Number Three is One!

I didn't forget about this little one.  She's now One!  We had a low key family day...we opened presents, ate pizza and carrot cake (or "Laura cake" as our Veggie Tale loving son calls it.  Ten points if you understand why he says that.)

Abi is a joy.  She smiles, laughs, and loves her brother and sister.  She signs "eat" and "please" and would eat her weight in cheese if we would let her.  She is wonderfully average in height and weight (20 pounds and 29 inches) and took her three shots like a champ.

The obligatory pictures are below.  We love you Abigail Charis!

Unsure of what to think about the candle.

Very happy after eating the frosting (and cake).

Watching football with Daddy.

Halloween 2011

I think that Josiah's favorite holiday is Halloween.  What other day can you walk around and request candy?  A dream come true for my little three year old.

Here are the kids as Junior Asparagus, Cinderella, and a dragon (a costume that has been well loved in my family)  Also, Ali and her pumpkin.  Josiah didn't want that picture taken.

When I Three...

"When I three" was a phrase Josiah loved to use in the last few weeks.  Now that's he is three, he's giving himself a bit more time..."When I five" is is favorite phrase, especially when he's trying to get out of doing something.

Josiah loved singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out his candles.  He was over the moon to go to Chuck E. Cheese and play games and enjoyed his "Larry Bob cake"--my first attempt at designing anything  in the world of cake.  I was happy Josiah knew who was on the cake!

Here's to our buddy, Josiah.  I pray three is a great year for you!

Fabulous at Five

I still sometimes wonder how this baby

became this little girl (who wants to be a cheerleader/teacher/mom/artist when she grows up)

She had a great week!  We celebrated as a family at Chuck E. Cheese on a very quiet Wednesday night.  Thursday she gave two new books to her classroom (they don't do class parties) and then had five friends over for a party today.  Here's some pictures of the fun.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful girl.  Ali, you are joy to all who know you!

First Day of School

Ali's now a week into to school and loves it.  She's is learning to "sit smart", practicing all kinds of school routines and making new friends.  Here's a few pictures from the first day.

 Leaving the house on the first day.

 After we dropped off Josiah at school, we went and had coffee (or hot chocolate in Ali's case) and talked about her goals for the year.  She decided she wanted to have the chance to write on the board and read a hard book ("like my Dora books")  I'm looking forward to seeing if she meets her goals!

We picked up a gift card for her teacher and she drew a card for her.  It's a bit hard to see, but it is a picture of Ali and her teacher smelling some flowers.

I'm sure you will hear more about school as the year goes on!

Some Late Summer Pictures

For your enjoyment, here are some pictures I (Jed) took. This is Ali after getting her face painted at "A Taste of Concord" on Sunday afternoon:

And this is Josiah, with Elmo on his cheek.

The next is Ali at her friend Alyssa's birthday party on Saturday...a Hawaiian theme, as you can tell.

And finally, Josiah as we took a ride on the Redwood Express, a miniature steam train in Tilden Park.

Our Little Graduate

Jed and I sat down tonight and said "really, we have a child old enough to graduate?"  Yes, we do.  Ali's now a preschool graduate (but told me tonight not to call her a kindergartener yet).  Ali took center stage and sang her songs, wore her cap and gown, and graduated.