Alex is a reader!

Alex reads an Elephant and Piggie book by Mo Willems

Julia "Reading" Brown Bear

Julia Reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Click on the link above to see the video!

Ladybugs

We made our annual ladybug hike early in January, but I just got around to downloading the pictures this week.  It has been so dry this year, so the trail had absolutely no mud and it was a beautiful day for a hike.  All of the ladybugs were in the same spot as always and the kids enjoyed seeing all of them.

Outfits

More outfits to add to the collection.  The top one is when Julia was going to go "diving" the other day.

New Year Dragon

We made some dragon puppets for Chinese New Year, last weekend.  It was a fun little project for the whole family to work on.

San Francisco Botanical Garden

Alex had Monday off from school, so I decided to take the kids to the San Francisco Botanical Garden.  I had been waiting to go there, as the magnolia collection is in bloom from mid-January to mid-March.  The flowers were beautiful and I'm sure in the next couple of weeks they will be even more spectacular, because it looked like there were tons of buds still waiting to open.  It was a gorgeous day, so we took full advantage of it, bringing a lunch and some snacks and spending the entire morning there.

Julia's New Ride

Julia found her new ride!  When we saw it in San Francisco the other day she really, really wanted to get on it and take it for a ride.  She did specify that she would like one in purple with a purple helmet, of course.  She told me that I could get a pink one with pink helmet.  

The Process of Taking a Picture with These Two!

Now you can see what it takes to get one photo of them in front of a magnolia tree.  Ha!

An Egg

Showing the egg which they collected from the neighbor's chicken coop while they were out of town last weekend.

Happy Campers

Lunching at the botanical garden in San Francisco

Making Bracelets

Never underestimate an activity that can keep four kids (ages 2-13) occupied while parents enjoy drinks, a game and good company.

Who needs a loom when you have pencils?

Making his bracelet.

Stylin'

Rockstar!

Another Look

Yet another fabulous ensemble by Juila

Scrabble

Alex and I played a game of modified Scrabble the other day.  It was fun to teach him a game that I have always loved.  Brought back many memories of playing it at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  As you can see, we are working on spelling, but we accepted phonetic spellings and he got extra points for using letters already on the board.  Working up to playing "real" Scrabble.  Yay!

Another Julia Outfit

This girl is certainly not afraid of patterns or colors!

Reading

Julia is loving having someone else in the family who can read to her.  I found them reading "Pete the Cat" yesterday morning.  

Archers

The archers practicing their skills with their handmade bow and arrows.

Hats & Crackers

Alex and Julia decorating the hats and crackers for New Year's Eve

Cutie

Julia modeling the new robe which I made for her for Christmas.

Fun with Friends

We had a fun New Year's Day at the Gandy's new home.  The kiddos all played together and there was alot of rainbow looming going on as well.  Fun to hang out, watch some football, have good conversation and just chill to bring in the new year.

Pork Belly Buns

On New Year's Eve the kiddos and I made steamed buns and crispy pork belly, ala David Chang at Momofuku.  They turned out pretty tasty and only lasted for one meal!  We made plenty of extra buns though and steamed them up and froze them, so that we could use them at a later time.  The kids were very good at rolling out the dough and getting them ready to steam.

Drawings

Alex has been enjoying the Ed Emberley drawing book which he received at Christmastime.  He is doing a great job replicating some of the drawings in it.  Some of you may be seeing some of these in your mail in the near future.

Busy Helpers

David, Alex and Julia worked on building a set of stairs down the backslope the other day.  They put the bricks from the old fireplace in the box room to work, as the materials for the steps.  I need to get out and get a picture of the completed project.  Will do that and post it later.

Hot Pot!

We bought a new hot pot the other day, after thinking about getting one for quite awhile.  Had a nice hot pot dinner the other night with lots of yummy ingredients.  The kiddos thought it was pretty cool to cook right at the table!