December already!

Yikes, sorry about the 6 month gap between blog posts! Here are some photos from the past couple of weeks. Both kids are big helpers now with decorating the Christmas tree. They especially love all of our ornaments from Aunt Mary!

 

 

Here is the tree after the kids were done:

 

I have since gone and spread all of those ornaments around.  : )  Decorating the tree was such hard work, they needed hot cocoa and popcorn to revive themselves afterwards.

 

Our little guy will ride his bike any time.

 

Claire has been really into making snow angels.

 

Our first snowman of the year:

 

Claire is always at ease around Santa. Tyler likes to keep his distance.

 

Santa lured Tyler closer in by offering him a goodie bag. It worked!

 

Only 10 more days...

Zoo day

Tyler is old enough now to really enjoy the zoo. He especially liked the tram ride and the kiddie railroad ride. It was a fun morning!

 

 

Claire insisted I take a picture of her with this little goat. It was her favorite.

 

Those are prairie dogs behind the kids. For some reason they really liked those critters.

Summer time at last

Things have warmed up here in Ellicott City! It is finally summer. I got my first couple of mosquito bites the other day. We've started our weekly routine of swimming at the local pool and hitting up the ice cream truck. My peonies are blooming and the lawn is a nice lush green. We picked strawberries today and made strawberry shortcake for dessert. Summer may be super sticky here, but the change in seasons really makes these fun traditions so special. Here are some random photos from the past few days...

Grandma Becky this one is for you:

Claire is really getting the hang of finding the best ripe berries. She took her work very seriously.

 

Every time we looked at Tyler in the field he was stuffing his face with strawberries. He smelled so sweet all afternoon!

Amazing Tyler

Tyler at only 26 months is now riding his scooter like a pro.  Check it out below:

Random Events

Writing takes time and time is not something you have with a 2 year old and a 4 year old.  Pictures are worth a thousand words, so here are some random pictures of the family over the last couple of months.  Add your own captions.  The best captions submitted via comments or Sivitz@gmail.com win a prize.  Not a good prize, but a prize nonetheless.

Easter in the basement

Easter just isn't the same when it's gray and drizzly outside. Fortunately it doesn't matter to the kids whether the eggs are hidden outside or in the basement. Claire was all about the egg hunt this year, keeping up with her older cousin Alex like a pro. Tyler was content finding one egg at a time, emptying the contents right then and there, and scarfing down the candy before anybody could confiscate it.

I wasn't too camera-happy, so you're just going to have to make do with these:

 

Claire "helped" frost the chocolate cake we made for dessert:

 

 

After eating so much candy, the kids were a sheer pleasure to be around, of course.

 

Happy easter to all of you!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Tyler is a big two year-old now! We hosted a small Thomas the Tank Engine themed party at our house yesterday in his honor. Brian attempted to dress up as Sir Topham Hatt for the occasion, but he really just confused everyone. Tyler's cousin, Alex, asked me "Why is Uncle Brian dressed up as Abraham Lincoln?" I agreed with him that Brian can pull off an excellent Lincoln.

We cooked up a huge pot of spaghetti for everyone to enjoy. Tyler had worked up an appetite running and jumping and screaming with his friends.

 

The little guy blew out his "2" candle and dug into his cupcake so fast I barely had time to get the paper off.

Claire told me I had done a good job with the decorations. She was very helpful, particularly with helping her brother open his presents.

Brian ditched the Sir Topham Hatt costume after a while, just so he could get down and have some REAL fun.

Tyler received his first outdoor grill from his cousins! He helped his father assemble it. He used his new yellow power drill like a pro.

 

I suppose I should now lament the fact that my baby is already 2 years old. Seriously though, he is just as cute and smiley as he was at 2 months old! I am excited to see what our little man has in store for us in his third year.