3 Years, 10 Months

Life is strange right now. I do wonder what (if anything) the boys will remember about this time. Hopefully it's more of the fun things they did with Mom and Dad than how much they got yelled at for acting crazy in the house.

Henry models his latest fashion accessory (thanks Aunt Brooke!): 

Trying to Keep Busy: Indoor Edition
Three months of non-stop parenting have us running a bit low on ideas.

The regular manicures and pedicures continue. Henry works on Steve's nails:

Jack works on Mom's toenails:

You can kill decent chunks of time with face paint.

Henry works on his dad's browline:

Henry studies the tired Mom canvas: 

There's a line drawn down my face because... twins. They both wanted to paint Mommy's face. So, I drew a line and they each work on half. And that, folks, is why I'm tired.

After some hair accessories, I'm really looking sharp:

Sometimes the boys even ask for face paint on their faces. 

Green and white kitty Henry, black kitty Jack:

Jack absolutely loves pretending to be a kitty and is delighted: 

So much attitude for such a little Henry:

Just some kitties and their mother, the canvas: 

Jack shows off his ladybug: 

Parenting has you doing things you never thought you'd do. Like wear cat ears and a sparkly, pink skirt.  

How else to kill time? Extra long baths with... bubbles! (Henry left, Jack right)

Henry is taking his moon sand play very seriously. Don't you forget it!

Uh, here's paper, draw on the floor! Henry said he was drawing balloons. Jack was drawing a road.

Just Jack:

Jack continues his nightly attempts to keep from going to bed by asking incessant questions. His favorite current themes are koalas (they're cute and eat leaves!), his desire to build a time machine, and trying to convince me that his favorite stuffed animal Blue Bunny is nocturnal and needs to go to his office so I can't turn off the light now. 

He also likes to end with, "can I tell you one more thing?" The other night, after acquiescing to the requested one more thing, Jack began, "once upon a time..." Sigh. I say goodnight and, as I'm shutting the door I hear a pleading, "no, no, it'll be a short talk!" After I strongly insist that we're done talking and it's time to go to sleep, Jack resigns himself with, "okay, I will have lots of questions for you in the morning." 

Henry is very excited to show off his block creation:

 

Henry would also be happy to show you his stuffed animals. Here's monkey!

We also have lots of time for building:

Pirate Jack is ready for action: 

Mischievous boys, with extra mischievous Henry:

In fun kid-isms, Jack has been describing his heartbeat as a "heart-beep" and Henry has been requesting "piggy-bank" rides from his dad.

Still finding time for the arts, Henry draws atop his sleeping bag perch:

Uh oh, we're running out of things to do... guys, want to scrub the tub? Three year-olds are surprisingly willing to do household chores for fun (Jack left, Henry right).

Uh oh, running out of indoor things to do... that leads us to...

Trying to Keep Busy: Outdoor Edition

We try to get out for walks, bikes and scooter rides as much as possible. On this particular day, we got carry-out smoothies.

The excitement is building because... 

... a firetruck is coming down the street!

Closer to home, the boys work in the garden.

Digging for worms and pill bugs (Jack left, Henry right):

Helping Dad water the tomatoes, beans, chard and carrots: 

The spoiled boys have two water tables. On this day, they were using one filled with dish soap to have a truck wash. The other water table was the rinse.

Henry, scrubbing away:

Look, clean truck!

Jack moves on to other yard toys in need of cleaning: 

Having snack up in their playhouse, the boys are plotting... something...

This month's big project, remove the Great Wall of Steve to gain a more open play area in our little backyard. 

Jack takes the mini-sledge and gets to work:

Henry is ready to finish the job!

After all the hard work, some recreation is in order. The boys roast marshmallows for the very first time, over Steve's little portable backyard fire pit (aka trash can): 

Jack doesn't like the popping and crackling sounds fires make, but he was a good sport once his got his hearing protection. 

Henry was much more excited about the whole thing and roasted several marshmallows with Dad.

Another little thing happened last month, Steve turned 37. Given his advancing age, he was fortunate to have two young people to help him blow out all those candles (Jack left, Henry right):

I asked the boys what we should get their dad for his birthday. Jack said a trumpet. Henry said a vending machine that makes cake. Both solid ideas, but as I was unable to acquire said vending machine and unwilling to acquire a trumpet, Steve just got some cake. It's the thought that counts.