There's A Martian Among Us

And isn't he the most adorable Martian you ever saw? Andy has a big interest in outer space and really enjoyed the outer space theme at preschool last week. He made a rocket ship, which now lives under his bed and these are his 'alien ears'. His creativity continues to amuse us.

Startin' him young. Just kidding. Eli loves an open door and scoots on his little tush as fast as he can to get to the pantry when he hears it open. He loves to take things out of the recycle and throw them around. He chased this Diet Coke can for quite awhile on Friday morning. He also loves the camera and makes a beeline for it whenever I try to take his picture. Hence, the extreme close up.

Luke's school hosted Penguin Preview. I had no idea what that involved, just that he would wear a scarf, a snowflake on his head and there would be singing. Alrighty then. The little brothers and I gathered in the gym with about 100 other expectant family members of 1st graders. The kids magically appeared on stage and sang their little hearts out. Luke even had a line to deliver, which he did with much gusto. Afterward we went to their classroom for the cast party. The children were supposed to share a book that they wrote. Writing is not Luke's forte by any means but he has worked very hard on this story about his memory of last 4th of July. He was very proud of his efforts and we are so proud of him.

We have taken Andy to Luke's classroom 3 or 4 times and he is so eager to be involved in whatever is going on. He just can't wait to go to the big school. I kept him occupied with snacks this time and he even posed for a picture. He is so annoyed that he won't start kindergarten in the fall but I will sign him up for as much pre-school as he can handle.

Three More Bees Dropped In For a Visit

At last! We live within driving distance of our North Carolina cousins. Aunt Holly brought her two bees by for a visit. There was much laughter, a lot of wrestling and a new version of beach ball baseball was invented. Eli likes to try and scoot out the front door. He tried to escape while aunt Holly was loading the car and Ben rescued him. This led to a spontaneous train formation and a fantastic photo. Good job, team B!
We decided to check out a nearby museum for kiddos. It is our new favorite place. So much to do and reasonably priced. I envision many more adventures here. My camera phone was not cooperating so this is a lousy picture of Luke inside the submarine. He is conducting an experiment, I think.

All the little boys were building forts in the giant Lego exhibit. Of course none of them wanted to share so each boy was hoarding Legos inside his creation. Hence the very serious expression.

Eli was forced to ride in the stroller for most of the morning because we were changing exhibits so quickly. Once I realized we would probably stay at the Lego station for awhile, I set him free with his own pile. He squealed and smiled, banged the blocks together and was his usual adorable self.

Thanks for coming by, cousins! We hope to see you again soon.

A Totally Terrific Unexpectedly Awesome Thursday

A great day in our little corner of the world! Luke and I made a very early morning trek to Duke for a follow up exam on his eyes. The surgeon who assisted in the operation did a very thorough exam and Luke's vision is nearly perfect. That hasn't happened in almost 4 years of treatment. We had to wait a little while to see the "big cheese", the main surgeon. I'm so proud of Luke and his behavior at all of his appointments. He always finds a way to entertain himself. Dr. Buckley spent all of 3.5 minutes with us but seemed satisified with his handiwork. He asked us to come back in six months, of course. Luke didn't seem to grasp the significance of the good news, but I was thrilled.
Upward Basketball was the second major event of our day. Luke is playing for the first time ever and Thursday was his first practice. So entertaining to see all the little boys and their coaches chasing basketballs around the gym. Brings back fond memories of my first days of b-ball. Steve stayed with Luke at practice and I brought the little guys back home for dinner and bedtime. The third piece of exciting news turned up quite unexpectedly in my 'in' box: an offer on our house! Hooray! After some negotiating it looks like this deal just might work out. What a relief that would be.

Oy. Cabin Fever.

The natives are growing restless. A snow day without any snow to play in seems like cruel and unusual punishment. The storm that dumped on the rest of the South only left us with freezing rain. Everything is a solid sheet of ice and it isn't showing much sign of melting. On the bright side, we do have electricity and more than enough toys to fight over. The boys did a good job of dragging out some of the toys they haven't played with since we moved.

Luke invented a game of tossing a ball with an ice cream scoop from the top of the stairs. The basket was a collander. Very impressed with his creative thinking. Unfortunately, Andy wanted to hold every. single. thing. RIGHT NOW. Andy was sent to his room for a cooling off period and Luke continued the game on his own.

I took this picture a few days ago but it is just so cute and I can't resist posting. Eli usually goes to bed at the same time as his brothers. On this particular night, he stayed up a little later and helped himself to Luke's toys. He quickly figured out how to turn on the electronic light saber and he was very proud of himself.

So far school is only on a 2 hour delay for tomorrow. Hopefully we can get out of the 'cabin' before we all climb the walls. I fear the fever will be in full swing by lunch time if we don't.