2000 Eggs

Last weekend our friends from PEPS (Shannon, Bobby, Boyan and Caroline) had their annual Easter Egg Hunt.  This is perhaps Josie's favorite activity of the year.  She loves it so much that last year we weren't able to go because of our trip to Europe.  It took Josie several days to get over the fact that we would be on our "boring" trip to Germany and missing this event.  Thankfully nothing interfered with it this year.  Shannon stuffs and 'hides' nearly 2000 eggs.  No wonder Josie loves it so much!!  

Below is a photo of the eggs before the kids went and found them.

 It was very telling of the two kids' personalities.  When Benjamin's basket was about 3/4 full he said... I think I have enough.

 Josie's basket was overflowing, she was stuffing eggs in her pockets and still it wasn't enough :)  Then she was a bit outraged that her brother would stop before his basket was all the way full so she told him to keep at it...but he couldn't quite carry them all.

 Benjamin with his friend, Ansley (Bryn's sister)  He just loves Ansley.  I think partly because she is an awful lot like Josie but probably isn't quite as bossy.

 Josie being crazy with Bryn

 and again at home sorting out her loot!!

Sibling Love

 The kids have been having much longer periods of playing nicely together.  Usually if Josie has an idea and Benjamin goes along with it then it is a hit.  If Benjamin has his own opinion or wants to do his own thing, it normally ends in fighting.  In Josie's defense, sometimes his "own thing" involves hitting or throwing something at her!!
I have it is the best thing in the world to see them get along and play together.  The other day after bath time they wanted a video before bed.  I was cleaning up and walked back in to the room to find this.  So cute with her arms around him and his hand on her knee.

Spring Weather

 And so the crazy Seattle Spring weather begins.  This was Benjamin in the afternoon with his sunglasses on because the sun was out and brightly shining.  Below is the picture of him just an hour or so before in his winter coat and gloves on his tricycle on the way back from dropping Josie off at the bus stop.  Hoping for some more sustained periods of sunshine in the weeks to come. 

Big Boy Benjamin

 Today marks the second consecutive week that Benjamin drove to preschool with a classmate and I didn't show up until snack time.  He did a great job being on his own and today didn't even ask for me once. I honestly didn't think this would happen for us this year.  When I have tried to sneak out on my non-work day in the past he through a complete conniption.  I know that if I HAD to leave that I'm sure through a lot of tears we could have made this happen earlier but it is nice to know that he didn't have to go through a traumatic experience to get to this stage.
When I showed up he ran up and gave me a huge hug, smiled widely and proudly said "Mom, I didn't cry!!!"
Here he is before the carpool arrived with his spidey backpack and some artwork that he does for his teachers.  This has helped tremendously that he has something to do right when he gets there and thankfully both teachers take great interest in the artwork as he hands it to them.

And after preschool we celebrated with a mini-cupcake.  Here he is showing off his purple choice along with his post preschool stamp on his hand. Yay Benjamin :)!!

Alki in the Winter

A couple of weeks ago it was beautifully sunny here in Seattle.  Marty had to work so the kids and I  went swimming (in the indoor pool) and then decided to head down to Alki to enjoy the sun.  I had imagined an hour or so of them playing with their buckets and shovels in the dry sand.  Of course, since it was so sunny they wanted to go into the water.  I kept telling them (as I was dressed in my down coat) that even though it is sunny, it is still winter and the water will be freezing.  Plus once you get wet you will be VERY cold.  As usual, no one listens to me.  Just a few minutes after these photos were taken they were both crying and wanting to go home!! 

 After they got dried off and warmed up we headed to Angelina's for a couple of kid's plates of spaghetti and meatballs.  Josie, obviously, worked up an appetite.

Zoo Park

 A few weeks ago we met some friends at the park in front of the zoo.  Whenever I go to the zoo the kids always want to play at this park but since there are parks everywhere and we are headed to the zoo I normally divert them into the zoo.  This time the plan was just to play at the zoo park and not even go into the zoo.  They were thrilled. We've had our zoo membership since Josie was very little but this year I let our zoo membership lapse for the year and will probably renew it this summer.  This park and the zoo itself is extra special because this is where Marty and I got married.  And we took our photos beforehand at this same park.  Long before these two cuties were even a thought... OK, maybe there were a thought and a dream but I could have never known how much they would me to us back then.

 Look at us on those swings at the same park 7+ years ago.  We look so much younger, more well rested and relaxed.  Somehow the swings seemed much more carefree back then but a whole lot less fun without the kids. .  

And a small view of our wedding site at what was the Butterflies and Blooms exhibit  that then turned into the Dinosaur exhibit which is now being redone to be the new Tiger home.  Hmmm, does that say something about our ever evolving marriage??  Happy then... happier now :)

Masterpieces

The kids have really been building a lot of things lately.  They always want me to take photos of their structures and then want to see the photo on my phone and then they keep right on building.  I think this came from Josie's preschool class where the teacher would take a photo of their structure and then they would tell the class about it at the end.   And sometimes they even build things together with minimal hitting and fighting.   Lately they request that I take a picture of their "Masterpiece" Here are a few of their latest masterpieces. 

Josie built a character from Mario which took 75 legos to build and Benjamin built a train track with trains

Here is Benjamin's tower and Josie's apartment building with separate rooms

And together (just yesterday - yay, I'm getting caught up!!) a dinosaur house.

Friends, Part 2

Josie had her first friend sleep over in January.  She had slept over at friends' houses but she hadn't had any friends spend the night at our house yet.  Her long time friend, Bryn, was the first and they had a great time.  They took turns reading books to each other before bed.  They both had their own sleeping bags and they started up on the bed together reading books with a flashlight and then moved their sleeping bags to the floor to try that out.  The next time I check in on them they were back in bed.  I had adorable photos of them finally asleep all snuggled up with their pillow pets, stuffed animal friends and blankets but those were unfortunately lost when Marty cleaned up my phone.
Josie the other day said that Bryn is her best, old friend and Elliott is her best, new friend.  I'm so thankful for the friends that she has in her life.  Not many kids at this age have such strong friendships.  She is a lucky girl.
Here is another one of Josie and Elliott dressed up as princesses

 And here they are reading books to each other and to a nearly naked Benjamin. He does have a diaper on (Shockingly - that kid LOVES to be naked) but it looks like he is naked just sitting there listening in on their book reading.

Winter

The winter posts will be a bit brief this year because I was having problems with my cell phone and being the helpful and handy husband that he is, Marty had to wipe my phone clean and start over.  Which meant that he inadvertently permanently erased all of my photos from mid December until mid February.  The only ones I have are ones that I sent out in an email. Oh well, there are worse things, right??
One of the events of this winter was that Josie got her first pair of glasses.  When we went to pick out her frames she was determined to have these red ones.  At first I was against them.  They were so big and so bright and so red.  Although in this photo she is wearing red, her normal choice of color is usually pink or purple.  But now they make me smile whenever she wears them.  They somehow just seem to suit her and her personality.

Above is Benjamin at Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill.  It has a great playground, a fun bike path and super views of the city.  He is a really fun side kick during the days while Josie is at school. 

 And, also this winter we joined Barack Obama for  Inauguration Day 2013 activities .  It was really.... OK, not really.  As you can probably tell it is just a cut out but it was an inauguration day party.

Happy Valentine's Day

 We celebrated Valentine's day with our traditional frosted sugar cookies, homemade pizzas and brownies in the shape of hearts.  The kids are actually getting better at helping in the kitchen and their attention span is lasting longer than the initial 5 minutes.  This time they decided to have a "flour shower"  Yep, it was exactly what you are thinking.  I had my back turned and was getting something while Benjamin grabbed two huge handfuls of flour and yelled "flour shower" and threw both handfuls of flour into the air. What?  It was a big mess but  thankfully he only did it once and Josie knew better than to join in.

Here they are with the final product.... and maybe a bit too much sugar.

 Josie is getting very good at cutting out sugar cookies and every time she starts she says, "I know, Mom.  I AM maximizing the space!"

 Benjamin liked baking but he really liked eating.

 So did Josie.

 Benjamin did a great job putting sprinkles and red hots on the cookies

 X;s and O's and hearts.

 And because Marty loves brownies we made heart shaped ones with the rare winter treat of fresh strawberries and mangoes.. with ice cream, of course.