Lordy, lordy, look who's two!

Two years ago, at 2:01 am on March 7, 2009, our beloved son, Finley Michael Johnson, made us a family of three.  Today (well actually five days ago) we celebrated his 2nd birthday.

We brought out the traditional, if two years can be considered traditional, birthday banner courtesy of Grandma Cindy.  I must say he is still very handsome.

Fin was just a tad excited about getting to the cake and presents.

Happy Birthday was sung and, finally, presents were opened.  No time to admire the wrapping!

Happy Birthday Finley!

Let's Go Band!

Recently I have been in the market for a trombone.  Why?  Simply because they rock.   I couldn't find one for a decent price in Urbana, so fortunately Pre-UNK Dan came to the rescue.  The only obstacle was finding something of equal or greater fantasticness to barter.  You can't beat a homemade winter hat, so I turned in my "man card", put needles to yarn, and crafted this beauty.

 

I think it turned out acceptable for my first one, a little rough, but you might say it has character.

In exchange, Dan's trombone.  A beautiful instrument.

Finley seemed to enjoy it.

After much practice, we were able to finish the visit with this short marching band performance.



Thanks a lot, Jessie and Dan, for coming to visit!

Here today gone tomorrow.

With snow on the ground and forty degree weather we decided it was a great idea to get some much needed "outdoors" time.  Of course, Finley went for the old standby, snow angels.

We told him that warmer weather was on the way and that the snow would be gone soon.  Needless to say he was rather surprised.

Sure enough, the warm weather arrived and the snow began to melt.  I've noticed if the weather station even forecasts rain in Illinois there are more galoshes on campus than I saw when I worked in Kodiak.  With the sloppy conditions outside we decided to gear up.

Fin spent some time working on his puddle sprints.

A great time was had by all!

Fresh Pow

I hadn't heard of fresh pow until this winter when my friend DW Staple I (Madison, WI) and my cousin Davin Blubaugh (Pickleville, Co) both used the term during conversation.  Urban Dictionary defines fresh pow as (n): newly fallen snow, particularly light and fluffy, excellent for skiing.  Another thing fresh pow is excellent for is making snow angels.

I didn't think Finley would ever want to come back in, but once his fingers got cold he finally agreed.

Finley decided it would be a good idea to put every stuffed animal available into his crib today.  It kind of resembled "The Claw" game found at grocery stores, with the exception of the diaper-clad toddler in the middle.

Jamie came in and informed him it was time to put the animals back; needless to say Finley was shocked.

 Shock quickly turned into brazen resistance.

A compromise was eventually mediated.  Elmo, Glow Worm and Woof-woof were allowed to stay.  Has anyone ever noticed how long the original Glow Worms were compared to the current ones.  It's almost creepy.

"Snow" much fun in the UP!

I love me some sushi

While Jess and Dan were visiting we discovered a delicious restaurant in the Champaign-Urbana area, Kofusion. We began dinner with some yummy drinks...Jess and I opted for the White Dragon cocktail.

Even though Fin didn't get to enjoy any sushi, he still got in on the chopstick action.

He didn't master the art of eating with chopsticks but at least they kept him occupied.