More February and March Madness

Some documentation of our escapades from February and March….

Viewing a full moon from our kitchen window with help from Jenny's colleague and his telescope

 

 

Joseph enjoying a local park, helping in the kitchen

 

Kids at their semiannual visit to the dentist

 

Joseph all dressed up for a birthday party, making some art before leaving the house, and enjoying a party favor (super hero mask) after returning home

 

Each February, the kids' school sponsors a night at a nearby kids museum.  Jadyn and some of her friends enjoyed painting their faces all by themselves, and Joseph spent most of his time there playing at water stations.

 

And when basketball season heats up, it's good to show Mommy's favorite team some support.  Go Heels!

Jadyn ended her winter "season" of gymnastics classes with a medal, and she moved up a class level for spring.

 

You might notice Jadyn's shorter hair -- she opted for more of a bob in a recent haircut and is very happy with the shorter length.

Joseph playing outside at school, wiping up a mess at home (he really loves helping out in any way he can)

 

We got Jadyn a belt-positioning booster seat, and then we graduated Joseph to Jadyn's old seat, finally facing forward.  This photo was captured one of the first commute days with the new seating arrangement.

We've got kids very enthusiastic for reading!  Jadyn reads very well on her own; Joseph loves books (dare we say?) even more than Jadyn did at a similar age.  Most nights we read many books with the kids as part of the bedtime routine, and lately Joseph has been interested in reading a little longer in bed before he finally passes out for the night.  Sometime he even fetches more books from the shelf in the kids' room -- well after Jadyn has fallen asleep, we can hear him talking his way through books.  

Joseph is no longer "contained" in his crib at night (he climbed out at 20 months) and joins his parents in their bed in the middle of the night far too frequently.  Plus Jadyn has a newly developed fear of the dark and of monsters that may be in her room, which makes Jadyn a too frequent visitor to the parental bed as well.  So, in an effort to decrease sleep interruptions for everyone, we suggested that the kids sleep together in Jadyn's bed, and they were into it.  There is plenty of room for them both, Jadyn always takes the side with the edge, and they actually make it though the night together without waking Mom or Dad at least some of the time.  Angelic while sleeping, don't you think?

It's hard to believe, but Joseph is less than a week from his second birthday.  We'll probably have a few photos to share of that momentous occasion….  ;-)  We hope you'll check back in April!

Highlights from Winter '14, Jadyn turns 5

This winter in Seattle was milder than the rest of the country's winter, for sure, and after our first Christmas season at home, we settled back into business as usual.  Sort of.  After the New Year rang in, one by one, we all got colds.  Jenny's escalated to bronchitis, and then Jeff had his hernia surgically repaired.  As could be expected, we hunkered down and limped along, and so there are fewer than usual pictures for winter.  Here are a few cute ones we did manage to take.

With a couple of friends on a Monday holiday morning spent at Woodland Park Zoo

Playing drums next door

Cute new sweater and hat!

Joseph enjoying Jadyn's new poncho

In case you can't tell, the kids get along remarkably well most of the time.  Joseph adores his big sister and tries to do nearly everything she does, even if he is clearly under-sized or under-capable for the task.  Jadyn can be an amazingly protective big sister, and we suspect that Jadyn has been a very positive influence on Joseph's love of books and art.

This winter we did watch more football than usual, with the Seahawks run to the Super Bowl and all.  Joseph learned to chant "Go Seahawks" with us, and he associates green and blue together as Seahawks colors.  ;-)

On the morning of Jadyn's birthday party, the kids woke to some wet snow that had fallen overnight.  They quickly dressed for making a snowman.  Unfortunately, there wasn't really enough snow for the endeavor, the temperature increased above freezing quickly, and the snowman never got completed or photographed.  No matter!  The kids had fun.

 

Jadyn's 5th birthday party was at the Inflatable Fun Zone at Arena Sports in Magnuson Park.  Taking pictures of kids who are jumping up and down on "bouncy" equipment is challenging to say the least!

 

A good time was had by all, and everyone loved the cake, made to Miss Jadyn's specifications by Mommy with some help from Jadyn herself.  One of the best parts of all the February birthdays we celebrated this year is that Joseph picked up the Happy Birthday song quickly, and he loves shouting it out frequently, especially when we mention anything that has to do with a birthday.  Happy Birthday, strong, independent, smart, and sweet Little Miss J!  We all love you so, so much!