Jacob and Maddie

Perhaps it's their place as the oldest grandkids. Perhaps they have a cosmic connection. Or perhaps it's because they're the only two grandkids who don't nap anymore. Whatever it is, these two really hit it off. I think Jacob loved having an older sibling to follow and I think Maddie loved having a little sibling to follow her who wasn't holding a train.

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures of the their shenanigans.

Cutting apples (lookee those faces):





























Making sugar cookies:





























Nico joined in at the end (he's the shorter napper between him and Giddie goo).















And, you saw the leaves:



















We didn't catch it on film, but my favorite thing they did was chase each other. Jacob usually put his hands up in front of himself and yelled "I'm a giant" as Maddie ran away squealing. And Maddie taught Jacob so much and really invited him into a big kid world.

I have a feeling that in a few years Jacob and Gideon will "get" each other and barricade themselves somewhere playing G.I. Joes or Tranformers (or newer, hipper toys) -- but for now Maddie is Jacob's girl. We love you Maddie!

And, thank you to Jana for doing the apples and cookies with the kids. Mom and Jana were so kind to let me try to rest out the lung prob...it's still a problem, but I finally cracked the University of Chicago healthcare labyrinth and got to see a doc. I'm hopefully on the mend.

We've been workin' on the rail road

Happy day after Easter!

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house this weekend and all we did was work! No easter eggs. No candy. Just work! We're exhausted. Can you believe it?














Even Jacob had to get busy!


















Okay, okay, so we did have a great Easter! Our Saturday morning in the yard was actually lots of fun. And we had lots of Easter fun. There was even a little seer sucker involved. We'll try to post more pictures of our weekend once our blisters have healed!

Like I say, they're boys.

Boys

I love having boys. Despite the fact that I feel like I'm flinching all of the time...














...I, Robyn, am very happy with boys. I have one sister and about a kajillion girl cousins, so the ways of boys (see above) were totally new to me. They are funny and smart and often very exasperating (see above). Match boy-ness with Jacob's personality and you get moments like the following.

Mornings right after Matt leaves are either magical or horrible. This particular morning Jacob really outdid himself.

First, he put a visor on Nicholas like a toga.



























And then ran around the room laughing and screaming and falling down.














Who knew that could be so much fun!

Beans, Beans...

It started modestly enough: one bag of red beans, one bag of great northern beans, two metal bowls and two plastic measuring cups.







Sometimes things with small beginnings turn into a whole lot more. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.























We LOVE beans.