Sometimes I decorate

My mom and grandma came to visit for Mother's Day, which motivated me to do something with our family room mantel that had been empty for two years.  I didn't just want to throw crap up there to have it done, I wanted it to be stuff I liked a lot and/or that meant something to me.  I was thrilled to find the antique Staffordshire dog figurine on eBay, just like the ones in old houses I like to walk through.  The orange pots match the chairs and mobile at my kitchen table (Ikea), I just liked those balls made of metal straps (Target), and I'm really lucky to have a friend who took pictures of our kids that are display-worthy.  And finally, I purchased a real toad skeleton to represent my love of the quirky and spooky.  Here's a closer view of my $50 purchase:

I got the skeleton from The Bone Room in Berkeley (insert joke here), which I happened upon after visiting a children's consignment place a couple of stores down.  

I had to walk through quickly while carrying my squirming toddler and sternly telling my 4-year-old not to touch anything, but I went back with 1st Brother and was able to spend more time fully taking in how awesome it is.  These are actual human skeletons that cost several thousand dollars:

 The fibulas by themselves were a little more affordable:

The teeth, claws and vertebrae of various animals were available for purchase too: 

I didn't end up with the bat skeleton I originally came back for. Ultimately my favorites were the pigeon and the toad; I haven't regretted my decision.

2nd Brother is 5

Here's our newest 5-year-old. The jokester expression captures his personality pretty well right now:

A few things about 2nd Brother this year:
     -He's a major talker (to me and others he's close to).  When there aren't words coming out of his mouth, he's making silly noises and faces that sometimes have me exclaiming under my breath
     -He often puts his clothes on backwards.  He's gone to preschool a couple times with shirt and shorts that have tags in the front without me realizing
     -He's very coordinated and athletic - great on his Ybike scooter, pretty remarkable throwing arm, good at swimming and diving for toys
     -He's really patient with his sister and likes to entertain her and the other ladies.  One day he told me about making some girls at preschool laugh by having a Tigger figurine take a taste from a toy honey pot and say, "Blech!"
     -He LOVES hanging with 1st Brother's friends.  They're generally inclusive but can tease, and it's heartbreaking to see him try to keep up or get their attention
     -Maybe it's because of his little brother status, but he's a lot more emotional than 1st Brother at this age.  He still has some decent fits and can have a defeatist attitude saying, "I don't know how to do that/where that is!" and run away to curl up on the couch when asked to do simple things.  At the same time, he can have spurts of being really helpful and sweet
     -He loves music and will ask me to turn it up in the car.  His favorite has been will.i.am and Britney Spears' "Scream and Shout" song.  He was humming the chorus to "Centerfold" while zipping around on his scooter one day, and another time I overheard him singing "He's John the Baptist" to the "Moves Like Jagger" chorus

We did a small party again this year with 3 friends who jumped for an hour at a trampoline place, then we went to a pizza place for lunch, Krispy Kreme donuts, and gifts.  Nana was in town, so that made things extra great.