Noah spent the night last week. This was our second sleepover, I think. And Noah could hardly wait to "sleep" on the top bunk. He was so excited that he tried to put his PJ's on at nap time - I had told him that he would sleep in Riley's room at night, when he had his PJ's on. When I told him that he had to go in my room for naps, he gave me the classic "Oh, man!" When it was finally bed time, we sent them to bed early... we know how this works... we wanted to give them a little while to enjoy. Sure enough, even after it was time to quiet down... every 2 seconds, he would lean over and say "night, night, Riley." The next morning Riley was SO GRUMPY! He said "I'm grumpy because Noah kept me up all night." All night, to our four year old is 8:30pm to the rest of the world...
It's a good day in "the springs"...
-- the sun is shining and it should be in the 60's again (maybe all the snow will melt in the backyard).
-- it's FREE BREAKFAST TUESDAY at Chick-fil-A... free chicken minis ( I realize that those of you in the great Pacific Northwest don't know the joys of Chick-fil-a and I am here to tell you that you are missing out!)
-- Riley and I are going to try Capoeira... just wikipedia it 'cause I don't really understand it! My friend Bronwen has explained it as "Brazilian martial arts meets breakdancing"... I still can't picture it! But, she has convinced our buddy Noah (ok, the real convincing was his mom) to try the family class with Riley... more on our adventure later!
-- Tuesday night dinner... ok, so everyone has them. But, do you call them by the oh-so-creative name and have the COOLEST people over???? We've started this "tradition" that we get together with some GREAT friends every week for a potluck. It's become this amazing "family away from family" since we are all transplants (the rest of the regulars are all from texas... but we are adding a few to lessen my "minority" status). It's fun to get the kiddos together to play and the adults together to just share life! Hopefully we will remember to snap some pics tonight... but this is one of the highlights of the week!
ps... it's also SPRING BREAK!!! yippeee for daddy being home to play ALL WEEK!
Happy Easter from Colorado... in true Colorado form, we had snow last night (just about every year, we have snow on Halloween and Easter... grrrr!) But now the sun is out and we are resting after a FULL day of fun! Holidays are a little hard for me, being so darn far from family. Growing up holidays were CHAOS!!! Cousins everywhere, a long day of FOOD and if it's my mom's side of the family - GAMES!!!! Now, our closest family is my brother, Jared & his family... and they are a good 4 hours away. So, we celebrate with friends! This year we weren't thinking ahead (I'm blaming it on the fact that Easter was so darn early) so we didn't get the invite out until last week and that was thanks to my dear friend Ashley... but we still had a few friends over. Here are the pictures to prove it!
Carter, Riley & our buddy Gage (his big brother Ian wasn't up for the group photo)
"BRING ON THE EGGS" (we put the boys in old t-shirts to save
Miss Kisha passes out the "bug parts - legs, exoskeletons, wings" for the eggs...
Ian, Riley's best friend, birthday buddy, and the artist!
Kissy Face... not sure why, but so darn cute!
Warning - I drank coffee this morning (it was 1/2 caf... but that doesn't seem to make a difference)... this will be RANDOM!
I LOVE THIS PIC! Brian is such a great daddy!
We often tease the boys, saying "We don't have any fun in this house." This, of course, causes lots of giggles and laughter.
I've started telling them I don't want to see smiles... I'll have to post their "attempts" at a grumpy face... it's pretty darn funny! Carter couldn't fake a grumpy face, even if his life depended on it!
Spring break starts tonight!!!! YIPPPEEEEE! a week of Daddy at home. We have big plans... hang out, hang out some more, oh.... and the ZOO! This morning Carter poked Brian and told him, "I poked you so you can't go to work." If only it were that easy! (Brian would have liked to stay home today - he has to pack up CSAP - state testing - stuff).... but it's a great reminder that we are lucky to have Brian home so often! YEAH for my school counselor HUSBAND!
So, Carter is hanging out at home today... relaxing,reading books, and watching "shows."
When I gave him options, he said "I want Wonder Pets - Wonder Pets are wonderful.... there's no scary guys"
he makes me smile!
So.... Carter is sick. Poor kid! This morning at breakfast he was telling us "my belly is hurting me" (I love how he phrases things!). Tuesday is a busy day at the Darden house - I will spare you the details but it includes getting Carter to a friend's house (not close to our house), Riley to school (back by our house), me to a networking meeting (on the other side of the city)- all by 8:15 am!
So, I decided that since he wasn't feeling well, I would take him to my meeting. I am so thankful for this AMAZING group of business people who don't mind seeing my (and other) kids from time to time. They always introduce my boys as some super hero (which usually makes the Darden Boys smile for DAYS). I should have known it was more than an upset stomach when he didn't want to introduce himself. Darn it!
Well, part way through the meeting, he starts crying... and won't stop. Now, Carter has PERFECTED his "fake cry" (we've caught him practicing on numerous occasions) but this was the "I AM MISERABLE and need to be at home" cry. I got him into the car just in time for... yup, the PUKE! All over the beloved fuzz (his blanket), his clothes, his seat, the back of my seat... oh, the fun!
Poor guy.... thank goodness he is sleeping peacefully at the moment...
and my amazing friend Kris said she could pick Riley up from school so I can keep Carter at home... I can't begin to express how thankful I am for my friends!
So... this might just be the beginning of a Darden tradition... we have NO SHORTAGE of quotes from our VERY VERBAL kids... and my mom is always telling me to "write that down"... maybe now I will.
Let's start with this one:
I was talking to a friend on the phone and trying to remember what infection Riley is being treated for and I could not remember the word to save my life. Well, Riley must have overheard me talking about it, because he came into the kitchen and said, "Mom, it's called impetigo".... correct pronunciation and all...geez, nothing like a 4 year old with an adult vocabulary to put you in your place.
In case you are wondering, Impetigo is a weird infection... we have NO idea where Riley picked it up but we caught it early (thanks to his preschool teacher) but it causes these gross blister like things around the mouth... notice the HUGE scab in the last picture... yuck!
Riley & Carter received penguins from Gram & Grandad this week. Gram & Grandad got them for the boys on a recent trip and sent them with the Easter treats for the boys. (they are also wearing the hats that Gram & Grandad got for Brian and I). Little known fact : according to the Darden Boys (clearly the experts on all things "DUDE") in order to be a "dude," one must wear their hat backwards. But back to the penguins. Each of the boys came up with a name for their penguin - Riley's is Waddles (makes sense... Penguins do waddle... and it goes along with his "naming theme" the duck named Quack, the Dog named Ruff, the Horse named Pony...need I go on?). And Carter... well, he named his Penguin Ramsey. Now, we have a friend named Ramsey but Carter hasn't seen him since LAST SUMMER... so we have NO IDEA where he came up with it. We even tried to convince him to change the name... but he wouldn't have it. Riley wanted to make a nametag for Waddles... here is our "practice sheet"... when he put it on the name tag, 
Waddles became Waddlez. It amazes me that our "little peanut" is going to be in kindergarten next year... and our friend Jenny (who is a kindergarten teacher) said he is way ahead of the game if he can recognize letters... not to mention write them all! Watch out world, we are about to enter the realm of school age kiddos... I don't think I'm old enough for this :)
You may wonder what Animal Planet and Superheroes have in common... well.... it all happened this week in the Darden House.
Riley discovered Animal Planet this last week. Now, if he has to choose between say Backyardigans (a longstanding favorite) and ANY show on Animal Planet - he will always choose the latter. So, while playing this week, we have been a family of crocodiles, turtles, and hippos (just what every mom wants - to be referred to as "mama hippo").
And in the few short moments that we have not been an animal family, the boys are superheroes. I got home this afternoon to "GOGGLEMAN" who saved me from some unseen danger as I walked into the house.
I love being the mom of BOYS! and my boys have imaginations that daily amaze me!
So, the Darden's are entering the world of "blogging"... well, Lisa is! It promises to be eventful - if I can keep it up! I mean with 2 little guys who insist on growing up and a houseful of friends and family, it should be fun!
