Sam's First Day of School

I'll let the pictures tell the story, but since everyone will want to know, I got a little choked up but then there were so many people and 2 other kids to take care of that I got distracted and managed not to shed a tear. He was so excited, it's hard not to just be excited with him. Evan, on the other hand, well...you'll see in the pictures.

Annie's 1st Birthday

Our little Annie at age 1 is turning into a fun addition to our family. She is full of funny faces and already likes making jokes. She does whatever she wants (and seems to get away with it--oops) but with a sweet and cheerful disposition. She is taking 5 or 6 steps at a time and has already mastered climbing up on everything--the bed, the dishwasher, into cupboards, the couch, the stepstool, out of her highchair, into the bathtub, etc. She started her birthday morning off climbing onto Evan's bed and then taking a nosedive into the train track box. She is beside herself with excitement whenever she thinks she will be able to touch water. She doesn't play with baby toys much, instead she prefers ballpoint pens, rocks, diapers, our books, shoes, dirty laundry, and CD cases. She likes to put things around her neck (like a necklace) and pretends to dress herself. She won't wear a headband anymore but leaves her shoes on now. We love her so much and I love having a little girl around! Happy Birthday, Annie!


Here's a 6 minute video of Annie's 1st Birthday Party. We invited a few families that especially love Annie and asked them to sing her a song instead of bringing a present. We had a fun night and Annie was a very gracious hostess. She doesn't seem to like cake and frosting that much (yet) but LOVES bananas and ice cream, so I made her a banana split ice cream "cake" (recipe from Family Fun magazine).

(For those who don't want to watch the video, here's some still shots)

Wearing a dress I made!

Overwhelmed by her brothers' exuberance at gift-opening time

"Sharing" her new toy with Sam and Evan

Flowers from our backyard, homemade banner from Sam

Chillin' out with the guys and welcoming guests

I made cupcakes for the candle-blowing picture, even though she ate ice cream

The kids played an elaborate war game in the backyard all night

Annie smiled the whole time

Here's some pictures from her "12 months" photo shoot with the dolls:

Bucket List and An Uncanny Coincidence

Since I have been trying to enjoy my time with Samuel before he goes off to kindergarten ALL DAY (grr), we have created a "Kindergarten Bucket List" (it technically should be called "The Stay-at-Home-With-Mom-All-Day Bucket List" because that's what's "dying" here...but whatever).



So far, we have only accomplished one: #9. We are currently reading The Horse and His Boy after finishing The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, so we are technically working on #8. We've tried to go camping but it has been raining like Seattle here so that's not our fault. Most of the items on the list are special things we have done before that Sam wants to do again (and some are ones he might outgrow quickly), others are random things the boys have dreamt up and then pestered me about non-stop, like #1, so we are doing it to be able to put it to rest.

Yesterday, I wrote on Facebook about our upcoming trip to London, Edinborough and Prague and asked for advice about what to do and see. In an uncanny turn of events, an "educational book" salesman came to our door last night who just happened to be from London and studying at the University of Edinborough. AND, look what just happened to be #14 on our Bucket List:
So, I obviously had no other choice but to invite the poor, wet college student with a cool accent over for dinner. We managed to finish the evening without buying anything, fed him dinner (he ate like he hadn't eaten in a week--his direct quote (through a mouthful of food) was, "I like food."), and managed to glean from him the important insider tips that 1) London is expensive, and 2) that we should visit "that one place in Edinborough, that castle, what's it called?" (Kaci) "The Edinborough Castle?" (Hiro, the book salesman) "Yeah, the Edinborough Castle!". See, watching the travel DVDs we checked out from the library DOES pay off.