Family Photos

A friend of mine started a photography business a few months ago and I really like her work. She has such a great eye and captures some wonderful moments. We recently has some photos taken by her at Kidspace Museum...a favorite for the kids. We thoroughly enjoyed the photo shoot...even Will got into (After the photo shoot I think he secretly thinks himself as a diva, I have never seen him smile so much before LOL). Amber captured some great moments and I can't wait to share these photos with everyone (think Christmas gifts).

Lily's Gymnastics

Lily is really getting good at gymnastics. She enjoys going and likes her teachers very much. I took some pictures since we will be moving soon, so she can remember how much fun she had.

Go Obama!

The kids really enjoyed election day. They went with me to vote and since I was the only person voting at the time all of the attendants were playing with the kids. Lily kept going back and forth between McCain and Obama, but I think in the end she chose Obama...especially once she and Benjamin got the cool Obama t-shirts from Grandma! I was more passionate about Prop. 8 here in California (a yes vote would ban gay marriage). I of course voted NO but the yes vote won. I feel this is unconstitutional and I really thought Cali would be more liberal...oh well. At least we are moving to San Fran soon where hopeful people will be more liberal.

More Halloween Pictures

Here are some pictures taken by my friend Amber at the Stroller Strides Halloween event. Lily dressed as an astronaut and Benjamin dressed in the Tigger costume Auntie Kirsten gave him at Christmas. In the one they are up in the tree as Lily is so into climbing trees right now.

Happy Halloween

We had a very busy week with the celebration of Halloween. On Tuesday we went to a Halloween party with the Monrovia MOMS club. The kids had a great time, they decorated cookies, played with the parachute, had story time and played on the playground. Benjamin didn't keep his costume on long since it was so hot (around 90C). On Thursday we had another Halloween party with the other moms group. Of course we had a great time. The host had some really cute games, and a great backyard for running around. On Halloween the kids dressed up for stroller strides, then we went to a carnival, trick or treating through the Monrovia downtown shops, and then spent the evening trick or treating around a great neighborhood. Lily would only stop at the houses that were "scary" and let me tell you some of the people in North Monrovia put a lot of time and effort into making their house scary. I was impressed with how brave the both Lily and Benjamin were, neither really got scared at any point and most of the time just laughed at the "monsters" i.e. big kids dressed up. Needless to say we had a great Halloween.
FYI: Benjamin is dressed as Prince Charming...some people were very confused, and many assumed he was a girl "because of his curls." According to Will we are still not going to cut his hair, until he gets more on top.

Stray Cat

We had a stray cat wonder into our apartment a few days ago. It most likely belonged to someone but there was no collar. It just followed Will in and laid down in our entry way. Lily and Benjamin were so excited, they had so much fun playing with it until their mean mommy made it go outside. Now Lily talks about having a pet cat. I have told her if she and Benjamin stopped having "mump" I could take my allergy medication and then she could have a cat...I think she decided "mump" is more important for now.

Lily and Benjamin Dancing

Here is a cute video of the kids dancing. Lily loves to put on her tutu and dance about, and Benjamin does everything she does, so...Enjoy!

LJ and BW Go to School...Sorta

We have finally gotten the kids signed up for the backup daycare available through Will's work. We get 20 days a year and since the year is almost up we are trying to send them at least once a week. This gives me time for cleaning, the job search, and selling on ebay. So far both kids really enjoy going, everyone at the facility calls it "school" so Lily is really excited to be going to school. I pack a lunch and Lily received a backpack and lunchbag early from "Santa" which she loves to take. Let me just say only in Burbank would we find teachers named Star and Melody.

Pumpkin Decorating

'Tis the season for many Halloween related events. The other day we went to a playdate where we decorated baby pumpkins. The kids had a great time and I was really excited that Benjamin was into the decorating, this will be a fun year for Halloween.

Our Little Artist

I usually let Lily get the paints out while BW is sleeping but the other day I decided he could try to paint also. Lily made a great painting, she is very interesting in mixing colors and using a paint brush. BW just wanted to paint his body instead of the paper.

Climbing trees

After our visit to the Arboretum Lily has figured out that she can climb trees. Everytime she sees a climbable tree she wants to stop and climb it. I have tried to explain that trees in peoples yards are off limits, still this is always a argument.

Drinking Fountains

Drinking from a public drinking fountain is the new cool thing for LJ and BW to do. I am personally very grossed out with it but Will lets them drink from every fountain they see. Of course the spend the entire time fighting over whose turn it is, I would expect nothing less.

Los Angeles County Arboretum

A few weeks ago we spent both Saturday and Sunday at the Arboretum near our house. The kids and I also went back the following Wednesday for story time. The Arboretum is a great place for the kids to run around. There is such a variety of plants and trees from all over the world. We have been here many times and still haven't seen everything. There are also a ton of peacocks which Benjamin enjoyed chasing while screaming "cock" at them...he is saying their name, what can I say? We had so many great pictures, it was such a nice weekend!

Lily's Cooking Class

I had signed Lily up for a yoga class but there wasn't enough interest so the class was canceled. I was pretty disappointed since I would love for her to learn flexibility (since I am not flexible at all). In its place we took a one time cooking class with a Wolfgang Puck Chef at the Kidspace museum. Lily made a pizza and Italian soda. She only wanted sausage and pineapple on her pizza (which I thought was kinda boring). We also got a tour of a working commercial kitchen which she liked.

Soccer Practice

Lily just started a soccer class, she really enjoys it. She is the youngest of the group so she is learning a lot from the older kids. She is going to have her first game in 5 weeks, so we will see how it goes.

Praying Mantis invasion

We have found many praying mantis' while playing outdoors lately. Last week I did an insect playgroup so we captured one to observe. The kids have enjoyed watching this insect and I think they are learning a lot. Will is obsessed with it and has captured another one, he is taking care of them.

Los Rios Apple Farm

Last week we went Glen Oak (about 70 miles away), to an apple farm. Luckily I went with a friend of mine who grew up there so I didn't have to navigate. It is a very beautiful area. I always enjoyed going to visit the apple orchards where I grew up in MI so I was really excited to go check it out. As expected it was different than any apple orchard one would find in the Midwest. The little town was nestled up int the mountains with the apple trees growing on an incline. There were also raspberry bushes, which we ended up picking instead of apples. The kids ate A LOT of raspberries so it took a long time to fill up out container. The warehouse where the apples were stored smelled awesome, we picked up some apples and apple cider to bring home.

Celebration of Fall

My MOMS club had a little celebration to celebrate the start of Fall. We made pumpkins out of tissue roll and orange fabric, did some leave drawings and ate a bunch of great food. Also, our local librarian came and did a story time in the park, which all the kids loved! BTW, If you notice Lily is wearing an outfit with candy corn on it. When we saw it in the store she said she had to have it because it was the candy that Grandpa used to give her and she really misses him...guess she has already figured out how to get what she wants with me!

Brother and Sister

I took these cute pictures of Lily and Benjamin together while at ChuckECheese. We don't really like taking the kids her because it is so overwhelming but it was our friends last day here and we wanted to spend time with them. I think its funny that is always looks like Lily is strangling Benjamin, I think in reality she is just hugging him, really tight!

Washing in the sink

Benjamin has figured out how to climb up onto the bathroom counter. The other day I caught both kids "washing" in the bathroom sink. I am impressed Benjamin can turn the sink on, but also need to be careful because he doesn't realize the difference between the hot and cold handles.

Playing Dress-up

Both Benjamin and Lily are now getting into playing dress-up. We only have a few "costumes" for them to play with but they really enjoy putting everything on and pretending they are someone else. I think Benjamin makes a very cute astronaut...look out NASA here he comes!

Park Play

Benjamin is almost 18 months and is getting more sure of himself everyday. He is really moving around all of the "big" playground equipment, which gives me heart failure but he is enjoying it. Another problem is Lily is always using him to test things and I am afraid she is going to push him off the play structure to see if he can fly...I know I always tested things like this on my little sis (sorry Lisa!!!)

Lily the Scientist

Lily did her first science experiment. She received a science kit for her birthday and has been wanting to do it but its difficult to do this stuff with Benjamin around. So, when Benjamin went to bed early the other night she wanted to get the kit out for a try. She patiently listening while I spent some time explaining what the project was about and then we did the experiment. It was a lot of fun, I wish she could write because I think it would be great for her to write down her observations...I guess that will come. The experiment consisted of color tablets so she got to mix colors using a transfer pipet which she really enjoyed playing with. I think she just may be a little scientist.

Superbaby

My friend took these pictures at her son's birthday party. I love how Benjamin looks like she is flying. They are great pictures of Benjamin and Will.

So grown up

Lily and Benjamin are growing so fast. Lily is ready for school, as she reminds me daily I really wish we could send her right now. And Benjamin is really understanding everything he is even starting to use signs to communicate. I can't believe how fast they grow.