So this month I decided to start the blog with some pictures of the kitties. They have been neglected quite a bit of late. Besides, my mom just adores them and hates that they don't live with her anymore. (I feel a disturbance in the eye-roll universe... ;)
Mia, my queen huntress kitty
Daphne, the little lady 
Niles. Oh how to describe Niles... Klutz, smart, dumb, nuts, dog, patient, just plain crazy. Niles is one-of-a-kind. It's probably my fault for giving her a boys' name.
Niles
Niles in her superhero chipmunk pose
Kate is part of a wonderful preschool called Joyschool. She goes twice a week for a few hours. It has been so good on her self-esteem, her ability to associate with others, and her sense of just letting go and having fun. Many people try to describe Kate but can't quite put their fingers on what it is about her that makes her so different. I've heard her described as precocious, princess, an adult in a little body, reserved, and sweet. She is, to some extent, all of these things but there is something more that I haven't yet figured out. She's an onion and I am still peeling back layer by layer to this little miracle that came from me. It's like painting some grand work of art and not understanding why it is what it is, what makes it so enchanting. I painted an onion in other words. :D In any case, I'm grateful for the good things preschool has helped bring out in Kate and I'm excited to continue to see the layers peel back and develop in this interesting specimen of beauty I have the honor to watch.
Kate's Joyschool
Coloring a self-portrait at Joyschool
Clearly I am as obsessed with my kids as most mothers are. My blog is pretty much just about them. And the cats when I feel guilty about neglecting them. To be honest it still amazes me that these little marvels came from me. Flawed, slightly off-kilter, impatient me. Can a gal get luckier? I love to watch them grow and am fascinated with their eyes. They are so different from each other. Kate seems to be covering mountains of thought beneath the surface of her beautiful eyes but Asher just radiates light from his. From the day he was born it seemed like he could look right through me. He still can.
My little man's peepers
Trying to eat the camera 
Hi mom.
My Aunt Loni thinks Asher looks like Winston Churchill. At times he really does. In this one I can almost see him planning war strategies. 
Love the red in his hair.
Cheeks. 
It's a pretty minute detail but the thing that gets me in this picture is how light his eyes look. If you can see past the cheeks. :) 
Asher eating his truck. I personally believe that the guy who came up with the idea for King Kong watched his kid do this one day.
Blowing bubbles, a talent he has picked up this month and seems very proud of. 
Kate is a very good sport most of the time with me taking pictures so often and willingly lets me take a few. Sometimes it requires bribery. I just can't help it, she's so funny and so beautiful. And she looks so deceptively innocent in photographs.
My little beauty
Kate's beautiful eyes. There is some debate about what color they actually are. I think they are blue with some green in them. My mom believes they are hazel but I disagree, seeing no brown. Jon thinks they are green with lots of other colors mixed in. Your opinions?
Lounging around
Here's that sweet bit. 
This is actually Kate watching the latest snow fall. Such a deep little thinker. 
The crazy mash-up of weather this month left snow on the ground some days and sun in the sky on others. One of the sunny days we decided to take advantage of the pseudo-warm temps (I personally can't call anything under 78 degrees warm) and let Kate try out the new bike she got for her birthday. She was very nervous about falling and very excited about trying it out. She did a great job.
Every Friday morning there is a group of moms and their kids who get together to do a little playgroup. At this one they did a little project with crayon wax melting. Kate made a beautiful little "stained-glass" window picture of a rainbow.
At the playgroup they also did a bit of dance time. It was fun to watch Kate incorporate the things she has learned in her dance class at the YMCA and see that she actually is listening.
After yet another snowfall Kate decided she wanted to go out and play in it. I'm typically not a snow person so Jon took her out this time. She had a grand ole time making snow angels, jumping and running around, and throwing snowballs. She was properly worn out when she came back in.
Fancy in her snow gear
Jon and Kate jumping around 
On St. Patrick's Day Kate was visited by a leprecaun who left a trail of chocolate gold coins for her to follow which lead to a little pot of chocolate gold. She was very excited, especially since one of her joyschool classmates told her earlier that day that leprecauns do not exist. How do you spell leprecaun?
Kate with her loot
Kate and Asher both have Superman t-shirts. They are so cute in them that when they incidentally wore them both on the same day I had to whip out the camera. Superman working on his flying position.
My own personal superheroes. 
One of the greatest kid things ever is this hooded towel invention. Awesome for head warmth, even awesomer for coolness factor. It's so funny to watch what a little towel/cape transforms a kid into after a bath.
Super little! 
Now is it just me or does this have somewhat of a feel of the '70s Superwoman or Charlie's Angels or something... 
Ash is usually pretty open about his feelings and his feeling of being in his bouncer too long is definately one he is not quiet about so this is always a surprise. It's happened twice. How does one fall asleep while bouncing themselves?
I was crocheting some baby burp clothes this month for some showers coming up and Kate asked me if she could try. I told her it was a little bit difficult and I'd teach her when she was older. She was so disappointed. I went to the craft store and found these cool little kids' projects. They have pre-punched holes and big blunt needles. Kate got to sew, stuff, and decorate her own heart pillow. She was SO excited. :)
Fancy Pants' heart
Once in awhile on days she's particulary bored we break out her own personal craft box and let her go to town. This time we actually made popcorn and did a number of popcorn-related crafts. It was messy. But she sure looked cute as queen of the popcorn fairies.
I love to see this smile.
So tired. Naptime with daddy.
Cool, baby. Joe Cool.
Handsome little man in his suit
Oh boy, how to explain this one. I got an Easter hat for Kate and she immediately insisted on trying it on. After putting hers on she told me I HAD to get one for Asher. Luckily I had a little summer hat for him and that sufficed. Little man does not have to wear Kate's frilly hat. It simply would not have matched his dress shirt.
This is just priceless because of the look on Kate's face... and yes, they are still in their jammies.
I've started to let Kate pick out her own outfits. This has created quite an interesting array of fashion exploits and in her exploration of mixing patterns she came up with this bad boy. The hair is just the cherry on top. 
While I ran into the store for something Jon waited with Ash in the car. When I got back I found that Asher had been given new priviledges...
So this is something we do with the leftover milk that I'm too scared to let her drink but isn't quite chewy yet. You just put a few drops of food coloring in it, then dip a skewer or toothpick in dishsoap. When you put the skewer into the colors they spread around. It's fun to play with until it turns all brown. Kate calls it "milk magic."
