Family Fridays: Big Boys

The boys are getting bigger every day. It seems like they do new things every day too. Andrew is trying to talk more and more. Lately, he is asking for more and more things, particularly Winnie-the-Pooh ("Pooh, Pooh") and Thomas videos ("doodle, do, do"). If you don't come right away, he tries to pull you by the hand with all of his 18-month-old might. It is very funny.

Andrew also likes to make friends with everyone. This older grandpa on the right is one of his favorite friends around here. But Andrew knows who his real grandpas are and is starting to say, "Pa, Papa," when he sees pictures of them.

Both boys keep begging to do school lately. They would do school activities all day if I had the time. Aaron is making neater lines and coloring precisely (even when drawing on the computer). It seems like overnight he went from coloring everything on a page all one color to trying to get each detail as accurately as possible. Not that he does get everything inside of the lines, but he wants to. And if you are coloring with him, he will definitely want your drawings to match his idea of perfection. I got in trouble with him the other day for getting a couple of stripes on Percy the train the wrong color.

Since his birthday, Aaron has also been making decorations and presents for everyone. He is constantly asking to draw a picture for grandma, cut something for grandpa, or make a game for Andrew. I think his generous spirit is inspiring, even if his productions are not always Hallmark worthy yet.

Father's Day 2011

Nate wanted a quiet day at home to just enjoy our family. I tried something new and made homemade hash browns for breakfast, along with cinnamon rolls. Nate loves hash browns and these turned out really well. Aaron even liked them, even though they were out of his routine of yogurt and granola.




We talked to Nate's family in America via Skype. Then we gave Nate some treats we made, wrapped in wrapping paper the boys made. Aaron also read Nate the ebook we made about Daddy, Go, Dad. Go! Aaron doesn't quite grasp the surprise present idea yet, so Nate already knew about this present. It was adorable all the same to see our, not quite three-year-old, reading an entire ebook we made to his daddy..

We had a great lunch of homemade lasagna and triple chocolate cake. Then we headed outside to play. The boys had a wonderful time running, climbing, finding rocks, and throwing sticks in the ponds. We had a traditional Chinese dinner with friends later that evening.