Dress Up With T

Well, T has been talking about doing this for some time.

Last Saturday Joe was at the library studying all day, so I finally gave in to the silliness.

I suddenly had two (pretty ugly, but fairly cute) princesses running around the house!

Poor boys!

Love, Us.

Signs of Life!

The tree house brought about further enjoyment for the kiddos... it attracted other life forms!

Contrary to popular belief, there is at least one other child in our neighborhood.

And... her parents allow her to come over and play light saber battles outside with us! 

Yay for a play mate!

Love, Us.

The Tree House

I think the indoor fort got them thinking of greater endeavors to be had outside.

Luckily, we have an unused ladder from our bunk beds hanging around...

Behold: The Tree House

This house had everything they could possibly need by the time they were through creating it.

The closet rod: for storage of all their weaponry and tools

The kitchen sink... with leftover chocolate pudding ready to be rinsed off

And, of course... what Tree House would be complete without its very own swing!?

Love, Us.

Kiddos Out in the Beautiful Spring Days

We just got a dusting of snow last night, but it has truly been wonderful weather-wise around here lately.

The kiddos have been shedding all of their layers, and we even broke out our stash of summer clothing!

On the first of these gorgeous days, I got a couple pictures of the kiddos outside enjoying the air.

I LOVE how our kids enjoy each other's company and (even though there may be a fuss to start - 

they definitely aren't saints yet!) really play well together.

Love, Us.

The Fort

The kiddos have been very creative around here lately.

We seem to have some little engineers in our midst.

Their first big endeavor was the Fort.

Even though Romeo had nothing to do with the creation 

and a lot to do with the little demolitions along the way, he was so proud of it!

The kids really had a blast with it!

They made it over the last two chilly days here, 

so we let them spend more time inside than usual in order to get their use out of it.

Yeah... Romeo was a BIG fan!

Oh, and they, of course, made sure to properly label their Fort, 

just in case either friendly or enemy forces came by.

Love, Us.

Up With the Dawn

We don't have sleeper-inners around our place.

We have actually had to put a rule in place that the kids can't come out (AKA - "It isn't morning") until 6am.

And you better believe that they have an internal alarm clock for 6:01!

We're fine with that, though.

We start turning into frogs at 9pm, so a pre-6am rising (in order to get a bit of silence before the storm) is a good thing.

The other day, amidst the morning routine, T snatched my camera to grab this beauty just outside our door.

There definitely are blessings to being up early!

Love, Us.

The Joes: Part 2

When David saw that his GI Joes had made the blog, but that the pictures weren't telling the whole story, 

he quickly grabbed his guys and my camera and headed outside.

Here is the rest of the story.

(If I was computer savvy, I'd say click here to see the first half, but I'm not... 

so you'll have to scroll back to Feb. 8th to see them "up a tree".)

Anyhow... they were in a tough spot.

But... they kicked those bad dragons' butts!

This dragon better watch out! 

He is about to get a throat punch from this guy!

Oh, no! That dragon knocked down his buddy!

You'll pay for that, Mr. Bad Guy!

Wow! An ogre came out of the undergrowth to blitz attack them when they were distracted by the dragons!

No worries! The Green Beret may not have hands (and my kids would point out that the ogre has him in guard),
but he has a faithful K-9 who will show that ogre who's boss!

Yup...it's just another day at the Librandi house when you've got amputee soldiers beating up Jiu Jitsuing ogres!

 Love, Us.

Groups Pics after Mass

We quick gathered up for a couple group shots after Mass as mom and dad headed out of town.

Thanks for coming! We miss you! 

Seriously... Patrick asks me if he can stay at your house every day. 

It really clicked with him that Bumpa's name is Patrick. He thinks that is the coolest thing ever!

Love, Us.

A Park Trip With Bumpa

My mom and dad were here on a gorgeous day, so we took advantage and climbed the hill to the park with Bumpa.

As a true MN framer, he immediately located the wind block and settled in with Patrick.

 We had a great time... so great that our hair started to stand on end!

Love, Us.

A Visit from Grandma and Bumpa

We are much closer to home than we have been in five years, so we were blessed with another visit from family.

My dad came down to both pick up my mom and deliver many wonderful gifts from the farm!

Our pantry is now STUFFED with canned goods, our freezer is PACKED with beef, 

and I have a new office/craft room table top!

Thanks, Dad!

Dad is always good for being interested in new places... he was very intrigued by the Ozarks on this trip.

He even got the kids learning about it with him.

Oh, and Bumpa brought a big truck, which the kiddos thought was an amazing playground!

And it is never a true visit from Grandma without a bubble sink!

Love, Us.

We Have Avid Archers on Our Hands

We have had small styrofoam balls and thin PVC pipe on our grocery list recently.

Our little archers are itching for some more weaponry (and those arrows need a bit of safety added to their tips)!

Love, Us.

Romie and the Great Outdoors

If you want to make Romie happy, you have a couple of options. 

You could give him a banana.

You could turn on some music and start dancing with him.

You could lay down on the ground and let him tackle you.

Or, you could go to the coat closet and get out his shoes.

That is when he get REALLY excited!

And, thankfully, he has a wonderful big sister who enjoys taking care of him outside...

even when that means carrying him around on her back because he loves it so much!

After a bit, she even figured out an easier way to keep the little goof safely attached.

Love, Us.

They Got the Beat

Romie is absolutely in love with this silly little music toy that we found at the thrift shop.

He and Patchy were showing off their moves in the kitchen the other day.

Patch is such a ham... his dancing had paused momentarily, but then he saw that I was recording... 

and he turned on the groove!

Romie may not have perfect beat, but it is pretty good for 17 months!

Love, Us.

Romie LOVES Hats!

Our kids have always loved dressing up and being goofy in costumes in order to get giggles out of us.

However, until now, our babies have torn all hats off of their heads whenever we try to put something cute on them.

Romeo is quite a different story, though.

He, in particular, chooses to get his attention by wearing things on his head.

What a cutie!

Love, Us.

Our Lent Begins

I am very proud of our kiddos.

They challenged each other greatly yesterday as they were deciding on their Lenten sacrifices.

When the little brother gave up his car ramp and cars, as well as all the super heroes, 

the bigger brother knew that he had to do the same.

When her younger brother gave up his stuffed animals and pillow from his bed, 

the big sister followed suit.

Wow! 

So... all (nonperishable) things sacrificed have been collected and placed on display 

for them to recall all that they are going without for Christ this Lent.

The bean jars have come back out, in order to be filled with acts of love for Jesus 

and turned into sugary-sweetness on Easter.

The Lenten sheets have been thoughtfully filled out, the Lenten path colored on the backs, and laminated in time to start filling the path towards Easter with stickers today.

The Librandi Lent is underway!

Love, Us.

A Bunch of Joes Up a Tree

The kiddos snagged my camera last week to document a bit of their fun outside.

The GI Joes were in quite a pickle.

They had been "treed" by a pair of dragons.

To make it worse, the dragons were now trying to start the tree on fire.

Now THAT is a bad day!

Oh, and one of their company was a double-amputeed green beret.

I am not quite sure how he got up the tree... I'm sure it was very impressive!

 Love, Us.

On Being the Eldest Sister

I was talking to T yesterday about how much she enjoys her brothers. 

She, of course, always has a very special spot in her heart for the youngest - the one closest to being a baby.

She is a wonderful guardian, little mother, and guide for all of them.

She, of course, would be very happy with a sister.

 But (at least for the time) she definitely enjoys her unique place ahead of the manly troop.

Love, Us.

A Visit to the Park on the Hill

We are blessed at our new place to have a park out our front door, just a few blocks away.

We even have another out our back door, just up the hill.

Unfortunately, neither of them are quite close enough for the kiddos to go there without Joe or I with them.

So... there has been much begging to go to the park.

Finally, mom was caught up enough on her to-dos and school was done simultaneously.

We headed to the park on the hill!

They did their exercises.

They showed their younger siblings what they could do when they got bigger.

They posed for mom on the toadstools.

And it all ended with a standoff on either sides of the pass.

Thankfully, they came to a truce, and no blood was shed.

Love, Us.

Fun Worth Fuzzy Pictures

Today's fuzzy pictures are worth sharing, because of the story that is behind them.

I'm pretty sure we already have a "name" in the neighborhood. 

We are the people whose kids play outside for hours EVERY DAY.

Our last neighborhood would have thought this was normal. 

This one, however, obviously does not. 

We have been here a month, and I have seen a total of two lone toddlers outside once for two minutes each.

So, needless to say, our kids have been forced to come up with their own fun.

On one particularly pleasant day, the kids were out until dark when I called them in to supper.

They immediately replied for me to grab my camera and snag a picture before they put their "fun" away.

They had created a horse-and-carriage system! 

(Yes, there is a rope connecting them, which you can't see.)

What a bunch of (imaginative and ingenuitive) goofs!

Love, Us.

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird

Birds seem to LOVE the little hill just 20 feet out our back window.

It was filled with bluebirds the other day.

It looked like this Mr. Blue had been taking more than his portion of the local bird seed!

FYI: This WAS a Mr. Blue. You can see his brighter back better in this shot.

And, obviously, we remain snowless.

The kids have either been going out without jackets, or have been quickly peeling them off once they are out.

Love, Us.