January

We dropped the ball taking pictures this month, but there is always next month I suppose.  Of the few we have, we have Derek looking handsome in his Sunday best.  I like his cute little tie and vest ensemble.    

All three kids chase each other around the house in circles, from the dining room to the living room to the foyer to the kitchen and back to the dining room for yet another circle.  Even Derek joins in crawling at full speed with a big grin on his face (see above).  He is so pleased with himself for participating.  

That is basically it for pictures this month.  I did look through the phone and found a few shots from the past months that I wanted to post:

A few months ago we volunteered picking up trash in Patapsco State Park.  The picture below is from an old building no longer there.  There were lots of little settlements in our area from a couple hundred years ago. As far as picking up trash goes, it was difficult at first to find anything substantial for two little kids to pick up since fall leaves were covering the path, but we eventually found a large tree well-used for jumping into the river, and there was more broken glass and bottle caps than we were able to pick up.  Karina and Lydia felt very helpful and liked wearing their volunteer vests. 

Karina's school had a big fundraiser and the kids had to run 30 mini-laps to raise money.  Karina started out full of steam, but was winded by the end.

The next several pictures are from a birthday party we went to this fall.  Lydia got her face painted with fancy jewels. 

Karina touched a gentle looking turtle.  There were also a couple of small snakes that the girls did touch, a 7+ foot snake that they decided to only look at, and vicious snapping turtle that looked prehistoric.  

At various times all the kids had fun in the bounce house.  We are having a hard time emphasizing to Karina that when she has a birthday party, there will not be a face painter, bounce house, and mini-zoo, along with a catered lunch for adults and kids. Most kids in our area seem to have extravagant birthday parties and we want to steer her away from that. 

Karina's kindergarten school picture:

Lydia's preschool picture: