we heart tj's

The one thing we miss about being in the city? Trader Joe's. Well, we miss friends too. So, it's Trader Joe's and friends that we miss the most. No wait, wrong order. Friends and Trader Joe's. And being close to church. So, friends, Trader Joe's, church. Oh, and we miss Gorditos. And Vivace. OK. Friends, Trader Joe's, church, Gorditos and Vivace. Funny how 60% of those things involve food. ANYWAY, the following unauthorized commercial sums it up nicely (with a shout out to our favorite Gail for finding it!).

sunny seattle sunday

Or, far too many pictures of the kids...

new nephew/cousin!

My brother and his wife had a baby on Tuesday, bringing the total cousin count to 7. (Until this summer, that is, when it will stand at 8. Or 9.) We think he's adorable and can't wait to meet him.


Craig William...10 February...9 lbs 9 oz...21.5 in...really cute

squeaky zekey

Zeke's nickname is Squeaks because he usually expresses his displeasure with sort of a squeaky whine. We were trying to get him giggling on tape tonight but as soon as the camera came out he decided he had had enough.

more snow!

We had more snow yesterday...not a lot but enough to drag the sled to Annie's school for a few runs down the hill.

lost in translation

In my never ending quest to reduce the amount of laundry I do on a weekly (daily!) basis I bought a blanket that is actually a mattress protector for Jonah's bed. I was hoping that by having him sleep directly on top of it I wouldn't have to wash the sheets and mattress pad when he has an accident at night. Washing just a blanket would be much easier.

It came in the mail yesterday and made its debut when he went to bed. He seemed happy to sleep on it after declaring it to be "soft and cozy." Somehow though, he got the message that sleeping on it gave him license to pee in his bed. On purpose. Which he did. ::sigh::

and speaking of math

I find it amazing that my 6-year old is doing double digit addition and subtraction in school. I'd say she was a genius but all her classmates appear to be doing it as well. They are also doing word contractions. I swear I wasn't doing those in 1st grade.

Last week she started reading chapter books "in [her] head." She's quite proud of herself. I think she's on her second Magic Tree House book.

OK. Now I'm just blatantly bragging.

I do have to say that the whole learning to read thing amazes me. The bummer part about it is that Joel and I can no longer keep secrets from her by spelling out words in front of her. She's on to us.

on second thought

The only thing I really have a fever for is more cowbell...

blog fever

Jonah and Annie asleep + Joel holding Zeke + 376 new photos uploaded to the laptop = many, many new posts tonight.

chinese new year

One of our favorite things about living on the island are all the events that are celebrated throughout the year. There seems to be an endless amount of excuses to close off the main street to traffic and have a party. This, we love.

On Sunday we went downtown for the Chinese New Year lion dance and parade. We're hoping that Zeke doesn't have a hearing loss after all the firecrackers and Jonah came close to panicking when the lion dancers got too close, but otherwise it was a fabulous afternoon.


Waiting for the lion dance to start.


Pre-hearing-damage Zeke squished up in his favorite cozy spot. Well, his second favorite spot. I'll let you figure that one out.


Lantern + name written in Chinese characters.


Mask + name written in Chinese characters.


China Doll Annie.

open house

Annie had her open house at school last week...


Reading out of her reading book. (I really should have something sarcastic to say about that last sentence.)


They are learning about balance and motion in science and she showed us how to balance 9 nails on the head of another nail. It was quite impressive.

sheesh

How is it possible for 5 people to produce so much laundry? Why does it take me a week to get it folded? Why do I even bother folding it when we will just repeat the cycle again? Why am I the one who has the least amount of clothes in the laundry?

6.5

Always a cause for celebration, Annie officially had her half birthday on the 1st.


Sounds like a good excuse for cupcakes to me.


Auntie Mary, Annie's godmother, even celebrated with us.

oh, there's more

Had enough of the pictures? I haven't even gotten started yet! This is what happens when I wait a month to get the photos off the camera.

work day

Check out the section of fence that the wind blew over a few weeks ago. Joel and the kids spent an afternoon fixing it.

park pics

Warm winter evening bike ride at the park.


The sun was a bit too much...


so sleeping proved to be a better option.

starting school

The latest event in the IslandFourActuallyFive household involves a certain 3-year old starting preschool! Both the said 3-year old and his mother are thrilled with the school and his new found independence.


First day of school. He even gets to stay for Lunch Bunch. He couldn't have been more excited to go.


Celebrating after his first day. McDonald's was the celebration place of choice. Of course.


This weekend he got to bring home Dandelion, the class "friend." He took her everywhere he went and we wrote about it in her journal so he can share their adventures with his class. He LOVED having Dandelion visit.

smiles

Zeke is smiling (and laughing!) a lot now - especially when his diaper is off. We've been trying to get pictures of it which is proving hard to do. (No, not that it. Get your mind out of the gutter.) I mean pictures of him smiling. We finally got a few...

symmetry

Joel is the numbers guy...

Zeke is 3 months old.
Jonah is 3 years and 9 months old.
Annie is 6 years and 6 months old.