Family snapshots!!

... just to capture the moment for all of us! Jonah's birthday!!
How can my lil' guy be 7?!?

In the spirit of Jonah's recent 7th (!!!) birthday, this is a pic from his FIRST birthday! Aww...

... then and now. Wow, seems like a blink & we were just back up there celebrating his 1st bday.
(here he's holding the keys to his 'police handcuffs' which he got for his bday) :)

A Helping Hand at Old Sturbridge Village

Jonah's feeding the sheep!
Last time I went to OSV, it was just Merrik & me. But this time I got to spend some one-on-one time w/ Jonah. These moments don't happen too often - usually it's the other way around (just Merrik & me) since Jonah is the one is school all day, every day. But one recent Saturday, M wasn't feeling well so he stayed home w/ Jared (who had to do some work from home) & Jonah & I ventured to OSV to get some energy out & explore.

The 'farmers' that work there are so good to us. They see Jonah coming & they know he is a hands-on kid! They usually offer to let him help and he is always more than willing to oblige.

... just one of the guys!! Walking the walk at OSV w/ 2 of his farmer buddies.

Jonah showing his bravery & petting the chicken!
Every time we see the OSV chickens, Jonah tells the farmers how chickens are dangerous because his Uncle Paul got pecked by a chicken. (you have got to ask Jared to retell that story) SO here the farmer as showing Jonah how they can actually be nice. :)

Jonah got a front row seat in the horse wagon!!
Not everyone - if anyone - gets to sit up by the driver. In fact, when we were getting off, another albeit younger child asked if they could sit up there & they were told no - oops. I should probably tell Jonah not to count on that spot next time.

Jonah drilling a hole in some wood which, as soon as he had the hole going all the way through, he threw into the nearby wood fire. He just had to know that he could do it.

These twins were 2 weeks old. SO cute.

OH my Heavens, is he REALLY 7 ?!?

Grandpa & Grandma Cowden came over to help JONAH celebrate his 7th BIRTHDAY!!!
And a big THANK YOU to G'ma for the super-duper cake. It was so, so yummy. :)

Cap't Hook (AKA Merrik), Jared, Jakey (cousin), birthday boy Jonah & Alli... sittin' around the bday table.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JONAH!!! We love you, buddy!! Nothin' says "celebrate" like a Moose Cake! :) Grandma Dolores made this moose cake - at Jonah's request. A double whammy - cute AND delicious.

And we always let the boys pick a "fun" place to go on their birthdays. This year Jonah chose Chuck E. Cheese. We had fun watching the boys go crazy, dropping their tokens at a mad rate of speed, and eating our weight in pizza. What a day! :)

And M wanted nothing to do with hugging Chuck E. Cheese! But he did go crazy at the skee ball game. His favorite. And he gets a '10' on the poses.

Exploring snow-covered OSV with my man Merrik!

With Jonah in school all day, every day, our adventures w/ both boys are getting fewer & far between. But Merrik & I stay busy! Last week it was a trip to Old Sturbridge Village amidst the snow BUT it was about 60 degrees out. YAHOO!
Here they have a great sledding hill. He made a few trips up & down before surrendering to the slushy track. We'll return when it's frozen again - shouldn't take too long!

M loves to look down at the "water fall" as he calls it. There are several small dams that they use for the mills. This one had some great icicles which you can see on the upper right corner of this photo, attached to the bottom of the wooden base of the mill. Brr!

Trudging through the muck towards the covered bridge.

M & this 2&1/2-yr-old ox had quite the little play session going on. While M was up on the fence, the ox kept nosing his boots. M thought it was hysterical. Then they were 'talking' to each other & giving each other the stare down. TOO cute.

It's the little things that make me smile...

"SURE, why wouldn't there be a super hero perched on my candle holder?!?" Compliments of Merrik.

In honor of President's Day, Jonah had a thing or two to say about it. LOVE it!

Jonah's self-portrait. This is his "Flat Jonah" -- for his "Flat Stanley" project at school. I just thought this little guy was so adorable.

I Feel The Love!!

This is what my sweetheart came home with on Valentines Day. What a guy!!

Bee-YOO-tee-full roses from him!

And he always gets flowers for the boys to give me, too. So sweet! And the house smells so good with them scattered around the downstairs!

Boston Children's Museum

Jonah & Dan on the huge hanging climbing structure thingy. :)

Merrik the Hop Scotch King, outside of the bus Jonah was 'driving'.

Ben going wild in the Bell Room.

The view out one of the windows. Not bad, eh? Hello, Boston.

Well, everyone asks so here's the official report. Jonah is 4' 9"-ish. And he is 6. OK, well, he will be 7 tomorrow. But still. Yikes. :)
Jared & I were talking about how tall Jonah is & he said, "He must've gotten the Burton height genes." And I said, "Well the Cowdens aren't shrimps either." And Jared said, "Yeah Hon, but we're not off the charts & setting records. We're average." ...OK. He does have a point.

I found Dan amidst the chaos of the hanging climbing structure thingy. It's like a giant hanging maze crawling with kiddos. Not an easy feat.

After the Boston Children's Museum, we all walked to Faneuil Hall Marketplace in downtown Boston for lunch. And let's see, Dan fell asleep in my arms during the walk there. Tyler fell asleep on Tim's lap the moment we all sat down w/ our food. And Jonah slept 11 hours that night. I think we managed to wear them out! It really was a super fun day.