It's a ticket to slimy world.

Owen came home very proud to show me his ticket a friend had made him at school today. He said slimy world was in the same state as Disney World. 

We used a gift certificate to the Children's Theatre this weekend to see The Gruffalo. Owen enjoyed the audience participation as he 'roared' to scare away the Gruffalo. Our wonderful new babysitter, Molly, watched Walter, which gave Jer & me some special alone time with Owen. (Thank you for the thoughtful gift, Grandma Donna & Bruce!)

Jer and Owen went to the Gopher dual yesterday and Owen has been wrestling ever since. Walter has an awfully cute wrestling stance and scoot that he does before he tackles you down. Maybe I can capture that on video sometime soon. Arianna & Ella were over for dinner and a playdate this evening. Thankfully their dad is a wrestler, too, as they were all about getting some single legs on Owen as he tried hard to take them down.

All three guys received Hawaii haircuts yesterday, too. I finally caved and gave Walter a real haircut. It was hard to see the locks go, but it was time.

If I drop it in the snow, it will be camouflaged.

Owen's teacher brought everyone back a sea shell from her recent trip to Florida. He was so excited to show me and tell me about how fragile it was. He was quite anxious to get it home and into his 'rock and shell' collection box and told me this as he was getting out of the van after preschool.

We have been enjoying getting back into the preschool routine again after a nice four day weekend. I have a renewed appreciation for Sunny Hollow!

E-ne, me-ne, mi-ne, mo...

catch a tiger by its toe... Owen learned this rhyme from a friend at school. He does it to decide what book to read, what shirt to wear, what snack to choose, etc. 

We went to the MN Zoo today. The boys loved watching the sharks and turtles particularily. We also got to see a real lemur, which was pretty exciting for Owen since his favorite program has a lemur on it. I think the bird show may have topped everything, though. We had front row seats and had a hawk fly over us a couple different times - so closely that we felt the wind from its wings.

Walter has been taking his naps in Owen's bed the past three days. He asks as I'm putting him down and he doesn't move once he's in it. He does however have a huge grin on when I leave the room. He loves his big brother so much.

Can I pick out Daddy's birthday cake?

Jer's birthday was Friday and we decided to get him his favorite - a DQ cake. Owen & I went to pick it out after school and he picked out a horse cake. After celebrating with cake and presents, Jer and I went out to dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. We went out to a steakhouse, M&S Grill, where we enjoyed a delicious dinner. After, we switched to celebrating Jer's birthday again and met up with some friends at the Otter.

On Valentine's Day we celebrated with heart balloons and pizza, followed by a special delivery of Valentines by Auntie Kindi.

Sunday we decided to keep on celebrating, first with a lovely brunch at Jax (where we had our rehearsal dinner) with Jer's family for his birthday. After we went to a birthday party for one of Owen's classmates at a local indoor playground. By the end of the weekend I think I gained 5 pounds and we were all completely exhausted.

I am patiently waiting for the ringing in my ear to stop and to be able to hear completely again. I have an ear infection and am feeling quite off-kilter lately. It will be nice when these antibiotics kick in and completely clear this never ending cold I've had for about two weeks now! Argh. 

Owen is off school again tomorrow, so we are heading to the zoo!

Elmo.

This is one of Walter's favorite words. He has an Elmo toothbrush and whenever its time to brush he runs to the bathroom saying "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo..."

Owen enjoyed using my wellies today as he pretended to be fishing in a stream catching "crocodiles & croppies."

I can't believe I'm about to write this, but today I packed the boys for Hawaii. No, we are not leaving this weekend, there are still a good two weeks before we go, but I'm so incredibly ready to run around outside and play that I decided to pack them up today. Why not, its not like we will be needing the swimsuits, t-shirts & shorts in the next couple of weeks here, right? In the process Walter's outfit somehow metamorphosed into this:

I think I'll be packing myself next week. 

Jer is on his way home. I love Thursday nights.

Bats eat over 100 mosquitos a night.

Owen's favorite show right now is Zaboomafoo (a lemur and a few guys talk about animals). Our day pretty much revolves around it. In the morning before school he is always reminding me to not let him miss it. He has been asking alot about mosquitos this week, he is especially concerned about them biting him while he swims in Hawaii in a few weeks. He told me this about the mosquitos today and when I asked where he learned that, his answer was Zaboomafoo. We are going to the zoo next week and are hoping to see a lemur there.

Owen has a Valentine's Day celebration at school on Friday so we have been working on Valentine's all week. I was pretty excited to read the note about needing to make a Valentine box as it took me straight back to my elementary days. After I explained how I decorated them as a child (hearts, red paper, etc.) Owen decided how he wanted to decorate his - a sky with airplanes flying in it. So here is the result, followed by a couple of the boys working on Valentines:

Eighteen.

Owen made a slide in our house and told me it was only for four and five year olds (basically, NOT for Walter.) I told him "Great, I'm five!" He said "no you're bigger, Mommy." When I asked how old he thought I was he said "eighteen." I am happy I am not.

If you're wondering why I haven't blogged at all this week. I think the following photo sums it up quite well.

Now if I only had a photo of Walter's green nose - but I don't think we need to go there. 

It was a rough week, but thankfully the weekend was much more enjoyable. Yesterday, my girlfriends & I threw a baby shower for our dear friend, Lindsay, who is expecting baby #1 on April 1st - no fooling. Today we enjoyed the balmy weather and spent some time playing on Lake Nokomis followed by Jer & Owen playing hockey over at Lake Hiawatha. If only winter could always be in the 40's and sunny. Although, then the lakes would never freeze, so we'll just be thankful for today.

Jer has spoiled me again and bought me a fancy new SLR with some reward points he recieved from doing a great job at Accenture. Hopefully I'll be delivering some great Lindsay-quality photos for you soon.