Utensils

Ben is learning to use eating utensils.  He works very hard and sometimes gets the food to his mouth before it falls off the fork or the spoon.

Here he is trying some oatmeal.  It sticks quite nicely to the spoon.
Using his fierce determination to cut up some green onions with a plastic knife.

Off in their rocket

I went to Costco the other day and came home with a box full of stuff.  Kate immediately asked if she could make the box into a rocket when I emptied it out.  Here is her masterpiece.  Kate loves art and recently has been getting into making things...puppets, a puppet theatre, the rocket, and the solar system.

Lollipops in the morning

Ben loves lollipops.  He has only had stolen licks from Kate's but he knows what they are and how they taste and he wants them.  Yesterday on the way home from picking up Jesse at the airport it was just a little too quiet in the backseat.  Jesse looked back to find Ben eating a lollipop with the wrapper on (we had just been to a birthday party where we seemed to get thousands of lollipops).  This morning, it was just a little too quiet and I found Ben with another lollipop.  This time he was able to get the wrapper off and was enjoying the sweet, sugary goodness.

Tyrone

Kate was a very good and helpful girl while Jesse was gone so I told her she could use a gift card from Christmas and get her most favorite Backyardigan, Tyrone.  The Backyardigans is by far her favorite show to watch and has been for a while.  She is looking forward to the live stage show in November.  She is so excited to have a Tyrone doll that he got to sleep with her and got his own pillow and blanket.

Chores

This is Ben and Kate "making the bed."  It was really a game of play in the sheet and hide.  They thought it was hilarious.

Monkey

Ben has a little furry monkey blanket.  I bought it for him when I was pregnant and it got stuffed in a box when we moved.  I found it a while back in a box and threw it on the ground and Ben just took to it.  He loves Monkey and it can bring him great comfort when he is upset or tired.  He always looks for the head of Monkey to cuddle and likes to hold Monkey over his shoulder or in his mouth. Monkey sometimes gets thrown in the toilet, bathtub, shower, and rubbed in the dirt.  Ben then becomes very distressed.

Monkey being chewed on.
The best way to carry monkey.
Monkey in the shower.

Camping Out

Here are a few shots from our camping trip this weekend.  We went with three other families..so there was a total of eight kids and eight adults.  Aside from Ben getting carsick and throwing up on the way there....we had a great time sleeping (sort of) in the tent, eating outside, and swimming in the lake.

Here are Ben and Kate lending Jesse a hand in putting up the tent.
This is how Ben looked all weekend...dirty!!!
Kate enjoying her morning oatmeal in the woods.