A Foggy Morning...

This morning was very foggy. In fact while I was walking Benjamin and Ada over to Dani's Benjamin asked what is up with all this fog. He then asked me where his knife was so he could cut the fog. He preceded to pretend to cut the fog with his pretend knife. Where does he learn this stuff?

Ada...

Ada is quite the little talker. She is very shy at first but once she gets comfortable and starts talking this girl does not stop. I have no idea where she gets that from! She is always singing whether it is her ABC's, numbers, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or some other song that she has made up. She is definitely in the defiant stage and likes to press our buttons. The other day she said "I am going to be naughty so I am going in time out (naughty spot)" and she did all by herself. She then was naughty and climbed up the kitchen cart just like she said she was going to do. She has always been a climber but when she could get hurt is where we draw the line and we have stayed firm with it. The other thing that we pray is a phase is her tackling Sammy and squishing him. We will find her laying on top of Sammy underneath the kitchen table, the living room, the hall, it doesn't really matter where Sammy is as long as she can squish him she is happy. Now this makes the rest of us very unhappy--including Sammy!

Ada loves Dora, the Princesses, and Tinkerbell. We are not quite sure where the exposure to Tinkerbell comes from but she loves her. Ada enjoys showing us her "Princess Dance" and dressing up. She also enjoys showing off her Spanish speaking skills and likes counting in Spanish but it is only when she wants to do it she will not do it if you ask her to. She also likes drawing, coloring, doing projects, reading books, and playing with her babies.

Ada has officially gotten in all her teeth. She had all her baby teeth except her two year molars by February 2009. She got her first two two year molars bottom right and top left during the month of August. She got her bottom left two year molar in October (started in September) and her top right in the beginning of November (started in October). Ada has always had a rough time teething. Every tooth was an experience for the whole family as she let everyone she was not happy! We had many sleepless nights and early mornings so hopefully now we can get back to normal!

Ada is and has always been a mommy's girl. It is always "Mommy do it", "Mommy I need you", "Mommy where are you?", and "Mommy where are you going?". She can sure be a challenge sometimes but I love this little girl more than anything and I enjoy the time we have together! She is growing up so fast! I am in disbelief that she is going to be a big sister in a few short months.

Readasaurs Reading Festival...

The last few years the Sioux Falls United Way has held a reading festival where there are booths to visit, activities for the kids to do, and at the end each child receives one free book. Benjamin was more than excited to go when we found out that this year's theme was dinosaurs! He was in heaven. He really enjoyed this large balloon dinosaur and didn't want to leave it's side. Ada on the other hand said it was scary and would not go near it!

My Kitty...

Benjamin and Ada love Sammy! They always want to hold him and be with him. Lately, they like to play mom and dad and have Sammy be there baby. This poor kitty gets drug into places he does want to be but yet he tolerates the kids very well. Every morning Sammy cannot wait until they wake up to play with him.

Best Friends...

These two are two peas in a pod! Ada absolutely love doing whatever her big brother Benjamin does! She also loves antagonizing him by calling him Ben which he does not like at all. He likes being called Benjamin. They enjoy playing with one another and they both get into their share of trouble together!

Goofing Off...

These two sure enjoy hanging out with one another! They love hamming it up for the camera and just being goofy together! It is so sweet to watch the two of them interact with one another and care about each other.

A New Place in the World...

I now know my place in the world. The other day the kids and I were walking home from Dani's house (daycare) and Benjamin asked me why it was getting dark so early. I started to explain day light savings time to him when all of a sudden Benjamin stopped me and said, "mom, I will ask Mrs. Hofer at school (preschool) tomorrow because she will know." I thought the teacher knows best when the kids start kindergarten not preschool. My baby boy is growing up so fast!

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves...

Dave and the kids enjoyed their time outside raking leaves and playing in them! What a beautiful day!! What a wonderful feeling to have the yard raked and looking good! Thank you guys so much!!

Playing at the Park...

We took advantage of the last few days and went on walks, stroller rides, bike rides, and playing at the park. Ada loves to do whatever Benjamin does and that includes having no fear and climbing up high at the park!

Daredevils....

While we were in Omaha we stayed at the Best Western again. The kids really enjoy the pool and we like how they are able to actually stand and play instead of just floating. This pool goes from 8 inches deep to 3 feet deep with two waterslides. Benjamin loves the pool and waterslides and was so excited about going back to this hotel. Ada likes being in the pool but she was petrified of the waterslides last time but apparently that was thrown to the way side this time. She went down both waterslides and was really getting into it. She would even go down the big waterslide by herself (we of course were there to catch her so she wouldn't drown). She couldn't get out fast enough. We barely set her down and she was off running toward the slide again. Benjamin would observe what the big kids were doing and would try to mimic it (we had to put a stop to his braveness every once in a while for fear that he would get hurt). Neither child wanted to leave the pool or the hotel after our weekend getaway.

DinoQuest...

Benjamin loves dinosaurs! He cannot get enough of them! Ada is even starting to really get into dinosaurs. So for their 2nd and 4th birthday we took the kids to Omaha's DinoQuest Adventure. We went over Native American Day weekend which we were looking forward to all summer long. We arrived in Omaha only to find out that they had received 5 inches of snow! Can you believe it? Our dino adventure was a very cold, snowy, icy, slippery experience. Benjamin loved it and really got into it. Ada could have cared less the whole time we were outside. She came to life the moment we went inside. Everyone received a map of the trails marking where the dinosaurs were and you were turned loose to explore the trails and find the dinosaurs. Benjamin loved reading the map, giving us directions and running to the next stop. It would have been very beautiful walk if the weather was nice. We were one of the only ones there so the trails were ours which was nice. Dave stated that if the weather would have been beautiful he was pretty sure that the trails would have been packed! Once inside there was a museum of things to look at and plenty of activities to do! There was a paleontology lab, coloring station, dress-up area with costumes, books, puppets, and other dinosaur toys. Like I said before this was right up Ada's ally. It was so much fun watching the kids explore while learning about dinosaurs!

Help me Daddy!

I love these two pictures of Dave and the kids! Dave helped the kids through an obstacle at DinoQuest. Both of these two could have done it by themselves but with the 5 inches of snow it made things very slippery!

Trick or Treat...

Benjamin and Ada got to go trick or treating with their best friends, Quinn and Presley. It was so cute watching the four of them help each other out. Benjamin and Quinn liked holding hands while out walking. The next thing we knew Presley and Ada joined in on the hand holding fun. The kids had a great time going together and their parents enjoyed visiting with one another too. We are so lucky to have only one house in between us!

Pumpkin Carving Time...

Every Halloween Dave and I carve pumpkins with the kids. We let the kids design their pumpkins. Note Benjamin's scary mouth pumpkin with circle eyes, eyebrows, and ears. Ada's pumpkin also has ears and eyebrows and she wanted a Sponge Bob type mouth. We did the best we could to meet their request. Both the kids were very happy with their scary pumpkins.

Happy Halloween!

Any guesses as to what the kids were for Halloween? Benjamin went at Diego from "Go Diego Go" and Ada went as a bumblebee. They both love dressing up and had a hard time waiting for trick or treating time to come.