friends, romans, countrymen???

apparently this is the only picture we took of anyone in our family from 1/31 to 2/13. i have no idea what is going on in this obviously special moment in time. hmmm.

toby the photographer

how a 6 year old sees the world:

my lego's:


the rug in mom's bathroom- hey, valentine's day is just around the corner!
(i like that you can the tiniest bit of right big toe at the bottom!)


and an extreme close-up:

with a goofy crooked smile ;)

miller's first playdate!

back on january 28th, we went to visit our friends, aimee and oliver- he's only 2 weeks old here. aimee's the advanced choir director for the ccc, of which i conduct the jr. choir- so these meetings will be a regular one......

they enjoyed staring blankly in each other's direction, making random noises at each other, sitting and listening to their moms talk and plan stuff, and just hangin' out! miller even got to try out oliver's cool swing, quite the novelty to him since we don't have one. boy, what a fun playdate! we know there are many more to come for these choir pals!

free enterprise

i love that toby set up a little shop to sell otter pops- in january! he has a container with an ice block to keep them cold, a bell- which he rang and rang and called out to the neighborhood -"otter pops, come and get your otter pops". the sign said they were 6 cents- or free! pretty good deal, eh?

so pretty, dontcha think?

100th day of kindergarten

to celebrate the 100th day, the kids all dressed up as though they are 100 years old. we got some white karate pants and the suit coat at goodwill, i made the bowtie out of a file folder, drew his moustache on with a gray eyeliner, and they gray hairspray is from sally beauty supply. sooooo cute!!!

the water on his vest dried shortly after the picture! he also made a chart of 100 things- we did puzzle pieces- and it turned out really cool. if i find it, i'll take/post a picture.

a diatribe

..............to applebee's.




we just got home from applebee's. sounds like a pretty special valentine's day, huh?

well, for us, it is. everyone knows that the real estate market isn't exactly buzzing. and so we're not exactly having dinner out as much right now. and applebee's has always been there for us. here's just a sample of all the occasions that have made applebee's so close to our collective coates hearts.

when matthew and i were in college, and first married, it was a perfect gathering place for friends, and a good cheap newleywed date place. matthew had a long standing addiction to their banana milkshakes from when he was a server at the og (olive garden)- as an after work hangout. we even went there after my sister's college graduation. and for a few birthdays along the way.

then, when matthew and i moved to chandler, and eventually had toby, we spent many late nights (sleeping baby in tow) at applebee's enjoying their late night happy hour. it was a good way for us to relax and talk and get me out of the house after a long day with a new baby.

we've had business brainstorming meetings there, and even a few difficult conversations across those familiar wooden tables. we ended up at applebee's one new year's eve, after being too bored, cold, or otherwise not engaged in the festivities around us. and tonight, we had valentine's night dinner there, in a booth at applebee's, down the street from our new home.

just me and my 3 valentines!

on january 15th, we took a cupcake cake to toby's class for their snack time.

here, they're singing to the 2 birthday boys for that weekend, and toby shows off his cake:

then, we all headed outside for the yummy, messy snack time. toby got to have his actual birthday off from school, as it fell on martin luther king, jr. day.

this was his "party" this year, but he did have a friend over for a couple hours on his birthday. and of course, there was his "birthday eve"

miller goes to kindergarten!

on january 11th, miller got to be a special guest to toby's class! they are learning about measuring, and comparing. so, mrs. lyle measured how long miller is:


then traced how big his hand is- we barely got it flat, he was holding a pretty tight fist:



all the kindergarteners had brought from home a piece of yarn that their parents had cut to be how long they were at birth. then, later in the day, they compared whether they were longer or shorter than baby miller, and what their hand tracing looks like compared to baby miller's. they wrote out sentences and drew pictures all about their experiment! (so cute to see on the wall of their classroom- all the pictures and sentences about each of them and baby miller!)

they were pretty entertained to have him in class that morning:


and of course, this kindergartener was just beside himself to have baby brother at school!

bathing beauties

boys in the tub. these are from back on new year's day. i'll be catching up on all of january in the next few posts.............