random updates

Here are some pictures of the end of our Christmas/New Years break.  Justin took a week off from work, so we had a lot of family time.  We went on the carousel downtown, we went to the zoo, we went on a ferry ride to Bainbridge to the kid's museum, it was a lot of fun.  I know I'm a little late to write about it, but ever since then we've been watching a ton of sports (Seahawks, Husky basketball, and now tennis).  I'd show you pictures, but I'm pretty sure you can imagine how our family looks sitting in the basement staring at the tv.  So, instead of doing that, I'll give you some updates on the kids:


-Ruby is walking, solidly.  Well, solidly might be stretching it since she has had a bloody lip, black eye and bruised forehead in the last week.  But, she walks everywhere with a big smile on her face, and its too cute.
-Ramona has been singing a lot of Spanish songs around the house, which sound wonderful.  She hasn't been very open about sharing how much Spanish she has learned, so its great to hear her sing.
-Ruby likes to sit in chairs.  Sounds funny, but she REALLY likes it.  She really just wants to get up and down onto chairs all day.  Whatever works.
-Ruby also likes to read in bed.  Just like mom.
-Ramona is hard to take shopping right now.  Unless you like people judging you for your bossy, screaming, manipulative child.
-Ramona is also very in to numbers and letters.  She can tell you the number of any bus that drives by, and she learned how to write her name, and any other word if you spell it to her.
-Ramona basically lives in a pretend world.  She has a wild imagination that takes her to many different worlds.  Really interesting to listen to her.
-Ruby has a mullet.  Just have to get through it and grow her hair out.

Christmas II

This kids and my dad really made out this year.  Everyone had fun watching the kids open their gifts, and in Bill's case, playing with them.  Dinner was delicious, Coq Au Vin, cooked by Justin.  I sat around and drank wine, feeling a little beat by the Christmas craziness this year.  After presents, we went downstairs and watched the documentary about Around the Americas, the boat trip that Uncle Dave went on.  It was amazing to follow them on the trip, and was a good ending to our family's Christmas.

Christmas!!!!!

We had my parents' annual Christmas Eve party last night in which Ramona chose to wear her seasonal hot pink and green princess dress.  We ate a ton, and saw a lot of longttime friends.  This morning we had our little family Christmas morning, and Santa brought Ramona the legos that she asked for.  We also had some fantastic homemade cinnamon buns that dad made.  Yum, unfortunately between that and the coffee, I'm a little jittery!  Tonight we are having the Horn/Fenton Christmas dinner here, so Justin is working hard on the Coq Au Vin.  More pictures to come! 

Ten things about Ruby

1.  She is a brut.  Don't let the smile fool you.
2.  She loves to play ball, she has been playing catch since she could sit up.
3.  She has a favorite necklace.  She is always putting it on and off. 
4.  She knows how to walk, but doesn't really like to do it.  Just like her sister was.
5.  She loves water, the more splashing the better.  Not like her sister was.
6.  She loves her sister more than anything, she laughs and smiles when she sees her.
7.  She has a cute bubble butt.
8.  Her cry is really quiet.  Thank god.
9.  She smells like honey.
10.  Ramona calls her "troublemaker".  Pretty accurate, really.

Pre-Christmas hubub

Christmas time is really great with a three-year old around.  Ramona is obsessed with Santa, and is usually pretending she is Santa in between pretending she is a princess and a ballerina.  As you can see from the picture above, Ruby is willing to play along every once in awhile.  Our tree is up, and Ruby has yet to destroy it.  We even have presents underneath and they have managed to stay in tact so far. 

We also went on a "winter wonderland" trip to Winthrop for Kim's 30th birthday.  We managed to plan the trip for the weekend of the Pineapple Express, so we definitely had enough snow to play in.  Ramona loved being pulled in the sled, and Ruby seemed to hold in her hatred for snow just for the weekend so Kim could enjoy her weekend.  Ramona loved throwing snowballs, sledding into town, and also swimming in the pool/hot tub that was next door to our house.  We have more pictures to come, once we get them off the various cameras that were there.......

SANTA!

 

Thanks to the beautiful and talented Esther Teodoro, Santa came to visit our PEPS group tonight.  He read the kids a story, gave out candy canes, and got his picture taken a million times.  For the first time Ramona seemed pretty comfortable with Santa, so that was a big step.  As you can see from the picture, Ruby is starting the "Why are you putting me on a strangers lap with a big beard?  Give me back to MAMA!" phase.  The crying pictures are always fun though.

Thanks

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving that I'm finally getting around to posting.  We had a great time, Grandma Fenton was in town, and my parents (and uncle) cooked up a fantastic dinner.  The kids were definitely the entertainment, and they seemed to have a blast.  We don't get to see my brother very often, and he bonded with Ruby over the holiday, so that was nice to see.