Festivities!

Halloween came and went...like it does lately.   Finn got to carve his first pumpkin, however...and loved it!  I think he takes after his mama.  He's not afraid of a little slimy pumpkin guts.  The other two Greenleafs in our household?   Not so much.  Their both squeamish.  So guess who ends up doing all the work, eventually?  Uh-huh, ME!  Good thing I love Halloween and roasted pumpkin seeds!

A mixture of faces.

Koen's school hosted a fun Halloween party at which Clay made up for his lack of effort in the carving arena.  He took charge of the bean bag toss event.  Koen was so happy to have his dad there the whole time!

This was post-parade...which was also post-meltdown.  Koen was not happy when he had to join the masses of children marching around the school, single file.  As you can see, he eventually came around.

Bean bag toss station.

Cupcake decorating station.

And of course we wrapped up the day with trick-or-treating.  This year we decided to forgo the chaos of University Village, and hit the neighborhood streets...just like old times!   We met at our friends' house for pizza and rallying.  For some reason, the 'rallying' part was slow to develop for the wee ones.  Check out the happy faces!

I'm also baffled at the face that this is the best photo we captured of Monkey Finn?  Huh?  Oh well.  He looked pretty darn cute.  And his long tail only got stepped on about 40 times throughout the night.

I also want to mention that Fearless Finn wanted to trick-or-treat all of the scary houses...even the one with the real man, sitting motionless on the front porch, dressed like an executioner.  He waited an EXTRA long time to reveal himself...even though we sat staring at him....waiting.....tense...for what seemed to be an eternity.  Then he jumped, and we all jumped (AAHHHH!), then we took some candy and said 'Happy Halloween!"  Strange holiday.  I love it!

We're back...hopefully.

Remember me?  

No...I did not fall off the face of the earth.  I simply stumbled over the edge, catching myself before all was lost.  Unfortunately, I've been hanging here by my fingernails for quite a few months now (which is a miraculous thing in itself, given the fact that I've totally chewed them off from stress).  I've just recently been able to swing my leg back up to the earth's surface, and I am slowly pulling myself back up.  I can't promise I'll be standing upright any time soon, but at least I might have a free hand now for posting a photo here and there.  :)

Please don't get your hopes up for a regular flow as it once was.  But I know my adoring fans are starving for something...anything.  So I will try....TRY...to find time for more updates.  You guys are incredibly patient and I thank you!   :)

Ok.  Enough of that.  All this time has passed.  Finn's birthday has come and gone (yes, I'm feeling extremely guilty about not blogging that momentous event).  He is two.  Our baby boy is TWO!   Actually, now he's two and almost four months.  And boy, does he wear the 2 year old shoes well.  Feisty.

In light of the fact that I'm easing you all back into our life, I will back up a little bit.  For a while, I might just post some of the videos that we have somehow managed to take over the past few crazy months.  So, keep in mind that these might be a little outdated for a while.  But at least you will feel up to speed....eventually.

Love to you all!

Erin

This movie was made on Easter, just before Finn's birthday.  I've been meaning to post it all along, because we find it to be pretty funny...and representative of Finn's spirited nature.  We LOVE this little dude and could watch him over and over.  Talk about facial expressions!

And here is another taken on a day when Koen and I had some one-on-one time at the p-patch garden.  He loves to spend time with me in the garden.  Koen is the best...weeder...ever!  He doesn't let a single weed get by his tiny hands.

And yet another Easter video.   A very rainy Easter.





And finally, an evening that we spent at the park recently.  The kids took turns on the zip line.  Then Clay tried it.  :)




Adios!  We hope to be back soon!

St. Patty's Day!

Well, I guess something is better than nothing.  We made a little video today to share on the blog, but wouldn't you know, my phone hiccuped during recording and the last half is all out of sync.  Figures.

Koen and I butted heads this morning over whether or not he would wear green today.  He is going through an "I-don't-want-to-participate-in-group-activities-or-do-anything-that-you-suggest-I-should-do" phase.  It's difficult.  He detests 'yoga' day at school and goes out of his way to sit on the floor with his shoes on while everyone else learns yoga poses in their bare feet.

So this morning, he told me several times that he was going to wear a BLUE shirt, rather than a green one. I finally won the battle by explaining the 'pinching' game to him.  I hadn't wanted to go there.  But I knew that if he ended up the only kid in his class that didn't get the 'wear green' memo, he would've felt really embarrassed.  So I brought up the pinching.

And wouldn't you know, he came home all smiles, telling me how all the kids were wearing green and how they all had fun talking about NOT pinching each other.  Whew!  I'm so glad he wore that darn shirt!  :)

Here's the video (use your best lip-reading skills at the end!):

Other stuff to mention:

Finn wants to do everything by himself.  He says, "DO it" (with great inflection on do).   This applies to everything from brushing his own teeth, to eating soup, to putting on his shoes, to zipping up his coat...and on and on.

Finn's latest discovery is the joy of spitting (you know, the tongue out, lips flapping kind?).  It's even more exciting for him when he does it with a mouthful of milk.  He also LOVES his morning smoothie and calls it a "siu-mee" (which is eerily similar to the way he says 'excuse me').  When he sees me making the ice cold treat, he starts to yell from his high-chair, "Siu-meee!"  And when I finally hand it to him, he sucks it down at the speed of light.  Yep, the poor guy has now been introduced to brain freeze!  The first time was the saddest.  He looked at me and cried, while he held his hands on his little head.  Owie!  I know the feeling, buddy!

Koen made his own peanut butter sandwich for lunch today...first time!  He said it tasted better than mine and enthusiastically gobbled it up.  I told him he had earned himself a new job.

Koen also has a minor sassy streak that he's testing out.  This morning when I said, "Koen, I have a challenge for you!  (he likes a challenge)  Go see how many seconds it takes you to get dressed and make your bed!"  His reply was, "Mom, I have a challenge for you!  Go see how many seconds it takes you to make breakfast for me!"  

Nice.

2011 Resolutions

Erin:

1. Read non-picture books at least 10 minutes per day!
2. Have family game night once a week (anything goes: Sorry, Legos, puzzles, remembery, chuchones, etc.)
3. Go to bed earlier. This 5-6 hours per night justisn't cutting it. :)

Koen:

1. Go swimming. (?)
2. Grow bigger each day.
3. Learn to pee standing up (my own addition to his list)

Finn:

1. Add 2000+ words to my vocabulary.
2. Give up the bottle. Please!
3. Learn to ride a tricycle.

Clay:

(still to be determined...and revealed)

Merry Christmas!

This year, we spent Christmas at home in Seattle. And as much as we love being surrounded by family at this time of year, I must say this was the calmest, most peaceful Christmas I can remember. We had dear friends over for dinner on Christmas Eve.

Then our little family of four spent the big day doing absolutely nothing but playing and relaxing. We built with Legos, designed with pattern blocks, constructed towers with Wedgits, ate chocolate, practiced jump rope, played Sorry, flew balloon rockets in the living room (watching Oscar go out of his mind chasing them), ate caramels and more chocolate, rode bikes, and played Star Wars. I can't tell you how rejuvenating all of this play was for us. Simply lovely!

As tradition requires, the kids open a gift on Christmas Eve. It will always and forever be fun, new jammies. This year's theme...Spiderman and Cars.

Finn opens a beautiful, handmade book from Nana.

He likes it, can you tell?

Dump trucks...never can get enough!

Koen loves to read his books in bed with a flashlight.

Now the recurring dilemma of 'propping the light in the right spot' is solved.

A new clip-on book light!

Suddenly, there is an abundance of heavy breathing in our house. Hoo-pahhh, Hoo-pahhh.

Unfortunately, Finn got confused on Christmas Day, and now he calls Darth Vader, 'Santa'. :)

Koen is the proud new owner of a big boy bike (with training wheels)!

He spent much of the afternoon riding it outside.

The only issue still needing work? Braking!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Hopefully your day was as relaxing and fun as ours was!

Holiday Happenings

As usual, there are always so many exciting things to do around town this time of year...and it all goes by at the speed of light. So I'm simply submitting a photo tour of our holiday happenings. Weee!

Santa Finn. Ho, ho, ho!

Elf Finn

We spent a day at the Seattle Center, checking out the Winter Trains exhibit, Children's Museum and story time with Santa, and the ice skating rink (no we did not attempt it this year). Unfortunately, we didn't get but a handful of photos that day. We were simply having too much fun to remember!

Artist Finn, painting at the museum.

On a whim, we stopped at a park for some quick Christmas shots. Considering that we were well past lunch time and an hour into Finn's nap time, the whole ordeal went quite smoothly. Never mind the fact we had to bribe Koen a bit. His smiles were the simple result of telling him that if he cooperated for photos, he could later play 'light saber' with the stick he'd found on the grass.

Behold, the light saber

Peek-a-boo!

It wouldn't be Christmas without a Greenleaf cookie decorating event....

complete with a 'special' cookie. :)

Of course, we had to pay a visit to Dasher and Blitzen, as we do each year.

This year we finally made it to the Teddy Bear Suite at the Fairmont Hotel.

It was over the top teddy bears in all directions!

This was our favorite entry at the annual tour of gingerbread houses. If you look closely, you'll notice a certain high flying spaceman, also known as Buzz Lightyear. :)

Later, we tried our hand at our own gingerbread village. Alas, it ended up looking more like a remote town pummeled by a frosting and coconut landslide, followed by a candy explosion.

The boys loved the holiday carousel downtown. And you know, it's all about choosing the coolest looking horse. Koen chose the large black one with blue highlights in his mane.

We made it to the light display at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Finn had one thing to say, all the way through the exhibit..."Yie!" (Lights!). Unfortunately, only one of our 'night' photos turned out to be anything recognizable! But, here is the proof.

And lastly, here we are getting ourselves psyched up to sit on Santa's lap. Clay and I were bracing for the annual Santa tantrum and quick rescue.

Remember last year?

And the time before that? (

We flat out skipped 2008...

Koen was adamantly opposed, and we had no interest in pushing it.)

But we were pleasantly surprised....make that utterly shocked...when the whole ordeal passed without issue this time. Finn was only slightly wary. He and Santa sized each other up, and then it was all good.

To make the event more miraculous, Koen even talked to Santa! He told him he would like a Buzz Lightyear toy (much to my chagrin).

Random Updates

I just wanted to share a few funny stories and tidbits about the kids lately, mostly for the purpose of documentation. I forget so much lately, but I don't want to forget the most important things...the little things.

• Koen has been waking up and playing quietly in his room before we get up in the morning. Sometimes he plays with Finn in his crib and reads him books. We can hear their conversations on the baby monitor near our bed. When Finn starts to get antsy and whiny, Koen says in a very nurturing voice, "I'll get your mom. Do you want me to get your mom, Finn? Yes? Ok." This makes me smile.

• Our new favorite quiet time activity (during Finn's nap) is to write stories. Koen sits at the table and draws a picture. When he's done, I come in and listen as he describes the picture and corresponding story to me. I do my best to transcribe everything he says onto the back. He loves to listen as I read the entire story back to him. I can see the pride on his face, knowing that he made all of it up...all by himself. Then on the front, I write out one or two of the key words from his story so he can practice writing the words himself. He's completely tickled with his new writing skills. Practice makes perfect!

• Koen takes pretty good pictures lately (including the following self portrait). I'm often surprised when I upload photos from my camera and find some interesting shots (and video) that I had nothing to do with.

Koen, photographer

This is one of his recent videos. I have to give him credit. He's very careful with the camera and knows how to turn it on and off, point, shoot, and put it away like it never happened.

Finn's hair is taking on a life of its own. He often has a large rat's nest in back, tangled and fluffy. His bangs are long and well on their way to reaching the tip of his nose now. They often have mysterious bits of food plastered in them. Finn is the king of smearing his messy hands all over his face and hair just as I'm about to clean him up. I need faster reflexes.

Finnie, fresh out of the bath.

Cheeseball poser.

Yep, Finn still loves hats and non-hats alike.

This time it's an opened envelope from a bill. Why not, right?

• Finn loves to say 'Hahh!' (hot) and blow on his food. It doesn't matter what it is, he just enjoys doing something that the rest of us do. The other day he tried to tell me that his peanut butter and jelly sandwich was hot. And last night, I caught him blowing on the ice cream cone that I was 'sharing' with him. Finnie, the ice cream is not hot.

• He has a thing for the springy door stoppers in our home. He manages to unscrew one and carry it around the house for a while. I find them everywhere and I've gotten to the point where I don't bother to replace them for a few days.

• He still loves to remove his socks, but the bonus part is that he sucks on the sock for a while. Later, I find it, sad and soaked on the floor.

• He waves and says 'bye' when we lay him down to sleep in his crib. It is hard not to giggle when you see his tiny, waving hand, through the darkness.

• Each time I come around the side of the car to get Finn out of his car seat, he waits...quiet and still...hidden by the tinted window. Then as soon as I open the door he JUMPS (in his car seat) and yells to scare me. He then cracks up laughing at his own sneakiness. It is pretty cute.

• And lastly, Finn is obsessed with the Christmas lights decorating the houses and yards around town. He whimpers and cries out from the back seat, "Yie! Yie!" (lights) and if I don't immediately acknowledge the colorful lights we just passed by, he gets louder and more frantic. Then he wildly signs 'more' with his hands and says "Moe...yie!" (meaning lets find more). But quite honestly, it has revived my Christmas spirit this season to hear his utter thrill and see the wondrous wide eyes and beautiful smile on his face as he sees each colorful display. It's enough to choke you up. I find myself driving around for a few more minutes each night, or taking a new route home from wherever we've been so that we can see 'moe...yie'. Thank you, Finnie, for bringing the childlike excitement back.