Season Opener

In honor of the Mariners home opener yesterday, the kiddos donned their Mariners shirts provided by their Auntie Kelly (who else???).  Ben does not seem too hopeful about the upcoming season.  Kate on the other hand cannot wear enough Mariners garb.  It can't be seen but on top of her hat and shirt she is also wearing Mariners socks.

The Big 5!!!

Kate is 5 Today and it is hard to believe.  Here she is this morning.  She is so happy to be such a big girl.  Kate continues to be great fun.  She can carry on a true conversation, has her own thoughts and opinions about things.  She is a fabulous big sister and a good friend.  She loves her buddies and is often disappointed if there is not a playdate on the weekend.  For her birthday she wanted a hula hoop and roller skates.  We will go for the skates this weekend so she can pick them out.
Here she is giving a demonstration of her hula-hooping skills.

Happy Birthday big girl!!!

Shopping list

Kate is on the cusp of reading.  She is learning the sounds and is working on stringing them together.  She loves to write and got very excited the other day when she made our shopping list for Costco.  She is learning the difference between capital and lower case and is still working it all out.  That is coffee at the bottom which we buy in bulk...we have to stay awake somehow!!!

TWO!!!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to Ben!  This year for his birthday he got an ear infection and pink eye. And to make it all worse, I managed to nick his eardrum while putting in ear drops to make him more comfortable.  

Ben, at two, is a lot of fun.  He loves one thing and that thing is trucks.  He can spot them and hear them a mile away.  He stalks and takes other trucks at the park but do not ask him to share his truck because he will not.  His three word phrases are "bye, bye big truck," "look big truck," "oh, big truck."  When he hears a truck he puts his hand to his ear and says "oh, truck" and then he runs to the window and throws open the shutters.  It is hard to believe that he is so big!!!!!

T-ball girl

Kate started T-ball yesterday and loves it.  Here she is showing off her best batting stance (sans bat).  She is on Dodgers with a couple of her best buddies.  She could barely wait for T-ball to start and when I got her a "real bat" she thanked me about twenty times.  I figured it would be a bit unfair to make her go to practice using her bubble wand as a bat.

What????

What?  Can't a boy carry his pink shield, wear his pink hat, and push a stroller?

Hanging out together

I just love that the kids get along fairly well.  Here they are just hanging out together...huddling for warmth in our cold house!!!  Kate will often say "Benny is my best friend in the whole, wide world."