Birthday Festivities

We celebrated her 4th birthday at the park with a Princess party complete with a bounce house and face painter. She had a ball with all her family and friends (and her brother had a good time too). Here some of my favorite pictures from the big day.


A girl after my own heart - she was thrilled with her "coffee" cup. She uses it all the time...

With her princess cake...

The boy in the sandbox

Climbing on the "spider web" structure.

Attempting an update

I realize that, for even me, this was a long stretch between posts. Life just flies by and with work travel, birthdays and fieldtrips it is has been a little busy. So I am attempting to catch up on all of the things we have been up to in the last 2 months.
The kids and I took a trip to the mouse house in late September to get some quality time with family and see some characters. It was the hottest day in September that I can remember but, then again, those of us "lucky" (and I use that loosely) enough to live in So. CA are getting used to it being summer for more than 6 months of the year. It was our first time there with it decorated for Halloween, so they loved it!
Here are some pictures with their cousin, with Goofy, and with the GIANT pumpkin.

Watch the Stair Master

The boy has mastered the stairs. That's right, in just a little over a month from his first steps he is up and down the stairs like a pro. It still scares me a bit, which he realizes, so he does it and then waits for me to go and follow him. This was taken a few weeks ago. He is even more comfortable now.

He can also use a fork to eat, wipe his face when he is done, toss and catch a ball like a champ, and dance to Hawaiian music.

She can count to 20, play mancala (a game for 6 year olds, her dad adds), draws a dog and a cat, and can do the hot dog dance.

We are going to try and go to the mouse house in a few days. It will be during the week so dad can't go. We are excited to see it decorated for Halloween! I will post pictures as soon as I can.

In love with the camera

I try and catch some video of the kids when I can and it seems like every time I pull out the camera, she is ready and willing to have some face time. She wants to show off her tricks and then see how it turns out. She learned early on that when the red light is on it's showtime.

We had a talk recently about letting him have some face time of his own. She tends to take over when the red light is on. She's working on this.

Other skills she has been working on:

Writing her whole name

Identifying her letters and numbers

Learning the words to Foo Fighter songs

This video is one that we watch a lot and get a laugh from everytime! Enjoy!

Birthday Boy

And here he is! After sleeping through most of the party he woke up in time for cake. Smart kid. He didn't really know what to do when everyone sang and then was even more confused as a room full of people stared at him and waiting to see what he would do with his cake. He loved it - even had some sound effects as he gobbled it up.

As far as what he can do at one year old - he took his first steps about a week ago. He is letting go of furniture more and more everyday and venturing out on his feet. He says, "Hi, Da!", "more", "got it", "in", "out". He loves to get on and off his little push cars.

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Local vacation

I took this week off work - it's one of those weeks I like to take since I get a whole week but only use 4 vacation days. We didn't go anywhere out of town but we were referring to it as our vacation week none the less. We decided on doing some things we don't get to do all the time. No major smarty comments this week to post here I am sorry to say, but not sad because those definintely keep me on my toes as far as how to respond! Here is how the week has played out so far:

Day one was a trip to the beach, she took her bike and rode along the path by the beach, stopped and had a picnic, and then did some digging (or in the boy's case - eating) in the sand.

Day two was a trip to the zoo, busy time in the summer, I think I forgot that there was zoo camp. But they enjoyed it and we stopped for a coffee on the way home.

Day three was a walk to a new park (one that we had never been to before) and lunch with dad. It was a 30 minute drive and 96 degrees but all worth it because it made both dad and the girl very happy to see each other.

The best part is that I have managed to enjoy this vacation and relax (as much as possible with 2 young kids) and I even took a nap with them yesterday. Why am I working again?? Oh that's right, we have a mortgage payment every month....

Did I say book?

There are days I wonder what we are in for during the teenage years. Every day is a new adventure and every day she finds ways to make us laugh inspite of wanting to pull my hair out in frustration. Take this incident just the other day. We were in the kitchen at the table and she was on the other side of the kitchen (where we couldn't see her). I heard what sounded like her sliding her feet across the floor dragging a coloring book. I asked what she was doing.
"Skating."
"I don't want you to use your books like that."
"It's not a book."
"If it has the word "book" in the name, then it is a book."
A pause and then she said,
"It's a coloring.....(pause)it's a coloring thing."
I am in a constant state of awe at the things she comes up with.

The boy is cruising furniture and showing off his 6 teeth. And every once and again he even sleeps through the night. Is he not the cutest thing ever? And, yes, he is that happy all the time.

Our May trip to SLO

Photobucket Album

We took a mini vacation to SLO the beginning of May - me and the kids and my girlfriends. We stayed at the Cliffs in Pismo and did Farmer's Market on Thursday. We had an awesome time - the girl is now in love with Hotels and swimming pools. The boy wasn't crawling by the trip, he waited until we got home on Sunday to show his daddy. Wouldn't it be great to never work and just vacation?

Skills update: She can write most of the letters in her name and loves her dance class. He has 4 teeth and one more poking through. He is crawling, climbing up stairs and pulling up to stand.

Disneyland Trip

Our trip to Disneyland was interesting with a 3 and a half year old and an 8 month old. He did fantastic - loved the parade and just being outside with all of us. She, on the other hand, is like all other kiddos her age and isn't the most patient at waiting in line. She wanted to see and do everything but threw more tantrums in one day than she does in a typical week. In her defense, we had a late night the night before and she didn't sleep on the drive to the park. Overall, she loved it - we saw some parades, took a picture with Ariel and rode a few rides. Next time - princess breakfast - how could you deny her that?

Happy Easter Bunny!

Too young for first Diet Coke?

I forgot I had this one! This was from when I was on my trip - we laughed so hard trying to pose him. I only wish I had a better camera.

Girl's photo album in March

Photobucket Album

These pictures are from her camera that she took by herself - she's quite the photographer! I'll be adding these in when I upload them so you can see the world through her eyes.

Any ideas for a response?

A few days ago the girl was visiting my parents for a few days. It's spring break and since her school calendar follows the districts calendar (since there are so many siblings in her program) the number of kids at her school is limited. I hate knowing there are only a handful of kids there during these times and the odds of me picking up at 5:00 and her being the last one there are high. So during these times I try and keep her out of school.
So back to the story, she was at my parent's doing something she wasn't supposed to so when my mom told her, "I don't want to see you doing that again." She quickly responded, "Then don't look at me." My struggle is that teaching tone to a 3 year old is really challenging. Not to mention not laughing at the sheer smarty remark she gave because it will give her such reinforcement. I am open to any ideas....