Presenting...

Presenting Mr cool:


Also presenting: The boys at their gymnastics show.
Honestly, Leland and I were ready to bail out on the entire thing, because we didn't fancy sitting in a hot gym on Sunday afternoon, but I am glad we went. The happy beaming faces of the boys as they were doing their 'acts' were priceless.
Unfortunately, non of the pictures turned out that great, because we were sitting a little too far away and we don't have a great zoom on the camera. But hey, it was fun.
Mind you, as you can tell from the pictures, Stoney still needs to work on his backwards somersault. They just started gymnastics a month or two ago, so there is still a lot of room for improvement. But so far, they really enjoy it.

Stoney's baptism

On Sunday we had Stoney's big day. He and his friend Tristan were getting baptized. (for some reason it didn't occur to any of us to take a picture of Stoney and Tristan together...)
Leland baptized and confirmed Stoney. There is something very special about seeing your husband baptizing your son.
Naturally, we have the standard baptism picture.



Miracles do happen, and my mom announced she would come and attend the baptism. My dad couldn't come, because he is still recovering from surgery and still weak. He was not up to make the trip. Stoney invited some friends from school to the baptism as well and one of them came with his mom and little brother (who is also a friend of Monty).

Here is a picture of the four of us - not to bad considering the last family pictures we took (at Tammy's wedding) we had children trying to run out of the picture or picking their noses...



And here is a handsome looking boy. Monty really looks up to Stoney and I am sure he will want to be baptized in a year or two as well.


And once again the 'man' of the day.

just a day...

Just a random day... Well, not super random, because i have a week worth of vacation starting today. Compared to American standards i have a ridiculous large amount of vacation days. 25 standard and i get an additional 10 because i am following additional courses. So I can afford to take a week off when the boys are on Easter break. Timed well anyway, because work has been extremely busy and stressful lately.
Anyway, here are today's random activities:

• Slept in - one of my very favorite things to do. Despite the fact that I work 40 hours a week, have two young children, am the Relief Society Pres, visit teach the sisters in the most outward corners of our ward, and take French classes on the side, deep down i am incredibly lazy.
• Took an bushel of old jeans of the boys. The oldest ones i cut up into patches to use on the-not-as-old ones and patched 7 pair of jeans with that. Now I am wondering, am I thrifty or just cheap?
• Went to visit teach, the only sister on my list that lives in the vicinity. Took the boys, because the sister i teach has a daughter their age and they like to play. Because my visiting teaching companion bailed out on me (with excuse, she had a baby just a couple of weeks ago and she's quite exhausted) the boys and I decided to go by bicycle. It's probably three miles or so to this sister's house, but we missed a turn on the way over and it became four miles instead.
• Had Family Home Evening with the boys. We talked about baptism. Sunday will be Stoney's big day.
• Prepared the forms for Monty's Dutch passport that needs renewing. Leland did the forms for his American passport. Tomorrow we will spend our day paying for overpriced passport pictures and sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs waiting in first the Dutch embassy and later the American one. A day well spend i am sure...
• Broke up a pillow fight a 9 pm between two certain boys..

And thus ends a random day spend with the people that love :-)

random spring pictures

It's finally spring - sort of.
It's not like we can go swimming in the back yard some of those VA blogs report about, it is still a little cool, but we finally can spend a lot of time outside with the kids. The boys always want me to take a truckload of pictures of them in the park, and for some reason they are always the same kind. I mean, each year, we take the same pictures.
There is always a picture of Stoney hanging upside down.


Always a picture of Monty doing some kind of 'pole dance' with a rope


always a picture of Stoney climbing on something


and always a picture of Monty in a pose that to him seems very impressive.



The boys also had great fun playing golf in the back yard. Stoney occasionally has quite a good swing and we have to hide for cover. (although we didn't get the better swings on camera)


On a completely separate note:
Close to the park were we play is this building. We thought for a long time that it once was a defense building for the city, or an old city gate or once a prison or something of that nature, but now an office for the university or something. But no. It looks like a prison and it actually still is the local prison.
Go to jail and get to live in a castle. Go figure.

Just when you think....

Just when you think that your kids may do plenty of weird things, but at least they don't play with scissors...
This morning we slept in - that is, the parents did. Stoney and Monty got up early. When we came downstairs Stoney announced: "Monty cut off a piece of my hair!"
WTH?
Not only did he cut of some of Stoney's hair, he also cut of some of his own and what's worse (because hair at least will grow back) he also cut about ten holes in his PJ pants.
"I didn't think that would happen mommy, it was an accident."
You little stinker!

And yet, he looks so innocent when he is painting Easter eggs....
This is his look when i told him the Easter bunny doesn't REALLY exists.


Stoney painting his eggs...

Stoney has been having some health issues lately. He first had an ear infection on his left ear, the next week on his right ear and then he got the stomach flu.
Poor kid seems to have lost his hearing in his right ear for the moment. The doctor says the infection is not completely gone yet, so we'll have to give some time. Unfortunately he doesn't hear much of what we say to him these days.

Side note: Monty is the proud owner of some spiderman sneakers

Luckily they zip on the side and we don't have to do the laces all the time.

identity crisis

I had a slight identity crisis this weekend. All of us have been sick, Monty and Leland had teh stomach flu and Stoney and me had a head cold which in Stoney's case turned into an ear infection and in my case turned into a throat infection which made it almost impossible for me to swallow.
On Saturday I was taking a much needed nap and was woken up by Monty (he does not like people sleeping I guess - he wakes us up all the time lately) he was complaining about something that had to do with a toy and Stoney not sharing.
I was rather out of it. I said to Monty: "why don't you go downstairs and ask Mommy about it."
He gave me a bewildered look. "But you are Mommy."
Oh yeah, I guess I am ;-)

We still have 'flat Connor' with us and took more pictures. We are sending it to Linda next. Here are some of our shots.


This is Monty in front of the university library (one of them anyway). Danette asked about the large bug on the needle. To clarify: it's art. Was given to the university to commemorate it's 575 anniversary.


This is Monty eating a Belgian Waffle in front of a waffle shop.


Here is Stoney by the city hall. It supposed to be the nicest city hall in the country. Ypu can't see it very well in this picture. Unfortunately my camera died after this one.


You can't really tell, but this is Stoney by St Peter's church down town.


Stoney at the botanical gardens. There is not a ton to see this time of year, but the crocuses were blooming.



Here is the entrance to the botanical gardens.

That's all for now.

spring is in the air

Oh my, spring is in the air! I mean, not that is WARM, but it has warmed up, the snow has melted and we actually got some sun today. Most of the week we were stuck with a constant downpour, but today was good.
In honor of the great weather, we decided to plant some bulbs.



Some of the chestnuts that we found in the fall had sprouted roots and we planted those as well. (even though Leland doesn't really like chestnut trees, because they make a mess year-round.) We'll see if they grow into actual trees.

On a complete not related note: here is conversation that happens almost at a daily basis somewhere between 6 and 7 in the morning - before Leland and I need to get up. (Monty being the one party in this conversation and me the other)

"Mommy?"
"Humpff"
"Mommy?"
"Yes Monty?"
"Can I say something?"
"Yes dear."
"Mommy?"
"Yes!???"
"I er... I ... Can i go to the bathroom?"

Honestly! Does the child have to wake me up at six in the morning to ask if he can go to the bathroom? Why doesn't he just go?
Alas, we have told him time and time again, if you need to go to the bathroom, by all means, GO. But to no avail.
He is an interesting child....