Farewell

Every day Rob comes home with some kind of "treat" for the kids--a Fig Newton, taffy, cracker--whatever was hanging out at work. The boys look forward to it so much and were just blown away when Daddy carried in a bag of four little goldfish. Robbie named them Fossy, Mossy, Dacey, and Kasey; Ty named all of them Dish. We were pretty excited when three days went by without any floaters. Day four came, though. Then day five. By day six our bowl was empty. Robbie was brave and scooped them out and flushed them. He prayed that they would go to heaven and come alive again. So sweet.

Weekend

I came home from Zumba Wednesday night to my entire downstairs filled with pink balloons and crepe paper. Rob surprised me by taking the day off, and we spent the entire day as a family. After celebrating my birthday on Thursday, we took a quick detour through Provo for a Tucanos run before heading up to Logan for the weekend.

Grandma Haas and I took Robbie skiing again up at Beaver Mountain. We stayed in the "Magic Carpet" section, but he had it mastered like a pro. He can turn, parallel, snowplow, and stop. The kid has some serious finesse.

Riding up the magic carpet

Grandma and Grandpa Haas surprised the boys with a Jolly Jump! They can't wait to go back to play on it!

My camera has a delayed flash. As a result, I have virtually no pictures of Ty smiling. I took almost 15 shots, and these were the best I got:

Ty thought Grandpa was just hilarious when he blew into his empty Coke bottle. He tried his best to imitate and thought that was just hilarious too.

Good Intentions

I can think of a million reasons for loving Rob; one of them is his sweet heart. We live up in the mountains, in a newly built area that was once the winter feeding grounds for deer, elk, and the like. As snow accumulated, Rob decided he was going to help out those starving animals by buying a 50 lb. bag of corn and dumping it outside our window (so the kids could see the gluttons). What happened? A mouse, living in the bag, got loose in our house--a real treasure to catch and clean up after. The feeding frenzy drew in magpies, bunnies, and coyotes--one deer came the entire winter and never returned. This is what was left when the snow melted: a stinky pile of moldy corn and heaps of poopy pellets. I was the lucky one who cleaned it up. Needless to say, we aren't doing this next year.

Winter Olympics--Haas Style

I love living here. It is gorgeous and family-friendly and there are a million things to do nearby. Rob's mom and brother came up this weekend, and with the weather being just perfect, we decided to use our free cross-country ski passes at Soldier Hollow (yes, the Olympic course!!!). We brought Robbie's downhill skis and they were so nice to let him practice on their runs for free. He's doing just great!! Little Ty had a blast just running up and down the slopes.

Mom, Dad, & Robbie.

Robbie & Grandma

I love this picture. He's seriously focused on mastering his snowplow.

Ty's getting pretty good, too. (Olympic Park, Park City)

Cool Runnings has nothing on Haas Happenings

Rob on a luge

My personal highlight, however, was CURLING!!! Yep! My brothers came up with a group of friends and we all went curling! Okay, here's what I have to say to all of you who, like me, make fun of curling on TV: it's HARD!!! You slip and slide everywhere and balancing is a real skill, but it is a blast. They even let Robbie try it! Great memory.

Each of those stones is 42 pounds!

Rob has excellent form--surprise, surprise! Me? Not so much.

I've already released the stone, but the PVC pipe thing is to help us with balance. Olympians don't get that, obviously, so I respect them all the more.

Fighting for Manhood

It's a constant battle in our home: Who's the big boy; who was the fastest; who's the boss . . . (Robbie actually dubbed himself "The Little Boss" while Mom and Dad share "Big Boss" status). My mom just certified as a parent educator (I'm so proud of her) and she said that my children happen to be "Power Kids"--their lives revolve around power--who has it, how do I get it etc. Lucky me. Here's a few pictures of my little guys fighting to become men faster than they should.

Ty in his "unn-a-wares." Well, actually, they are Robbie's but he has to put them on everyday--just to prove how manly he is becoming.

My little Evil-Knievel. Ty rides this motorcycle so hard that his legs are literally horizontal behind him when he pushes! He does wheelies and flies down the hill outside--it's hilarious to watch. No fear, this one.

A happy growing up trait--MOVIES! I love Kidsongs! They are the only thing that Ty will watch and he could do it all day. He is obsessed with ducks and horses right now, and since Kidsongs features both, he's in heaven. (That makes two of us!)

Robbie is doing so great with his letters and sounds. He made this poster for Uncle Johnny's birthday party up at the house, and was just so proud. He is at the stage where he has to win at everything. Fastest at this, first at that, biggest here . . . it goes on and on. He wants to play lions all day and is obsessed with killing "bad guys." We're still not sure where he even got the idea (must come with testosterone), but he's sure he's brave enough to get anyone. I was in the kitchen the other day and copied down this conversation he was having with Rob.

"Daddy, I know all things."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I kill all bad guys. Daddy, if you see a bad guy from far away I just get out my sword and hit him on the head and he will die like this [picture the visual]." Rob must have looked scared (ha ha) so Robbie continued, "Oh, the bad guys live super far away, though, in bad places." What a relief!

I blame Rob. Rob allows Robbie to practice shaving--cream, razor and all. So really, I shouldn't have been surprised when I hear Robbie screaming from the bathroom and come in to find nicks all over his baby face. Yep, he shaved everything perfectly except that curvy spot around the lip and chin. I think it's time for a fake razor. Novel idea, I know.