Books picture...

Reading books together! Benjamin and Hannah love to read!! It is so fun to find them reading to each other from books that they are reading. Hannah will read Goodnight Gorilla to Benjamin, while Benjamin will read his latest favorite! They especially love their book time before bed with Mommy and Daddy.

Trampoline...

Today we went to the Lord's home for Samuel's christening. They have a new trampoline in the back yard. All of the kids were jumping inside. Benjamin and Hannah had never seen one before and were drawn to it. Benjamin wanted to go inside but was afraid to and Hannah went right in. We had to get all the big kids out of it so the little ones could go in (they would have trampled them!) Benjamin realized it was safe enough for her then he would try it...needless to say, we had a difficult time getting him to come out!

Halloween picture...

Halloween 2004 ~ What a cute couple of kids!! (if I do say so myself!)

Little People®…

Hannah loves to play with the Little People® that we have in our toy collection. She picks them all out and lines them up. Not just the people but the little animals too! Benjamin got some other toys that have little firemen and little construction men, she grabs them all and plays with them. Nanny has little Sesame Street® characters at her house that Hannah will not let go of. She will always go back to them and set them up throughout the day. She puts them in a row or “walks” them to the zoo to see the animals. She takes them to the firehouse and drives them around in the Little People® fire truck. They speak to each other and move around the house as we play in the different rooms we go to. Such fun!

(aren't I nice to put the little ® in?)

park or bay...

We were getting ready to go to Mission Bay Park today and I asked the kids if they wanted to bring anything to the park. Benjamin ran outside to grab his newest truck and Hannah slowly followed him out. She picked up a push toy and brought it inside. As we were getting ready to go I asked them if they had their toys for the park. Benjamin said “yeah” and Hannah said “no”. I asked her if she wanted to bring the push toy to the park and she said “no park…take uh uh uh ...bay!” Ahhh… she wanted to take her toy to the bay!

Barrettes...

We put barrettes in Hannah’s hair every day. Her hair is getting a little long in the front and it always falls into her eyes. We have all sorts of little cute-sy barrettes for her and she likes to pick them out herself. Benjamin also likes barrettes in his hair. We don’t care because it is obvious that he wants a little something special in his hair like his little sister. Hey, we are giving her some extra attention and putting pretty things in her hair, why shouldn’t he get them too?

Ben-ja-min

Hannah has been calling her big brother “mimi” (meemee) for a few months until a couple of weeks ago. She started to break his name into syllables and now she can say it pretty well! She still calls him by her nickname for him a lot but every once in a while she ventures out and tries Ben-ja-min.

Sponge painting...

We did some sponge painting today. We got some paper and paint and they went wild with stamping the sponges on the paper. They had so much fun! Hannah and Benjamin didn’t want to stop after doing one page, they had to continue until they did four pages together! The shapes they really liked were the flower and the dragonfly!

Bonk!

Everything can be “bonked” in this house. I was helping Benjamin with getting his shoes on and he pulled his pant leg up to help me. Then he said “I bonked it up for you!” When he tosses a toy and it lands higher than he can reach he says that he “bonked it up there” and that I have to help him “bonk it down”. Hannah gets hurt when she trips over something and Benjamin’s interpretation is that “she bonked herself on the ground”. Such a simple life…

Kitchen...

Benjamin and Hannah play “kitchen” all day long. Benjamin got the play kitchen and some toy food for his birthday and loves it! They make cakes and bake cookies. They get water from the refrigerator door and “drink” it. They cut their vegetables and peel the fruit. It keeps them busy throughout the day as they always go back to it. It’s just a matter of time before Benjamin figures out that he can be a plumber with all of his tools and fix the kitchen sink!

Party!!

Today was Benjamin's birthday party at the park. He is at the point where he knows that other people are coming to celebrate with him. We have bee to enough parties for others, he knew today was for him. We got there early and set up and people started to show. He got more and more excited as more people came. There was a mound of presents for him that proved to be too much for him to handle at one time...but we made it through without opening too many of them! We had an Elmo pinata with strings to pull instead of using a bat to beat on him (I thought the strings might be more peaceful and less traumatizing to the little ones). He couldn't be bothered with eating lunch but when it came time for cupcakes he was the first to be there! Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he was a happy "big" boy!

Birthday fun...

Benjamin is 3 today!! Benjamin was so excited today because it is his big day! We had pancakes and then opened some presents. He got a big tool pack from Home Depot complete with a drill, skillsaw, hand saw with moving parts, a hard hat and so much more. He could be busy for a long time with that! He also got the game Candyland and wanted to play it immediately! He also got a set of fire trucks with little firemen. Hannah loves to play with the little firemen and the fire trucks will keep Benjamin busy too! Later that day Granny and GranDad came over with a super big present~a play kitchen! He loves it. Hannah loves it too! They can cook all the time now. Benjamin knows that tomorrow is his party and that all of his family and some friends are going to be there...he's really looking forward to that!

Time flies, he's already three...