More Family Time

We're training Marcus early for family card games.

Finally! A week after her arrival, Ellen finally walked up to Leah and held out her arms to be held.

We had a great trip to the zoo with RJ's family and Grandma and Grandpa.

Christmas (Dec 25)

Another great new toy!

Reading with Grandma

He came! Dudley stunned the kids (and entertained the adults) in Dad's great costume, complete with old-fashioned eyeglasses! The boys would have been convinced by anyone, but even six-year-old Nana wondered if this was really Santa.

Christmas morning

Christmas (Dec 24), cont.

A happy girl next to her favorite new toy

Careful gingerbread house construction...

...and a gingerbread house earthquake!

Christmas (Dec 24)

This present was a big hit--here's a "Jingle Bells" duet

Opening presents with Grandma

Family Dinner #1

Who knew our little house could hold so many people??

Leah's Here!

Leah's arrival marked the beginning of the Christmas festivities!

The cousins played the "make a mess" game, more fun than the following "clean it up" game.

Aunt Leah coaches the three older kids on making Christmas cookies.

Happy Birthday, Ellen!

Lucia Morning

Breakfast with matching Lucia outfits (and don't they look alike??)

Santa Lucia at School

In past years, Marcus has sat like a deer in the headlights for these events. This year, he sang! You can see him looking very happy--furthest tomte (red elf) back by the tree.

Christmas Decorating

Look--no cast!

Beautiful Baby

Grandma Betsy caught this great moment.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Uncle RJ came over to celebrate Thanksgiving. He and Marcus made the rolls together.

Here is Ellen standing by herself! She also took her first steps on Wednesday but is still a long way from being a "real" walker.

Grandparent Visit

Marcus and Ellen LOVED having Grandpa and Grandma Kathy here for the week! I can see that there will be a lot of competition for the grandparents' attention as soon as Ellen gets a little older.

Weekday Fun

Halloween, continued...

I look a little funny, but it's the only shot of me in my "princess" costume that Marcus chose for me (notice the cape and tiara).

This is Batman and Bruce Wayne holding up their respective dolls. Again, Johan's costume was chosen by Marcus; conveniently, he already had everything!

Halloween Morning

Back to School

In this past week at home, Marcus has come up with some games he can play with Ellen, like letting her take things off his head. However, being around his sister all day is getting a little old, so he was glad to hear that he was allowed to go back to school.

Here he is playing with a friend on his first day back at school.

Pirate Party

We went to a pirate-theme birthday party today. The party itself wasn't Marcus's favorite since he couldn't participate in many of the activities (see arm), but the dressing up part was really fun!

A Week at Home

This car is a very popular toy these days. She figured out how to honk the horn the other day and has tried to repeat this trick ever since with varying degrees of success.

After a week at home getting used to his new cast, Marcus is getting pretty bored. On the positive side, it makes him more willing to play things Ellen's way. Here he is explaining how to shake the pretzals and pasta to make noise.

A Broken Arm!!!

A perfectly fun afternoon at the park ended abruptly with Marcus letting go of the monkey bars at the wrong angle... resulting in a horrific-looking break. A few inches up from his wrist was pointing up at more than a 45 degree angle (no exaggeration) and his and was limply dangling. Luckily, no blood was shed and the orthopedic reset the bones pretty quickly. Now, we just wait to make sure he can still use his hand the same way as it heals. For now, eating yogurt with the left hand is a messier affair.

Snuggling in Bed

We think Marcus is finally starting to accept that Ellen is here to stay!

Pumpkin Hunting

After a night of successful sleep, the tired but excited crew headed out for pumpkins.