Life & Times « Our Life and Times

Archive for the ‘Life & Times’ Category

Mr. Mischief

Posted Monday, March 29th, 2010 by Mollie

Lately, Ben has become very good at climbing and moving things around. The other day I found him perched on top of Natalie’s chair, looking out the window. Probably not the safest place, but he’s pretty careful when climbing up and down (and mostly supervised).

Ben loves his “Nah-nuh” (Nata) but does occasionally cause some trouble for her. Within 15 minutes of the first chair climbing incident, he pushed Natalie’s chair right out from under her, leaving her hanging precariously. She said, “Mom? Help!” but kept right on coloring.

But could this be the face of a trouble maker? His first birthday is this week, by the way!

Posted in Benjamin, Life & Times | 8 Comments »

Somebody Turned THREE!

Posted Friday, March 12th, 2010 by Mollie

Natalie had her birthday on March 1, after months of anticipation. Check out that straight-out-of-bed hair she is sporting on her birthday morning! Her special request was a donut for breakfast.

After breakfast we let her come out to the patio and find her gift, a playhouse. She and Ben love it and play very nicely together inside!

Three year olds are so much fun! Natalie has an amazing imagination. In this picture she is completely in her own world. That stick is actually a fishing pole and she is going to “catch a whopper” with it.

She is also becoming a great helper, happy to assist in any chore. The other day she climbed up on the counter and peeled two whole heads of garlic for me all on her own, which was actually extremely helpful to me through the following week!

Natalie started ballet classes back in January and is learning so much! It has been wonderful to see how well she listens to the teacher and participates in the class. As soon as she puts that outfit on, she is completely in character! Her first recital is coming up, so that should be quite entertaining!

I hope this gives you a little peek at what Natalie is like right now… she is so very lovable and we are looking forward to everything her next year holds!

Posted in Life & Times, Natalie | 6 Comments »

Animal Watching

Posted Saturday, February 27th, 2010 by Mollie

Andy took his birthday week off work, which gave us a chance to go to the zoo on a weekday morning. (I promise not to post about every zoo trip but this is all I’ve got today!)

Natalie’s favorite of the day: the baby elephant statue. Forget the real animals!

Ben’s favorite: it’s a tie, between the pigeons that were after his crumbs at lunch…

… and the sleeping pig in the barnyard. I would poke the pig through the fence, he would grunt in his sleep, and Ben would giggle.

My favorite: the new California Condors, one of the rarest birds in the world (less than 200 left in the wild, the zoo is part of a conservation program). I know lots of people think they are ugly or creepy but I love them! This exhibit is fantastic. It is huge, yet you can get up close. The birds have been so active every time we’ve seen them. These ones are still juveniles but their wingspan is already impressive, must be close to 9 feet already. I tried to get some good pictures, but they are fast.

One last thing: Natalie doesn’t say “the zoo”, she calls it “the zoob”. Cracks me up every time! I will be sad when she learns to say it correctly!

Posted in Life & Times | 6 Comments »

Valentine’s Day

Posted Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 by Mollie

Natalie is always thrilled to jump on board with any holiday she learns about, and Valentine’s Day was no exception. (I’m just glad she doesn’t constantly ask to go trick-or-treating again!) All week long she looked forward to a Valentine’s party at her friend Ava’s house. The girls got to decorate crowns, and eat heart shaped sandwiches for lunch.

This is what happens when lunch is left unattended!

These are the Valentines that Natalie and I made and gave this year: iPods! Complete with Hershey’s Kiss earbuds. They were a big hit.

Posted in Holidays, Life & Times | 5 Comments »

Kids At Play

Posted Friday, February 12th, 2010 by Mollie

Natalie and Ben are becoming fast friends… mostly. Ben adores his sister, but sometimes she gets frustrated trying to play with him. The other day I reminded her to be kind to Ben and not push him. She responded cheerfully, “I’m not pushing him, I just want to poke him in the eye!”

Don’t worry, this is a genuine hug happening!

The bathroom is Ben’s favorite playground, he takes every opportunity to sneak in. Tearing toilet paper into tiny pieces is actually one of his least mischievous bathroom activities.

Natalie and her girlfriends are already putting Ben to work and he is only too happy to help out! He is tiny but he can push them around in the little wagon.

Here’s just a cute one of Nata and her BFF Bekah cozied up watching a movie in my bed on a cold and rainy morning!

Posted in Benjamin, Life & Times, Natalie | 5 Comments »