Have your cake, and eat it too!

I gave McKenzie a piece of cake today. I was paying attention to Ethan and dishes while McKenzie was talking to herself and eating - which isn't out of the norm so it took me awhile to pay attention to what she was saying. After a minute, I looked up to see that her cake was in pure crumbs. Apparently she was making a castle out of it and giving complete detailed instructions to me as she worked on her masterpiece. I caught a few phrases "you've got to squish it and scrumble it", "It sticks together", "It's absolutely not difficult" and then every once-in-awhile, "o.k., Mom?" So, if by chance you would also like to make a castle out of cake sometime, here are some pictures to illustrate the exact squishing and scrumbling procedures. She was having the time of her life! What a fun day in the life of a child. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? Meanwhile, back at the dishwasher....

Happy Birthday!

The day finally arrived - McKenzie's 3rd birthday! She has been excited for weeks! It was a blast that she was such a part of things this year. I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she actually had an opinion. She wanted to have friends over so we made invitations together and delivered them to two friends (all I could come up with). Her friend Julia was the only one who could come - which was actually nice. :) McKenzie also wanted to "give everyone a present". I asked her what she wanted to give. Her random request - a Dora watch. This is quite out of the blue because she never watches Dora, talks about Dora, or has anything Dora......but, I found some cheap party favor watches, put Dora stickers on them and voila! - the party of her dreams. I was worried it wouldn't be exactly what she had in mind, but when she saw the watches she was bubbling over with excitement. It was adorable! My sister, Elisa, inspired me to attempt at a Boots the Monkey cake. She makes character cakes every year for her kids. I was surprised and pleased with how well it turned out - and that it was less difficult and more fun than I thought it would be. For the activity, Julia and McKenzie painted ceramic bugs and for lunch - mac and cheese (I love how little children are so easy to please!) As you can see from the pictures, the party was a success and McKenzie was spoiled to the max. What a fun day! She loves her ponies and this morning she prayed "and that my pony can walk"......she may have to help it out a little.

Of course, being Jason's birthday too, after McKenzie's party she took a nap and then we dropped her and Ethan off at Julia's house for a few hours while Jason and I went out to eat and to the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" (which I loved, by the way!). What a wonderful, fun, relaxing day! We will also be celebrating Jason's birthday in May at a Brian Regan show. We're excited for that. I really love this giving-eachother-experiences-for birthdays-rather-than-things idea. What could be better than getting rid of the kids for awhile and going out on a fun, more expensive than usual, date? :)

Soccer Boy

Our soccer ball happened to be in the family room the same day that I dressed Ethan in his soccer shirt (a real genuine Brazilian soccer shirt - compliments of Grandma and Grandpa Benedict). He started playing with the soccer ball and was having such a great time that I had to whip out the camera. He's so stinkin' cute ... have I mentioned that before? You can see in one of the pictures his favorite thing to do with the ball - play it like a bongo drum. More musician or more athlete? You decide.

Irresistible!

Irresistible, I tell ya!

Stained baby-food face and all.

On a walk

What's not to love about a family walk around the block?

My LoverMost

O.k., the post we've all been waiting for. I'm not quite sure how "LoverMost" originated, and I'm sorry if it offends you. Some people are a tad bit sensitive about the first word of the conjoined term. But, nonetheless, I like it. Not only because I find it funny to hear those occassional gasps, but because I made it up. It's a great word - not many words have two capitals in it - oh, besides "McKenzie". I guess I just have a thing for it. Anyway, back to the point, I love this picture of Jason and his bro, Mark. I couldn't resist. It portrays the wizardly scholar in him. I love how his cape is flowing just so. Jason is definitely pro-education. He works hard and has accomplished much in his 30 years. He only has two more classes left for his doctorate!!! He should be completely finished with his dissertation no later than 2010. O.k., I'll spare more credentials and tell you what I love most about him. He treats me good! I realize this may sound like a selfish reason to love someone. But, it makes my life happy. He is very thoughtful - one of those flower-giving-for-no-particular-reason kind of guys. When it's his turn to plan Valentines day, the Day we Met or our Anniversary (the three "holidays" we celebrate faithfully), I'll find clues weeks in advance that show he has already started thinking about it and planning for it. It makes it fun and builds up the suspense. It's always a surprise and no matter how much I beg him, he will not let me know the plans (but it's still fun to beg). He spoils me for my birthday each year and has begun the tradition in our marriage of giving eachother experiences for birthdays rather than things. I love that! He often looks sincerely into my eyes and tells me I'm beautiful and sometimes I'll catch him telling someone on the phone that I'm beautiful. He also talks to McKenzie about me. He'll say "McKenzie, is Mommy hot?" or "McKenzie, does Mommy take good care of us?" I must say, it puts a little spring in my step. I could go on and on about him really. I'm sure there will be more posts about him in the future because I don't feel that I've skimmed the surface quite yet.......so stay tuned.

Cinderella

Yesterday, McKenzie took a nap in my room. It was getting late and I began to wonder if she had woken up yet. I opened the door to find McKenzie in my bed with a cute little grin on her face. Then I realized she was wearing my dress. She was so pleased. I tickle tortured her and she just laughed and laughed. I told her to stay there while I got my camera. But, she made her way downstairs. When I met up with her she said, in a dramatic voice, "I have a beautiful dress on! My name is Cinderella!" She's so funny!

Ethan Teancum

Ethan is so irresistible to me! He is a busy and generally happy little guy. His favorite thing to do is open any cupboard or drawer and start hucking things out of it. I'm amazed out how strong he is. I'll be cleaning one of his hands under the tap and "watch out!" he's fast to pull something out of the sink with his other hand - and I'm not just talking about a spoon or a cup. He can pull out a whole pan with other dishes in it like it's nothing! He loves to stick out his tongue. It's so cute! If I'm sitting on the floor close by, he'll get all excited and crawl as fast as he can to me with his tongue sticking out. And he does not slow down upon contact. He almost knocks me over as he puts his mouth and tongue against my cheek and says "aaaaaahhhhh". It's pretty cute. I'm convinced that he enjoys eating off the floor more than he likes eating at the table. I'll have to admit that because of that, I've served cheerios to him on the floor during a busy moment. He's basically the puppy I always wanted and never had. He makes me smile so much. Even if he's making a huge mess I just mostly can't stand how cute it is. I'm afraid he's going to get away with a lot around me.

McKenzie Kaedyn

McKenzie Kaedyn is our social butterfly. Talking is literally her favorite thing to do. Sometimes she'll climb up in my lap and say "Mom, let's talk". Other times Jason and I will be talking and she'll ask "Are you talking? Can I talk to?" and quickly join in our conversation. Because of her love for talking and my love for teasing her, she is very witty and understands a lot. She often points out "reflections" whenever she sees one. Today she learned about words that rhyme....I think I came up with every set of rhyming words in the english language...it's all I can do to find something else to talk to her about. Of course, at almost 3-years-old she still has the occassions of mixing words up. For instance, she has an eskimo on her footy jammies. For some reason she calls it an "eskimony". Our hometeachers were here and asked her if she knew what a testimony was. She ask me thoughtfully "What is that on my footy jammies?" At first I thought she was changing the subject and I tried to get her to pay attention and be respectful, but then after seeing the thoughtful look on her face again I thought........."Oh, an eskimo" She said "Yea, an eskimony!" Besides her love for talking, she enjoys dancing in her ballet outfit, playing in the snow, making Ethan laugh, watching princess movies, painting, reading, singing, and playing memory - which she's quite good at. She often asks, "Will you teach me?" as she climbs up on the piano bench. Sometimes she'll pick up on small things that I teach my students. One day after I finished teaching a student, she was clapping and counting "Quarter, Quarter, Half Note". She is so much fun!