Benji Goes to the Barber

Benji had his first visit to the barbershop on Saturday. We took him to Mr. Staples, a real old fashioned barber, and he was great. He did not even seem to notice he was getting a trim until the barber got to his bangs. Here he is all trimmed up for his birthday next week:

Abby's First Beau

It started with this picture. The kids were asked to draw a picture of a friend, and tell why they were a friend. Abby, of course, drew Julia. Aiden drew this (it says "This is Abby. I like her because she is pretty.") A few days later, and quite out of the blue, Abby asked for a playdate with Aiden. Since then, we have been hearing about Aiden more and more. On Saturday, he ran to join us at temple, and throughout the service was alternately holding Abby's hand or stroking her hair. Then, in the middle of one song, he turned and planted a kiss right on her lips. I was a little stunned. Abby sagely told me that "Aiden loves me." I am not sure we are ready for this preschool romance.

Getting Ready for Passover

Passover is only two weeks away, and it is never too early to start preparing for it. Abby's got the breaking the matzoh and pouring the wine parts down pat, but she is a little resistant to learning the four questions.

Double Bath Fun

The surest way to get them in the tub is to let them take a bath together.

Telling Jokes

Abby: Knock Knock.
Daddy: Who's There?
Abby: Banana.
Daddy: Banana Who?
Abby: Apple Pear Kiwi Fruit.

Hey, she thinks this is an hilarious joke.

Flat Benji

Yup, it is all laying down now. That may change when he gets his first real haircut next week.

A Lady Needs Pearls

Last week, Gammy took Abby shopping for a treasure to put in the new treasure box they made together. Ever the girl, Abby chose pearls (well, fake pearls, but she doesn't know the difference). She has been wearing them around the house every since.

Giddy-up Pardner

Anyone for Tennis?

Tuesday Means Gymnastics

After much begging and pleading, we finally enrolled Abby in a real gymnastics class (as opposed to a gym class through parks and rec or The Little Gym). Now, as soon as Gammy leaves on Tuesdays, Abby rushes into her leotard and off to class. So far she is loving it, especially the rings and trampoline. Oh, and anything that involves jumping:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sorry for the poor image quality - snapped these on my blackberry on the way to work. Benji *was* smiling when I started the picture, but the flash is bright and the shutter delay is long.

Hopscotch

Good Weather

With the good weather finally here, we have been able to get out and enjoy the outdoors. This week, that has meant several picnics and a couple trips to the park. The farthest we have gone is out to Crozet, where we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at Mint Springs before heading to Crozet Pizza for dinner. On the agenda was a little Frisbee playing, as well as some tree climbing:

Cinderella Ballet

Abby's class went to The Paramount Theater last Friday to see the Russian Ballet Company do a children's performance of Cinderella. Abby was all excited to put on her "theater clothes" and go to the show.




The show was pretty good, but a little long for 4 and 5 year olds. About halfway through, Abby turned to me and said "Mommy, this show is making me hungry and tired." Oh well.

Stairs

Look - I can crawl up the stairs now! Uh-oh.....

Curls

Abby, ever concerned about her beauty, has become newly obsessed with curls. She now asks for braids after every bath so that she wakes up with her hair sort of wavey. We don't like to encourage this sort of vanity, but she does look cute:

Happy Purim!

Although today is the actual day of Purim, we enjoyed festivities at the Temple on Sunday. Abby got to see a puppet show version of the Megillah (while Benji explored the stained glass in the sanctuary):


Followed by a Carnival with games and treats. Here the girls are gorging on their cake walk prizes:


Afterwards we enjoyed lunch on the downtown mall with our friend Tom Jeon, visiting from San Jose. The weather was great so we ate outside:

Chag Sameach!

Making Hamentashen

Purim is a great kids' holiday. Its central traditions consist of dressing up as Queen Ester or the villain Hamen, constructing and using noisemakers (to drown out Hamen's name when the story is read in Temple), and baking and sharing Hamentashan, three cornered cookies that look like Hamen's hat. Here is Abby with a batch of Hamentashan we made with her class. We made some at home as well, but an unfortunate decision to use whole wheat flour yielded less than optimal results.

Goodbye Deck

Our back deck was pretty rotten and, concerned about safety, we decided to tear it down. Kevin hired someone off of Craigslist to do it and he showed up with a chainsaw and set to work. Here are some pictures of the destruction in process:

Just Rockin' Out

Learning to Skate

As of last week, Abby is enrolled in weekly ice skating lessons at the local rink (along with her friend Julia):


Although she seemed tentative at first (the look on her face might best be defined as "terrified"):


She is really learning a lot very quickly. This week she skated an entire lap around the rink!

We've decided to tackle public skate tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.

Gifts from Denver

Mom visited the U.S. Mint and all she brought me were these socks.

Snow Day, part 2

We finally had a real snow yesterday and Abby was thrilled to be able to go sledding. We also got Benji on a sled for the first time, although he was less than thrilled:

We decided on the elementary school as the best place to sled, and it turned out to be a very popular choice. At least 20 other families were out on the hill, and Abby made fast friends with a kindergartner who just moved in down the street:

Back at home, Abby decided that her doll should go "sledding" on the slide:

Apparantly she got very tired of the sledding after just a few minutes, though, so Abby spent the rest of the morning putting her down for naps in various parts of the playroom:

Most of the snow is already melted today and it is supposed to be 60 degrees this weekend, so this may have been winter's last hurrah.

Trashtown Engine House

It is a snowy day here in Central Virginia and all the schools are closed. A nice day for an in-depth art project. Luckily, we had the perfect one. Abby caught a glimpse of this project in a magazine about a month ago and just had to do it:

After weeks of hoarding cereal boxes and egg cartons, we finally made a start on it:

Ok, so it is not perfect, but we were pretty proud of the result. Unfortunately, we missed the line about needing bottle caps, so we are at a temporary standstill. If anyone is in the Charlottesville area and has a few red plastic caps, please send them our way.