Cake for Mommy, July 4 and More

Hello and happy July to everyone. We're enjoying our summer and hope you are, too! We've recently celebrated Karin's (Mommy's) birthday, taken a ferry ride to a Fourth of July celebration, and enjoyed a quick trip with our friends Sara, Don, Lila, Reed and Molly. Here are a few shots and a video:

Zoo Tunes 2011

We took in the Marc Cohn-Mary Chapin Carpenter show Sunday night with the whole gang and good friends Sara, Don, Lila and Reed. Great time! A very nice evening, picnic dinner, good music and the kids were great. Here are a few shots ...

Ella and Nate, pre-show:













Coloring with Lila:














Here's Marc Cohn. Dave was excited he played a song called "Paper Walls."














Nate gets loved up by Mommy:

Ella and her Grandma H.

Ella has been talking about her Grandma H. quite a bit. She never knew her in person as Grandma (my mom) passed away less than a year before Ella and Nate were born. But Karin and I have shown lots of pictures to the twins and talked about Grandma.

Ella's middle name (Philanise) was my mom's name. A few days back we were practicing family names and I asked Ella about Grandma H.'s name, and Ella said, "She's Philanise, just like me." Tonight, Ella picked up a toy phone and started talking into it. "Ya, hi ... How are you? ... I'm fine." Then she pretended to hang up and told Karin, "I was talking to Grandma H. She's in heaven."

I miss my mom a lot but I know she is watching over Nate and Ella.

Springtime with Ella and Nate

Not sure how many Nate and Ella fans are still with us, but we hope you are well! The kiddos have had another round of illnesses but are doing better and on the whole enjoying being 2 in springtime. They're just finishing up at their once-a-week co-op preschool and will be starting more preschool at St. Catherine's in the fall!

Here are a few recent pics:

Still here, we promise

Oh February. Don't miss you February. February was a doozy for us. The kids were sick and Dave and I were REALLY sick. We both had bronchitis for pretty much the whole month. This illness brought on all sorts of issues for us (long story short, we both coughed so much and so hard that we BOTH ended up with back spasms and numerous trips to the Dr.) Our bathroom counter is still litered with inhalers, pill bottles and cough syrup.
Luckily Grandma T. came over so Dave and I could both get some rest. Grandma and Papa T. were just here again for Grandparents Day at Nate and Ella's preschool...we
again took the opportunity to get all healed up. Sigh.
We are a little behind on uploading photos of the kids, we hope to get some up soon.

Nate and Ella just turned 2 and a half and are as funny as ever. Some of their favorite things these days are:
Elevators
Escalators
Thomas the Tank Engine
Barnes and Noble
Red Robin
Dance Class (Ella)
Music Class (Nate)
Riding the bus (Nate)
Hot chocolate
M&Ms
Splashing in rain puddles
Preschool
"Going to the gym" (going to the Kids Club at the Y while Mommy works out)

One thing that got Dave and I through February is that we are jetting off to Kauai in just a couple of weeks! Grandma and Papa T. will be here to watch the kids while Dave and I head over to Hawaii for some much needed R & R. We LOVE Kauai and are very excited to return.

Growing up fast ...

Here's hoping everyone's 2011 is off to a great start! Nate and Ella are chugging along, getting more conversational and interactive in other ways. Their once-a-week co-op preschool is going well, Mommy continues to be great about getting them out of the house for numerous adventures, and with swimming lessons on hiatus for now we're looking into other activities. Maybe a ballet class for Ella, who runs and grabs her tutu when music comes on. Nate also loves music and continues to be our gadget guy as well. They play together and make each other laugh more and more!

Here's a recent shot:

Sledding in Snowy Spokane

Hello and happy holidays to everyone! We're visiting Grandma and Grandpa T. for Christmas (also Uncle Kevin, who arrives tomorrow.) There's snow on the ground and more headed our way for tonight. Earlier today, Nate and Ella went sledding for the first time. Here's a video and some pics!