HEADS OR MONTICELLO

Finn was playing a board game with grandma this week in which two players take turns flipping a coin. One person is "heads" and the other is "tails". When you flip your chosen side, you get to move forward on the board. Finn chose heads, and decided after a few turns that he didn't like his coin and was going to find one with heads on both sides. Grandma explained that there was no such thing, that all the coins had a head on one side and various things on the either. They happened to be playing with nickels, so grandma explained that it was Monticello on the flip side of their coins.

Finn decided from there on out they would play "Heads or Monticello".

BEST FRIENDS

We hang out with a lot of kids. A few of them on a pretty regular basis. And Finn knows all of them by name, talks about them when they're not around, and looks forward to our playdates. But more often than not, when we actually get together Finn ends up hanging out with kids he doesn't know. He seems to be motivated by the activity rather than the company. If a stranger is doing something more interesting than a friend, off he goes. This is not the case with Jasper. Jasper is his best friend. They stick together like glue, and are even starting to negotiate activities when one of them wants to do something different than the other. When we don't see Jasper often enough "Pretend Jasper" takes up residence at our house. Lucky for us "Pretend Jasper" is a pretty agreeable guy. He can also drive a car, so picking him up is never a problem.

WHAT ARE WE MAKING?

Never underestimate the tenacity of a 3-year-old when given a job they especially like. Finn helped me punch out hundreds of circle, then did another 50 or so stars on his own. We're making some sort of garland for the nursery. After we'd been working a while Finn starts talking to himself saying "We're making a garland... or a leotard. I can't remember which."

NURSERY WALLS

The walls are done in the baby's nursery. And they look awesome. I was inspired by this blog post to do a wallpaper look with paint pen. It was so fast and easy. Of course Derick did all the heavy lifting. But I did the linework, and am pretty proud of myself. But now we have to wait to do any more work in there until July. Its proving harder to get rid of our guest room than I thought, with a parade of friends and family coming through June. Fortunately the rest of the big stuff is coming from Finn's room, and shouldn't take more than a weekend to transfer. And now I have another 2 months to plan...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Finn was so excited about the gift he made for me at school, he couldn't wait five minutes after we got home on Friday to give it to me. Its a pen that looks like a flower. And it is awesome.

I LOVE MY HUSBAND

I love my husband, yes I do. But here is why I love him today: He gave me his iphone. I have been hinting that I wanted one for the last couple of weeks. Lamenting my inability to take photos and post them on the fly. Not being able to play "Words With Friends". Always wishing I had a camera or video camera with me to capture all the precious and hilarious things that Finn does and says.

Well, he up and gave me his phone. And here is my first remotely uploaded hipstamatic photo to prove it. I may not look happy in the photo, but that is because I am hungry, and have not yet learned about my new iphone.

FAMILY PORTRAITS

We had our family portraits done in the fall by our very talented friend, Tammy Coombs. Not only are the photos amazing, but we had a great time taking them. Tammy has an amazingly upbeat personality, and with two young kids of her own she knows how to play to her subjects and keep their attention. In Finn's case, the magic happened when Tammy brought out some orange tic-tacs. You would think there was crack cocaine inside those tiny little treats. Finn practically did flips to get more. Here are a few of my favorite photos from that day: