Marshmallow Pelting in our Near Future

On Friday, we headed up to Pittsburgh for our niece's first birthday party and had a wonderful weekend visiting with our niece Isabela and her parents (my brother-in-law) David and Amy, Nanni, Aunt Kathy, and Amy's parents Carol and Buzz. We'll post some pix as soon as we get them from David and Amy -- hint, hint! ;)

On the way up, Fia started pointing out her window, exclaiming, "Look! That man has a candle in his finger!" Well, now, that's a funny way to describe smoking. So innocent, I think we'll leave it at that for a while. :)

Sofia and Gabe spent much of the weekend following Bela around on the floor. Bela just loved playing with her cousins. They were all so cute together. Nanni and Aunt Kathy spent much of the time baking, as they always do. It was a bee-themed party (because, Tim, they call Bela "Lil' B") :) so there were bee cakes and cupcakes and beehives galore! Super cute!

Let's see -- a couple other funny stories from the week:

This one comes from Tim: Yesterday, he was at the park with the kids when Fia wanted to pretend he was her baby, so he was going along with the charade at first. When she announced that "uh-oh, he had a dirty diaper," he laughed. She had him lay down on the ground, but when she announced, "Okay, Dad, lift your legs," he said, "Nuh-uh, Fia. That's where I draw the line. Let's go do something else now." Of course some other kids were greatly entertained watching the whole exchange.

Here's a conversation from this morning's car ride:
Fia: "You're a good Mom."
Me: "Aww, thanks Fia."
Fia: "And my Dad's a good Dad too."
Me: "That's right, Fia. He sure is."
Fia: "When my Dad gets big, he's gonna have hair on his chin."
Me: (laughing): "And hair in his ears too, honey."

I'm sure there are some funny Gabe stories from this week too, but they just aren't springing to mind right away. I know he informed me that one of his teachers is the "Queen of Science" earlier this week, which made me giggle. Yesterday, he rode his bike to school as part of an organized "Walk/Bike to School Day" event. And suddenly he seems pretty enamored with coloring, which is good news. His Aunt Kathy and Uncle Marty gave him some fun, fuzzy coloring pages with markers when we were in Pittsburgh, so he spent a lot of time coloring at Carol's kitchen table. He has been very physical lately too, just having learned to swing himself on the swings, and now he can go all the way across the monkey bars -- another skill he just acquired. Oh, and when I read to him at night, he wants me to point out each word because that's how his teacher reads to him.

Tim just bought marshmallow guns online -- 4 of them for Halloween. Sometimes I think having kids is really just a way for men to reconnect with their inner kids. Don't get me wrong. Although I'm not crazy about Gabe handling a gun (even if it is a toy gun made out of PVC pipe that looks nothing like a real gun), I too am secretly excited at the thought of pelting my husband with marshmallows. haha! One of the cutest, most romantic things Tim ever said to me was within the first few months of knowing each other, he said, "You know you're the only woman I have ever wanted to have kids with." That's pretty amazing for a guy who didn't think he wanted to have kids. Not only that, but I can't imagine Tim without kids. He's such a fabulous dad -- one who enjoys getting pelted with marshmallows and pretending to be his daughter's baby and taking his son to the park, among so many other things! Thanks, hon, for being you.