New Stuff

Sharing some Cheerios

Trying the self-feeder...yummy avacado! Ellie calls it "green mashed potatoes".

No, she didn't get new glasses, just trying on Mr. Potato Head's.

Grabbing things! Poor Daddy!

What we're reading...

So I am doing this more as a reminder to me - gotta keep up with my children's lit while on my mommy hiatus from work.

Thursday has become our library day. No real reason, our neighborhood branch has an occasional storytime on Thursdays, so we usually try to show up. I have found that I need to schedule a day or I end up with overdue stuff, especially Wiggles videos. I am not used to having to pay attention to due dates!

Anyway, in addition to the Wiggles video (which is the exact same one we borrowed two weeks ago), we also picked up a few cute books. Ellie's favorite is Dog Day by Sarah Hayes. She is British, so some of the wording is a bit unfamiliar, but one of the main character's is named "Ellie" so it is inevitable that my girl would be interested in it. That and all the "sound" words - woof, wag, shake, etc- are very appealing. It is a story about Ben and Ellie, their classmates, and their teacher, Riff, who just happens to be a dog. It chronicles their activities during the day. This is where the barking, wagging, fetching, etc. come in. It is illustrated by the author's daughter-in-law and has some great graphic elements to it -thought bubbles, the children's clothing is created by fabric scraps like a collage (I love this type of illustration).

She has already suggested we look for books about trains next week, but I am thinking we might need some books about airplanes to prepare for our upcoming trip!!

Stuck at Home

Tim has my car today, so no library for us. So, what do you do when you are stuck at home all day...

Help our brother soothe his sore gums...

Hang some valentines on the front door (thanks Auntie Janelle!)...

Just hang out looking cute!

White man CAN jump!

Now, if only he would take his fingers out of his mouth long enough for Pop to teach him how to shoot, we could have a future NBA star on our hands!

Enjoying the Weather

This weekend was lovely and we enjoyed spending some time outside.

Watching Daddy wash the car.

Helping Daddy wash the car.

Finally visited Washington!

Up before dawn?!?!

Well, these are my most adorable children during breakfast yesterday morning. It is not the greatest picture because I wanted to be sure to get the kitchen window in the shot...no, the darkness is not an effect caused by the camera flash, it was in fact very dark outside...5:55am if I remember correctly! That would also explain the rather large cup of coffee on the table.

New Skills

Ellie was painting with he watercolors yesterday and painted her first "E". I helped with the one on the right, but she did the one in the middle all by herself!

Ethan has been working on sitting alone for a few weeks, but is starting to get better.



Sharing...well, we might still be working on this one.

Giggly Moose!

Superbowl!

Needless to say, we are pretty excited about the Steelers big win last night. It was a warm day here so after painting the playroom (we are done the priming!) we visited the playground again! The kids were all decked-out in their Steelers gear. Ellie has grown taller since Halloween...her cheerleader outfit is noticably shorter. I made her wear pants under it (it was not quite 60 degrees) and she chose the brown and pink striped ones. Love a two-year-old's sense of style! Ethan almost fits in the 18 month size jersey (and yes Ellie can still fit in it too!).

Awww...they really love each other!

Lounging in Ethan's bouncy with "Niq-we" (the other one is Uniqua - she can tell the difference between the two...this one is her favorite)



Mommy's handsome man!