In and Out the Other Side

Big fun with Daddy.

Spelling Lessons

In retrospect it seems cruel that we gave our sons such long, difficult names to spell, though they are obviously doing all right with them, even that tricky silent triple W in "Ben." (Careful viewing reveals that Alex originally started with the correct letters of his name, which were then embellished upon).

As Alex would say, "First Alex, and then Ben":

Now we're cooking with gas, er, letters

I just thought this was funny. Among other things it's exactly the sort of game that Ben, but not Alex, would play. (In case you're wondering what Alex is saying in the background, it's a quote from Eric Carle's Pancakes book, "The batter is smooth and without lumps," followed by remarks on pictures on the refrigerator, and "risotto in the hot pan... that's the hot pan.")

January Thaw

Like much of the country, we experienced ridiculously high temperatures this week, and took advantage of it with a visit to the farm. Alex is in orange (the hood being up is, of course, his choice-- it was 60 degrees). Dialogue in the video consists of one word: "Rocks!"

A budding zoologist

Alex reads "Animals," with flair.

We've sunk to the level of posting cute sayings

Daryl: Ben, how old are you?
Ben: Ben not old, Ben new!

Sarah: Do you remember the muffins you made this morning? Were they yummy?
Alex: Yes! Yummy!
Sarah: You must be good bakers, then.
Ben: And good eaters!

Ben: Ben is going to be the Fire Chief. [goes to get Fire Chief hat].
Alex: [not to be outdone] Alex is going to go get cute! Alex to get the green hat.

Winter Wonderland

The boys enjoy the first snowfall of the year (and the first in their memories). Two days covered with some costume overlap; the top two pics are Ben. Alex is in the brown hat, and with Mom and the snowman, below.