Happy Birthday Mamma!

My birthday celebration was full of festivities. Griffin hid in a big box filled with balloons and jumped out to surprise me. Then we had a little dance party followed by a yummy dinner made complete by spritzers (Griffin's favorite part of the party) followed by the cake which was poked and de-frostinged by the kids. To work off the sugar buzz we took a walk in the neighborhood and saw some bats before we came home and crashed.

Another Birthday Surprise

Daddy's got a new doo.

Griffin's Photo Portfolio

These are a few samples from Griffin's latest photo shoot. Notice his self portrait and his abstract shot of his cowboy hat - nice.

Smile Ruby!

This is how Ruby reacts when you put a camera in her face and say "smile".
She is not only saying many words but she is putting words together like "bye bye doggies" (bye bye deedees) and she understands us! For instance, if we ask her to throw something in the garbage, she can understand us and she does it. She will go get a book when we ask her to. Now we just have to train her to do the dishes and change her own diaper (although she is close to doing this; she likes to take wipes and use them appropriately when we change her).
Ruby also is very interested in taking things apart and putting them back together. It is amazing to watch how patient she is.

Griffin The Snail

Griffin visited his school today for the first time. His first official day is on Thursday, Sept. 8. I'll be sure to take pictures. He really loves the space, the toys, and his symbol, which is on his cubby and his place at the snack table. He is a snail which is to signify his fascination with the small natural world. He painted this toad house to put in our garden. It was his first real project as opposed to painting on paper. He really concentrated and did a wonderful job. It sits outside and is home to all the worms and bugs he finds in the yard. He is interested in other areas of the world especially India, Africa, and Madagascar (I think he likes saying it). He wouldn't eat dinner the other night until I told him it was Indian food. He wants to try African food and food from somewhere that is "hot and steamy and where the dinosaurs used to live" but he couldn't think of the name. Any ideas?