What's for Breakfast?

Alanna's teacher suggested that parents have their children write a shopping list to practice their "phonemic writing." Tonight I asked Alanna to write down a list of breakfast foods we should buy at the store. I said what we needed and she jotted it down on the white board. You should have seen how proud she was when I showed Justin the list and he read it out loud. Moments like this are so precious.

Little E

My parents have taken on a huge project of scanning all of their photos. They began with my childhood albums...I love the trip down memory lane.

Me (age 2) with my beloved cat Jake


Melly, me, and Jack the cat


Competing in a horse show (circa 1987)


The "alligator dance" -- trip to the Florida Everglades
(Mel, me, Dad, and Granny Evy)

Trip to the Zoo

A couple of weeks ago, we met my college housemate Deena and her family at the Oakland Zoo. We lucked out and had beautiful weather. The kids had a blast seeing all of the animals and the highlight of the zoo continues to be the "meerkat tunnel." On our way home we made a pitstop at Fentons Creamery...yum.

Alanna and Luciana

Dinner Performance

We have started the Samuel Family tradition of sharing our favorite things about our day at the dinner table. It is a really great way to get the kids involved in a conversation and learn about Alanna's day at school (one rule: she can't say recess or lunch!). On Wednesday night, Ethan was very excited to share a song he learned at school with us. It was super cute, hope you enjoy!

Where Does the Time Go?

Time has been flying by, is it really February already? It has been awhile since I have blogged about the kiddos. We are loving the new house, this beautiful winter weather, and having tons of fun with friends and family. Alanna is keeping busy with Kindergarten, Daisy Girl Scouts, and an after school cooking class. She is quite the social butterfly, and our schedule is often filled with afternoon play dates. Last week she celebrated the 100th day of school. It is hard to believe that in four months she will have completed her first year of elementary school! My baby is no longer a baby, I can't believe Ethan will be three in May. He loves going to nursery school twice a week. He has met some really nice children and we have started doing park play dates with them on a weekly basis. Ethan continues to love playing with cars, trains, and bikes. Can you see a wheel-theme going on here?!

Riding his "big boy" bike

Making a gondola with Daddy's childhood Legos