for Grant and Liam's baptism cake). She gave me cake decorating tools last year for Christmas and encouraged me to take the classes. For whatever reason, I never got to the classes in 2008. My mom gave me cake decorating stuff for Christmas this year and I decided to sign up for the classes in January before I could get too busy. These are pictures of the cakes I have decorated so far. With the exception of Mia's first birthday cake, I have made all of the kids birthday cakes. It is something creative I can do and the kids seem to like picking out the themes. Mia is having a princess birthday this year and I am excited to try the classic "wonder mold" pan again to make her a princess doll cake.

Jackson's musical cake (my worst one ever!)
Matt's 30th birthday cake

Grant and Liam's 1st Birthday Cake

Grant and Liam's Baptism Cake

Jackson's 3rd Birthday Cake (wonder mold pan is the top part)

Mia's 2nd Birthday

Jackson's 2nd Birthday

Jackson's 1st Birthday

I'll share more from the classes later. Hopefully they have enough signed up for the class so I can take it!

**Tear...The lady from JoAnn called and said that they are 2 short to have the class. She will call again tonight to let me now for sure, but it doesn't look like it will happen this month. They repeat the classes every month, so I will just stay on the list until there are enough people. Bummer.