4 years old!

"Cars" and "Princess" cake was the request this  year!

January 20th, 2012. Jonas and Jember turned 4-years old. We took our party to "Time and Play" in Bellingham and invited so many of our closest friends and family. In a tumbled ruckus we came together, bearing cake and gifts and so much energy. There was a lot of laughing and colored paper. A lot of cake and lemonade. And that feeling of love, that circles around us from so many of our dearest friends. How lucky are we, to have such wonderful friends to celebrate these 2 funny, creative and electric souls. 

How lucky are we to have Jonas and Jember in our lives? 

Yordonnos, Farhia and Rose loving up Jonas, Maiya and Jember. 

Everytime I tried to take a picture of the kids, they all fell into a big bundle of lovey, smooshy, hugs.!

Loving dear friend, Eyouel.

Jember and Maiya are best friends and soul sisters. 

Maiya's mom and dad (Tegan and Greg) some of our dearest and best friends.

More cousins then friends...Lydia Swets and the little J's. 

Jackson Swets, Lydia Swets, Maiya and happy cake eatin' kids...

Man we love our friends. Rachel and Tom and Lori Swets...

"Baby" Jake. We love, love, love our Jakey!

Purple cape. Ethereal girl. 

Farhia makes every day more fun. And beautiful...

Lisa used to be our nanny. She will forever be our friend.

Wonderful Yordonos. Showing us all how to work a hula hoop.

Jen and Farhia watch the kids. 

Another birthday has been rung in. 4-years old is gonna ROCK!!

The Holidays

I'm sitting here at my desk, sifting through the last few months of photos. A couple of things are crossing my mind.  First, I am REALLY behind with my blog posts. Yikes. Where has time gone?

Second, I cannot believe how much my kiddo's are growing and changing. There are days, when Ross and I look at each other and say, "Who ARE these people?" It makes me wonder if other parents feel this way. Who are those two people running around in the front yard, talking a million miles an hour? Who are these two imps, begging me to watch and witness every other thing, asking me questions, showing me their treasures, telling me their jokes and expressing their opinions on everything from breakfast cereal to bubble bath? Who are these people? And where did those tiny little babies go? Anyone?


In big news: they have started preschool 3 days a week. They come home now sharing stories of new friends,  singing songs, and holding armfuls of artwork that can't wait to make its way on to our fridge. Jonas has become my sports kid. He can spend hours in the yard with baseball and bat, taking practice swings that send baseballs sailing into the neighbors yard. He bowls in our hallway and has invented a gentle version of indoor lacrosse. He is fascinated by numbers, letters and is already spelling his name and writing out letters on chalkboards. His absolute hero is Sportacus from Lazytown.


Jembers language skills are off the charts. Most days, I feel like I am talking to an adolescent. Her use of wit and her flair towards the dramatic is pretty unreal. She still loves singing and playing dress up. And please, come on in!  Our little social butterfly will serve you up a cup of imaginary tea or a plate of freshly baked imaginary cake. And oh! She has succombed to the world of the princess. Loves watching them, reading about them, and pretending to be them. She recently started a little ballet class at the YMCA. And if you have never watched a little class of 4-year olds twirling around in their pinkest of tutu's on a Saturday morning, you honestly have not lived. 

Jember in ballet class

Jonas rock climbing at the YMCA

Both kids continue to love painting, books and helping cook in the kitchen.  They are quite the little cookie bakers!


 And speaking of cookies, the holiday season sort of flew by, didn't it?  It seems like just yesterday we were tree trimming, hanging lights, and sitting cross- legged on the kitchen floor (for our annual floor picnic) getting ready to savor the first holiday batch of molasses cookies that came out of the oven.


But, now the new year has been rung in, and we find ourselves dropped most unceremoniously on the doorstep of a late January chill.

A stolen moment. Beautiful child in the sunshine...loving the artwork she just drew on her arm...

Ah well.  As we brush the holiday sparkle and remnants of mistletoe off of our sweaters, we snuggle down with our mugs of hot cocoa and our cherished pictures.


Here's a glimpse of the last few months:




SEPTEMBER - PRESCHOOL!

First day of preschool at Gardenview Montesorri. How did they get this old? 

Trying out those training wheels. One cool cat. 

HALLOWEEN 

Halloween shirts (thank you Gramma Myrna!) and the promise of Halloween goodies make us smile.

Sunnybrook Pumpkin Farm. Our annual visit. This is the last smile we got from her around the petting zoo. Lets just say that Jember is not thrilled by farm animals!

"Hey. Don't I know your brother?"

Fresh apple pie with ice cream at the Sunnybrook Pumpin farm makes us very, very happy.

Ok. Its not our best look. But not bad for livestock.

Having fun with costumes (Thank you Aunt Tracy!) We love Halloween!

Mee and OW. Cat boy. Yikes.

Super Batgirl dancing and laughing in the kitchen

Halloween. Superman and the winged princess prepare to go trick or treating.

We join one of our best buddies: Maiya and her mom Tegan. Trick or Treating in Fairhaven was a blast!

We bump into one of my students, Jack. My kids LOVE my students and vice versa. 

Trick or Treating with Elizabeth and Toby (Mat not pictured) We heart Elizabeth!!!

  THANKSGIVING

Ah! Rolling out the Thanksgiving pies.

Thanksgiving meal with our surrogate parents: Susan and Steve. We always feel like we are home when we are with them!

Thanksgiving delights. And giddy hungry people!

Some of my favorite women: Susan, Linda and Jember!

CHRISTMAS

Annual visit to Santa. 

Elf Jonas LOVES to decorate the tree!! 

So does the winged fairy.

Yep. The bottom of the tree was extra heavy with ornaments. 

Our first gingerbread houses! 

Seriously. Its a good look. 

And on to Wisconsin for CHRISTMAS!!!! (Thank you Gramma Sharon and Papa Bud!)

Cousins!

Cousins! See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Plenty of mischief however, for everyone!

An evening outing to the Rotary Lights in the park. Millions of dancing, twinkling lights. We had a ball!

Santa's happy reindeer

My family (minus my brother!)

Dancin' family. We're not the Partridge family, but we have fun.

Daddy and Jonas watch the dancing sillies from the sidelines

It snowed for 10 minutes. No white Christmas, sadly. But Jonas and Jember grabbed the oppourtunity to go out and shovel Grandpa Buds driveway .

Removing the teeny bit of snow. My snow bunny!

Snuggling cousin Ben.

Gramma Sharon snuggling her Jojo

Happy Grandparents with their grandkids

My little sport-o.  Got golf clubs for Christmas.

And a mit!

So pretty in her Christmas dress! (Thank you Gramma Myrna!) My brother in the background with his girlfriend, Hope.

Some of my favorite boys!

My brother (another one of my favorite boys) take a break from his job as a bar tender to hug the kids goodbye. 

Its been a busy and joyous holiday season. It passed by so quickly. I'm surprised we were able to grab the camera as often as we did. Where ever you spent your time and whomever you spent it with, we hope your holidays were a joyous one, spent embracing the people that you love most.

 

And now these little imps will be turning 4! Stay tuned for birthday updates!