Yes, we went to Disneyland

...and yes, I almost lost it on the Teacups.

Star of the Week

Annika's class started a new program called "Star of the Week". Despite a bit of disappointment at not being the very first Star of the Week (little Faith claimed that honor specifically for being "very helpful to others"), she can now wear the crown proudly. The Star of the Week gets to give an interview and have a poster of his/her answers outside of the room for a whole week.

Without further ado, here's my little star's answers to the interview questions:

Birthday: July 1
Who do you most admire: My brother
Favorite food: Candy
Favorite animal: Dog
My wish: To get a dog
Favorite book: The Monster at the End of This Book
What pictures do you like best: Rainbows and unicorns
What's your favorite thing to do in school: Arts & Crafts
What are you good at?: Art projects

Valentine's Day bliss

A pretzel at the mall in seasonal clothing. Happy Valentine's Day!

A note about the videos

Hey everyone,

Yes we know that the videos aren't working most of the time. There's a known issue with Blogger that Google is working on...hopefully it'll get fixed. In the meantime, enjoy some lovely still shots of the children...

Something New...

So, Declan is entering his next phase of mobility. Prior to today he would "crawl" (and I use the term loosely) when he was on a hardwood floor. Basically, the slick surface provided him the opportunity to use his arms to drag his legs along for the ride as he semi-crawled wherever he wanted to go. The catch was that if you got him onto carpet, the resistance was too much for him to overcome and he would either give up, or just start flailing and rolling around until he got where he wanted to go.

Apparently, the flailing wasn't cutting it because today he decided to do this...

I'm somewhat conflicted at this latest development. On the one hand, I'm proud of my baby boy for doing something his sister never did. On the other, he's now capable of getting into all sorts of new hazardous situations.

Annika built a fort

...and other things we do as a family.

We lead pretty boring lives...I always struggle when someone asks how our weekend was, or what "new things" the kids are up to. The truth is, we really just hang out. Sometimes we go shopping. Sometimes we go out to eat. Usually we play with the kids. That's about it. But I love it - wouldn't trade it for anything.

A couple of weeks ago, Annika asked Chris to build her a fort, and this is the fruit of their labor. I came home and was like...wow! I wish I had something like that as a kid! The end result of that is, 3 weeks later, our couches are still 'fort style." But that's ok. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
'

Declan loves to play with things that are not toys. As the second child, he doesn't really have a lot to choose from, truth be told, but the collection has gotten better over the last 9 months. Anyway, he loves measuring spoons, tape, shoes, belts, and most of all, the remote control. (though, what little kid doesn't?) I'm not sure exactly what he's playing with in this picture, but he did enjoy it.



Yeah, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Clap, Clap!"

New trick - clapping on command.

Old trick - being adorable: