A New Culinary Quest

Scott is quite the king of the kitchen. He's a master griller. He bakes Norwegian cookies at Christmas. He makes pancakes for the boys every weekend. And now his culinary resume just expanded to include making sausage. Today Scott and Luke hooked up the new attachments to our Kitchen Aid mixer and set forth on a new culinary quest to make Swedish potato sausage or "korv."

Step 1: Grinding the beef, pork,

potatoes & onions.

Luke was the best helper

during this 2+ hour endeavor!

Step 2: Hooking up the casings

and filling with the sausage mixture.

Step 3: Showing off part of the 10 lbs.

of potato sausage they made.

That's enough korv to last us a year!

Reid on the Rings

Reid resumed his gymnastics class last week, and he's thrilled to be back to tumbling, jumping, and swinging! Mom captured a few photos from the viewing area of our little gymnast in action.

Bird's eye view of the gymnastics studio.

Reid is in the middle upside down on the rings.

Reid on the rings (with a little help from Coach Steve!)

Happy Baby

Grant's expressions are starting to blossom more and more, especially when his big brothers are around. Luke is in charge of the "dancing arms." If you listen closely, you can hear Grant coo at the end. Here's the happy baby!

Denver Playdate

It's always a treat when friends are traveling through our wonderful state, and we can meet for a bit to catch up! Last Monday we met our K-State Theta friend Judy, her daughter Christy, and friend Mike at the Children's Museum of Denver. Judy and Jami were roommates back in the days of living in the Theta house. What a treat to watch our kiddos play together now! Reid and Christy loved exploring the many exhibits of the Children's Museum. What better way to spend a Monday afternoon!

Reid, the mad scientist,

grows bubbles in his laboratory.

Cuteness in costumes!

The girls & Grant (who's very mad!)

This is how we stroll...

Beautiful sunshine + 60 degree days + a family who loves the outdoors = quality time with our jogging stroller!

March kicked off with some warm days, so we were off and running and soaking up some Vitamin D! Our bike trailer can be converted into a double jogging stroller, so Mama, Reid & Grant have enjoyed some nice afternoons touring the neighborhood. We can secure Grant's carrier in snugly with the seatbelts, and Reid has room to sit beside him and keep baby brother entertained. Sometimes they both even doze off! Luke especially likes when we trek down to school to pick him up.

Counting Sheep

Sometimes the best place to snooze is on Dad!

Life with Boys

Sometimes living with boys is just one chuckle after another...

Someone likes to play Spiderman in the floral centerpieces around our house. At any given time, Spidey has been web-slinging his way through a vase with tall decorative grasses or bamboo reeds, only to have been left behind to fend for himself when a distracted little boy moved on to play elsewhere.

Someone landed the Millennium Falcon in our shower, parked right between the shampoo and conditioner. We have yet to see any Storm Troopers emerge.

Someone shot the Nerf dart gun at our lovely family portrait hanging over the fireplace. And one of the darts managed to stick squarely on Mom's face. Intentional target? Let's hope not... Ha!

Life with boys ... LOVE IT!

Uniform

When Scott changes out of his work clothes, his usual "uniform" for lounging around the house is a white tee and gray sweatpants. The boys took notice and one day asked to "dress like dad." Easy enough. So now this is the usual uniform for evenings in the Leahy household.

Lounging Leahys

FUNdraising!

Take a hoedown, add in a cookie walk and basket raffle, and round it out with a YEEHAW ... and there you have the spring fundraiser for Luke's school! We packed up the crew and headed down to the school for an evening of fun.

Our neighbor Todd performed a magic show

for the kids. Reid was asked to assist

with part of the show!

They waved a magic wand

and made this paper hat!

Dancing in the Gym

You & Me

Grant is starting to reach out and

grab for things ... like Dad's face!

Father & Son

Mr. Cool & Mr. Cute

Mama & G

All dressed up for work (& play!)

Lego Guys

The boys LOVE to play Legos. Most mornings before school they are camped out on the floor of their room building the next great Lego creation. Reid particularly likes the Lego guys, and we have quite the village! One evening he had them all lined up and displayed on his bed. Cute!

Happy 1 Month!

What a blessed month with our Sweet Baby Grant! In his first month, he's gained over a pound and is weighing in at 9 lbs. 12 oz. (50th percentile). He's also grown an inch to 22.5 inches (90th percentile). He's now sleeping longer stretches at night and is awake for longer periods in the day. He loves to be in the center of the action, not missing a thing. We can't wait to see what next month brings!

Likes & Dislikes

Today marks 4 weeks for Mr. Grant. Over the past month, we have loved every moment of watching his little personality unfold! Here are a few fun highlights of his likes & dislikes:

Grant likes...

• Smiling, which he started on Feb. 17. He woke up from a long nap, full of smiles!
• His pacifier.
• Being swaddled.
• His swing.
• Long walks in the baby bjorn.
• Watching his big brothers' antics.
• Sleeping. After a rough first few nights home from the hospital, we got into a good sleeping routine at night, and that's continued ever since! He usually is just up once in the night to eat (sometimes twice ... but that's not often).
• Riding in the car.
• Snuggling.
• Bathtime.
• Snoring. (He's a LOUD sleeper.)

Grant dislikes...

• Waiting in the car pick-up line at Luke's school. For some reason, he thinks the car needs to be moving AT ALL TIMES and never at a standstill.
• Wet pants in the middle of the night. This has yielded some very loud wails!
• Burping. He's the slowest burper. Eventually, it happens but it takes a long time.

Just One of the Guys...

Time for Tea

On Valentine's morning, we hosted the neighborhood moms for tea time! It was wonderful to catch up -- and slow down for a bit -- over a morning of tea and treats, including heart-shaped lemon cranberry scones with creme fraiche, cucumber avocado sandwiches, lemon bars, fudge, cappuccino walnut toffee, and other yummy goodies! One joy of hosting gatherings like this is pulling out the nice dishes that don't get used nearly enough. Perhaps we'll have to make more occasions for fine china and the silver tea set! Ooh-la-la!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

Grant's in the tub! We've been giving Grant sponge baths for some time, while we waited for his belly button to heal. This week we were all set to brave new territory into the world of tub-bathing for Baby Grant! While he would often carry on with quite a ruckus through the sponge baths, he was quite calm and content during his first real bath, never letting out a single peep. Happy baby ... happy bathtime!

"Hey, Dad. I kinda like this bigger tub."

Peeking out from the warm hooded towel!

Ready for bed in sock monkey PJs!

A little post-bath playtime!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Arrow

Reid: Mom, I think Grant's hair in the front makes an arrow.

Mom: Huh?

Reid: Right there. It is pointy and makes an arrow.

Mom: Ohhhhh, I understand. Reid, your hair is like that, too, in the front.

Reid: It is?! [Followed by Reid running to the mirror to check it out...]

And so goes the lesson of hairline formation and Widow's Peaks (which maybe we'll start referring to as the "Arrow" from now on...)

On the subject of archery, Grant has also been doing the "archer pose" often. He's really starting to stretch out those arms and legs. Here's our happy little Robin Hood!

Date Night

The big brothers have adjusted very well to having another brother around the house. We've not really seen any jealousy, and they've taken the changes all in stride. For the most part, their lives haven't changed that much since Grant is still little and doesn't interfere with their Lego-building or video-game-playing.

Mama decided to treat the older boys to a Mother/Sons Date Night! Tonight we dressed up and headed downtown for dinner at Sonterra Grill, followed by an evening at the theater. We enjoyed a fun-filled performance of Imagination Celebration's "Jumpin' Jazz: A Swingin' Jungle Tale." This kid-focused musical mash-up incorporated a chamber orchestra, singing, acting, storytelling, audience participation, and even break-dancing (our favorite part!) What a marvelous evening out on the town! Dad and Grant enjoyed their evening relaxing at home, just the two of them.

Mom & Her 2 Handsome Little Dates

Ready for the show to begin!

Afterward, we had the opportunity to mix

and mingle with the cast, including these

jungle creatures! The masks were hand-painted

and made of foam ... such incredible detail!

Brotherly Love

Now that Reid is feeling better and is over his respiratory bug, he's enjoying some sweet moments with his little brother. Today he held Grant and gave him his bottle ... and Reid even snuck in this little kiss for little bro! Melt our hearts!

Brotherly Love

It takes a Secret Agent to feed this baby

(according to Reid's shirt!)

Another Snow Day...

Another day to lounge around!

Cold ... and Finally Snow!

While the rest of the nation had massive snow, we just had cold. Crazy cold. -13 degree cold. Windchill at -42 cold. Instead of cancelling school for snow days, we had two days of school called off for extremely cold temperatures. So Mama and the cubs hibernated at home and waited for the temps to warm a bit.

The boys loungin' at home on a day off school!

A big highlight for Grant this week...

staying awake for longer stretches!

He's now awake for 90 minutes at a time,

and we love seeing his baby blues!

Here's lookin' at you, kid!

This winter has been interesting. Lots of warm temps. Not a lot of snow. Finally, it started to snow yesterday afternoon. And it has kept right on snowing. We have about 6-8 inches of snow ... and still counting. We decided to take advantage of our winter weather (finally) by hitting Toboggan Hill for a sledfest today, followed by warm drinks and treats at Starbucks.

Grant was all bundled in his winter fleece and

napped happily in the car. Mom and Dad traded

off hanging out with Grant in the car, while the

other joined the big boys for sledding.

Ready to take on Toboggan Hill!

There was so much powder that several runs

down the hill resulted in a face full of cold snow!

Mom & Reid warming up in the car!

Boys in ski bibs at Starbucks