A Testament to the Lives of Schwabedissens

Pez

2012-01-18T21:08:00.001-07:00

Zsolt has discovered the goodness that is Pez.

Or, as it is commonly known around here, dinosaur candy.

And it never lasts nearly long enough.

Christmas Card Outakes

2012-01-16T20:48:00.002-07:00

Many of you probably saw this year’s Christmas card.

For those who didn’t, here ya go:

We had a lot of fun taking the different pictures for our card.

I thought I’d share a few of the outtakes, just so you can see what you missed. :)

Wait…can there be outtakes if they’re all ridiculous pictures?

Either way, here are some of the ones that weren’t chosen.

Sunday Finery

2012-01-15T20:50:00.001-07:00

I just can’t help it.

I have to take pictures of my kiddos when they’re all dressed up and adorable.

It’s a need. A physical need.

I need, I need, gimme, gimme, gimme, I need!!

I don’t care what you say, my girlie is the prettiest girlie ever!

(except for yours, of course. )

Whatcha doing over there big bro? Get over here!!

Zsolt kindly complied.

I told him to sit up straight for me.

Ummmm…not exactly what I meant.

But you enjoy that roller coaster, kid.

Awwww, what a good big brother.

Then he stood and gave me this handsome, cocky look.

Right before he turned and yelled at the dogs to stop barking.

They were messing with his groove, man.

Oop, here comes Anara again.

Look, mom! I can fit this whole plastic lemon in my mouth!

Aren’t I so talented?

Huh? Huh? Huh?

Haha! Actually, that should be Zsolt’s quote.

That’s his new thing lately. He’ll ask a question and then say “Huh? Huh? Huh?”

What a couple of goobers.

What Zsolt Learned From Aunt Katie

2012-01-15T18:58:00.002-07:00

New Trick

2012-01-14T20:54:00.001-07:00

Zsolt has taught Anara a new trick.

If you push the laundry basket close to the bed, you can use it to climb up.

And she is a huge fan!

Now she can climb up to pull at daddy’s face while he’s resting.

Say Goodbye

2012-01-13T23:08:00.001-07:00

Sadly, the time finally came to say goodbye to our guests.

This is Anara’s way. She loves snuggling close and putting her hand close to people’s bodies.

Zsolt insisted on helping with the bags.

Zsolt said goodbye.

And then still kept trying to go along with them.

He was SO upset after we drove off. I felt so bad for the kid. He kept crying and saying, “Zsolt, my fault!” He thought that he had done something wrong. In order to calm him down, we had to bribe him with ice cream and promise him that Jake & Katie would call him when they got home.

New Years Day

2012-01-13T10:49:00.001-07:00

Zsolt played with Katie’s toy a little more.

Katie and I had big plans for the day.

We went shooting.

We had told my friend, Jenna, that neither of us could hit the broad side of a barn when shooting. And so she took us out and, starting from square one, taught us all over again.

Katie actually found out that she was a better shooter with only one hand.

She did awesome!

Our lessons must have paid off.

At home we had a little basic fun.

The fellas played some video games.

Zsolt loved playing blocks with Aunt Katie.

Oh no! It fell down!

Ooh, a block tower.

All the better to…

…smash you with a toy!!

New Year’s Eve

2012-01-11T22:42:00.001-07:00

We made a great discovery on New Year’s Eve.

Motivation is a powerful force.

Eat your lunch, or the monkeys get dunked!

Whew! Luckily Zsolt was just in the nick of time and saved each monkey by taking a bite.

To get ready for our celebrations, Katie, Zsolt and I made some yummy snack fare.

It was low calorie and comprised mostly of vegetables.

I promise.

May my butt grow three sizes if I’m lying.

As the night continued we played a few games…

…and sort of halfway listened to the festivities in Times Square.

By the end of that night we were all exhausted.

You know, the stage where everything seems funnier than it really is?

Between that and the over-indulgence of goodies weighing in my stomach, I forgot to take any photos after midnight. I’m pretty sure I just kissed my hubby, unbuttoned my pants, and stumbled to bed.

Welcome, welcome 2012.

Santa Fe

2012-01-08T21:29:00.002-07:00

Katie and I have often talked about visiting Santa Fe together, so we knew that it had to be one of our adventures.

We all got ready to leave.

Just as we were leaving our friend told us to make sure to visit the Loretto Chapel.

And so we did.

You can read the story about Loretto’s staircase HERE if you’re interested.

It was a pretty chapel.

Even Zsolt sat still…for a bit.

Anara, of course, had no choice, being in the stroller and all.

We walked past the oldest church in the US.

Kick him, Anara, kick him!

We even stopped to see “the oldest house.”

Afterwards, we walked over to see the capitol.

I was SO excited that we actually got to go in this time.

Yay!

It was definitely worth seeing.

Zsolt thought it was impressive too.

We stopped in to see where the House meets.

The kids really had fun wandering in here for a bit before we stopped to have some New Mexican fare and headed home again, home again.

Zsolt's First Hockey Game

2012-01-08T11:25:00.003-07:00

Last night Nate took Zsolt to watch his first hockey game.

They went with Zsolt's friend, Charlie, and his dad.

The game wasn't until late in the evening and Zsolt was begging all day to go. We had told him that it wouldn't be until after his nap in the afternoon. As a result, he kept laying down all day and declaring his nap to be over.

"Charlie now?" He would innocently ask.

Ummm, nope, sorry kid, you still have to wait.

But finally the time came and they were off to the game!

It was almost 10 when the boys got home, and Zsolt was still high on excitement.

Did you have fun? I asked. What did you see?

And the best part was listening to his version of events:

"Zsolt hurted finger." *sniff, sniff*

(According to Nate, he had hurt his finger hours ago without a complaint since, but at this point we had to remedy the finger before we could move on.)

"Zsolt go down stairs. Hop! Hop! Hop! Hop!" (Yes, he demonstrated each hop.)

"Aaaand Eatin' hot dog."

"Aaaand big trucks on da ice."

"Aaaand hit in da net."

"Aaaand got finger in da chair."

"Aaaand Pway wif Charlie!"

Aw, you just should have seen it. He was bouncing all over the place and was just so excited about every thing he told me. Not to mention how proud I was that I could ask him what happened and that he spoke enough to give me a general story.

He had such a great time! In fact, all day today he has been asking to go to another hockey game.

Jake & Katie Go To The Zoo

2012-01-07T21:05:00.001-07:00

Next up, a trip to the zoo.

You could say it was already a zoo around our house, but we decided to view more interesting animals.

K-k-k-katie!

Zsolt was insistent on having gloves to keep his hands “warmer”.

It was actually rather decent outside, but he didn’t care.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Whataburger.

Anara got ahold of one of these.

Which led to a massive cleanup project.

Now are we ready to go to the zoo??

Zsolt was so excited to show off some animals.

Anara hung out in the stroller.

Apparently she didn’t get enough ketchup to eat at lunch.

Zsolt was so excited to see that they still had huge piles of leaves.

Anara was a little pleased herself.

Jake and Katie found their own forms of entertainment.

Hee, hee! Just kidding.

But they did sit and soak up some sun.

Zsolt didn’t really want to leave the leaves, but I coaxed him with the challenge of a race.

Ooh, the lions are out.

Ummm…Jake?

Jake?????

Whew!!

This is a fun stroller game.

Push your sister backward while she giggles like it’s the best thing that’s ever happened.

Thank goodness she was saved from the stroller.

I found that I really love the light of the zoo in the afternoon.

What happens next is Zsolt, unscripted.

Yup. He’s strange.

We’ll just wrap it up with a snowman, New Mexico style.

Jake & Katie Visit - Part 2

2012-01-07T00:32:00.002-07:00

The first full day, we took things a bit easy.

The kids were fascinated with Aunt Katie’s new toy.

Both of them fought for space on her lap to be close to the stories it told.

The following day we headed up Sandia Peak to see the sights.

Yikes! Not those sights.

Nobody wants to see those.

(You may just want to look away now.)

It was good and snowy up on the peak.

I wouldn’t bring it up with Nate or Jake if I were you.

Let’s just say that trying to help Albuquerqueians stuck in the snow is a fruitless venture.

Some of them can be a tad clueless when it comes to snow.

We know of at least two.

It was a bright, beautiful, windy, cold day.

And I forgot my coat and had to squeeze into a sweater that’s really too small for me.

What I’m saying is, please don’t look at me.

Please.

Probably would have been another good time to look away.

You still can, you know.

The view really is great up on the mountain.

We took a quick looksie…

…and then scurried down the ice to the gift shop.

It was cold in them there hills!!

Anara grew quite attached to Jake.

Of course, she liked hanging with Aunt Katie a lot too.

Gah!! Thanks for the photo op, Jake.

Okay, I seriously can’t believe you’re still looking.

I warned you and warned you to look away.

You have nobody but yourself to blame for making it this far.

Jake & Katie Visit

2012-01-05T22:14:00.002-07:00

We were so excited to have Jake & Katie come and visit us between Christmas and New Years.

Zsolt was so excited when I told them we got to go to the airport to pick them up.

Jake, Katie hold me? He asked.

I couldn’t help but squeeze the kid tight myself.

“Yes, I’m sure they’ll hold you at some time or another.” I assure him.

I’m not ready for his reaction, he begins screaming “YAY!!!” at the top of his lungs while jumping up and down.

When we got to the airport, Zsolt ran right up to say “hi.”

He jumped in Aunt Katie’s arms and gave her a tight squeeze.

He then turned his attention to Uncle Jake.

Nate was nice and waited outside for us.

Zsolt really wanted to help Uncle Jake with the bags.

When we got home, Zsolt helped Anara open her Christmas gift from Uncle Jake.

She was quite pleased.

You can tell because it instantly went to her mouth.

Needless to say, Jake and Katie were right at home with us.

And this is just the beginning of our fun week, of which I will share more later.

2011

2012-01-01T11:04:00.001-07:00

As has become tradition around these parts, here's a quick photo review of 2011.

Happy New Year!!

Our Christmas

2011-12-25T20:39:00.001-07:00

Shoveling Snow

2011-12-23T10:20:00.001-07:00

It snowed here.

Again.

From what I understand, us New Mexicans have gotten more snow than some of you up north.

Just sayin’.

But I like the snow, it makes it feel like Christmas.

This morning Nate went out to shovel. After a few minutes, Zsolt announced that he needed to go out “seein’ and helpin’.”

He threw on his slippers and was on his way out the door.

Uh, not without a jacket, at the very least, kiddo.

So he got a jacket, went outside, immediately returned, and demanded gloves to stay “warmer.”

Yup, he was still in his pajamas.

Not seeing a mini-snow shovel, he grabbed a broom instead.

Don’t you worry, Dad, I’ve got your back.

Can I just say how stinkin’ adorable he looks dressed like this?

My heart just did a happy flip.

He’s such a hard worker.

I’m not gonna lie, he gets that from his dad.

Go vanquish that snow, Little Man!

Momma will be waiting right here for you when you’re done. Where it’s dry and warm.

Christmas Fun Continues To Abound!

2011-12-19T21:59:00.002-07:00

Jesse Elfkin’s elf mischief continues in our house.

Zsolt doesn’t seems to like it when he makes messes. He insists on cleaning them up right away.

But he still tries to convince us not to be mad at Jesse.

“No, no mad elf!”

This morning it started to snow. Big, beautiful flakes.

Then the snow turned to rain.

We headed downtown and had a play-date with some friends.

The boys were boys – they couldn’t wait to get out and play in the mud.

The girls were willing to participate, but ended up watching from the warmth and comfort of the house.

On our way back home it started snowing again.

By this evening, the ground was blanketed with perfectly wet snow.

So even though it was dark outside, we took advantage of the situation, went out…

…and made a snowman!

Zsolt was so excited! He loved picking out and finding different body parts for the snow man.

After we had come in and warmed up, we broke out a new “toy” that I have been wanting to try - a sensory box filled with rice.

(I thought of using beans, but I was worried Anara would try to eat them and choke. Considering the way she went after the rice, I would say the possibility was high.)

Both of the kids were immediately interested.

They loved digging and burying things and dumping rice.

Zsolt played in it for an hour and a half! That doesn’t happen often.

Anara didn’t make it quite so long.

But only because she got SO excited. And the more excited she got, the more she started flinging rice in every direction.

Her little hands were just scooping up rice and flailing at almost imperceptible speed.

Thus she was banned from the box for now.

Our countdown activity for the day is to sleep under the Christmas tree.

Zsolt was practically bouncing off the walls he was so stoked! He never gets to sleep in the living room!

Even as I type, he is laying here watching toy story and reveling in the freedom of the living room.

Wait a second.

What was I thinking?

I hope I don’t have to spend every night from now till puberty convincing him that he doesn’t get to sleep here every night.

Christmas Fun Continues

2011-12-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Just sharing a few more random Christmas activities.

Watching the Polar Express, eating popcorn, and drinking hot chocolate.

We weren’t sure how Zsolt’s attention span would hold out on this movie, but he was completely captivated.

We made cookies.

Zsolt’s jobs included sprinkle master…

…and taste tester (among other things).

We built a “christmas fort”.

Which was basically Zsolt’s tent next to the Christmas tree.

And Jesse has been keeping an eye on things and making sure everyone is having a good time.

Just Playing

2011-12-14T16:15:00.001-07:00

Not much to really say today.

I know. You’re stunned.

Soak it in. It doesn’t happen often.

Just a few pics of the kiddos playing.

Emergency Stash

2011-12-12T20:47:00.002-07:00

Dear Grandma,

I got your top secret package in the mail.

Thanks!!

I knew just what to do with them!

But I couldn’t keep them hidden for long.

In fact, I pulled them out just an hour later.

I suffered severe damage to my cheek which required their use.

(They arrived just in time. I hate to imagine my dire need had I been left at the mercy of that momma-lady!)

Anara may have also suffered a blow by my hand which I opted to fix.

I’m sure their presence is still a secret though.

I’m a good secret keeper.

Thanks again!

Love,
Zsolt

Gingerbread House?

2011-12-11T09:40:00.002-07:00

Yesterday’s holiday activity was to make a ~~Gingerbread~~ Rice Krispie house.

I was so excited for this one! I haven’t made a Gingerbread-type house since elementary school.

That I recall.

Then again, my memory is a bit half-hazard these days.

But this time we were moving beyond milk cartons and graham crackers into the tasty, tasty world of Rise Krispie treats.

Zsolt was really eager to help, so I put him to work cleaning up the dishes.

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

I even put Anara to work as well.

That’s right, nobody gets a free ride in this house, I tell ya.

Nobody!

Clean those dishes!!

There may have been a slight struggle with metal spoons between the two workers…

…which resulted in this.

But with a few mediations including the Schwab HR department, everything was squared away and it was time to construct the Krispie House.

“Okay, Zsolt, let’s make a house.”

A house? Zsolt asks.

“Yup, we’re gonna make a house out of these.”

No. No house. Zsolt pig barn!

You want to make a pig barn?

Yup!!

“Um…okay, it’s your house…er…pig barn. You can make it however you want.”

And so, with a few alterations, we made a Christmas Krispie Pig Barn.

Bet you’ve never seen one of those before.

We like to keep our holiday traditions on their toes. No tradition is safe from a Zsolt spin.

Of course…this is the first time we did it, so I don’t know if that can be called a tradition. But it’s a usual Christmas tradition, even if it hasn’t been ours.

Right?

And so, without further ado, Zsolt and his Christmas Krispie Pig Barn!
Ta-da!

And it’s the very best Christmas Krispie Pig Barn I’ve ever seen.

And that’s the honest-to-goodness truth.

Just A Couple Of Stink Bugs

2011-12-10T16:27:00.001-07:00

In Which There Were Elves & Snow

2011-12-08T10:41:00.001-07:00

We’ve had Zsolt’s friend, C-man, here to play a lot this week so we’ve been keeping quite busy.

Jesse Elfkins has been found a few strange places.

Zsolt told him it wasn’t wise to hang around in lights. They’re hot.

We actually got a decent amount of snow. More than I’ve seen in Albuquerque before.

Zsolt and C-man couldn’t wait to go out and explore it.

C-man showed Zsolt how to make a snow angel.

But once he got down there, he realized that it flips snow into your face.

He wasn’t happy about that.

He still had a good time in the snow.

And it wasn’t long until they were ready to come in and warm up.

With some hot cocoa.

One of the days we also got our package from Grandma and Grandpa Schwab.

Anara found an unwrapped gift and knew just what to do with it.

No hands required.

We’ve mysteriously had this section of our tree looking smushed. I kept straightening it out and figured it was just due to the cramped space in our house.

But I soon found it was because we are apparently raising a baby bear.

For whatever reason Anara will turn around, back into this spot, and just wiggle back and forth.

It makes a good back scratcher.

And she can get hands-on with the ornaments.

Silly girl!

Uh-oh! More elf mischief. Jesse apparently brought his friend Jamie to help him out.

This is just a random photo for you. Zsolt insisted that I take his picture and then ran and posed like this.

What weird kiddos we have!

Holiday Who-be-whatie?

2011-12-02T21:16:00.001-07:00

Today was a super holiday activity kind of day.

It started out this morning with the arrival of this little guy.

He came with this letter of introduction from The Big Cheese:

Hello, Jesse! You’re a pretty adorable elf.

Zsolt was excited to get a letter with his name on it.

He proclaimed the donut with snow to be “mmmm…good!”

But he quickly found out that they made his hands dirty.

And insisted on cleaning them after every bite.

Our advent activity for the day was to watch a Christmas movie. We thought Frosty was a good, short flick for the kiddos.

Zsolt put up a fuss at first, saying he didn’t like it. Of course…he’d never seen it, but it wasn’t He-Man so he wasn’t interested. Luckily, within 5 minutes of it starting he loudly proclaimed, “Zsolt like it.”

Stinker.

And then this evening I bundled up the kids and took them to the local Holiday Stroll.

We got a few fun snacks.

Anara avidly watched over all going on.

I eventually got her out and let her wander a bit. It took her all of 2 seconds to find the special treat I’d hidden in the back of the stroller.

Then we sat around a bit and waited for the Christmas tree to be lit.

Anara made lots of new friends.

A kind stranger even got a picture of me with both kiddos.

This was our view of the tree when it was lit.

We started back to the car and it even began to snow just ever so slightly. It was hard to see in the dark, but you can see here the stroller is starting to get wet.

Can you say perfect timing?

I know, I know, you Idaho/Utah folk are all thinking, “So what?” Just remember, snow is a big deal here.

In fact, Christmas in New Mexico has it’s very own flavor. The air was filled with the scent of cooking tamales and we stopped on our way out to listen to this Mariachi band.

Zsolt thought that they were really cool.

We also passed all of these fires that they had set up in the streets where people could stop and get warm.

Overall today has been a super fun and festive day!

Dear Santa...

2011-12-01T09:25:00.004-07:00

This year we have developed an advent calendar to help us count down to the big day. It's nothing fancy, just a string of envelopes. There is one envelope per day and each envelope contains an activity for us to do that will help us get ready for Christmas.

Today's activity was to write a letter to Santa.

I added the in-between words, but here is what Zsolt's dictated in his letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,

I would like a blue present for Christmas. Please bring momma a yellow present. Daddy would like a green present. Anara would also appreciate a blue present.

Some toys would be nice.

I was a good boy this year. Daddy is also a boy. Baby Anara is a girl.

Thank you, Santa.
Love, Zsolt

Okay, I seriously love this kid. He thought of listing presents for everybody else all on his own. He is just so stinkin' thoughtful! Not to mention when I asked him what presents he wanted Santa to bring, all he cared about was the color. Haha! What a cutie.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T23:41:00.001-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration! We were fortunate enough to get together with some of our friends from Montana who have also recently moved to Albuquerque (small world!).

The kids all played so well together. We hardly had any issues all day.

Anara made herself right at home.

I photographed this little one when she was first born almost 2 years ago. What a cutie!

Zsolt found himself a sword and was one happy camper.

There were a few kiddo shenanigans while us ladies were trying to cook.

But they were pretty freakin’ adorable, so we didn’t mind.

We just kept them busy with snacks.

Of course, the gents were watching their football games.

But they helped with the kiddos too, so it all worked.

Anara loved all of the newfound attention that she received.

Jennie was super brave and carved our turkey.

Mmmm…my mouth is watering just remembering the great offering we had. Jennie and I had so much fun trying out some new things!

One of my favorite things was the new Butterbeer recipe we tried. It was scrumptious!

This little one couldn’t wait to dig into it’s frothy goodness. (As you can see, she stole other cups of it as well.:)

Jennie had a beautiful table set up.

The dinner was scrumptious and the company divine!

And best of all…

…the kids were nice and worn out just in time for a late afternoon nap.

(Can you tell?)

I’m so grateful for good friends to share the holiday season with!

Anara’s Birthday Party

2011-11-29T21:11:00.001-07:00

The weekend following Anara’s birthday, we had a nice all day-party with our friends to celebrate Anara’s big day.

The house was decorated. I loved this idea I found for hanging balloons instead of getting helium ones.

Jenna immediately gave Anara this cute little monkey.

We then had a big waffle breakfast.

Anara loves waffles!

Then Jenna took Anara and I out for a real treat, Anara’s first pedicure!

She loved the foot baths. She longed to just dive in and play.

Getting our feet pampered.

Hello cutie.

She was fascinated with the toe touching.

She stayed really nice and still.

Pink sparkles!! So girlie!

We went back and met up with the boys again. The little guys couldn’t wait for Anara to open her presents so we did that first.

She got a nice, warm hat.

And admired Dad’s hat.

Charlie apparently had one too.

She also received her own little baby doll to love on.

She wanted to sit with her dolly in the chair.

After presents she tried her first dish of spaghetti.

Nice and messy.

Then she got her own little cake.

No worries, we didn’t let her put out the candle with her fingers this time.

Mmmm…..cake.

Cake and spaghetti, a good combination.

Which requires an immediate bath.

Deck The Halls

2011-11-27T13:18:00.002-07:00

It’s that time of year. The most wonderful time of the year.

Christmas time.

I know, I know, I haven’t even posted about Thanksgiving yet. Or even Anara’s birthday, for that matter.

But these photos are the most easily accessible for me right now, so that’s what you’re gonna get.

Last night our house went festive.

Zsolt was excited to see the tree.

He said it was “pretty.”

Which happens to be one of his new words.

I’m so proud of that kiddo!

Anara, on the other hand, was NOT happy to see the tree.

In fact, it downright terrified her at first.

We had to take a few moments to stop and touch it and show her that it wasn’t going to hurt her.

Zsolt found these Christmas hats and insisted that they each wear their own. He even helped Anara put hers on.

She thought it was fun too.

He kept calling himself “Zsolt Santa” and would “ho, ho, ho” and then demand presents.

In other words…it’s going to be a long month.

Anara eventually noticed the plush little ornaments we put in her reach.

And tried to give them all kisses.

At first she tried kissing them in the tree, but it was too prickly, so she took them out instead.

We quickly found out that her reach went higher than we had anticipated.

We moved some ornaments up just a tad higher and finally achieved our relative child-proofed tree.

Attention Grandparents

2011-11-26T20:10:00.005-07:00

We have taken over this blog as a call for help.

I, Zsolt, will speak first.

I am in dire needs.

That momma-lady has taken and hidden my precious bandaids in a locked cabinet.

She claims that I overused them.

I have no idea what she’s talking about.

Send reinforcements ASAP!

And now, a word from Anara:

'Nuff said.

Please help us!

We love you,
The little ones

P.S. Don’t tell mom & dad that we told you!

Sleepover

2011-11-23T12:13:00.001-07:00

Want to know what’s happening in this room?

This kid asked to have a sleepover…

…with this kid.

Why not? Family can have sleepovers too.

And they’re still super fun.

Psssttt...

2011-11-22T08:58:00.002-07:00

Part of Anara's one year photos are up on my Sara Bliss blog. Click the link and go check out the adorableness that is our girlie! ;)

Sometimes you appreciate...

2011-11-20T06:58:00.001-07:00

...your child's art work. You get excited to see them express themselves in their own unique way.

Other times, not so much.

Pickles

2011-11-18T22:16:00.001-07:00

Anara apparently decided today that she wasn't too fond of pickles. I got a little bit of her reaction on my phone. There's no sound, but I still think it's pretty adorable. :)

First Day of School

2011-11-16T20:13:00.003-07:00

No, this post is not a couple of months late.

Today was Zsolt’s first day of school. He has been going to speech therapy for a couple of months with articulation concerns. We have also been trying to get approved for speech through the school program. On Monday we had a meeting with the school and before I really even had time to take it in, he was off for his first day of school.

Okay, so it’s not really a big deal. He only goes twice a week for a 1/2 hour. But still, it’s school. And I couldn’t very well send him off to school without the customary first-day-of-school pictures.

Oh dear. I’m not sure who this child is. Lighten up, kiddo, or you’ll frighten other children.

There we go, that’s a little more like it.

Look at how little my big boy is.

How could you not love this sweet face?

And we’re off.

Staying hydrated is important for a school boy

First we made a quick stop to buy a couple of school supplies that Zsolt needed.

He was so excited that Anara wasn't with us because it meant he got to sit in the cart.

Hello, school.

And this is the expression I got for two seconds…

…before he…

…jumped.

I didn’t want to distract him too much by taking pictures of his actual class, but Zsolt enjoyed it. His teacher is very nice and just took the first day getting to know him a little better since the other child wasn’t there (there is one other kiddo in his class). He especially enjoyed the fact that there was a playground to play on afterwards.

In fact, he enjoyed the playground so much that he had some serious objections when it was time to leave.

All Dressed Up

2011-11-15T21:19:00.001-07:00

Hehe. These expressions are what you get when you literally have 30 seconds to snap a picture before leaving the house.

Anara Want a Cracker?

2011-11-15T20:27:00.002-07:00

Dear Nate,

2011-11-13T08:28:00.003-07:00

Today is our anniversary.

We have been married seven years.

Seven years. Don't they go by in a blink. And yet, it seems like you have been a part of my life forever. You complete me. Fulfill me.

You are the macaroni to my cheese.

The peanut butter to my jelly.

My, how things have changed for us in 7 years. Unexpected, exciting changes have abounded. Together we have tackled every obstacle, every challenge, every joy, every happiness. You have helped me. Supported me. Encouraged me. Loved me.

Together we have made beautiful children that I love dearly. I thrill watching you interact with them. Snuggling them. Talking to them. Tickling them. Teasing them. You are an amazing father and I know that you will do everything in your power to help them grow and achieve.

I cannot thank you enough for all that you do for me and our family. For all the work, time, and effort that you put in for us.

You are awesome. Amazing. Incredible.

I love you,
Always and forever,
Sara

Anara Birthday

2011-11-11T22:51:00.001-07:00

Anara was a super lucky girl on her birthday, she had 2 gifts come in the mail for her.

First was a card from Ma & Pa Ferrin.

I’m not sure what this is…

…but I definitely like it!!

The next gift was from Ma & Pa Schwab.

She knew what to do, she started pulling at the tape.

Of course, grandma taped it up tight.

So she reverted to beating on it.

And when that didn’t work she had to bring in the big guns.

Ooh, presents!

Here she was trying to figure out how to carry them both.

She never succeeded.

I actually did video-record her present opening, but it would take more time to process, so I’ll maybe share it later.

Let me say, though, that she was pleased with her gifts.

And although we’re technically celebrating her birthday tomorrow, I couldn’t resist getting her a little cupcake treat.

Ooh, it was pretty.

Zsolt had to jump in to help her blow it out.

Of course, while we were all focusing on the candle, Anara just reached out and put it out with her fingers.

She wasn’t happy. Luckily, she had been sucking on her fingers, so she wasn’t too injured.

Zsolt got a cupcake of his pick too…

…but Anara finished hers first.

And then she looked over and saw that Zsolt still had cupcake left.

Her fist clenched tight and she started growling, trying to will his cupcake to come to her.

And it worked!!

The force is strong with this one.

Dear Anara

2011-11-09T16:24:00.001-07:00

One year ago today, this happened:
And you joined our family forever.

Having you with us has been such a tremendous joy. You have been a wonderful little baby and I cannot believe that you are now officially entering toddlerdom.

My love for you grows each and every day. Every day I hold your warm, chubby little body in my arms and just smother you with kisses.

Because I can. It’s my prerogative.

You are such a friendly baby. You have never met a stranger. You’ll gladly go to anybody who will take you and will instantly snuggle into them. It melts their hearts just as it does mine.

You are very agile, practically running around already. Anybody who sees you will ask me how old you are and are always surprised at the answer because you look “too tiny” to be walking as you do. (I think it’s the still semi-bald head…it makes you look quite young.)

You love food. In fact, you have food envy. If anybody else has an item of food, you will scream until you get it because you figure you should get some too. It doesn’t matter what it is and it doesn’t matter if you are completely full. You consider it your right to have any and all food that you can see.

You love your brother. You laugh and smile for him in a way you don’t do for anybody else. I often wake up to the sound of both of you giggling in your room. You follow him around like a little shadow and want to touch everything he has. (Amazingly, he lets you.)

You still love that thumb of yours. It goes with you everywhere.

You have always been very expressive and nothing has changed in that department.

You love your daddy. You like to growl at him and you are always so excited when he comes home for the day. You begin to wail if he doesn’t stop and pay immediate attention to you.

You love to babble and will even start “singing” when mommy does. You also blow kisses and know how to tell Zsolt to “come here” by waving your hand.

Sometimes you think that you are hilarious. The other night you came in with one of Zsolt’s shirts sitting on top of your head and you just ran around in circles and giggled as if you had pulled the most marvelous prank. Of course, I also think you are hilarious, so you must be right.

I love you so much, my little one. Words cannot fully express how near and dear to my heart you are. You are sweet and charming and spectacular.

I wish you the very happiest birthday ever!!

Love always,
Mom

Sink Swimming

2011-11-08T09:04:00.003-07:00

Zsolt has found a new pastime.

Taking his toys “swimming” in the sink.

On the one hand, it keeps him busy, happy, and entertained. It also gives him a chance to use his imagination.

On the other hand it’s a messy and sometimes destructive game, as he attempts sneaking new items in to “swim”. You know…like the remote control.

In other words, I’m still not sure if I’m a fan of this game. However, for now my preference for creative play is winning out. We’ll see if a major flood changes my mind in the future.

Asleep

2011-11-05T19:13:00.002-06:00

Mom, Zsolt sleeping! I heard from the other room.

“That’s good, Zsolt.” I replied.

I heard a very loud fake snoring coming from the hallway.

Then I heard Anara let out a squawk.

Intrigued, I went to investigate.

Yup, Zsolt was sleeping all right. And he apparently found a very comfy pillow.

Halloween

2011-11-02T21:35:00.001-06:00

There were lots of frightening things around our neighborhood on Halloween.

Ghost and spiders.

Crazy children in orange outfits.

And moms with cameras!!

This is the look Anara gave her brother when he abandoned her to contend with the mommy all by herself.

She wasn’t happy.

Luckily, she got over it quickly.

That night at our house we played a frightening ghost game.

Truly frightening!

We each took turns being the ghost.

Even Anara.

And everyone else would hide, but the “ghost” always seemed to find us and would attack. No worries though, we found a form of protection. We just had to beat the ghost with Spongebob and he would go away every time.

Spongebob is good for so many things in our home.

Perhaps that is the scariest thing of all.

Halloween Fun

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween!!

We did most of our Halloween celebrating on Saturday.

To begin with, we got two festive packages.

Anara was excited to see things just for her.

She tried to get her hands on everything that she could.

Zsolt loves “Mitty Mow” (Mickey Mouse).

Uh…and notice he has a smartie in his hand. Once he got ahold of it, he didn’t want to let go.

Ooh, princesses for the princess.

“Pooh!!” Yup, he likes Pooh too.

Cute, cute, cute!

Anara’s a fan too.

A glow in the dark spider. Awesome!

“Spider??”

“Meow!!”

Mmmmm…. This little pumpkin was a lifesaver while her regular cup was being washed today.

Later that evening we got all dressed up.

(You can see pictures of the kiddos in their costumes HERE on my Sara Bliss blog.)

And then it was time for the trunk-or-treat.

It was a bit chilly outside so Anara mostly snuggled close.

Once Zsolt saw other kids he immediately forgot about the chill.

He started running everywhere.

Except when he sat by pretty little girls.

He had no idea who this girl was, but he insisted on sitting next to her...and then he told me to go away.

I guess I embarrass him already.

Doesn’t bode well for my future.

But it wasn’t long before he was back to running again.

Can you tell…

…he just wasn’t having any fun at all.

Anara was even inspired by all the running and got down to toddle around a bit.

Zsolt really enjoyed the trunk-or-treat. He even got pretty good at saying “trick-or-treat” which is nice; it took a bit of practice getting there. We could even tell that he wore himself out because when he decided he was done he got in the car and said that he was tired. Gotta love it when that happens!

Not A Happy Camper

2011-10-30T14:00:00.000-06:00

She toddled off into the kitchen.

Moments later I heard the screams of a child in despair.

My heart leaped. Thinking she may have injured herself I jumped up and rushed to her side.

And when I found her, I actually had to laugh.

Yup, that’s her…at the cookie jar.

How did she even find that thing?

Smart girl.

Once she saw me she started tapping on it insistently.

Look at that sad, sniffling face.

How could I say no?

And so she got her cookie.

And I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t pleased with herself.

(Notice, big brother ended up with a cookie too.)

Little punks.

Another New Beginning

2011-10-29T21:04:00.001-06:00

So I do have a new camera.

Again.

Istilldon’twannatalkaboutit.

I’ve been trying to get familiar with the features which meant taking a few pictures around the house.

Okay, This one I actually took with Zsolt’s camera, but I’m sharing because it’s funny. This is Anara trying to put the pumpkin filling back in the pumpkin.

Our jack-lantern. Zsolt picked out the design and he loves lighting it up and then blowing it out.

The rest I’ll just let you see without commentary. Nothing earth shattering, just a typical afternoon hanging out with the kiddos.

A Pint-sized Viewpoint

2011-10-26T22:09:00.001-06:00

Today I am very proud to share with you some images from a budding young artist.

Zsolt.

He has his own camera that we let him use. Today I’ve downloaded the images and here are a few things I found.

A finger…

…or two…

…or even fifty.

Yeah, there’s a lot of finger shots.

There are also a few self portraits:

Hello, Zsolt.

A game he was playing.

Sumo, on his level.

Anara with dad.

Anara with mom.

On occasion, he does let me use his camera and tells me what I should take a picture of.

It’s usually him

On occasion it’s the both of us.

Or most of us.

Or even our feet.

But the majority of the images are Zsolt’s.

Hello dad’s…uh….knees.

And mom’s tummy.

I like the viewpoint on these. It’s interesting to think that he always sees things from this angle.

Look, there’s Grandma.

And Ma & Pa getting in the cooler.

I love this one. A pic of Ma as she takes a pic of him.

Oh yeah, Pa? Look at how tall you are!

Zsolt’s take on the balloons.

Stopping to smell the flowers.

He took pictures of his new toys from Ma & Pa.

Seriously, how cute is that?

Apparently, Zsolt found a ghost in our house.

Hey, this is actually a pretty decent photo there, Zsolt-man.

This one is…well…centered nicely.

And an artist is born!

His momma is just so proud!!

Random Post

2011-10-25T21:03:00.001-06:00

My camera is….indisposed…at the moment.

Idon’twannatalkaboutit.

Since I can’t update you on any recent photos, I decided to go back through and share some random photos I hadn’t shared before.

Messy, messy.

This particular activity kept Anara entertained for quite some time. Taking DVDs off of the shelf…

…and stacking them onto Zsolt’s chair.

She was pretty pleased with herself.

Let me out, let me out!

Let me in, let me in!!

Whatcha doing, mom?

Mmmm-hm.

I think girlie was a bit tired. She lay down right on the dog bed.

So I took a picture.

Then, of course, Zsolt had to lay down too.

Hey, cuties.

And we all fall down.

More DVD disasters.

But she quickly made her escape when I called her name.

Playing outside.

He sat down, smiled, and asked for me to take his picture.

(I’m wearing him down, I tell ya!)

Anara is eating full on meals now-a-days. My baby is growing up!

Zsolt likes helping in the garden.

Sometimes he helps a little too much.

A little under-the-sheet fun.

Playing Outside

2011-10-21T21:14:00.001-06:00

Now that she’s getting bigger, Anara gets to spend more time outside exploring.

And as much as I watch her, big brother watches her even more.

He knows when she’s doing something wrong and takes care of it.

Come on, Anara, out of the dirt. It’s yucky!

Stinkin’ bro. He needs to mind his own business.

Don’t worry, mom, I’ve got this under control.

He is still nice enough to give her some play time…as long as he’s there to supervise.

Santa Fe

2011-10-17T19:40:00.002-06:00

I got to visit Santa Fe for the first time this weekend. Nate has been there for work, but I hadn’t been.

Dreams come true, yes they do, in Santa Fe. Including mine! Well…okay, so if one of my dreams is to visit Santa Fe (like my newsies pal, Cowboy) then it makes it easy for my dream to come true there.

Our first stop was at the state capitol. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of protesters there, so we didn’t get to see as much of it as we’d like.

But we did help out this nice bunch of kids. It looked like the fellas needed a little bit of help.

This church is claimed to be the oldest in the US. Kind of neat.

I wish we had gotten a picture of the St. Francis Cathedral Basilica. It was a gorgeous church a couple of blocks away. (Click on the link to see their website, they have a nice picture.)

Next to the Cathedral was this super amazing little restaurant. It looked so inviting!!

We passed this little shop and the name made me giggle.

Of course, then we passed this building and it made us both giggle even more. (Think Spanish pronunciation.)

Nate and me, soaking in the sun. It was a gorgeous day!

Our next stop was the Children’s museum.

Wow. Simply wow. It was so great! We could have played there all day. The things that we took pictures of are only a small portion of the activities they had there.

Zsolt was excited from the very beginning when he saw that they had a little entrance door just for kids.

He insisted that Anara get to go through it too.

There was a nice big, cushy play place for infants.

A face painting station. Zsolt decided he wanted a turtle on one cheek and some balloons on the other.

This was one of my personal favorites: the giant bubbles.

Everyone thought it was lots of fun.

Even Anara enjoyed watching and reaching out to pop the bubbles.

She almost even took off and floated away in one. Hee!

Zsolt had some fun in the sand pit.

Hello Anara.

Zsolt was intrigued by the worms. Yup, he got to dig for worms.

But this activity was by far Zsolt’s favorite.

You get to change the water pathways by moving the slots.

And then float various items down the water.

We had a hard time pulling him away from this one at the end of our time there.

I wonder if I would look creepy going there again without kids. Seriously, I could play there for hours just by myself.

Balloons!!

2011-10-14T21:34:00.002-06:00

On Monday morning, Ma & Pa finally got to go on their balloon ride.

It was a chilly, but beautiful, clear morning.

Zsolt wasn’t quite sure yet what was going on.

And Anara didn’t really care. She just wanted to snuggle and stay warm.

Watching them fire up the burners.

I was so excited! I had never been this close to a balloon.

Ma with the nice folks who were going to ride with them. They came all the way from Wisconsin and their balloon ride had been canceled on them twice that week.

Time to unpack the balloon.

And start filling it with some cold air.

The balloons are so big up close.

Sooo big.

Silly Pa!!

Love these two!!

Time to start heating up the air.

The basket goes up.

And the everyone piles in.

It’s a bit of a squeeze!

Zsolt is looking up at the balloon.

The balloon was starting to lift. The look on Ma’s face here just kills me.

There they go!

Higher.

Up…

…and away!

Zsolt was very upset that they took off without him and so we decided to chase the balloon, giving him something else to focus on.

Time to land.

Land!

Zsolt ran to say welcome back.

The fellas started packing away the balloon.

Don’t worry, guys.

I got this.

Air Show

2011-10-12T22:41:00.002-06:00

Sunday morning we woke up and looked out to see the final launch of the balloon fiesta.

Zsolt saw Ma taking pictures and ran inside to get his own camera.

That’s my boy!!

Then he went back inside and set the table.

If you look, there are plenty of knives, forks, and cups for all.

Anara snuggled with Pa for a bit.

Later in the afternoon we went to the air show on the base.

Zsolt loved getting a hands on experience with the planes.

He kept asking to touch them.

He touched them any place he thought was cool.

This was the plane that Daddy wanted to see.

Zsolt even got to sit in the Sheriff’s helicopter.

And look at all the buttons.

Anara wasn’t so thrilled with the planes. She just wanted to snuggle.

It wasn’t long before it was time for the show to start.

Zsolt wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for at first…

…but he was so excited when the planes started flying.

He wasn’t the only one.

Although Anara managed to sleep through some of the noise.

Zsolt was great at spotting the planes as they came around. He kept repeating “It come, dad. It come, dad! It come, dad!!!”

And every time any plane passed by he would start clapping. It was so cute! Nobody else was clapping, but Zsolt knew that this was impressive stuff.

And he was right.

Carlsbad Caverns

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

The next morning we headed to the caverns.

Good thing we had an excellent guide to lead the way.

Zsolt was so excited to visit a “cabe” (as he says). He’s had a thing for the dark lately.

Seriously. He loves the dark.

Weird kid.

We started down into the cave.

The top of the entrance.

Zsolt kept stopping to look down further into the cave.

I must say, it was an impressive view.

It was quite the trek down.

Especially with all the stopping.

Although…he was going so fast, it was probably best that he stopped and waited for us slow folk.

Looking back up through the entrance.

And the entrance again…from much further down.

Anara did well in the caves too, she kept kicking her feet and yelling to hear her echo.

Which she technically wasn’t supposed to do (yell, that is), but she just didn’t listen when we told her that.

The formations we saw were amazing. Some were really beautiful.

Others were a little funky. Someone among our party stated that this one looked like a giant boob.

Yeah. It kind of did.

I loved this one. It was called the chandelier.

Pa got tired and laid down to rest for a bit. Zsolt followed suit.

There was even a cool little store at the end of our hike…way in the bottom of the cave.

Hi, girlie. Did you have a fun ~~hike~~ ride?

The view from the parking lot was pretty.

And now we’re ready to head to our next stop.

Texas!!! I had never been to Texas before.

Of course, we had to stop at the state border.

Do you know what this is?

This is us getting “friendly” with Texas.

And the kiddos too. Welcome to Texas, the state where we headlock our siblings.

(Not sure how that differs from New Mexico though….)

We stopped in El Paso and then headed back home again. The view was much prettier that direction.

Pa & Ma Visit

2011-10-11T08:32:00.001-06:00

We were so excited this weekend to have Pa & Ma come visit us. It was a fun-filled, jam-packed weekend, for sure!! I would be surprised if they didn’t need a vacation to rest from their vacation.

The first night was probably our most relaxing night.

The next morning we were up early. Way early! We woke around 4 am to go see the Balloon Fiesta.

It was chilly and dark and raining. The kids weren’t too thrilled, so once we heard the event was being canceled Nate, the kids, and I packed up and went back home to dry off.

Of course, if we had known they were still going to inflate some of the balloons, we may have stuck around longer.

Especially since it was the special shapes rodeo.

Later that afternoon we headed out, destined for southern NM.

There’s Pa & Ma in the car behind us.

This was the thrilling view that we enjoyed.

Zsolt watched his movies.

And Anara entertained herself until we reached Roswell where…

…I spotted the first alien!

They were everywhere.

Even on the lamp posts.

The mailboxes were in on it too.

We met some new life-forms.

And even made new friends.

Anara practiced her walking skills.

And tumbled about on the floor with her brother.

And even spotted a UFO!!

We then walked through the museum to stretch our legs for a bit.

Zsolt didn’t care about stretching his legs; he wanted to be carried.

So that’s just what Pa did.

Zsolt found an interesting way to interpret the art pieces.

And tried to “phone home” and tell Charlie all about his trip.

And played “Oh yeah, Pa?” with Grandpa.

A slightly frightening experience.

When we were done, Grandpa kindly carried Zsolt out of the museum.

And raced him to the car.

We drove the rest of the way to Carlsbad that evening.

And even went swimming in the outdoor pool.

It was a tad chilly.

We may had a few blue lips by the time we were done.

So we headed back for a hot bath to get us warmed up and ready for bed.

Toddlers & Tiaras

2011-10-04T20:42:00.003-06:00

We’ve been working hard with our little angel, getting her ready for the day in the not-so-distant future when we can sign her up for all sorts of beauty pageants.

That’s it, honey, suck in those cheeks.

Way to work the camera, girlie. That’s my little super star!

I have other poses that we’ve been working on as well.

The I’m-getting-into-something-I-shouldn’t pose.

The I-just-finished-eating-dirt pose.

The dirty-feet-diaper-hanging-half-out-of-my-onesie-pose.

And my all-time-favorite…

The suck-it-losers face.

Oh yeah! My baby’s gonna be a superstar!!

You just wait, some day I'll be just like Tom Hanks in this video:

Band-aids

2011-10-02T22:19:00.002-06:00

He’s just got this obsession with them lately.

I’m sure every kid goes through this stage.

The slightest bump is a grave injury that only a band-aid can resolve.

And it’s not only his own bumps. He looks out for others too.

Like tonight.

Tonight I twisted my knee jumping over pretend canyons out in the dark garage.

It’s how I roll.

But I told Zsolt that I had to quit jumping canyons because my knee hurt.

Mommy, hurt?

Yup, buddy, my knee hurts.

No problem; he knew just what to do.

Poor mommy, I’ll fix you up.

I tried to tell him that a band-aid wouldn’t help this time.

My logic fell on deaf ears.

I got a band-aid anyway.

And then Zsolt proclaimed that his knee hurt too.

Oh, no!

And thus, he got a band-aid as well.

And then we sat and nursed our sore knees for a moment.

His moment was just a tad shorter.

Like, about .001 seconds total.

And then he was off again, back to his adventures without me.

Thank goodness for band-aids!

Keep Your Eyes Open

2011-10-01T22:50:00.001-06:00

You’re going to want to see this.

There’s something scary wandering around our house.

Terrifying.

He may be small.

But he’s armed.

And he knows how to use it.

Pic-i-nic

2011-09-30T22:57:00.001-06:00

Zsolt’s little friend, Charlie, had a family picnic day at his school. He was so sweet to invite us to come and participate.

Ready to go.

Awww, how cute are these 2 little friends?

Almost as cute as they were at their sleepover last week:

Hee!

He was pretty upset that he didn’t get to go play on the swings right away.

Really, mom?

And she was pretty excited that she had full access to Cheetos.

Really excited.

A Box of Smiles

2011-09-29T21:10:00.001-06:00

Ah the joys that a box can bring.

What’s in here?

Wait, wait, is that…

…someone sent me a brother!

He looks a lot like my other brother.

Weird.

Brother brings Anara in to hide with him.

Wait, wait, baby, I don’t think you’re doing this quite right.

Perhaps it’s better if we just sit instead.

(And this one I’m just showing you because the look on Anara’s face makes me laugh.)

Shopping Trip

2011-09-29T07:33:00.003-06:00

I know. It has been a bit since I updated.

And it’s not that we haven’t been doing anything. Quite the opposite. We’ve been busy, busy.

Zsolt has recently started working with a speech therapist. We were a bit concerned about his speech, mostly because it was a cause of frustration – on both sides. She has been helping Zsolt work to increase his recognition, vocabulary, and pronunciation. But we’ve also been putting in a lot of work at home to help.

We’ve started with a letter of the week.

Here’s a sample of last week’s activities. Can you tell which letter we worked on?

Getting Zsolt to focus long enough has been a bit of a challenge. The kid is so spirited, he’s always wanting to move on to the next activity. Because of this, we started off in short spurts. The first week, I set a timer for 5 minutes and we worked each day for 5 minutes on our “schoolwork.” The next week, the timer was set for 10 minutes. Then 15 minutes. etc.

I was so excited for Zsolt yesterday. I set the timer for 20 minutes, but when it went off, he didn’t budge – he just wanted to keep working on his project.

Fabulous!!

Another thing we’ve been doing is just talking to Zsolt.

You may think, “Didn’t you always talk to him?”

Well, yes, of course we did. But now the amount of talking borders on ridiculous. I tell Zsolt everything.

Seriously. Everything.

All day long.

(For those of you who thought I talk a lot anyway, you have seen nothing yet!)

“Let’s walk to the fridge. Now I’ll open the fridge. Hand me your cup please. I’m pouring the water now. Now your cup has water in it. Let’s close the fridge. Here is your cup. Take a drink. Drinks stay in the kitchen. Put your drink on the table. etc. etc. etc.”

Surprisingly, this has made a difference. There are so many things I just did for Zsolt silently. I never thought of modeling words for him. But since last week when I started this, Zsolt has used 16 new words. That’s huge for him!

Finally, one of my favorite things we’ve been doing, is playing a lot of role playing games together.

This has been so much fun for me!

We’ve been bus drivers. Explorers in the dark. Rescuers. Racers. Cliff jumpers.

One day last week we were shoppers.

I got the cart out and Zsolt ran to grab the bear and put it in there like a baby. Haha! Clever.

Then Zsolt went shopping in the pantry for all the items he wanted.

I laughed when he said he needed baby snacks for his bear.

This is him trying to dig the money out of his pocket so that he can pay me for the food.

I set up the “rules” of the game and explained to Zsolt how to play “shop".

But this part Zsolt did on his own.

He went to the living room, unpacked his cart…

…and promptly announced that it was time for “dinner.”

Clever again. What could Anara and I do, but go over, have a picnic on the floor, and munch on our goodies.

So that is a big part of what we’ve been doing lately.

This week we are working on D’s and the phrase “I want…”

Sock Monkey

2011-09-21T12:58:00.001-06:00

Aunt Chelsea recently made a sock monkey for Anara.

Anara loves it…but so does Zsolt. He was always making sure Anara took it everywhere. So I found a tutorial online and made him one of his own.

You can’t really tell here, but he was super exited to have a monkey (or an ooh-ah-ah, as he calls it) of his own.

So excited that when he set the table for dinner that night, I found an unexpected dinner guest.

Spongebob Mania

2011-09-18T20:46:00.001-06:00

After we arrived home, Zsolt received a fabulous package from our old neighbor Natalie for his birthday.

He was so excited! The whole package was full of Spongebob items. So many fun things!

Including this awesome Spongebob quilt which has quickly become Zsolt’s second blankie. He’s still attached to his main blankie, but now it goes under the Spongebob quilt at night.

Thanks Natalie and Todd for the wonderfully thoughtful package!