Cheese!

A wonderful friends just game us some hand-me-down toys... a tool bench with tools etc. I think the goggles (and the drill with batteries!) have been the favorites. :)

Soaking Up The Sunshine!!

It has been in the 60's here almost every day for the last week or two, and we are LOVING IT!!! Walks, bubbles, side-walk chalk... I am SOO ready for summer!

We have spent a lot of time outside, just soaking up the sun!! We have had quite a few conversations that go like this:

Ben: Mommy, can we please go outside?

Leah: Just a minute Ben, I need to finish what I am doing.

B: But Mommy, I need Vitamin D!!!! Otherwise my bones will break!!

How can you say no?

We have 12-month passes to the biltmore, and this month they gave us some free ones, so we have been going to the biltmore and walking around with friends a lot, and loving it!! Here are a few pictures!

Taking our roommate Bonnie to the Biltmore!

At the park!

How do you get 4 kids to look at the camera...

AND smile??

I have NO idea. :)

Smiles!

At the Biltmore again with Molly, Abby & Caroline!

Naomi: 22 Months

And here we are, so much closer to 2 than to 1. I absolutely love this age, they are growing so fast, learning every day and communicating better and better.

Naomi loves to play with her brother, loves her stuffed animals, and must sleep with AT LEAST one, and 2 blankets and a passie to go to sleep and down for nap.

She has really started to love reading, for which we are thankful, although she is still very very busy and has no interest in movies or TV etc. Although she could watch videos of her and Ben on my phone for hours if I let her.

She LOVES to be outside, and run and jump, spin, sing and dance. She wants to do anything and everything that you are doing!

Bumpersticker of the Day

RUNS ON 100%
BABY SEAL OIL*

*Seen on the back of a big, crew cab,4x4, extended bed truck with lift kit while in Utah.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had an interesting Valentine's Day. :) Daddy was gone on a business trip, and I was up the night before with Naomi, because she had an ear infection. However, we managed to have a little fun, and mailed off a package to Ben's Valentine (Uncle Micah :).

Two sweethearts.

Making Valentine's Day Cards

Making cut-out cookies with Bonnie (the college student that lives with us)

Decorating Cookies

The finished product!

Kid Chatter

Andrew brought home some Gummi Life Savers (can I just say EWWWW) the other night, and the kids were loving it. We put them on their fingers like rings and they ate them off.

Leah: Ben, if you bite you finger off, I am not going to get you a new one.

Ben: Well, then I will just go to a finger store and get one!

L: Oh really, how many finger stores have you been to?

B: Mom, what is the number that means nothing again??

L: Zero.

B: ZERO!! I have been to ZERO finger stores!

Two

UTAH!!

Ben, Naomi & I were able to spend ten days with my family in Utah at the end of January/beginning if February. Sadly, if I had to sum up the trip in one word it would be:

SICKNESS

Ben got croup three days before we left, Naomi got sick two days before we left. I decided to risk the plane since we had been fever free for 48 hours. Lucky for me on the long leg of the flight I (with my sneezing, snotty children) got to sit next to a man who, when asked if he had any kids, responded, "No, they scare me!" Yippee! 4 hours of bliss. Once we got there I was up two different nights with crying children with ear infections, and all kids of fun.

So, this is mostly what we did when we were there:

Play quietly with the awesome Playmobil toys from Nini (my mom) & Thatha (my dad).

Take bubble baths in Nini's huge tub.

Watched the Austrailian Open with Tennis-Loving Thatha

Drink tea

However, we did have a good time being with family, so here are a few "non-sick" pics for you.

My traveling buddies.

Getting ready to get on the plane.
Ben LOVED his job of being in charge of the "rolly suitcase."

And the random picture for the week:

My brother "Fuzzy Buzzy" all decked out in his Chef Uniform.

And we did a lot of this too... hauling books (and small people). My mom and I did an elementary school bookfair. I think we hauled in upwards of 20k in books.

Andrew had made me promise that in my next life I sell pillows. :)

The day before we left Ben was finally well enough to venture out into the snow. Thatha took him for a long walk in the snow, complete with hot chocolate in a yert.

They also visited the ski slopes down the street from my parents house... next time maybe we will be well enough to try our hand at snowboarding!

FAR AND AWAY, the best part of the trip:

Micah took me to a Scotty McCreery/The Band Perry/Brad Paisley Concert.

The Band Perry

Brad Paisley
There is a reason he has won Entertainer of the Year several years in a row.

And some family pics:

Naomi & her favorite Uncle Buzz

Naomi & Thatha

Ben & Nini

Ben & Uncle Nate

Ben & Uncle Micah
(We were able to coordinate our trips so that Micah & I overlapped for 5 days!)

Personalities in a snapshot.

The Whole Crew
L-R: Micah, Nate, Buzz, Me, Ben (Dad & Mom) Andrew & Gayathri

Andrew had a perfectly timed business trip, so he was able to be there the weekend Micah & I overlapped, and also our cousin G from NYC was in town for the Sundance film festival.

And fun times were had by all (even if we had to blow our nose the whole way through). :)