Freddie with Nana and Ba

DSCN0090, originally uploaded by dancgbear4757.

Overlooking the lagoon at Hollywood Studios.

Me at Animal Kingdom

DSCN0213, originally uploaded by dancgbear4757.

In case anyone was wondering what I looked like in mouse ears. :)

Pictures from our Walt Disney World trip.

Can be found here:
Disney World Set on Flickr

Pop!

DSCN1368, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

A very appropriate snack for a nearly-two-year old when at the Magic Kingdom! He was thrilled beyond belief with this pop.

Tiger!

DSCN1376, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

Meeting the Little Einsteins!

DSCN1418, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

We have returned from our week at Walt Disney World. Lots of pictures (most w/o captions at the moment) up at Flickr. Meeting the Playhouse Disney characters was a highlight for Sammy and Freddie.

Lamb Class Music Program

Another highly amusing performance! Sammy *loves* singing and he's been so excited for his concert. Here are some pictures since most of you couldn't be there in person.

Proud and excited to be at the concert.

This morning I asked Sammy to help pick out his best outfit. This was his choice. ha! As he would say, "I love it!"

Taking the stage.


Buds: Sammy, Will and Cal

This picture was taken before the show. Sammy and Cal were on opposite corners of the risers during the program. I asked Sammy about this and he told me it was so they would pay attention when they have music. I told him I was glad he paid attention because he did a great job tonight, and he really did! (aside from scratching his a$s for a couple of minutes - no, really, he did - he was very into the program, he knew the words and the dance moves.)

Poor Freddie was restrained during the show.

This is his new leash (yeah, a leash), getting a test-drive before Disney World. I use to think these things were ridiculous and demeaning, but after having Freddie I totally get it. He kept asking "Out" and pulling on the harness. Poor kid, it was his bedtime and we forgot "Deedee" (blankie) at home.

A couple more pics, even though I know Blogger is going to crop them.
He's doing the dance moves here.


You can almost see the itchy booty in this one...

ROFL

Jacob said I should mention that those are fake teeth so no one thinks he's a Noodler. A *very cool* PRIZE to the first person to post a comment and tell me what a Noodler (or Noodling) is.

Ike visits.

Actually, Cal and Isaac came over to play last Saturday morning, but Jacob took Sammy and Cal to the YWCA pool to play in the pool and I stayed at home with Freddie and Ike (the two trouble makers). The little boys played together for about the last 15 minutes of the visit. It was pretty sweet. Freddie calls Isaac "Ike" or "Ucky" (he's trying to say Isaac with the latter!) and he really is happy when Ike's around.

Boom Boom

Last week Sammy requested that I bring his drum set upstairs so he could jam. As you can see, Freddie wanted to get into the act, too.


Somehow we only have one set of mismatched drum sticks, and Sammy got those. Can you see what Freddie used? He was not fooled or very happy, but he played along for a while and I had a good laugh over the chopstick drumming.

"It's a joke."

"Mommy, how does an airplane fly?"

Jess, thinking, awww, man, I don't like to think about this. Then, Sammy says, "It's a joke. Ask me how they fly."

Me, "How do airplanes fly?"

Sammy, "With jets. They just wing it with their jets."

New hair cut.

I took the boys for haircuts last Tuesday afternoon. Here are some shots from today of Sammy's new cut. I think he looks like such a cute boy with short hair! And so much less messy in the morning.

not so much of his hair as his tonsils... ah, boydom...


A little Matchbox airplane he earned for good behavior.


A cute profile. Along with a funny quote from last week, "That's not a fart. That's an airplane taking off in my stomach."

"Pud-din"

Pudding, a new love.


Eating it off his shirt cuz it's so good.


Also, a new favorite of Freddie's is wahboos, or as we humans call them, waffles. He loves his "wahboos" so much so that he's requesting one before a [cereal] bar in the morning!

Daredevil.

This is actually tame for him. Before I took this picture, he was standing up on the elephant without holding on to anything (facing forward, so less like a surfboard style and more like precarious balancing act).

Zoo.

I took the boys the Friday before last, and met a lot of friends there. We didn't stay with any of them too much because Sammy blows through a zoo, but still, they had fun, and it's nice to have parts of a zoo indoors during the winter. Freddie basically snacked the entire way through.

Another view of the "Ouch"

This picture is nearly two weeks old! Sheesh, he's all healed up now but it sure was "Ouch."

Freddie reads

Freddie's language has really taken off recently. A couple of nights ago he was flipping through a book, pointing to images and saying the words. "Frog" "Duck" "Truck" "Block" "Baby" "Eyes" etc... (he was really on a roll!) When he came to an item he didn't know the word for he asked, "Suss-sis" ("What's this?")

Yesterday, he was looking at pictures of our family and he pointed out, "Papa" "Nee-na" ("Nana"), then he started quizzing me asking, "Sue-sis?" ("Who's this?")

Sammy and Ivy, hanging in a tree [house]!

Sammy and Ivy, originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

He's acting cool in this picture but Sammy totally adores Ivy. Today when they were on the teeter-totter together he said, "I love Ivy." And a minute or so later, "Will's a fun kid." (Will is Ivy's older brother, who is Sammy's age. Sammy probably didn't want us thinking he likes a girl best. ha!) !

Sunset over Lake Hiawatha.

The swings at sunset over Lake Hiawatha., originally uploaded by sweetietooth.

My friend Mo called me this afternoon to invite us to join them at a local park. My first thought was, "You're nuts!" But then I reconsidered and we went.

It was nearly 30 degrees outside with little wind, and considering last week it was 50 degrees colder (at -27) it felt nice. Tomorrow it's suppose to get bitterly cold again so we had to head out while we could, and Sammy really enjoyed it. Poor Freddie *loathes* walking in snow, and there's a lot of it on the ground. Thankfully, he is happy as a clam in a swing.

Our Duluth weekend adventure!

Ashley made plans for us to go on a sleigh ride through the Junior League. Ashley keeps telling me that they Junior League women in Duluth are nothing like the ones in the South. After our adventure on Saturday I get it! Here are some pictures from our outing (not very many because I had to lug a toddler around)...

Our ride:



Ashley, Sammy and Jacob


Jess, Freddie, Cody

It was very cool riding in real horse-draw sleigh. It was very cold, too, and not at all what I was expecting. I felt dumb for not having my kids in snowpants and boots, but I was totally thinking "Junior League sleigh-ride" and imagining ladies in high-heeled boots and made-up to the nines out there. Not so! It was really outdoorsy (really!) and I hope we can go back next year now that I know what to expect. The boys will be decked out in outdoor winter wear and Jacob will wear thicker socks and bring his own boots (Jacob nearly lost his feet from the cold). Except, I still think I'll pass on walking on the frozen lake....

Thanks again, Ashley and Cody, for having us!