Fire station visit

We had a chance to visit a fire station with Daniel's cub scout troop. The firefighters were all very nice--the boys had a great time learning all about the fire station, the trucks, and how fire fighters do their job.

Aaron gets a lift down from the driver's seat of the fire engine.

 Matthew loved driving.

 Daniel had lots of good questions. 

 The kids learned all about what equipment is kept in the truck...

...and what kind of gear the fire fighters use to stay safe.

Our tour was cut a little short because the fire alarm went off! Here go our brave fire fighters!

Time with Dad, time with Mom

Daniel was invited to a birthday party recently. It took place at Stone Gardens rock climbing gym in Ballard. Since it was a "big kid only" party, Chris took Daniel there and I took the little brothers on our own adventure nearby.

Daniel really took to the climbing.

 There he goes!

 On the way back down.

 Meanwhile, Matthew, Aaron and I found ourselves at Fred Meyer (thrilling, I know). They always ask to eat there in the upper level area near the deli. We go to Fred Meyer to shop, not to eat, so this was a real special treat for them. They picked out donuts, chocolate milk and applesauce, and we had a great time looking down over the store together.

 There was some goofiness, too.

 After our donuts (and a bathroom break) we drove over to the locks. It's the wrong time of year to see salmon in the fish ladder, but we still had fun exploring.

They love these funny sculptures. 

What a fun time out!

Sneak Peak of Baby 4

We got to "meet" the new baby this week at our anatomy ultrasound! This baby was doing barrel rolls and kicking and punching so much that the ultrasound tech had a really hard time getting the measurements that he needed. He often didn't know where to look next because baby would just move out of the way anyhow. After awhile, he was able to see everything he needed to see and we were all set to go. Baby Hanzeli 4 is measuring perfectly (to the day, exactly!) and is hanging in the perfectly average 51st percentile for his/her size. Everything looks good and we're all set to meet him/her in April!

 Perfect little right foot.

What appears to be a bear paw next to his/her head, is actually baby's left hand (as we were assured by the ultrasound tech).

 After many, many tries, baby finally behaved so that we could get a glimpse of his/her profile. Cute like the brothers, can't wait till April!

A haircut for Aaron

 It was time. He made it past his third birthday with not even a trim. We love his awesome curly hair, but with the weather cooling (freezing) off, his beautiful curls turned into a mess of long uncontrollable wisps. And, he started getting comments referencing him as "her" or "she," which is where Chris draws the line. Of course, if he was a girl, we could've tamed that hair with some cute clips or something and none of this would've had to happen.

 Before.

Oh boy, hair all wet and ready to go.

 Chris is the resident barber in our house (and believe me, it is a super stressful job around here), but Aaron insisted that it was Mommy cut his hair. So, after looking through several tutorials online on cutting boys hair, we decided to give it a go. Matthew got his hair cut at the same time, and it was a real time saver to have two haircuts being performed at once.

 Sniff. I hoped those curls wouldn't disappear altogether.

 Post-haircut bath to get all those itchy hair clippings off.

 All dry, and surprise! Hair is still curly!

 So, I didn't cut everything, just tidied it up a bit. (Which is also nice because it hides my amateur hair cutting skills.)

Which is good. I don't think we could've handled an Aaron without his signature hair. :)

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

Aaron turned three on the 16th. 

I think this was the most fun birthday to witness so far (although, I may be forgetting Daniel and Matthew's earlier birthdays...). 

Aaron was so excited to have a birthday, and he just LOVED having people sing the birthday song to him. 

 

 We sang and lit candles many times in the days surrounding his birthday, and every time he just sat there beaming as if having us all there celebrating him made this the best day of his life. Which makes sense (because he is three, after all)...

...but there was just something different about him than other birthday boys who have been a little uncomfortable with the attention (which also makes sense...they are their mother's sons, after all).

 Aaron had a fun birthday, especially because Auntie Laura had literally just gotten back from China.

 And of course, there were presents.

 Like bath toys.

And airplanes.

 And books. (His exact words were "Yes! A book!")

 And olives.

 And Dick's cheeseburgers and milkshakes for dinner!

 

 And let's not forget about the cake.

 A few days later we celebrated with the rest of the family...which meant more presents...

 ...and more cake!

Three-year-old Aaron's Top Ten Favorite Things (in no particular order)

1. His brothers
2. The Swedish Chef from the Muppets
3. Airplanes...especially the P51 Mustang
4. Baths
5. Olives. All kinds
6. Auntie Laura (or LaLa, as he calls her)
7. Cats, especially Auntie Laura's cat, Finn. (We play a lot of pretend games where he is Finn and I am LaLa)
8. Cake (this was also one of his first words)
9. Mom (because she makes the food)
10. Dad (because he plays the rough, tickling games)


Three-year-old Aaron is:

1. Passionate. There is no medium with Aaron. He is either really happy (and he'll tell you "I so happy!") or really mad. He has a fair amount of rage in him that shows itself anytime he is even slightly disappointed. This earned him the nickname "Angry Aaron" early on, and though we don't really call him that now, he still fits the bill.

2. Polite. When he isn't raging mad at you, he is very polite. He rarely ever asks for something without politely using "please," and is the one kid who most often says "thank you for the ______" without being prompted. (This is especially nice at mealtime).

3. Athletic. This kid is the most athletic toddler I've seen. He is super agile and has incredible balance. He will jump fearlessly off of anything (so watch out if you're within arms reach), and climbs as high as he can on any play structure we meet. He flips over in one fluid motion if you hold him by his hands in the air, and also learned to do this on the rings on our play structure. He flies down our sidewalk on his scooter, which makes anyone who doesn't know him nervous, but manages to stay upright and in control 99% of the time.

4. Independent. He takes after big brother Daniel in this department--usually saying "I do it myself" if you offer to help him with anything. Putting shoes on, buckling himself into the car seat, getting dressed, you name it and Aaron will want to do it himself. Or at least try for 10 minutes before accepting your help.

5. Helpful. Anything we do, Aaron is asking to help. Chores are now taking quite a bit longer to complete with all the "help" we're getting, but at least he's learning how to do things...right?

6. Sweet. If you say "I love you" or "I missed you" to Aaron, he usually replies in his very cute little voice "I love you, too" or "I missed you, too." Melt my heart.

Happy birthday, buddy! We love you oh so much. :)

Halloween and All Saints Day

We love costumes around here, so Halloween and All Saints Day are two of our favorite holidays. Thank goodness I started getting over my all-day morning sickness early enough to have time to work on costumes. :)

 The week before Halloween, our school had a family Halloween party. Here the first graders get ready to show off their costumes in the costume contest.

Grace the unicorn and Daniel the Seattle police officer did not win, but we still think they looked awesome.

This guy was our big winner of the night. He won the costume contest for preschool boys AND won a cake in the cake walk! Way to go, Matthew!

 On our way to do some pre-darkness trick-or-treating at Grandma Eva's house.

 These guys always love visiting Great-Grandma Eva, but on Halloween they get extra treats. :)

 This was our second year participating in the All Saints Day Mass at our church. We decided to pick non-warrior saints this year, and ended up with a St. Francis, St. Peter (who looks angry here for some reason) and St. Juan Diego.

 We forgot to take pictures of the rest of the many saints who showed up to celebrate with us, but here are our cute little saints outside the priory. Happy All Saints Day!

Fall Fun

We went on a little fall outing together over the weekend. Some friends had tickets to ride the on the historic Snoqualmie Railway that they couldn't use, so we were able to go in their place. The boys LOVE trains, so this was a super exciting trip for them.

 Waiting for our train ride, the boys checked out some of the other old trains near the station.

 Army medical train!

"How does this work?"

Here comes the conductor, we're ready to board!

The train travels pretty slowly to North Bend, then back up to Snoqualmie Falls before returning to the station. It was such a fun ride!

Afterward, we drove into North Bend to visit the town bakery for a treat.

The fun times didn't stop there. We were already way past naptime, why don't we continue on to the pumpkin patch? Matthew found this awesome old firetruck there.

 Aaron has an eye for the big ones.

 Daniel found his pretty quickly.

 Matthew tried out a few and finally settled on this one.

 What a fun day!