Easter Morning

Kate and Ben had a very practical visit from the Easter Bunny this year. He obviously put his REI dividend to good use and stuffed baskets with flip-flops, water bottles, and lego headlamps.

The Big Three!!

Ben turned THREE years old on Friday...which is so hard to believe. He is now potty trained and sleeps in a big boy bed. He has a best friend named Louie and can play and hang with all of Kate's buddies. He loves his sister and always wants to be with her. He is a very sweet boy.

To celebrate his birthday, we had some friends over for a BBQ and cupcakes. It was very last minute but nonetheless we had a pretty good turnout. Ben was most excited about his buddy Louie coming to his house.
Here is Ben the morning of his birthday in the crown that Kate made for him. She was so proud and wanted to make her brother something special.
Ben loves his big boy bed and has had no trouble transitioning. He is so happy to sleep in his "truckie bed."

Skating girl

Kate has recently started ice skating lessons and tennis lessons and she loves them. We are lucky to have a Parks and Rec system that is very affordable with lots of classes for the kids to try out. She works on her skating with her roller blades. She is quite steady and is very determined!
This is the picture that Kate painted at school for Valentine's Day. It is so sweet. She is a really good big sister and is so good with her brother.

A Few Pics

Here a a few pictures from Florida and Christmas. Again, I apologize for not updating regularly... I will work on that in the new year.

Ben on his scooter that Santa brought.
The kids at the sea turtle rescue in Florida.
Kate in her authentic flamenco costume from Auntie Liz and Uncle George.

Phonics

This is a sample of Kate's homework. Her assignment was to draw a picture and write a few sentences about the class field trip to the farm. She did this all without any adult assistance. She worked very hard on this assignment. I love how her writing is emerging and how it is all phonetic. She is really reading and gets excited each time she brings home a new book from school.

Ben's First Drawing

This is Ben's first picture. He tells me it is a self-portrait. As you can see, he has also written some letters. There is a B, an E, and an O. We thought he did an amazing job!!

Merry Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Seattle this year. We will head to Florida for Christmas. It is no secret that my family LOVES Christmas. So since we would be elsewhere this year we celebrated the Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.

A picture of Kate burning off some energy in the cold, cold northwest. It was hard for them to be inside most of the day as we typically spend a majority of out time outside.
Both of the little monkeys!
Ben outside. The day after this picture was taken we had to take him to the ER. He managed to find the only wood chip at the McDonalds playspace and get it lodged in his heel. It was so deep we had to get it professionally removed.
No Christmas is complete without a personal visit from Santa (two of my mom's friends who do the X-mas party circuit each year and donate their earnings to charity). The kids went crazy and at first didn't know what to do but warmed up to Santa pretty quickly.
The cousins (minus Garrett) in their new jammies. Ben and Kate love their cousins. Ben was happy to play construction and read books with them. Kate admires the boys and loves to just be in their presence. Both boys are very sweet with Kate and Ben.