Funny Kids

Jeffrey is really into wearing his Superman clothing right now, and one day he climbed up on a stool behind this opening and said "Look I'm flying!" He then wanted me to take a picture.  I thought that was pretty clever of him to realize the illusion that such a pose would create.

This is when Jeffrey was "holding Arabelle in his lap".  He wanted to hold her and she played along for a little while, but then she got tired of the game before he did and Jeffrey was sad.  It's kind of an awful picture of Arabelle what with Jeffrey's Buzz Lightyear pajamas and the spaghetti sauce on her face, but Arabelle has become quite the difficult 2-year old--we pick our battles!

Another Sunday Morning

Jeffrey's new suit should fit perfectly next winter.

Arabelle Turns Two!

Sadly, with Arabelle's birthday coming so soon after Christmas, we kind of seem to wind up doing the bare minimum as far as festivities and presents go.  I have vowed that next year I will actually do something with a couple of little friends or at least cousins.  Fortunately Bonnie and Mark drove down for our little get together which made it feel more like a real party.

John picked out this Spiderman balloon, which is just the sort of thing Arabelle likes.

Jeffrey got a Lightning McQueen balloon. 

Present from Bonnie and Mark.

Mini Furreal pet that Arabelle wants every time we go to Wal-Mart, but really hasn't played with yet.

Each kid got a pirate ship.  Jeffrey was quite excited about his. It reminded him of the ship in Horatio Hornblower and even had a cannon, so he remembered to yell, "Fire!" in a deep voice before setting off the cannon.  I was impressed that he remembered all this since it has been over 6 months since he saw that movie.

Usually I do some sort of fruit trifle for the kids' birthdays because they really enjoy eating those, but this time I went for enjoyment of preparation.  They really liked making the cupcakes, putting out the cupcake wrappers and filling them up . They also insisted on putting one candle in each cupcake.  Right before eating they decorated with sprinkles.

Since Jeffrey and Arabelle's birthdays are six months to the day apart, we have always celebrated a half-birthday at the same time.

Arabelle did get 2 candles to distinguish her as the birthday girl.

I think we lit all the candles a couple of times.

Next Year's Christmas Card Pics?

I got the kids these matching outfits and took them to get their pictures made for Christmas Cards.  After an extremely difficult time getting them there (fraught with problems like Arabelle writing on herself, losing tights, etc, etc.) Arabelle decided that she was absolutely TERRIFIED of the portrait studio.  She wouldn't walk onto the white sheet thing without screaming in terror.  So...we didn't get a single shot of her.  I was so disappointed.  Anyway, these were the ones that I got at home.  Would any work for next year's Christmas cards?  Of course, we'd be short one baby!

At Michael and Brittney's Christmas Evening for a traditional Eastern European Feast and gift-opening.  These were appetizers.  Jeffrey's weird face is due to the fact that he insists on saying "cheese" matter-of-factly whenever pictures are take of him.  I'm so glad my kids genuinely like vegetables!

Jeffrey with Santa, Arabelle declined to participate.

Christmas Day

Stockings

Tiny skateboard with even tinier tools.

John forgot to fill my stocking, so he ran and grabbed a bag of mini donuts to put in them.  Arabelle saw the bag of donuts and was instantly captivated.  She probably ate 15 little donuts and you will see them in all the following pictures (her mouth is full of one here).

Jeffrey's big present: Leapster Explorer (educational gameboy for kids).  So far it seems to be just a bit too advanced for him.

Both kids got cheapo Cape/Mask Sets.

More donuts.

Jeffrey's been wanting one of these for awhile since he saw a kid at a birthday party get one.

Both kids got "art studio boxes".  These have probably been the most-played with presents.

Arabelle's big present was a cute double stroller which she wasn't particularly interested in.  She was in a really bad mood Christmas morning, sadly.  She also got a tea set and play food, which she has played with a lot, and a ring toss game.

Jeffrey also got a model airplane that you have to put together, some puzzles, and a cart thing with tools.