Boys and Pears

Just adorable, as usual:

We bought a big box of pears through church for quite a deal. Even eating 5 pears a day (ouff!) we had plenty left over. So we went to my parents' house and mom taught me how to can. Paul peeled the pears, I cut the pears, and mom stuffed the jars and handled the hot part. Only half the batch is shown here. Now we have plenty of yummy pears when it's not pear season.

Gabriel found my sewing cutting mat this morning and decided it made a good dance floor. Even Ephraim grooved while Gabriel sang his song.

Then Gabriel started narrating and I thought it captured his language and mannerisms well. (And I like Ephraim's hop at the very end.)

Pizza and Broccoli

So glad we have a toy box! It's good for all kinds of uses. Ephraim was in here singing to himself.

I got back from Girl Scout Alumnae Women's Weekend on Sunday and Paul was awesome and made dinner. We've been having homemade pizza once a week, so Paul made it this time. It was really saucy! I don't think Ephraim minded.

Gabriel was proud of his drawing. He says it is a picture of him swimming in the water with his dad in the background. The dots are the sandy beach. I love the curvy legs to show that he is swimming.

Gabriel has been going to preschool half days on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Ephraim and I play in the playground with him for the first 20-30 minutes. Ephraim loves playing with the big kids.

Ephraim has never been a meat eater. He has never eaten chicken or beef or fish or egg. Sometimes he'll eat the breaded fish sticks that I bake. When he's in the mood, he'll eat refried beans and rice. I was starting to worry about his nutrition because he isn't even a big milk drinker (unlike his brother who could live on milk). Then one week I made pizza and put leftover bits of beef on it. He loves pizza and ate it, meat and all. I was relieved he got some protein down. Then he seemed to hit a milestone. This last week he's been eating the chicken I offer him! I am so excited! He kept asking for more last night. Wow!

Yesterday, I was checking email and came back to find Gabriel in the kitchen with a guilty look on his face. Wondering what he got into, I found the container of leftover broccoli open and him with a bunch in his hand and mouth. (I had pulled out leftovers for a lasagna I was making.) I laughed out loud! I love my kids! I love that they love healthy food.

I caught Gabriel "reading" out of his Transformer's book to Ephraim. He was telling a great story (There are almost no pictures.) Then I got the camera out and I think he got self-conscious. I love that Ephraim was totally captivated. I hope this is a hint for the future.

Big Weekends

(I can't believe I've let so much time go by since the last blog update.)
Last weekend, I took the kids to my friend Julia's son's 3rd birthday party. It was at the park and she had made chocolate cupcakes--Gabriel thought it was the best birthday party ever! He also made a new friend at the park and was practically in tears to leave him. "Pierce" had a Superman shirt while Gabriel wore his Captain America shirt, and they both ran around swinging imaginary swords. They were perfect for each other and played really well together. Sadly we were all the way up in Alameda and I never saw his parent, so we couldn't make future plans.

Both the incident at the park and my friend Kim inspired me to get going on preschools. I have been looking for a while, but decided it was time to just pick one for now. I did and Gabriel started on Friday, September 2. It is only for 3 hours 3 times a week, but we can increase it to 5 days when he's ready.

When I asked what he did his first day of preschool, Gabriel said, "I made new friends." When asked what else he did, he said, "Played on the playground." Perfect! I hope his excitement and happiness last the rest of the year.

The big event this weekend was our third wedding of the year. Our other friend Julia got married on Sunday and she had asked me to be one of her bridesmaids! It was a great honor and a beautiful wedding!

We were so glad we had Monday as a holiday to relax! And we did. We had a lazy morning, then went to the bounce house at the mall (with everyone else, wow crowded!). Gabriel is a pro at climbing and jumping around. Ephraim wasn't so sure until daddy went in with him. He preferred sitting on the horse as we were leaving (it didn't move).

We went out to dinner to Sweet Tomatoes and ran around at the park afterwards, watching the airplanes come in for a landing at San Jose Airport.