First of all, I must share a blog I found recently. A mom of 11 children answers questions about parenting, but it is far more valuable than it sounds. Her words are loving and thoughtful and her advice leaves me feeling capable, refreshed and more personally fulfilled in my role as Ian and Joseph's mom. (http://askingjane.blogspot.com/)

Next up, we had a lovely St. Patrick's day. We played at the Mercer Arboretum with some friends and ate lots of delicious green goodies. 

Ian loved all the big-kid equipment. My once-chubby baby no longer has tree trunks for legs -- see? He has calf muscles!

Joseph had a blast keeping up with Ian. So many fun thing to explore.

 I don't own much of anything green myself, but I planned the boys' green outfits two weeks in advance. This was especially silly since the park was covered in an inch of pollen and we had to change clothes after they went down a few slides and then wiped the green-colored goodies and sushi we brought for lunch all over their clothes. But for a two hour period, they were dressed festively.

Here the boys are running around with plastic lizards. Joseph sure loves those little "doggies".

Unrelatedly, Ian has been consuming a ton of yogurt lately. I blame the broken fridge lock. If Ian disappears for more than 3 minutes he has probably already consumed two containers of yogurt and is struggling with the lid on his third. On this occasion he had poured the yogurt into a muffin wrapper and gotten cozy at the window sill to eat it. I love how much he is able to do himself and that he likes to be independent and self-sufficient. Lately it isn't uncommon for him to wake up and dress himself (and eat some yogurt) all before Joseph and I get up in the morning.