February: friends, Valentine fun, and haircuts

Ramsey's favorite thing is to have a friend over--she asks many times during the week--"who is the friend that is coming over today?" or "can a friend come over?"

 Here they are with their bud Liam.  These kids love to raid the fridge!  Yogurts for all!

Beck loves his buddy Hunter.  There's a book we read, "I See" by Helen Oxenbury, that shows two little boys playing together, and Beck points out that one is Beck and one is Hunter.  Cute :) 

These two are best friends.  

They love making elaborate beds so they can drink sippy cups of milk together before bed.  

We started Valentine's Day with a little bag for each kid.  

They both got a new little stuffed puppy, which they cherish.

My visiting teacher, Kim (Hunter's mom) brought over a cantaloupe for a healthy Valentine treat.  Yum!

This is Ramsey's first haircut.  Beck has already had many, although you would never know it!

She enjoyed it.

Beck was fine, but it was not as fun for him.  He kind of just tolerates it.

Ramsey agreed to getting her hair blow-dried.  

This is the best after-haircut pose we could get :)

In the car--so silly!  This is what Beck gives me when I ask him to smile.

Better view of the haircut (I don't know what that scratch is on his nose).

I was worried about cutting Ramsey's hair because I didn't want those ringlet curls to disappear.  

They didn't, and her hair is a beautiful as ever!

Ramsey took a picture of me ;)

I was the room Mom for Ramsey's Valentine party--each child had a bag, and they came out one at a time to distribute their valentines.  Ramsey made her own and wrote her name on each one.  She was pretty over it by the end--there were a lot!

Ramsey is serious about crafts--look at her tongue poking the inside of her cheek.  She had a blast!

The kids did the chicken dance for circle time.  Ramsey was quite the dancer!

Here they are at the play area in the Chick-Fil-A.  This was such a sweet moment--Beck was crying and feeling scared, and Ramsey came and found him and held his hand the rest of the time they were there.  Beck wanted Ramsey, not me, and she took great care of him.

January 2012: getting into our groove

Our first snow!  We had all the right gear this year, so fun.  

Bella was so in the mix, as usual.  She is the best little dog.  

Dog pile on the jackets :)

Bella loves Blue Doggie xoxo

Ramsey made two octopuses with play doh.

At the pulmonary specialist, rolling around on the floor.  Good thing I'm not a germaphobe...

Ramsey cracks me up!  Here she is at Unique thrift store--we like to peruse the children's book section.  She grabbed a book and sat down next to this perfect stranger on this random swinging bench for sale.  She did not skip a beat!

Bath time, a riot as always.  

Matt asks: do they really need all of these toys, isn't it time to thin it out?  I say, no. 

At the Air and Space Museum with our pals, the Weedmans.  Robert Weedman was Matt's mission companion in NYC and is studying law at UVA in Charlottesville.  He and his lovely wife Amanda  drove up for a visit with their three kids.   

Ramsey and Layla had so much fun together.  Layla has two brothers and is tough as nails.  She and Ramsey really enjoyed having a little girl around.

At the Natural History Museum.

I forgot Ramsey's jacket in the car, so she used mine.  Also, she loves to walk on "the balance beam" and it seriously slows things down.  Beck does too.  

Ramsey found these shorts and is wearing a pajama top.  She loves to dress herself.  

Fierce!

Ramsey wrote her first book while I was working in the basement.  She was so proud and read it to me.  It had different titles and stories each time she read it.  

Here she is reading it to Blue Doggie.  He was speechless.

January 2012: back to Virginia

Luckily, Zina rode back with us so we wouldn't have a total shock! Another bonus: more Eskelsen time!

Matt has been antiquing and found some great things :)

We were missing Joel, so we did a puzzle in his honor, although at half the pace.   

Ramsey loves her new dress up shoes from Santa.

 

Beck also put them to good use...

This guy turned 31!!!

Grocery shopping has gotten pretty difficult with these two--neither wants to be in a stroller or sit in the cart.  These two kids carts were a good compromise-I LOVE Trader Joes.  Ramsey and Beck are both great shoppers and good listeners about what can go in the cart.

Ramsey started a gymnastics class at the community center.  I also started a yoga class (not pictured).

Her friends Leah and Cal are in the class with her.  Their mom, Katie, is a great friend and we sit outside in the hall and chat with Beck running around and baby Eddie either eating or sleeping. 

The teacher, Miss Shannon, is great.  She told me that when Ramsey does not understand how to do something, she polite raises her hand and asks how rather than just sitting there looking confused.